Miko Kunoichi

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or Naruto: Shippuden

Author's Note: FYI there is a large time skip in this chapter. I am skipping the battles with Sasori and Deidara for a reason.

Chapter 4: Troubles in Sunagakure Part III

Kagome leans against the tree Kakashi perched himself in to watch the camp that night, the two ready for anymore diversions from the Akatsuki. Kagome stops sharpening her kunai to yawn and rub at the back of her head. She blinks when Kakashi jumps down and lands next to her. She puts her kunai back in her pouch and stands up as he walks over the others. "That's enough rest. We should get moving." Kakashi suggests as he stops the stand next to the kneeling Chiyo. The old woman nods her head and makes a sound agreement in the back of her throat.

"Okay!" Kagome exclaims loudly to get the two teens up, "Get up you two!" Sakura groans and sits up rubbing her eye. "Alright." she mutters drowsily, her voice heavy with sleep. Naruto on the other hand, just closes his eyes tighter and turns over. "Okay, in a minute. Just a minute more." he says sleepily. As he turned away, Kagome eyebrow twitched in annoyance and she raises a shaking fist, "Naruto…." she growls. Kakashi quickly grabs Kagome's fist as she goes to punch the teen. He puts her fist it back to her side, he sighs and shakes his head at her before looking at Naruto. "I thought you were going to save Gaara." Naruto eyes shoot open as he sits up, determination glinting in his blue eyes. "You bet I'm going to save him." Naruto tells Kakashi.

Kagome looks up at the sky, seeing that dawn was fast approaching. She looks back down at Kakashi and nods her head to him. "We have to get going, guys. We don't have a lot of time as it is." she states. Sakura looks up at her former teacher, "Kagome-sensei is right, we should hurry." Naruto stands up and stretches before going and putting his sleeping bag away. Kagome donned her pack that Kakashi had handed her and watched as the others pack their sleeping things away in their traveling packs. After everyone is ready to leave, Kakashi jumps up and dashes into the trees taking the lead, Kagome and everyone else following him.

Long after the sun had risen, and daybreak had arrived. The five Shinobi are still racing towards the Akatsuki hideout, where the criminal organization has Gaara and are extracting Shukaku from the Kazekage. Kakashi who had fallen back, and Kagome had taken his place in the front with Naruto, speaks to Chiyo with a sigh, "They're confident they've delayed us long enough." Kakashi said. Chiyo glances at the son of the White Fang of Konoha, "Yes indeed, I'm starting to think the same thing." Sakura glares ahead of her. "That means…" she trails off. Naruto clenched his fist as they talk, and landed on a tree to launch himself off of, shooting past Kagome. Kagome gasps, and does the same thing as Naruto did. She reaches him when he says with determination, "Hang on Gaara! I'm coming!" he calls out, hoping his friend is still alive. Kagome looks at him, "Naruto..." Kagome calls out to the boy, Naruto turns his eyes to Kagome, rage swirling in his blue eyes, She smiles at him then. "It'll be okay. We're going to get there in time. I promise you that." Naruto nods his head and looks forward once more, "I hope you're right Kagome-nee." he mutters.

"Naruto! Kagome-sensei! Not so fast!" Sakura call comes from behind them, as the two speed up. Kagome waves a hand over her shoulder, dismissing Sakura's call for them to slow down. Sakura huffs annoyed, but doesn't say anything more. Kagome looks at her little brother, with worry. Seeing him with this much anger and hatred from a boy who is usually so happy and cheerful is startling at times. She then remembers that he's not the same boy that would get mad when she teased him about him eating too much ramen. Kagome sighs and looks away, focusing on the path ahead of her. "Naruto...everything will turn out okay in the end, I hope…"

Kagome groans, catching the attention of Naruto and the others as they almost reach their destination. "What's wrong?" Kakashi asks. Kagome looks back at him, "Gai and Gai Jr., that's what's wrong." she growls out when she sees his shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter. Kagome sighs and follows the others as they land behind Team Gai. Gai turns to look at them, with a smirk "Late as usual Kakashi, Kagome." he drawled out, making his team look back at them.

"Well you see we ran into a little trouble along the way." Kakashi tells Gai, as he squats above the water. Lee grins at the sight of his two friends. "Naruto! Sakura!" he exclaims. "Wait a minute. By a little trouble, you don't mean me Kakashi?" Chiyo asks with an amused tone. Naruto points to himself, as he looks at Team Gai, "Well?!" Neji, looks at his friend with his pale eyes and mutters his name in surprise. Kagome walks forward and picks up Pakkun when he trotted over to her. "Looks like we were right behind you guys the whole time." she comments as she rubs one of Pakkun ears, much to said Ninken's utter delight. "Yeah," Tenten agrees. "Who's that old lady?" Sakura smiles and introduces the elder, "This is Chiyo-sama, She's an advisor from Sunagakure." Chiyo makes a peace sign and smiles at the Shinobi. "Very pleased to meet you." Gai looks at Kakashi, who was trying to get Pakkun away from Kagome. and says, "Well, then. Let's do this, Kakashi!"

"Right." Kakashi agreed, who had stopped trying to take his Ninken away, because Kagome had zapped him with her Miko abilities.

Neji uses his clan's Kekkei Genkai the Byakugan, to see what's behind the large boulder. "Inside, it looks like there's a large cavern, but…" Lee looks at his teammate, wanting him to continue, "But what?" Neji sighs in frustration, "I just...can't quite make out what's going on in there. I see several people…"

"Neji, what about Gaara? What's happening?! Is he one of the people you see?!" demands Naruto as he shakes his friend. "Back off a second!" Neji growls. "I'm trying to locate him now…" Naruto shakes his friend again calling his name. "Take it easy!" Neji chides his friend, his pale eyes widen when he sees what's on the other side. "I don't...What is that thing?" he questioned himself. "What is it? What's goin' on? Neji What's in there!?" Naruto asks frantically as he continues to shake his friend much to his annoyance. "Let go of me…" Neji mutters when he deactivates his Kekkei Genkai.

"Neji, what did you see?" Kagome asks. The teen looks down with a sigh. "It's hard to describe with words, Kagome-sensei." Tenten looks towards the boulder. "Wait, so that would mean…"

"Yes. It means that whatever it is, we will have to go see it for ourselves!" says Lee, Gai puts his hand on Lee's shoulder, making the teen turn towards him. "That makes things easy, doesn't it?"

"Gai, wait a moment." Kagome tells the man as he goes to move. "Let me take a look before you do anything dramatic." Gai nods his head and watches with the others as Kagome lays her hand on the boulder. After Kagome touches the boulder the barrier surrounding the entrance becomes noticeable, making Kagome sigh. "Just as I thought." Kagome tells the others as she turns to look at them. "This barrier is much more powerful and more advanced than normal barriers." Kagome looks to Kakashi then, "This barrier is a five-seal barrier." Naruto blinks not knowing what a five seal barrier is. "Five-seal barrier?"

"It's a strong layer of protection, in which five tags with the word "Forbidden" written on them are fastened around the area that's being guarded. One "Forbidden" tag is in front of us, and four more must be in other locations." Kakashi explains to Naruto.

"Can't we just pull 'em off?"

"No, all five tags must be taken down at the exact same time." Kagome tells the Jonin, "The barrier won't come down otherwise."

"So we'd have to remove them simultaneously?" Sakura asks, Kakashi looks at her from the corner of his eye. "Right. The barrier won't budge unless all five tags are pulled off simultaneously. It's a tall order." Kakashi then raises his hand to point at the tag. "That's only one tag."

"Which means there's four more out there." Gai comments. "All right then, let's do it! How do we figure out where the other tags are!?" Naruto asks, ready to find the tags so they could rescue Gaara. Kagome looks to the Hyūga, "Neji." she calls, making the teen nod in understanding. "I understand. Byakugan!" he uses his clan's Kekkei Genkai to locate the tags. "I found them!"

"Awesome, Neji! Point 'em out!" Naruto exclaims.

"One is on a boulder about 500 meters northeast of us. The second one is on a tree trunk beside a riverbank 350 meters south-southeast. The third you'll find 650 meters northwest, on a cliff. And the last one is in the woods less than 800 meters to the southwest." Neji tells the others of the locations of the tags.

If that's the case, each one of them is pretty far apart. How will we signal each other?" Sakura asks. Gai grins and starts to take off his pack. "I think I can handle that." Gai opens his pack and takes out something, "We should just be in range for these! They're wireless radios!" he said, showing the others the device.

"Whoa, that's amazing!" Naruto exclaims. "Good thinking Gai." Kagome compliments her fellow Jonin. Which made Gai give his 'nice guy' pose, before saying, "Okay, so we'll stay in constant communication and follow Neji's directions to the tags!"

"Okay. Let's find these tags and get rid of them. Team Guy is the faster team, so we'll be the ones to handle this mission." Gai says as Team Gai puts on their radios.

"We're all countin' on ya!" Naruto yells out.

"All right! Lee, you head northwest into the woods!" Gai orders his former student.

"Yes, you got it!"

Gai then looks at Neji who finishes putting on his radio, "The northeast boulder is all yours, Neji."

"I can handle that." Neji says.

"Tenten, you get the south-southeast."

"Right. No problem." Tenten said as she finished adjusting her radio.

"I'll take care of the one on the northwest cliff."That's the one in the trickiest location, and should be the hardest to eliminate."

"What's the frequency?" Kakashi asks as he goes to turn to the right frequency.

"One-seventy four."

"Copy that." Kakashi mutters, making Kagome stifle a laugh.

"TESTING? DO YOU READ ME?" Lee says as he took a big breath, making the others flinch and hold their ears from the volume. "Lee! Your microphone's up too loud!" Tenten tells her teammate. Lee bows and starts to mutter apologies, not turning his mic down. Kagome buried her face into Pakkun's fur to stifle her laughter at Kakashi's face.

"Lee! The mic!" Gai gets out, Lee blinks before turning his mic down. "Sorry, guys."

"My wireless settings are good to go." Tenten says as she turns to her team leader. "My radio's set too." Neji informed his team leader.

"Alright! Team Gai!" Gai calls out as he hold a hand out. Gai looks to his favorite student and grunts, getting his attention. "Ah! Oh, right!" Lee mutters and puts his hand on top of Gai's. Gai then looks to Tenten, much her displeasure, and grunts. "Okay…" Tenten mutters embarrassed. Gai grunts in satisfaction, and looks to the last member of Team Gai. Which results in a staring contest between Neji and Gai. Gai grunts multiple times to get Neji to put his hand on top of the others. Neji glares at his former teacher before putting his hand on top the others. Gai grins hugely. "Ha ha ha ha! Onward, with the power of youth!"

"Attack! attack! attack! attack! And one more for good luck, ATTACK!" Gai chants, and Lee responds to each one with a 'Yeah!'. "Scatter!" Gai orders, and the four of them go off in search of their tags.

Naruto turns to Kakashi and Kagome, which makes his older sister figure glare at him. "I will kill you for even thinking of asking Naruto." Which made him pout and turn away.

Pakkun jumps from Kagome's arms and onto the water. "Well, guess it's about time for me to shove off." The miniature pug says, "There's no real reason I should stick around. I'd just be gettin' in the way." Kakashi raises a hand in a farewell, "Thanks Pakkun. Good work." Pakkun nods at that. "Alright then, see you guys later." with that Pakkun disappears in a cloud of smoke, much to Kagome dismay.

Kakashi jumps up on the boulder, using his chakra enhanced feet to stay standing. Sakura runs to stand a little ways away from the boulder, ready. "Then, the moment the barrier's gone, Sakura will destroy the boulder at the entrance. That will be our signal to charge inside and rescue Gaara." Kakashi kneels down and puts his hand on the tag, "Ready when you are." he tells Gai over the radio. "We'll make our assault using the 'Button Hook Entry.'" Kagome and the others agree with Kakashi. Kakashi rips the tag off, when Gai counts to three, and turns to Sakura. "Now, Sakura!" he calls. "Right!" Sakura calls back as she starts running towards the barrier. Kakashi jumps away to land next to Kagome and Naruto, as Sakura punches the boulder with her chakra enhanced fist, bringing the boulder down. She jumps away to stand next to Chiyo.

Kakashi motions for the others to move, and the five of them jump inside the cave. Sakura and Chiyo on one side, and Naruto, Kakashi and Kagome on the other. Kagome eyes widen along with the others when they see to the two Akatsuki members standing in front of Gaara's body. The blonde one sitting on Gaara, the other off to the side. "We're too late." Kakashi mutters angrily. Kagome puts her hand on the hilt of her sword as she glares at the two. Naruto's body shakes with rage as he stares at the fallen body of his friend. As Naruto's rage grows, his eyes turn red and his teeth grow into fangs, making Kagome shiver from the pure hatred in Naruto's aura. "You fucking monsters! You're both gonna pay for this!" Naruto barks out to the two Akatsuki members.

"The one who bursts in and starts would be him then…" Sasori says to the blonde next to him. "Sasori, my man, I think you're correct." Deidara says.

"You bastards!" Naruto snarls, "Where the hell do you think you're sitting?!" Deidara looks at the Jjinchūriki in amusement. "Well, so much for that mystery hmm. This kid's the Jinchūriki, he's the one that bursts in first and barks alright. Seriously," he then looks to Sasori, "Itachi was right on the money, hmm." Sasori ignores Deidara, for he's staring at his Grandmother quietly, not expecting her.

"Gaara? Gaara what the hell are you doing?" Naruto tries to wake his silent friend, "C'mon, why are you just laying there?" When Gaara doesn't move, Naruto voice cracks when he calls his name, "Gaara get up! Gaara! Why aren't you answering me? What are you death? Knock it off already!"

"Naruto. Enough!" Kagome yells out, stopping the boy, "Gaara isn't going to get up!"

"Your friend's right. He's been dead for awhile now." Deidara says as he slaps Gaara's cheek, to show the Kazekage isn't going to move, making Naruto shake with rage once more.

"Hm, well…" Sasori mutters for the blonde next to him to hear. "Oh yeah. That's him alright. Hmm." Deidara grins as he stares at the Jjinchūriki. "Give him back…" Naruto growls out. "Give Gaara back!" Naruto goes to attack the Akatsuki members but Kagome and Kakashi appears in front of him, stopping him from reaching them. "Naruto, you need to calm down, now." Kagome hissed at him, "You're going to get us killed if you don't. You charge in without thinking, and we're dead." at that last part, Naruto jerks his head up to look at Kagome who's staring coldly at the two Akatsuki members.

Sasori looks to Gaara out of the corner of his eye, making Deidara look at him. "What? Something on your mind, Sasori my man?" Sasori looks away from Gaara to look at the former Iwagakure-nin, "I'll hold on to him, Since it appears that Jinchūriki will stop at nothing to get him back." Deidara hums thoughtfully, and turns his head to look at Gaara. "Yeah. That's putting it lightly." he agrees as he turns back to the three shinobi in front of them. "Okay. It looks like the guy on the left is the one who infiltrated Suna and took Kazekage-sama." Kakashi thought to himself, as he looks at Deidara. "Which means this one," Kakashi then turns his one eye to Sasori. "is the Puppet Master who wounded Kankuro so badly. Her grandson Sasori, huh...?" Kakashi finishes his thought by turning to look at Chiyo. Deidara's voice draws Kakashi's attention, making the Jonin turn his eye towards him. "Well, my man, I doubt that you wanna hear this, but I'll just go ahead and say it anyway." the missing-nin says. "I think I'll take care of the Jinchūriki." Sasori turns his eyes to the blonde, "Look. Our quota is one apiece. Don't push your luck, Deidara…"

"An artist must always seek ever greater stimulation. Lest his senses go dull on him my man." Deidara says as he raises his hand to look at his palm, he puts it back down to look at Naruto who's behind Kakashi and Kagome. "Rumor has it the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is pretty powerful. Hmm. A canvas truly worthy of my artistry." Sasori looks away from the blonde, "What? Those pyrotechnics of yours art?" he asks, almost amused, "Art is a work of beauty captured and left for posterity. Art is eternal beauty."

"Eternal beauty? Are you kidding me?" Deidara asked in astonishment, "Look don't get me wrong as a fellow artist, I respect your point of view but, true art is fleeting, a flash of beauty burning brightly, and then vanishing in a heartbeat." Sasori looks to Deidara with a glare in his eyes, "What did you just say?"

Kagome blinks. "Are they really having a fucking debate about art right now?" she asks Kakashi, who just shrugs, she growls as she turns her glare on the two of them again. "Stupid artists…." she mutters annoyed as they still debate about art. "Enough is enough!" Naruto yells out. He takes out a scroll, opening it making a large Shuriken appear, he grabs the weapon and runs past Kagome or Kakashi, and before they could stop him throws it at Sasori. Sasori's puppet's long mechanical, scorpion-like tail swats the large Shuriken away from him as he still argues with Deidara, not once looking away. "Are you trying to make me angry?" Deidara waves away his fellow artist's question, "Hey, easy. I told ya you wouldn't wanna hear it, didn't I? Gimme a break, will ya? Hmm." The puppet's tail moves around as Sasori speaks. "I don't have to remind you what happens when I get angry, do I?" Sasori moves the tail to point it at Deidara. "Why don't you explain it to me again, Deidara." Deidara smirks at his partner before standing up. "Art is one thing and one thing only." Deidara opens his hand to see the mouth on his palm open itself to spit out explosive clay. He closes his hand to mold it into a bird and throws it up into the air "The explosion itself!" he says as the bird is engulfed in a huge cloud of smoke to reveal a large clay bird in its place, after he did the hand sign to transform it. The bird lands next to Deidara and picks up Gaara's body in its mouth. "It's not even in the same league, compared to your grotesque puppet show."

Sasori sends the tail towards Deidara in annoyance, but the blonde jumps up to land on the bird, and he looks down at the annoyed Sasori. "See ya around, my man." Deidara then makes the bird fly towards the opening to outside. Naruto growls and takes off after Deidara when the Akatsuki member starts to fly away. Kagome gasps, calling out his name and runs after Naruto. "Hey you! Where do you think you're going?!" Naruto yells up to the man, Deidara looks down at him briefly before looking forward.

"Naruto! Kagome!" Kakashi calls out, only to be ignored, he then starts to run after them. "Rrgh...As always, they just can't help themselves." as he reaches the opening, he turns to Chiyo and Sakura, "Naruto, Kagome and I will handle the one outside. Sakura, Chiyo-sama take the one inside, but please don't do anything rash until Team Gai gets back." Sakura nods, "Right, you got it." she tells her teacher. Kakashi nods and follows his wife and student. He lands in a crouch next to them as they stand on the red gate and stare up a Deidara.

"Gai Do you read me? The enemy has split up. We're gonna need a hand. Return immediately." Kakashi calls out for Gai on the radio, Kakashi takes his hand away from the radio when Gai tells him that he is unable to come and assist them and stands up. Naruto growls when he sees Gaara's leg sticking out of the clay bird's mouth, "Give him back... Give Gaara back!" he yells out. Kakashi lifts his Hitai-ate up to reveal his Sharingan. "Alright, No time to waste here." he says to the two next to him.

~Time Skip~

Kagome gasps when Kakashi suddenly falls over after the fight. "Kakashi!" she calls out, she quickly kneels down next to him, when Naruto catches the panting man. "Kakashi, are you alright?" Kakashi looks at his wife weakly, and nods. "I don't get it. What did you do?" Sakura asks as she helps Chiyo stay standing. "Sent the explosion... off into a different space." Sakura's green eyes widen, "You sent it... somewhere?"

"I am not sure I understand really, but it seems the enemy has been defeated, Tenten, do you agree?" Lee asked when he looked at his teammate. Tenten looks at Lee like he's crazy, "What the?! Are you kidding, why the hell are you asking me for?"

"Heh...More importantly, is everyone okay?" Kakashi chuckled, breathlessly. Kagome nods her head, "Everyone's fine Kakashi, you just try to catch your breath." she tells him. The two Naruto's holding Gaara, jump down. The Naruto on the right looks up at Sakura, "Sakura, can you…" he trails off. Sakura nods her head, agreeing to look at Gaara. The two holding Gaara lay the Kazekage down, Sakura sets Chiyo down on one side of Gaara and she takes the other. Kagome looks away, sadly, knowing she can't help for she doesn't have enough chakra to even put up a barrier.

"Sakura…" Naruto calls his friends name when she pulls her hands away from the readhead, putting her hands in her lap. Sakura shakes her head sadly as tears come to her eyes. Sakura stands up and walks away from Gaara to stand next to a crying Naruto. "Why? Why is it always Gaara? If he dies like this…" Naruto walks to the fallen body of his friend, and looks down at him. "He's the Kazekage. He just became the Kazekage!" Chiyo who was kneeling, looks at the body calmly, "Try to calm yourself, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto turned around to glare at the old woman, his tears on his face for everyone to see. "You shut up!" he growls. Kagome eyes fill with tears at the sight of Naruto crying, and she buries her face into Kakashi's shoulder. Chiyo's eyes widen at the tears. "Just shut up! If all of you Suna Shinobi hadn't put a monster inside of Gaara, then none of this would have ever happened to him!" The blonde shinobi's body shakes with sobs, "Did you even consider how Gaara felt?! Did you ever even ask?!" Naruto looks down at the grass, and closes his eyes. "Calling us Jinchūriki, What gives you the right to label us? Who are you to decide someone else's fate?!" Kagome gets up from kneeling next to Kakashi and quickly embraces Naruto. "Oh, Naruto…" she says quietly her tears still in her eyes, as the teen wraps his arms around her, he buries his face in her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." Kagome rubs his back and glares at Chiyo briefly before she looks at Naruto's head. "Kagome-nee, I couldn't save Sasuke... And now I can't save Gaara either!" Naruto cries out, "For three years, I've trained so hard...But nothing has changed!" Kagome arms tighten around her little brother, "Naruto, I'm so sorry I can't take away the pain you must be feeling…" both Kagome and Naruto looked up as Chiyo limped past them and sat down next to Gaara.

Chiyo puts her hands on Gaara's chest and closes her eyes, she opens them when her hands glow a blue color. Kagome's eyes widen along with Sakura's, "Chiyo-sama, that Jutsu…" Sakura says, but at Chiyo turning her head and smiling at the two, Sakura stops, Kagome gazes at the woman, her respect for the old woman growing. Naruto pulls away from Kagome's embrace to look at Chiyo. "Is that?" Gai asks the sitting Kakashi. Kakashi nods his head, his eyes never leaving the old woman."Yeah."

"Leave him alone! Will ya? What do you think you're doing?" Naruto goes to stop Chiyo, but Kagome and Sakura stop him. Naruto blinks at them, wondering why they stopped him. "Guys, what?" he asks. Sakura turns to look at him, her green eyes hard. "It's going to be alright, she's bringing him back." Naruto eyes widen, he turns to look at Kagome, "She's bringing him back?" he asks her, and Kagome nods her head, "What are you talking about? I mean how's that even possible?"

"This Jutsu, only Chiyo-sama knows it. It's a special Jutsu." Sakura tells Naruto. Naruto grins, "What are you serious?" he asks her. At the blue glow around Chiyo's hands starting to diminish, Naruto walks over to kneel on the other side of Gaara. Chiyo curses for not having enough Chakra, Naruto's hands appearing over hers makes her eyes widen. "You can use my Chakra." he tells her. "Take as much as you need to. That will work, won't it Granny?" Chiyo breathes heavily as she remembers what Kakashi had said to her when they were on their way to the Akatsuki hideout, and she smiles slightly at the teen. "Place your hands on top of mine, son." she tells him. Naruto's eyes widen briefly before he nods, and places his hands on top of the old woman's, making the blue glow intensify. Chiyo's mouth lips upward in a smile, "In this world of shinobi, created by frivolous old people, it's a great comfort to know that new souls like yourself have come along." Naruto looks up at the old woman at her words, "Up 'till now, everything I've done in my life has been wrong. But at least here in my final hour, I can finally do something right for a change. The Sand and the Leaf may the future that awaits them be different from the way things were in our time." Chiyo says as she looks up at the blue sky, she looks back down at their hands. "This special power of yours that Kakashi spoke of that power will change the future dramatically. Become a Hokage the likes of which has never been seen. And as for you, Sakura…"

"Yes?"

"In the future, help those closest to your heart not some old grandmother with one foot in the grave. You're a lot like me, child. So few women possess such strong spirit. You'll surpass your master as a Kunoichi, I've little doubt." Kagome wraps her arm around the crying Sakura, as Chiyo talks to the younger Kunoichi.

"Naruto, do an old woman a favor, will you?" she asks, making Naruto blink. "You are the only person in the world who knows the extent of Gaara's pain. He also knows your pain. Please...Look after Gaara." Chiyo asks him, her voice soft as she falls back into Kagome and Sakura. The Suna-nin, appear with Temari and Kankuro seconds later. Temari runs over to Gaara and Naruto. "Gaara!" she calls out her little brother's name. Kagome looks up at her with a watery smile. "He's going to fine, a little sore but, he's going to be fine." Temari nods, as she kneels next to her brother. Gaara eyes open and he sits up, he turns to Naruto, who's behind him with wide turquoise eyes. "Naruto…" he says, Naruto nods his head, and Gaara looks around to see the Suna-nin all around him. "What is this?"

"They all came running to help ya! You've had everyone worried half to death!" Naruto says with a smile.

"Gaara-sama! Sir, are you alright?"a Suna Kunoichi asks. Gaara nods his head, as he stares at the Shinobi around him in slight awe. All the Suna-nin cheer, happy that their leader is okay.

~Time Skip~

Kagome looks at the Chiyo's younger brother, as he turns to leave along with everyone else had said their goodbyes and were starting to leave. "If I may, I would like to say a pray for Chiyo-sama's soul." Ebizō looks at the Miko-nin and nods. Kagome smiles at the old man and kneels in front of the grave, she puts her hands together and chants a prayer for Chiyo's soul to find peace. After the prayer, Kagome stands up and looks at Sakura and Naruto. She smiles sadly at the two and starts to walk towards the others, Naruto in tow. Sakura walks up the the headstone and she lays her hand on the stone before leaving. As she's walking away, she turns to look at the stone one last time, thanking the kind old woman before she turns and hurries to catch up with the others.

Outside the walls of Suna, Gaara and his siblings say their farewells to the Leaf Shinobi. "Well, so long." Kankuro says. Naruto rubs the back of his head, "Uh, Yeah." he puts his hand back to his side, and looks at Gaara. "Heh. I guess this is where people are supposed to shake hands and get all choked up. But I've never really been very good at that stuff either. So let's just leave it at- Huh?" Naruto blinks when Gaara holds his hand out. Naruto stares at the hand before he smiles at Gaara. Sand wraps around Naruto's hand making him raise his hand. The Genin chuckles at that before shaking hands with the Kazekage. After the farewells, the Konoha-nin make their way home.

Kagome, who was walking in behind Tenten and Neji at the back of the group, turns when Tenten calls out to the two Jonin, "Can't you two go any faster?" Kagome sighs when her husband smiles sheepishly at Gai, "Heh-heh. Sorry about this, Gai. That new Sharingan really takes a lot out of me. Takes me awhile to get back up to speed." Kakashi says. "Hurry up, will ya?" Tenten calls back again. Kagome eyes widen in disbelief and her eyebrow twitches when Gai throws Kakashi up in the air to make him land on his back, giving the wounded man an unwanted piggyback ride. Lee blinks at the two before he grins. "I get it! A training exercise!"

"So, you want to see faster?" Gai asks as he chuckles, "I'll show you faster!" with that Gai takes off, Kakashi on his back. He shouts out "Gang way! Gang way!" when he runs past the others. Lee, who had moves his pack from his back to his front, bends down. "Neji?" he asks. Neji glares at Lee, "Forget it!" Kagome looks at Tenten, "I'm going to kill your Sensei when we get back to the village."

Author's Note: I hoped you liked it! So please review when you're finished reading, to tell me what you thought!