AN: Sorry that it has taken so long to get this chapter out. But I would like to thank those that have reviewed as always. My schedule has calmed down somewhat so I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things again. So thank you for your patience and reviews, you humble author S. o. t. A.

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

Chapter 15: A desperate Plea

Naturally, Naruto had a lot of trouble sleeping that night, what with his mostly naked girlfriend on one side of him. While on the other was a stunning Hyuuga who although still fully dressed, was nonetheless making it difficult for him to sleep since she was clinging to his arm and holding it towards her rather large chest. He would be lying if he said he had never had dreams that ended like this. However he was finding the real thing a bit more distressing. He guessed the reason he couldn't sleep was because he had so many questions that he wanted to ask Sakura.

He looked at the sleeping pinkette and felt a small annoyance at seeing her sleeping so contently. Since she had sort of sprang this on him at the last moment, but looking at Hinata's face admitted the content smile beat the cold and stoic face he had seen her wearing the last few times. It didn't exactly calm him completely, but he felt it did make up for what was shaping up to be a night without sleep. Staring at the ceiling he could summon up all his concerns in basically one question, which was 'Why?'

He just couldn't fathom how out of the blue Sakura could be okay with sharing him. She had tried to explain it sure, but to him and as a result of his shock and confusion admitted that for right now, they were just words. After all, he didn't think he would be able to share Sakura if asked, and deep down that was something he feared was motivating Sakura's decision. He hated himself for it, but he couldn't help wondering if one day she'd come up to him saying she wanted to be with Sasuke and that he shouldn't complain since she had shared him with Hinata. He knew it would be fair, but he really didn't think himself capable of it.

Nevertheless, he would discuss it with Sakura in the morning, which seemed to be almost upon them as he noticed a sliver of light entering through the blinds of the window. He felt a tingling in the back of his skull which told him that the clone in his apartment had dispelled. Receiving the information he guessed his talk would have to wait since it appeared that the Raikage had sent his secretary to get him. Extracting himself between the two heavenly bodies he kissed Sakura on the forehead and paused above Hinata. In the end he decided to leave without kissing her, not sure it would be appropriate just yet.

He grabbed his clothes to change in the living room and had just pulled his shirt over his head when he heard Sakura quietly say, "Naruto?"

Turning he saw Sakura rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she entered the living room. She had put a gray sports bra on at some point between the bed and door of her room before joining him. "Sorry," he said, "didn't mean to wake you."

"Is everything alright? I thought we were going to talk this morning," Sakura said her voice tinged with worry that she had screwed up her relationship.

"I know, but we'll have to talk later. The Raikage wants to talk with me," Naruto replied turning towards the door.

Sakura frowned seeing the dark circles under his eyes and asked, "But are you alright with what I proposed?"

"Honestly," Naruto said still not facing her, "I'm not sure."

Trying to lighten the mood Sakura said, "I think Lord Jiraiya would be slapping you silly if he could, if you are actually going to complain about being given the opportunity to have to girlfriends."

It worked as he could easily imagine the Pervy Sage drooling over the idea. He chuckled a little at the thought and said, "Yeah, he would."

"Then what's the matter?"

Naruto figured the Raikage could wait since Sakura and his relationship was more important so he moved towards her kitchen area and leaned against a counter. He composed his thoughts as Sakura moved to join him. Finally, he settled for the one question that had kept him up all night, "Why?"

Sakura frowned knowing there were literally hundreds of ways for her to both take and answer the question. However, she wasn't exactly sure what Naruto was looking for in an answer so said, "I thought I explained it last night."

"You did somewhat, but…" Naruto began to say but trailed off. Deciding to be up front he said, "This isn't so that one day I'll find that you want me to share you with Sasuke is it?" He saw Sakura frown, but looked away as he kept on adding, "Because the truth is I don't think I could share you if asked."

He was about to say more but felt a finger on his lips. He turned to see Sakura smiling at him. She then moved to the counter, and sitting on it pulled him in front of her so she could look at him at eye level. "You talk too much and apparently are beginning to think too much as well. What happened to the Naruto that would simply charge into every situation head first?"

"That one was reckless and confident he could power through every situation," Naruto said. "I've achieved one of my dreams, which was earning your love. Now I want our relationship to last."

"It will," Sakura said confidently, "And no, I'll never ask you to share me. In fact it makes me rather happy that someone as selfless as you can be a little selfish when it comes to me." She rested her forehead against his and continued, "In truth, my decision to allow you to be with Hinata has less to do with you and me and all to do with her."

"You're attracted to Hinata," Naruto said, eliciting a small laugh from her.

"No, it just… I can so easily identify with her now. When you first came back I was so happy and that lasted until it became clear that you wanted nothing to do with me."

"Sakura," he began but she again placed her finger on his lips.

"I suppose it help to show me some of what you felt during our time on Team Seven. I say that because when I thought I had lost you, I felt my heart shatter. Bringing us back to Hinata though, I suppose she feels the same. She truly cares for you and to lose you to me must have seemed so horribly cruel to her. So I can't help but feel for her as I wonder, what if. What if you and I hadn't of ended up on that island together? What if Hinata learned that you were alive while you were trying to remain distant from me and the two of you started a relationship? Would I be the one looking in from the cold, wishing I was her? That's why I can share you with her, because I know in my heart I would much rather be by your side with her then alone."

Naruto smiled at her gently before leaning in to kiss her. Sakura responded quickly but as she was about to wrap her legs around his waist pushed him back saying, "Unless you really want to make the Raikage wait and to give Hinata a show if she wakes up, you better get going."

Moving away from Sakura was difficult almost like resisting the pull of a magnet but he did saying, "I'll see you later." He made it to her door but stopped with his hand on the knob as he said, "I'm sorry…sorry for doubting…"

"That's enough of that," Sakura said quickly cutting him off, "I much rather you be honest about your doubts then to let them fester." She moved towards him again and placing a hand on his heart said, "But concerning Hinata, she deserves the same level of truthfulness. If you don't think it can work, or find you can't love her as much as me. Then you need to be honest with her." Naruto nodded so with a gentle smile she grabbed him by the shirt pulling him towards her face and she said with a hint of menace in her voice, "Also, don't think this means you're free to pick up girls left and right. Kami help you if I ever find you in bed with another woman unless I gave you permission to be there. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes ma'am," Naruto said feeling a sense of Déjà vu to his old days on Team Seven. Strangely enough he found he missed it, and felt that Sakura acting like that even if only a little showed him that things had really begun to heal between them. He gave her a quick kiss and then hurried through the door to find out what the Raikage wanted.

Hinata woke up and frowned fearing that the night before had been a dream. She spent a moment to wonder why if she had been dreaming why she would dream of Sakura deciding to share Naruto with her as opposed of ending up with him herself. But in the end decided that it didn't matter as she realized she wasn't in her own bedroom. She was tempted to flee feeling a bit of her old shyness returning, but if this was her chance at happiness decided to grab it with both hands.

Moving to the door she took a few calming breaths and resisted the urge to use her Byakugan to see what awaited her on the other side. Opening the door, she could see Sakura standing in front of her stove whistling contently. She looked around for Naruto but stopped as Sakura said, "He isn't here?"

Directing her gaze at the pinkette who was looking at Hinata over her shoulder the Hyuuga asked, "H-he wasn't upset about what you proposed was he?"

"He had concerns," Sakura admitted, "But the reason he left was because the Raikage called on him. Would you like some breakfast?"

Hinata nodded and moved to the kitchen table. She watched Sakura cook some pancakes as she debated about asking her question but since it wasn't like Sakura could take back what she said the night before figured why not, after a moment asked, "You aren't doing this so Naruto will one day allow you to pursue Sasuke are you?"

Sakura sighed before saying, "I'm beginning to suspect that I'm going to be the one that needs to be jealous of Sasuke considering the way he's kept popping up this morning." Hinata arched an eyebrow causing Sakura to say, "Naruto feared the same thing. But the truth is I did it for you."

"Me," Hinata said surprised.

Sakura nodded and finishing the breakfast, and put it in front of Hinata before sitting opposite her. As Hinata ate, Sakura explained her reasoning, "You probably aren't aware of this but we learned Naruto was Kyo shortly before he went on that mission into Grass Country. As you can imagine I was so happy to learn that he was alive, however Naruto had decided to keep me at arm's length. It hurt me as I'm sure you can imagine. I realized that the man I had come to love was Naruto but it appeared like I was too late."

Sakura paused to collect herself before saying, "Yet, luckily for me we ended up trapped together and that's basically how Naruto and I started our new relationship. But when it comes to you, I keep asking myself what if we hadn't. Would I be the one watching the man I love making someone else happy? Therefore, I decided to give you a chance to earn his heart as well."

"Aren't you afraid he'll come to love me more than you?"

Sakura smiled slightly but said, "Hinata don't take this the wrong way but if Naruto hasn't abandoned his love for me by now, then nothing will make him. Short of me betraying him and that isn't going to happen. Also, if you want my honest opinion you have a slight disadvantage that you don't even know about."

"Which is?"

"Do you even love the real Naruto?" Sakura replied.

Hinata narrowed her eyes saying, "Of course I do."

"Really, what's his favorite color?"

"Orange," Hinata supplied quickly and surely.

However Sakura saying, "Sorry, wrong answer," caused her to doubt herself.

"Then what is it?"

"Yellow," Sakura said.

"I just… I thought because he always wore orange… he…"

"Actually, you were right it is orange," Sakura said. When Hinata glared at her, Sakura calmly told the Hyuuga, "Sorry, but that was basically my point. What you know of Naruto you gleamed from observing him from afar. Luckily for you, Naruto's the type of person who wears his heart on his sleeve. But you may find that once you get to know him that he doesn't truly match up to the Naruto you carry around in your heart."

Hinata nodded forced to concede that what Sakura was saying was possible. "You sound like you have experience with such a thing yourself."

"Yeah," Sakura said a little wistfully, "Except it was Sasuke. I had this prince charming image built up of him and I didn't want to give it up even when it became apparent that Sasuke was nothing like the man I imagined him to be. But Naruto is all that and more."

"How do you propose I proceed then?" Hinata asked finding herself suddenly unsure.

"Ask him out on a date," Sakura said amused that the old Hinata appeared to be coming back. "How else do you expect to get to know him? Tanzaku Town is having a festival in a few days I believe, ask Naruto to take you."

"What are we going to do if he does come to care for me as he does for you?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know," Sakura said unconcerned, "This is my first relationship. I guess like most first time lovers we'll have to find a way that works. The only difference is, that we're going to have to find a way not to step on each other toes as well."

Hinata stood saying, "Thank you Sakura."

"You don't have to thank me Hinata. All I'm doing is giving you a chance to find a place in his heart. The hard part is still to come."

Hinata nodded, but vowed that it was a chance she wouldn't let go to waste.

Naruto made his way to the tower where the Raikage was waiting. He took a leisurely place since his assistant hadn't made it sound like an emergency was brewing. He did feel better having gotten his doubts out in the open. But he still wasn't sure about how comfortable he was with the idea of dating Hinata. He imagined that if Jiraiya was there that Sakura was right and he'd try to slap some sense into the boy.

Still considering that he'd only been in a relationship for several weeks wasn't confident he could prove the love and support that both girls would need. Sakura was right in saying that if he did pursue Hinata that he would need to treat both girls equal. That however lead him to the simple question of whether or not such a thing was possible. What if some psycho captured them and made him choose? As things stood he would choose Sakura. Could he find the depth of conviction to Hinata that would make choosing impossible? At the moment he wasn't sure, but figured that at the very least he owed it to Hinata to try. Besides he figured that what dating was in a sense, building up a relationship until such thoughts became almost second nature.

He shook his head in amusement as he was forced to agree with Sakura about how she missed the old Naruto who simply charged into things, confident everything would turn out for the best. He guessed it was harder now because he stood to lose something precious to him if they turned out badly. Entering the tower he pushed past his concerns feeling that he would only be going around in circles anyway. Approaching the Raikage's assistant he announced himself and waited for permission to enter the office.

Shikamaru looked up from the map that he and the Raikage were looking over when his assistant told them Kyo had arrived. The Raikage told her to send him in and a moment latter the mercenary appeared in the doorway. Shikamaru had to admit Naruto's disguise was a good one. Hiding all of his familiar features, the mask hid his birthmarks, with the bandana doing the same for his hair, and even the cloak he wore hid much of his build. It almost made him wonder if someone helped him with it since he had a hard time picturing Naruto putting that much thought into it. He chuckled mentally as he figured Naruto probably picked out the items because he thought they looked cool.

The Raikage welcomed the mercenary saying, "Ah good, now we can begin."

"Sorry, I hope I didn't keep you waiting," Naruto said respectfully surprising the Nara.

"Not at all, my advisor and I were going over some details on the mission we want you to perform for us," E said indicating Shikamaru.

Shikamaru stuck out his hand saying, "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Shikamaru."

"Kyo," Naruto said taking the hand, "Heard a lot about you."

"Same," Shikamaru said, "By the way, we could have used you during that little thing we had going on in Water Country."

Shikamaru imagined Naruto was smiling as he said, "Why? I heard you handled yourself pretty well."

"Because then maybe it wouldn't have been my troublesome mess in the first place," Shikamaru replied.

"Well let's see what trouble you brought my way and I'll see about making your life easier," Naruto said indicating the map.

"Right," Shikamaru said following him towards the table and Raikage.

"Um, I might have done poorly in geography, but I'm pretty sure that is Rain Country," Naruto said looking at the detailed map of the small country. Turning to the Raikage he asked, "Am I to take it whatever you two have in store for me takes me there?"

"Correct," E said, "The Hokage has asked that we at least look into the possibility that Rain is the location of Operation: Resurrection. I'll admit that despite my reservations the desire to know if Yugito is there is tempting, and although I don't know if I believe he has resurrected the jinchuriki. I can agree with Shikamaru and the Hokage that it is best to look into it."

Shikamaru took over saying, "You're the best candidate for the mission due to the fact that you managed to rescue Konan from the man that deposed her."

"True, but we didn't escape undetected though," Naruto said thinking of the mad flight from Ame to the border of Wind Country.

"Are you saying you don't want the job?" E asked surprised.

"No, I'll take it," Naruto said quickly, "Am I going to be saddled with babysitters again?"

E looked at Shikamaru who said, "Well if the jinchuriki are being resurrected we will want you to have the personnel to shut them down. But we'll allow you to pick and choose who goes."

"Alright," Naruto said, "I'll need a day or two to plan the mission and select personnel. Can you send the files on available shinobi to my apartment?"

"Sure," Shikamaru said.

"Good, once I have a squad assembled we'll need an area where we can run a few practice drills as a squad."

Shikamaru nodded before asking, "Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of," Naruto said, "but I'll let you know if I do."

Leaving the office he went in search of Tayuya since he knew she would be pissed if she wasn't included in the new mission. Then they'd both went in search of Konan. He wasn't sure if the woman was ready to return to her home country, but he'd at the very least need some of the information that she had on it.

Tayuya scowled as she sat at lunch with Naruto and as she thought of them, the two cunts that wanted him. The fact that she was sharing a table with both Sakura and Hinata proved that like most of her life no good deed ever went unpunished. As she was truly beginning to regret informing Naruto of the two girls recent fight. She couldn't help but think that if she had kept her fat mouth shut she'd be sitting here alone with him right now.

What was worse for the red-head was the almost complete one-eighty Hinata's personality had made in the past few days. Especially since it helped fuel all the rumors she kept hearing about how Kyo had melted the Ice Queen's heart. Watching the Hyuuga blush whenever Naruto talked to her was really pissing her off, and to add insult to injury she had been selected as part of the team to enter Rain Country.

"Probably thinks she's so fucking cute, blushing like some bashful princess," Tayuya thought bitterly. She had been ecstatic when Naruto had come to get her for the mission. It had lasted until later that night when as he was picking shinobi to go with them she noticed Hinata's file in the stack of those selected.

Directing her attention to the other kunoichi at the table she couldn't figure out why Sakura was so calm about the Hyuuga's sitting with them. Didn't she see that the Hyuuga was trying to weasel her way into Naruto's heart?

But before she could really get worked up about it Naruto began to stand saying, "We better get back to the training field."

"Good luck," Sakura said, "I really wish I could go with you."

"Yeah that's all I'd need," Tayuya thought darkly. Her mood didn't improve any by the way Hinata smiled at her like she was her best friend all of the sudden.

Arriving at the training field together they saw the rest of squad Naruto had assembled was already there. Among the assembled shinobi was a Kumogakure one name Darui. He had dark skin and shaggy white hair. He also appeared to be rather easy going, but during the group spares they held, Tayuya had learned not to underestimate him. He possessed the storm release Kekkei Genkai making him extremely dangerous.

Tayuya eyes fell to the man resting on his haunches next to him. He had a piece of candy in his mouth the stick still visible. He also matched Darui in both skin and hair color. The way he was looking down as if in thought Tayuya suspected that he coming up with more of his bizarre pessimistic theories on what Kyo or even his Kage were thinking.

Her gaze traveled to a chunin with a scar running over his nose. He gave off a friendly air and she didn't find it hard imagine that the children that he taught loved him. She suspected that Naruto and he had a history as Tayuya noticed that he played his Kyo persona far harder around the man. It made her wonder why he would be included in the mission if Naruto, but she suspected that Naruto had his reasons.

Next to him was Anko Mitarashi, and Tayuya had learned very early on to stay the hell away from her. Anko considered her to be one step above gutter filth, and Tayuya suspected it was only by a razor thin margin. But she also felt the same about both Kyo and Konan so tried not to take it too personally. Although that didn't keep her from firing a few insults at Orochimaru's former student whenever she felt the special jounin was testing her.

The last person was already familiar to Tayuya and that was Kurotsuchi. They had fought together during the mission to Blackwood's Prison so had a keen understanding of what to expect from one another. Tayuya looked forward to showing off her increased skills though.

"About time," Anko said her tone conveying what she thought of mercenaries, "With all the money you're bleeding from us you'd think you'd invest in a watch."

Naruto ignored her moving to stand in front of the group, but Tayuya fired back saying, "Well knowing we had to come back here to stare at your fucking face we decided to wait a half-hour to be sure we could keep our lunches down."

"Why you little…" Anko began but was stopped as Iruka clamped a hand on her shoulder.

"Let it go Anko, you did start it," Iruka said trying to play peacemaker.

"Pfft, whatever," Anko said shaking her shoulder loose.

Darui trying to get the meeting started asked, "So what's on the agenda for this afternoon? More team drills?"

"No," Naruto answered, "We're going to have a final meeting on what to expect in Ame and after discussing our entry into the village we'll call it a day. Tomorrow will be yours to do what you want and we'll take off for Ame the day after." Directing his gaze behind the group he said, "Konan."

Many of the shinobi turned in surprise not having heard her approach. Stepping up to Tayuya and Hinata she handed them a folder and did so for each of the other members. Approaching Naruto, she handed him the last one and the jinchuriki stepped back to give her room to talk.

Addressing all those gathered she said, "Ame was founded shortly after Konoha. Rain's central location between Fire, Wind, and Earth has caused it to be a battleground in all three shinobi wars. Hanzo the Salamander rose to power shortly before the Second Great War. Despite his prowess in battle which was enough that he could stand up to all three Sanin, Ame still ended up on the losing side. However, despite his strength he deeply paranoid, so much so that it became virtually impossible to sneak into Ame undetected."

"Lot of good it did him, when Pain rolled into town," Anko said snidely.

"Nagato was deeply traumatized by the death of Yakumo," Konan said trying to ignore Anko's rude tone.

"Yeah," Anko said, "I can think of a few people back home that were traumatized by Pain in turn."

"Then you should consider them fortunate that Naruto convinced Nagato there was a better path," Konan said losing her temper, "Especially since it was with Root's help that Nagato was forced to kill Yakumo."

Anko's eyes widened in surprise at the revelation that Konoha, even if by an unofficially organization like Root, had played a part in forging pain."

Naruto stepped between the two women and said, "Regardless, at this point bickering over whom did what to who is pointless. Please continue Konan."

"Ame is broken up into two layers," Konan said, "The upper class and middle class have access to the upper one, while the poor often live in the lower. Its current leader is a man named Lo Pan. He was an Ame shinobi turned businessman and was one of the first to throw his support behind Nagato when he took over Akatsuki from Yakumo. Obviously it's apparent he did so with the hope of one day taking over the village himself."

"Still, he's probably pretty fucking weak if he couldn't hack it as a ninja," Tayuya said staring at the picture of Lo Pan. In the picture he appeared to be in his late forties. He had long black hair and a goatee that ended in a pointy beard. His grey eyes seemed to both give off warmth and menace almost like Orochimaru who he sort of reminded her of.

"Do not underestimate him," Konan warned, "Although I have never personally seen him fight. It is my experience that men such as him don't often raise to power through luck. Not when they can attract powerful followers as he has, and I doubt they would follow him if he didn't have his own power to fall back on. But that does lead us to his three associates."

Everyone turned the page to see the pictures of three shinobi staring back at them. Konan gave the assembled shinobi a moment to look over the page before saying, "These men are his strongest enforcers and are called the Three Storms. Their true names are only known to Lo Pan, so the names they are identified by are Rain, Thunder, and Lightning."

"What can you tell us about their abilities?" Iruka asked.

"Quite a bit seeing as they were the ones that defeated me," Konan said noting the surprise looks from the shinobi. "They are all S-Class shinobi. Thunder was the one that appeared to be in charge. His strength was Taijutsu. I'm afraid I have no other insight into his abilities as that was all he used against me. However, as the other two did most of the fighting I can give you a more complete picture about them."

The gathered shinobi studied the picture of Thunder, who appeared to be a middle age businessman. He had his black hair cut short and the suit he wore did nothing to hide that he was powerfully built indicating his proficiency in taijutsu.

After Konan was sure that Naruto's team had familiarized themselves with the Storms leader she moved on to the next member who was slightly younger than Thunder with long black hair. He was wearing a light blue shirt with matching pants. Strapped to his back was a jian, a double-edged sword, making it likely he was skilled in Kenjutsu which Konan confirmed saying, "Rain is as you guessed highly skilled in the use of the jian. He also appeared to have a wind element to his chakra so should not be taken lightly in close combat. The final member was a long distance fighter relying on long distance lightning jutsu."

Lightning's picture was rather lacking as he was wearing a long cape that covered much of his build although he seemed to be wearing a metal chest plate. Most of his face was covered by the large oversized straw-hat that he wore.

"Do I take it that if we run into these guys in a hostile situation the mission is pretty much fubar," Kurotsuchi asked staring at Naruto.

"Pretty much," Naruto said, "But before we get into mission specifics, Konan please tell us about the central tower."

"As you wish," Konan said, "If the jinchuriki are being revived then the Central Tower is the most likely place for it to be occurring. Sadly it is also probably where Lo Pan is ruling from."

"When you were in charge did you also call the shots from it?" Anko asked crossing her arms and listening intently.

"Yes, however I'm afraid that will do us little good," Konan answered.

"Why's that?" Darui asked concerned.

"The tower's designer was Hanzo; due to his fear of being assassinated he designed it so that its layout could be easily changed. As a result, any information I had on it is probably useless."

"That's why we'll scout it out last," Naruto said noticing the unnerved expressions on his assembled team's faces. "Now Ame is quite security conscious, therefore we'll enter the village separately." Pulling several I.D.'s from a folder he had brought with him he hadn't them to four of the member of his team. Addressing Darui he said, "You and Omoi will pose as traveling merchants. Your cover story is that you are a pair of wanted men in Kumo for dealing with Madara's Alliance and are in Ame to offload some exploding tags. Kurotsuchi, you and Anko are a pair of mercenary sisters that they hired to protect them for the journey."

"Sisters," Kurotsuchi said, "I don't look anything like her."

"Well just pretend," Naruto replied dryly considering he felt they did and with the alterations they would make to match the picture felt it would only highlight their similarities.

"What about the rest of us?" Iruka asked noticing he hadn't received a false I.D.

"We'll be sneaking into the village instead of going through the front gate," Naruto said. "Remember if it begins to rain dampen your chakra signatures and try to get indoors because there is a chance they are using a detection jutsu. If there are no further questions I'll see you all the day after tomorrow.

As the Team separated Tayuya watched as Naruto approached Hinata who smiled shyly up at him. Frowning at the sight she desperately tried to think of a way to make Naruto view her as a woman and to force him to reveal who he was beneath his mask.

Walking up to Hinata and once he was sure that no one could overhear them being especially mindful of Tayuya's excellent hearing he asked. "Are you ready for our date tonight?"

Nodding furiously her face turning red she said, "Oh absolutely, I can't wait."

Naruto smiled beneath his mask as he had been surprised when she approached him. In the several days since receiving Sakura's permission to pursue a relationship with her they had gradually grown closer and he found that he was looking forward to it as well. "I'll see you outside the village then in an hour and we'll head to Tanzaku Town."

Madara was waiting on Nagisa in his war room staring over the map of the elemental countries. He was trying to forget the disastrous attempt to resurrect the Five-Tails. Luckily the corpse of Han hadn't been damaged but there appeared to be some sort of difficulty in bringing back Jinchuriki with tails greater than four. It appeared after the fourth tail of energy was returned to the host's body the jinchuriki could run amok and almost break loose of the statue. Luckily the Gobi had acted too soon, but it had still been a close call. Dr. Manchu said he would find a way to correct the oversight, but that it would take time.

Still he was forced to admit it wasn't a complete lost as they still had the Two through Four tails and he was considering putting them in charge of the White Zetsu, but would prefer to do so when all the remaining jinchuriki had been raised. He was pulled away from his scheming by the smug voice of Kabuto as he said, "You know if you only would allow me to resurrect the jinchuriki using Impure World you would have access to them."

"True," Madara said pulling his eyes away from the map to stare at the snake-man, "But then you would have control of them, and I still don't trust you. Besides, better to unleash you army of zombies when we are ready to crush the Alliance."

Kabuto smiled at Madara's insult infuriating the man, but he didn't give away how much. Instead he vowed to one day put the man in his place. "Lord Madara, Nagisa is on her way."

"Very well," the ancient Uchiha said making his way to the door leaving Kabuto alone in the room. As he arrived at the entrance of his base he saw what appeared to be a Sky country bomber descending to the ground. It was larger than all the others and appeared more heavily armored. His practiced eye could also see the hidden compartment where the smaller fighters could be launched from. Stopping in front of it as a ramp lowered beneath where the pilot of the craft sat he prepared to let Nagisa on his plans for the immediate future. He had little doubt the newest member of Akatsuki would throw her support behind his newest project whole-heartedly as it would give her exactly what her revenge seeking heart desired Konoha in flames.

Sakura was sitting in Naruto's apartment thinking it would make a nice change of pace from their always meeting at hers. She was also there as she was sure it was where Naruto would go immediately after his first date with Hinata. She admitted she felt rather strange sitting on his couch waiting for him to come home in order to find out if he enjoyed himself with another woman. However, in the past few days since her giving Naruto permission to date Hinata things had gone smoothly. Granted she found it a little frustrating as Hinata was staying over every night and was therefore cutting into her alone time with him and Naruto had been a little hesitant about showing any sort of physical affection when the Hyuuga was around. But, Sakura figured that in time the problems would smooth themselves out. As she had told Hinata this was her first relationship and even though it was different then most she was sure that since they both loved Naruto they would find a way to make things work.

Moving from the couch she decided to make something to eat. Since it was Naruto's place she knew that her choices were probably limited to what flavor of ramen she wanted. Opening his cabinet and seeing that as she suspected only cups of ramen were there she decided on shrimp and proceeded to boil the water while thinking of ways to break her lover of his dependence on the food. Or at the very least, to get him to finally his vegetables when she noticed a scrap of paper being slipped under his door.

Tayuya felt like a fool as she walked away from Naruto's door. She had heard the kettle signaling that he was probably eating ramen again. She wondered how he could stomach so much of the food since it seemed to be all he ate. Shaking her head she felt like a fool, but was now committed to her plan. Sadly, the only thing she had been able to come up with was to blackmail him into being with her.

She knew it was stupid, but it was all she had to work with. The note she had left him told him to meet her at the training grounds at midnight. She hadn't signed it in the hope that if she lost her nerve he wouldn't know it was her. Basically when he showed she planned to tell him to kick the other two bitches to the curb and instead act as her boyfriend or else she would go to the Raikage with his true identity.

She knew that it was only a temporary measure at best. That if the war ended tomorrow she would be the one thrown to the curb, but she just didn't know how to compete with the two kunoichi. She didn't have the childhood crush angle that Sakura did, or the Hyuuga's wealth and power. She was pretty much what Anko said, gutter trash. Gutter Trash, whose claim to fame in the Blonde's life was helping to spirit away his best friend and getting his feet started on the dark path he was currently on.

Therefore, she hoped the war would last forever. But since she knew that was an impossibility, she decided she would simply enjoy however long she could with him. When he inevitably kicked her to the curb, she would simply try and live with the memories of him. Plus who knew maybe she could get knocked up or something so she could always have a little part of him to call her own.

Hinata smiled as Naruto continued to limp slightly next to her. Gently she said, "That's what you get for trying to show off."

"Hey, you could have a little sympathy. I did decide to unveil that my training in Hiraishin is almost over to you," Naruto said pleased his landing mishap was almost healed.

Looking at him and missing his normal appearance since he was henged she said, "I would have preferred you had waited till you mastered it."

Naruto shook his head, sending the red hair he was sporting flying, and said, "Sorry, that just wouldn't be me." Hinata was forced to agree. Still she was somewhat pleased that he had showed her and let her in on the secret related to how he was learning it, which was that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage.

She had been waiting outside the village for Naruto as they had agreed. He was a few minutes late not much but still it had made her worried that he was standing her up. She had managed to convince herself that it was simply her old lack of self confidence coming back to trouble her when she noticed a strange symbol on one of the trees. She was just moving to investigate when Naruto appeared in a flash. Unfortunately, he did so moving right at her. He had managed to correct his trajectory opting to smash into a tree instead of her.

After she had helped him back to his feet she had been filled with questions naturally. He had answered them all, and filled in a few things she hadn't thought to ask. When she noticed he had hurt his leg she had told him that they could postpone their date, but Naruto had waved off her concerns. As they walked through the other festival goers she admitted that she was glad for that.

Tanzaku Town was holding the festival to celebrate the rebuilding of the castle that Orochimaru had destroyed in his bid to convince Tsunade into healing his sealed arms. It was turning into a truly grand affair since due to the war such celebrations rarely happened/

Naruto stopped at one of the booths and said, "Hold on Hinata, I'm going to win you something." She smiled as he dropped down to the small trough filled with Goldfish and attempted to scoop one into the little paper fan. She giggled slightly as he quickly broke his scoop and cursed giving the vendor another ryo to try again.

Scanning the crowd she noticed quite a few shinobi of the alliance mixed into the revelers. Most were off duty. However some were not and she figured that was to make sure that none of Madara's suicidal followers decided to crash the celebration.

Naruto was finally forced to admit that he still could not win at the game after several minutes. "Sorry Hinata, guess I'll have to try my luck at one of the other booths."

"That isn't necessary Naruto," Hinata replied, "Being out with you like that is enough for me."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment but nodded his appreciation. The couple began to walk to check out some of the other sights. Hinata could tell that Naruto was still uneasy about the whole situation, since as they walked they did so side by side but he was careful not to touch her. Deciding to be a bit bolder she took his hand into hers. She panicked when she felt it stiffen fearing she had been too bold, but he laced his fingers with hers causing her to sigh in relief.

They walked like that as they looked at the various booths, and talked about little things till Naruto asked, "Hinata, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"No Naruto. Please ask me anything."

"Well I guess I just want to know when you had decided you love me."

"W-well I uhm…" Hinata began to say finding it hard to put into words. Eventually though she said "I guess that I'm not really sure. But, I would say that my first memory of you is what eventually led me to loving you." She could see Naruto was confused about what she was inferring and although a little hurt couldn't really blame him as she probably hadn't had the same impact on him that he had on her.

Naruto admitted his inability to remember saying, "I'm sorry, maybe you can tell me what you mean."

"It's okay Naruto," Hinata said reassuringly, "I know that I tended to blend into the background. The first time I met you I was being bullied by a group of kids. That wanted to make me bow to them for simply being from the Hyuuga family." She smiled gently as she remembered what happened next and said, "I was going to too. But then you came to my rescue. You took them all on and even though you didn't win you distracted them from me. One of the branch members stumbled upon us and scared the boys away." Her smile faded as she remembered the man leading her away before she could even thank her rescuer. "I should have made him take me back so I could thank you…"

Seeing that Hinata's mood was dropping he said, "It's okay Hinata."

"But if I had been braver maybe…"

"Let's not worry about what ifs and the like now," Naruto said gently, "Let's just concentrate on the present, and go from there okay." Hinata nodded so he said, "Alright the fireworks should be starting soon let's go try and find a good place to see them."

As Naruto led her away, the couple was unaware that hidden among the gathered people was a Hyuuga. His job had been to scan the area for explosives but seeing the Lady Hyuuga with an unknown male had discreetly followed. He knew Hiashi would want to be made aware of the development. The Head of the clan had been quite distressed by his daughter's refusal to leave the frontlines. The man watching knew that Hiashi would be quite pleased by the development that his daughter had apparently finally gotten over the death of Naruto. With plans to report to his clan leader as soon as his duties allowed him the man got back to work.

Naruto and Hinata had found a quiet hillside to watch the fireworks. Hinata had turned to ask him when they would begin when the first one went off. She had quickly turned to the sound and stood enthralled as it was followed by others. Naruto though watched Hinata and as the flash of lights shown in her eyes was sure that given time his heart could learn to love Hinata as well. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to stare up at him for a moment but quickly turned back as the next volley went off. She did lean into him though and the two stood there watching as display allowing all their concerns fade for the moment to simply bask in each other's presence.

Sakura was running to the spot that the note had said to meet at. She was cursing the rotten timing of it all as the note had said that Naruto had to be at the meeting spot by ten. Sakura wondered who it was that would try and blackmail Naruto. Unfortunately the note had been rather vague only saying that he was to meet and if he didn't show that the Raikage would be informed of his survival.

It was almost time for the meet and since she was close she henged herself to look like Naruto dressed as Kyo. As she ran the final few hundred yards she began to run through a list of the people who would gain something from blackmailing Naruto. Unfortunately that line of thought led her nowhere as Naruto wasn't the type to back down and if the stakes were high enough would go to the Raikage himself.

A part of her wondered if maybe one of the kunoichi who had hopes of winning the bet going on was behind it, and as soon as she thought it felt she had hit paydirt. Yet she quickly realized it wasn't the bet but it was someone who wanted to be with Naruto.

"Tayuya," she thought, almost positive the fiery red-head was behind it. But couldn't figure out what she hoped to gain from it. She doubted it was money, as Naruto hardly charged anything for his services. But thinking of how ever since she had started dating Naruto, Tayuya's mood had been getting worse figured she knew the reason. "I guess we weren't as discreet as we thought," she thought coming to a stop at the meeting place.

Looking around she wondered where the girl was at till she heard a whispered, "You came," from behind her.

Sakura spun while maintaining her henge took in Tayuya's appearance. She appeared conflicted and scared, so Sakura asked, "What's this about Tayuya?"

But as soon as she spoke, Tayuya's face hardened and she said, "Who the fuck are you?"

"Isn't that what you were threatening me with?" Sakura tried to say flippantly.

But Tayuya wasn't having any of it taking a menacing step forward saying, "I don't know what the fuck you are playing at but you aren't him."

Tayuya reached into her pouch pulling her flute out and prepared to attack. Sakura took a step back saying, "Hold on a minute," and dropped the henge.

Tayuya stared at her, the flute stopping half-way to her mouth, which had dropped as the pinkette stood revealed before her. "How…why…," Tayuya began to say but then realizing that the person she had heard in Naruto's apartment had been Sakura fell to her knees. "I should have fucking known," she said as she began to cry.

Forgetting for the moment that Tayuya had been planning to blackmail Naruto, Sakura began to say, "Hey, what's the matter…"

"Shut the fuck up," Tayuya snapped between sobs, "It isn't fucking fair. You had years to be with him. Why'd you have to snatch him up as soon as I entered the picture?"

Understanding what it was Tayuya had planned to do Sakura ignored her question in favor of asking one of her own. "Let me guess. You were going to force Naruto to ignore me and Hinata in favor of you?"

Tayuya tried to glare at her but it wilted under the calm and somehow understanding gaze of Sakura so nodded. Shaking her head Sakura asked, "Did you really think blackmailing Naruto would make him fall in love with you?"

"No," Tayuya admitted, "But I just wanted to be with him. I knew even if he agreed that he'd leave as soon as the war was over but...What other choice did I have? You and that Hyuuga were all over him, liked he choose me the girl who helped his friend abandon his village over his childhood crush or a Hyuuga with big tits."

Sakura couldn't help snorting a little at Tayuya's description of Hinata, having been a little self-conscious of Hinata's endowments compared to her own. Tayuya looked up at her surprised obviously expecting Sakura to have read her the riot act by now. Seeing the look Sakura said, "I guess I can sort of understand where you are coming from. Girls in love can do stupid things, but you should have tried talking to him."

"How, he won't even take that stupid mask off and it's too late anyway you're already with him," Tayuya said angrily.

Sakura moved and sat next to Tayuya who watched her with her red and puffy eyes. Trying to give her a reassuring smile Sakura said, "I know how you feel at least about the mask. When we were trapped on the island together he wouldn't take it off either and I knew who he was." Tayuya stared at her in confusion at what she was driving at so said, "Naruto right now is on a date with Hinata."

"So he chose her over you," Tayuya asked.

"No, He and I were together after our return from the island," Sakura admitted.

"Then he dumped you?"

Shaking her head Sakura said, "No it's a bit more complicated than that. You see Hinata loves Naruto. I know she could search a million years and she'd never find another man just like him so… I told her we would share him."

Tayuya stared at her in shock before asking, "Why?"

"I guess I just feel that Naruto's heart is big enough to accommodate both of us," Sakura said before adding, "But if you want to know the truth it was your developing feelings for him that started me thinking about it. I know that considering the rough life you probably had before, that meeting someone like Naruto must have been like feeling the sun on your face after a cloudy day."

Tayuya quickly agreed saying, "He made me feel things I didn't know a person could and that he would still care about me after the role I played in fucking over his life."

Sakura nodded, "I'm sure. But Naruto is special and I don't think you'll ever meet another like him." Tayuya agreed sadly so Sakura said, "I can't promise that Naruto will care for you but… I wouldn't be opposed to you trying to also gain his love." Tayuya's eyes opened wide with hope so Sakura added, "But there are two conditions. The first is you have to wait until after your mission to tell him of your intentions. The second is simply that if he does agree, then we have to do our best to support each other. I don't want to see us jockeying for position because it will only lead us all to disaster."

Tayuya couldn't believe her luck but sadly said, "But what about when he finds out about what I tried tonight?"

"You tried something tonight," Sakura said with a wink, "The way I remember it you invited me out for a walk."

Tayuya nodded and said, "Sakura I'm…I'm not really good at this sort of shit…but thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Sakura said, "but if you do want to thank me then just help me make it so that Naruto only knows happiness from now on. Or at least as much as is within our power to control."

"Deal"

Itachi wasn't sure where he had been transported too. All he knew was that he was supposed to serve as bait. But he was hardly alone in that respect as he had heard several of Madara's men commenting on the Two-tail Jinchuriki that had accompanied them on the journey. He didn't know whose attention she was supposed to attract, but he had a good idea of whose he was. He only prayed she stayed away as he was positive that Madara wanted to capture her for the location of Nagato's body and his Rinnegan eyes.

"Please stay away Konan," he thought hoping that his feelings would somehow reach her.