Chapter 27: War Cancellation Preparation

Jiraiya, Naruto, and I stood in a circle. Right in the middle of us is a tiny little tadpole wriggling aimlessly on the ground. It disappeared in a small poof of smoke a few seconds later, leaving only a small wet spot on the ground and the ghostly disappointment of the Fourth Hokage.

You see, just a moment ago Naruto signed the Toad summoning contract. He was very eager to summon his first, well, summon. He even told us that he's not going to hold back and that he's going to summon the strongest toad out there.

Needless to say, even Hinata might've been disappointed in him right now.

Jiraiya was the first one to respond. "OI! Brat! Stop playing around and summon a toad already!" He exclaimed in outrage.

"You drained my chakra you perverted sage!" Naruto retorted in outrage. "How am I supposed to summon without chakra!?" Oh, and there's also the fact that Jiraiya made him create a million clones to drain his chakra. So I guess it's not entirely his fault.

"You need to learn how to harness your red chakra. Simply relying on your power is not going to be enough." Jiraiya replied.

"I'm not going to rely on fox's chakra!" Naruto replied. "Besides, I have the fox's shadow clone controlling his chakra." That's a fair point, the Kyubi is more than enough to control his own chakra.

Jiraiya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Listen brat, It's not about using or not using your red chakra. It's about knowing how to control it." He folded his arms and gazed at Naruto sternly. "Don't think I don't know what happened brat, you damn well tried to kill that Hyuga kid."

Naruto was about to say something but clamped his mouth shut. He knew that Jiraiya's right, if Sasuke didn't stop him, Hinata might just lose her brother.

"Fine..." Naruto muttered finally in defeat. He bit his tongue again and made some hand seal. "Ninja Art: Summoning Technique!" He slammed his fist on to the ground and a plume of smoke exploded upon contact. A few seconds later, the smoke dispersed, revealing...

Yet another tadpole...

"You call that a toad!?" Jiraiya exclaimed in outrage.

"I'm trying my best here you perverted hermit!"

"You're not trying hard enough! Put your life on the line, act like this is the very last jutsu you use!" Jiraiya explained. "Come on, do it! Show me that you're your father's son!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and bit his tongue again. Some sort of red hue surrounded him from all sides. "SUMMONING TECHNIQUE!" He slammed his palm on to the ground and a huge plume of smoke exploded upon contact. We all watched in anticipation as the smoke slowly dispersed, revealing...

Another tadpole... But this one has legs, so, progress?

"NARUTO!" Jiraiya yelled.

"I'M TRYING YOU PERVERTED SAGE!"

The two of glared at each other and I'm starting to feel like I shouldn't be intruding on their training. I quietly bid them farewell and decided to see if I can visit Lee and Sakura in the hospital.

"Sakura! Hi!" A ducked under a scalpel before giggling a little. "Come on! At least I'm not barging in during an operation." I said while floating through the hospital window.

Sakura rolled her eyes and looked back towards the papers in her hands. "What is it Haios?" Her tone exhausted and dull.

I took a closer look at Sakura. Her pink hair was messy and untidy, bags were visible under her eyes, and her body seemed to be shivering slightly in exhaustion.

"Sakura, I know you're a doctor and all, but have you considered to, I dunno…" I gave her a deadpan look. "Sleeping?"

Sakura chuckled a little mirthlessly before putting down her documents. "Considered? Yeah, I thought about sleeping. Then I thought..." she slammed her desk, stood up, and looked at me with a dead serious look on her face. "My friends, no, my loved ones are going to fight to death tomorrow. Do you think I can rest easy, not knowing if I can heal them? Do you think I can bear the guilt if I fail to save one of them?"

"I barely managed to save Lee!" She sat down on the table and sighed a little. "If Naruto wasn't there, if I never knew about Uzumaki kekkei genkai… I won't be able to heal him Haios, I would've failed…"

I walked behind her and hugged her from behind. "Sakura, we all trust you. We all know that you will always do your best to fix us up no matter what happened." I gently hold her hand and put away the documents. "Now, I want you to relax and have a rest. Humans need their sleep to process information don't they?"

Sakura exhaled a deep breath. "Okay, okay…" She stood up from her seat and I lifted myself up without letting go of her. "Haios, I need to check on Lee's condition first."

"Go ahead, but I'm not letting go." The girl rolled her eyes and walked towards the door.

The hospital halls are a quite empty. There are some nurses walking around every now and then, but it's pretty much peaceful and not hectic.

"So, how's Lee?" I asked

Sakura looked up for a moment in deep thought. "He's, okay." She sighed a little and put a hand over her forehead . "But I messed up, so now he's uhh… an Uzumaki?"

I blinked owlishly after hearing that. "Say what now?"

"I wanted to accelerate his healing process by manually extracting the Uzumaki chakra from the blood I injected him with, however…"

I rest my head on her left shoulder. "However?"

"I accidentally integrated the Uzumaki DNA into his bloodstream and thus making him an actual Uzumaki hybrid."

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but since Sakura doesn't seem to be panicking over it I'm just gonna assume that it's not something I should worry about.

Soon enough, we made it to Lee's room. Sakura opened the door, revealing an empty room with a messy bed. "Ah, that was quick." Sakura muttered to herself. "Come on, let's check the yard. Though, we might wanna get there fast, mind giving me a lift?"

I let go of her and lifted her up with the force.

"287, 288, 289…" Lee exclaimed with every push of his body. With one hand casted away, he told us that he won't stop until he get to 300.

All my life, I've never seen that amount of determination coming from a single person. The way he kept pushing himself to the limit, ignoring the cries of pain from his body.

"You see, this is the reason." Sakura muttered without looking away from Lee. "How can I sleep knowing that my friends are struggling away, pushing theirselves past their limit?" She folded her arms in front of her chest. "I need to always be ready to heal them, to make them feel better. Because I am a doctor."

"292…" Lee's body shook and it took all of my willpower to not give him any boost. "293…" He gritted his teeth in pain and I know that he's way past his limit.

But maybe, a psychological help is fine. "Lee! You can do this!" I exclaimed. "Think about your hard work, all the pain you've been through just to get to this point! You think a little bit of broken bones will stop you!?"

"294! 295! 296!" His breathing gets labored and sweat trickled down his face.

"Your friends! Your sensei! Everyone in this village are counting for you Lee! Because you are the Shinobi of The Leaf. You Have The Will of Fire Burning Inside You!"

"297! 298! 299! Gyaah!" Just one more, he just have to push up his body. His arm was trembling in pain, but the determination in his eyes didn't falter. "Three…" milimeters by milimeters he pushed his body. "HUNDRED!"

The boy dropped down moments later, unconscious.

Sakura swiftly walked towards him and starts flashing him with her flashlight. "He'll be up and running in a week, thanks to the Uzumaki blood inside him." She said while taking out a stretcher from a storage seal.

I helped her put Lee on to the stretcher and we both took him back to his bed.

I flew around gigantic rock formations in the outskirts of Konoha. Sakura told me that this is where Sasuke supposed to be training with Kakashi. I wonder what Sasuke's strategy in defeating Garra, I mean, if Lee with his gates can't beat him. I am very worried for Sasuke.

"That brat's an Uchiha, he'll be fine, stop worrying."

Oh, and I also met the Kyubi on my way here. I decided to pick him up and have him perching on my head. "What does being an Uchiha has anything to do with that?"

The fox grumbled a little under his breath. "Everything..." The way he said that makes me feel like there's a long story behind that one. I need to start doing research on Uchiha, they seemed to be a pretty big deal.

After flying around for a few minutes, I found both of them sitting on top of the highest rock formation. They seemed to be meditating, but I'm not quite sure.

"Hey guys! How's training?" I asked them as I landed right between the two of them. Kakashi looked at me for a moment and put his pointer finger in front of his mask, telling me to be quiet.

Then I looked at Sasuke. He has his eyes closed and a very intimidating aura around his body. Though he looked calm, I can feel that his heart rate doubles and his body heat increasing.

A few seconds later, the boy opened his eyes and stood up. He made a hand seal and build up his chakra. "Kaimon Kai!" he exclaimed.

Just like that, his physical power doubles. He glanced at me and a smirk appeared on his face. "Hello Haios, you're just in time,"

I gulped a little and held up my hands. "Hey now, easy there, I'm scout, not a fighter," I told him while backing away slowly.

Sasuke looked disappointed, but then he moved his attention slightly up. "What about you furball? You think you're up for it?"

Did he just challenged the Kyubi?

"That arrogance, you truly are an Uchiha…" the Kyubi hopped off my head and transformed into his human form. A pair of crimson red blade appeared on his hands. "Prepare yourself…"

Kakashi walked between the two of them and raised his hand. "Kyubi against Sasuke, battle Start!" he body flickers right next to me.

Sasuke charged in first with a feint, I thought the Kyubi will block it, but he just ended the match in one motion.

He front flipped, jumping above Sasuke and used his blades to restrict Sasuke's movement. Then he landed behind Sasuke and put a blade behind his neck. "A hundred years too early mortal…"

"Winner, Kyubi!" Kakashi exclaimed.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and activated his sharingan. "Round Two!" he exclaimed before creating a distance between him and the Kyubi. He took a deep breath and threw a kunai straight at the Kyubi.

The fox just twitched his blade to deflect the kunai while walking calmly towards Sasuke. "In a few weeks you will be fighting against a wild animal, not a shinobi," he sidestepped a feint from Sasuke and caught his hand. "Challenging me to fight Shukaku is like challenging the Hokage to fight Naruto."

The Kyubi let go of Sasuke's hand and the Uchiha took a few steps back. "Then train me to fight my brother..." Sasuke said with determination in his eyes. "I have to be stronger."

The fox raised an eyebrow after hearing that. "Give me a good reason why I should help you, Uchiha," he blocked a lightning-fast kunai strike with his blade. "Your family has a very bad reputation with the tailed beast."

Now I'm very curious about the connection between Kyubi and Uchiha. I looked beside me and saw Kakashi watching the fight intensely. "Ne, Kakashi senpai, what's Kyubi's connection with Uchiha clan?"

"Madara Uchiha used the Kyubi in his battle against the First Hokage," Kakashi replied without taking his eyes off the battle. "I wasn't present that day, so you might want to ask the Fox."

I looked back at the battle and saw the Kyubi kicking Sasuke away right in the face. "Pathetic, if all Uchihas are as weak as you, then it's no wonder a single shinobi can wipe them out," Ouch, that comment gotta hurt more than the kick.

Sasuke seems to agree with me. His eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth in frustration. "I am not a weakling..." he whispered in a dangerous tone in his voice.

The Uchiha blurred away from existence and reappeared right in front of the Kyubi with his fist millimeters away from Kyubi's face. But the fox disappeared out of existence and a powerful kick from behind sent the Uchiha tumbling forward.

"This is a waste of time..." the Kyubi folded his arms in front of his chest. "Maybe that's why your brother spared you, because you're just a waste of time. You're too weak to make any difference,"

I wanted to yell out 'All right Satan, let's take it down a notch sweetie!', but Kakashi motioned me to stay silent and just watch.

Sasuke then pointed his palm to the ground. Electricity started crackling on his left palm and I can hear the sound of a thousand chirping bird coming from it. "I'll show you..." he raised his electric palm and charges in towards the Kyubi. "CHIDORI!"

I can't really describe what happens next. One second Sasuke's charging towards Kyubi with the lightning ball. The next, Sasuke soared towards me with the lightning bolt. "Stop!" I exclaimed while erecting a force field and sent him swerving away.

"Itachi won't be kind enough to give you enough room to stop," Kyubi spoke in that soft yet menacing voice. "It could've been Naruto's Clone or it could've been Sakura," he walked towards the downed Sasuke who's catching his breath. "It happens, Uchiha. A shinobi destroying himself and his loved ones because of his anger."

Sasuke curled his fist on the ground. "What are you trying to prove Kyubi?"

A smirk appeared on Kyubi's face. "Your first lesson, keeping your head cold and calm," he grabbed Sasuke's hand and helped him on his feet. "Let's try this again, keep your head calm."

Sasuke took a deep breath and gazed at the Kyubi. "All right, let's do this..." he raised his Kunai and put on a defensive stance.

The Kyubi made a hand seal and a cloud of smoke exploded around him. When the cloud dies down, a figure wearing black uchiha cloak stood in his place. He has black straight hair, bright red eyes with fully matured sharingan, and a calm aura of badass around him.

Sasuke's gaze wavered and his whole body shook. He gritted his teeth, trying to regain his composure. "You..." he whispered as his knuckles turning white from gripping the kunai. "Why?"

"Foolish little brother..." Itachi walked calmly towards the boy. "You don't hate me enough," he kicked Sasuke away and started walking away from him.

Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a war cry. He charged in towards Itachi and tried to stab him from behind. But the older Uchiha just flickered away from existence and the kyubi appeared behind Sasuke holding a red blade on his neck.

"Keep your cool human! There's nothing more deadly than Uchiha arrogance combined with reckless wrath," the Kyubi chided sternly. "You are a shinobi, act like it."

Sasuke closed his eyes and took long deep breaths. He then glanced at me and sighed a little. "Haios, I would appreciate it if you would give us some privacy. I'm worried that..."

"Yeah, it's okay, I'm just about to leave anyway," I floated up from the Uchiha and gave him my best encouraging smile. "Do your best Sasuke, you're not quite there yet, but I believe you're gonna get there in no time!"

"Thanks," he gave me a small smile before looking back at the Kyubi. "All right fox, let's do this!"

I was about to fly away when I remembered something. "By the way Kakashi, where's team ten?" I asked the jounin.

"They are either on a yakiniku restaurant or training ground ten."

I landed in the middle of Training Ground Ten. I glanced around the whole place and saw nothing but leafy greens and clouds. I was about to leave when I saw a familiar face walking from across the street.

"Yo, Haios, training for the finals?" Shikamaru asked. Though, I can see from his tone and body language that his actual question is: 'Haios, I sure as hell hope that you're training for the war because if anything bad happens then it's your fault,' or something along those lines.

"Just chilling, where's everyone else?" I asked him.

"Lunch," Shikamaru replied simply.

A few minutes later, Asuma senpai walked into the training ground. "Oh, there you are Shikamaru," he said while taking a whiff of his cigarettes. "How does it go? Did you make friends with the Suna genin?" 'How's the diplomatic approach?'

"They're a bit shy, but I'm pretty sure they remember my name, especially the blonde." 'They won't cooperate but I'm sure they got the warning'. Shikamaru replied calmly. "By the way, did Hokage give you a raise? I saw what Choji did to your wallet." 'How did the Hokage took in all this? The Sand Shinobi is on the move.'

"He'll deal with it soon, don't worry, we'll have a Yakiniku again soon." 'He's on the case, prepare for a mission.'

"Guys I'm kinda feeling left out!" 'Why are we speaking codes?' I exclaimed. "Are you in on something I don't know about?" 'Are you guys being watched?'

"Nah, not really," 'maybe,' Shikamaru replied. "But we might soon," 'so let's prepare, just for a precaution.'

"Welp, don't leave me out okay? Gotta go!" 'Warn me if anything happens, don't hesitate to ask for help okay?' I exclaimed while preparing to take off.

"See you later Haios san!" 'It might be sooner than you think,' Asuma senpai said.

"And don't slack off!" 'For the love of Kami, DO NOT slack off!' Shikamaru added.

"Hey! That's my line!" 'You to Shikamaru, do your absolute best!'

Meanwhile in an undisclosed location...

"Hmm... Oto and Suna VS Konoha..." a certain brown haired sorcerer thought to herself while sitting on a giant stone finger. "Definitely Konoha, unless we do something about it, should we?"

Konan said nothing. She could only sit down obediently next to her mistress. All thoughts, hopes, dreams, and things worth living for, have completely left her mind. She's nothing more but a subject of her mistress's amusement since she broke her weeks ago.

"Nah, you're right, we'll see how this one goes," Vida said. "You think we can spare a few Ryo for a couple of seat to watch the Chunin Exam?"

'Just kill me already!' Konan wanted to scream. However, she couldn't, not even death can free her from this suffering. She knew that if she dies, Vida would just resurrect her and strip away her freewill. Just like what she did with Nagato.

But maybe, if she stays obedient, she might have a chance to save as many people as possible. She might have a chance to make sure that no people will suffer the same fate as her.

That is the only thing that keeps her going...

CN: Hmm... That break was much longer than I expected... But don't worry, from now on, this story will have a weekly update. I can promise you that because I am *this* close from finishing the story. I even made the draft of the sequel which will be rated M for violence (consider that a warning). So perhaps that's all.

Really? Is that really all?

Ah, yes, I almost forgot. There will be No Happy Ending on this story. It will be tragic and nowhere close to bitter sweet. You can thank that Pink Menace evoking my wrath for that.

As for you readers, the ones who probably roots for my demise. Let me tell you on thing...

The Author and I are in charge of this story, not Haios, not Sakura, and definitely not that Time Roach.