Author's Note: Well, I have to say it took longer for me to update this story than I thought it would, but here it is. Sorry guys. But here's the next chapter and thank you for staying with the story.
"So does everyone get the drill?"
"Uh…did you just say we had to like touch those toads?" Kitty asked.
Jiraiya sighed, "Yes, Kitty, I did."
The others all nodded their okay and stepped forward placing their hands on the toads in front of them.
"Before you all go. I want Rogue and Laura to stay here," the Professor ordered.
The two nodded and moved to stand by his side while the others left. Jiraiya gave him a nod at his choice of who to keep as defense against Itachi and Kisame should they attack.
Jiraiya looked around, "Now as soon as we get there take cover. I left a battleground, so I don't want any casualties in the first trip. Everyone ready?" He looked around, studying each person's face. "Let's go."
They all vanished in smoke leaving the room empty except the three.
"So, what are we going to do?" Rogue asked.
"You are going to help defend this mansion and Naruto if Itachi and Kisame realize that most of the X-Men have left and decide to take advantage."
Laura raised an eyebrow, "Why me? Wouldn't I be better suited on a battleground?"
"No, I think you'll fight better here for reasons I'm sure you already know." He moved away and out of the room leaving the two girls.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Laura asked with a sneer.
Rogue gave her a half hearted shrug. "The Prof's always got his reasons for doing things. Yah, just gotta trust him sometimes."
The X-Men appeared in a forest and they all dove for the nearest cover they saw. Off in the trees they could hear the metallic clink of weapons colliding and the trees around them moved in a nonexistent wind.
"Jiraiya, you're leading the way," Cyclops whispered over their radio.
Jiraiya rose from his hiding place and took off into the trees with the others following.
Moments later they approached the site of the survivors of the village.
"Jiraiya! The Hokage wants to see you! She's helping cure the wounded!" an ANBU ninja shouted as he ran in.
"Thanks!"
He quickly led the X-Men to the Medical area and straight to Tsunade when he spotted her.
"Tsunade. The X-Men are here and ready to deploy."
Tsunade looked up at the team of teenagers and studied them over. Inwardly she grimaced at the thought of sending these teens into battle. But so many of Konoha's younger generations have already partaken in the battles that there really isn't anything to do against it, and quite frankly we need all the help we can get
"Alright, Jiraiya you know their strengths and weaknesses best, where would you put them into the battle?" she inquired.
"I would keep them as either a last resort or as a defensive line around the wounded. We will most likely need them most if that mutant from earlier shows up again. Seeing as most of our weapons are metal we could get in some heavy trouble if we didn't have some way to protect ourselves besides Taijutsu."
"The one who took out Naruto?"
"Yeah, apparently he's not to popular with their team or the humans in their world."
Tsunade pursed her lips. "Alright, whose your team leader among you?"
"I am, My name's Cyclops."
"Set your team around this area. I'll send a ninja to you if the mutant is spotted."
Cyclops nodded and looked around at his team.
"Alright, everyone, form a defensive perimeter and stay within each other's sights," he commanded.
The X-Men split going to respective positions around the medical area and making sure they could see either team mate on each side.
Nightcrawler and Shadowcat moved to their positions together. Shadowcat whispered to Nightcrawler in confusion, "What's Taijutsu?"
He shrugged and suggested, "Something else they use." He moved off to his position between Shadowcat and Iceman.
She rolled her eyes, "No freaking way. I would have never guessed."
Turning her eyes to the forest she listened to the clash of metal and every so often the sound of metal hitting flesh. She flinched each time and even caught a frightened stare of her friend's.
These ninja certainly mean business. We've never faced anything with quite the bloodlust as this enemy. She turned a worried gaze to her fellow teammates. How many of us will survive this? Will we all die defending these people?
"How's he looking, Sakura," Hank asked.
"The wound is closed and the muscles and everything back in place. The only problem now is pulling the toxins out of his body. Do you have anything for that yet?"
Hank shook his head.
Sakura chewed on her lower lip in thought. With one thought she pulled out a scroll, opening it and spreading it on the table next to Naruto in one smooth motion. She flattened it down and pulled out a kunai. She took placed her hand with the healing jutsu around back on Naruto and moved it around. She pricked his chest with the kunai and allowed the blood on the kunai to drip onto the scroll.
"Hank, do you have any healing herbs on hand?"
"Only a few, but Ororo, should have anything you should need in her greenery."
Professor, tell Ororo to gather any healing herbs she has in her greenery and bring them down to the infirmary. I think Sakura's got an idea.
She's on the way.
"Ororo's, on the way with all the healing herbs we have here."
Sakura nodded and grabbed an empty bowl on a counter and filled it with water. The door to the infirmary opened as Ororo came in with a small wind carrying all the herbs and plants with her. She placed them all on the ground. Sakura looked at each plant went around taking what she needed. She placed a leaf and some seeds in a bowl and started grinding them together into a thin flaky powder.
Well, the fresh leaves aren't always the best, but take what you can get Sakura.
She looked at the leaves she had gathered and looked back at the plants sitting around the infirmary and spotted the one she wanted. She took a pair of tweezers from her kunai pouch and pulled out a kunai as well. Ororo watched in confusion as Sakura approached one of the plants with the tweezers and kunai. Sakura stopped to look at the leaf and shook her head.
"Ororo, do you have another plant with a similar leaf?" Sakura asked looking around at the other plants.
Ororo gasped, "Yes, but…the other plant is a poison! You would only cause him far more difficulties than good results with that plant!"
Sakura turned to Ororo. "Obviously your world hasn't found the medical properties to the plant. In our world, if used correctly you can neutralize the poison and use only the medical properties of the leaf."
Ororo grimaced, then nodded. "Very well. As long as you know what you are doing."
Sakura nodded. Ororo left the room and quickly brought back the plant Sakura wanted. Sakura nodded her thanks. She took the tweezers and held the leaf with them while she gently sawed off the tough stem.
She held the leaf up close to her eyes with the light shining behind it. Sakura placed her kunai back in the pouch and placed her hand to the leaf with the healing chakra surrounding it. She countered the poison and the leaf shriveled up in her hand. Ororo watched with interest as Sakura held the shriveling leaf above the bowl of crushed herbs and leaves.
The leaf crumbled into the bowl as she continued to cover it with the healing chakra. She put the tweezers down on the table and mixed the leaves together with water creating a liquid concoction.
Sakura took the bowl with the liquid and placed it next to the bowl with water in it. Next she unzipped Naruto's jacket and pulled it off of him as gently as she could. Next she pulled his shirt off of him to expose his bare flesh.
"Ororo, can you hold him down?" Sakura requested.
Ororo moved around to the other side of the table and placed her hands on Naruto's arms. Hank also came over and held down his legs. Sakura nodded and brought the healing chakra to the concoction pulling some of the liquid out of the bowl and over Naruto's body. The healing chakra touched Naruto's skin and she moved her right hand from the chakra across his chest to the other side and moved upward. As her hand came up the healing chakra threaded through his body and came up without the liquid, but with the poison itself.
Sakura gave a faint smile, It's working. Just like I thought it would. Take that Akatsuki.
The smile left her face.
"What? What's wrong?" Hank asked.
The poison started dripping from the healing chakra and entering Naruto's body once again. Sakura gasped and moved the healing chakra with as much of the poison as she could over the bowl of just water. Hank and Ororo watched in anxiousness. Sakura dispersed the poison and what was left that hadn't returned to Naruto fell into the bowl. To their dismay it wasn't much. At most it was a teaspoon's worth of the poison that was currently in his body.
"Something isn't right," Sakura informed them.
"Like what?" Ororo inquired.
Sakura shrugged with a shake of her head. "I'm not sure, but normally that leaf mixed in that concoction is enough to destroy even the more powerful poisons. If that doesn't rid his body of the poison, then I don't know what will."
The two adults looked at each other in concern. Hank broke the gaze first and looked down at the still ninja on the table.
"Is it at all possible to wake him or the Kyuubi up to talk and collaborate what just happened?" Hank suggested.
Sakura shrugged, "I really have no more idea about what those two are capable of any more than you do. In fact you've seen more than I have of those two working together. Of course, Naruto isn't one to give up very easily. He may very well beat this poison with the Kyuubi's help and we won't be needed at all."
"Then all we can do is ease the pain and watch over him," commented Ororo.
The female medic ninja nodded. She was miserable; Ororo could see it written all over her face. Ororo moved to the younger girl's side and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. We'll continue to try and help him. Even if it's just staying by his side," she consoled.
Sakura let out a short laugh and wiped a tear from her eye before it could fall. "I promised myself after Sasuke turned from the village and all I could do was cry and beg Naruto to bring him back that I would get stronger. So far I have gotten stronger, but it hasn't helped at all. Sure I've saved many lives, but Sasuke is still a missing ninja and now I might lose another teammate and I can't do anything to stop it."
Hank and Ororo listened to her thoughtfully. When Sakura turned from her teammate's prone body and placed herself into Ororo's body she cried as the weather witch held her shaking body. After a few minutes Ororo pulled Sakura from her body and looked into her eyes.
"I don't think Naruto would blame you for this. You've done all you could. We're just missing something in this and whatever it is we'll figure it out."
Sakura wiped away her tears and gave a nod. Moving from Ororo's grasp she took a deep breath and slapped herself. Both mutants looked askance at the action, but didn't do or say anything when she didn't show any signs of repeating the action.
She looked up, a determined look set on her face. "I'm ready."
She turned from the two and set about the herbs and plants around her. Ororo and Hank shared a smile before moving to do what they could.
Tsunade moved through the injured ninja glancing at each one to check for any fatal injuries in need of attention.
"Lady Tsunade, the hour is near," an ANBU reminded her.
She replied with a nod. "Have someone transform into Naruto and wait in one of the medical tents. I'd rather hear what they have to say, than lose them just because they expected Naruto to be with us and he's not."
The ANBU gave a sharp nod and disappeared.
Tsunade turned a determined gaze into the trees imagining one of the Akatsuki members to be sitting on a branch that she could stare down until they gave in and left her village in peace to rebuild their home. She sighed that that was not the case in their situation. If only it was that easy. Naruto, pull through this quickly. I would feel better knowing that you are awake with the Kyuubi's protection against their tricks. She turned her gaze to the darkening sky. It would be very unfortunate if you were to fall into their hands at the moment. That's the last thing we need.
"Tsunade, the preparations are complete."
Tsunade turned to face her former teammate. He gave her a calm, supportive smile. He held out a hand to her and she took it, giving it a squeeze before releasing it.
"You ready for this," Jiraiya asked.
Tsunade gave a short chuckle, "When are we ever ready? Well, let's see if this works."
Jiraiya nodded. "He's a tough kid. He's pulled through many things that no one ever thought he'd make it through yet he did. Besides he's got the Kyuubi working with him now." Tsunade gave him an appreciative smile.
"I know. I'm worried, though that if he doesn't recover it could mean the end for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He's saved us so many times that many view him as the hero of our village and if he's gone and our village is gone, what is there left to fight for?"
Jiraiya took her hand again and answered her question in a soft whisper, "What's left to fight for is love, friends, and…to go down without a fight is disgraceful. If the Village Hidden in the Leaves is to be destroyed…we won't go without taking as many of those Sound Village ninja and Akatsuki with us. Damn them all to hell."
Tsunade smirked at his response. "Well, Jiraiya. I wasn't quite expecting that, but I suppose it's to be expected. We all admire the brat no matter how annoying he is most of the time."
She smiled in amusement before she turned in the direction of the medical area still holding Jiraiya's hand in hers. Jiraiya followed without protest as eager to save his pupil as her.
Author's Note: I know it's somewhat short, but I needed to set the stage once again. And now that things are set, things are about to get bumpy and a little fun. Man, I nearly cried several times with Sakura and Tsunade. Even though I'm the one who controls them…Anyways…Thanks for reading as always! Please review and let me know what ya think! Thanks!