Together, we are Unstoppable. Believe it!
Okay, now the chapters after next when they are fighting is going to be interesting for I have been trying to get more information on the weapons and techniques that are in the manga but not getting too far. So sorry if the weapons or Justus are off. Wikipedia didn't even give what I needed. If any ideas or suggestions please review or PM me so I can make it right. This is just an information Chapter though (And a very long one at that. Probably one of my longest (chuckle).) Have Fun!
Akamaru: Woof
Me: Uh? What is it Akamaru?
Akamaru: Woof, woof, woof, woof.
Me: I don't get it! I speak cat not dog! Hey Kiba what did he say?
Kiba: That you don't own Naruto.
Me: Grrr, I know that you really REALLY big fuzz ball. Don't remind me.
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Chapter Four:
Welcome Home Sasuke
"YAWN!" said Choji looking around the large hall where the Third Hokage had summoned the Sensei's so long ago to announce the Chunin exams.
"Man, this is boring. When are the others getting back? I'm starving!"
"Well maybe if you would stop thinking about the buffet that Ino promised you maybe you won't be so darn hungry." Complained Kiba standing beside the doorway and then walked over to stand beside his large friend. Akamaru was sitting right where the third hokage had stood, wagging his huge tail.
Kiba and Choji were watching from the building near where the Hokage lived while Ino and Sai had gone watching over the borders of the village in the forest.
"Urgg, long do you think they will be gone?" Choji asked again but instead of Kiba answering, someone else did and that someone else was…
"Who went where Choji?" asked Tsunade.
The three jumped and turned to see the Hokage along with Kakashi, Jiraiya, Guy, Asuma, Kurenai and Yamato.
"Umm, uh…" said Choji trying desperately to remember what Sakura told him to say but with Tsunade looking at him with narrowed eyes made his memory go blank.
"Oh, don't bother you two we already know who left it's just a question of why and where?" Tsunade answered for them.
"Well… I may know the why." Said Kakashi
Tsunade looked at him then turned back to the two cowering ninjas and dog and said,
"Okay, then where are they?"
"I don't know exactly were Orochimaru's lair is Sakura was the only one besides Temari and Naruto that knew." Kiba informed the blonde Hokage.
"Very smart of you Sakura, I wouldn't think any less of you." Thought Tsunade to herself, a smile coming to her face.
"Wait, are you telling me that they went to Orochimaru's hide out to get Sasuke?" asked Guy totally blown away.
"Pretty much." Said Kakashi.
"We have to find them, I know that they are good but…" started Yamato
"Nah, I think they can handle it themselves." Said Jiraiya.
"Those guys are lucky that they are my favorites because if they weren't…when they got back I would of …"
"Tsunade I thought you said you didn't have any favorites." Said Kakashi in a teasing voice.
"Damn, did I say that out loud? Rotten hang over." Cursed Tsunade.
At that point Kiba, Choji and Akamaru all looked at each other and the look was "She is crazyyy…"
"I don't like this, what if…" started Yamato
"If you honestly think that they could get killed then you're crazier than Naruto." Chuckled Kakashi.
"Yeah but…" before he could finish his sentence, behind Choji, Akamaru, and Kiba, one of Naruto's toads appeared which made the three jump.
"Well, well, Gamakichi do you have a message for us?" chuckled Jiraiya at the three's reaction at the toad's sudden appearance.
"Not for you no, those three, He said nodded toward the two ninja and one dog.
"Okay what is it?" asked Choji nervously.
"That they are coming home. They shouldn't be too far away by now matter of fact." He said lazily.
"Do they have Sasuke?" asked Kiba.
"Dunno, all the kid said was to tell you that they were coming home. That's it. Though next time I might smack that kid on the head."
"Naruto?"
"No, some pink-haired girl threw something at me when he summoned me." The toad complained.
Tsunade just laughed so did Kakashi and Jiraiya.
"Alright, let him know we got the message." Said Kiba.
"Okay." And with a puff of smoke, the toad was gone.
"Wonder why Naruto didn't tell us if they got him or not." Wondered Guy.
"Probably wants to brag about it himself." Muttered Kiba; Choji nodded in agreement.
"Here they come." Said Kakashi turned around looking out through a window.
"Okay here is the deal boys, you tell them that we are here, and I will give you both horrible punishments you got that?"Choji gulped and nodded with Kiba. As the older ninja jumped up and out of sight, Choji turned to Kiba,
"Aww man what are we going to do? If Sakura finds out she won't yell at us, hell, she probably will kill us! Either way we ARE DEAD!" panicked Choji.
As on cue, at that every moment they heard Sakura and Naruto yelling at each other as they came in:
"You idiot! You should have warned me that you were going to summon a toad! You KNOW I HATE TOADS!" Sakura yelled at him.
"I can't believe of all the things that you are scared of its toads."
"And I can't believe of all the animals you had to summon it was toads!"
"Uh, technically Sakura they're reptiles."
"OH who cares? They are still horrible and slimy!"
"HEY!"
"Would you two can it! Your gonna wake up the whole village with the racket that you two are making." Complained Neji.
"Hey guys!" yelled Choji waving an arm.
The group that had left entered a little worse for wear but in one piece.
But, they didn't see…
"Did you get…?" started Kiba.
"See for yourself." Naruto grinned one of his foxy grins then turned. When Tsunade saw him she at first couldn't believe it or Kakashi (for about three seconds that is). Sasuke walked in and stood beside Naruto with a small smirk on his face.
"Hey Kiba, Choji."
"Sasuke your back!" smiled Choji
"WOOF!"
The next thing Sasuke knew he was on the ground and was being licked by what had to of been the biggest dog he had ever seen in his life. Yet it looked strangely familiar…
"Aka-Akamaru?" gasped Sasuke trying to breathe from under the large white dog's weight.
Everyone else started to laugh.
"Come on Akamaru, get off him! Let the guy breathe." Chuckled Kiba.
Once he had got off Sasuke, Sasuke had to do a double take.
"He's huge!"
"Yeah I know that's exactly what I thought when I saw him." Laughed Naruto.
"Oh hey Choji, I guess I can't call you fatso anymore." Teased Sasuke looking at him as he got up.
Choji just laughed and said,
"You got that right! Told ya that I was all muscle!"
"Yeah, fat muscle." Grumbled Naruto fortunately or unfortunately only Sakura heard him which earned him a whack on the head.
"Ha, at least Sasuke recognized me." Muttered Shino.
"Uhhh, well, not at first, not till I heard your voice."
"Aww, man you've gotta be kidding me!" The raven-haired boy just shrugged at the bug master.
"Well maybe if you took off the hood…" said Naruto.
"Oh yeah like you've got any fashion sense!" laughed Sakura.
"And you do?" he stupidly muttered.
"WHAT!"
Sasuke however wasn't listening to them. He was looking out the window at the side of the Hokege Mountain. The village was almost exactly how he remembered it.
"Enjoying the view?" asked Neji under Naruto's voice whom was yelling at Sakura.
"Hn." Was all the Uchiha said but with a small smile.
He turned to see some else come in, Ino and Sai.
"Hey guys did you…SASUKE!" yelled Ino running towards him. Sasuke braced himself as got hugged by the light blonde. He side-glanced at Sakura to see a vain pulsing in her forehead. Ino let go of him, stood back and smiled.
"It's so good to see you back again!"
"Yeah…nice to see you too Ino." Said Sasuke. He turned to look at the other ninja who told him how Naruto saw him as a brother.
"Sasuke-San it is good to see you again and under better circumstances." He smirked.
"Same to you." He said smirking back.
"Alright! Now that Sasuke is back there is only one more thing to do." Smiled Sakura walking towards Sai.
"Yeah! An all you can eat BUFFET!" yelled Choji putting a fist in the air.
"Sigh, not yet Choji." Said Sakura shaking her head.
"UH? But we got Sasuke back and everyone is in one piece so why can't we…." Whimpered Choji looking downcast.
"Because we have one more thing we have to do. She said looking over at Naruto who nodded.
I've got one more plan and this one I'm going to need everyone."
Suddenly, Choji remembered that their Sensei where nearby. He tried to warn her by using his hands but it was no good. Ino was the only one, who noticed and asked,
"What's wrong with you?"
"Oh nothing." Said Choji sweatdropping.
"Sasuke would you like to tell us what you know." Sakura said turning to look at him.
He sighed then said,
"Orochimaru has been waiting to take over Konohagakure for a while now. He has just enough now to do it. The plan was to kill the Hokage, take over and then he was going to kill off the Akatsuki members off one by one. With the assistance of my Sharingan though."
"So do you think he's going to change his plan now that you're gone?" asked TenTen.
"No." he answered.
Neji cocked an eyebrow and then said,
"You seriously think he's going to go on without you?"
"Yes. Orochimaru probably by now knows exactly what happened. He's no idiot. If he storms Konoha now, he'll just then add another objective: getting me dead or alive."
"Well we can't let that happen can we considering we just got you back." Came a voice from the door way. They all turned to see Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Guy, etc. all standing in front of the doorway. Everyone jumped up and stood straight.
"Is that what you were trying to tell us?" whispered Ino to Choji.
"Duh. What do you think!"
Choji gulped when Sakura gave him a dirty look.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, come forward please."
Naruto and Sakura both took a step forward towards the Hokage.
"You, know, I could get both of you for what you two did." The blonde Hokage said glaring at them.
"Yes lady Hokage." The both said with no fear in their voices.
"You went on an unauthorized mission; place yourselves and your fellow ninja in mortal danger, and not to mention you left without telling anyone. You could have at least told me."
"No offence Lady Hokage but, uh you were out with a hangover." Said the pink hair kunoichi to her sensei sheepishly.
Jiraiya behind Tsunade coughed which sounded strangely like a laugh. Tsunade glared at him then turned back to the others,
"Yes, well, anyway you acted foolishly which now leads to your punishment."
"Please Lady Hokage if you are going to punish Naruto and Sakura then you should punish me as well it was all my fault that they did what they did in the first place. If I hadn't been so stupid then they wouldn't have had to save me." Said Sasuke standing beside his old team mates.
"Indeed. Don't worry Sasuke you will get you punishment soon enough. She said narrowing her eyes even more.
"As for you two…"
"Lady Hokage if you are going to punish Sakura and Naruto then you should do the same to me." Said Rock Lee standing on the other side of Naruto.
"Same with us." Said TenTen and she and Neji following their teammate's lead, stood on the other side of Sasuke.
Shikamaru poked Choji as the two of them along with Ino, Sai, Kiba and Akamaru even, took their places in the line.
Tsunade looked at them with an angered face but her face did not reflect what she was thinking. Kakashi though you could not see it, was prouder than he had ever felt before in his life.
"Is this your final word? You are all going to stand by your fellow shinobi?"
Everyone looked at each other and then Naruto said,
"Yes Hokage Tsunade we do."
"Umm, I see…then you give me no choice." At first she glared at them which made Choji gulp again but the scowl then turned into a wide and proud smile. At that everyone looked at each other confused until she said,
"I am proud of our ninja of the village hidden in the leaves but no more so than now. You all were willing to go down with your teammates…no your friends. That is what being a true shonbi is about. That is exactly why am going to let you all off easy…for now. You all may have your own ninja way but when it comes to being loyal you are all on the same page. Right now we must worry about Orochimaru's attack. Therefore I wish to see Shikamaru, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura in my office. The rest of you I suggest to rest till we come back with what I hope will be a half way decant plan.
The rest nodded and then Tsunade followed by old team seven along with Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Kakashi and Asuma into her office.
---
Tsunade sat down at her desk as Naruto, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sasuke stood in front of her, Asuma closed the door, Kakashi went and stood beside the window and Jiraiya went and stood behind Naruto. Tsunade waited for Asuma to stand beside Jiraiya before she spoke.
"Alright, Sasuke I want to tell me everything that you about Orochimaru and I mean everything even if it doesn't seem that important I want you to tell me."
So for about an hour and a half, Sasuke told them all about what Orochimaru had been doing and planning for about the last three months. (AN: boy I would be lucky to remember what I did in the last WEEK let alone the last three months!... Okay, I'll shut up now.)
After Sasuke finished, Tsunade waited a moment then looked at Asuma and Shikamaru.
"Well, what do you two think?"
"I think Sasuke is right, if he has been planning to invade for this long, he will probably still attack even without Sasuke." Said Shikamaru at once.
"Umm, I agree too." Said Asuma
"May I say something Lady Hokage?" suddenly asked Sakura taking a step towards her.
Tsunade nodded and signaled her to continue.
"If I may, I have a plan. You see, Orochimaru by now would have realized that Sasuke has left therefore…"
"Therefore he will probably strike at anytime." Said Tsunade finishing her student's sentence.
"This means that we must alert every one at once, there is no time to waste."
"Shizune!"
"Yes?" asked the black haired ninja walking in and looking at her close friend.
"Please alert the villagers and all the shinobi. The medical ninja will need to be spilt into two teams, one team to go with the villagers and the rest to stay here to help. Also I want all of the Genin and two fourths of the Chunin and one third of the Jonin to go as well with the villagers to the sand village. It is the safest and closest place for our own. Also notify Lord Kazekage Garra while you are at it. And please ask Danzo to come in I need to speak to him."
Shizune nodded and left. As she did, the man named Danzo came in. Sasuke's eyes narrowed at him. The man had black hair and had bandages wrapped around his face. Like Kakashi one of his eyes where covered, he had an x shaped scar on his chin and last but not least, he had a stump were his left arm should have been((AN:I have no idea which arm was missing so I took a guess)). There was something not right about him and didn't take much to figure out why. Danzo took one look at Sasuke and immediately went into a rage.
"What is that-that traitor doing here?" he demanded, yelling at Tsunade but looking right at Sasuke whom eyes narrowed even more at his reaction.
"Sasuke is no traitor. Not anymore at any rate." She told him in a calm but firm voice looking Danzo right in the eye.
"He has given us crucial information that will save us from a horrible death."
"HA! How do we know if he is telling the truth, or that he is really back on our side?"
"I never really was on any one's side expect for the leaf village." Said Sasuke quietly glancing at the old shinobi.
"Sasuke…" started Sakura but Sasuke shook his head and said,
"No, I need to make it very clear that I am not a risk. The reason I left was to gain power from Orochimaru so that I could gain the power I need to kill my brother for what he did to our clan. I did not join him so that to take over Kohona, or anything like that. I have proven that for all the times that Naruto and I meet, not once did I kill him. I may have seemed like I was trying to but I never did. I held back just as he did. You may not believe me but that is what the case is. The reason I came back was because my teammates reminded me what it meant to be a shinobi from the leaf village, a member of team seven, and most importantly, a friend."
Naruto smiled one of his signature smiles at Sasuke and a thumbs up sign. Sasuke simply smirked at him back.
Danzo did not say anything but glared at Sasuke for all his worth. Tsunade cleared her throat and looked at Danzo.
"Enough, Danzo I want you to organize everyone and get things moving. That is my final order. Understood?" she glanced at him with a hard face.
"Yes lady Hokage." He said hokage with bitter emphasis.
He turned and left, giving Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura a nasty look as he went past them.
Tsunade eyes were narrowed; watching Danzo's retreating back.
"Yes, well come on, we need to go and tell the other's the plan and get going. We do not have time to waste." Sighed the Hokage, getting up and following Danzo.
When they went back into the main room, ANBU black ops, some Chunin, and Jonin were all in the hall with the rest of team seven's friends.
Shikamaru, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, along with their sensei went over and joined the rest of the Rookie nine and team Guy.
The fifth Hokage went and stood right where the third had stood, and looked at her fellow ninja.
"As you all may or may not know, with the help of returned ninja Uchiha Sasuke, we have found out that Orochimaru has planed to deploy another invasion against us. However this time he does not have the sand village on his side. However even without them he will still be hard to stop. With the exceptions of team Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai, and team Asuma, most of you will go along with the villagers to the village hidden in the sand whom is our ally. The rest along with the teams I just mentioned will stay here and help protect Kohona as long as possible. If it is found that we just can not save the village hidden in the leaves then we will leave but that shall be only as a last resort." She paused at looked over at everyone; her look lingered at Naruto for a moment before she added,
"I need not tell you that this is a dire situation. But I have faith in our village ninja and I hope you all do too. Depend on one another and fight together. Now…Shizune would you please divide the teams up and Danzo would you get them on their way. We do not have time to waste."
"Alright this is how it's working!" barked Shizune as she began giving out team orders.
Danzo before he went to give out orders, he went to Sai and told him to meet him outside in about a half hour. Sai looked at him confused but nodded. Danzo then went and stood beside Shizune. Sasuke gave him another glare as well as Tsunade. She really never had trusted him but she really had no choice. She turned to the group and said,
"I must go and do other things but in an hour I'll talk to you all and tell you where I need you to be. Till then help Shizune with what ever she needs you to do."
The group nodded then went and stood near Shizune and Danzo. And with that, Tsunade along with Yamato and Jiraiya left.
---
A half an hour later, Sai went and meet Danzo at the designated spot. He noticed that a few other elders where there as well. He stopped and looked to see Danzo. He turned to Sai and said,
"So Sai, are you still with us?" he gestured to the rest.
"If you mean Root, no I'm not. I am loyal to the Hokage and team seven. I don't see the need for Root especially seeing how Orochimaru is about to attack. I have better things to do and so do you all. Now if you don't mind…" with that Sai left. Danzo glared at him as he left.
"No matter. We have better plan out what we are going to do." He said turning back to the rest.
"Hey, Sai, where did ya go?" asked Naruto as Sai returned back to the hospital to help make sure that there where enough medical supplies. Naruto with Ino were taking things off the shelves and organizing them as Sakura checked things off a list on a clipboard. Sai looked up at them then said,
"There is something I need to tell you all about…"
When the rest of them were back with Tsunade and the other sensei, Sai told them about Root and Danzo. Naruto raised a eyebrow and said,
"I don't get it, what is Root any way?"
"Root was an old organization that was disbanded a long time ago." Growled Tsunade.
"It was a war-based group that Danzo lead. But the third Hokage disbanded it." Jiraiya explained further.
"I knew we couldn't trust him! Ever since he was past over for Hokage and The third to add insult to Danzo's pride disbanded Root he's been bitter." muttered Tsunade.
"Should we be concerned about him?" asked Ino.
"Not after I'm through with him." growled Tsunade.
"I think I'll go with you." Sighed Shizune.
"Yeah, good idea, we can both tear him apart."
"That's not what I meant."
"Ugg, we seriously do not have time for this!" complained Sakura.
"Yes I know but we can't ignore this." Said Sai.
"Yeah…"
"I'll keep a eye on him while you do what you all have to do." Said Yamato stepping forward. Tsunade nodded then turned to the others.
"Right, Now for all of your orders. Jiraiya, Naruto, Anko, and Temari when she gets here, will fight any or all of the snakes that Orochimaru sends. Shikamaru, Asuma, Neji, Shino, I want you all to guard and fight at the front of the village. Kurenai, Neji, TenTen, Kiba, Akamaru and Guy, you will be inside getting all those who get through the cracks. Sakura, Ino, Hinata and I shall stay in a spot that shall now be the temporary hospital. As for Sai, Rock lee, Kakashi, Choji, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Asuma, you'll go help who ever needs help. When they call you, you go but in till then you will watch the borders around the forest. The ninja all nodded in agreement.
"But for now, go on and rest. If Orochimaru comes you'll be the first to know." The fiery blonde sighed. The ninja then bowed then left the Hokage to her work.
"Sasuke, we need to seal that curse mark if you really want to fight." Kakashi told him as they left the Hokage's office. Sasuke nodded and followed his sensei going towards an empty hall.
-----
After some failed attempts to sleep (due to the fact that for the second time his curse mark was sealed, his shoulder felt like heck), Sasuke went and stood out on the balcony of the Hokage's building to think. Kakashi told him he wasn't too sure if the seal would hold, due to the fact that Sasuke had used the cursed mark so much. Though due the fact that he had been able to control to some extent before they sealed it, it may not bother him in the slightest. Only time would tell now.
Not long after Sasuke got there, Naruto, Shikamaru, Sai and Lee joined him. The guys did not say anything. They didn't need to. All them felt nervous just sitting there waiting to be attacked. It was nerve racking to say the least.
"Man, this is a drag. It feels like were sitting ducks. Just waiting for the wolf to come and eat us." Muttered Shikamaru.
"Yeah…" sighed Sai.
"Indeed, but you must remember what Tsunade said, we must believe in ourselves and fellow ninja, without that belief we are nothing." Said Rock Lee wisely.
But, Sasuke wasn't thinking about that at all. He had something else or to be specific someone on his mind. Naruto looked at him thoughtfully.
"You're worried about them too uh?" he asked the black haired Uchiha.
"Hn." Was all that he said. But Naruto knew what he was thinking and he was thinking it too.
"You know that they can fight, hell, they probably are almost or better than us!" chuckled the blonde ninja.
Shikamaru caught on what the two were saying and said,
"True but that still doesn't stop you from worrying a little."
"Yeah…" sighed Naruto.
"What or who are you three talking about?" asked Rock Lee cocking an eyebrow.
Sasuke simply looked out at the Hokage Mountain and said nothing. Naruto sighed at his friend then looked at Lee and said,
"He's worried about the girls."
"Oh."
"He's not the only one." Chuckled Sai walking over and leaning against the railing just like Sasuke was.
"Like Naruto said, they are great fighters." Shrugged Rock Lee, "They can keep care of themselves."
"Yeah but what if, what if they run into Orochimaru and none of us are around? What if…" Sasuke muttered.
"True, but we have no real control what is going happen. All we can do is pray and fight. Worrying like that isn't going to help anyone especially the girls." Interrupted Shikamaru.
"We know that they are strong and we'll…we'll just have to remember that that's all."
Naruto didn't say anything. All he could think about a certain indigo-haired Hyuga. But then an idea came to him…
"Hey…Let's make this promise, if we all get through this…" He explained to them his idea. They all at first just looked at Naruto but then Sasuke smiled.
"You got yourself a deal."
"That has to be your best idea ever." Chuckled Shikamaru.
"Huh what do you mean "my best idea ever"? I've had lots of good ideas!"
"That's something that can be debated." Smirked Sasuke. Naruto glared at him with one of his famous glares.
"So is it a deal?" smiled Sai.
They all nodded and promised each other the promise.
And with that, Sasuke and the others parted, knowing that they had to do something and if they didn't, they would regret it.
---
Sasuke found Sakura coming out of the temporary hospital. Even though she had circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, her hair was a bit of a mess, it looked like she had taken a shower so fast that she hadn't bothered to comb it. Despite all that, Sasuke thought she was…well beautiful.
He went straight up to her and asked,
"Hey, can we talk for a minute?"
Sakura was a little startled at the fact that Sasuke just came right up to her out of the blue but she just shrugged it off.
"Oh okay, sure."
They walked a little ways and stopped at a small pond. There was a Cherry Blossom tree not far from it and there were lily pads all over the pond. Sasuke walked up to the ponds edge and then turned to look at Sakura. Her emerald eyes were reflecting what little moon light there was, and her light pink hair was gently blowing in the wind.
She walked up and stood beside him and looked in the pond at their reflections. They both looked a little worse for wear, their hair was messy and they both had bags under their eyes from lack of sleep she noticed. She looked up to say something to Sasuke but stop when she saw that he was looking right at her.
"What?" she asked cocking an eyebrow at him.
"Oh nothing. It's just…" he started but then stop.
"Damn it! How the heck am I suppose tell her! Fighting Gaara was easier than this!"
"It's just what Sasuke?" asked the pink haired ninja softly.
He took a deep breath and turned to her, looking into her deep emerald eyes and she looked back into his onyx eyes.
"It's just…I worried that something might happen to both of us and…"
"And what?" she questioned.
"It's just I would never forgive myself if I didn't tell you…how I feel." He told her in a gentle tone.
She nodded and smiled.
"Go on." She urged him.
He sighed again then looked her straight in the eye.
"Sakura, I just wanted to tell you, even though I never told or acknowledged your feelings, I did care for you, deeply. And I still do. Not just because you were or are my teammate, because you are my friend."
Sakura simply smiled. She walked a little closer and looked out over the pond. She thought for a moment then said still staring at the pond,
"You know, all this time all I could think about was finding a way to get you back. Like there was a piece missing from my heart." She whispered place her hand over her heart. "Now you're back. I feel as though my heart is in one piece again. But…" she looked down with her eyes closed,
"Just as we're all back together…we have to fight. I know we must but…"
Sasuke walked over to her and very gently he took her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him. And there they stood, holding each other close not saying a word. They didn't need to.
After a few minutes that seemed like hours, Sasuke took his hand and lifted Sakura's chin.
"I need to tell you Sakura, that I love you."
"I know. And I love you too, Sasuke. Always have." She smiled.
He smiled back, and together they went, hand in hand back towards the village.
---
Shikamaru looked around then spotted Shizune talking to someone. As he walked over to her, the other person walked away, Shizune then looked to see Shikamaru coming towards her.
"Shikamaru, you know you should be getting some sleep."
"Yeah, well, with all this racket going on from everyone leaving who could?" he smirked.
"Hey, do you know if Temari is back yet or not?"
"Matter of fact, she is." She said pointing behind her towards Tsunade's office.
"Thanks."
Just as Shikamaru reached the Hokage's office, the girl Sand ninja stepped out of the Hokage's office right onto Shikamaru's foot.
"Ouch! Temari that was my foot!" he complained
"Oops, sorry." She snickered.
"Hey can I see you for a minute?"
She looked at him uncertainly then said,
"Yeah okay, but only a minute, I've got lots of things to do." Shikamaru nodded and lead her outside onto the balcony where he and the other boys had just been.
"Sooo, what's up?" asked the blonde turning to look at the brown haired ninja.
"Man, this is a drag..." thought Shikamaru before he spoke.
"Temari I just wanted to tell you something before it was too late…"
Temari's eyebrows rose at the comment and she said,
"To late to tell me what?"
"Well, just in case I couldn't later." He shrugged.
"Shikamaru, we are going to get through this all of us. Naruto would have a crazy fit if any of us didn't get through this."
Shikamaru smirked at the thought but then he face got serious again and he looked right into Temari's eyes.
"I just wanted to tell you that I really care for you Temari."
She smiled and said to him,
"That's all you wanted to tell me?" she shook her head then went over and kissed him on the cheek.
"I love you too, you lazy baka you." And with that, she walked back inside leaving a momentary stunned Shikamaru outside.
"What just happened?" He blinked then shrugged and followed Temari in, a small smile on his lips.
----
Rock lee found TenTen helping some genin to get ready to leave. He waited for them to leave then snuck up behind her. She turned around to see him sneak up to her.
"Lee?"
"TenTen could I talk to you alone?"
"Umm, okay."
They went around a corner of a building and Lee took TenTen's hand into his own.
"TenTen, I must tell you something, of everyone who has ever believed in me (besides Naruto and Guy of course), it was you who was always there. Even if you never said a word you were there. And I just wanted to tell you that before we fight."
TenTen was a little stunned at first and wasn't quite sure what to say to Lee's comments. But then the weapons master regained her voice, smiled at her teammate and said,
"You're welcome Lee."
Lee smiled back at her and told her to be careful.
"Me? It's you who should be careful! If you use that technique, (You know which one I'm talking about) I'll kill you myself!" she glared at him. Lee chuckled and said,
"I shall only use it if it is necessary. I promise."
"Hmm…" the kunoichi sighed at the shinobi. She kissed him tenderly on the cheek then headed back to the other genin. He just smiled after her.
---
Ino was inside the old restaurant that now was a hospital. It hadn't been used in years but it was big and it was far enough away from the fighting than the other hospital. Ino was dusting out the cobwebs and the thick layers of dust. She was trying to get a really big cobweb out a corner that was a little higher than what she could reach. The platinum blonde was also standing on a-not-too-stable chair that was shaking under her weight.
"I only hope that Sakura doesn't come in." she prayed to her self as try to reach it. At that moment, the chair gave into her weight and Ino fell backwards. Just at that moment, Sai rushed over and caught her, but do to the force; he fell backwards as well, landing on the floor with Ino in his lap.
"Are you okay Ino-Chan?" asked Sai as he helped her up and getting up himself.
"Yeah, I guess standing on that chair wasn't such a good idea. Good thing Sakura isn't here to call me fat." She chuckled picking up the remains of the chair and throwing it into a large dump bin just outside the window.
"Here let me help you." Said Sai picking up what was left and throwing it out.
"Thanks Sai-kun."
"Hey, what where you doing anyway?" he asked as Ino picked up her duster.
"Uh? Oh trying to get that ridiculously huge spider web up there." She pointed.
"No body has been in here for years, and it's really messy. If this is going to be a hospital we need to clean it up as much as we can. Shizune with some others have already pretty much cleaned the rest of this place out I was just getting in here."
Sai smiled and said,
"Here I'll get it for you and help you finish cleaning."
"Oh, well, thanks Sai." Smiled Ino back blushing a little.
Once he had done that, she and Sai cleaned out the rest of the spider webs, (more than once they found a few spiders so Ino hid as Sai got rid of them)
When they were done they stood back to look at their handy work.
"Wow, it looks a lot better than it did before!" she smiled and turned to look at Sai to see him smiling at her.
" Ino, the reason I came in here was because I was looking for you."
Ino blinked at him then asked,
"Me? What for?"
Sai sighed ((AN: Okay that's a little corny)) and looked right at her teal eyes.
"I just wanted to tell you that I really care for you that's all. You're the first real person since I came here besides Naruto and Sakura that cared for me. I just wanted to thank you for that."
"Oh, Sai." She smiled at him, "Thanks that was really sweet of you."
"You're welcome Beautiful."
They just looked at each other for a moment then started to close the distance between each other. Just as it looked like they were going to kiss, Choji came in. Poor Choji.
The two jumped then Ino turned at looked at Choji with dagger eyes.
"CHOJI!"
"Uh! What! I was just going to ask you if Shizune was around! Kakashi was looking for her!" he whimpered at Ino's death glare.
Ino sighed and pointed,
"She's in the back."
Choji gulped as he went past her and went to the other room praying she wouldn't try and deck him. He had no idea what he had interrupted and he knew better than to ask.
Sai chuckled as Ino turned back to look at him. He tilted her head up and said,
"Just be careful alright." He told her quietly.
"I will, and you had better be careful too, or I'll get you." She smirked.
"I promise." He laughed. He said good bye to her and just as he reached the door, he looked back to look at her. Ino's eyes were shining as though she was going to cry but she didn't. She just smiled at him and he did too, and then he walked out. Just as he closed the door, Ino noticed a small scroll on the window seal. She picked it and open it. It was a small ink drawing of her. At the bottom Sai had sighed his name and "Aishteru". At this point Ino did cry alittle. She rolled the scroll back up and placed it in her pocket. Ino stood there for moment thinking to herself, then turned and went into the room that Choji had gone, praying that the next time she saw him; he wouldn't be there in the hospital injured. Or worse.
---
It didn't take much for Naruto to find Hinata. She was standing out on another balcony staring out into the starry night sky. Her eyes where closed and the wind was ticking her long indigo hair. Naruto beamed at her and then went behind the Hyuga heir and wrapped his arms around her.
Hinata's eyes opened to see that Naruto had wrapped himself around her. She smiled back at him and said,
"You're worried too aren't you?"
"Who isn't?" he chuckled.
For a moment they just stared at the stars. Hinata vaguely noted Naruto's warm musky scent as she turned around in his arms and drew him into a hug placing her head on his chest.
Naruto smirked then lifted Hinata's chin so he could look into her sweet calm eyes. Just as he was going to kiss her on the forehead……
"HEY NARUTO!"
Hinata swore Naruto jumped three feet in the air. Naruto whirled around to see Konohamaru, the third Hokage's grandson, looking at him with a very Naruto-ish smile.
"What's up boss?" he grinned at the two ninja.
"Konohamaru you little… Why did you do that!" stammered a not-too-happy-Naruto.
"Do what? Oh, what were you going to kiss her or something? Because I can come back later if that was what ya were doing."
Hinata giggled and blushed and Naruto just sighed. Naruto would have rather jumped off the Hokage monument then tell Konohamaru that he was going to kiss Hinata, so he just sighed and said,
"Forget it. What are you doing here anyway? Should you be going with the others to head for the Sand village already?"
"Well…ya see Naruto-kun…I really don't want to go. I want to stay here with you guys and fight."
A look of compression came onto Naruto's face. Konohamaru was trying to sneak off so that he could stay with them. But instead of yelling at him, Naruto glanced at Hinata who nodded. He bent down to Konohamaru's height, and then said to him in a very kind voice,
"Konohamaru, you have your orders and besides, you have to look after the others." (Just as he said this, Ebisu and Tsunade noticed the scene and where hiding listening to them.)
"Yeah, but I want to help you look after the village." He complained to the older ninja.
"But Konohamaru," said Hinata gently, "It will be too dangerous for a genin to stay here and fight."
"Naruto took Orochimaru on in the Chuin exams though and he was only a genin!" retorted the young ninja looking at Naruto.
"Well…that was some really…"
"Strange and unforeseen events with a dash of dumb luck?" smirked Hinata helpfully sounding a bit like Sakura.
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Smirked Naruto back.
"Besides, remember Konohamaru, your job is to protect everyone, that's just as important as staying here and Fighting Orochimaru. What would your teammates do without you?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah, you're probably right." The young ninja sighed.
"Grandpa said to always protect ones that are precious to you. Hey is Hinata-Chan precious to you?" he asked the blonde ninja.
Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled,
"Yes she is." Hinata smiled back at him, blushing a little. He turned back to him and said,
"So are you, my friends and the village."
"Ya know what Naruto? I know you'll be the next Hokage. I can tell." He smiled at Naruto.
"Believe it." Now go on, I bet old closet-privy Ebisu is looking for you." (Tsunade looked at Ebisu with a raised eyebrow and he looked at her nervously acting like he didn't know what Naruto was talking about; twitching like he does when he's caught.)
"Oh hey, I got one more question." Said Konohamaru putting his hands behind his head like a certain other ninja.
"What?"
"Haven't you two kissed yet? Ya think by now you would have kissed… You must have bad breath boss, either that or you're blind 'cause she's so nice-looking you would think…"
"MOVE IT YOU LITTLE BRAT BEFORE I THROW YOU INTO NEXT YEAR!"
Konohamaru decided it would be best if he didn't know the answer to that question and quickly ran for it before Naruto got his hands on him. Hinata was blushing a very deep red and somewhat giggling at Naruto reaction to Konohamaru's question. Ebisu followed Konohamaru and told Tsunade that they would be leaving in a few minutes. She lingered back though to hear what Naruto was going to say next.
First he sighed and turned to look at Hinata. Her pearl eyes shining with laughter. She smiled at him and he did the same.
He took her back into his arms and held her close. He kissed her on the forehead and said softly,
"Please promise that you'll be careful."
"Me? It's me who should be telling you to be careful." She said quietly to him, placing her hand on his cheek.
Naruto smirked then said,
"We better get moving."
Hinata nodded and Naruto headed ahead. Hinata lingered back for a moment watching the love of her life go. She thought about how he had talked to Konohamaru. She smiled and thinking of how he would be a good father someday. She blushed to herself for the thought.
"Hinata!" the ninja yelled.
"Coming!" she yelled running after him.
Tsunade smiled to herself then followed suite.
----
WHEW! Okay like I said a loooong chapter. The next one shouldn't be as long as this one but still long. Rewiew if you wish just noooo Flames. LoL, Kiki! P.S- can't there be just a Fluffy category! ;)