DISCLAIMER: Everyone! Stop trying to sue me! I don't own naruto but I do own Pucca in here. Other than that Kishimoto Masashi is the rightful owner of Naruto.

A/N: Grrr!!!! =_=+ I was checking to see if anonymous reviews can be accepted, but unfortunately, that didn't happen! My internet is quite slow, or maybe I'm lack-witted.

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Seven years - change

Chapter 6 - The heart of a Shinobi

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The Jounins sat quietly without a word. They could not believe that this was actually happening. Yet, they were relieved that they were assigning powerful shinobis. And then again, was this too much?

"Hokage-sama. How about someone else with more experience, someone who could muster better strategy?"

Anko argued. After all, she was Orochimaru's pupil. The legendary ninja, now the fifth Hokage, sighed as Anko was discussing matters that were too obvious. However, Anko was right. Who knew Orochimaru like her? There was Tsunade of course but Anko was his pupil.

"I agree with Anko-san! Shikamaru could be reasonable! But to assign Uchiha Sasuke?! He is the only successor of Uchiha in Konoha! What are we going to do if he dies? What about Hyuuga Neji? We can't take huge risks! Many died since the nine-tails fox attacked! The third and fourth died so fast... Konoha Village can't risk something like that!!!! Especially, I DON'T WANT TO RISK SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO MY LIFE!"

Someone screamed. It was a woman. She was obviously a talented for she was an Anbu captain. The lady was infuriated. Anko was surprised. She was unusually loud.

'Oh...She still hasn't recovered her pain since Gekkou Hayate died. Poor thing.'

------------------(Flash-back: ten years ago when Tsunade and Jiraiya were having a drink.)--------------------

"The past Hokages protected those who lived in the Leaf Village..... They reigned in troubled times yet still allowed the village to have prosperity... That ideal.... They bet their lives on that dream. You too should understand their feelings. If.. you ever do anything that betrays the Leaf...

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I'LL KILL YOU..."

------------------------------------(end of flash-back)--------------------- ----------------------

Anko sighed and gazed at her with sadness. On the other hand, Tsunade sat quietly as she closed her eyes. She was enraged. There was something about this Anbu captain.... But Tsunade couldn't understand. She was angry. People are always blind whenever they are raging with fury. Because that is all one can think about. Her expression was clearly angry, there were veins forming. As she slowly opened her eyes, she got up and barked to her,

"THE HOKAGES HAVE POURED THEIR LIVES FOR KONOHA!

FOR THE SAKE OF PROSPERITY,

WE BET OUR LIVES FOR THE SAKE OF THE VILLAGE!

WE ALL MUST DO THAT!

THAT IS THE HEART A TRUE SHINOBI!

TO PROTECT SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT,

LIVES DO NOT MATTER!

IF THEY DIE,

SO BE IT!

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BECAUSE THEY WILL DIE WITH HONOR!"

She remembered the time when she traveled with Shizune and met Jiraiya and Naruto in Tanzakugai. She was blind back then, believing that she would meet Dan and Nawaki and forgetting her dreams... to protect the village.

Tsunade closed her eyes again as her infuriated expression faded instantly. She was tired from all the screaming. She thought of Dan and Nawaki....

'Ah.... I wish I could feel you, touch you and hold you..... But I don't have to.. because..

".....!!!!!!"

The Anbu captain stood there, stunned. Her eyes were wide. No one told her about this. For the last ten years she visited the grave everyday wishing for Hayate to come back.

But that never happened. Hayate drifted away from her.

'Die... With honor?'

The Jounin's were beginning to fill with tears. She was silently lamenting as she tried to wipe the tears off of her.

'Damn it! Stop crying! Why am I crying?! Stop! Damn it stop!'

She faced the ground to cover her weeping self.

Tsunade opened her eyes again.

"Please, sit down Gekkou-san."

Tsunade smiled at her. Her face was now serene. The Anbu captain simply obeyed her as she sat down without a word.

'Bet....our lives for the sake of ......the village?'

The woman sat there puzzled and shocked.

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"Now! The Stone village will assign: Takahara Iwashi, Tschinawa *Kassu, and *Akaibara Ruju"

*Anko searched their profiles. As a Tokoubetsu Nin, she was quite fast. However, this was what she had been doing for the past several years. This was tedious for her. But this was her job, and she loved it. As Mitarashi Anko finally found the three's descriptions everyone could tell that she was impressed. Her eyes were wide. The three people were all professional Jounins who completed several missions.

"This is an amazing resume... My god!"

All Jounins were silent.

" - the previous ninjas will be assigned. And it is settled! This meeting is dismissed!"

Everyone left the meeting room except *Morino Ibiki, Tsunade and the Anbu captain.

The Lady cautiously walked up to the fifth Hokage. Realizing what this was going to look like, Ibiki stepped out of the room while she gave him a look.

"Hokage-sama."

"Yes?"

The woman was forming tears. Her face was glum. She was thinking about what Tsunade said to her. The more she thought about the fifth Hokage's words, the more tears she had on her face.

* Drop *

A tear fell down.

'Hokage-sama...'

Surprisingly, She was on her knees and bowed to the Fifth Hokage. The figure was now sobbing furiously.

"A, *Arigatou-gozaimasu!"

Tsunade looked at her. There was something about this Anbu captain...

"You taught me something very important. I will keep it in mind. I finally found what I searched for over all those years... Thank you so much Hokage- sama!"

The Lady was now in tears as she was on her knees. Tsunade beamed at her. The Anbu captain was traumatized after the death of Gekkou Hayate. Like other ninjas, she tried to forget about it and move on. But she couldn't. Likewise to Kakashi, she visited the grave of shinobis frequently. Everytime she visited, she became hollow. But now, she was a new person. She, as an Anbu captain will do all she can.

For those dear to her...

"I'm glad that I was able to help you. Gekkou-san."

The Anbu-captain bowed to her and headed out of the room. Ibiki entered to question her.

"Hokage-sama, that was very unusual..what you said to Gekkou.."

"ah.. She reminds me of myself when I traveled ten years ago.."

"I see."

The Hokage gazed out side as she saw her face carved on the Hokage memorial. There, she saw her grandfather, the second, her deceased sensei, the Yondaime and herself. She saw four people who died to protect those dear to them.

Konoha Village.

..... Dan, Nawaki. I don't need to wish for that anymore.

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....because you're already in my heart.'

----------------------------------------------------

(A/N: Okay! Let's rest for a moment! I'm tired from all the writing. Especially making my own characters with their names. Takahara Iwashi and Tschinawa Kassu's names are derived from stone, earth, and oak. And the others... Well I'll tell you later. And, I searched every Naruto site to find out the name of the Anbu captain. All I know is that she knows about Kakashi and she has some kind of connection with Hayate. I'm just gonna call her Gekkou-san.)

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"Having fun?"

A cold voice entered the door. The dark figure entered like he owned the world. His voice was arrogant. His words were cruel. He was.......

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"Uchiha Sasuke!"

"....."

Sakura couldn't say anything but give a stern look at him

His dark eyes shot back while glaring at the two people without a word.

[Argh!!!! Why the hell did he come here at a time like this?!]

Lee stared at Sasuke with loathing. Sasuke was his target. He was his somewhat rival. While Sasuke could fight at the third chuunin test, Lee was immobilized. He wasn't talented. He couldn't copy one's technique by glance. He didn't have an advanced bloodline. He was just plain old Rock Lee. He envied Uchiha Sasuke. When Lee took years to develop such tai- jutsu, Sasuke could do much better by first glance. He was an Uchiha. Lee wasn't. Whatever it is, Lee will always compete with Sasuke.

Now, Lee was afraid he might lose again... Lose to Sasuke. He was afraid that he might lose Sakura.

"How did you come here?"

"Ino and Hinata."

Sasuke said curtly. While Sakura was holding Pucca in her arms, the mutt growled. Sakura sighed. When things were starting to become wonderful, Sasuke HAD to dash in and ruin it. Sasuke continued staring at the two figures. How come Sasuke is the last one to hear something like this? Sakura was Sasuke's teammate! However, that didn't matter to him anymore. He wanted his brother killed and his Clan restored. Nothing else. But why does it feel different? Sasuke saw both Jounins holding each other's hands. Realizing that the Jounin was gaping, the two Shinobis separated immediately.

This was too far. This was cruel. Did this mean that Sasuke was watching them kiss each other and talking? He wouldn't. He could care less about the whole situation. Sakura remembered when she was in the same class as Naruto and Sasuke. He said to her that she was annoying.

[I don't give a damn about it anymore! Why the hell am I thinking about this right now?!]

"Sakura-chan!"

She recognized that familiar voice. Along came few people who had 'fear' written all over their faces. The familiar voice had blue eyes, blonde hair, and a black shirt...

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay? I came as fast as possible!"

Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto was breathless. He was also sweating. He ran to her and hugged the delicate figure. He didn't even realize that Sasuke and Lee were in that room too. Naruto wanted to protect her. He failed. If he would have seen Sakura and Sasuke bump into each other he would take care of her while he would fight with Sasuke as usual. But it doesn't happen. So now, he wanted to embrace his....

...*hime.

"Na,Naruto, what are you doing?"

"Oh. Sorry I got carried out."

But Sakura thought of her as a mere friend.

"Sakura?"

"Are you okay?"

"Phew! You're not dead yet!"

"Kakashi sensei!!! What the hell do you mean 'she's not dead yet?'"

"Hey! It's blessing you're okay!"

Ino, Kakashi and Naruto began arguing and chattering like always. Hinata was nursing Sakura. Sasuke pitied them.

'.....'

This was how things were in their lives. It was simple. They vowed their life for their dreams. Some were fulfilled and some weren't but that was their life. Whether they liked it or not, they gambled their lives for that dream.

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And the chattering went on...

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"What a blessing this is! To protect the Konoha village....."

Tsunade said to herself as she walked along the monuments. But behind her, there was a dark figure.....

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Kzzzz.

"Come in, come in. S-4731. Come in."

Kzzzzzzzzuuhhhhhhh

Someone was contacting in the dark alleys. The body was covered with a coat. Also, the form was wearing a head phone while working with a small laptop.

"k-data received. Over."

The Anonymous receiver responded.

"File K-3805. Connecting to portal D"

ksssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzuuuuuuh

"Connecting..k,k,k,konnecting. Buf,fuh,fuhring."

Piiiiiiiiiiiiii

"Playing file K-3805. Reception: 400k"

"Roger."

Kkkkkuuzzzuuuh

"The Konoha village will asssssssign, Uchiha Zazke, Hyuuuug,g,ga E,eji, Abu- ame Shino, Hata,t,ke K,k,k,akashi and Haru,ru,runo Sa,sa,sa,sa,sa,akuraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

"Losing connection! S-4731!"

KKKZKKZKZKKZKK

The laptop was now ballistic. Due to poor reception, the anonymous figure was losing connection to S-4731.

"Connected. Over. We still need file I-3295"

"Reaching connection..."

Kzzzzzzuuhhhhhhhhhhh

"Connected. I-3295 sent."

"46% received. Over."

...........

"100% received. Buffering...."

Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

The sound was droning loudly.

"Playing at 243k. Over."

"Now! The St,st,one village will assign: Takakakakhara Iwaaashi, zchinawwwwa Kassuuu, and-"

Piiiiiiiiiiii........

The sound was fading away.

"Connection lost! Malicious code detected! Aborting file I-3295! Repeat, Aborting file I-3295!"

"OO,ver, repairing file I-3295, repppairing file I-3295."

"Damn!"

"Resending file...Resssending fififile."

"08% received! Speed:1kbps only!"

"Adding, bobobbobooooster."

"Buffering! 98%!"

The laptop was making noisy sounds. It was hard to communicate over harsh static.

"Playing at perfect reception!"

"....Now! The Stone village will assign: Takahara Iwashi, Tschinawa Kassu, and Akaibara Ruju."

"!!!!!!!!!!!"

"File I-3295? Aborting system...."

"Shutting down...."

Pbbbbbbbbiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee

There was a long pause after disconnecting.

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"Akaibara Ruju....... Beautiful."

S-4731 smirked wickedly as his body was concealing from the dark. The figure walked out of the alley. The person was also covered with a coat. There was barely anyone walking. Suddenly, S-4731 saw a figure running away. The form was running fast. It almost looked as if it feared the dark body.

The person stood still as his face was smug again. It was now playing with the anonymous form. This was too easy.

"Come out come out wherever you are~"

The prey was running out of breath. It was running slowly, slowly.... However it performed an gen-jutsu to hide itself. The dark figure was smiling more widely. Wondering if this was some joke.

"You can run, but you can't hide."

Always. ALWAYS, the villain will say something like a typical cliché. On the contrary, its words were extremely fearful. Anyone would've had a heart attack. The dark figure was inhumane. It was too sadistic to be considered human.

He was a demon.

It closed its eyes slowly, torturing the thing to be left feared and alone. The demon opened its eyes as it teleported to the wildly running form swiftly. It was nose-to-nose with the poor figure.

"There you are! I was looking for you!"

"....!!!!!!!!"

The poor thing was brutally slaughtered quietly without any noise.... Blood trickled down the cement road. It was raining, and the dark-red liquid flowed away.....

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"Tsk Tsk. A Little girl like you should never go eavesdropping."

The figure said cheerfully as it licked the blood off from his hands.

The carcass slowly decayed....

-------------------------------------------(2B continued)------------------- -----------------

A/N: GOD! That was a long fic. Thank you for going through that torture! I have nothing else to say. Seriously, tell me which couple you'd prefer in this fic. (Nope, I won't accept Yaoi or Yuri couples.) I'll see ya next chapter.

Does anyone know how to make words italicized or bold? If yes, TEACH ME. ONEGAI!!!!!

*Anko : Sweet red-bean paste

*Kassu : Japanese for oak.

*Akaibara : Red rose

*Arigatou...: 'Thank you' in a polite way

*Hime : Princess (agh, I don't know why I used this on Naruto. Now He reminds me of Jiraiya-sama!)

*Morino Ibiki : Snore of the forest.

-Goodbye-