Thanks a lot for those reviews everybody. I'm happy that you liked the chapter and story in overall. Anyway the battle at the village near Suna is over, the village is 80% destroyed but 65% of the people survived as they were evacuated by the Suna-squad before Naruto arrived. In this chapter they are taking a nice deserved rest in Suna and an unexpected fight will appear in here... stay tuned.

Note: If any of you notice an improvement in spelling/grammar thanks my beta= Winged Servant on the Night.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

X.X.X

Chapter20: A breather

The battle was devastating on the town, buildings and houses destroyed or burned and the sickening stench of death surrounded it completely. The morning after the defeat of the Iwa troops was to clear skies; however it was also a red-dawn, meaning blood had been spilled over the night. The Suna-squad prepared themselves for their trip back home, using what little chakra they recovered from their rest to heal their wounds. The Konoha party also prepared themselves to go with their comrades to their village to treat their wounds as well, but at the moment two of Konoha's Chuunin were missing. One shinobi, with a messy flock of blonde hair, came into the clearing they were resting in with one body over his shoulder and dropped it alongside two others.

"Naruto, our duty has been accomplished" Shino said as he landed on the blonde's side "It wasn't pretty but we managed to gather them all" he added as he handed a scroll to Naruto.

"You got that right… it wasn't pretty at all. All the blood, my nose was about to explode and then we had to lift debris to collect a few of them" Kiba said annoyingly as he and his giant dog landed in front of them. "This was your mission then… to kill the elites responsible for those horrible acts but why all of these bodies?" he asked

"Well I wanted to take them and show Iwa that we got some of their secrets… good job you two" Naruto said with a smile. He opened the scroll and saw thirteen seals with the kanji for "person" on each; laying it on the ground near the bodies he made a hand-sign. "Seal" a cloud of smoke later and three more kanji's appeared on the scroll. Rolling the scroll back up and pocketing it on his pouch he shifted himself to where his most injured friend lay and went to her tent.

Approaching her side, Naruto saw the face of Hyuuga Hinata who was in a moderate condition after losing too much blood. After watching her for what it seemed to be forever (a minute) he kneeled and checked her forehead and realized in a non-perverted manner that she looked really beautiful. Hesitating a bit he stroked her cheek and got a small moan in return. Naruto was shocked at first but let it slide as a reflex but suddenly something happen that could change the blonde's mind or in his case… not by much.

"Naruto-kun… mmm" Hinata moaned in her sleep and gave a ghost of a kiss and then smiled and stayed asleep. Naruto was almost in faint-mode after hearing her say his name out of the blue and then pretend to kiss someone. Naruto smiled awkwardly and exited the tent with a pale look on his face but he quickly changed it to a more serious one as he approached the sand team.

"We are able to go with you right?" Naruto asked Temari who was adjusting her fan. "You're not going to have troubles with having us there? I mean it's not in our mission parameters." he added.

"It will be okay Naruto, Konoha are our allies and you specially would be welcome in our village seeing as you saved my little brother" Temari said grinning to reassure him "If anyone has a problem with any of you being there… Gaara can be very persuasive" she added, her grin expanding.

"It would be great to relax after this ordeal" Shino said adding his two cents as he joined the conversation. "I also hear that Naruto helped with the rescue of the Kazekage… It has been awhile since I saw him and the things he did in the Chuunin exams will not be forgotten easily" he added.

"He's changed Shino… like me he was wrongly judged but he overcame that and he deserved it" Naruto said to the Aburame in a sage like manner to which Shino raised an eyebrow. "What!?... I sometimes get philosophical" he added with a grin.

"Let's get a move on… someone will have to carry the girl" Kankuro said as he pointed towards the tent where Hinata was resting. "Inuzuka, your dog can carry her right?" he asked to Kiba who was setting everything on his backpack.

"Sure" Kiba said nodding and saw Naruto carrying the Hyuuga girl bridal style to their direction "Akamaru be careful with her" he added referring to his companion and received a bark in return.

Setting Hinata on Akamaru's back, the platoon composed of four Suna Jounins, three Chuunin's and one Genin from Konoha set of for the main village in Wind country, Sunagakure. Making a formation, Kiba, Kankuro and the other Suna-shinobi formed a triangle based formation around Akamaru while Temari, the other Kunoichi, Shino and Naruto took advantage of the woods to conceal themselves for a surprise attack. After a few hours of walking through the woods they finally came out to a dry area which marked the one mile point from the village. Taking precautions so as not to suffocate due to the sand or the intense heat, the entire platoon covered themselves with extra clothes around the head, Naruto took one of his old orange/black jackets he unsealed out of a scroll and covered Hinata with it.

A few hours later they arrived at the cliffs edge and gazed down to the Hidden Village in the Sand. Thanks to the experience in the desert, the Suna-squad guided the Konoha shinobi safely out of the desert in a quick way… although a few hours in a desert can be eternity. Arriving at the gates five guards suddenly jumped down to them and pointed their weapons at them but lowered them once they saw Temari and Kankuro.

"Temari-sama, Kankuro-sama you've finally returned from your mission I see" one guard said and then watched the Konoha team on the back. "What's this? Konoha shinobi" he asked confused while Naruto sent the guards a grin.

"Sorry to intrude in your village but in the events of assisting your shinobi in their mission one of our comrades got seriously hurt and we need to treat her" Shino said as he stepped forward "We will need to stay as long as our friend is okay to walk on her own" he added.

"Those who need to go to the hospital go… I'll brief the Kazekage on our mission" Temari said walking straight to the village while a group left to another direction to the hospital.

"Temari wait!" Naruto said as he appeared on her side "I need to talk to Gaara as well" he added as he grinned at her and kept walking with her.

X.X.X

Forest at the border of Fire country

"Dammit you've been at this game for hours… make up your mind" Suigetsu yelled at the red-haired kunoichi who was leading them, according to him, to nowhere. "We were in Lightning country and now I think we're back on Fire country… where next?" he added annoyed.

"Shut up you idiot!" Karin yelled but didn't looked back at him "The guy's chakra is very annoying… he's really fast as well" she added in concentration "Sasuke… this guy is going at a rate that we can't follow"

"Hn" Sasuke replied "Then we take a break then… if we can't catch him now, we have to catch him some other day" he said as he stopped jumping through the branches. Landing on a random location within the woods, they sat on the ground on the shade of the trees gave them. Almost an hour passed when suddenly the extra-sensorial Kunoichi perked up and was pointing towards a place northwest of their current location.

"Sasuke, there's a battle in that direction" Karin said pointing northwest "Sixteen shinobi are battling and I can feel a familiar chakra" she added in surprise as she looked at her leader.

"A familiar chakra? You've sensed someone in there before but when?" Sasuke asked intrigued at the information "Maybe something useful will appear there" he thought.

"I sensed that chakra when we were running from that group of Konoha shinobi… the person is a Konoha shinobi" Karin exclaimed with shocked eyes while Sasuke looked coldly to the direction where the battle was taking place.

"Let's move" Sasuke said as he got up and walked to forward. Suigetsu groaned but followed suit, Juugo followed as well not wanting to upset his leader and he had nothing better to do. Karin followed the Sharingan-user because she's Karin. Jumping at a moderate pace for at least thirty minutes they finally saw it… a battle field reeking of death. The ground was destroyed, full of cracks and holes, the tree were cut down of burned, weapons of all kinds were scattered on the ground. Bodies also formed part of the scenery, bodies covered in shuriken or kunais, other bleeding or without limbs; Team Hawk saw seven bodies on the ground confirming five Iwa shinobi and two Konoha shinobi.

"Damn, this looks like it would have been fun" Suigetsu said with regret on his voice. "I can't believe we missed it" he added as he took a bottle of water and began drinking it.

"Karin, where is the chakra you felt earlier?" Sasuke asked glancing to the Kunoichi but his stare got back to the field.

"Right… the shinobi is resting in those pillars over there" Karin said pointing to a pile of pillars that stood in every angle possible "He's not alone, five more are with him" she added.

Sasuke nodded and moved towards the pillars but suddenly four wooden spikes came from the ground and stretched themselves towards Sasuke's direction. Shaking himself out, Sasuke jumped away and made a few hand-signs and yelled "Fire style: Grand Fireball" he aimed the attack at the pillars and made full contact, destroying the earth pillars in an instant.

"Wood huh?" Sasuke thought "The last time I saw that was when I first met Naruto… in Orochimaru's hideout" he thought but suddenly he saw someone standing within the smoke.

"Uchiha Sasuke huh?" Yamato asked curiously as he glared at the boy who landed a few feet in front of him "What are you doing here?" he asked "An Akatsuki cloak?" he thought in shock.

X.X.X

Sunagakure

"That is all Gaara" Temari said as she finished telling her brother the whole story/mission. Her body shaking with the fresh memories of the near death experiences she and the other went through and felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Temari, you're okay now" Naruto said smiling kindly at her and he shifted his gaze at Gaara. "My friend needs to recover Gaara, you don't mind if we stay for the time being do you?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course Uzumaki Naruto, you didn't only save my siblings and their comrades but helped me a few time as well… it's the least I can do" Gaara said emotionlessly but a slight twitch on the corner of his mouth told them that he would be happy to comply. Gaara stood from his desk and walked towards his sister and told her to go to the hospital and then walked towards Naruto and shook his hand but the blonde pulled him to a hug… a sign of the friendship they'll have forever.

Moments later Naruto entered the hospital and quickly found Shino in a corner of the waiting room while Kiba was on the couch petting Akamaru. Naruto nodded to them and asked them about Hinata's situation. To which they told him that she'd make a speedy recovery and could leave tomorrow but without forcing her. The Konoha team got a few rooms and stayed the night, taking a nice deserved rest in a bed after the fight with those Jounins. The following morning the three Konoha shinobi entered the hospital to find a fully awake Hyuuga Hinata with a smile on her face.

"Hey Hinata, it's good to see you're okay" Kiba said smiling while his dog, who was allowed thanks to Gaara, barked softly in agreement.

"It's really good to see you with more color on your skin Hinata… you gave us quite a scare" Shino said as he nodded in agreement with his teammate.

"Thanks guy's but you know that I won't die that easily… I have to fulfill my dreams" Hinata said smiling contently and both her teammates stared at her weirdly for a minute before covering themselves up. Was it just them or did she talk like a certain blonde for a second.

"That's good to hear Hinata-chan…" Naruto said as he entered the room followed by Gaara. Hinata saw the blonde and immediately went a shade of red that quickly preoccupied Naruto who rushed to her side in an instant "Are you okay? You look awfully red" he stated as he put a hand on her forehead and in doing so making her sway.

"I'm o-okay N-Naruto-kun" Hinata stuttered in embarrassment, her face turning redder than before. "I'm just happy to see you're okay" she added with a tentative smile. Her teammates looking at the scene in amusement, even Gaara looked amused and he even sported the slight curve on his lips.

"Oh, well of course I'm okay and I'm happy to see you too, trust me I don't know what I would do if you died. I'm Naruto the most incredible ninja of all time and you know I can't die, not until I become Hokage" Naruto said with mock pride as he hit his chest and laughed. Everyone in the room, except Gaara who was unable to do so, sweat dropped at his boast but knew that he was bluffing and that he was okay… normal.

"Did he said he didn't know what he would do if I died… does he care?" Hinata thought in bliss as the chance of her love liking her soared. "Naruto-kun, I know you'll fulfill your dreams… I hope that I fulfill mine too"

"Now that the entertainment is done, I want to thank you… all of you for helping and saving my shinobi" Gaara said as he bowed a little in gratitude "This village owes Konoha a lot and my siblings and I owe you even more Naruto… if you are ever in any trouble, know that you've got someone to have your back" he added with a slight smile while the Leaf shinobi stared at him in shock.

"Eh… thanks Gaara and you can count on us if you have any trouble too". Naruto said as he extended his arm for a shake, shaking hands the two friends parted ways. Gaara went out the door and the four Konoha shinobi glanced at each other before nodding.

"I didn't think you were so close friends with the Kazekage, Naruto" Shino said as he moved towards the door "The first time I saw him… he was terrifying but now he's… changed" he added as he walked out.

"He's right and even if he helped Lee three years ago and he's the Kage of this country I was shocked to see him so humble and nice" Kiba said nodding while Akamaru barked in agreement. Hinata not trusting her voice just nodded with her head low.

"Hahaha, come on Gaara is okay… he's pretty strong to boot" Naruto said grinning "That's in the past but to business, when are we going home?" he asked carefully glancing at Hinata.

X.X.X

Battlefield in Border of Fire country

Pillars and oddly shaped wooden spikes covered the field that once was destroyed now was unrecognizable. Two shinobi stood in the middle of the field gazing intently at each other, watching for any weakness the other could possess. Sasuke stood glancing at the wood-user with his Sharingan activated and a calm face, his Akatsuki cloak swaying in the wind. Yamato on the other hand was clutching his shoulder and glaring at the boy in front of him with one eye open the other closed cause of the pain.

"You're very good wood shinobi… however you're very slow" Sasuke said without emotion as he readied his Kusanagi "Your jutsu are interesting as well… you'll die though if you don't cooperate with us" he added, his chakra flaring, his killing intent rising.

"Shit! The pain is almost unbearable" Yamato thought as he gritted his teeth in pain "It's bleeding profusely and it doesn't seem to stop" he thought in panic as he saw the boy charge.

Suddenly something came in a green blur and kicked Sasuke but the Sharingan-user blocked it. Sasuke looked shocked for a moment before regaining his usual coldness once again, pushing himself from the attacker, they stared at each other two meters in distance. Four stepping sound resonated and Team Hawk glanced to see the surviving shinobi of Konoha standing where Yamato was standing. The one that attacked Sasuke shifted into his Taijutsu stance and glared at the red-eye boy.

"Uchiha Sasuke, it's been a long time and I see that you have joined the enemy… again." Rock Lee said staring at Sasuke furiously, the others attending to Yamato. "Captain… leave this to me" he added as the two once rivals squared off in real combat as enemies.

X.X.X

I know it was a short chapter but an introduction to a battle. It wasn't a very good Naru/Hina scene but I want to build character and make it seen more realistic. One more thing, did Naruto seem weak to you in the manga or did I made mine way too strong? Review please!

Next: Raw Speed