Alright, chapter 7. I'm exhausted, worked to the bone, but damn I will write for all yall.

don't own it tho

"So can Kurama hear us if we talk to him?" Sakura asked as she walked down the trail with her team.

"When he's awake, yeah. He's actually pretty lazy," Naruto told her.

"I'm awake, kit."

"He's awake."

"Did you really have to leave a crater where that village used to be?" the team medic asked.

"Tell her it was just my personal preference."

"Seeing Pain's crater made him feel inadequate and now he's overcompensating."

"The sheer amount of pure rage I feel towards you right now could likely kill a small village on its own."

"You're welcome, furball."

Sakura spoke aloud after the brief internal exchange, "You know for some reason I don't think those were his exact words."

Sasuke gave a short laugh from his front position, "I for one thought it was pretty epic. Naruto just can't appreciate wanton destruction like we can, Kurama."

"See, why couldn't all Uchiha be like him? I'd have no problem with them if that was the case."

Naruto ignored his tenant in favor of retorting, "I'll have you know that I appreciate destruction very much, thank you."

"Boys, please don't let this mission devolve into a power-pissing contest," Sakura almost begged.

Ignoring his girlfriend, a grave mistake every man should be aware of, Sasuke continued to goad Naruto, "Well why don't you prove it? I can see the next village coming up, how about we see just what kind of 'destruction' you're capable of?"

"Don't go thinking you'll be able to match me, you broody son of a bitch," Naruto responded, his smile growing with every passing word.

"I really should have seen this coming."

Naruto sat cross-legged with a trio of clones, gathering what Nature chakra he would need. Sasuke sat up in a tree, his eyes trained on the distant village and the Kumo shinobi within it. Sakura was leaning against the trunk of the nearest tree, doing her best to look upset while hiding her curiosity.

"You know, Naruto, none of my jutsu require this much build up. Kinda seems like a drawback to me," Sasuke said from his perch.

"Yeah, well, I can't just push a few buttons and activate my 'special eyes' so I think you have a bit of an unfair advantage."

"You have a literal demon made of chakra fueling you."

"I won't be using any of his chakra for this."

"Still."

"Would you both shut up?! We're about to kill hundreds upon hundreds of people, and if we don't then there's a good chance that they'll kill hundreds of our people! How are you two so happy-go-lucky about this?"

There was silence for a few moments, both boys slightly sobered by their teammate's outburst. Naruto internally sighed and prepared one of his 'sage moments'. At least he was activating Sage Mode, it would be a bit more fitting.

"Sakura, that's exactly the reason we're doing our best to keep this light. It's our coping mechanism. I know I'm about to take away more lives than I care to count, and I can't bring myself to imagine the mother's, the father's, and the children who will have some of the most important people in their lives ripped away from them. I am more than willing to ensure that the same doesn't happen to the people in our own village, but that doesn't mean I'm totally okay with it. If I make it seem lighter, more like a game, then I feel like less of the monster that I know deep down that I am. Do you understand?"

"Dayum. Still, you've had better."

"Shut up, I'm still new at this sage thing."

Sakura looked to her now-silent boyfriend, likely for a similar answer. Sasuke didn't make her wait long for his response, "I mean Naruto's Naruto, but I guess I'm just a dick."

A clone popped into existence next to Sasuke, bopping him on the head before disappearing. Sasuke immediately said, "Okay, yeah he's right. The only real way I know how to deal with horrible things like this is to distance myself from the issue but making things lighter like this makes things seem more enjoyable. Happy?"

Naruto pulled a Sasuke and grunted in response, feeling almost ready to get moving.

Sakura was inside of her own head after the impromptu speeches. Is that why the boys seemed so much more at ease with doing these things? Because they're forcing themselves to be fine with it? Maybe it had something to do with what Sasuke said about trauma. Sakura hadn't really had anything horrible happen to her, so she never had to develop coping mechanisms… but they seemed to be a lot better off than her after these kinds of things, at least until she said something. Oh, Kami, was she being a bitch by accident whenever she brought this kind of thing up? She should at least give this method a try…

Sakura saw the trademark orange stripes appear on Naruto's face, and she gave a small smirk. "Since your magic make-up appeared over your eyes does that mean you can something more than just sit on your ass?"

Naruto's mouth dropped and his eyes snapped to the pink haired kunoichi. Sasuke laughed heartily from his tree branch.

Naruto closed his mouth, stood, and reached for a Hirashin kunai. "I think I liked it better when you were a party pooper. Just throw my damn kunai."

Sakura laughed, already feeling better about everything. Well, that's what she'd tell herself. Then she hurled the kunai as she did before, sending it about a mile and directly over the distant village. A few seconds passed, and then every present Naruto was gone.

Saru brushed back her blond hair as she bustled about the streets of whatever backwater Frost village she was in. Things were starting to get a bit hectic in the higher ranks, and it had trickled all the way down to her. She was nothing more than mid-class chunin, she shouldn't have to know about and have to deal with this kind of stuff.

Apparently, there had been no word or reports in from their neighboring occupied village. The scouting report from them was supposedly over an hour and a half late, and rumor had it that Konoha had sent out an elite team to hunt for Kumo heads. Such rumor was absolutely preposterous. Konoha had no way of knowing that Frost had already sided with Kumo. AND Konoha was never known for such violent, open conflict. Bunch of tree hugging pussies if you asked Saru.

Suddenly an alarm went off. The East sensors sounded off the air raid alarm, but there were no black skies of metal flying towards them. Saru peered into the Eastern sky as every Kumo shinobi in the small village poured into the streets, ready to use a defensive jutsu against the rain of kunai and shuriken that never came.

There, almost directly above them now, was a single, fast-moving kunai. Everyone, including Saru, stared up in confusion. That confusion then turned to shock as there was then a bright, golden flash of light before a silhouette was revealed in place of the kunai. This could be very bad news.

Naruto was momentarily suspended in the air, his hood flapping yet remaining on, the second seeming frozen to his excited nerves. He held the Hirashin kunai in a reverse grip with his right hand as he stared straight down onto a group of Kumo nin. Before he could start to fall, he hurled the kunai at the emptiest section of the street below him with all his strength. He felt it dig into the packed earth with blinding speed, and he flashed once more while calling his clones.

Naruto and his clones flashed onto the street whilst each smashing dual Rasengan into the ground, blowing back everyone in a twenty-foot radius. It had no real impact on the destruction of the village, but Naruto was certain it must have looked awesome.

The real Naruto stood slowly, his clones staying in a kneeling position with their now empty palms flat on the ground. They all had the trademark hoods on, so while no one could see his identity they would all know his name.

Naruto looked around and saw the crowd growing, and he decided to get things started.

"I'm going to want to be paying attention for this one, I can tell."

"You have no idea, big guy!"

"Hello, my soon to be dead friends!" Naruto called out cheerily.

The murmur of the crowd was soon drowned out by the drawing of a hundred weapons. And counting.

"I've come on the behalf of Konoha, and it is my duty to let you all know that I will have the personal pleasure of wiping this place off the map. I do think I will need at least one survivor to bring the word of me home, though. Do I have any volunteers?"

Naruto cocked his head, waiting for an answer. There were many whispers going around, "Konoha's shadow Reaper…" "Jinchuriki…" "Where's the commander?"

"I'll make it easier for you all. The first person to attack me will get to live. Deal?"

Naruto smiled beneath his mask as he saw a red-faced blond chunin charge at him, sword drawn. She was clumsy at best, but she had the heart, poor thing.

Naruto flicked the incoming sword with his left hand, shattering the blade completely as he buried a knee into the gut of the rushing woman. She cried out and fell to her knees as shouts were called about of her stupidity. Apparently, she should have waited for the commander, but Naruto admired her bravery.

"Don't go calling her stupid for being bold enough to charge!" he called out. "If anything, all of YOU are stupid for not running away yet. Then again… it's been a while since I've slaughtered any of your people, so I understand the need for a reminder."

Naruto heard the grumbles of the woman at his feet and leaned down to listen better. "My… brother… you killed my brother…"

"Was he one of the many missing-nin then? Or was he in the last village I let the Kyuubi destroy for shits and giggles?"

There was a pained grunt, but no response. Naruto moved in closer. "What's your name then?"

"… Saru."

"Well, Saru, if it's a blood feud you want, I can do that. I can promise lots… and lots of blood."

"WHAT is the meaning of this?" a powerful voice called out.

Naruto turned and saw yet another blond woman striding onto the scene, dressed in what was clearly a commander's uniform. It did nothing to hide her chest, though… wait a second! Samui!

"I get a report of a single intruder and you lot needed me to take care of it? Pathetic. This is the most un-cool assignment I've ever been given."

"Samui, it's good to see you again!" Naruto called out, resting a hand atop the downed Saru's head.

The older woman looked confused at first, but the realization soon dawned on her. It was the faceless jinchuriki of Konoha. That was why no one wanted to attack him without someone to give them orders and backup.

"Naruto. I can't say I'm just as happy to see you. Why do you have one of my shinobi on her knees in front of you?"

Naruto laughed then. "Not what I think you want it to be, that's for sure. I need a witness to me destroying this place, and she volunteered by attacking me. It was this whole verbal agreement thing that you missed, don't worry your pretty head about it."

Samui raised an eyebrow. "And you think her word would be taken? You'd need me, at the least."

Naruto shrugged, and then knelt next to Saru again. "Sorry, little girl, but it looks like I don't need you anymore. Deal's off. On the bright side, I'll give you some of that blood you wanted so badly."

His hand dropped from the back of her head to the back of her neck, and before she could blink her neck was snapped. A quick, painless death.

Samui did her best to come across as unruffled. "That was unnecessary. Can we take our fight outside of the village to spare the buildings?"

Naruto laughed loudly then, going as far as to slap the side of his knee. "Oh, Samui, both of the reasons I can't are hilarious! One, my entire purpose is to destroy this place!" More laughter.

"And the second?"

Naruto stopped laughing abruptly, "There won't be a fight."

All at once the four masked Naruto's released what Power they could, and most of the shinobi were brought to both knees or the ground entirely. The street beneath him was cracked and stressed from the combined effort, and a normal clone slapped a tag on Samui before dragging her back to the real Naruto.

"Are you happy this war was started because your little piece of ass left you and you can't find her?" Samui desperately said anything to distract him and maybe cause an opening.

Naruto remained silent for a few seconds, and then the feeling of Power changed. Now it was much darker, sinister and foreboding. He was releasing an overwhelming amount of Malice now.

"You know what? I was faking it before, but I'm actually going to enjoy this now. Samui, I really wish that someone like you could know what being in love felt like. Because then I'd make sure that you drowned in the blood of those who loved you for that."

The unmasked clone holding her tightened its grip, and she saw every other masked Naruto form a Rasengan in each hand. That jutsu was destructive, but nowhere near powerful enough to take out the village like he claimed he would.

Samui blanched when she saw another element of the jutsu start to form. Before long, every Naruto was straining to hold a pair of Rasengan-based shuriken looking jutsu. Samui could feel the power radiating off of them, and she felt truly afraid.

"Now, Samui. Look on in despair… and relearn what it means to fear."

Every Naruto jumped high into the air then, including the one holding Samui. All she could really do WAS watch, so she did.

Every Naruto threw both of his Rasengan things, and the people below were too crushed by his Malice to move to defend themselves. Not that it would make too much of a difference, it would take three entire barrier teams to stop this onslaught.

Samui's eyes widened in horror when she saw what was happening. There was one of those jutsu at each cardinal gate, and the other four were spread evenly between the others. All at once, each one seemed to implode before expanding rapidly, vaporizing buildings and people caught in the expanding white sphere. Each one met another, and no inch of the village was left untouched. As the Naruto's began their decent with Samui, the orbs all faded from existence, and three of the Naruto's popped.

Naruto landed in the near middle of a flat, featureless landscape. On the outer ring of where the village once stood was a lip of the ground about three feet above the smooth dirt Naruto, his clone, and Samui was on.

"Well, now that that's out of the way I guess you can go home."

Samui was actually speechless. She found it hard to move and couldn't access her chakra due to the tag, but she wanted nothing more than to both rip apart and run away from this Jinchuriki. Killer Bee never did anything this reckless… or destructive…

"I might see you around, I might not. Oh, but if I do, I'll have to kill you. Can't have you surviving two encounters with me, bad for the ol' rep ya know? Also, if you talk about Hinata like that again, I'll make you watch as I release Kurama on Kumo before barraging it with more of that jutsu. Okay, love you bye."

And he left. Samui was left alone, shaking and powerless in the dirt, likely amongst the remains of the people that had looked up to and relied on her. She wasn't feeling very cool anymore.

"Okay, I take it back. That white wall of all-destroying power was pretty badass. What was it?" Sasuke asked when Naruto flashed back to the group.

"Really fucking complicated. I've had clones training with it this entire mission back with the toads, and I can only pull it off in Sage Mode because it enhances my chakra control. Still, it gets the job done."

"Chakra control, you say? So, is it something you could teach me?" Sakura asked immediately.

"Probably not. Just one full one takes up about as much chakra as Kakashi has. I just fired eight of them off, and even I'd be feeling the hit to the reserves if it wasn't all Nature chakra."

Sasuke almost recoiled at that. "What jutsu uses that much chakra? That's pretty impractical."

Naruto smirked. "Only the jutsu that is the pinnacle of both chakra shape manipulation and the wind element. I combined wind with the Rasengan, something that my dad, Jiraiya, and Kakashi all failed to do." Considering the feat, Naruto felt a little justified in gloating.

"Hn," Sasuke kept his response short.

"Really? I create one of the most powerful jutsu known to man and all I get is a 'HN'?"

"It's impressive, sure. I'll just make a better one with Lightning is all."

"Oh sure, whatever," Naruto sarcastically agreed.

"If you two would focus a bit, we still have to watch Sasuke take a place out before I get my turn. Can we move along?"

"That's the spirit, babe. Embrace the madness."

Naruto pointed West, signaling Sasuke to retake the lead.

"That was pretty impressive, kit. That eight jutsu trick of yours is almost as powerful as my Bijudama."

"Kami, how strong are those fucking things?"

"Not strong enough, since your father managed to teleport one to save Konoha."

"Holy shit."

"Holy shit, indeed, kit."

Pops was way more badass than people have been letting on. Must run in the family or something, who knows.

"Naruto, Sasuke said you went out of your way to save someone. What was up with that?" Sakura asked as they traveled.

"Leaving at least one survivor is something we should all do. I'll tell you why afterward, I promise."

"Should I have done that as well?"

"I didn't even bother asking you, of all people."

"Smart."

"Sasuke, you know your plan for your village? They'll probably be on high alert by now since communication has been down with their sister outposts."

"Easy. You flash me in, grab someone to watch, you flash out, and I burn it to the ground."

Sakura interjected then, "You're so simple, Sasuke. You're lucky you're cute."

Outpost number three had the forest cut away a quarter mile away, in almost a perfect circle around the village. They had most of the lumber hauled in and in the process of making even more fortifications, and the field of stumps would be turned into a mixture of a landmine and spike field. Any invading force would have a hell of a time getting in. A report had been sent to Kumo itself about the loss of communication with two other outposts in the East, and now sensors were on high alert for an invading Konoha force.

The commander of this Outpost was an older, war-tested veteran named Hans. He had made it through the last war with nothing more than a few scars, and he had been entrusted with an officer's position in this one. It was something he would be sure to keep. None of those Konoha tree huggers would catch him off guard, that was for sure.

"Sir, Sensors have detected three unfamiliar signatures in the East, quickly approaching the tree line," a chunin reported in. Hans nodded once, set down his tea, and stood. After tightening the armor on his chest and shoulders, he moved to the East Sensor Bay.

When Hans walked into the room full of Sensors, he immediately asked, "What's the situation? Have they done anything that warrants suspicion?"

"No sir, they've just been standing and seemingly talking. That or standing idly, but they have to know by now that we know of them."

Hans rubbed his chin in thought. Strange indeed.

"Wait, sir, one of them just threw a kunai towards the outpost."

"And they think it'll reach us? We're a quarter of a mile away!"

"The trajectory suggests this person overshot us by another quarter of a mile."

Hans was shaken a little by that, but it was still just a kunai. Nothing that could have eliminated outposts as the rumors suggested. If it was just three people, then it was more likely that they were shooting down hawks and picking off messengers.

"Sir one of them disappeared!"

"Uh…. I found him… He's above us."

Wait, a kunai, one of them disappears and shows up where the kunai was…. Oh, this could get messy.

A jonin burst into the room, looking more than a bit worried. "Captain Hans, a masked figure appeared above the outpost and threw a three-pronged kunai into the street. No one is willing to touch it and we are waiting for orders."

Hans looked at the sensor that had spoken the most in his presence, silently asking for an update.

"All three of them are back in their original spot, standing still again. Likely talking."

With that, Hans made his way out to the streets with his men.

Sasuke took a deep breath, preparing for his fire and brimstone 'performance'. That's what Naruto was calling it anyway.

"Alright, Sasuke, there's a pretty good crowd around the kunai now. Ready to flash in?"

"You remember the new plan, right? Naruto can't take away the survivor if you want him to hear you," Sakura added.

"Let's just do this. I plan to take half as long as Naruto did."

"Whatever you say, pretty boy," Naruto smirked as he grabbed Sasuke's arm. A flash or two later and Naruto was standing there alone, smiling at Sakura in anticipation for the stories that would come out of this one.

Sasuke stood silently amidst the crowd of enemy shinobi. His eyes black and emotionless. They all stared first at him, and then around the area frantically for more flashes. Sasuke grinned internally, showing nothing on his face. I was a skill all Uchiha babies were apparently born with. His plan was to play off of the dark character Naruto made for him. Maybe it would become his battle persona? That could be fun.

"Identify yourself! Are you one of the Keepers of Konoha's Jinchuriki?" a man who was clearly in charge shouted.

Now Sasuke allowed himself to smile. "Keepers? No, mortal, I am one of his two companions. To fear his name more than my presence must be... the height of human folly."

"Two companions? The Uchiha and the Pink Bitch?" another voice asked loudly from the back.

Sasuke's eyes flashed red, and he was able to pick out the man getting pats on his back for the comment. He would not be one of the survivors. Sasuke laughed along at the tail end of their laughter, quieting them down in their confusion.

"Pink Bitch, that's funny. I'll be sure to make your death a painful one."

Now everyone was shifting on their feet. The commander spoke up again, "You're the Uchiha, then. But the Uchiha, even at the height of their power, weren't gods! You're just a delusional brat riding on the Kyuubi's fame. You'll die today!" there were scattered cheers at that.

"Do you know nothing, insect? Naruto doesn't need to be here. There is ALWAYS death in his after-flash."

Sasuke started to leak fire from the corners of his mouth, a trick Itachi had shown him for shits and giggles. Sasuke spoke quietly then, "I never said that the Uchiha were gods. But what if I am?"

Before the commander could speak out to calm his troops, Sasuke continued louder and with the amplification jutsu active.

"A day of reckoning comes for us all! Whether it be death, a mortal jury, or the choice a god makes for you," murmurs were abundant after that. "Kumo shinobi!" fire was streaming down Sasuke's sides and pooling at his feet in a blaze now, and Sasuke's arms were spread wide as if inviting a hug. "Gaze upon me and rejoice! I come to tell you one thing. Your day of Reckoning… has come."

There was an explosion of chakra surrounding Sasuke, and the purple bones of Susanoo enveloped him quickly. Before long, Sasuke was towering above buildings and people alike, the top half of Susanoo balancing on the ethereal spine. Sasuke's Susanoo was holding a massive blade of Chakra, and his Eternal Mangekyo blazed in his skull.

"Did you not hear me? REJOICE!" and with that, Sasuke used an extended Amaterasu along the perimeter of the village, leaving a twenty-foot-wide swath of black flame entrapping everyone.

Shinobi started to panic. Only the Uchiha of legends were supposed to be able to summon… whatever this thing was. Jutsu was fired off, and they all fell useless against the bones of the massive skeleton. Sasuke swung his sword quickly, destroying all the buildings close to him and killing many of the people below him (Sasuke made sure that the guy he had singled out was one of them). Another swing finished off the buildings behind him, and the fire was steadily spreading inwards.

Still using the amplification technique, Sasuke announced, "That is the extent of my will. For those few of you who will survive my hellfire, know that you've been spared."

Sasuke cut Susanoo suddenly and entered a freefall. That was Naruto's signal to flash him out of there, and Sasuke hoped that his hand-made Hirashin seals worked as well as he kunai version.

A flash later and Sasuke was looking at a smiling Sakura and a grumpy Naruto.

"I knew that you would completely rely on your hacked eyes, you know. That's so unfair! 'Here, let me just cover myself in a fucking invincible skeleton and shoot fire from my gods-damned eyeballs!'"

Sasuke laughed once before replying with, "Naruto, you can literally pull the Kyuubi from the palm of your hand. Now give me some refill tags, I'm exhausted."

Naruto's face went blank and there was silence aside from the sound of a burning village and the screams of the damned. "Actually, yeah good point. We'll call it even."

"As much fun as that likely was," Sakura started indignantly, "I'm gonna show you boys how a medic does things. Efficiently."

Team 7 stood looking at the last village they had to eliminate, and it was all on Sakura this time.

"Alright Naruto, just give me an extra kunai, and when we get over the village just drop me."

"What?"

"Drop me."

"Yeah, that's what I thought I heard."

Sasuke interrupted the exchange, "As much as I love that plan, I hate that plan."

Sakura kissed his frowning lips reassuringly. "Don't worry, out of all of us I'm the best with plans."

"She's got a point."

"She's got a point," Naruto thought at the same time.

"You've got a point," Sasuke said. "Alright, kick ass out there."

Sakura smiled, used her Hundred Healing seal, and then opened up the third gate immediately. Sasuke backed away and covered her eyes. Sakura adopted Lee's stance for opening gates, and after about five seconds her concentration was interrupted by the many warning sirens of the village. Oh, they had no idea.

Soon enough, the fourth gate opened for her, and she threw the kunai Naruto gave her. She only tossed it, really. It still went sailing over the village.

Sakura felt the familiar tug and saw the flash, and then she was plummeting to the Earth below. She cocked her fist back, opened her mouth, and let loose a terrifying war cry as she descended faster and faster.

Naruto flashed back in next to Sasuke, his eyes trained on the falling figure. And was that…. Yelling? "Is that her yelling? I can hear it from here. She's loud, Sasuke."

There was no response from the Uchiha, so Naruto dropped it. He saw her fall below the building line, and there was a deep whump. At first, nothing happened, but then Naruto saw rubble and dust fly, and all the ground for fifty yards around the village collapsed in on itself. Buildings were crumbled, and it was over in seconds.

"Damn! She really is efficient, eh Sasuke?" Naruto asked excitedly.

This time when there was no response, Naruto turned to his teammate. Sasuke wasn't watching the show at all, instead, he was staring blankly behind Naruto. Naruto was about to question him, but the Uchiha flapped his jaw once as he pointed to something behind Naruto.

Naruto turned slowly, preparing for any of the horrible things that have ever left Sasuke speechless. Maybe Orochimaru?

Standing there, back against a tree and as shy as ever, was one Hinata Hyuga. She smiled lightly and waved at the shocked blond in front of her. Naruto immediately reached for a Kunai, spun it twice, and then stabbed himself in the thigh. Her eyes widened when he hurt himself, but she saw it heal right afterward and went back to silent smiling.

Nothing mattered to Naruto at that moment. His entire being was focused on the beautiful girl in front of him. She had grown over the last year, and her old clothes likely didn't fit her anymore. That would explain the new clothes. The new, well fitting, amazing clothes. She kept to the light gray color scheme, and the nostalgia hit Naruto hard. Memories flashed by faster than he could think.

"Well, do I get a hug or not?" she asked quietly.

Naruto grinned and flew forward, crashing into her. He wrapped her up in his arms and then hid two Hirashin markers on her back as he kissed her for the first time in a year. Their lips locked together for only a couple of heated seconds, and then they were forced to break the seal due to infectious smiles. Nothing could tear this moment away from Naruto.

Sakura stood amongst the rubble, stabbing her kunai into the dirt repeatedly. "Why the hell isn't this thing working? If he's playing a prank on me, I'm going to castrate him!"

Naruto broke away from his princess and looked her up and down at arm's length. He saw her doing the same.

"This is amazing! Oh, Kami I've missed you so much!" Naruto ranted. "Did you hear I started a war for you?"

Hinata shook her head and laughed lightly. "Why don't I doubt that at all?"

"Probably because he's a good boyfriend," Sasuke interjected. The pair of looks he received only made him shrug and sit down.

"What a wingman!"

"Where have you been?" Naruto asked her.

Before Hinata could answer, another, masked man stepped out from behind a different tree. "She's been with me. Tobi. I took her from Konoha, and it's nice to finally meet you, Naruto."

Naruto looked at this stranger with an immediate dislike and mistrust in his eyes. Things only got worse when he caught a glimpse of Tobi's cloak.

Naruto pushed Hinata behind him and activated Kurama's perfect cloak, not messing around with tails like he did with Pain. "AKATSUKI!"

Naruto blurred from sight, appearing behind Tobi and whiffing with a Rasengan aimed at his mask. Naruto blasted backward towards Hinata, still intent on defending her. Sasuke came onto the scene in much the same manner Naruto did, his Chidori missing Tobi's chest by inches. Hinata was yelling something, but Naruto was too focused on the Akatsuki member to understand.

Naruto shot off a Vacuum Wave lateral to the ground, forcing Tobi to jump. As soon as he landed, Naruto was there shoving a Rasengan through his head. Sasuke was right next to him, his Chidori plunged into the man's chest.

"Are you boys done yet?" Tobi's calm voice asked.

Naruto's hand was going through his head, but he felt nothing there. Almost as if he were a genjutsu. Sasuke jutsu was doing the same, going through his body and doing no damage.

"Naruto! I'm trying to tell you that Obito is my FRIEND!" Hinata called out in near panic. She didn't want anyone to hurt each other here.

Naruto's Rasengan dissipated, and he pulled his hand back before looking at his girlfriend. "Hinata, how do you know that name?"

Sasuke also retracted his arm, and Tobi sighed. "It was a name she wasn't supposed to use around you, but I guess it can't be helped now. Naruto, my real name is Obito, Tobi is the cover name I've been using to infiltrate the Akatsuki."

Naruto made no movement or sound after hearing that. Sasuke was about to ask him why, but he was interrupted by his own lady friend.

"I got him!" Sakura shouted as she appeared from nowhere, surprising literally everyone. Her fist actually made contact with Obito's mask, and the man was sent flying back into his tree. Sakura must have really surprised him if he didn't do his ghost things, but at least now Naruto knew he was real. A real ghost at least.

"Sakura, you just possibly killed Hinata's friend that's been maybe watching over her over this last year," Sasuke deadpanned. "What was his name, Naruto?"

Sakura blushed in embarrassment and apologized to Hinata before rushing over to Obito's side and lifting his head into her lap. His mask fell away, and his single good eye looked around frantically in a concussed daze. Everyone froze in place at the sight, the sight of his Mangekyo Sharingan looking around.

"Obito. His name is Obito Uchiha."

"Wait a minute," Sakura stood and yelled. "Hinata when did we find you?"