Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. However, the original characters and plot of this fic belong to me.

Author Notes: This is about two weeks late, so sorry. I was busy with a lot of other things and i have ideas for another two stories in my head which i want to write. All that combined kind of made me put off writing this chapter but i have done so now.

Chapter 33: Grand Messenger

Naruto was sweating, breath leaving his mouth in short bursts. His orange shirt was drenched while his yellow hair glistened due to the sunlight. Standing opposite him was Sasuke, equally exhausted yet managing to retain a calm demeanour. It had been a day since the arrangement had been established and the training was already underway. The locale chosen was not too far off from the village of the Confederation; in the middle of the surrounding forest.

"I think it's time for a change." Sakumo was tapping his chin, having keenly observed the fight. Sasuke nodded, walking to the side and picking up his kusanagi. Attaching it to his waist, he left the area of battle.

Naruto collapsed in his spot, placing his hands on the grass to support himself. He looked at the sky, enjoying the sun, "We do need to rest."

"I never said that." Sakumo scratched his head, noticing Naruto look towards him suspiciously, "I said it was time for a change, you're still going to continue training."

Naruto's mouth fell open, "What?" He didn't bother trying to argue, already having experienced Sakumo's methods and knowing he couldn't win. "Who's next; you or Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked up from his book upon hearing his name mentioned, "I was supposed to be part of the second round of sparring."

Naruto was now on his feet, a puzzled expression across his visage. "Which means…?" Facing the only remaining person, he noticed her put gloves on. He suddenly remembered receiving the shattering punch in Konoha, "Oh, this isn't good."

Sakura started walking towards the blonde, rotating her wrists and flexing her hand. She was clearly ready to fight; a stern expression imprinted across her usually soft countenance.

Naruto sighed before adopting a battle stance, his eyes not leaving the form of Sakura. The sound of the huge waterfall in the background travelled through the air as it powered into the pool below.

Sakura halted several feet across Naruto, facing him with intensity. A few seconds later, a smirk appeared across her face. She stamped her foot into the ground, placing all her energy into the attack. The ground was instantly decimated as it began to rip straight through towards her opponent.

Naruto was taken by surprise, losing his balance. He attempted to regain it; jumping from the crumbling rocks, while at the same time noticing Sakura rushing towards him. Ducking an incoming punch, he escaped past the woman onto flatter land.

Sakura didn't hesitate, stamping on the ground a few more times and sending large pieces of rock into the air. She readied herself as the rocks began to fall closer, punching them hardly. She let out a battle cry as the rocks were destroyed into even smaller parts and flew through the air towards Naruto.

Naruto spotted the kunoichi's actions out of the corner of his eye, quickly holding out his hand, "Kaze No Yaiba!" A blade of wind formed in his grasp as he quickly slashed through the debris. He didn't stop until he had destroyed all the pieces of Earth which had been punched his way.

Kakashi saw the dust rise into the air, "Sakura certainly hasn't lost her touch."

"She's still taking it easy." Sasuke was seated on the ground, his arm across his knee.

Sakumo was also impressed by the young woman but was keeping a closer eye on her opponent, remembering his spar with Sasuke, "Naruto still has a lot of skill; I expected him to be far worse than he actually is." He noticed the dust clearing, "Looks like they're just sizing each other up."

The blade of wind faded from Naruto's hand as he stared at the beauty across him. He exhaled heavily, feeling tired from his match with Sasuke, "You're a scary woman, you know that?"

Sakura brushed off his comment, tightening her glove around her hand, "Maybe you should give up."

Naruto laughed, "Not a chance." He grabbed his orange shirt, taking it off and throwing it to the ground.

Sakura nearly choked by surprise, "What are you doing?"

"It's uncomfortable." Naruto spread his legs apart, lowering his head slightly, "I can understand though; this must bring back memories."

Sakumo raised an eyebrow upon hearing the man, "That…sounds strange."

Sakura noticed the three observers listening in, quickly facing Naruto, "Shut up and fight!" She was inwardly slapping herself at giving him the opportunity to say such a thing, considering she had experienced enough of him to know what he was like. Not wasting any time, she ran towards Naruto engaging him head on.

Naruto didn't retreat, beginning to dodge her furious punches. He weaved himself around her body, narrowly avoiding her attacks. Seconds passed by as he swiftly defended against her onslaught before deciding to finally counter. Grabbing her approaching fist, he tugged on her hardly. He pulled back his hand and thrust it forward; but inches away from her face, he abruptly stopped.

Sakura was surprised to see his fist hovering in front of her. Noticing his hesitation, she quickly drove her fist into his stomach.

Naruto snapped out of his confused state as his abdomen exploded with pain, making him splutter. His hand immediately went to his ribs as he recognised Sakura about to strike him again. Without wasting any time, he formed seals with his free hand, "Ripurikeeshon!" He moved backwards, leaving a replication of himself to receive Sakura's devastating punch.

Sakura blasted through the copy before attempting to strike Naruto again. She didn't slow down with her offence, throwing punches at any opening.

Naruto desperately tried to avoid being struck, dodging swiftly. His fatigue was catching up to him and he knew he didn't have the energy left to go a full round with the woman. Without caring about the consequences, he rapidly formed another set of hand seals, "Doton Gankai Takamari!"

The ground beneath Sakura and Naruto shot upwards, launching them high into the air. The kunoichi was taken by surprise, trying to turn to predict her landing. It seemed they were heading for the pool below the waterfall.

Naruto was carefree, enjoying the fall through the air. His eyes twitched however, as he saw Sakura preparing to land on top of the water. Looking at the woman to his side, he grabbed her hand before pulling her to himself. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, making sure she was incapable of doing anything.

Sakura blushed as she was held by the half naked man, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I need a break." Naruto slowly closed his eyes.

Sakura couldn't budge within the jinchuuriki's grasp, "Then just say so you idiot; don't make me get wet!"

Sakumo observed the falling couple prior to facing the men next to him, "So, I'm assuming there's a lot of history between them?"

Kakashi and Sasuke shared a blank stare as the former answered, "Apparently."

A huge splash resonated throughout the area; Naruto and Sakura both having fallen into the miniature lake at the bottom of the waterfall.

XXXXXXXXXX

The wind blew past the old man, picking up the sand of the beach as it did so. Hideaki had a serious demeanour, dwelling on the information he had just received. Staring at the blue dragon in front of him, he spoke, "Are you sure about this Tatsuyoshi?"

The gigantic dragon was laying flat in the water, only his head exposed, "I recognised the insignia of Iwa on their clothes."

"From your descriptions, they sound like the Titans." Hideaki sighed, realising everything had become a lot more complicated, "If Hajin discovers where we are; he won't hesitate attacking."

"I have my defence in place; it won't be easy penetrating the cyclone." Tatsuyoshi said.

"While your defence is in place, you're incapable of doing anything else. It's too taxing for you to do so. If they summon you should place your own safety as priority, but that would cause the cyclone to stop." Hideaki analysed everything in his mind in order to see what the best solution was.

"What do you intend to do?" Tatsuyoshi asked.

"This cannot become the battlefield; there are too many innocent people here. I need to figure out a way to stop everything." Hideaki clasped his hands, slightly in confusion over the situation.

Tatsuyoshi gave his opinion on the matter, "The only way to do that would be to intercept him first, before he can mount an attack on the homeland." The dragon blew out some steam from his nose before resuming, "But it depends on whether you can prepare your army before him."

"I can't; we're not near being ready. We're also greatly outnumbered by Iwa's force, and the Hokage is yet to make her decision about helping us." Hideaki closed his eyes, shaking his head, "Even then, it wouldn't matter; he's been preparing for this battle for years, his army will most certainly already be organised. Once he learns of this news, it's only a matter of time before he's marching across that sea."

Tatsuyoshi could recognise that the elderly ninja was deep in thought, no doubt trying to find a resolution to the conundrum at hand. "Do you have any idea of how you could delay him?"

Hideaki turned around, "Naruto will need at least a month before he's ready to take the final step. And even after that, he will require time to fully adjust to what he will have discovered. For an army the size of Iwa's, it would take them near to three weeks to arrive here from their location." He started walking away, "To delay him seems nearly impossible…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sat at the edge of the lake, his body covered with droplets of water. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it backwards. Resting his arms on his raised knees, he faced the woman to his side.

Sakura was panting heavily; surprised she had escaped the fall without any injury. Her clothes were drenched, water escaping to the grass below. Her eyes took a dangerous glint as she faced Naruto, smacking him on the top of his head, "You idiot!"

"Shit!" Naruto instantly grabbed his head, rubbing it to ease the pain, "What was that for?"

Sakura pointed at the seated jinchuuriki, "You didn't have to do that! What happened to asking for a break? Huh?"

Naruto had a perplexed expression which soon turned into a smile, "It was fun though right?"

"Fun?" Sakura questioned his goofy grin before slapping her head, "I don't have any clothes apart from these either. They're going to smell when they dry up." She sighed, walking towards the remaining shinobi in the area.

Kakashi coughed, deciding not to bring up any topic with the evidently volatile kunoichi. He opened up his favourite book and started reading.

Sakumo turned to the supplies he had brought with him, retrieving a towel and throwing it to Sakura, "This'll help."

Sakura began to dry her hair before noticing another person staring at her, "Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru jumped on the spot, surprised that he had been discovered. He fell over with a thud, grimacing when his face connected with the ground.

"When did you come?" Sakura realised he was partially hidden behind the bushes, "And why are you hiding?"

"He came during your match with Naruto; I didn't bother calling out to him since it seemed he was comfortable where he was." Sakumo spoke in an almost bored tone.

Konohamaru stood up, laughing nervously, "I didn't know whether I would've been allowed to stay." He scratched his head, "Can I?"

Sasuke continued staring at the sky, "We're only training; it's nothing to guard. A ninja can learn from participating as well as observing people in combat."

Kakashi turned a page in his book, "Very true; if you want to stay, feel free."

Sakura shook her head, "What a dense person."

Konohamaru became irritated but quickly wiped the disdain from his face when Sakura looked at him. Coughing, he walked past the group, "I'm going over there." He pointed towards Naruto before jogging in his direction.

Naruto searched through his pockets, taking out his packet of cigarettes. He turned them around in his hand, realising they were ruined, "Maybe it wasn't a good idea after all…" Whistling, he placed the wet pack down on the grass next to him.

"That was a good fight!" Konohamaru was grinning widely.

Naruto stretched his neck, "You think so? I thought I ended it too early,"

"Well…" Konohamaru tried to figure out what to say.

Naruto laughed, "Don't give yourself a headache over it. Have a seat."

Konohamaru nodded, complying with the request. He stayed silent for a few moments before speaking, "Last night we all had a great time."

"Where are the others now?" Naruto asked.

"Aoba said something about taking them to the Shinobi Games." Konohamaru pictured the special jounin in his head, shuddering slightly.

"That's not a bad place to go to." Naruto grinned, "They're bound to enjoy themselves."

Konohamaru faced the blonde, "What exactly are they?"

"They're a series of events where they test your skills for prizes. I took part in one when I was younger; a lot of fun." Naruto looked at the youth, "Why didn't you go with them?"

Konohamaru grabbed his scarf, "I didn't really feel like it." He hesitated, knowing his next question could be considered as prying too much, "In Konoha, how did you not give up?"

"Eh?" Naruto was puzzled, "I don't understand."

Konohamaru gazed at the ground while he spoke, "I can't say I know how you must have felt, but after Uncle Asuma and Ojiisan died, I felt lonelier than I had ever before. You were alone from the start; that's would be a lot harder to cope with."

"You overrate me; I wasn't that strong now that I think about it." Naruto took a deep breath, looking at the sparking water in front of him, "When someone is backed into a corner, the only thing left for them is hope. All of us, we have that in common. What do you do when you have nothing left but despair?"

"But just because you have hope doesn't mean you'll keep on believing. People give up…" Konohamaru closed his eyes, "…I've seen it myself on missions; hope can only get you so far."

"No matter how long we live or what happens, people will always suffer. As long as they suffer, they'll hope for something better to come and save them." Naruto remembered his conversation with Yuudai, finally understanding the meaning behind his words, "People give up; I did too at one point. But something happens which brings back that hope, that desire, that feeling that they can achieve what they want. If someone really wants it, they'll go out there and take it; they won't lose hope."

Konohamaru was astonished at how much the words of the retired shinobi made sense. He laughed quietly, "You sound like an old man."

"You think that's funny?" Naruto started laughing too, "I changed but I didn't realise; it's kind of weird at times."

Konohamaru adopted a serious attitude, "Will you come back to Konoha?" He saw his words confused the older man, "We could use someone like you."

Naruto wiped the water from his forehead, "My journey's going to end soon; I won't be able to come back."

Konohamaru shook his head, "Why not?"

Naruto slapped the chuunin on his back, "You don't need to worry about that." He stood up, yawning, "Don't give up on your dream; Konoha may have a great Hokage in the making."

"I think you would make…" Konohamaru was interrupted from finishing as a loud bang erupted in the vicinity.

XXXXXXXXXX

Gen walked through the ruins, his sister by his side. He reached the clearing where Hajin was busy marking seals. His presence hadn't gone unnoticed as the red haired Tsuchikage faced him.

Hajin's eyes hid sinister intent while he imagined the gloriousness of his objective. Briefly taking a break from his work, he straightened to his feet, "Did you find anything?"

"Off the North coast of Waterfall Country; I believe the location of the Confederation's homeland is there." Gen replied.

Hajin was inwardly surprised, curious to know more, "What makes you say that?"

Tai took off her mask, releasing herself from the warmth of being concealed for so long, "There's an unnatural cyclone in that area."

"There was also something else underneath the water; maybe a summoned beast. It would explain everything." Gen finished off for his sister.

Hajin folded his arms, "If what you're saying is true, it looks like we'll have a battle soon. But I can't go off what you assume, I need confirmation."

"I assure you Hajin-sama; there is something behind those walls." Gen slightly bowed his head.

"I can't prepare an army of thousands to travel across a Country based on an assumption. You do understand that, don't you?" Hajin waited for Gen to look at him, "Or do you think my methods aren't suitable?"

Gen shook his head, "I wouldn't dare think of such a thing."

Tai closed her eyes, hating every moment of seeing her older brother so easily obey the commands of the Tsuchikage, 'You've become like a dog.'

"Is there a problem Tai?" Hajin asked.

Tai's eyes snapped open; she was instantly wary of being under scrutiny, "No, there isn't."

"Go inform Tenjou that I have a task for him." Hajin turned around, starting to work on the seal patterns again.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto looked towards the source of the noise, a cloud of smoke rising from the impact. He tried to make out the blurred figure but was finding it too hard. He ran towards the rest of Team 7 and Sakumo, along with Konohamaru.

Sakura was coughing, "What was that?"

Sasuke was prepared to fight, his sharingan activated, "It's not human." He could make out the lines of chakra emanating from the huge arrival.

Kakashi had taken a similar action as the Uchiha, revealing his sharingan in case it was necessary.

Sakumo had his hands in his pockets, his hair slightly falling over his eyes, "There's no need to worry, though our training session is going to have to be postponed."

Konohamaru stared at the Hatake upon hearing him, "What do you mean?"

"I didn't summon…" Naruto was confused as the smoke began to clear, allowing him to examine the new arrival.

Crouching in the crater was a silver dragon, the horns on his head pointed upwards. His back had several razor sharp scales protruding outwards while his wings spread out. The goliath ascended to his feet, revealing his fangs as steam escaped from his nose, "Uzumaki Naruto; I have come for you."

Doton Gankai Takamari – Earth Release Rock Upsurge (Original)

Kaze No Yaiba – Wind Blade

Ripurikeeshon – Replication (Original)

Author Notes: Who is the dragon? You'll find that out next chapter along with a lot of other stuff. It's going to be a much longer chapter than this one since it covers a lot of things. Hopefully, i get it out on time. Laters.