A/N: Hello readers! Here's another chapter of my fic. The title btw is crudely translated into "Demon Sphere". Hope you enjoy the chapter. A thousand thanks for the reviews. Please keep reviewing and reading and I will keep writing! And now:

Chapter 22: Oni-Mari

"Come on, come on!" Naruto egged on his left hand to form a current. Instead, he just ended up wasting more chakra. Sasuke smirked.

"Dobe." Naruto shot a finger under his nose.

"Shaadaap Teme!!" He yelled. Sakura rolled her eyes at her two teammates. Kakashi chuckled at their behavior. Sakura turned to the silver haired jounin, linked arms and rested her head on his bicep.

"It's not fair." She whined.

"What's not fair?" He asked puzzled.

"The fact that you're so comfy and irresistible." Kakashi smiled underneath his mask.

"Get a room you two!" Naruto chided. Sakura shot a look at the blonde nuisance. "Ohh look at me! I'm Sakura and I love old men!" Naruto was obviously asking for it on purpose. Everyone else caught the gag, except for Sakura. The pink haired girl launched herself at the Kyuubi container, who dodged her attack and proceeded to bounce around, avoiding Sakura's claws. Kakashi threw his head back and enjoyed a good laugh. Sasuke looked up at his team leader in surprise.

"Ne, Kakashi," he began, "you've never been so jolly before." Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"Well I realize now that I have so much to be happy for," he responded, "my team has been reunited, Naruto's getting a beating from Sakura, and I've actually found someone for the first time." Sasuke admired his ex-sensei. Sure he's dating the girl he had feelings for, but now that he completed his goal, there was no need to see the good things in life as burdens.

Speaking of goals… "Umm Kakashi." Sasuke started again.

"What's up Sasuke?" the raven-haired boy lowered his head.

"There's something I need help with." Kakashi became concerned. Sasuke usually never turns for help from anyone.

"What's on your mind?"

"The day that Itachi and I faught," he began, "He used the last of his chakra to infiltrate my mind. When I delivered the final blow, his psyche stayed there. Now he resides in my mind, and unless I die, he will still be there." Kakashi's eye widened.

"Sasuke why didn't you mention this earlier?"

"I knew that Tsunade-sama would have me under watch so that Itachi's influence didn't take over me. It almost did when I…tried to kill you." Kakashi's gaze softened. He put a hand on his ex-pupil's shoulder.

"No need to worry Sasuke," he said, "you're my teammate. I'll help you out all I can." The black haired Uchiha boy smiled. Just then, Naruto went flying across their walking path.

"Come back here you idiot!" Sakura screamed. Kakashi reached out and held her by the shoulder.

"Easy Sakura," he said coolly, "save your energy for more useful purposes. Like training." Sakura huffed and went to work on her new ransegan. Naruto ran to keep up with the team. They were about a day away from Lightning Country, and about to camp for the night. The team broke up into their usual jobs; Sakura took care of the fire, Kakashi with the tents, and the ANBU brothers getting the food. This time, there were no hunter-nins out to get them, at least not in the area. Naruto and Sasuke's ranting could be heard in the forest.

"Come on let me try!" Naruto whined.

"No way. You get to carry the bucket." Sasuke responded smoothly.

"Grrr." Naruto growled. Sakura giggled at her companion's constant argument. Sakura saw those two now as her boys. She cared for them both deeply like a sister would for her brothers. Ever since Sasuke finished his war against Itachi, and come to his senses, he's open up for the first time. Now he laughs occasionally, and even takes part in conversations. Just watching those two grow up made Sakura feel so happy inside.

A pair of muscular arms wrapped around Sakura's abdomen. She held both arms and propped her head up against the man's flak vest. She inhaled deeply. He smells like a forest she thought to herself. Kakashi rested his head on top of her head and looked out towards the setting sun. "Your birthday is 5 weeks away." He reminded. Sakura nodded.

"And then we can come out in the open without a problem." She said with a smile. Kakashi tightened his hold around her and leapt into the trees, climbing higher and higher until he reached the top of the biggest tree in the area. He perched himself on top, and let Sakura sit on his lap. The view was magnificent. The sun let out a blanket of gold across the sky as its big finale for the day. The clouds looked as if they were painted into the sky, as they stood motionless, mesmerized by the beauty of the sunset. "Kakashi," Sakura whispered, "life at this moment, is perfect." Kakashi nodded in approval,

"Absolutely perfect." He responded. They sat there for a while watching the sun falling over the horizon to grace another part of the world with it's presence. Sakura had fallen asleep in the comfort of her lover's arms. Kakashi looked down upon her with a smile in his heart. I have to be the luckiest guy on the planet right now. He thought to himself. All of a sudden he thought he saw a white flash go off in the corner of the forest. Hmm? Then it disappeared. He heard Naruto yelling. Must be practicing the move the Copy Nin rationalized. He allowed his eyes to droop shut. Maybe just 15 minutes he thought to himself.

"Kakashi!" Naruto called from the ground. The Copy Nin woke up to the sound of the annoying blonde boy calling his name. Sakura woke up too.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"Naruto called." He gripped onto her again. "Hold on tight." He hopped off the tree, causing Sakura to scream in panic. He landed like a cat on the ground, and safely stood a bewildered Sakura up. She turned around and playfully hit him on the arm.

"Don't do that!" She said laughing. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked. Naruto held up a full bucket of fish. Sasuke was a few feet away from him gutting a couple of fish.

"And I figured out a name for the move!" He said enthusiastically. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What is it?" He asked.

"It's-" Before he could finish a few nins came out of the forest. Naruto yelled in frustration. "Dammit this is getting old!" He ran towards one and made him eat a rasengan. The other two pulled out what looked like exploding tags and threw them at the Kyuubi container. Naruto didn't notice them, but Kakashi did. "Naruto!" Too late. The tags exploded right next to Naruto. The smoke cleared and he wasn't there. "NARUTO!" Sakura charged the chakra in her fist and connected it with one of the opponents. His jaw broke on contact and he fell over clutching his mouth in pain. Sasuke already appeared in front of the third and kicked him in the jaw. They both took flight and Sasuke proceeded to unleash his fury on him.

"Lion Combo!" He cried as he finished his taijutsu combo. Two more nins came out from behind them. Kakashi took out a kunai and sped towards the first. The second one performed a few seals and the ground crumbled underneath Sakura's feet. She fell in between the cracks.

"Sakura!" Kakashi cried looking over his shoulder. The nin took advantage of his distraction and roundhouse kicked Kakashi causing him to lose balance. The nin performed a flash of seals causing the ground beneath Kakashi to form spikes. Two of them tore through Kakashi's left arm, and one went through an area just above his spleen. Kakashi bit back a scream as the blood started to pour from his body.

"We got him we got him!" One of the nins cried. Before they could celebrate more, a wave of red chakra exploded from the trees. Naruto came running towards them with the improved ransegan in his hand. Kyuubi had taken over his body, and now he wanted blood. He ran towards the two nins and lashed the move out at them. " Oni-Mari!" Kyuubi Naruto cried cutting through both nins. Kyuubi Naruto stood there heaving as the large burns on his right side started to heal due to the Kyuubi's chakra. All of the enemy nins were dead, and Kakashi was stuck on the spikes. Naruto called off the Kyuubi and fell to his knees. The chakra sphere disappeared. Sasuke ran first to help Sakura out. Luckily all they did was have her fall. She had a few cuts but nothing major. The Uchiha heir pulled the pink haired girl out and they both ran towards Kakashi. He was on the brink of consciousness but opened his eyes when his team surrounded him.

"Sasuke," Sakura ordered, "I need you to lift Kakashi from this prison." Sasuke nodded and gently gripped underneath his team leader's arms. With great difficulty, he slid Kakashi's body from the spikes, bearing the winces and cries of pain that Kakashi let escape from his mouth. When they freed him, Sakura got to work on closing the wounds with chakra. The bleeding stopped and the throbbing pain halted to Kakashi's delight. He sat up and Thanked Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto was checking the dead bodies. All of them were rock nin.

"This can't keep going on," Naruto said, "we have to find someway to hid from these people." He turned to Kakashi who was staring at Naruto. "What?" He asked.

"You did it Naruto," he replied, "you performed the move perfectly. And it seems like you've named it oni-Mari." Naruto put his hand behind his head and grinned. "Where did you come up with the name.?"

"Actually in trying to create the oni-mari, I came across two forms. One of which is what you saw there. The other, well, it's a bit complicated, and a lot more dangerous…for the user." Kakashi's face became stoic.

"What does it do Naruto?" Naruto closed his eyes and breathed out.

"It takes all of the chakra out of the user and sets off a white light. The attack is ten times more effective than the oni-mari and rasenshuriken…combined." Kakashi's eye widened.

"But?" He asked.

"But, the user will surely lose his life." Naruto concluded.

"Naruto how did make that observation? And when?" Sakura spoke up.

"Back in the forest, after helping Sasuke I tried the move twice more. The first time, I used way too much chakra. I almost died but thanks to Kyuubi I survived. While I was passed out, I had a conversation with him and he told me the mechanics of what had just happened. He revived me and I tried again, but with less force. This time it worked." Kakashi thought back. So that was the white light I saw earlier he thought, but why was there no sound? He shook his head. Enough questions. The point is he got it down.

"I'm proud of you Naruto." Kakashi said with a smile. Naruto grinned. "I suggest you keep the other version as one of your kinjutsu. What did you name that one?"

Naruto bowed his head. "Amatsu-mari." He whispered. Kakashi lowered his gaze.

"The Heaven Sphere…an appropriate name." Sasuke commented. Naruto looked up at his comrade. The Uchiha heir smirked and gave him a thumbs up. "Well done bro." Naruto grinned at his partner and returned the gesture. Sakura smiled at the two.

"Alright, let's eat this fish and go to sleep," Kakashi ordered, I'll keep watch for the night. Tomorrow we meet with Yamato." During dinner, everyone was quiet. Sasuke was thinking about what to expect at the next checkpoint. Naruto's thoughts dwelled upon Hinata. He felt bad for having to be away from her for so long. Sakura had thoughts about Kakashi. Soon we can come out in the open about us. Kakashi thought about Sakura too. Soon we canwalk around Konoha together without a care.

(Later that Night)

Kakashi was sitting on a tree branch above the camp with his book out. His gaze however was towards the stars. Minato sensei… he thought, How proud you would be of your son. He looked down at Naruto's tent. He came up with his own arsenal of techniques. I'm sure that when he returns, he will become Hokage, just like you.

(The Next Morning)

The group woke up and packed up their belongings. Kakashi took to the lead. "All set!" He said and turned to walk forward. Naruto hopped ahead of him and pointed flamboyantly to the North. "Let's Go Dattebayo!!" He cried.