Lost

There was a vague feeling of nostalgia from the way Sakura was glaring at the Deva path. The way her eyes glowed with such unrestricted fury and how her eyes were filled with so much hate for one person. Sasuke knew that the sweet and innocent Sakura that they all knew had been overpowered. What could she have possibly seen to trigger such a reaction from her?

"Sakura" he tried her name.

Her body visibly stiffened and then relaxed but she didn't turn to look at him. Instead her hands curled into petit balls of fists and she began to tremble. "They…" her words came out as a breathless whisper. Alarmed, Sasuke and Naruto walked towards her.

"They killed Kakashi-sensei…!" her voice wavered and her distress could be heard clearly now. Both Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as they allowed the information to sink in; to decide whether or not to accept the fact that their perverted slacker of a teacher was dead.

He couldn't be dead.

When they knew nothing, he was their role model, he could pull them through even the toughest of situations; he was invincible.

"I won't let anything happen to my subordinates"

"I had to stop and help an old woman cross the road"

"Ah, sorry I'm late. It's a funny story really-"

They never did find out what happened in that story of his.

Sakura had seen how they killed Kakashi, when the Naraka path had tried to establish a contact with her soul. Due to her hypersensitive chakra control, she receive more than just a connection. She received memories. They were just flashes of it but Kakashi's face had appeared often along with a few familiar faces. She had seen enough to know how they died.

Sasuke kept an eye on Sakura's trembling form, he's got a feeling she was going to do something completely stupid. But before he could worry about Sakura, Naruto rushed past them both. Sasuke resisted the urge to slap his forehead— Of course, when it came to stupidity, no one can beat Naruto.

Sakura charged her arm with chakra and released it in the form of her triple elemental wolf. Sasuke smirked, it's been awhile since he'd seen her use that. Not to be outdone by his teammates, he pulled a chidori from the air and raced after the paths, aiming for the main path; the Deva path.

It seemed like his teammates all had the same idea when he realized that all their attacks were directed at the Deva path. However nanoseconds before their attacks could land, the wounded Preta path shot in between Team Kakashi and his leader.

Just as their hits were about to land, they were enveloped in a blinding white light as the moment the preta path absorbed all three of their attacks at the same time, a pillar of light shot up into the sky and began to grow in radius until they surrounded the three genin and the preta path.

The sensation that ran through the three genins of squadron was a strange one, they felt like they were encased in their own chakra. Their eyes shot open all at the same time and realized that they were no longer in their ruined village, fighting for their lives.

Instead they stood in a bright golden void-like space, their forms were stiff and heavily guarded as they waited patiently for what's coming. It was then that they heard a very childlike giggle break through the silence. "Is that little Sasuke-kun?"

"He's grown so much"

"Hn"

"Say something else, Fugaku! We haven't see Sasuke since he was 6!"

Sasuke stiffened even further, he recognized that voice.

"My, my looks like the boys have grown up quite handsomely"

"Kushina!"

Sakura was first to form a seal, she shut her eyes and cut her chakra flow "Kai!" but when she reopened her eyes, she was disappointed to find her in the same place.

"Don't fret, my child. We won't hurt you"

The gentle flow of the woman's voice immediately calmed her down and instead of anxiousness, she now felt slightly excited. Naruto reached up to grip his hair "What's happening to me, is it just me or are you guys hearing voices?" Naruto asked in panic.

"Leave it to Minato's kid to panic first" a male's voice chuckled.

"One more word against my boy and you're going to get it, Makoto" this time it was the fiery tone of a woman's voice.

"I can't take this anymore, I wanna hold her!" a giddy woman's voice suddenly squealed.

Before Sakura could react, she was tackled into a hug by something she couldn't see. Her first reaction was to panic but the way her body had been soothed immediately by the hold forbade her muscles from moving. Slowly, a figure began to form before her eyes.

Faded light pink hair was the first thing she noticed, next came the familiar small body frame that seemed so similar to her own. "I've always wanted to hold you like this, Sakura" the woman murmured into her shoulder, her words slightly muffled in her shirt.

How did this woman know her name? What relations did they have with each other? Her questions seemed to be answered immediately when the woman pulled back to look at her. Familiar green eyes looked back at her and she almost broke into tears on the spot but she was far too shocked to react, instead she uttered "Mother…?" The woman nodded with a bittersweet smile.

The sting in her eyes blurred her vision and before Sakura knew it, warm wet trails tears rolled uncontrollably down her face.

"We're dead, aren't we?" Naruto threw his hands over his head and looked around nonchalantly.

"Naruto"

Reacting immediately to the call of his name, Naruto turned around to meet the deep green eyes of a fiery haired lady. His first reaction was to note the unusual colour of her hair then as if on instinct he linked it to the colour of the kyuubi's fur, although the colour doesn't exactly match. It was the only conclusion Naruto could draw. Naruto pointed his index finger accusingly at the woman "Ah! You're the kyuubi disguised as a woman aren't you? You're trying to make me drop my guard so you can take over my body!"

Naruto laughed obscenely loudly "That ain't gonna happen, buddy!" he announced rather confidently. In a sudden move, he was swiftly punched on the head by the red haired woman. Everyone simply watched as Naruto held the top of his head and howled in pain. "What are you trying to do, lady!"

"How could you accuse your own mother of such a thing!" the woman snapped.

Team Kakashi froze. It was Naruto that first broke the silence. "My… mother…?" Naruto looked up to meet the eyes of his mother and slowly he rose from his crouch. "A-Are you… really my mother?" he asked cautiously, as if afraid of hoping. He jumped slightly as he felt a strong and firm hand clap down on his shoulder.

"She has to be, I only remember loving one woman in my life" a light and gentle voice said.

Naruto turned to look at the man who said it, his face was immediately recognized— the same face that he vandalized so many times on the Hokage Mountain and then forced to clean afterwards. "You're the fourth hokage…" Naruto's voice trailed.

The younger blonde looked back and forth between the two people surrounding him. "That means that-" however before he could finish what he wanted to say, his voice gave way and the tears streamed down his face. He scrambled to wipe them away, trying to hide them from his parents.

"Where have you guys been my whole life" he muttered hoarsely, failing miserably to sound cheery. He didn't dare stop wiping his tears and look up. But a soft hand slipped to the side of his face, caressing his cheek and urging him to look up. "We're sorry for leaving you alone, Naruto" Kushina said, tilting her head slightly to the side and giving her son an apologetic smile.

Naruto pulled both his parents into a tight hug "Mom! Dad!" he called before sobbing into their shoulders "I've always wanted say that"

…

Sasuke smirked and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Sasuke!" he heard a woman call his name. He turned around and immediately he found that his cheek had been seized in an affectionate pinch. "You're grown to become so handsome!" the woman squealed.

His eyes widened instantaneously upon recognizing the woman that smiled so brightly at him. "M-Mom?!" Mikoto held him by the shoulders and leaned back slightly to examine him at arm's length before engulfing him into a tight bear hug. "We missed you so much, Sasuke"

"Mom… I- How are you here?" he asked, slightly confused but nonetheless he relished the feeling of being held by his mother once again.

"Sasuke" this time his body stiffened upon hearing the deep and serious tone of the man that he had once feared in his life. His eyes traced the pair of feet that had come into his view till he locked gazes with Uchiha Fugaku. The former head of the Uchiha clan— his father.

"Father…" he said, suddenly feeling nervous. His mother released him and took a step back to link hands with her husband. "You've grown up to be quite competent, Sasuke." Fugaku said. Sasuke blinked before his brain could absorb the message. His father was praising him. He felt like a ton of bricks had just been lifted off his heart. His father acknowledged him— he was finally accepted.

Sasuke lowered his head, trying to contain the immense amount of joy in him. He smirked and nodded "Aa." He replied. Fugaku smirked in a similar fashion before lifting his hand and ruffling Sasuke's hair. "I have no worries leaving the clan to you and Itachi"

Sasuke bit his lip, his eyes stung but he refused to cry in the presence of his father. He knew that whatever's holding their parents here was only temporary and that they would disappear after the effects wear out. But he had a feeling that this would be the last time they would be able to talk to their parents like this.

…

Tsuchiura Makoto was a rather normal looking man, his bronze hair and grey eyes looked dull compared to his exotically coloured wife but he was in a plain sort of way—handsome. Sakura could feel her bond with him immediately after their eyes met. He didn't even need to introduce himself and she had launched herself at him, hugging his torso and burying her face in his chest "Father" she said breathlessly. She had always wanted to call her parents at least once. His strong arms encircled her and pulled her even closer.

"How's my daughter doing?"

"Great" Sakura murmured "I'm doing great. I've found people who love me and I've fallen in love. I just wish you two could see it" she sobbed.

She felt her mother's small hand on her back and she shifted her head to look at her "We've always been watching, Sakura" her mother caressed her cheek and gave her a bittersweet smile "We'll always watch over you." The woman let out a shaky breath and a pained look "You've grown up to be so strong, we're so sorry that you had to live like you did in the first twelve years of your life"

Sakura shook her head "It's okay… I'm okay" she breathed.

…

It took a while for everyone to settle down as the parents prepared themselves for a berate of questions.

"I think an explanation is necessary" Sasuke said, lifting a brow at their parent's chit chat.

Makoto gave Sasuke a narrow eyed look. "You must be Sasuke" he said, almost quietly.

Sasuke took a moment to realize that he was facing Sakura's father. He bowed his head slightly in both a nod and a show of respect, which is already a lot considering Sasuke has never been courteous to his elders or superiors "Yes, I am" he said. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke could see two pink haired women giggling at him and his ears burned with annoyed embarrassment. Never had he picture himself ever standing in front of his girlfriend's father and silently praying for the man's approval of their relationship.

Much to his relief, Sakura approached him and sided up next to him and slipped her hand in his. Tsubaki looked over at Mikoto before the two women linked hands and squealed in delight. "They look so good together!" Mikoto cooed.

Sasuke and Sakura looked slightly uncomfortable under the gaze of each other's fathers. "Mother…" Sasuke reprimanded. Mikoto and Tsubaki turned their attention back to their children with large smiles "I'm sorry, dear. It's just so good to see you two getting along" Mikoto answered.

Sasuke and Sakura felt an arm being thrown around their shoulders and their hands were separated as Naruto gave each of their shoulders a light squeeze. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan's Mom! I'll keep an eye on these two to make Sasuke doesn't do anything pervy to Sakura-chan" Naruto beamed, obviously wanting in on the attention as well.

Sasuke was about to gut Naruto in annoyance when he heard two male voices speak in unison "Pervy?" one of them, Sasuke recognized belonged to his father and the other one could only belong to-

"How dare you taint Sakura with your perverted ways!" Tsuchiura Makoto struggled against the hold of Namikaze Minato as he kicked and flailed his arms at Sasuke.

"This is preposterous! Do not accuse my son of the impossible. Men of the Uchiha clan have flawless self-control" Fugaku boasted proudly. Sasuke rolled his eyes; apparently not flawless enough, he thought— remembering the countless times that he nearly lost his mind over his rampaging hormones.

"Now, now Makoto, now is not the time to be trying to kill your daughter's love interest" Minato added meekly, his voice just barely audible above the curses of Sakura's father.

The Uchiha matriarch cleared her throat.

"I hate to be the one to break up the perfect moment, but-" her bright smiling black eyes suddenly twinkled with a look of seriousness. "We seem to have a situation at hand" she finished and everyone could tell, the tension in the air had returned.

Sasuke nodded and stepped up "Konoha's under attack" he said.

Minato released his now calmed friend and added "We were watching."

"We were waiting for the moment you combine your chakra so we could pull you into the spiritual realm via the chakra we sealed inside your bodies when you were born" Mikoto explained.

"Cool!" Naruto remarked.

Kushina beamed at her child "Isn't it? Minato was the one who suggested it!" a saddened look crossed her eyes "Just in case something happened to us" she added, softly. Everyone present seemed to have felt the sudden sorrow in the atmosphere.

Tsubaki clasped her hands together, snapping everyone out of their moment of depression "But it worked, didn't it!" she chirped happily.

Mikoto nodded softly "That's all that matters" she glanced down at her hands and leaned slightly on her husband simply stood there and provided her with the comfort she needed.

"After watching your battle, I noticed the awkward circulation of your opponent's chakra" Minato said, rubbing his chin as he thought seriously about their situation. "It's quite impressive that you noticed that, Minato." Tsubaki nodded in acknowledge then lifted a finger-

"But! Just like old times, I have outplayed you this time. Indeed there is something wrong with the circulation of Pein's chakra. That is because there is no circulation, in a normal shinobi, the production of chakra is concentrated at our core and from there, the chakra circulates evenly throughout our body until we summon it in different areas. However, your opponents have chaka core, instead it is injected directly into the body through a medium of some sort" Tsubaki finished.

"Can you prove it?" Fugaku voiced, lifting a bemused eyebrow.

Tsubaki shot Fugaku a dirty look "Always so eager to crush my intellect. Fugu-kun" Tsubaki challenged.

Fugaku's eye twitched as Naruto howled in laughter, even his own son was smirking at Haruno Tsubaki's nickname for him.

"Unfortunately, I have yet to discover the medium that's supplying chakra to them." Tsubaki shrugged and crossed her arms.

"Chakra rods" Sakura stated with a tone of realization. "After I came into contact with one, my chakra system had been interfered with for a certain period of time, the piercings are the medium to chakra transfer" Sakura concluded.

Minato smiled "Excellent, now all that's left is to devise a plan to stop his clone and then find the real body" he stated it as if it were the simplest thing to do.

"Wait, if we're here then… What's happening to Konoha right now?" Naruto asked, a horrified look had taken over his facial features.

"Calm down, Naruto. You were pulled into an alternate space time dimension as soon as your chakra merge. Time is suspended on the other side so that we may speak to you" Kushina answered with a pat on Naruto's shoulder "Minato thought of this as well" she chuckled with pride.

Fugaku snorted sarcastically "You can never stop singing praises for that bubbling idiot can you, Uzumaki?"

Minato grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "What'd you say about Minato, you stone-faced monkey?" Kushina snarled in a way that almost reminded Naruto of the kyuubi. He swallowed 'Kiba and Shikamaru did mention how scary their moms can be'

Kushina whipped her face towards Minato and glared heatedly at her husband "And you! When are you ever going to speak up for yourself!" she lectured. Minato raised his hands up in surrender and took a step back as his wife advanced on him and poked him repeated on the chest as she continued to vent her temper out on him.

Sakura stepped up "Um..." Makoto noticed this and moved to silence everyone, however he didn't need to do anything when-

Sasuke cleared his throat loudly.

For a moment, everyone's attention was snatched. Sasuke stared back with disinterest and then stepped back to allow Sakura to speak but not before catching glimpse of Sakura's grateful smile in the corner of his eye. "I have a plan" she offered.

Tsubaki clapped her hands with glee and pride "Wonderful! Let's hear it!" Tsubaki encouraged.

...

An explosion resounded throughout the village. "Hinata-sama!" Neji pulled Hinata behind a large pile of rubble just as the dust of impact blew past them. They stayed still for a moment, Tenten peeked her head out from behind their cover before Hinata shot past her "Naruto-kun!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The smoke filled battlefield buzzed with streaks of lighting as the scene cleared, the Preta path was seen impaled by Sasuke's kusanagi which buzzed with the leftovers of his chidori powered lunge. He pulled his weapon out swiftly and leapt back to join Sakura, there was no sign of Naruto anywhere. Now with the Preta, Asura and Naraka path gone, Pein was left with only three of his paths but the most dangerous one remained untouched.

Going through the abilities of their remaining opponents, Sakura had come up with a plan to take out two of them in one go. The first part of the plan had already been executed and their target now laid on dirt just a few feet away from its counterparts. The second part of the plan-

Human path took a step forward to side up next to the Deva path when he realized something was wrong with the air around him. The ground beneath his feet exploded into white smoke and by the time he had clicked to react, Naruto had already punched him in the jaw, dislocating it with a sickening crack. From nowhere, a blur of orange rushed past the clone that had just punched the Human path and thrusting his hand into the immobilized both of the path. "Oodama Rasengan!" the supersized attack landed a direct hit onto the path, the body was torn apart brutally before it was sent flying into the debris of the village.

He grinned, practically glowing with pride.

Sakura had set up a concentrated genjutsu barrier within the Human path's range. He hid a clone disguised as a pebble on the ground before he hid himself away to assist him in incapacitating the path to give him a clear opening for his rasengan to hit.

"Naruto, retreat back!" a desperate call from Sakura snapped him back to reality, it was a little too late for him when he watched a giant dog lunge at him, leaping backwards to try and avoid being caught by it, Naruto's arm got caught between its teeth. He cried out in pain before he was thrown back to Sakura and Sasuke with a force that almost tore his arm right off.

This time, Naruto had been thrown too fast for Sakura to catch him. The pink haired kunoichi had missed him by a millisecond's worth of distance as she watched him crash helplessly into the side of the crater. "Naruto!" she cried. Sasuke's figure tensed but his eyes never wavered from their opponents as Sakura ran to their teammate's aid.

His eyes locked in on the Animal Path's hands as they moved to form seals before calling forth his hands to do the same "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)" they both called out at the same time. Standing in the enemy's side was a giant millipede with the rinnegan eyes, as both of the dog and the insect charged towards them, a loud cry of an eagle resounded throughout the village. Out of the smoke, a hawk as large as gamabunta launched itself into the sky. The markings around its eyes became visible under the faded light of the sun as it swooped in to sink its claws into the millipede and the dog. Immediately having done that, the hawk flung the two summons back to prevent them from moving any closer to his summoner.

Diving down for the paths, the hawk was repelled back into the sky by the Deva path. Crying out and flapping its wings, it regains its composure and tried again only to be attacked by the giant dog and millipede. Seeing as Sakura was done with healing Naruto, Sasuke cancelled the summoning.

"Naruto's left arm is lost in this battle" Sakura stated as she kept her eyes on the paths. Sasuke glanced over to Naruto to see that dried blood had coated his hand and he noticed that his teammate's arm is a little stiffer than usual. By the looks of things, Pein must've noticed the damage he's done by now. "Sakura-chan… Sasuke… lend me your ears for a bit"

…

Sasuke raced towards the remaining two paths, his hand gripping the hilt of the kusanagi while it was sheathed. The large dog lunged at him to try and stop him, he leapt to the side and disappeared. His figure could no longer be seen, only the stir of dirt that his footsteps trigger, the paths heard a chirping sound next to them and the Deva path had just managed to repelled Sasuke of before his chidori could land, knowing that the Deva path takes time to charge up, Naruto flung in a rasenshuriken directed at the paths, the animal path brought in his two summons to take the damage for him, but what he didn't expect was for the rasenshuriken to cut right through.

Just barely managing to jump away, Animal path found that the velocity of attack was drawing him in before he could do anything about it, he was lifted off the ground and thrown into the attack by its sheer force. The animal path now lay on the ground with a mangled body that twisted in odd angles.

Sakura suddenly felt another spike in chakra from the far end of the crate where the supposed corpse of the Naraka path lay. No, in fact there were two. Sakura's eyes widened upon recognizing the form of the new figure. The very same that had taken out their teacher—the Asura path. Behind him stood the King of Hell with its mouth wide open and from it emerged a completely rejuvenated body of the Naraka path. They had made a huge mistake.

Missiles were fired from the Asura path's arm with their sights locked in on Sasuke. "Sasuke!" she called out to him as he continued to throw attacks at the Deva path. His ears picked up the distressed cry from Sakura and he pulled back from his battle with the Deva path only to be shoved aside by a blob of orange. He barely had the time to register what just happened before he heard a yell of pain.

He looked to the side and Naruto laid motionless on his side, his clothes charred and covered in soot in some places. "Naruto…!" he called out and the blonde stirred slightly.

"Hah… what's wrong, Sasuke? Scared?" Naruto mocked with a pained expression.

"Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" a fireball shot from Sakura's mouth and straight at the Deva path, forcing him away from her teammates. As soon as he was out of range, Sasuke took over, charging straight at the Deva path as he formed handseals. Sakura ran to take a look at Naruto's condition only to have him brush it off.

"I'm okay, Sakura-chan" he told her and took off before she could protest. With her teammates focused on taking down the Deva path, she noticed that the Naraka path had been left open. She was well aware that his abilities did not majorly boost his fighting skills, therefore she stood a chance against him if she were to release her Kaiho.

Summoning the ball of congested chakra in her, she lightly tapped into in, releasing her seal and causing her eyes to glow. The effects were immediate as she could feel the whole of her chakra so firmly in her hands.

The Naraka path watched from the distance, acting as an overseer for the other paths as their sights all link into one, to notice any changes in the battlefield when he heard a voice. Soon enough the ground began to shake and mini mountains began to rise like a wall around him. Just as he was about to jump out, a pink figure stood at the rim of it. He looked up and began to scale the dirt walls with chakra. However Sakura had already brought up her next jutsu. "Katon, Goukakyuu no jutsu" she blew the fireball directly into the hole, leaving no room for the Naraka path to go.

As she felt her flames connect, Sakura decided to hold on to the technique for a few more seconds just to make sure her attacks is properly embedded. However as soon as she released it, a blur of black shot out from the smoke and landed outside of her dirt trap. The Naraka path had his entire body charred but for some reasons it continued to move as if it felt no pain. Sakura felt slightly shaken by the grotesque sight, but did not allow it to show on her face. She charged at him and threw a punch in which he carefully side stepped.

Sakura however did not leave her sides exposed during the punch, quickly redirecting her hand to the floor, she flipped forward to avoid being kneed in the side by the Naraka path. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she turned and lunged back at the Naraka path. But she felt something wrong with him, he was much too still. That was when she saw it, the King of Hell, Yama.

This was not her first time encountering the Demon head and if she were caught, she knew her fate. Acting quickly she charged the remnants of her chakra into her hand and thrust it at the chest of the Naraka path. It touched but the Naraka path only seemed to have been pushed back slightly before he grabbed hold of her neck in a vice grip.

Choking and thrashing, Sakura landed a hard kick into the gut of the Naraka path, causing a grunt from him and a tightening of his fingers. Sakura was starting to feel lightheaded, she could hear the Naraka path ask her a question but she could no longer focus. She felt like her energy was being drained from her the more she looked at the King of Hell.

It's no good… I'm so sleepy.

"Sakura!" Sasuke's voice cut into her like a knife as she immediately realized her situation. She lifted her hand to gripped the path's wrist. He merely continued to stare at her as a smirk made its way into her features.

Her eyes glowed slightly as she activated the chakra that she implanted within the Naraka path, disrupting the artificial chakra flow of the body and eventually causing the puppet corpse to shut down. Sakura could feel the path's hands release her as she fell to the ground before her world turned black.

Sasuke felt like his world had crumbled as he watched Sakura fall to the ground, broken. He kept half his mind on her, constantly glancing in her direction to see if she had gotten back on her feet or even shown any symptoms that she would be okay.

"Keep your head straight, teme!" Naruto shouted and Sasuke just barely dodged a slicing chainsaw from the Asura path. Naruto landed a solid kick onto the Deva path but at the same time, he forced Naruto back with his Shinra Tensei, throwing the blonde into the ground just before he landed on his back. The two of them flipped back on their feet, Naruto threw himself back into close combat with the Deva path, watching out for the next time the Deva path uses his Shinra Tensei again.

Naruto ensured to constantly pressure the Deva path to try and push out his Tensei as soon as possible. Just as expected, the Deva path could not keep up with Naruto's taijutsu capabilities and lifted his hand at Naruto.

Seeing it coming, Naruto braced himself for the impact just as it hit him. This time he was sent into the wall of the crater, stirring up dust to cloak around him.

10 seconds huh…

The Asura path has begun to notice a pattern in Sasuke's movement, ever since the Naraka path had been taken out, all the younger Uchiha's been doing was dodging his attacks and occasionally glancing at his fallen teammate. The Asura path came to a standstill and Sasuke finally turns his full attention to him, realizing that the enemy probably has something up his sleeve.

"If you continue to worry about your dead teammate, you will be killed" he stated in a deep yet somewhat mechanic voice.

"I don't need your concern" Sasuke activated the sharingan and immediately transitioning into the mangekyo, finally deciding to end his battle so he can go check on Sakura. Just before he could summon Amaterasu, the asura path leaped out of his range of vision. Sasuke tried to follow him with his eyes but the asura path moved faster than he could target. He created a path of black flames before he was finally forced out of his mangekyo, shutting his eye to try and calm the stinging feeling. His vision throbbed and sudden the asura path stood only a few feet away from him.

He prepared himself from the attack and watched as blades attached to thick metal wires emerged from his back and headed straight for him, Sasuke prepared his limbs for a last minute dodge to throw them off his path but confusion was evoked within him when they changed direction. It took half a second for it to click as he finally realized who their true target was. Sakura.

Six blades lunged at her as she laid innocently immobile on the ground but none of them touched her-

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted before he, too was taken down. His sage mode was interrupted by the chakra rods stabbed into various parts of his body, pinning him to the ground front first. He cried out as the last rod was stabbed into his left shoulder. He had made a miscalculation that caused his down fall.

"It was smart of you to count the seconds of the time needed for me to recharge my Shinra Tensei" Pein's main body spoke. "But the minimum time for me to recharge is 5 seconds, not 10"

"Bastard!" Naruto spat.

…

Horrified faces of the leaf shinobi appeared from behind the debris. "We need to help them!" Ino shouted but Shikamaru shook his head "Let me find his weakness first, there has to be another way of approaching him"

"If we don't hurry, he's going to take Naruto" Kiba proclaimed, his fist clenched and expression frustrated. From behind him, he heard the distressed call of Neji-

"Hinata-sama…!"

Naruto, too was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Hyuga heiress.

Pein turned around to see a blur of black attack him, a byakugan user with her hands coated in glowing blue chakra fire. Her swift movements forced him back and away from Naruto's pinned body, taken by surprise, Pein was knocked back when her palm came in contact with his chest. However the Hyuga did not follow up, instead she turned sharply and ran in Naruto's direction, she had managed to snap one rod to free his hands before Pein decided to take action. Repelling into the wall, her body did not land as hard as Naruto's and rolled down the slope before finally coming to a panting stop. She attempted to get up but was forced back down by an invisible force, she cried out from the pressure and Naruto yelled.

"Pein! She has nothing to do with this, fight me!"

Pein didn't even spare him a glance before producing a chakra rod from his sleeves and raising it above Hinata.

Foreseeing her end, the Hyuga heiress quickly turned her head to look at Naruto, The love and adoration outshining the evident fear in her eyes as she mouthed her last words to him.

I love you…

"HINATA!"

"Sasuke…?"