An:

I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed as per usual. Well, as I said this is story is going to be a harem, while I never stated it this story always had the potential to go that way which should be more clear as next chapter as it's plotted they get off the island. The reason for the poll was because I began to doubt that direction since I was building such a strong foundation for the Naru/Saku pair. The poll was to give me the confidence to go ahead with it. But enough about that my purely Naru/Saku story came out earlier so I hope it's as enjoyable as this one. Also as fair warning I may include a lemon in the next chapter and plan to at some point edit the first one to warn new readers. So again thanks for the reviews as always your humble author S. o. t. A.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.

Chapter 11: Things of Value

Sakura was covered in insect gore as she made her way to the waterfall that they used to bathe. The reason for her need to clean herself up was due to Fukasaku's latest attempt to get them off the island. However unless she wanted to merge with Naruto and then explode it was back to the drawing board for the old toad.

Sakura stripped out of her clothes and began washing them in the water. She didn't bother looking around since she knew Naruto would give her space until she was done. She almost wished that he would spy on her at least then she would know he desired her on some level. However in the five weeks that they had been on the island he had remained aloof from her. There were moments of levity or even sparks between them during that span of time. As well as a fight or two, but if she was making any headway in regaining his heart is was almost impossible to tell.

He had spent almost three weeks straight sitting on the beach sending shadow clones out to search the area. Despite her telling him it was pointless as the map she had seen hadn't even had the island they were on depicted in them. But Naruto being Naruto had persisted he had found two more islands but that was it before finally accepting that even with his reserves running home was out of the question. All attempts to interact with him during those first few weeks had resulted in a quick brushing off claiming he needed to concentrate.

As she finished washing her clothes she set them in the sun to dry before moving into the water herself. Moving under the waterfall she let it soak her while she tried to come up with some way to prove her love. She knew it wouldn't be easy as she had to basically live down the years spent at the academy as well as the few months that Team Seven had been whole before Sasuke's defection. Naruto's comment when she had confessed on the island had hinted at what truly bothered him about her saying she loved him and it all stemmed from one simply thing. He was afraid. Afraid that he was simply a place holder in her heart until Sasuke recovered.

Although she knew the truth, the problem was how to convey it to Naruto. All her attempts to get close to him met with abject failure. She had tried to spar with him in order to get close but he simply conjured a few shadow clones. She remembered the first time she had tried going that route. He had been sitting on a log watching the beach having sent out a wave of clones when she had asked. He had said sure making her happy which lasted until the clone came into world. She had managed to dispel it relatively soon all things considered and had complained that it wasn't enough hoping the he would take up the challenge. He did but not in the way she wanted simply creating more clones enough this time to leave her a sweaty quivering mess so that she couldn't complain that she wasn't being challenged.

So if she couldn't communicate with him using her fists since many fighters believed they could show their feelings that way she would simply have to come up with another. However, the how continued to be a problem. Words wouldn't do it because Naruto was convinced even if she felt this way now, as soon as Sasuke entered the picture she would revert to fawning over him again. She needed to do something give Naruto some sign that she had truly let go of Sasuke for him. That she had given Naruto her heart just as she was asking for his back. But thus far he had turned down all her requests for a simple date from him.

Standing under the waterfall, letting it wash the dirt away from her body, she looked up to the sky and asked for some flash of insight into how to solve her quandary. However, if the heavens had the answers they stubbornly refused to share so she closed her eyes trying to think of something. She knew she could always try seducing him but rejected that as being too manipulative. Not to mention Naruto had already been in a physical relationship with Konan. One in which both parties seemed to simply view one another as simply friends with benefits. A category she didn't want to end up with in regards to Naruto. Even if he would be the first man that she committed the act with she doubted that it would have a huge emotional impact on Naruto. Simply because he had given his to a woman he felt nothing more than friendship for, therefore she believed that he would come to view that about her. That she liked him enough to sleep with him but again once Sasuke entered the picture she would abandon him.

Thinking over all she could remember about her time with Naruto she tried to think of something she had that Naruto would know she cherished that she wouldn't just give it to anyone. While she once again rejected the idea of using her virginity she remembered the day of the team selection. Suddenly it hit her about what she could give him as his had been stolen and she knew just the event to do it. Smiling she made for the shore quickly dressing in her still soggy clothes, but she was in a hurry. Because in one weeks time Naruto would turn eighteen and she had a gift that would hopefully show him just how much he meant to her.

Madara was angry as he walked through the base he kept in River Country. He had established the Village Hidden by the Moon years before forming Akatsuki or more accurately taking command of it from Nagato. It had been him that had found the ragtag group that had barely survived Danzou and Hanzo's attempted ambush and gave them the mission of collecting the tailed-beasts.

Do in part to the death of the Kyuubi container and the need to find a way to take advantage of the battle going on in Kiri he was visiting the lead scientist in Project: Resurrection. His power to control the tailed-beasts was especially limited in his weakened state so therefore he planned to recombine the chakra beasts with their previous hosts which he had stored and preserved. It had been relatively easy to do under Pain's nose as the man had no interest in what had happened to the corpses after extracting the beasts. Madara had brought them to his hidden base in Rain Country just in case he needed them. Unfortunately creating a jutsu that would bring them back was still only a dream at the moment. He truly wished that he knew how Gaara had been brought back, however that information had died with Chiyo.

Entering the large laboratory he spotted the weasel looking man that ran the project. The man wore a grey shirt that had a high tight collar and zipped up in front. The pants he wore were the same shade as the shirt. Completing the outfit was a white scientist jacket that he wore opened up. Walking up to the man whose name was Doctor No Manchu, he asked, "Any progress doctor?"

Running a hand through his raven-black hair which was slicked back making his widow's peak all the more sever, the scientist said, "We may be on to something. But we still need more time."

"Time is not a luxury we have," Madara said angrily, "We need a force capable of breaking through the Land of Fire's defenses while the Alliance's focus is on the Battle for Kiri."

"With all due respect does repeating to me matters I am already aware of really help anyone," the man said stepping away from the masked leader of Akatsuki, "However as I said we may be onto something." He then indicated a machine which looked like a large X with manacles attached and had sinister looking conduits that ran from it to a table nearby.

"We believe that the Kazekage was revived from death by a powerful forbidden jutsu. This jutsu cost the elder Chiyo her life in effect…"

"Now who is repeating useless information, I know all this already," Madara said angrily, "Just tell me what the machine does."

"Basically we drain a volunteer of their chakra using the machine and channel it to the table were the body of the Jinchuriki will reside."

"It can't be that simple," Madara said skeptically.

"Which is why I said we believe we may be onto something," the scientist replied. "We have yet to actually test it and there is also the problem of converting the tailed-beast into chakra and returning it to the Jinchuriki. It may be easier to simply create new ones."

"It would be if I wanted to wait years for them to be trained," the ancient Uchiha said. "However I need them and their skills yesterday. Now what do you need to move forward?"

"A test subject for one," Manchu replied, "Basically, I suppose the question is who would you like to see returned to the land of the living and wouldn't be too upset if it failed spectacularly?"

Although the scientist couldn't see it Madara was smiling beneath his mask as he said, "Doctor, I believe I have just the person in mind."

Shikamaru looked out over the village of Kiri seeing the damage that it had sustained thus far. While it paled in comparison to what Konoha looked like after the Sky Country raid almost two years ago. It was beginning to reach that point. Mostly the damage occurred from where crashes occurred or from the few attacks the more experienced pilots managed to get off before they inevitably retreated.

It was also becoming apparent that the battle was becoming a stalemate which would in turn eventually result in the loss of Kiri. The enemies strategy was simply to try and tire out the relatively few shinobi the alliance had that could fight them in the air on an even level. Even the arrival of an S-class shinobi like Konan wasn't enough to tip the battle in their favor especially with the reinforcements that had arrived a month ago. The extra men of the enemy hadn't even really played a part yet since the Alliance was trapped in Kiri in a sense. Any force large enough to remove the invaders would be susceptible to the air forces of the enemy. Of course, they could send Gaara and the others but that just left Kiri vulnerable. Not to mention there had been an influx of refugees as the Grass and Waterfall forces burnt the villages surrounding their beachhead to the ground stretching their supplies to the limit.

A part of him wished Naruto would hurry the hell up and save the day, which caused him to scoff to himself as it had been his idea to kill Sasuke that led to the knucklehead leaving Konoha to play mercenary. Regardless, it was up to him at the moment to find a way to prevent Madara from taking Kiri. What they needed was a way to take Sky Country out of the game in order to force Grass and Waterfall to retreat, however with their fleet sitting off the shore that was easier said than done. He knew who they needed to complete the task but doubted the Raikage would agree to allowing his brother to enter the fray. What they needed was a way to free up Gaara and Konan to support any attacking force while keeping Kiri defended.

"But where," he thought before a stray memory clicked into place making him slap his forehead. Especially since the solution was generally considered to be his best friend's family.

Naruto didn't know what was up with Sakura for the past week, as all the sudden she had seemed to just give up and leave him alone. Usually, she would have asked him to spar with her a half dozen times in the five days since Fukasaku's disastrous attempt at finding a way to summon the pair of them. Thankfully he had used a pair of large caterpillars that Ma was going to use for a meal as the guinea pigs as the sight of the two bugs merged into one before they exploded was something he still had trouble getting out of his head. He was tempted to tell Fukasaku to simply allow Sakura to sign the contract so he could get back in the war, while making it clear to Sakura that she was to leave him be when they got back. However he had guessed that Sakura would simply disavow what he said so decided against it in the end.

Sakura's sudden desire to be alone worried him though. He supposed that she had simply given up which would merely prove his point about her since she had chased Sasuke for years. "Guess I should have been glad with my month of her pining for me," he thought bitterly, which surprised him considering that was what he wanted. Wasn't it? But it just proved that when it came to Sakura, he didn't really know what he wanted. Which wasn't exactly true as he knew what he wanted just didn't believe it would ever be his. He'd merely be holding onto it till Sasuke showed up.

Therefore he decided to get to work on finding a means of his own to get off the island to get away from her and the feelings she generated in him. Although he was tempted to build a raft he had no idea how to go about building one sturdy enough to survive the trip. Not to mention there had been a few violent storms that had hit the area in the time they spent here which generally sprung up out of nowhere. That was why he was attempting to recreate his father's signature jutsu, Hiraishin. Unbeknownst to just about everyone after his father had sealed the Kyuubi into him the third Hokage had collected all of the notes and such that had survived the destruction of the 4th Hokage's home and gave them to Gamabunta for safe keeping. Among those items were a few hastily scribbled ideas on the jutsu. Probably from the day he dreamed it up, however Naruto was able to infer a great deal from them and was now attempting to recreate the formula necessary for the seal that would reside around the famous three prong Kunai that his dad carried. He surmised that the jutsu was based off of the summoning technique with the seal acting as the summoner. The problem he was running into was how do you establish a contract or connection with a seal and how would he activate it when he wasn't near it. To answer that question he had been studying all he could on the summoning jutsu confident the answer lied with how the first contracts were formed.

"Naruto…"

Looking up from his notes which Fukasaku had brought he replied, "Do you wish for more clones to spar with?"

Sakura shook her head no, before saying, "I wanted to ask you something."

"What?" he said returning his attention to his notes hoping her question wasn't another request for a date. He swore that he could almost understand why she had been annoyed with him as a child especially if he had been that insistent.

"What are you working on?"

Naruto was rather surprised at her question expecting another of her attempts at proving she had come to love him. "Is that your question?"

"I didn't know I only was going to be allowed one," Sakura said a little of the old fire she had in her voice. "If I do then no it isn't."

"I'm working on the Hiraishin," Naruto replied. "I've been working off of some old notes my father left behind."

"Oh…" Sakura said before her eyes went wide. "Naruto…your father was…you're the son of the…"

"Yes to all," Naruto said amused at Sakura's surprise.

There were literally hundreds of questions she had but instead settled for saying, "I'm happy for you. I know you always looked up to him."

Not expecting Sakura's response he simply said, "Thanks…"

Sakura nodded her head before her curiosity forced her to ask, "When did you find out?"

"What makes you think I didn't know all along?"

"Well you had a rather big mouth back then," Sakura replied her tone light showing she didn't mean it as an insult, "If you knew that the forth Hokage was your father I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a secret."

Naruto actually chuckled which made a smile appear on Sakura's face. "I suppose I can go along with that. I guess that's why nobody told me," Naruto said before looking away from her. "I found out when I turned into the Kyuubi during my fight with Nagato. It was my dad that restored the seal apparently he stored some of his chakra in it so that he could meet me one day."

"I take it you are working on a way to leave the island then," Sakura said her tone adding the, "And me," to the end.

"Yeah, you heard Fukasaku things are looking bad in Kiri."

Sakura felt a little silly since she was trying so hard to get Naruto to refall in love with her while a war was going on, but seeing as they were trapped this was what she could concentrate on. Taking a deep breath hoping he would at least allow her to dot on him for his birthday she asked, "Do you know what tomorrow is?"

"I long since gave up on keeping track of what day of the week it is Sakura," Naruto said returning to his notes.

"Tomorrow's your birthday," she said causing Naruto to stare up at him in surprise.

Setting his notes down, he began counting on his fingers before he looked up saying, "You're right. Oh well, guess I'll just have to celebrate it some other day."

"Why," Sakura asked, "We'll celebrate it tomorrow."

"Sakura…" Naruto began but was stopped by Sakura saying, "Please, I've been preparing for it all week."

That surprised and touched Naruto. Knowing with being trapped and despite his acting cold towards her she would still go through the trouble of trying to make his birthday special so he said, "Sure Sakura that'd be great."

Sakura couldn't stop the large grin that split her face as she said, "Okay, then tomorrow we'll meet here at sunset okay."

"Okay."

Sakura got up practically running to where she had stashed the things for tomorrow to get them ready and to practice one last time as she was confident that although it wouldn't completely return her to her previous standing in his heart it would at least make it apparent that she was capable of moving forward.

Admiral Yato was discussing the current strategy with the leaders of Waterfall and Grass. Although calling it a discussion was perhaps to gentle of a word as the one of his supposed allies argued with him over it. "I tire of these games," Kotarou said angrily, who was the representative of the Grass Country forces, "Why don't we simply sack Kiri and be done with it?"

"Because the losses we would suffer would be too great then," Shibuki said calmly. "It doesn't do us a whole lot of good if we succeed in taking Kiri only to need months to recover. The only advantage we have is in the air and Gaara has been most adept at preventing Sky Country from really hitting Kiri hard."

"Bah," the Grass captain replied, "If we hit them with everything we had they'd fall like a house of cards. Instead we burn worthless villages and for what…"

"Why do you insist on asking the same questions?" Yato said pinching his nose, "The reason hasn't changed. Our strategy is three fold. One we destroy the surrounding villages to increase the amount of mouths Kiri needs to feeds since most people head there for protection. Two we blockade the ports preventing the Alliance from getting supplies to them to increase the Daimyo's need to send food to Kiri further weakening the country and finally we stage raids that force the few shinobi that can fight on a even keel in the air to expend chakra and since there are so few of them to us we remain fresh while they weaken."

"I know all this. My point is they are weak enough, let us crush them and be done with it," Kotarou said bored with the conversation and already moving to leave the room confident that his suggestion would be shot down.

Which it was, as Shibuki said, "They aren't weak enough, and the fact that they have refused to be baited out of the village tells us they know what we are planning."

"Well let me know when the rest of you feel they reach that point or at least find your spines," Kotarou said leaving the room.

As soon as he left Shibuki blew out a breath noisily indicating his agitation with the young man. Giving the leader of Waterfall a sympathetic smile Yato asked, "Would you like a drink I find it makes dealing with fools more tolerable?"

"Thanks but I'll pass," Shibuki replied. "Since joining Madara's alliance I have found that the Grass's leaders come in three varieties. They are either Deathseekers who want to solve every problem by fighting. Politicians who want to solve every problem with talking."

"And the third?" Yato asked amused.

"The third is the worse as I'm sure you know as we are dealing with one. A politically appointee, wants to be like the Deathseekers but owes his position to simple politics and doesn't possess the intelligence to know he is in over his head."

"Agreed," Yato said pouring himself a drink, "But regardless we do need to change things up or we may be in trouble sooner than later."

"Yes," Shibuki said looking out one of the windows in Yato's cabin watching a cloud of smoke which indicated another village was being destroyed. "Perhaps we should give into Kotarou's demand after all, but not in the way he thinks."

"What do you mean?"

"Well Kotarou wants a real fight let's let him pick one, but instead of Kiri we attack the Capital," Shibuki said looking away from the window. "While the Shinobi may be able to ignore the villages near our area of control I doubt the Daimyo will allow them to remain inside Kiri while his home is being attacked."

"An excellent plan," Yato said, "however the Daimyo's guards will offer quite the challenge for you ground pounders."

"Which should please Kotarou, meanwhile my and a contingent of your forces will remain nearby to hit Kiri once they shift some of their fliers to the Capital."

"An excellent idea but we must take into account that our enemies may come to recognize our plan and have a surprise in store for the force to attack Kiri," Yato cautioned.

"True however due to this country's past they cannot simply ignore an attack on the capital as it would send the wrong message. Therefore they will have to insure the force they send is strong enough to defend it and if by chance if they lose the capital we can take the Daimyo hostage and possibly force Kiri to surrender."

"Well the only question is do you want to tell Kotarou we are giving him what he wants or should I?"

Watching the ships and beach from a tree Chojuro saw the men on the beach getting into some sort of strange glider. The gliders carried about fifty men each and once filled they were towed towards the ships. Using the cables that were attached to the gliders they opened the hangers attaching the cable to a bomber. Once the escort gliders were in the air the bombers launched towing the gliders behind them until they picked up enough speed to sail up into the air.

As the Sky and Grass forces flew away Chojuro sent a messenger bird towards Kiri to warn the village that a force was heading off towards the capital. Shortly after the bird was gone the group of Taki shinobi observing him moved in to attack. While they wanted the enemy to know that the capital was in danger they didn't want their own assault on Kiri, preparations to be witnessed.

Chojuro pulled Hiramekarei channeling his chakra into the weapon giving it the shape of a hammer before smashing it into the chest of the nearest Taki shinobi sending him through the trunk of the tree. As the man fell from the tree most likely already dead Chojuro used the piece of the tree falling to hide his movements as he retreated. The Jounin commander gave the sign to stop pursuit causing one of his men to ask, "Sir, should we really let him go?"

"It doesn't matter," the Jounin said, "He has gotten his message off and we prevented him from seeing our own preparations. Let's go."

The messenger bird arrived explaining that it appeared the Capital was in danger. Shikamaru was glad that despite the blockade a contingent of Akimichi had arrived. Turning to Chouji he said, "It appears the enemy is moving as expected."

Giving a cheerful smile Chouji said, "Don't worry Shikamaru we got this handled. We'll send Sky Country packing in no time."

"Alright, I'll go tell Gaara and the others to make for the capital then," Shikamaru said heading for the door. Opening it and before stepping through, Shikamaru said, "Be careful." Chouji nodded and waited for Shikamaru to leave before informing his dad it was time to show the enemy why the Akimichi were the last clan they wanted to mix it up with.

Gaara as well as the other shinobi that had become a fixture of Kiri's defense against Sky Country for the past month began flying to the aid of the capital. Moments later teams of shinobi began moving to support the capital. Three hours later Gaara and the others arrived in the Capital helping to repel the attack with the land based Shinobi arriving an hour later.

Once it was confirmed that Gaara and the others did in fact arrive in the capital and that it wasn't some trap to lure them in Yato gave the order to attack. The Sky Country forces had achieved almost instantaneous communication by having gliders with microphones land at various places along the path to the capital so that the news could be relayed.

Yato smiled as he turned to his captain saying, "It would seem our enemies have taken the bait. Tell our forces they are cleared to launch." Nagisa nodded moving to fulfill her orders. He however couldn't shake the feeling that the enemy was the one maneuvering him not the other way around. However the die was cast but perhaps much like Shibuki it was time he led from the front. With that in mind he said, "Captain you have the Conn. I'll be leading the attack myself"

He saw his desire to fight bothered her but he said, "I think it's time for me to take a more active role in our claiming this land."

"Sir, I know I speak for the crew when I say you don't have anything to prove to us," Nagisa said hoping to dissuade him from his course of action.

Yato looked at his crew before saying, "On the way here I sacrificed members of our own country to kill an enemy. I must make that right Captain. I will lead the attack as all men even admirals have to step up if we are to claim this land as ours."

Nagisa watched as Yato walked down to the flight deck. Sparring a quick look at the crew she saw that they once again would willingly walk through hell for their leader. His standing with them had suffered due to the destruction of the Revival. However knowing that he didn't view himself as being above his men and that they all took the same risks reaffirmed why they supported him and his vision. As it had been Yato who had gathered the few ships that remained after Shinno's mess with the zero tails and gave them direction and purpose again. Watching as he strapped himself into a glider she wished her Admiral luck in battle before turning to inform the rest of fleet of the change in plans.

Yato flew his glider towards Kiri mindful of anything that could possibly reveal the trap his gut was telling him to expect. He didn't know who was calling the shots in Kiri's defense but he seemed to be an agile minded opponent and surely must have known the capital attack was simply feint to lure Gaara away. That the Alliance seemed to buy into their ruse so completely sending all the shinobi his forces had faced in the skies over Kiri almost guaranteed that what they faced would be nasty.

Although he couldn't hear it he saw the bombers disengage the cables that tied the gliders to them. Without the constant propulsion the bombers provide the gliders began a gentle decent to the ground and would land near the village allowing the Waterfall shinobi to disembark for the coming battle. As the village came into sight he angled his glider to begin climbing so he could steepen his decent. Reaching the peak of his climb he angled the glider to the earth picking up speed allowing the air powered siren to begin screaming announcing his dive. There was just something about the noise he enjoyed as he prepared to release a few of his kunai bomblets into the thick mist below.

However before reaching the point where he would drop the bombs and pull up a giant began appearing from the mist. Recognizing the armor he wore as the type used by the Akimichi, he was forced to bank hard to the right to avoid the hand of the man who tried to swat him out of the sky. Righting himself as he pulled away he saw four other giants standing among the buildings obviously a result of the Expansion Jutsu the clan was famous for.

Using the radio he was wearing he contacted Shibuki saying, "It would seem that we haven't caught the enemy as unaware as we would have hoped."

"Agreed do you think we should withdraw?" Shibuki asked.

Watching as his gliders fought the giant shinobi and seeing that although they were taking losses the enemy wasn't nearly as dangerous as Gaara had been said, "We'll press the attack my men will tie up the Akimichi."

"Very well," Shibuki said watching from the ground as the gliders darted among the giant defenders. Giving the signal to attack the Waterfall forces began running down the mountains that boxed the village in.

Yato ordered his bombers back as they were far slower than the gliders and would be far easier to hit. Lining up one of the Akimichi a young boy of seventeen he would guess. He grabbed his kunai launcher and began firing cursing as the kunai bounced harmlessly off of the boy's skin.

Chouji turned towards the glider that had just peppered him swatting at him and clipping the wing of the glider. The man was obviously skilled as even though the glider was sent into a tailspin he still seemed to be guiding it and managed to leap off at the last minute. But Chouji was forced to allow the shinobi to escape as his attention was required to deal with two more gliders that began firing at him no doubt hoping to distract him.

Shikamaru ducked under the strange water like weapon the Taki shinobi he fought wielded. Charging one of Asuma's trench knives with his chakra he threw it at the man who avoided it never realizing his true target had been behind him, his shadow. Once the weapon connected the man stopped like a statue allowing him to cut his head almost clean off with the other knife. Snatching up the other blade he had to duck into an alley as two gliders strafed the street he was on with their kunai launchers as they passed overhead.

Moving out of the alley to secure another section of the village he really wished Mei had heeded his advice in keeping at least Konan around. However he understood why Mei felt she needed to send the best in securing the capital. Since during the reign of the fourth Kazekage the shinobi of Kiri had earned a fearsome reputation among even the people of their own country, therefore if they were going to change that image they needed to show that they were willing to fight for Water Country. Still watching as the Akimichi tried to keep up with the gliders he really missed Gaara's sand.

A Hard Water spear almost piercing his spine from behind forced him to concentrate of the present. Avoiding the enemy who threw it Shikamaru found himself surrounded on all sides by Taki shinobi. Cursing he readied himself for a hard fight but was surprised when a flute melody that sounded familiar began to play. The shinobi all fell to their knees before holding up their arms in a manner he found eerily recognizable. The reason for his case of Déjà vu became apparent when Tayuya began walking out of an alley flute still pressed to her lips.

"You," he said and although having know she was with Konan made sure to stay clear.

"Well if it isn't the fucking rat," Tayuya said recognizing Shikamaru. "It would seem that you still need women to save your ass."

"I could have handled it," Shikamaru said causing Tayuya to scowl which lessoned as he added, "But thanks you did save me from a troublesome situation."

The Genjutsu Demon Flute: Phantom Sound Chains which she had placed on the Taki shinobi ran its course as with several moans the shinobi collapsed several of them no longer breathing. The more mental hearty ones would survive but they were definitely out of the fight.

Tayuya turned towards the sound of several more shinobi rushing down the street towards their position probably to check on why the Shinobi she had just neutralized had stopped reporting. Ducking back into the alley she prepared another ambush almost thankful for the distraction the battle provided her. As it was the first time in a while, where she wasn't worried about the missing Kyo too busy concentrating on her own survival.

Shikamaru left Tayuya to deal with the shinobi recognizing that with her genjutsu abilities and her recently improved ninjutsu he would only get in her way. He made his way to the Mizukage mansion figuring that was what the enemy was trying to capture. As he ran he figured that the enemy had maybe only another thirty minutes of air time before the gliders would need to head back. "Which might be cutting it close," he thought watching one of the Akimichi fall to his knees as he shrunk having run out of chakra. He could only hope the squad of ninja he had assigned to watch each Akimichi could handle whatever enemies tried to take advantage of the drained fighter's condition.

He was almost to the mansion when he was attacked again by a man that flew at him while spinning in the air and emitting chakra from his tenketsu points. Shikamaru coughed up blood as he felt a rib crack as he was slammed up against a wall.

Yato looked down at the shinobi his eyes going wide in recognition. "You," he said his voice filled with menace. Of all the enemies in the bingo book this was the one he wanted to kill most, the man that had lead the counter attack against Sky Country during Shinno's reign as commander. Reaching down he grabbed the young Nara by the throat saying, "The gods must be smiling on me for them to put you before me."

Gasping for breath Shikamaru said, "Judging from our positions I'd tend to agree."

"Clever," Yato said grinning as he let Shikamaru go, but before he fell to the ground he hit Shikamaru in the stomach his hand glowing with chakra which sent him flying as it act like a miniature concussion blast pushing him away.

Shikamaru smashed up against the side of a building slowly sinking down from the small impact crater he made. "Boy, I'm going enjoy killing you," Yato said walking to the downed Nara.

Giving a grin while he reached into his pouch Shikamaru said, "Perhaps you'll consider the long lost art of forgiveness."

"Forgiveness is overrated," Yato said suddenly darting forward.

Shikamaru scrambled out of the way just before Yato buried his fist into the wall he had been leaning against. As the wall caved in Shikamaru surmised that Yato attacks were similar to Tsunade's in that he channeled his chakra into his attacks. However he must not have the control she did as he could see the chakra was gathering in his fist before the blow and he needed far more than Tsunade for weaker results.

He knew in a straight up fight he'd get creamed and judging from the chakra the man was putting out he was a powerhouse so Shikamaru couldn't be sure any of his more lethal shadow jutsus would be all to effective. He avoided the next several attacks developing a strategy that would defeat his opponent. A sweep to his legs knocked him off of his feet, but before he even began to fall to the earth. Yato kicked him the back leaving him suspended on his foot before spinning and throwing him to the ground.

Before Yato could move in again Shikamaru opened his hand to reveal the flash bomb he had been palming. Blinding the Sky Country admiral, by the time Yato blinked the spots from his eyes Shikamaru was gone. Looking around he found no sign of the boy nodding his head in respect of the young man, Yato said, "Clever boy, we'll have to meet again later."

"Sir," Yato heard over the cackled sound of his radio blaring to life in his ear.

"Yes, what is it?"

"We are nearing P. N. R." the lead flight leader reported.

"Shibuki come in," Yato said switching channels.

"Shibuki here," the Waterfall leader answered sounding out of breath as he was fighting Temari of the Sand.

"My gliders are nearing the Point of No Return," Yato said hearing the sound of a Wind Jutsu in the background. "If we do not turn back now they will begin falling from the sky without any assistance from the Alliance. The Akimichi seem to be no longer a factor do you think we can take the village?"

"Unfortunately no," Shibuki said, "We control several areas of the village but if the attack on the capital fails and they return I doubt we'll be able to hold them."

"I concur. Tell your men to begin the retreat we'll cover you from the air for as long as possible," Yato said hearing a quick roger before Shibuki signed off.

Shibuki avoided another of the Wind Scythes his opponent sent at him as they stood on a rooftop. Pulling the flare that gave the sign for a retreat he shot it into the air. Which in turn, prompted Temari to ask, "Tucking your tail between your legs and running coward?"

"For now," Shibuki said jumping off the roof into the streets below.

Temari was about to pursue but the pained voice of Shikamaru stopped her as he said, "Let him go Temari. It's over."

Temari turned towards her lover her face twisting from the scowl that she had to one of concern as she said, "Shikamaru," while quickly closing the distance with him. "Here lean on me," she said placing his arm over her shoulder.

"Thanks," Shikamaru said leaning into her.

"This is what happens when you go off by yourself and you don't have me there to save you," Temari said admonishingly.

"Yeah you're the second troublesome woman to tell me that today," Shikamaru replied.

Temari thought for a moment before she said, "Her…"

"Yeah, she bailed me out from a little trouble before I ran into the Leader of Sky Country," Shikamaru said.

Although Temari had also had been avoiding the former Sound-nin she had been keeping tabs on her just in case she had a mad on for either of them. "Did you know she has been asking about Sakura?"

Shikamaru tensed, but shook his head no saying, "Any idea why?"

"No, she isn't being too obvious about it either. She merely drops it in a conversation every once in a while, mainly to Leaf shinobi stationed here."

Shikamaru reached into his vest for his smokes but before he could take one from the package Temari snatched it and tossed it to the side. "Hey that was my last pack," he said annoyed. Temari responded with a smile but instead of commenting on his sudden loss he said, "This is troublesome there's only one reason she would want to know about Sakura that I can think of."

"Kyo," Temari said, "Do you think she knows he's…"

"Possibly Naruto," Shikamaru said, "No not yet, but she's smart enough to recognize that Kyo was avoiding Sakura which would mean they had a history."

"What should we do? Stonewall her," Temari asked.

"I don't know how we could," Shikamaru replied, "If we begin hiding the truth she'll dig deeper and we can't exactly tell people that knew Naruto not to talk to her without telling them why."

"So what then?"

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders as best he could, saying, "It's his troublesome mess I say we let him sort it out." For once Temari couldn't help but agree with his assessment of leaving a situation alone.

Naruto arrived at the log he had been at the day before as he had agreed. Sakura was already there kneeling next to the log having placed some sort of table she had made near it. As he arrived she smiled up at him in a way that made his heart beat faster. As he sat he smelled something delicious which Sakura placed on the table having been hiding it behind her saying, "Happy Birthday Naruto." Piled high on a plate, which had been kept in a scroll in her pouch, were several crab as well as a rather large fish all wonderful prepared almost like he would expect in a high class restaurant.

Despite the delicious aroma Sakura could tell Naruto was a little nervous as he looked at the food despite the mask. She supposed she couldn't blame him but she had been practicing all week just so she could make it perfect. But why she really made the meal was so he would take off his mask. A part of her was afraid he knew some trick and that she'd blink and he'd suddenly be done with his meal. However that didn't seem to be the case as he slowly reached up to it. His hand stopped at it for a moment almost like he was reconsidering but in the end he decided to remove it.

Seeing his whole face again Sakura smiled saying, "Dig in. I practiced all week on making it just right."

"What about you?" Naruto asked wondering where her plate was.

Sakura simply replied, "Don't worry, I'm not hungry. Please enjoy."

"Okay thanks," Naruto said, yet still appeared a little hesitant. But he eventually overcame his slight fear of food poisoning taking a bite of the fish first. He chewed wondering when the horrible aftertaste would hit and was surprised when just the opposite happened. Sakura giggled as the surprise registered on Naruto's face loving how his face lit up with his enjoyment of the meal.

He tore into it after that, much to Sakura's delight as it reminded her of how he'd eat at Ichiraku. That of course meant all her hard work only lasted a few minutes but it didn't bother her. Some people ate slowly to get pleasure from a meal. Naruto inhaled it.

As he finished the last crab he said, "It was delicious Sakura thank you."

"You're welcome Naruto," Sakura said feeling nervous now that he was finished with his meal. She was also afraid that he would simply put the mask back on. She watched his hand as it moved to his side near where he put the mask but he let it rest there instead opting for enjoying the sunset. Sakura settled in next to him wondering if she should place her head on his shoulder but didn't not wanting to him push too soon.

As the sun sank below the horizon Sakura began to lose her nerve for what she had planned. But she steadied her resolve as she needed to do this. Positive time was running out for her as she was sure sooner or later Naruto would find a way off the island. After the sun set Naruto began to shift probably getting ready to leave so she got up to her knees first saying, "Naruto close your eyes."

"What… why Sakura?"

"I have a gift for you," Sakura replied as her cheeks began to turn red. "Please Naruto," she said her tone just shy of begging.

That really made Naruto feel like a cad for how he had been treating her. But instead of being angry or put off she had made him a great birthday feast, his first that didn't involve Ichiraku. Even after all that he still couldn't bring himself to drop his guard around her. But in light of her efforts he said, "Okay Sakura sure."

He closed his eyes wondering what she got him. However even though it was something she had made it was the thought that counted he knew. He was just beginning to wonder how long he would have to keep his eyes close when he felt something soft against his lips. He knew what it was of course, as his eyes shot open and sure enough Sakura was kissing him. It was chaste considering some of the ones he had experienced over the past year, but it filled him with an electric current that none of the others had ever matched. It lasted for almost a minute just a simple pressing of her lips to his but it was the most incredible kiss he had ever received.

When she pulled back Sakura was slightly breathless giving a nervous smile. Hoping he wasn't upset and wishing to explain her mindset she said, "That was the only thing I had of value to give you Naruto."

"What…" he asked still confused by what was going on and why Sakura kissed him.

"That was my first kiss," Sakura said to which Naruto looked like he was going to say something. However she stopped him by placing a finger over his lips and said, "I gave it to you because I love you. So consider it a down payment until I have proven my love for you Naruto. Because I will, believe it." Standing Sakura began to walk away heading to the hut they shared.

Naruto was absolutely speechless as he remembered how angry she had gotten when she believed he had stolen Sasuke's. He knew that was something that she would never just give away. That she had knowingly given it to him, well it had to mean something right? When he thought that maybe it meant that when she said she loved him she meant it, Naruto couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He didn't know how long he had sat outside looking like a grinning fool but eventually he headed in.

Although it wasn't a conscious thing on his part the mask that he wore as Kyo sat against the log still forgotten. Sakura sat inside the hut afraid with how Naruto would react to her kiss. Would he get upset seeing it as her being manipulative of his feeling again? Or would he see it the way she wished that by giving her first kiss to him she was capable of moving on? When she heard Naruto enter she pretended to be asleep confident if he wanted to talk he would wake her. But when he settled into the corner that he had made his she breathed a little easier. As was the usual for the blonde, he was practically asleep as soon as he laid down. Sakura opened her eyes to glance at him and felt tears enter them as she saw him sleeping with his mouth open displaying his usual childlike innocence, mask nowhere in sight. Hoping that tomorrow would be the start of a new day for them she closed her own eyes to sleep. Her dreams were filled with memories of the kiss and how right it had felt as well as what might have happened if she had been a little bolder.