There is a reason

Chapter 43: after math

Koomahana

I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to add 42 last week

I've added some scenes (Like Nira's fight), corrected some grammar and spelling

I'm sorry for messing up, Hopefully I hadn't messed the previous chapter up too bad

Updated Chapters

3, 4, 5, 18, 20, 22, 23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,39,40,41,42,43

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site

Thoughts

Paragraphs are memories


"Shhh, little one, Shhh," She rocked back and forth, holding the scared child in her arms and trying desperately not to show that she was scared herself. she had gone from the stadium to the safety house in under a minute, the red haired girl with chains in her back didn't even notice that she was awake when she teleported all of them away. She heard more of the children whimper and try to cuddle closer to her, try to feel comfort in her presence that the sounds outside kept taking away. Suddenly they could hear rushing foot steps in the stone hallway, the children whimpered collectively and cuddled closer to her, if that was even possible, she couldn't even feel her own body at the moment.

"Tsubame! Tsubame are you here?!" A faint voice called down the hall, "Tsubame Haruno!"

"I'm here!" she shouted, relief echoing in her voice as she struggled to her feet, "I'm here! In Here! I'm in here!"

"Tsubame!" the masculine voice deepened and she could hear the young man move closer to her room's door quickly, "Tsubame!"

"I'm here!" she jerked and collapsed several times before she actually managed to pull herself out of the mountain of children and take a few unsteady steps towards the closed door, "I'm here! I'm in here!" She heard the screech of feet on smooth stone, the sound of a door opening and slamming against a stonewall, the frightened whimpering of the children and startled whispering of the other women in the room but none of it seemed to matter when compared to the young man standing panting in the door way. he stood in his tattered navy kiekies, his long sleeved white shirt held tight to his chest and body, his loser violet T-shirt with it's wide open color hung like a cloak on his body, his short brown hair disheveled and smoking on the back end, as if he barely managed to escape a fire.

"Tsubame!" the young man panted in relief, his black eyes wide in panic but filled with relief, his perfectly square jaw was sporting a bruise but it wouldn't last long on him as she knew few wounds seemed to last.

"Yagorigi!" She stumbled again but managed to rush forward enough to throw her arms out towards the young man she knew, he rushed forward quickly and wrapped his arms around her tightly; catching her before she could fall

"Tsubame," he whispered in her hair, his hold tightening minutely on her

"I'm here," she whispered back, her own arms wrapping around him just as tightly, "I'm here."

She could now rest easily, she didn't have to be afraid in the dark anymore, she didn't have to worry about never seeing him anymore

Her love was with her, the attack was beyond the mountain faces, the invasion would fail...

Her love was with her... most importantly, her love was with her


She's always protecting me, Gaara thought as the fan flew high into the air, giving him a beautiful view of the fire nation. He remembered a few times when he was little, before his uncle died and before the pink haired girl showed up in his life, when Temari would be near and see him acting out. She'd rush in without thinking, spreading through the crowds and passed the shinobi ordered to protect her and she'd tackle Gaara, knowing not to get in the way of his sand, Temari would tackle Gaara and smother him with kisses and a tight hug. The first time he met her after being isolated for so many years, she had scared him senseless, he hadn't known that he had siblings until Temari burst from the crowd and tackled him in a bone-crushing hug. He was scared at first because suddenly someone was touching him and people just didn't touch him but then he saw that his sand wasn't moving towards the girl giggling and laughing in his ear; it was still and had simply softened his fall when she tackled him.

Always, Gaara thought shifting his weight and making the fan arc back towards Temari. You're always protecting me, he could see her now, braced against the base of a tree and coughing harshly, wet, red liquid spilling passed her lips and staining the ground. Gaara's gaze narrowed in on Sasuke, who was standing nearby with a kunai in hand... a bloody kunai...

No, Gaara heard the familiar voice he some times called 'mother', echo in his mind. Protect her! Save her! Kill that boy! Don't let him touch her!

"Die!" Sasuke's eyes snapped up to look behind him where Gaara was flying Temari's fan straight for him. With wide Sharingan eyes, Sasuke watched as Gaara closed the fan and kicked it at him with more then enough force to slice him in half and impale the earth in front of him. Sasuke had barely managed to perform substitution in time to avoid the attack but that didn't seem to stop Gaara. The red haired boy was already half transformed, the sand from his gored on his back transforming his right side into something akin to a raccoon dog.

"G-Gaara," Temari panted turning to look up at Gaara as he landed beside her, standing protectively. "D-don't l-let him..."

"I'm in control" Gaara reassured Temari, not realizing that his voice was slightly distorted. "Mother doesn't like you getting hurt... I'm to protect you..."

Gaara burst forward to attack Sasuke before Temari could respond

"Do you understand Temari?" he asked from behind his desk, not looking up at his daughter who stood before him with clenched trembling hands. "Temari," he called lifting his eyes from his paper work to look at his eldest child.

"I still hate you," She answered, her eyes glaring at him like smoldering jade, "I'll always hate you." Her father was silent as he stared at her, observing her trembling hands, the slight amount of blood that dripped from between her fingers, the way her shoulders shook and the way her eyes glowed...

"Be that as it may" He murmured, straitening in his chair to regard her seriously, watching how the dirt at her feet stirred uneasily. Similar to how sand often reacts to Gaara's emotions, he knew that Temari's wind was reacting to her own, "You have your orders."

"You're trapping me," Temari snarled, "Like a caged dog."

"I'm protecting you"

"From who? You? Heaven knows Gaara would never hurt me"

"He has and from your self" he sighed, pointedly looking at Temari's right wrist were there was a near perfect crescent reaching from the top of her wrist to end just above her pinky's knuckle. "You destroyed half the house last week. I'm tiered of having to constantly repair the house because of your temper."

"So you're sending me away?" Temari snarled at him, shifting her scared wrist out of his sight, knowing that it wasn't Gaara who had hurt that day so long ago. "You're sending me to an all girl's academy, a week's travel deeper into the desert, far from Gaara. You seriously think that sending me away will solve your problems?"

"The school specializes in girls like you—"

"Girls with a temper?" she asked mockingly

"Girls with uncontrollable power" he corrected with a frown, "You know there are several uncontrollable blood lines in the village, your mother's is amongst this group."

"So you're sending me away until I'm old enough to control my blood line?" Temari hissed at him furiously, "You know full damn well Gaara needs me here in the village, I'm the only one who can keep him calm—"

"Yashamaru will take care of that—"

"Yashamaru is blind to your orders"

"Regardless," her father glared at her warningly, one hand lowering to a nearby drawer were there was a stash of his gold dust, ready to use against her in a moment's notice. "You'll be gone until you have control of your ability, it's dangerous to wield wind without a medium."

"I hate mediums and you know it" she's always been stronger without them

"You don't have a choice in the matter"

"I never did" Temari growled turning on her heal and marching for the door "and neither did Gaara, that's why mother would never forgive you."

"You're not excused young lady"

"Drop dead old man"

SLAM


Itachi sighed in relief as Tayuya fainted in his arms, the demons and monsters she summoned melted back into the walls of the shield returning from where ever it was they came from. The phoenix they were standing on bucked and screamed and dove straight down, to the eastern corner at blinding steeds. Itachi lifted Tayuya into his arms and jumped just in time to watch the bird slam into the corner tearing apart the young boy standing there. Itachi flinched in sympathy for the boy (who was screaming bloody murder) as he continued to fall; briefly realizing that he was going to fall straight threw the roof and the hole where Hana was still waiting for them.

"Move!" Itachi ordered, Hana blinked and let go of the edge and fell back into the room below, she quickly landed and moved out of the way as Itachi landed beside her and then proceeded to run out of the room and then out of the building leaving Hana behind as he ran straight for the hospital.


"What are we going to do now?" Takao asked as they hid again, trying to avoid getting seen and possibly followed during the attack

"We're going to my house," Kabuto repeated coldly, "the sooner the better... but even I'm not going to go through a suicide march."

Yao... Takao thought with a heavy sigh, I'm not sure how you managed to do it, but you actually escaped Kabuto's wrath

Takao watched Kabuto from the corner of his eye, watching the gray haired boy's hands clench and unclench repeatedly

For now at least


Temari flinched as Gaara fought against a retreating Sasuke, his eyes rounding on the flash of pink and yellow that barreled into the newly made clearing with a shout. Temari watched as Sakura stopped and observed the situation before she moved further, her blonde teammate didn't appear to be so smart; he jumped into the fray with Sasuke and Gaara swinging and shouting.

"Are you well?" Sakura asked as she made her way over to Temari, who glared at her

"No I love being in excruciating pain," Temari snapped back at her, "Why are you even asking? Aren't you going to take us back to your village?"

"No" Sakura answered honestly, "Our mission is to get Sasuke back to the village, we don't care about you and your siblings."

"That doesn't explain the question" Temari frowned, relieved that they weren't after them but still worried about her brothers.

"A medic tends to the wounded first," Sakura answered examining Temari's body for any serious wounds, "Regardless of their affiliation, a true medic will tend to everyone wounded." Sighing, Temari stretched her legs out before her and relaxed against the tree, letting Sakura sweep a glowing green palm over her.

"Um... Temari-san"

"I know"

"...it's showing..."

"It's early" Temari always hated her monthly cycles; she was always immobile for the first day and occasionally the second

"...I have some extra clothes and... things if you're interested?"

"And how do you expect me to change?" She asked opening her eyes to glare at Sakura, Sakura blinked at her and turned to look at her fan that was still imbedded in the earth. "Can you even get that out?"

"Doesn't hurt to try," Sakura commented rising and hurrying to the fan, watching how the boys had some how managed to get further away from them. "Good news: it's not broken"

"The bad news?" Temari asked, watching Sakura tug at her fan

"...I think the boys are trying to kill each other," Sakura grunted then squealed when the fan jerked free and made her stumble back to land on her bottom with the fan smacking her in the head. "Ow~"

"Hurry up" Temari chuckled, trying to sound threatening but ended up sounding like she was laughing, technically she was but she didn't want pinky to know that.

"Coming, geez what is this thing made of?" Sakura asked as she opened the fan and mimicked Temari's action in her round against Shikamaru, burying the fan a good foot in the dirt.

"Trust me, you don't want to know" Temari grunted as she stiffly pulled herself out further from the tree to hide behind her fan.


"Suigetsu cover Haku!" he moved automatically, liquid arm arcing through the air, blocking the thrown weapons and then shielding his teammate and the twenty other wounded from the following explosion.

"Uzu style: Liquid shield!" Karin slammed her hands into the ground, inky black lines erupted out from her in graceful lines, water in the ground and air moved as if it had a mind of it's own, shifting and spiking, and moving together into a large dome around the hospital. "Uzu style: Pure heart!" The water barrier glowed hauntingly, the leaf shinobi moved into the hospital as if the shield wasn't there, the sound and sand shinobi screamed as those who tried to enter were elected until an inch of their life, those within the hospital courters were killed instantly.

"Way to go Karin!" Suigetsu smirked reforming his arm and rubbing at it as if it hurt from the mild explosion from the rigged kunai he blocked. "How long can you hold it?"

"Depends!" Karin shouted, eyes narrowing on a Jonin Suna nin just on the other side of her shield, "If they're going to try and disable it I have to keep concentrating on it. This seal isn't like the other seals I've made, this one needs constant attention."

"Do you need help with it?" A nurse asked, sliding to a stop beside Karin, "I'm a little used to some of the seals the medics use to stabilize a patient, I can help."

"That's great and all lady, but no novice can tend to this seal," Karin replied, crimson eyes narrowing further at the Jonin as another team landed behind him, each man seeming taking his or her orders from the man now glaring at her. "it's pure chakra, Only I can tend to it."

"Karin," Suigetsu said suddenly serious, "how long can you hold it?"

"The other seals that I've made are all self sustaining," Karin replied calmly, growling lowly when the man through an electrical charge through the earth, thinking that what she was going was an earth jutsu which was weak to lightening. "This one isn't the wrong amount of chakra and it'll back fire. It has to be a perfect amount of spiritual and physical chakra; otherwise, it'll lean heavily in one or the other direction. Too much spiritual chakra and the seal will reject everyone who isn't a bloody saint. Too much physical chakra and anyone can enter."

"Karin," Haku said in a warning tone of voice, leaving his now stable patient to glare pointedly at the red head, "How long can you hold it?"

"...perhaps an hour, maybe two," Karin answered, eyes narrowing further as the man took hold of his sword and swung it at the shield, his wind jutsu flung right back at him, nearly removing his head if he hadn't ducked back words. "I've never did one so big before..."

"What's your average time limit?" Haku asked, nodding at Suigetsu to tend to some cranky toddlers. Suigetsu rolled his eyes and moved to cradle the bunch in a huge crib made from his liquid arms, the children were too fascinated with his liquid arms to whine much longer.

"Um, a five foot one I can hold for about a week, a twenty foot one I can typically last about three days, depending whether or not I'm having someone tampering with it," Karin answered hesitantly, brow twitching when the man had a companion throws a chunk of rock at her shield.

"How big is the shield you through up just now?" the nurse asked curiously

"Umm... about hundred plus?" Karin said in a shaky voice, "How big is your hospital?"

"Two hundred long, one hundred wide," the nurse answered, "dose it matter?"

"Massively," Karin answered, looking like she wanted to cry, "The bigger the range the shorter amount of time I can hold it."

"Have you ever held one this big before?" Haku asked, his girls features pinching slightly together

"No," Karin answered, "That's why I said one or two hours, I'll be impressed with myself if I can make it to an hour without fainting."

"Please tell me when you're ready to faint," Haku sighed, "I'll help you with the seal."

We're doomed, Karin thought with a sigh, growling when the Jonin in front of her tried to elected the water portion of the shield, Mom can I kill this Suna Jonin? He's going to shorten my hold up time on the shield

... Silence answered Karin's thought and it felt as if someone had just slammed a fist into her chest, threatening to dig through her ribs for her heart

Mom? Karin thought softly, fearing the worst

n...not n...now..., Karin nodded her head, fighting off the urge to cry, knowing that her mother must have been seriously hurt if she couldn't focus on their seal to speak correctly.

I got her red, an unfamiliar, male, voice sounded in her mind, Your mother will be just fine, My name's Jiraya, just in case you were wondering

Never do that again, Karin thought with a hiss at the older man, You scared me! I didn't know you had the seal too

Thank you mother,


"How's the fit?" Sakura asked peaking around the fan to see how Temari looked

"You need to gain weight," Temari grumbled pulling the skirt down further, trying to get it to cover a little more skin. With her original violet dress ruined, Sakura let the blonde wear a back up outfit she had stored in her bag. Temari was now dressed in a black dress that was a little longer then her original and had an open back that arced over her shoulders into a graceful sweet heart neckline. The problem was that Temari's body was longer, more developed and wider then Sakura's; so the two cut the middle of the dress below the bust and ended it a couple inches shy of the back zipper making the single piece dress into a two-piece out fit. This let the top portion move up to cover more ground of Temari's bust and let the skirt slid down to Temari's hips but the middle piece folded over, so Temari took it and folded it to the inside, trying not to blush at having her stomach shown for the world to see.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked pulling her bag back over her shoulders, "Need anymore pain reducers?"

"Um... I just need to know where you get that stuff," Temari replied with a blush, struggling to her feet even with Sakura's help. "Meds don't unsurely work on me, and if they do, they don't start working for like two hours and even then it doesn't put in much of a dent."

"If our two villages don't go to war I'll try to send you some more," Sakura replied handing Temari the bottle she got the pills from, "Fubuki-Nee's get's pretty bad too, she made that for me incase I start and I end up being like her."

"Your sister made them?" Temari asked with a frown, watching Sakura put one of her arms around her shoulders, lift her fan out of the ground, and quickly slide it into Temari's belt to keep it from being in the way.

"Yeah she's pretty good at it actually," Sakura chuckled helping Temari stumble to where the boys were still fighting. "It's funny because she can't cook worth a damn and Tayuya-Nee is even worse! She's band from the kitchen!"

She watched as the pinkette sat up on the barrier of the seat, showing her back to the road in front of her and put her feet on her seat. She watched impressed as the girl pulled up her violin and started to play a song she hadn't heard in a few years. She was glade that the girl didn't bother trying to talk to Gaara and she was glade that Gaara didn't try to kill her for being annoying but what impressed her the most was that the pinkette had Gaara's undivided attention. When she put her violin down to sing, he listened closely and yet the girl gave no sign that she saw or noticed his attention. She just laughed with her friends, sang her pieces, played her violin and danced off the bus when it stopped, her friends laughing behind her.

She's a little weird, Temari thought as she hobbled along with a giggling, bubbling pinkette, but I liked her


They had done everything they could, thrown everything they had at him but it still wasn't enough. When he couldn't handle them on his own... he summoned the dead

The first and second Hokage's were devastating on their forces

The third fought back, doing his best to protect them, shielding some of the slower ones and encouraging the others. They had to contain them on that roof, if they were released into the village... the losses would be too great. Eventually the Sandaime did what no one saw coming, what no one thought he could do: he used the Yondaime's seal on the first and second Hokage's... and stole Orochimaru's arms while he was at it.

It had coast the Sandaime greatly, his soul was sacrificed to the Shinigami—the death god—but their people were spared and though Orochimaru managed to escape in the chaos of the third's sacrifice, he was short one member of his team. The young man who stood as his 'east' gate was left behind, bleeding and smoldering from the flames of the phoenix that slammed straight through his body.

The medics weren't sure if he'd make it... no one was holding their breath


"Sasuke Uchiha! Naruto Uzumaki!" Sakura screamed out at the top of her lungs, surprising Temari beside her, "You two idiots get down here before I knock you both into next week!" Gaara took one look at her and saw Temari, he was sweeping toward the pinkette faster then the other two could move to cover her. When he got within rang, Gaara was startled when Sakura lifted her foot and smashed it into his jaw making him fly back to land into her teammates; effectively making all three boys tumble to the ground in a painful heap.

"You three are like a bomb in a flee market!" Sakura hissed glaring down at the three boys, then her eyes rounded onto Naruto in a fierce glare "Naruto, what the hell happened to bringing Sasuke back to the village? Huh? What happened to the plan?"

"S-Sorry, Sakura-chan" Naruto stumbled over his words as he attempted to crawl away but both Sasuke and Gaara were pinning his legs down.

"And you Sasuke!" Sakura growled, eyes landing on the boy menacingly, "Don't you dare glare or pout at me mister, what the hell were you thinking giving chase to a Jinchuuriki, huh? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"If you and the Dobe didn't interfere—" Sasuke tried to reason

"If we didn't interfere you'd be dead!" Sakura interrupted "Incase you haven't noticed dork-wad, you'd been fighting Gaara by yourself for a full fifteen minutes before we showed up! Plus the time in the arena before the invasion, that's twenty minutes of him playing with you! And look at him! You haven't landed a single hit on him! Naruto did! He's out of your league!"

"No he's not!" Sasuke hot back "I could still beat him if you'd just—"

"If you two were still in the arena then the proctor would have called the match at ten minutes" Sakura hissed, "He would have called it after ten minutes and declared Gaara the winner." Sasuke glared at her but he soon looked away with gritted teeth, letting Sakura fix her glare on Gaara.

"And you Gaara Sabaku" Sakura's voice was cold, her face smoothed out and her eyes stared down at him without any emotion, "Congratulations." Everyone flinched and stared up at Sakura, knowing there had to be more then that, "You just started the fourth great shinobi war, I'm sure you'll be hailed a hero when you return to your village." The mockery wasn't lost on the boys or even Temari, who stared at Sakura with wide eyes; apparently she didn't think about the consequences regarding the invasion.

"What are you talking about?" Gaara asked with narrowed eyes at Sakura

"I mean that our two villages will now go to war with each other because of your betrayal," Sakura explained patiently. "As such the other villages will eventually be dragged in as well; the last Great War lasted for just over thirty years this one will undoubtedly last twice as long." Sakura released her hold on Temari and stabilized her as Gaara swept onto his feet and hurried to the blonde's side, intending to put distance between them and the three leaf Nin.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," Sakura murmured as he passed her, "Thousands of life's now stain your hands." Sakura didn't look back at the stunned siblings; she walked forward and ordered her teammates to start walking before she kicked their butts all the way back to the village.

"Come on Gaara," Temari murmured, watching the leaf Nin run away from them, returning to their village. "Let's go home," Gaara nodded absent mindedly, lifting one of Temari's arms over his shoulder and quickly hurried away from the mess he and the other two boys created.


About an hour later


Takao stood in the hallway just feet behind his teammate and friend, watching Kabuto suppress his chakra as he always did when his fury moved to a near uncontrollable level. At his feet were the bodies of both of his parents, in the living room, staring back at them, was a team of Anbu staring right back at them, both surprised and startled by their sudden arrival into Kabuto's home.

"Kabuto Yakushi," the captain called, stepping forward, stopping when Kabuto's hand flashed up to stop the captain, his face as cold and still as the captain's near paint-less mask.

"Not now," Kabuto said, his brow twitched twice, "I have something to do." Takao rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, moving back to the front door to get his shoes back on.

The captain flash stepped behind them, cutting Takao off from getting to his shoes, "Do you know who the killer is?"

Takao looked back at Kabuto, who had already moved to follow him to the front door; Kabuto didn't stop until he was half a step in front of Takao. His black eyes were hard, harder then any ice that Takao had ever seen before, regardless of what Yao had done to him; his hands were fisted tightly at his sides, nearly trembling in his effort to keep his arms at his sides. They had gone to Kabuto's home to pack some necessities (extra weapons, communication devises, some emergency scrolls, excreta, excreta) and if his parents had caught them then they were going to try to lie their way out or at least knock them out. Instead, they walked in to find Kabuto's parents face down in the living room floor, his mother half way to the front hall, both dead as nails; their blood splattered the walls and stained the floors. Who ever killed them took a little too much pleasure in doing the act.

"Well?" the captain asked, tilting his head to the side curiously, "Do you know who?"

"We suspect who," Takao relented finally, eyes still glued onto Kabuto, looking for a lead into what to do next

"Who?" the captain asked, "We've just survived an attack, we don't have time to play games."

"All the more reason to let us go," Kabuto said smoothly, his gray bangs hiding his eyes perfectly, "No need to get in my way." Takao sighed and took a step back, knowing that what Kabuto was going to do to Yao would be deadly on a whole new level; Kabuto was going to make Yao regret pissing him off.

And I thought he was dead before, Takao thought, there's no saving Yao now


"Hurry Sasuke!" Naruto shouted panic lacing his words, "We have to hurry!"

"Don't tell me what I already know!" He snapped, adjusting his hold on the girl he was helping to carry; he wouldn't admit it but he was afraid as well. One minute they were running together back to the village, arguing loudly and the next Sakura was collapsed on the ground not breathing. Neither one of them knew anything about medicine, that was Sakura's field, they didn't know how to get her breathing again. Although after this scare, Sasuke was sure that the both of them were going to be taking some first aid lessons.


Karin stretched her shoulder, she knew her mother had been hurt but she also knew that Nira had an absurd healing ability, like a reversed version of her own ability of healing. Some of the medics wanted her to start healing some the seriously sounded but when they realized that she'd have to make the recipient drink her blood, they quickly told her to focus on her seals and leave everything else to the trained medics.

K-Karin, she straightened at the soft whisper, her crimson eyes already scanning through the hundred of wounded surrounding her, trying to ignore the crying and whimpering.

Where are you?

Find Ji-Jiraya, her eyes landed instantly on the tall white haired man, she was moving with little prompt and no warning, moving almost as fast as the shinobi running rounds, trying to be helpful. She skidded to a halt next to the tall Sanin, nodding her head at him courtly before she kneeled next to the tiered and weak woman laying on the ground.

I have to make some rounds, Jiraya told them silently, Nira's flickered sleepily towards him, I need to check on some people...

I've got her, Karin replied, nodding her head at him again. Jiraya nodded back before he shifted off the wall he was leaning against and moved away from the hospital, already knowing when Karin slit her wrist and pressed it to Nira's lips.

Drink up Kaa-chan, Karin ordered silently, Don't fight me on this... thank you...

Did the girls know that he could hear their conversation? Did they know that it was him they couldn't hear until he made an actual effort to communicate with one of them?


"Are you seriously doubting me?" A tall black haired male asked, sarcasm lacing his words like acid, "I told you that I adjusted everything accordingly. Have you no faith in my skills?"

"I'm worried that you might have accidentally messed up," a feminine voice grouched at him, black clothed arms crossing defiantly, "You still haven't figured out all the little details to your Sharingan."

"I know enough about my eyes," He replied defensively, "I can make other people lean heavily towards an opinion that they otherwise wouldn't, I can even change someone's loyalty around with little difficulty."

"Yeah, yeah, you're a big show off," the woman rolled her eyes behind her porcelain mask, "You only guaranteed one team member of cell six, what about the other two?"

"Oh geez Mouse that's mean," the monkey faced Anbu agent whined, "I've guaranteed two of those members!"

"The other seems to have an unhealthy submissive personality to Kabuto Yakushi," the woman replied, "Who was your main target in that absurd team."

"Hay! If you guys didn't lose him at the hospital I would've had the perfect opportunity to secure his loyalty before the attack!"

THW~A~ACK!


Yao stiffened, feeling a cold shiver run up his spine.

"Yagorigi?" he looked down at the girl he was supporting, coppery-pink hair was tinted in dust giving her hair the color of dull oranges or dirt covered strawberries. Sapphire blue eyes blinked curiously up at him, a small scratch rounded the edge of her left eye and a thick bruise marred her right cheek and her right ankle was fractured but otherwise she was unharmed. The chunin tasked with evacuating the civilians managed to get to her before the fighting did; all her scrapes and bruises were from running and falling.

"Is everything okay?" the girl asked, blinking up at him worriedly, "you just went pale."

"I'll be fine Tsubame," Yao answered, adjusting his hold on her, knowing that she couldn't put much weight on her ankle, "nothing to worry about..."

"A bad feeling?" Tsubame asked, her eyes misting over and a whimsical smile slipping onto her face, "You know you should honor those. You never know what will happen next."

"I know," Yao chuckled, ice settling in his stomach, "everything will be okay..." I hope...

"If you say so," Tsubame sighed, leaning into him as he helped her hobble to the nearest medic station. Yao sighed and continued helping Tsubame towards the medic tent, knowing that he really should tell her the truth of who he was.

He wasn't a simple doctor-in-training at the hospital, he was a medical-shinobi

His birth name was Yagorigi, true, but he hated it with a passion. Very few people actually knew his real name; as he had started writing 'Yao' as his name since his first year in the academy, throwing a complete tantrum when his teachers called him out by his real name. The only person he allowed to call him 'Yagorigi' was the Hokage; otherwise he would purposefully not respond to the name (or any other name) until he heard 'Yao'.

Tsubame was the only other exception to his little rule concerning his name


"Doctor," She called out, watching the passing man stop at the end of her bed, his dark eyes wide as he stared down at her in shock. "My sisters... are they well?" are they safe?

"I'm sorry Haruno-san but I can't tell you that," he sighed, stepping over and pulling her blankets a little higher, "You need to rest."

But I can't, she thought, watching the man walk away without seeing if she needed anything. She turned her head and looked around herself curiously, it looked like the fighting had stopped but she wasn't sure. She was in the middle of some building that obviously wasn't the hospital laying on the ground beside another injured man and when she looked to her other side she saw nothing but rows and rows of wounded shinobi covering the floor, medics were running up and down the halls, some where silently pulling blankets over some people and moving on to the next body.

How bad was the attach that they couldn't even hold their own wounded inside the hospital?

"Hello peaches, glade I finally found ya..." she turned and looked tiredly up at the man crouching on the window seal over the man beside her, a long main of ratty snowy locks trailed over a crimson coat. "Geez peaches, you look like crap... please tell me you at least took out half the forces with that state you put your self in."

"Ji-Jiraya-s-sensei..."

"Hana!"

"Mom!" She snapped around in her seat, stumbling to run towards her mother, seeing her brother beside Tsume, Hana couldn't help but cry out in relief. "Ototo!"

"My babies," Tsume murmured, wrapping her arms around both of her children, trying to ignore the tears that stung her eyes. "Thank goodness... my babies..." Kiba didn't have enough heart to pull away from the two crying women, he just held on to them as tightly as they held onto him.

Hiashi sighed in relief as he took count of his family members, glade that his nephew and daughters were all safe despite the number of shinobi attaching their compound. So far, they hadn't lost anybody, he was praying that would stay the case

Shino sighed in relief as his father carried him back to the village slowly, content to take their time now that he wasn't in any danger. Shino watched with a smile as members of his family stepped out and lined their path back to the village protectively, some still scanning the forest for intruders. It'd take time but the poison he breathed in would be illuminated, however the gold dust attack he didn't block in time was another matter entirely. There was the possibility that not all of the gold could be removed from his back, some of it was in pretty deep, his father was sure the Kikaichū could take out most but he wasn't sure if they could get all of it.

When Shino realized that there was a possibly to have gold dust stuck in his back, the only thing he could think of was that he was doomed to have a glittery back for the rest of his life

Kiba would never let him live it down

Inoichi sighed as he patted his sleeping daughter's head, when the genjutsu fell over the audience she had fallen with it, forcing him to hide her body beneath the seats in a last ditch effort to protect her. It was a good thing he did because her seat was peppered with kunai and shiriken, if he hadn't hid her she would have drowned in her own blood. He had been a little panicked finding the entire arena completely empty upon his return for his daughter, but it wasn't long for one of the Jonin to inform him about the stunt of the 'temporary' mist-leaf walking treaty did. He'll thank the young Uzumaki later but at the moment he wanted to walk back to the village holding his daughter and pretend that they hadn't just survived a nasty attack from Sound and Sand.

Chōza chuckled as he lifted his son into his arms, glad that his son hadn't been harmed despite having fallen to the genjutsu. He'd have to work on that with him but he wasn't very worried, his son wasn't in the best of health anyways, it was best that Chōji stayed out of the fighting.

I'll have to thank Uzumaki-san for saving him, Chōza thought as he slowly returned to his clan compound, fingers tightening slightly on his sleeping son's limbs. He had came very close to losing his only child today and he swore that he was never going to make his son get that close to death ever again.

Shikaku sighed as Shikamaru came walking towards him with his hands in his pockets and his teacher behind him, he wouldn't—couldn't admit that he had been worried for his son. Despite the fact that he had been lazy with the boy's training, he knew that his son wasn't completely useless. Shikaku knew that Shikamaru had snuck into their clan library and studied some of their advanced ninjutsu and that he even spent a good portion of his training month with his mother learning basic first aid in their compound's medicine hall. He loved his wife and all... but that couldn't have been fun, his wife was known as 'Iroyo Yoshino' for a reason. She might not have been 'nice' on the battlefield but once she was in 'healing mode', everyone had better look out because she could be brutal—and her teaching methods weren't exactly 'pleasant' either.

"What took you so long?" Shikaku asked as Shikamaru and Asuma paused in front of him

"Worried?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow

"Don't make me sick your mother on you," Shikaku replied straight face, Shikamaru rolled his eyes

"I'm fine, we're fine." Shikamaru replied calmly, "how are Chōji and Ino? They good?"

"As far as I know," Shikaku shrugged, "We were told that Karin Uzumaki sent everyone knocked out in the arena straight to the emergency houses through a seal. I'm assuming that's where Inoichi and Chōza are."

"I can't belief she's a genin," Shikamaru sighed and scratched the back of his head, her skill with seals is creepy

"Once her transfer over here is complete she sure as hell isn't going to be one," Shikaku commented with a smirk, "No way in hell is the council going to let her sit around being a genin until next year. They'll want to promote her as soon as possible.

Mikoto, Fugaku, Mebuki and Kizashi were all standing together, speaking with a young medic as calmly as they could but with all the stress of the attach, Orochimaru, the Sandaime's death and the fact that Itachi, Tayuya and Fubuki were hospitalized with Itachi and Tayuya both in coma's; it was a little hard for the four adults not to collapse in grief and fear. Many of the children through out the village were missing, most were presumed to be in the safe houses behind the Hokage faces, but not all of them were seen going in that direction. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura where this particular groups concern at the moment, hearing virtually nothing about them other then that they left the village in search of one person or another. Sasuke had been ordered to take out the sand siblings and Naruto and Sakura had been ordered to bring Sasuke back, they only knew that much because Shikamaru had told them as much; Unfortunately there was only so much that he knew, having been scent off to distract their pursuers.

"Mom!" Mikoto and Mebuki snapped around at the familiar voices

"Sasuke!" Mikoto was out of her husband's arms almost as fast as Mebuki was tearing across the rubble in the street towards team seven, "Naruto! Sakura! You're alive!"

"She's not breathing!" Naruto shouted in a panic, letting Mebuki sweep Sakura into her arms in favor of collapsing with Sasuke on the ground, neither caring that there was a puddle of blood beneath them. Mebuki held Sakura close as she turned on her heal and ran straight to the closest medic, the young man having already hurried over at Naruto's frightful shout. He quickly pressed a glowing palm to Sakura's chest and just as quickly said that everything was normal but her chakra levels. He gently lifted Sakura from Mebuki's hold and hurried away with another medic to the hospital, where only the life threatening cases were being taken.


"I see" Jiraya sighed, sitting in the window beside Fubuki, one hand rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "Do you have any plans, peaches?"

"I need to find my sisters," Fubuki answered, having long since grown used to the strange nickname everyone at one point or another had used to describe her. She thought that it was strange that she was often called 'peaches' by complete strangers while Tayuya was named everything from 'sweet heart' to a couple of curse words. Fubuki was just glade that Sakura didn't have any nicknames under her belt yet, even if it was only a matter of time.

"Oh? Well that's easy enough," Jiraya replied, "Tayuya is in the hospital right now."

"And Sakura?" she questioned, "Do you know about her?"

"The blossom?" Jiraya asked with a raised eyebrow, the first time Sakura had heard Jiraya call her that she screamed and ran to her mother, calling Jiraya a 'creepy old man'. "Sorry Peach's I haven't heard a thing about her... I suppose that could be good news, she was last seen with her teammates."

"Those two are about as reckless as a bomb in a flee market," Fubuki chuckled, the information both scared her and relieved her

"You just described the entire village perfectly" Jiraya chuckled at her

"That's not reassuring" Fubuki sighed, a small smile fighting on her lips

"Sorry, sorry" Jiraya chuckled, "anyways, have you heard the news?" He asked, suddenly serious, putting the pinkette on edge

"Which one?" she asked, "I've heard several..." So many people have died...

"The Sandaime's death..." Jiraya regretted being the one to inform Fubuki, her expression was heart broken. The Sandaime had taken a great interest in teaching Fubuki once she made chunin and she showed an interest in Fūin jutsu. When she made Jonin at Sixteen, Hiruzen allowed her to learn under Jiraya the more advanced forms of Fūin Jutsu; she was no genius by a long shot but she made the simple seals in the most interesting of ways.

Her talent with sewing and combining it with Fūin jutsu was all thanks to Sarutobi, an innocent comment made into reality. Now the Haruno's were famous for their shinobi equipment, everything from their smoke bombs that worked well with the Uchiha's fire style to their mass illusions for the Inuzuka's and even their equipment for the Nara household that helped with their chakra control which eventually helped with their nin-jutsu's.

And all of it was made by a single, innocent comment by the Sandaime


They tried to follow the two young men, knowing that they would go straight to the murder

They knew that the gray haired boy was Kabuto Yakushi; he was skilled in medical ninjutsu (especially in the fighting aspect of it), his chakra system was sealed in the prelims, he needed to go to T&I for questioning, and he went through the chunin exams too many times to be normal.

They knew that the brown haired boy was TakaoIshuka; he was adapt in first aid and emergency aid, had minor Taijutsu ability, was double jointed in every joint of his body but his neck and jaw, could talk his way out of almost any situation and seemed to follow Kabuto around like a lost puppy.

What they didn't know was that one of the young men was adapt in genjutsu

About half an hour after following the young men through the village, the team realized that they were under a genjutsu. When they dispelled it, they were in the middle of the eastern forest of the village and their targets were nowhere in sight.

The captain swore to find both boys and beat them into a pulp


"Kakashi," he turned at the sound of his name, eyes immanently locking in on the mothers standing behind him before he blinked and found a familiar blond boy wrapping his arms around him and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Naruto?" Kakashi questioned softly, patting the boy's head awkwardly, "Why are you crying?" he raised his eyes and examined the two women with red eyes and his other male student standing beside them looking miserable. "What's going on?" He asked not sure if he wanted the answer, his heart was beating to fast and he was having a hard time focusing his sight on the women and not on the two boys who where suddenly clinging to him like boa-constrictors.

"It's Sakura-Nee," Naruto sobbed into Kakashi's vest, making his heart skip a beat, "She's in the hospital... she's hurt really bad"

"We don't know what happened," Sasuke grumbled, trying to hide his distress and tears in his sensei's jacket. "One minute we were arguing together and the next she was on the ground—not breathing." Kakashi's dark eye locked in on the two women, finally noticing the fine tremor racing up and down their bodies and how they both leaned against each other just a little too close to be a coincidence.

"They don't think she's going to make it," Mebuki whispered softly

Kakashi felt his world stop


A few days later


She settled between her sisters, tears streaming down her face as she stared at their sleeping faces. Tayuya with her breathing mask and Sakura... Sakura had tubs down her nose and throat, wires hooked to her fingers with IVs and blood bags hooked to her arms. Despite all the blood being given to her, Sakura still looked like she was carved from ice. Her hair was slick with sweat, dark bruises were formed under her eyes, her heartbeat was horrifyingly slow, beating so softly that the monitor could barely pick it up, and her Oxygen intake had to be forced into her by a pump.

"Imoto," She whispered her voice cracking as she watched her sisters sleep. She was unsure of who to cry for, Tayuya for her unexplained coma or Sakura who was at death's doorstep.

"Wake up," Fubuki whispered, "Wake up... wake up, wake up, wake up!" She threw her face into her hands and sobbed loudly, her body shaking in the seat between her sisters.

"Wake up," She begged, "Wake up, wake up, Wa—"

"N-nee-Cha-an" her head snapped up at the soft voice, sounding more like a groan then a faint whisper.

"Tayuya!" Fubuki cried out, jumping to her feet, happy tears spilling from her apple green eyes. "Tayuya, Tayuya, Tayuya" Fubuki chanted repeatedly, wrapping her arms around Tayuya's neck and collapsing atop her bed

"ow~" Tayuya groaned as Fubuki sobbed on top of her, her blurry hazel eyes swept around her room tiredly. "W-what... what's g-going o-on? Wh-why... yo-ou c-cry-ing?"

"Y-you've be-en in-n a-a-a c-coma!" Fubuki gasped out, pulling back from her sister whipping at her eyes with her wrists. "Ho-how l-long w-were y-you pl-playing th-that s-song?"

"Hmm," Tayuya closed her eyes in thought, "I-I don't kn-kow..."

"About fifteen minutes," both girls turned at the smooth voice, smiling when they saw Itachi get wheeled in with Hana right behind him.

"Tayuya," Itachi said, turning to his pink haired teammate, "Never summon that damn bird again."

"Why?" Tayuya asked hoarsely, her voice cracking with her attempt at a laugh, "You scared of a little birdie?"

"Your 'little birdie' just so happened to have burned his feet," Hana grouched, pushing Itachi forward until he sat on Tayuya's other side. "The doctors don't think he'll be walking for a very long time—if ever."

"...I'm sorry" Tayuya mumbled softly, her eyes watering as she looked at Itachi's two heavily casted feet that smelled like burn ointment and other heavily scented medicines. "I-I didn't... didn't mean... how many did I—"

"Don't start, don't do that your self," Itachi sighed, turning in his chair to reach her hand while Hana hobbled over to a chair at the end of Tayuya's bed, showing that she had broken one of her legs at some point.

"W-what ha-hap-pen?" Tayuya asked, turning to examine with clear eyes the group surrounding her. Itachi and Hana sitting beside her, Shisui was in the bed across from her asleep, Mikoto and Fugaku were holding onto a trembling Sasuke, her own parents holding a red eyed, sniffing Naruto, Fubuki was sitting to her right with Jiraya just behind her and... Tayuya's eyes landed on the end of the bed to Fubuki's left. Confusion twisted her face as she looked directly beside her, there a peach colored curtain obscured her view but she could recognize the shadowed figures on the cloth with the sunlight behind them. She could make out Kakashi's shaky head of hair from where he stood against the window seal behind the curtain but next to the person laying beside her.

"Who?" Tayuya asked softly, her breath quickening as she studied the smaller shadow, laying in the bed, trying to find something in that shadow that didn't match the person she was searching for. She felt both Itachi and Fubuki tighten their holds on her hands; Hana patting her leg reassuringly but not looking at her... no one was looking at her.

"Who's beside me?" Tayuya asked running her eyes over the group standing and sitting around her, Fubuki sniffed, her body trembling as she shakily stood and pushed back the curtain. Tayuya first recognized Kakashi leaning against the window seal lazily, then she saw Karin sleeping on the end of the bed with Suigetsu and Haku on either side of—then Tayuya felt her eyes widen at the familiar color of bubblegum pink hair, smooth aster skin...

"That's not funny," Tayuya said softly as she continued to stare wide eyed at the sleeping child beside her "... N-not funny..."

"It's not a joke," Kakashi said softly, his voice barely louder then the soft beeping of the heart monitor beside him. Everyone flinched as Tayuya's chakra suddenly thrashed out of her body, threatening to suffocate Sasuke and Naruto, startling Shisui into a sitting position with his Sharingan blazing to life, Haku and Suigetsu were immanently standing protectively beside Karin sleepily and Karin had all but threw her self over Sakura with her chains sprouting from her back threatening. It took Karin a little longer then her teammate's to understand that the blast of Chakra came from Tayuya and as she settled back down into her seat, shaking off the last of her sleep in the processes, she understood just what her older sister had attempted to do.

Everyone knew Tayuya was trying to disrupt a genjutsu, refusing to belief that it was Sakura laying beside her

"No," Tayuya whispered when she finally registered that what she was seeing wasn't an illusion. "No... No... No, no, no, no-no-no-no-no-NO!" Fubuki lunged forward and held Tayuya back as she struggled in her bed, trying to reach out to the tiny pinkette beside her. "Imoto! Wake up! Wake up! Damn it! I-MO-OTO—!" Fubuki held onto Tayuya as she wailed and thrashed in her arms, trying to get to Sakura, tears spilling from her eyes as she pushed against Fubuki, ignoring Itachi's iron grip on her left arm and Hana's tear-eyed grunting as she tackled her legs, trying to pin them in place. It took Fubuki five minutes before she was able to knock Tayuya out, the sudden silence after words was deafening to the eldest pinkette.

"Jiraya," everyone turned to see Shikaku lounging against the doorway, his eyes locked onto the Haruno sisters. "The Sandaime made Sakura-chan his apprentice" not everyone was surprised by the news, "I think it's about time we tell everyone here Why."

"You don't mean...?" Fubuki's voice trailed off as she stared at Shikaku, who only nodded

"So it's already been confirmed," Jiraya sighed, slumping slightly where he stood.

"Wait, what?" Naruto called out, drawing everyone's attention to him, "What are you talking about? Why are you all—"

"Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, Suigetsu, Haku" Mikoto called softly, cutting the blonde off as she stepped forward, "I think it's time for us to help the others pick up the pieces of the village."

"But—" Suigetsu started

"Now children" Mikoto interrupted, "What they're going to talk about sounds an awful lot like S-class material. None of you are of high enough ranking to hear that kind of information yet and you three are foreign shinobi"

"I'm not—" Karin and Naruto started

"You'll be read in later" Jiraya interrupted the cousins, smiling as he ruffled the blonde's unruly locks. "When you make... um?" Jiraya turned to Shikaku, his voice trailing off in an unfinished question

"How about when you make Jonin?" Shikaku asked thoughtfully, "and Mikoto-chan is right, this is S-class material. Jiraya and Kakashi both know because of their ranks and status to the third, that's why they aren't all that surprised... but the rest here need to be filled in."

"She's our—"

"I know," Shikaku sighed, interrupting Sasuke's words. "I know you guys grew up and are as close as siblings but neither of you are ready to hear this."

"But we have the right—" Naruto started

"Don't you get it?" Shikaku growled out at the blonde, making him flinch, "The Sandaime is trying to protect you, not just you but her as well. It's bad enough that I have to tell your siblings much less your parents but they need to know." Naruto and Sasuke shared a look, deflating slightly as Mikoto put a hand on both of their shoulders, gently leading them out of the room, Karin and her team slowly following with Hana behind them.

"The Sandaime is trying to protect you," Shikaku said softer as the boys stopped just passed the door, "And he's trying to protect her. Please understand, you both will be told just not right now."


She stared dumbly straight a head, unsure if what she was seeing was real or if one of the famous illusions her cousin was so good at casting was staring straight at her. She didn't know how to disrupt her 'chakra' as she had no idea how to use it. So she just stared straight a head, taking in the destroyed flat; the blood stained walls and floors which had turned the small 'home' into a blood bath, attracting flies and the like. She didn't know what exactly to do, should she scream? Should she faint? Should she cry? Should she try to shake the body laying in the middle of her destroyed home? What was she supposed to do?

"Tsubame?" the voice was whisper soft and yet familiar, the voice of her neighbor, the one with two kids and expecting her third. Tsubame felt her eyes shift slowly, wetting her eyes so they wouldn't burn like they did, she heard the woman call again, softer this time, as if afraid to wake her from her staring. Tsubame felt a soft bony hand settle on her shoulder but that didn't seem to keep her from staring at her destroyed apartment, her grocery bags forgotten at her feet. There was a sharp gasp, a piercing scream, a hard yank and suddenly Tsubame was watching the world spin as her apartment door spiraled further down the hall away from her.

Tsubame felt, more then heard or saw, her neighbor set her into a seat and place something cold in her hands but that seemed to do little for the trance Tsubame was still in. even though her blue eyes were foggy and staring off into space, Tsubame could only find that her mind had replaced everything in front of her with the image of the large body laying in the middle of her flat apartment.

Blood dripped down the walls, splattered the roof, pooled on the floor, stained her furniture and rugs...

But... what am I supposed to do now? Tsubame looked down at her hands, staring down at her left hand where a pretty silver ring sat soundly. I was supposed to tell him...

An hour later when the authorities arrived, they found in the entranceway to Tsubame Haruno's apartment amongst the bags of spilt food and essentials, there was a little white box with it's top askew.

Inside the little white box, sat a pair of little blue baby booties


"You three can't be serious," Fubuki drawled staring at the three village councilmember's in disbelief, "it's been three days since the attack and you have the gal to order me to take my grandfather's hat? Are you three even thinking?"

"We are thinking perfectly clear," Homura replied tartly, "and Hiruzen wasn't your grandfather, despite his attempts—"

"He was as close as family," Fubuki hissed at her, "I don't know what you're thinking of even suggesting that I take his hat but it's not going to work because I'm more liable to put a senbon through you three's throat then to listen to anything you idiots have to say!"

"I'd expect such a threat from your sister," Danzo drawled in a tone of voice that said he wasn't impressed

"Who do you think taught her weapons?" Fubuki asked, crossing her legs and rolling her eyes, "you can try to suggest, order, advocate, whatever but no matter what you say I refuse to become the Godaime Hokage!"

"I doubt we'll get anywhere with her," Koharu sighed, looking at his old teammate, "That leaves Jiraya, Danzo and Kakashi—"

"No way in hell," Said gray haired man retorted

"Now I know why I'm here," Jiraya chuckled, one hand latching onto Kakashi's arm, preventing the younger man from running out on them

"Now it's just Jiraya and Danzo," Homura sighed, making Fubuki and Jiraya snort

"Have either one of you even thought about Tsunade-Hime?" Jiraya asked, noting how Kakashi went still and calmly let him take his seat back beside Fubuki; who then froze him in place. The look she scent the other Jonin said 'if I have to suffer, so do you'—it only made Jiraya's amusement grow.

"No one knows where Tsunade-Hime is," Danzo replied with a frown, "Who are you going to pick next? Sakura Haruno? She's but a genin"

"You know something," Fubuki said thoughtfully, "That's not a half bad idea." Technically she's older then Kakashi and just as, if not more, powerful then him.

"You're right," Kakashi agreed with his own thoughtful look, "She's mature for her age, is actually well respected by most of our shinobi, is strong enough to hide her talent so she could be placed on a team with Sasuke and Naruto—"

"And Hiruzen-sensei taught her himself," Jiraya added, rubbing one hand against his chin, ignoring the withering glare given to him by Danzo. "The only person I can think of that would even have a clue as to Sakura-chan's skill would be Shikaku-san, but I doubt he'll go into much detail about it..."

"She's a child!" Danzo hissed, "and a genin"

"You can't seriously think that she actually failed the exams did you?" Fubuki asked with a raised eyebrow

"Oh, and lord Hokage was thinking about making her his successor," a new voice chuckled

"His successor?" Fubuki repeated thoughtfully, before blinking and realizing that it wasn't any of the men surrounding her who spook up. Everyone moved at the same time, blinking dumbly at the Jonin leaning against the window seal and smirking at them in amusement.

"Shikaku," Kakashi greeted, bobbing his head as the scared man smoothly entered the large office

"What do you mean he thought of making her his successor?" Danzo asked seriously

"You seriously didn't think that I was training her for those first two weeks did you?" Shikaku asked with a raised eyebrow, "Lord Hokage did most of her training, between the two of us that girl got next to no sleep. I actually think that she made a solid clone and made it get all the sleep she'd need so she wouldn't be so tiered when it was time to switch teachers."

"Smart," Kakashi chuckled

"Ne~ Hiruzen-sensei was teaching Blossom to be his next successor?" Jiraya asked

"He was thinking about it," Shikaku replied with a careless shrug, "He wanted to see how she did in the chunin exam before he finalized his decision on the matter."

"If what I saw of her fight with Dosu was anything to be proud of, I'd say he decided yes," Fubuki chuckled, "What Hokage wouldn't want their next successor to survive a sound concussion at point blank range, go flying through nearly two cement walls and still have enough strength to get up and taunt their enemy?"

"Not only that but she even had enough strength to take out several sound and Sand teams in the attack," Kakashi smirked at Fubuki. "I actually watched her take out two sound teams with one bomb, a sand team with some wires and then she ran through the crowed with those damned kunai of hers and did a healthy amount of damage to the enemy—all while on the run to me."

"If you think that's impressive you should've seen some of her sparing tactics with Hiruzen," Shikaku chuckled, "He had to create five different shadow clones to keep his sparing on pare with her."

"Eh~ when was this?" Kakashi asked, blinking rapidly at the Nara clan head

"Oh about two weeks in on her training," Shikaku chuckled, "that's when I was brought in to help with her training."

"How'd that go?" Fubuki asked innocently

"The first round she damn near castrated me," Shikaku said seriously, giving the pinkette a glare that said 'I know you taught her that'. Fubuki just smiled innocently at him, as if she didn't understand his glare.

"Sakura-chan likes putting explosive kunai between men's legs a little too much to be healthy," Jiraya commented with a sigh

"Can't say she doesn't get you moving," Kakashi chuckled

"It doesn't matter how much attention you give her," Danzo said, drawing everyone's attention to him, "the girl is in the hospital."

"Ah, yes," Homura murmured softly, straightening as if realizing something, "She's in a coma, isn't she?"

"Then we're still left with Danzo and Jiraya," Koharu sighed, "not that any of us would even consider a child for the title of Hokage, despite her skills on and off the battle field."

Damn it all, Shikaku thought, eye narrowing on the three village councilors. Is it a Haruno thing to never get in NORMAL trouble? Must every national destruction be aimed straight for them?

"If we can get Tsunade-Hime to come back that can be fixed," Jiraya said seriously, he'll fight tooth and nail to keep them reminded of her presence, there was still a chance that she'll come back to the village.

It was just a matter of finding and then convincing her to return

"Ne~ why not make a bet?" Homura asked suddenly, "We'll give you a month to find Tsunade-Hime, if you can't by then, then Danzo will become the next Hokage?"

"And what if I find her but can't convince her?" Jiraya asked, dark eyes narrowed and serious, "Will you place Sakura Haruno as a consideration?"

"If you find Tsunade and fail to convince her, then we'll consider, the young Haruno girl," Koharu agreed, "Be warned Jiraya, we said consider, not approve of."

"This also means that if he can both find and bring back Tsunade-Hime, then she'll become the next Hokage," Shikaku said, "just to make sure you're not going to back on your word, you do understand this part of the bet, yes?"

"We understand," Homura rolled her eyes, "that's the point of sending Jiraya out to search for Tsunade-Hime, if he can bring her back she'll be Hokage, if not then we'll take consideration of the girl."

"Alright, I'll take your bet," Jiraya smirked. Koharu nodded courtly, rising to his feet with Homura and Danzo, the three leaving silently. Fubuki waited until she couldn't hear their foot steps, then counted to ten before she turned to address her once teacher.

"You do realize that you don't have a choice in failing this mission, right?" Fubuki asked, regarding Jiraya seriously, "bring back Tsunade-Hime or prepare for my wrath."

"Eh? You don't want blossom to become Hokage?" Jiraya asked surprised

"Don't misunderstand Jiraya-sensei," Fubuki huffed, "I just don't want my little sister to get treated like she's an adult when she's not. I know she can take the pressure of being Hokage, but she is a child still and there aren't many adults who'll take her seriously. The village will get attacked more often, she'll get assassination attempts more often then any other Kage, those of her own generation will segregate her from themselves, adults will segregate themselves from her."

"Ah~ you don't want Sakura-chan to end up like Itachi, right?" Kakashi asked in amusement, "he's not that bad ya-know"

"Yeah, after he met Tayuya he isn't that bad, but did you ever meet him before her?" Fubuki asked, "I did, that wasn't pleasant by any means."

"No worries peaches," Jiraya chuckled, "Even if she gets the title, there's no way for Sakura-chan to some how inherit Itachi-san's personality. She's just too bubbly"

"Plus you and Tayuya have a bad habit of breaking people's walls down like they're nothing," Kakashi chuckled, "If anyone can keep Sakura-chan the way she is, it'll be you two."

"By the way Shikaku," Kakashi called looking at the scared man curiously, "Was anything you said the truth?"

"Of course," Shikaku smirked, "with a lie or two."

Of course, Fubuki chuckled and shook her head, only Shikaku would lie, straight faced, to the council


"Are you sure dad?" Ino asked as she pushed herself up in her bed, trying to ignore the pain in her leg as she sat up

"I'm sure," Inoichi sighed, restacking her pillows and adjusting her blankets, "I saw her yesterday evening."

"Is she going to be okay?" Ino asked, surprised her voice didn't crack with the emotions she was feeling

"...I don't know" Inoichi answered truthfully, "Jiraya-sama is taking her teammates to go search for Tsunade-Hime. There's a chance that if she can get back in time, that she just might be able to save her"

"If?" She asked softly, staring dully at her father making him sigh

"...The doctors don't think Sakura has much time left" Inoichi clarified softly, not liking having to tell Ino the bad news. "They're giving her a week..." Ino couldn't stop the tears from spilling, she had wanted to talk to Sakura, to apologize and ask for forgiveness—now she wouldn't get the chance.


"I'll never run away!"

"Ototo! Don't die! Don't Die! OTOTO!"

"I'll always love you"

"No! Don't die! Don't die!"

"You're a cowered," he mumbled

"You're a fool" she shot back

"Can you save her?" He asked fearfully

"Nothing can save her"

"Please" He begged, tears streaming down his cheeks "please save her... use whatever you need, take from me everything you need, just please, you have to save her!"

"...You'll die for her?"

"A thousand times over"

She was standing in the crimson office, staring at a familiar white robbed back, a familiar village sitting peacefully just beyond the window. Oh how she loved the view from his office window, oh how beautiful her village must look behind that chair

"Now that the threat is over, will you still leave?"

"Yes" she answered softly, her heart saying something else, yelling and screaming at her to say something else, anything else

"Will you come back?"

"No" Yes!

"Are you sure?"

"Yes" No!

"If I died," he started softly, his dark eyes not looking back at her "Would you come back?"

She didn't have the heart to give him an answer because she knew that she was divided. Her mind said he would die some day and that logically she would return for him, so yes. Her heart believed that the ancient man couldn't die so she would never have to return, so no.

She was divided, her mind and heart spook two different truths and she didn't know who to believe

She woke up in a cold sweat in another unfamiliar room, always an unfamiliar room—it was once a familiar room, once long ago...

She could still smell the copper and rust that made blood—the warm, sweet scent of his favorite smoking tobacco

She could still taste the burning of stomach acids—the sweet, overly honeyed tea he loved

She could still hear the screams—the soft laughter that warmed her heart and brought forth only pleasant memories

She could still feel the blood—his hug when she was sad, his arms that spun her around and around just to make her laugh again

She could still see the begging faces of those souls she failed to save—his smile as he welcomed her home

"Just a dream, it was... just a dream" She whispered, raking a hand threw her long pale locks, honey eyes rising to look out her window to see a large crimson moon glaring down at her. "It was just a dream... Right?"

"Tsunade-Hime" he called with laughter dancing in his voice, "Come home safely this time, okay?"

"Sensei..." she whispered, leaning over to examine the sky a little closer. In the distance, she watched the wind blow a group of leafs high into the air and twirl before the moon before they were blown again out of sight.

Was it just her or did those leafs stay too long on the surface of that bloody moon?


Who do you think should become a chunin?

I want to stay close to the original story line but I'm not above making adjustments

Thoughts are helpful

Opinions are wonderful

Helpful criticismis lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?

Please no cursing!

And don't forget to rate and review!

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