Please read first.

Hey readers! This is my first time story-telling and writing a fanfic. I love Naruto and this story takes place during the Pain Arch (so If you haven't seen that far in the anime for some odd reason, it might be hard to grasp the scene). I really love the Naru-Saku ship so this fanfic is actually extremely similar to how the story goes in the cannon version. I have put my own spin on it by creating a Naru-Saku version of the events in Naruto Shippuden. I tried my best to make the characters as realistic to their true personalities as I could. I appreciate any feedback/advice but please be kind!

Oh and there's also Shika-Ino ship a bit in here as well, be warned!

"This is a character talking aloud."

'This is a character thinking to themselves in their head'

I do not own Naruto, just borrowing the characters for a while!

Signing off, Cherry is typing...

CHAPTER 1

SAKURA

Sakura crouched down near a pile of rubble that extended up about half her height. Touching the palm of her right hand to the straight but slightly obscured surface, she couldn't help but wonder if she had just touched the walls of Lady Tsundae-sama's office, or the flooring of her childhood home. Glancing around her tentatively, her surroundings were that of a warzone. A few shinobi could be spotted in a similar stance to her own, some clutching their body's in pain. Those were the lucky ones, however, as she spotted a few lifeless feet and hands covered in rubble and dried blood. She cringed, tensing her eyebrows as her eyes closed and her inhuman strength clasped her kunai even tighter. Even with all her extensive medical training, there was nothing she could do for them now. Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes into a squint, searching dead ahead for any signs of the enemy. It was eerily quiet now, so against her will, she took the chance to take a better look around her once again.

With a deep exhale her eyes landed on the only thing distinguishing that this was, in fact, the village Hidden in the leaves. The previous and current Hokages, their pupil-less eyes staring blankly across the bowl that was Konoha. Hearing an ever so slight rustle from behind, she quickly turned, the knuckles of her left hand turned white around her kunai, clutching it with a backwards grip. She quickly relaxed her grasp when her eyes met that of the bakuygan user, Natabe-san. Crouching down not too far ahead, he nodded to her, and as she returned the gesture she used two fingers to motion ahead. Natabe-san once again nodding in understanding strained his vision so that the veins on his temples were now visible, his blank moon-like eyes stared into the far distance ahead of the pair. Her eyes didn't leave his as Natabe-san tried to figure out what was happening up ahead.

"Are you hurt anywhere, Sakura-san?" Natabe asked as the veins around his eyes continued to bulge.

"I can still fight, " she smiled confidently, reassuring him of her abilities. Although she wasn't sure if that confidence was justified.

Finally being able to capture the situation unfolding up ahead Natabe-san breathed, "It's Lady Tsundae-sama!"

Sakura held her breath, eyes widening in concern for her mentor. A bead of sweat daring to drop down her temple.

"There's 3...no, 4 Anbu aiding her, but this doesn't look good. Lord fifth is extremely low on chakra...and she's standing off against all six of the Pains"

As Natabe finished his sentence, as if on cue, Lady Katsuyu squirmed out of both of the shinobis collars, resting on their shoulders.

"Lady Tsundae-sama has used too much of her charka in order to heal everyone..." Katsuyu whispered, the worry obvious in her voice.

"This doesn't look good...Lord fifth..." Natabe exhaled with a now trembling lower lip.

"Princess Tsundae-sama..." Katsuyu followed after equally concerned.

Sakura clenched her teeth together tightly. Even after all that brutal training, long nights, early mornings, broken bones, bruised skin, and thick textbooks she studied, she was still not strong enough to stand by her sensei. She knew there was nothing she could do, that she'd just be in the way if she ran to her sensei's aid. That even one of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama, was taken down by Pain. Looking towards what was once the entrance gates to Konoha, Sakura's mind wandered to her knuckle-headed blonde teammate. She knew he went off training at Mount Myoboku in order to develop some type of new technique, but she couldn't help but think if he were here, he'd know what to do. He would figure something out, or nearly die trying. That's just how that orange covered idiot was, always putting himself at risk to save his friends. So where was he now? Where was he when she-when the village needed him most? Her eyes began to sting as all the built up emotions dared to spill out of her. She needed the one person she knew she could always rely on. Sakura swung her head back, shutting her eyes so tight that her tears flew out from the motion, and yelled from the top of her lungs, hoping that her cries somehow reached him.

"NARUTOOO!"

A huge puff of smoke went up in the distance, visible by all eyes, byakugan or not. Not knowing what the hell was going on after screaming to the top of her lungs in desperation, Sakura turned to her fellow shinobi.

"What the hell is going on, Natabe?" Sakura exclaimed so frantically all honorifics were dropped.

"Its a summoning justsu, a huge one at that! But, it's not Lady Tsundae-sama..." Natabe trailed off.

Sakura simply stared wide eyed at the now dissipating smoke, still not being able to see anything in the distant battle field.

Natabe quickly continued, "It's Naruto-kun! and he's come back with large summoning frogs as well!"

Sakura's heart jumped in anticipation, relief, and worry all at the same time. Not able to understand the situation fully without Natabe-sans dialogue, she decided to remain silent as her eyes struggled to look ahead.

"I have attached myself to Naruto-san. He has determined that Princess Tsundae-sama is to be brought to safety" Lady Katsuyu pitched in. "A few Anbu memebrs are supporting her to withdraw from the area."

Allowing herself to breath a small sigh of relief that her mentor would be okay, Sakura flashed a slight smile to Natabe-san and lady Katsuyu who still sat on her shoulder.

From behind a familiar voice lazily pitched in, "So the number one unpredictable hyperactive knuckleheaded shinobi finally joins the fight, huh."

Turning to look at the both serious yet mundane expression on her former classmates face, she smiled and nodded.

"You better believe he is" Sakura smirked at the silly expression, remembering Naruto's childhood catch phrase.

Shikamaru simply smirked in response, crouching between but slightly behind the pair of shinobi. The copy of Lady Tsundae-sama's slug on Shikamaru's shoulder spoke up,

"It appears Naruto-san is prepared to take on all six Pains on his own, he doesn't want anyone getting involved" Lady Katsuyu finished.

Shikamaru frowned his eyebrows, "I figured as much. We would just be a liability out there. Naruto, that bastard, went ahead and one-up'ed us again. I guess that means we'll just have to train even harder from now on. What a drag..." he trailed off but spoke with a slight smirk on his face, secretly proud of his friend.

"Damn right." Sakura replied with confidence. Natabe-san also smiled in agreeance. Hearing a massive thud in the distance, Natabe refocused his byakugan, just catching on to what the source of the sound was.

"Naruto-san has taken out one of the six pains in a single blow!" Lady Katsuyu announced from Natabe's right shoulder.

"Not only that, but I noticed from once he first arrived, Naruto-kun has a massive source of naturally energy flowing around and within him."

"No way...that show-off really went and done it..." Shikamaru spoke with an air of amazement.

"What's going on? Is it Naruto's new jutsu?" Sakura asked, looking back and forth between Shikamaru and Natabe.

"It's not exactly a new jutsu, more like an advanced technique, it's senjutsu. The nature technique Sannin Jiraiya-sama wasn't even able to completely master. He's on a completely different level from us now" Shikamaru finished.

Sakura stared ahead to where Naruto was with only one thought in her mind. Was that crazy idiot really that far ahead of her already? A mixed sense of pride and rivalry washed over her.

Some time passed as they occasionally heard loud crashes from the fight far out of their sight. Natabe occasionally tried his best to explain what was happening with Lady Katsuyu as support.

"I can't believe my eyes...this fight is insane! Everything is happening so quickly, Naruto has already managed to bring down five of the six Pains."

"Hmph, that bastard. Always has to be a show-off" Shikamaru smirked.

Sakura smiled, thinking to herself, 'please be safe Naruto, I'm counting on you.'

"Shikamaru! There you are, are you alright?" another familiar voice joined the group, crouching right beside her teammate.

"Ino...yeah, just fine. Have you seen Choji?" Shikamaru replied, wondering if his other teammate had made it to safety somehow.

"Yeah, hes just fine, he's decided to stay by Kakashi-sensei's side. Kakashi-sensei, he...he didn't..." Ino eyes began tearing up, glancing at Sakura but quickly dropping her gaze as a few tears fell.

Sakura looked at her wide-eyed, not wanting to register what she knew Ino was trying to say. Sakura glaced at Lady-Katsuyu, knowing that the slug could sense all life forces she was attached to. The slug however was limped over in defeat, avoiding Sakura's gaze as well. Clenching her teeth, she blinked away her own tears. Shikamaru and Natabe looked down in silence as the two kunoichi sobbed quietly. Shikamaru wrapped an arm around his teammate as Ino struggled to compose herself.

Sakura was beginning to lose her composure, her spirit drained in the realization that her team captain was no longer here. First Saskue leaves and betrays the village, now her sensei was dead at the hands of the Akatsuski. All that was left of team seven was her and Naruto now. She once again gripped her Kunai, never once letting it go from the backwards grip in her hand. Thinking back to past events, Sakura took the grieving moment to realize how much she needed Naruto right now. How much she wished he was beside her to lean on like Shikamaru was there for Ino. But he wasn't there, instead he was facing one the Akatsuki's most dangerous members all alone.

Sakura had made up her mind. She would do whatever it takes to support Naruto, and to be able to stand beside him. If his dream was to become Hokage then by damn she was going to make sure he lived to see that day.

Looking up to the eerily beautiful blue sky, she swore on Kakashi's name that she would do whatever it takes to support Naruto from now on. Her thoughts of her sensei Kakashi and teammate Naruto were abruptly interrupted by Natabe-sans voice.

"Guys...this doesn't look good. It appears Naruto-kun is laid front side down on the ground, his hands have been pinned down by one of Pains chakra defecting rods."

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed in a panic. "I'm going to help him" she followed quickly, determination in her voice as she rose to her feet.

"Don't be an idiot, Sakura. You heard what Lady Katsuyu said. You would only get in his way! You-we need to believe in him." Shikamaru exclaimed, still supporting Ino who's eyes were now dry but swollen.

Sakura stood with her right hand clenched in a fist, and her left hand still clutching dearly to her kunai.

"I know. I know, damn it! But I can't just sit here and do nothing when my teammate is out there fighting alone! If I don't stand beside him now I might never get the chance to again!" Sakura finished breathing hard, the adrenaline rushing through her body. Without another word to the three shinobi, she ran off towards the battle up ahead, with no hesitation in her step.

"Sakura!" Ino called out after her, rising to her feet only to be pulled back down by Shikamaru's arm.

"Sakura-san..." Natabe trailed off, eyes closed in understanding of her feelings.

"Tch..." Shikamaru merely grunted, holding onto Ino in worry she might try chasing after Sakura in an attempt to stop her.

"Shikamaru, will they really be okay?" Ino clutched Shikamaru's shirt in order to steady her trembling hands.

Holding Ino in a supportive side hug as they now sat a bit more relaxed on the ground in each others arms, Shikamaru replied

"Don't underestimate team seven, those guys pack one hell of a punch." he finished, having confidence in his previous classmates. He frowned however as his mind began to analyze the various outcomes to the upcoming battle.

"Right!" Ino sniffed, "Besides, If anyone can get Naruto motivated to fight, it's Sakura that he needs!" Ino finished, flashing a smile inches from Shikamaru's face.

Shikamaru turned his head away so that only the tips of his ears showed as they turned pink. "Yeah, you women are always driving men crazy with your antics...so annoying..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath, causing Ino to giggle slightly despite the circumstances.

Natabe made quick eye contact with Shikamaru as he over heard the faint flirting happening behind him. Shikamaru quickly turned away from him as well as his face got slightly brighter from embarrassment.

Returning to reality, Ino shuffled into Shikamaru's embrace a little tighter for reassurance. Shikamaru accepted the smaller girl in his arms and frowned his eyebrows, the pink now fading from his face. 'Sakura...you better have a damned good plan...' Shikamaru thought to himself.

Sakura could see them now, Naruto was still laid on the floor, hands tied down by Pains black rod. But now it wasn't just his hands, there was now six more long black rods pinning his body to the ground. Two embedded into his shoulder area, two more in his mid back section, and lastly two more in his thighs. Sakura frowned, imagining how much pain Naruto must be enduring right now for the village.

Before rushing into the scene, she decided to be smart about her tactics and try to analysis the situation before rushing into battle. Just like what Kakashi-sensei had taught her. She kept enough distance to be hidden from sight but still see what was happening. It appeared they were...talking? Something so casual seemed strange in the disastrous scene around them. Not being able to hear the conversation they were having, Sakura relied on visible ques to make her entrance. Her palms began to sweat in anticipation, her mind running a thousand miles per hour trying to think of a tactic that would work against their enemy. Suddenly, it seemed like the conversation was over as both their lips stopped moving. The orange haired man began to raise another long black rod over Naruto's body. At the sight of this, one of Naruto's frog summoning's that reminded her of a small old grandma, tried to intersect pains rod. Pain looked towards the small frog and flung it away with a single raised hand, and that was Sakura's que. Unfortunately at the expense of the summoning animal, she made a mental note to make sure she checked if the frog was okay if she made it through this.

Charging in whiles Pain was semi-distracted, Sakura ran full force towards Naruto's body. With a powerful chakra infused punch, she knocked out the long black rod tying down Naruto's hands as close to the base as possible.

And that's the end of chapter 1! Please let me know if you enjoyed or if there's something I should re-word/change. I appreciate any feedback. Chapters 2 and 3 will be posted soon as I've actually already written them, just need to proof read. I must say chapter 2 is my favourite part I've written so far.

EDIT: Thank you to JintoLin for noticing a small correction 3

Next is Chapter 2, NARUTO