Sakura awoke when she felt Naruto tighten his hold on her, and begin to softly kiss the spots in her neck that weren't covered by her pink hair. He moaned tiredly, his eyes closed.

She lay there for a few minutes. Feeling the guilt on her chest rise, she sat up and found her discarded pants. Turning her head she let her gaze drift on Naruto's slowly opening eyes, as his source of warmth had disappeared.

Sakura rubbed her temple and bit down her lip, crossing her legs. She had been lucky that Naruto had been too tired to continue what they had started last night. However, she also had a feeling that Naruto had felt her discomfort, because he had just smiled and put on his shirt again.

Holding a hand across her heart, she walked out into the kitchen, unaware of Naruto's confused gaze.

-

Itachi stared through trees, with Kisame waiting impatiently behind him. "when are we going to attack?" he groaned, Itachi didn't say anything and seemed transfixed on Sakura's movements as she hung up the wet clothes on the rag. Tohru helped her, smiling brightly at Sakura she laughed. Kisame snickered.

"How amusing? She seems to have created a motherly bond with the child"

Itachi didn't even open his mouth.

"Hey? You there?"

"Kisame – you get rid of Tohru-chan and Naruto-kun" his head turned towards him. "I am taking care of Sakura-san."

Kisame sat there for a while before nodding. "You could just have said you wanted her for yourself."

Itachi flicked his finger into the air, a sign that Kisame should be quiet. Down from the cottage roof, a very messy Naruto came– who you might not expect to be a hokage, if you didn't already know. He grinned and ran towards Sakura, and all she did was to continue hanging up the washing clothes.

She made a slight grunt in surprise when Naruto embraced her from behind, and she was about to scold him, when Tohru laughed at them. Itachi could clearly see something was troubling the pink-haired girl. However, she had as always, even when she was captured by Akatsuki, mastered a calm face.

Naruto continued to nuzzle his face into her neck, making Itachi clench his own fist even harder than before. Sakura showed Naruto away and began to scold him like she had intented – she was after all not the type who liked showing affection in public.

Kisame turned his head to Itachi to see if it was time to go, but what met him was quite surprising. The killer instinct was small, but it was there – something Itachi had never done before in his presence. His eyebrows were pressed downwards into a fine frown, while his teeth were bared just a little bit. Itachi wanted to kill the Rokudaime…Kisame could just feel it within his bones.

-

Sakura pointed her finger towards Naruto, a grim expression on her face – yet, the grin on his face didn't disappear. "Naruto! Don't hug me like – or I'll end up killing you!"

Naruto let his hands travel to the back of his head, still having a smile covering a large amount of his face. "Well – Sakura-chan, why don't we do something together you and I? You have been so distant lately. Why don't we just sit on the beach today – eh. Eh!?"

Sakura stood silently for a while, her face having no expression, and then she sighed. "I have no time…"

Naruto embraced her from behind. The years they had been separated proved that Naruto had not only grown in maturity, but also in height. His breath wandered across her throat; making Sakura tense and shake slightly in either discomfort or pleasure. Naruto tightened his hold, inhaling her almost intoxicating smell. "You look nice today…" he muttered.

Sakura did neither frown or blush – but he could feel her shake. "Naruto – release me or I'll kill you…"

Naruto pouted and still held her. "Aaaw…why?"

"Or I'll not give you ramen tonight"

He released her in an instant, throwing his arms into the air in defeat. "Okay okay – I give up, then I'll just play with Tohru or something"

Tohru gave a small shriek and tucked unto Naruto's pants.

-

Temari walked through the hallways with a determined face, her feet slamming against the sand floor, making people without a doubt move away with a single salute.

The sand woman was obviously not in the mood to greet them back, and just marched off. The sounds of running people came after her, screaming for her to stop – yet she continued. "The Kazekage-sama is in a meeting"

Not caring about them, she slammed the door up, seeing how the council members all jumped in surprise brought a small smirk to her face. "Gaara! I need to talk to you…now!" the Kazekage raised an eyebrow, and Shikamaru twisted slightly in his seat. Perhaps his thoughts about Temari being a scary woman were right after all.

Gaara stood up, the council murmuring in low voices. Temari turned to Shikamaru, and he felt that professional look at him again. "Nara-kun, you too."

Gaara opened the door to his office next door, allowing both Temari and Shikamaru to enter. He sat down behind his desk, folding his hands – allowing his sister to talk.

Temari took out a scroll, and began to read out loud "I Hyuuga Neji will hereby announce the arrival of fleeing citizens from Konoha and the fire country. The heir to the Hyuuga throne, Hinata Hyuuga. The heirs of Inuzaka Clan, Hana, and Kiba Inuzaka, Shino Aburame will arrive to aid the Sand in the future attack on Konoha. Hatake Kakashi, Yamato, Yamanka Ino, Akamichi Chouji will be one of those arriving – we look forward to our companionship. – Shikamaru, don't mess with that sister of Gaara's over there."

Shikamaru buried his head into his hands, while Gaara stared at Temari before speaking himself. "Make all the necessary features ready for their arrival – set up the large war tents. Also…prepare for the arrival of the Rokudaime"

Gaara turned his head to Shikamaru. "That means you too."

Both Temari and Shikamaru nodded and walked out the door.

-

The people ran down the stairs, hurrying as fast as they could, so they could greet the people from Konoha. The maids were preparing beds, tents, everything they could get – who knew how many people there would arrive. Even amongst those people there were those of 'royal' blood, like the Hyuuga heir.

Temari was eagerly watching over the many people, who desperately tried to reach the schedule. This was one of the good things about sand people. People living in the sand were devoted people – they could question the leader if necessary, but they would without a doubt not complain in a situation like this. They were raised that way. Might be one of the things Shikamaru was so fascinated about here in the sand – and about Temari.

He was in another area, making sure that all the political aspects of this case was secure – of course Konoha was their ally, but would they be their ally if they had Orochimaru as a leader? Maybe they would take them in because of generosity, or because they trusted the Rokudaime.

She turned her gaze to the Kazekage building, and silently wondered when Naruto would come…

-

The office was dark, and the rain ran down the square windows. The building was solid rock, and it seemed to have been in use for many years. A lone figure sat behind a desk, his hand folded in a calm manner. Usually his face would be in a true grin, but this time – it turned out to be a dark frown.

"What?" he muttered.

The dark haired nin stood proudly before his kage; the tuschikage was after all a proud man, who did not tolerate that people disobeyed him.

"Hanara Sakura is in reality Haruno Sakura from the leaf – she has been spying under us by the late Tsunade-sama I would believe. May her soul rest in peace."

The tuschikage leaned back into his seat. "Is she still in the rock?"

The man bowed. The Rokudaime let his head bend backwards, staring at the dark ceiling. "She has saved my life back then – perhaps to gain a future advantages by letting me be in her debt"

The room was quiet.

"I believe – you should be good enough to handle the assignment, am I right." He blinked. "Daikon?"

Daikon saluted, even with a bitter taste in his mouth. "How about…the man following her?"

The Tsuchikage's eyes widened "Was he blond? Did he have scars down his cheeks!?"

Daikon narrowed his eyes. "Yes…Tsuchikage-sama."

"Damnit! Alert all the ninjas! The Hokage Rokudaime is in the Rock! We need to rid of him right away – take every move possible! Now!"

-

Naruto turned his head abruptly, and threw Tohru to the ground; making her cry out in pain. "Naruto-san!?" He snarled, and laid down himself. "Keep quiet, and hide in the trees – mask your chakra, or something like that-!"

Tohru stared at him confused, until she heard Sakura high scream from not so far away. Starting to stand up she saw his glare. "Go into the woods! I'll get Sakura!" the girl bit in her lip, and quickly rose to her feet – running to the forest line by the Cliffside.

Naruto found Sakura standing dumbfounded. Her eyes were wide, focussing on the two people standing on separate branches. He quickly took her by the arm and pushed her behind him, ready to defend her. However, he found her clutching his shirt tightly. Her hands seemed angry, while her eyes were frightened.

Naruto cursed and glared at Itachi and Kisame, who stood proudly, staring down at them. Naruto could feel Itachi stare down at him with killer intent – making the blond-haired man shake slightly. Something he hasn't done in years. He took Sakura around her waist, and quickly jumped out of the way. Sakura landing perfectly fine on her own, had to catch him.

A fire jutsu marked the area they had been standing in, and they wouldn't have survived if they didn't move. She looked down at Naruto with a sharp look. "Where's Tohru!?"

Naruto winced a bit and sat up, doing a battle stance. "Don't worry, she's safe." His face turned to her for a second. "You should worry more about yourself – this is Akatsuki members afterall."

Sakura frowned and noted to herself to kill Naruto when this was all over. She cracked her knuckles. "I take Itachi – you take Kisame."

Naruto gave her a side glance and stared at Kisame. "Fine – Sakura, don't get hurt…" with those words, they jumped straight ahead on their targets. Itachi stood still, while Kisame readied his sword.

The last Uchiha lifted his arm, and kicked Sakura in the stomach while grabbing her hands. As he did so, the Sakura turned into a small log – and he could feel her right hand smash into his back. Not like a punch, but more like a flat hand to get him away, to have a greater area to fight in.

She landed on a branch above him, her fingers quickly doing a few seals. She waited for the dust to clear, carefully trying to see where he was – or even feel.

"Don't be so foolish; believing you can defeat me…"

Sakura jumped around and found herself staring into the eyes of mangekyo sharingan…

Quickly she pushed herself away from him – watching as he stared at her with a bored expression. Sakura hissed. "Why! Why do you continue to do this to me!? You even did it in the Akatsuki headquarters! Do you really believe that I will follow you?!"

"…"

She readied her fist and was about to slam it into the ground, when it turned into water – making her sink dangerously low in the red water. Sakura needed to assure herself that she shouldn't panic – all this was an illusion. Itachi took a few steps forward, standing just before her –his voice monotone as always.

"Haruno Sakura. You are weak…"

She flinched in the water, trying to get away from the man before her. He sat down; his eyes wandered across her face, as he took her by the shirt and brought her out of the water. He held her with a stern hand, as she tried to reach the ground. However, he held her too high. She spit him in the face. Itachi didn't react at all.

"Yet you are strong."

Sakura felt her blood run cold, and her eyes widened again. She desperately tried to kick him, but every time she did, he never reacted. "Let me down! Let me down!"

"I have a proposal for you"

She wanted to block her ears, but even when she did, his voice echoed inside her head.

"I will forever give you protection against potential dangers, however, that means you must provide me with at least three heirs."

She choked on her own spit, and coughed a bit, before whispering harshly. "Why?"

Itachi let a small bit of his mouth turn into a light smirk. Closing his eyes as if mocking her. "Because you're currently are one of the strongest female ninjas in this world, and the youngest too…I do not need a woman who is futile. I have to have a strong woman to produce strong heirs, isn't that right, Haruno Sakura?"

"You are sick!" Sakura screamed. "I'll never give in to you! I hate you! You are the reason everything has fallen apart!" she reached out for his neck, managing to touch the skin. "You killed Sasuke-kun! It was your fault! If you haven't killed your family, we would be happy! We would all be happy! I HATE YOU!"

She received an amused glance from him, and saw his mouth turn downwards – into his usual frown. "So you are saying 'no'?"

"Stop being so damn cocky! What did you expect!? Let me go!"

"You do not understand do you – foolish girl." Sakura froze and stared into the spinning sharingan wheels. "You have no choice – you will not have the opportunity to refuse."

She narrowed her eyes, obviously loosing her patience. "You stupid…"

Before she could say anything she fell to the ground, barely avoiding a branch on her way down. Her body was numb as if being poisoned and she managed to grab the branch. She hit her foot unto the main bough of the tree, and jumped into the eye – landing above where Itachi had been.

She was panting hard, as if she had been exercising for several hours.

Itachi was nowhere to be seen, and Sakura desperately tried to figure out where he had gone to. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to listen for his footsteps. However, she knew it was impossible. He was so silent that it had scared her.

Naruto's chakra could be felt clearly, mixing perfectly with the Kyuubi's. She stood up, not caring about Itachi. If Naruto lost control over the Kyuubi then it would be fatal – for everyone. She needed to help him.

-

Naruto hissed and jumped away from Kisame's sword – it was hard to suppress his chakra, especially when the kyuubi had gotten excited by the fight. He jumped over the shark man, and hit his sword with his stick. It was a small stick he had broken of from a tree – it had proven valuable in holding the souba away.

He bends down, and swung his feet around, making the man jump into the air. Naruto then shot his feet upwards, kicking Kisame hard on the leg – making him trip. Naruto winced when the Kyuubi once again tried to come out, and he needed to jump backwards. He cursed, and felt how their chakras were intermixing almost out of his control.

Naruto's eyes widened when the sword came down on him with insane speed. Pushing himself away he barely avoided the destroying force. Jumping unto his feet he threw a kunai at him, knowing that it wouldn't hurt him at all. Kisame smirked and raised his sword again – and Naruto had to hiss because of the Kyuubi's chakra began to flare even more. This was becoming dangerous.

He could end this battle quickly with one single jutsu. However, if he did – the whole Cliffside would simply be destroyed – and that meant Sakura and Tohru could die too. Sakura most likely would not – she would be able to sense the jutsu a mile ahead, and manage to escape. Tohru though was a different case.

The sword hit the ground beside him, and Naruto kicked Kisame in the head – making the shark man fly backwards, into the house. A grin came to the yellow haired man, and he brushed his cheek. He was panting hard and he too was actually excited about this fight. The blue man stood up, a smirk on his face too. Just as Naruto was about to charge, Itachi was in front of him – a kunai in his hand. "You are a hindrance Naruto-kun, please die."

Naruto, never sensing the speed at all, knew he couldn't avoid it. Itachi then suddenly jerked backwards, and there stood a furious Sakura. "How dare you!"

Her fist was tight, meaning that she was ready to punch the living guts out of the Uchiha. The Rokudaime took her by the arm and jerked her backwards. "Damnit Sakura! What are you doing here! Weren't you supposed to take care of Itachi?" She didn't answer, and he could feel how tense her muscles were – her face drawn into anger.

Naruto was silent for a while, before pulling her behind him. "Don't worry Sakura – I am going to protect you." however, even with him still holding her arm, she sprung forward, taking him with her. "Listen to me for once!" he yelled – seeing how Kisame seemed amused, and Itachi had a deeper frown than usual. She turned around and glared at him.

"Let me go now Naruto! This is my fight! I have managed to escape these guys for three years! Taken out Sasori and Zetsu on my own – don't you dare tell me you are going to protect me!"

"I am the Rokudaime! Do you believe I can't defeat them on my own!?"

Sakura stopped, and stared at him wide-eyed, her eyes drifting to the village. Before he could say anything, she dragged him off to the cliffside. Naruto was dumbfounded and pulled her back. "What!? What are you doing?"

"Screw Akatsuki! We have the rock country on our back now! We need to get out of here!"

Itachi stared at her back, and then turned to Kisame. "We have to retreat for now – we will return when it is a bit more peaceful to fight."

Naruto then took her around the waist, and lifted her up, over his shoulder. "Wait! Naruto what are you doing!?"

His feet slammed against the snow while he spoke with a harsh voice. "I have just enough chakra to teleport the three of us far enough – to get a bit away from here." The trees were covered in the white ice, seeming like an almost too innocent place to fight. Tohru sensing his chakra, jumped out of the bushes and ran to him.

"You will have to heal me Sakura!" Naruto yelled while doing handseals.

She didn't reply at first, and stared as his back with a guilty look. "Right!" Both Tohru and Sakura grabbed on to Naruto and they disappeared into a pile of smoke.

-

Shikamaru looked up at Temari – who stood with crossed arms, a frown on her face. "Finally, I can talk with you alone…" she muttered. He had a strange look on his face, like he was starting to choke of something, and his cheeks gained a slight pink. "You wanted…talk to me?"

Temari's eyes shone with the intent to kill, and her mouth curled up into an evil smirk. "Now, you tell me what you told the people in Konoha – or I'll make you suffer."

Shikamaru mumbled underneath his breath and rubbed his temple. "I didn't say anything much – but half of Konoha knew we were together and uhm…well we had a child together and so." His answer didn't seem to satisfy her, so he began to blush – something he usually didn't.

"Well – I have sent some letters to…Chouji and he uhm…well…might have told everyone …things about you. But it isn't my fault ! They asked about you, and I answered! That is it!"

"Things like what?" Temari asked evenly.

"Things like you were so bossy, and you were always mad – like you had become pregnant again and…"

"What!?"

"Hey hey! It is the truth! You do act like you are pregnant again – goddamn angry all the time." Shikamaru could see her take a vase from the window and pointed it at him. He covered his face with his arms and closed his eyes.

Then he heard the case slam down on the windows and he dared to open one eye – to see her smirk down at him. "Cry-baby – I can't believe you just did what you did. Don't worry Nara Shikamaru – you'll receive your punishment."

Shikamaru clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, before smirking himself "like a bossy woman like you could figure out how to fit me…"

-

A/N:MERRY CHRISTMAS – even though it is a couple of days ago, here is what I got XD clothes(damn!), jewellery, make-up – a PSP! A new chair (mmm!), dirge of Cerberus….am I lucky or what XD ending my personal rant here…

Anyway, my long awaited fiction the Pledge – has been posted, and you decide for yourself if you want to read it or not. Our shared profile is Hollow Production – please, if you mind, give me a hint about if it is bad or good…feedback is appreciated. (mmmm…new chair)

A little amused thing from my side, I have 61 alerts – however, only 10 reviews pr chapter. XD I find it amusing – really, but anyway as always review if necessary, and I read all reviews etc.

To everyone this might be a bit soon – however, I have now finally figured out how the next chapters of Rokudaime are going to be. It should be surprising – and some are even going to die I must say. I am excited about the Rokudaime ending, should be the best ending so far I ever done.

Anyway – review or read the pledge if you'll do me the favour!

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