Hey folks! Well here it is, the next chapter. I was really excited to write this one, and I hope you like it. I could probably just end the fic here, but I still had a few plans. After all, I haven't explained why I call it, "Kissing the Wind" yet. I certainly don't own any of Kishimot's character's so I hope he doesn't mind if I play in his universe.

UPDATE: I was pretty satisfied with this chapter, so its mostly just some grammer errors that got fixed. I tried to smooth out Sakura's memories of Chiyo too, I think that area had the most work.

Sakura rounded the corner at full speed. Her heavy black boots echoed off the tile floors and down the corridor as she ran. Her heart beat heavily in her chest. Sunlight filtered through windows into the hallway she was in now. Right now the normal late-afternoon sunlight was mixed with a strange orange glow. Sakura knew exactly what that glow was, but she forced herself not to look. She couldn't look. Not yet. The way her heart was drumming in her chest told her she still wasn't prepared to face what she would find if she looked into that courtyard. She had to calm herself. She couldn't lose her head this time, or she would be of no use to anyone.

As Sakura reached the entrance, she nearly ran over two elder council members walking purposefully toward the exit. They nodded to her politely, as if they were just passing on the street, and not fleeing a place of immanent danger. With them was the founder of ANBU Root, and an object of Sakura's scorn, Danzo. Danzo took more than courteous interest in her. They made eye contact. Sakura narrowed her eyes, betraying both her distrust and her unspoken question. Why are you here? Danzo continued on after the elders without a word.

Sakura brushed past Danzo and into the courtyard, and skidded to a stop at the horrific sight. She had tried to prepare herself for what she would find. Naruto was in the middle of the courtyard. His bandages had begun to tear, burn and come unraveled, the cast had broken free of his arm, and it looked nearly healed. He leaned forward onto his hands as if they were a pair of front legs. His face was contorted, his incisors growing into long fangs. His eyes were red and menacing. The cloak of the Kyuubi had already formed two tails, a third was rapidly forming as he thrashed against the bonds that held him.

Sakura almost felt relieved when she saw Yamato's sealing jutsu forming around Naruto, but she immediately realized something was going wrong with the technique. Yamato was holding the final sign of the summon, straining against his own hands as if he was in a tug-o-war with himself. The spiked wooden pillars struggled to grow completely out of the ground. Some unseen force kept trying to pull them back under. Two ANBU flanked Naruto on either side, and her master was in the middle, shouting orders. Tsunade held a small piece of paper in her hand., on which was a symbol of some kind that Sakura couldn't make out.

"Keep him distracted!" Tsunade was yelling to the two ANBU and Yamato. "And are you sure this wing has been evacuated?"

"It was done as you ordered, Lady Tsunade." Said the female ANBU after dodging a strike from one of the tails. The impact drove dust and grass into the air. Sakura cried out in surprise and covered her eyes with crossed forearms as the ground trembled beneath her and an unnatural wind blew grass, flowers, and other debris her way. At this, the Fifth Hokage noticed her apprentice.

"Get her out of here!" Tsunade ordered.

"But Master!" Sakura called back.

Sakura didn't get the chance to argue. She found herself instantly scooped up on the shoulder of the male ANBU as he sprinted for the door. The impact of the ANBU's speed knocked the wind out of Sakura. Sakura struggled to look up, and found herself being carried away from Naruto feet first. A three tailed Naruto took notice, and tried to leap after them, but the bonds of Yamato's jutsu held, and he was thrown to the ground. Seeing her chance, Tsunade pounced.

Sakura had difficulty tracking her master's movement as she approached Naruto through his blind spot at full speed. Tsunade slapped the paper-seal onto Naruto's forehead with perfect precision. Naruto froze, the red aura around him dimmed. The tails began to disperse. Sakura's long time friend collapsed onto his belly, gasping.

Sakura grabbed the doorframe as the ANBU took her back into the hallway. Just as a large chunk of the doorframe broke off, she heard her master say,

"Its over."

Naruto's mind was a swirl of darkness and light. His eyes struggled to focus, to bring him back to reality. He smelled freshly burnt grass, and shapes moved in front of his eyes that looked like boots. Was it . . .old lady Tsunade? His skin tingled and burned, and he was short on breath.

"Am I . . . saved?" Naruto coughed.

He tried to stand, but only felt pain shoot up his spine. He cried out.

"Where are you going boy?" said a voice from the depths of Naruto's mind. Darkness flooded over Naruto, pulling him away again. The smells and the sights vanished. Naruto's throat was parched. It was hard to speak, but Naruto heard his own distant voice say in a cracked and desperate tone,

"No! Leave me alone!"

"Begging won't get you anywhere, brat." said the menacing baritone. "Its like I told you before. You are only delaying the inevitable."

Naruto found himself in familiar surroundings. Filthy water wet his hands and knees, sending a cold chill up his spine. Naruto didn't have to turn around to know there would be an enormous iron gate behind him, sealed shut with but the frailest looking of seals. The gate was clanging loudly as an immense force threw itself against its prison bars. The nine tails was determined. It would not settle for a chakra visage of itself this time. This time, it was determined to be free. Naruto knew he had to stop this, knew that everything depended on it, but for the first time, he began to doubt that he could. The young man refused to turn and look at the giant red fox eyes of his tormenter. Instead, he sat in the murky water, and buried his head in his knees.

"This seal is going to break today, child." Said the fox. "There is nothing you can do but let me show you what true power is."

Naruto raised his head, but still did not look at the fox.

"But, why here? Please, not here. My friends will . . ."

"Ha!" sneered the Kyuubi. "What friends? You mean the people outside that wish only to hold you down? To hold you back! You are of no use to them, they know they can't trust you. Even that pink-haired wench and your so-called Hokage.""How dare you . . ." Naruto began angrily.

"How dare YOU! Brat."Hokage. What a foolish title. Why do you still desire only that, when with my power you could bring the entire WORLD to its knees?"

"I don't care about any power except that which I can protect my precious friends with. Your power only hurts them. I don't want it."

"No, you fool. YOU are the one that hurts them."Naruto was silent. He felt like crying. Could he cry tears in this place? The damn fox wasn't right. It couldn't be right. Naruto had no argument. He was tired of arguing . . .so very tired of struggling so hard every day. Naruto felt his body go limp. He began to float with a slow current in the dirty yellow brown water.

"Now, boy. Give yourself over to me one more time."

Naruto did not resist as he suddenly found himself in the grip of a giant paw. Its force began cushing him as it pulled him slowly toward the gap between the bars. Naruto didn't cry out at the pain, but he was certain that tears were rolling down his face.

Sakura screamed as every window in the hallway shattered, sending glass though the air like shrapnel. The shockwave threw both her and the ANBU carrying her into the far wall. Sakura was stunned. Her master had sealed the chakra. She had seen it. What was going on?

Sakura stood on shaky legs and peered through an empty window frame. Her Master lay sprawled on the ground at least twenty yards from Naruto, and was struggling to get up. Yamato's jutsu still held fast to Naruto, and it looked almost complete. The wooden pillars rose high in the air, almost reaching up to the open roof of the three-story building. Naruto bucked and clawed at the ground like a rabid junkyard dog who's territory had just been trespassed on. He snarled, and Sakura watched as the tails rapidly reformed.

One . . . two . . three. If the fourth tail formed . . .

Sakura shut her eyes tight, willing this to be a bad dream. This just couldn't happen here.

Sakura felt strong arms grab her around the abdomen from behind and try to haul her off again.

"Wait!" she yelled.

"No time!" hissed the mysterious ninja. "We have to get out of here now!"

Sakura ignored the one holding her, and called to her Master, who had managed to stand, though she was bleeding from a cut on her head and was cradling an arm.

"Tsunade-sama! What happened? What made him so angry?"

Tsunade spared Sakura a glance, as Naruto was only growling at the moment, his eyes shifting wildly as he considered how to best break free of the sealing jutsu. Yamato looked as though he would reach his limit soon. He was bent over at the waist and breathing heavily.

"His anger isn't the problem!" Tsunade croaked as she began to heal her broken arm, blue-green chakra lighting her features. "Naruto is . . ." Tsunade grimaced against her own pain before finishing her thought. "Naruto is in despair."

Tsunade gave Sakura a sad, sympathetic smile.

"Now get out of here," her master said. "There's nothing more you can do."

Sakura felt as if someone had stabbed her through the heart with an icicle. She was no stranger to despair. Images of Sasuke leapt through her mind. She remembered yet again how she had begged, and how he had only said thank you as he knocked her unconscious.

Then there were more images, this time of someone Sakura had known only briefly, but had come to love in the heat of battle as if she were her own grandmother. Sakura remembered the feel of the cold stone of Chiyo's grave as she touched it lightly in a final farewell gesture to a woman who had taught her so much. Somehow, Sakura had always come through despair a stronger, wiser person.

But Naruto . . . Naruto never despaired.

He didn't despair when he was just a lonely kid with goofy goggles striving for attention. He didn't give up when she and Sasuke were at Gaara's mercy. He'd been hopelessly outmatched by a number of opponents, and he had somehow managed to survive or triumph in every encounter. Even when he failed to bring back Sasuke he . . .

"No!" Sakura said confidently. "I won't run away when a friend is in need." She smiled as she echoed Naruto's own words. "That's my way of the Ninja!"

The ANBU holding her was quick, and Sakura could feel his muscles tense as he prepared to carry out the Hokage's orders despite Sakura's determination. But he was no match for Sakura's shear strength. She planted her feet and leapt through the window, shrugging the elite ninja off of her like he was an old coat. Sakura wasn't sure what she was planning, but if she could just land one blow, if she could just knock Naruto out . . .

Even rooted to the ground as he was, it was no easy route to approach Naruto in this state. Naruto snarled and swiped a claw-filled hand at Sakura as she rapidly closed the distance between them. Understanding that blocking was useless, Sakura back flipped away from the hand strike, then side-stepped a downward crushing blow from the right-most tail. Each of Naruto's attacks gashed the ground, sending bricks and debris flying, and it was all Sakura could do to keep one step ahead of her Kyuubi-enraged friend.

One, two, and three tails pierced the ground where Sakura had been standing only an instant before. Saukra twisted, rolled and flipped to safety. She launched herself at Naruto, fist first, but Naruto ducked under her at the last moment, razing her back and tearing her scarlet kimono as she went by. Sakura cried out in pain, but landed in a fighting stance. The wound stung, but it wasn't too deep, and thankfully Naruto hadn't hit her while surrounded with that horrible chakra she had encountered that fateful day they had found Ochimaru, and Sasuke. But the fourth tail had almost formed, and at this rate, there would be no stopping him.

Sakura tilted her head as she studied her opponent. Naruto stared back. He was calm now, but growling softly to himself as he watched her. The fourth tail still bubbled, slowly taking form. He was daring her to come at him again, but Sakura also saw something else in those red-orange eyes of rage. She saw sadness, loneliness, and longing. Sakura understood then what it was she had to do.

"Sakura!" yelled Captain Yamato. "Its all right. The Hokage and I can handle this. Back up is on the way. Please, help these two make sure everyone gets to safety!"

Sakura was only now aware that the two ANBU and Tsunade had been watching her breathlessly. She looked at her master defiantly. Tsunade's cold battle stare softened, and she nodded to Sakura.

"Don't worry, Captain." Sakura said. "I'll take it from here."

With that, Sakura charged one last time.

Naruto was surrounded by crushing pressure. He was being drawn, as if in slow motion, ever closer to the gate that he knew, once he passed through this time, that he would probably not return. Dimly, the sounds of a battle reached his ears. The sounds came as if echoing down a dark cave or drainage pipe. He heard screams, warnings, desperation. He even heard confidence and hope.

Naruto was in short supply of hope at the moment. Was it really going to end like this?

Just as Naruto was passing through the bars of the great iron gate, Naruto heard a distant voice. The voice came clearly and crisply as it echoed down the maze of dark cavern's of his soul which lead to this horrible place. It was Sakura.

"Naruto!" she called. Her voice waivered, as if she was in pain. "Naruto! I know you can hear me! Naruto! Arrrrrgh! Stop struggling and listen. Please!"

Naruto reached out a hand and grabbed one of the bars to the gate. His motion into the darkness halted. His armed strained, the tendons felt as if the would snap in two.

"Oh?" said the voice of the demon fox. It sounded louder and more deadly than ever. "I thought we had agreed to stop playing these foolish games!"

"If I fall here," Naruto grunted. "We will hurt Sakura-chan. I won't allow that."

"The wench was a fool to get in our way." sneered the fox. "I won't lie, we will kill her. Her and everyone else who used you and held you back."

"No!" snarled Naruto as he got his other hand free and clutched at the bar with both hands. It didn't help much. His fingers were already slipping. "Sakura-chan! Please, run!"

Sakura responded as if she had heard him.

"I won't run Naruto. I'll always be by your side. Stop trying to carry that burden inside you by yourself. I will carry it with you for as long as I live! I know I can do this because I . . . because I . . . I love you!

Naruto heard a heartbeat. It was his heartbeat. It beat loudly through the cavernous darkness. From that heartbeat a connection began to form. Chakra. His own chakra was flooding into the darkness, riding on currents of . . . joy?

"Do you hear me Naruto Uzumaki!" Sakura cried, her voice now sharp and clear as if she were yelling it in his ear. "I love you! I love you! I love you!"

"No!" snarled the great demon fox, who was pulling ferociously on him now, trying to shake his grip on the bar.. "It is too late!"But Naruto knew it wasn't. With his own Chakra flowing over him, Naruto felt strength flow through him. A whirlpool formed in the murky-brown water, and as the pool spun the water began to change color. Eventually the water became the purest, clearest blue. Strong enough to hold onto the bar with one hand, Naruto struck the demon fox on the wrist with the other. The Kyuubi let out a great angry roar, but Naruto was free.

"You brat!" called the fox. "You'll pay for making me wait again!"Naruto ignored the threat easily as the horrible demonic voice faded away and Naruto opened his real eyes. He had returned to the light.

But something was still crushing him, making blood rush to his head and making it nearly impossible to breathe. Despite this pain, Naruto's head was pressed against something soft. He felt silk on his cheek, and warm skin on his nose. Sunburned skin. Sakura's skin.

"Sakura . . .chan?" Naruto asked weakly.

Sakura's sleeper hold loosened and became a warm embrace. He was seated on a mound of up-turned earth. She was on her knees beside him as she held him close. She was crying softly. The front of her Kimono had burned through where she had held his head to her bosom. A faint, green glow still surrounded her. Had she used precise healing and chakra control to protect herself from being burned too badly as she administered her hold on him?

"Naruto." Sakura tearfully whispered in his ear. "You are safe now. You are safe now."

Naruto pushed away from her just enough to look into her eyes, and blushed when he realized how much cleavage was now showing. Not knowing where to look, he looked down. Only to feel the tears well up again in his own eyes.

"He's gone . . . Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a cracked voice. "He's gone and I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"Wh-Who's gone" Sakura sniffed. "What do you mean?"

"Master Jiraiya." Naruto said. He barely got the words out before the deep sobs came. Sakura clutched him close to her bosom again, rubbing the back of his head. Together, they cried for the loss of a legend. Together, Sakura and Naruto had found each other.