Hey readers! Chapter 2 of "The Road to Destiny" is here! Again, please let me know if there's anything you liked/disliked, if any phrasing felt awkward or if I got anything wrong. I appreciate the support. I am currently still writing chapter 3 so you might have to wait a little longer for the next chapter.

Until next time, Cherry is typing...

"That's not real peace...that's just a lie!" Naruto exclaimed from the ground he was pinned to. Looking up into the almost hypnotizing purple ringed eyes of his enemy.

"People are foolish, they don't realize that. Only after a great deal of pain can there be peace. But of course, after the pain sub-sides, there will be clashing of powers again. So you see, the cycle will continue. After a reign of peace there will be a reign of Pain."

"You...you don't know what the hell your talking about! Ero-sennin had faith that people could really come together some day!" Naruto spluttered in a raspy voice.

"Our mentor...Jiraiya was a fool as well. There can never be an era of peace without an era of pain. Your death is the key to world peace, Kyuubi."

Naruto looked up as much as he could with his chin on the ground, eyes still hardened with conviction. As his eyes met Pains, his words rang in his head. Did he say OUR mentor? This guy was once Jiraiya's students? Yet he killed him. He killed one of the most important people in his life. Naruto could feel the hatred for Pain welling up in him, but he wouldn't like the Kyuubi take control. He was going to knock this guy out with his own strength, just like how Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei taught him.

Naruto looked to his pinned hands that laid on top of each other in front of him. If only he could get just his hands free, but even then he still had six more rods to deal with. The rods slowly drained more and more of his energy. Naruto didn't have much time to think as Pain raised another black rod up in the air, no doubt aiming to land another blow on his already damaged body. From the corner of his eyes he saw Ma, one of the summoning frogs that came to help, fly towards pain in a desperate attempt to attack Pain with a wind-style technique. Watching helplessly as Ma was pushed to the side with a single raised hand, Naruto was beginning to feel the anger rile up once again. What happened next surprised both him and Pain as no one witnessed the Pink haired kunoichi coming.

Landing lightly beside him from a high jump, Sakura used her inhumane strength to knock out the rods holding Naruto's hands in place, whiles hollering out her usual battle cry.

Eyes wide in surprise, Naruto quickly pulled his hands free from the remaining stub of rod, not even bothering to cringe in pain as he looked at Sakura in shock. His hands quickly began to heal over the massive hole as his nine-tailed chakra kicked into over drive. He watched as Sakura stood in front of him, slightly to the left. She now was facing Pain head on, in her usual fighting position with her feet ready to move and her arms up for a fight. Pain had jumped back slightly in surprise that another shinobi had dared to enter the battle field. Pain simply looked at the girl with no feeling, his poker face remaining silent at the sudden intrudance.

Naruto was only able to get a side view of Sakura' face. He'd never seen her look so serious until this moment. Shaking himself out of the slight trance, he shouted in defiance, "Sakura-chan! What the hell are you doing here? He's too much for-"

"No." Sakura simply said, her voice unwavering. "I'm sick of looking at your back, Naruto. So quit hogging all the glory and let your teammate have the spotlight for once, won't ya?" Sakura turned slightly so that more of her face was visible to Naruto. She grinned giving Naruto a quick thumbs-up, in true Uzumaki style.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto was dumbstruck. He looked between her and Pain, trying to think what he could possibly do to get Sakura out of harms way. The damn rods in his back were preventing him from being able to grab his teammate and get her the hell out of there. Before Naruto could think of what to say to convince her to run far away, Sakura began to charge full force towards Pain.

Naruto watched as she ran, actually managing to dodge his all-mighty push using a shadow clone that she used to push off of, giving her jump even more height in the air, and landing a solid monstrous punch on Pains left cheek.

The impact of Sakura's fist pushed Pain into the edge of the crater wall they stood in. Naruto couldn't help but show a small smile at his teammates badass-ness. The moment was short lived however when Pain resurrected as if nothing had happened.

"Interesting." Pain stated, "You must be Tsundae's apprentice. You have a lot of potential, but unfortunately you are on the wrong side of history." Pain finished raising the palm of his hand. Naruto watched on in suspense as Sakura readied herself. Pain used his all-mighty pull in order to bring Sakura's body towards him, but having studied and witnessed her enemies skills, Sakura had already planted her feet firmly to the ground with chakra. She snatched a scroll from her pouch, quickly forming a half ram seal with her right hand as her left hand held out the fluttering scroll. In a poof of smoke, a long metal chain with a sharp daggered hook at the end came into existence. Sakura quickly utilized the chain, swinging it with power as it struck a hard large rock behind her. The chain extended so far that it passed right over Naruto's body into the rock a ways behind him.

Naruto again felt his heart flutter in pride at the amazing skill the girl in front of him was showing. Her ability to think fast on her feet was something he always admired about her. However, the thought quickly faded as he watched in horror as Sakura's feet slowly began to slide towards Pain's open palm. Her chakra wasn't strong enough to withstand Pain's jutsu. The chains hooked loosened slowly, until it completely unraveled and was sent flying back towards Sakura's grip. Naruto used his now free hands to reach up and grab the remaining chain before it whipped pass him. His grip hardened around the cold metal, Naruto used every ounce of muscle he had to hold the chain separating Sakura from Pain's palm. Naruto felt the chain in his hands slowly slip, he cursed to himself as he tried to hold on longer. Then, all at once, the chain slipped between his sweaty palms, the end of the hooked dagger slicing into the inside of his left hand as it flew by.

Naruto watched in agony as Sakura's body finally gave in as she was pulled towards Pain in a gravity defying way. Sakura's body was bent in a backwards C shape as it was pulled hard. Her toes grazed the earth but then her body was abruptly stopped, only to be lifted high into the air and slammed against the ground only a few feet away from Naruto's battered body.

Naruto watched in terror as Sakura's limp body dropped to the ground. Naruto's eyes never left her body, he looked on as she now struggled to crawl towards him. She used her chin and whatever feeling she had left in her limbs to squirm towards Naruto, eventually managing to crawl on her hands and knees, then shakingly to her feet. As she finally neared him, she gripped her right hand in a tight fist, aiming for another rod that embedded his body.

Naruto shut his eyes tight, only managing to let out a whisper, "Sakura-chan...please...just stop..." he breathed, the pain from watching her struggle becoming unbearable.

Before Sakura could land her hit, however, Pain once again lifted her body into the air, once again slamming her into the dry dirt ground in the same spot she was in prior.

"PAIN! YOU BASTARD! LEAVE HER ALONE, IT'S ME YOU WANT ISN'T IT?" Naruto finally exploded, the anger welling up inside of him even more.

"Good, Kyuubi. Get angry. Get even angrier, let it all out." The orange haired man uttered with no remorse. His purple ringed eyes gleamed in satisfaction.

Naruto ignored his remarks and his eyes landed back to Sakura who began to stir once again. She slowly moved, using nothing but will power now to drag herself towards Naruto's body.

"Don't come...Sakura-chan...why are you still coming" Naruto muttered with his eyes closed tight now, not being able to bring himself to look at her once beautiful face, now beaten and battered at his expense.

As Sakura neared Naruto, unbelievably she began to slowly rise to her feet once more.

"I'm supposed to be a proud shinobi of team seven" Sakura started "but all I've ever done is lean on you and cry" she finished with a shaky breath, her hand on her knee as she slowly rose to two feet.

Inhaling deeply, Sakura continued "I see now, that I'm the one whose made you suffer the most. I've been getting it all wrong...just messing it up. I don't want to get it wrong anymore..."

Naruto was now looking at the strong girl in front of him wide-eyed, her face full of determination. Naruto had so many emotions stirring inside of him now. 'Sakura made me suffer?' Naruto thought to himself. 'That's not true, Sakura-chan, you've made my life...worth living' he finished his thought as he looked up at the girl he loved.

"After we became team seven, all I ever did was watch you and Saskue-kun's backs." Sakura coughed out, blood splattering from her mouth as she used her wrist to wipe it away.

"I can't understand your feelings like Saskue-kun or Kakashi-sensei can..." Sakura continued, coughing out blood in between breaths.

"I've always had family, had friends...but if your gone, Naruto...to me...it will be the same as being alone."

Sakura turned her head to face Naruto, arms still up ready to attack, but her face in a genuine smile that always made his heart jump.

"But now...it's my turn to take the lead, so you can just watch me from behind!" Sakura finished with confidence, her eyes closed and smile wide. She turned and this time swung her foot with force towards the bars embedded in Naruto's back.

Naruto again helplessly watched in horror as Sakura was once again lifted into the air in front of him, not given the chance to finish her round house kick, and slammed into the same spot in the ground for the third time. Pain slowly walked over to Sakura's limp body, extending another rod from his sleeve, he raised the rod into the air. With force, he struck Sakura's body hard, impaling her upper back.

Naruto's eyes simply followed the motion of Pains arm as he struck the rod into Sakura's body. Not knowing if she was still breathing, Naruto lost control of his mind. Surrendering to the pain, his eyes snapped into crimson red. A massive swarm of dark threatening chakra expanding all around him, the force so strong it flung Sakura's body away, and even Pain struggled to stay up right. One of the Anbu who was never too far away managed to catch Sakura's limp body, landing lightly beside the Godaime Tsunade. With what little strength the fifth hokage could muster, she went to work on healing her student.

Pain eventual gave way to the massive power oozing out of Naruto, his body being flung against the debris of the dirt crater. Pain watched in awe as the Kyuubi's chakra leaked out of the boy, allowing himself to show an unsettling smile of happiness for the first time.

Naruto found himself in darkness. His toes covered in shallow water as he walked towards the ginormous prison deep within himself. The massive silt eyed monster appearing at the front of the gate, said nothing. Red pungent chakra simply spilled out from between the bars, surrounding Naruto and raising him towards the seal that laid on the prison doors. Naruto's hand moved on its own, as his finger tips reached to the edge of the paper, slowly starting to peel the seal away.

And that's a wrap to chapter 2! Please comment and review or PM me and I will reply. Next, chapter 3 PAIN