Reviewers;

St3rfire: Well, if they didn't, then the coming battle would be filled with gore...although...it still will be, so I suppose it could have gone either way, but this just goes to show that like Naruto, Sakura can change the hearts of those around her. Ad you predictions were right on the Money!

Czar Joseph: Yes, Itachi knew at least in theory, but ow his hidden thoughts are confirmed and so now the alliance will begin to make their preparations for the big battle ahead of them.

Tsuko Blue: Thanks Man!

AN: Hey you guys and girls! So I'll be brief! Let's simply start the chapter now!

Fire & Ice

Arc 3: Trust

Chapter 43: The Buildup and the Declaration

In the pale glow of the next morning, people awoke groggily from sleep, moving through their normal morning routines, and simply getting ready for a regular day. But within five minutes of these routines, people paused, cursed, and exclaimed in shock at the remembrance that they all had new jobs to do. For our main protagonist Naruto, he awoke differently...inside the royal suite, its bed of the finest silk and of the brightest colors and of the warmest sheets. The room had a nice roaring fire in the center of the room, holding back the cold morning air, and the floor would probably have heated up by now to provide his bare feet with the warmth they so desired. The only thing missing was made apparent as Naruto turned to see the upturned sheets next to him and the depression of his girlfriend and lover who was already up and about.

Just down the hall from Naruto, Sakura walked quickly down the walkway, moving around this castle that she had forgotten about from her younger years, but still had memorized nonetheless. Right now, Sakura made her way down the castle to the armory where huge spaces were being prepared for her. Now, as she stood in the center of this space, Sakura breathed in softly and closed her eyes, her arms moving in the intricate patterns in an order that while she had not done many times before, she knew that this would become a repetition in the near future.

As Sakura moved her hands, the workers in the armory paused in their morning work to watch as circles of ice formed in the air at eye level, and slowly watched as a ring of fire was drawn inside this blue curve and slowly, flat plates of fire were surrounded on two sides by the flat plates of ice, as the centers bulged outward, and the fire was cooled quickly by the ice as a gentle hissing and steam flew up to the open windows in the roof. Soon, the circles slowly fell to the ground, and the sound of metal, made of impurities and other elements, scraped along the stone floor as shields came to rest on top of the others before it.

The servants moved forward, grabbing the piles of shields and began to take them to another room to be piled up as new circles formed and the process was repeated over and over again. The servants became two long lines of those going with boxes of protective weaponry and those who came with empty boxes to fill once more. As the process continued, guards and soldiers came in sporadically to watch as a Queen they had become wary of made their shields stronger and better than before, and they left with new weapons as well. For as soon as Sakura grew a little tired of the repetition, she looked over to see the servants moving slower after an hour of nonstop movements and so decided to take a break, for herself, and for her helpers.

Sakura moved to the wall and a servant brought her a glass of water, which she smiled at and thanked, though the servant girl was only eight, and reminded Sakura of just how young people began to work in this world. A body leaned back next to her and Sakura smiled as she sipped her water, before leaning into the figure beside her.

"How is your work doing, Naruto?"

"Alright. I'm really just making seals for the shields right now, and I don't have to rush off just yet."

"True, but your seals will help the soldiers be able to take the explosions much better."

"Well, then I suppose we have no time to waste." Naruto nodded to her and Sakura nodded before they embraced their currents positions for just a few minutes more before Sakura stepped forward again. The servants were weaker this time around but only had to drag them towards other rooms, and Sakura needed to make not just shields, but swords as well.

Sakura began her work again to make her creations, pulling in her emotions, and forming the frame of her newer and more powerful creations. They formed more quickly than before, due to Sakura's steady concentration and confidence in herself than ever before and soon, ten new soldiers stood before her, and the servants looked at them wearily.

Sakura split her soldiers up and showed them the hand signs that she herself had done for the better part of the morning, and the soldiers followed, as the servants watched as five times the number of shields formed and were created through the air and dropped in their piles. The servants groaned a bit, but knew that this would be much faster, and the other five soldiers began to help them deal with the shields' transportation. Soon after that, Sakura stepped away from her soldiers and over to the next room, where many empty boxes were made ready for her, as she had requested.

This time, it was the golden fire that took on the outside of the frames of the swords, and the ice thawed and left frozen metal in their grips as the flames coated the metal and the handles cooled in a cross image like manner before sliding into the slots of the boxes. Sakura continued her new actions, being able to make as many swords as she could for the remainder of the morning, with the knowledge that her fire, when coated on a blade, could cut through Sasuke's men a lot better than those made of regular man made hands inside that of a forge. And though Sakura liked her metallic creations' imagery, she wished she had better knowledge of how swords were made.

As Sakura's magic continued, Naruto was in the next portion of the armory, replacing swords and shields with the newer models and sending them back to be upgraded. Everything had to be upgraded, for their battle would be hard enough and they needed every advantage that they could take. And so Naruto divided his men up to placing the new arms in their areas and to bring him the new weapons so that he might add seals to them to make them as hard as steel.

And as these two did their duties, still the armorers and forgers and leather men worked in another portion of the Haruno Isles, adding strong straps to the shields, to where men could hold on to them and use them in combat. Others wrapped cloth and thick fabric to the ends of the swords, as the metal was ice cold, and the fabric would allow men to hold and wield them in battle.

As such as all this was going on, the sounds of heavy hammers and saws and men yelling reached all around the outskirts of the city, as massive war-class ships and small fishing vessels alike were placed in storage areas and workshops and even set out to inside the harbor itself, as the huge armada was just beginning to be born. This was a city that was preparing for war, and they would be ready.

The day passed quickly, or rather, too slowly for most people's growing aches and pains as they stopped working and picking up the heavy armaments that they had been doing since sunup. And yet while most were allowed to head back home and prepare for dinner and a great sleep, still others had to keeping working, just on something else.

Naruto completed his last seal and sighed, as he looked ahead of him and down the line at the five hundred shields and a thousand swords that had passed by him today. He was still so astonished at what his girlfriend and lover could do, and Naruto couldn't wait to watch her sleeping with his arms wrapped around her slim frame, keeping her protected from anything around them.

Naruto stepped out of the doorway, and closed it firmly, before locking it in place and dropped the key into his shirt for safekeeping until tomorrow where this log process would begin again. And then Naruto turned around and caught his breath as his sight showed a sweaty and dirt encrusted Sakura, leaning against the wall and waiting for him to finish up the last of her weapons. As soon as Sakura heard the door close, she looked up and smiled, and Naruto felt her magic pull towards him through the seal at her wrist.

Naruto shuddered as he felt the magic inside himself pull his feet forward and his arms wrapped under her arms, and held onto the small of her back, as Sakura leaned up and hugged him, sighing into his shoulder as her fingers played with the back of his hair.

"I'm so sweaty. I've never made so many creations that aren't alive before."

"You look absolutely gorgeous to me."

"I do? I feel like I'm ready to pass out."

"But did you feel happy about today's work?"

"…Yeah?" Sakura admitted, wondering how this line of thought was going.

"Then you should feel tired, and that's what makes you look so hot…"

"…H-Hot?" Sakura voiced huskily, and Naruto shivered as Sakura rubbed her hips softly against his pelvis. "I could use something…hot later."

"…Me too….We should get going." Naruto whispered into Sakura's ear, covered by her long pink hair.

Sakura sighed and nodded into his shoulder and they quickly made their way out of the armory. Naruto and Sakura moved back up the castle, up through the corner tower, and Sakura subconsciously counted the steps, before they arrived once more outside of the hallway to the council room. And unlike yesterday, the doors were already open as Sakura led Naruto inside.

They stepped inside to find Kakashi standing there just behind Tsunade, and the two others smiled at seeing Sakura walking towards them casually linking her arms through the hole in Naruto's, her fingers on his bicep. It was nice to see after so long a struggle for them the sight of them together and happy. Sakura soon let go though and moved to the front of Tsunade and hugged her godmother, who hugged her back just as hard as she could.

Sakura smiled as she backed off, and her eyes shimmered with mischief. "Geez, Shisou, you've gotten weak in your old age."

"Please, my dear apprentice, I just didn't want to hurt my new ally."

"So then, has everyone else signed the draft and agreed to it?"

"Yes, you are of course the last."

Naruto's eyes scrunched as he looked around the room. "Isn't there usually more people around for a declaration of war?"

"Well, with the time allotted until the battle, Naruto," Kakashi mentioned aloud, "the other ambassadors have sent out their signals for their armies to begin their march to Port Haruno's borders, and also back here."

"I suppose that I may read it aloud, then?" Sakura looked at Tsunade, who nodded and smiled to her. Sakura reached over to the table next to them and grabbed the quilt pen and dipped it into the ink on the side. The ink was dyed red for the blood that would be spilled for this war, but Sakura knew that blood was necessary for peace in this endlessly sinful world. The Queen's hand moved across the paper as she spoke it aloud.

Dear Sasuke of the Uchiha Plains,

On behalf of the Alliance of Unity, we, the undersigned, decree that we see you as evil and unfit to rule as the head of your kingdom. And so we declare war to you, and propose an all or nothing battle seven weeks from the time that you receive this message, given by the scout sent on the ship to your lands. We will fight you on that day at the entrance to Port Haruno, where the cliffs meet your plains. They will be our graves and yours. May you see fit to have honor and clarity in this coming battle, and be as ready to die as we.

Sincerely,

The Alliance of Unity

Sakura looked to the three people around her, people who had been with her, while maybe unknown on her mind for a long time but in their hearts, they had remained at her side. These were the people she wanted around her for a long time to come, for however short it may be. Sakura looked back down, at her royal signature, below all the others, and yet what she hadn't realized was that hers was the biggest.

Sakura chuckled inwardly as she backed up, and moved back into Naruto's embrace. Maybe all those years away from other people had made her believe her signature was bigger than it used to be. But for now, she would continue to let her feelings remain and be encased in a cocoon of Naruto's warm and strong arms, just as it was supposed to be.

Two months later, the dark sky was as black as could be, with the signs of ash and smoke, choking on the oxygen which swirled by throughout the Uchiha Plains, blotting out the sun's rays as a heavy overcast filled the air and sky. Men moved around silently, not speaking at all and only the sounds of their armor was heard throughout the land.

The blinding silver flash of metallic points of spears on wooden poles shined along neat lines of perfectly straight rows. Men looked firm and stiff in these very rows, in black and deep blood red cloth armor, while smoke billowed out below their knees and covered the walkways between them and the ground itself. In these men's eyes were simple blood and yellow irises, the yellow tomoes wrapping around the tiny blues and greens and browns of the eyes underneath them, holding the men and women inside while they watched the scenes before them unfold without their choice in the matter.

In the walkways, the sounds of horses and hooves of the generals and knights echoed along the gentle slope of the land, as the black grassy hills led towards the top of the dark castle in the center, proclaiming with a back raven cawing at the highest flagpole that it was the king of the hill.

Down inside the highest keep to the front of the castle, a black haired man stood on the balcony, the black curtains billowing out behind his tired frame. All along his black and red armor that matched that of his army down below, black smoke slid out between the cracks and around to the floor behind him, moving towards and underneath the curtains. Sasuke's red eyes stared out while they could, as black liquid seeped down from the sockets to his cheeks and filtered over to his arms and legs within his armor.

Sasuke did not move, did not speak, and really could only think that what he was doing was…why was he doing this again? Why was he angry at his brother and Sakura? Why indeed. He knew that he was meant to be doing something about the world, to change it, surely, and…do…something, right?

A moan whispered through the air, and Sasuke's eyes dilated as he turned back inside, to his room, and moved past the curtains, as they burned a hole for just his presence, before smoke clung back to them, leaving them as they were before, holding out what natural light came through the clouds.

Sasuke's narrowed eyes focused solely on the black bed in the center of the room, where a girl's creamy white skin glowed brightly against the contrast of the sheets. Sasuke quickly moved forward and stripped off his armor as his Mistress didn't allow him it in her presence. As he hurriedly undressed, the girl's unique eyes opened and her smile was wide as another moan escaped her and her arm lifted up to Sasuke's chest, before the Uchiha King dropped to his knees and kissed fervently her palms and along each of her long and nimble fingers.

"Sasuke, you have done well at getting us ready for this day." Akhlys's voice echoed around Sasuke's head and he smiled, and bowed his head.

"Thank you, My Goddess. You praised me too much."

"Indeed I do. Now then, it is time for your power to grow once more."

Sasuke nodded and quickly moved atop Akhlys's body, readying himself above her, for her command. "Once more, Sasuke, and you will have the power tilted in your favor, and we will move this world into the chaos that will ensue in the near future."

Sasuke thrusted in and Akhlys moaned happily, delighted at the actions that she had helped this young youth master, and the way he took her was in praising her, and doing anything she wanted done, and Akhlys felt the fear of the world at the coming battle, and it delighted her all the more, all the suffering and the turmoil. The way that families cried and yelled in anger that their fathers chose to fight rather than stay, at the father who chose not to fight and sank into the depression that all their friends were fighting and they were seen as cowards.

No matter what choice there was made, it all lead to despair…for that was what the world was made for. Everything was to rot and decay in time, as people grew sick, and plagues grew throughout the countryside and killed hundreds and thousands of families, and they never knew what the purpose of life was. Death was despair, and everyone died. Even this simple king moving inside her would die soon enough, maybe at the Haruno's hand, maybe at her own, but he was worthy of doing her deeds, because unlike a human, she needed a host, and this boy was the best so far in her eternity of life.

As Akhlys moaned and Sasuke thrusted away, the sound of metal moving through the plains stopped, and Akhlys's cry of ecstasy echoed quietly around the castle, as the black raven flew away from its startled position and cawed across the plains, as one hundred thousand glinting pieces of metal flashed in the evening air.

As the sun was setting over the Uchiha Plains, the sun was just over the horizon over the Haruno Isles. Sakura herself stood at the front of the castle, up in the air at the balcony, joined by Tsunade, Naruto, and the rest of the alliance. To think, after two months that tomorrow they would leave for her home, back to her very people.

Sakura looked down, seeing the many soldiers that stood in their lines, all now slowly making their way onto the many boats and ships in the inland harbor. Now, men and women were settling into the hammocks set up in the holds, and with seventy thousand soldiers in the Isles, all waiting for their turn to get a good night sleep, they all knew that the battle was close at hand.

Sakura's fingers moved up to crossing gently across her chest, before resting over Naruto's fingers along her shoulder, and sighed as she looked down at her own ships, where her thousand new soldiers moved and readied her four ships, three of them new, for the defense of the fleet from anything that Sasuke would no doubt throw their way before the battle.

A soft growl sounded and Sakura looked back to see a pack of wolves around the large balcony, serving as defenders while the other bodyguards said goodbye to their families. The alliance had learned to go hand and hand with her creations and the trust was apparent in their eyes now. Sakura felt Naruto's hand squeeze her shoulder as the sun set and nodded to him as they turned to get what sleep they could. The buildup would take all night and they would begin to leave as soon as the sun rose. The battle was to begin soon, and this world would change…for the better or worse, she did not know, but she would try to change it for the former. And so the sun set, and the stars came out, to shine the way home.

AN: Ta-Da!