Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.

The poll is now closed and the majority (72%) wanted Shion to get a Guyver of her own. Of course, that may or may not actually happen... (evil smirk)

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Chapter Fifty-Three

Searchers

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"Hey, gaki." Jiraiya called in greeting as he swung himself through the window. "You ready to go?"

"I am." Naruto replied as he handed a scroll to Hiruzen. "This completes my report, but you may want to talk to Emina about Shinpitekinaishi no tochi. Now that they know we're here, they may try to pull us into that civil war of theirs. At this rate, the girls and I may have to rent out my house just to keep it tidy since we'll be spending so much time putting out fires."

"I'll take your recommendation under advisement and consider the other thing." Hiruzen said. "I have a meeting to get to, so you may as well head out now. Good luck."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Naruto bowed, then he turned to Jiraiya. "Hey, Ero-sennin! You ready to go?"

"Ero-sennin!?" Jiraiya choked, ignoring how his sensei was coughing into his hand in a manner not too dissimilar from an attempt to hide a laugh. "I'm your teacher for this mission, so treat me with the respect I deserve!"

"I thought I was." Naruto shot back and Hiruzen's shoulders started shaking. Jiraiya glared at him briefly, then sighed.

"Alright kid. Armour up and give me a lift to Tanzuka Quarters. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can find Tsunade."

"Sure thing, ero-sennin." Naruto replied as he hurled himself past Jiraiya and out of the window. "Guyver!"

"Didn't he use to say Armour on? I thought Guyver was its name, not a command." Hiruzen asked as Naruto rose into view.

"Apparently it's both." Jiraiya shrugged as he swung himself out of the window and onto Naruto's back. "Okay, brat, let's go, but take it easAYEEEEEeeeeeee…"

Hiruzen chuckled as his student and favourite orphan rapidly raced towards the horizon.

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The dark cavern was illuminated by the chakra-figures standing on the statues fingertips.

"The attack on Konoha was not a success, although a great deal of damage was dealt." Pein stated. "The Uzumaki Armour is formidable."

"I know." Orochimaru grumbled. "That chest-weapon almost got me in the Forest."

"You will have your revenge." Pein stated. "The Ichibi has been taken from its Jinchuuriki. The boy is still alive, but there has been no word about who has the Biju now."

"My spies report that Uzu has gained a Biju but since Taki still thinks it has killed theirs, it could be either the one-tail or the seven-tails." Orochimaru offered.

"Have your people try to confirm the rumour and which one it may be, but not risk exposing themselves." Pein finally commanded.

"As you command, Lord Pein." Orochimaru bowed before his image flickered out of existence.

"Dismissed." Pein said before his own image flickered out and his real eyes opened.

"Konan…" He whispered. "The search…"

"We have found two who will serve as your new Paths, my lord." Konan said. "There is a third that my people are evaluating as we speak. If that works, all six of your Paths shall walk once more."

"Excellent… Konan." Nagato whispered. "Excellent…"

Konan bowed and walked out of the room. As she went, Nagato failed to hear her sorrowful whisper.

"…yahiko…"

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Rasa slumped behind his desk, staring in horror at the message that had been handed to him.

"We've been abandoned." He finally stated. Around the room, the members of the Suna Council shifted, discipline over-riding their instinctive desire to speak.

Rasa placed the message on the desk and glared at it. "The Daimyo has cut off all funding for us. He claims that as we cannot deal with a single enemy, even when we are allied with two other Hidden Villages, he would be better off with a totally new village. He's based it in the ruins of Ruran, after hiring a team of ronin to kill all the nukenin hiding there."

The council was silent as they gazed at him and Rasa rubbed at his eyes.

"I gambled and I lost." Rasa finally admitted. "I can see no way to recover. No way to survive. As such, these are my final orders.

"Suna will soon be destroyed by forces loyal to the Wind Daimyo. Before then, we must leave. Ishigakure will undoubtably be happy to accept new shinobi into their forces. Amegakure… is less likely. Kawa no Kuni should be avoided, they are too close to Konoha politically and would undoubtably hand over any fugitives who choose to go there. The Land of Iron would be a good place for our civilians, the Samurai are honorable enough to take them in."

"And you, Kazekage-sama?" Baki asked quietly.

"I shall remain here, alone." Rasa declared. "Before Lady Chiyo leaves, she shall alter the seals on the tower so that I can detonate them as my last act. Sunagakure is already dead, but I shall give my life to ensure that no-one manages to scavenge anything from its corpse."

The council slowly nodded in agreement and Rasa looked up.

"We have no time to waste. Begin the evacuation now!"

The council vanished in multiple Suna Shunshins and Rasa turned to look over the village and the walls of protective rock and sand that rose around it.

Walls that contained the seals he would trigger to bury Suna forever once all his people were gone.

The Great Five were now the Great Four, and it was all his fault.

He would be forever remembered as the Kazekage who destroyed Suna.

The Last Kazekage.

"…what have I done…"

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Naruto shook his head as Jiraiya bustled off in search of information on Tsunade, then looked round.

"Tanzuka Quarters." He whispered, briefly flashing back to when he had passed through with Aoi-sensei (who was now a guest of Ibiki). "I wonder…"

Calling up his memory of his last visit, Naruto strolled through the crowds before coming to a stop outside a familiar hotel. With a sad smile on his face, he entered it and walked to the receptionist.

"Room for one, if you have it." He said and the receptionist nodded.

"Is the hot pool still here?"

"It is."

Naruto pulled out his wallet and handed over a bundle of ryo.

"Keep the change." He smiled.

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"Where the heck is that brat?" Jiraiya growled.

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Naruto sighed with pleasure as he lowered himself into the hot pool. Glancing round, he smirked at the section of fencing that was slightly less weathered than the rest.

"There you are."

Naruto craned his head up to see Jiraiya walking up to him. "Heh, I remember this place."

"First time we actually met." Naruto agreed as Jiraiya stepped into the hot pool. "By the way, how badly did they beat you? I never found out."

"Heh, they didn't." Jiraiya laughed. "I escaped with all my research intact. Fun times… ah well. Not like I'll get much research done in the near future."

Naruto raised an inquisitive eyebrow and Jiraiya gave a short laugh.

"You look so much like your dad when you do that."

"So… what will you be doing instead of your so-called research?"

"Overhauling my organisation." Jiraiya grumbled. "Given how several of the reports that would have let us prepare for the attack better got… delayed, I think it's been infiltrated. I need to make contact with as many of my agents as possible in order to find out who's still loyal and who isn't, especially since we're now on the verge of outright war."

"Suna, Oto and Ame." Naruto said and Jiraiya nodded.

"Although you never heard it from me, you're going to be promoted and given a team to lead once we get back. In fact, all the teams will be undergoing changes."

"Tokubetsu Jonin Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto breathed. "Jiji thinks I'm ready?"

"Almost." Jiraiya said. "Which is why as we jorney, I'll be using Kage Bunshin to teach the Kage Bunshin that you'll create. You're good, but you just need a little more practice and training to hit the level you need."

"Thanks." Naruto said in relief. "…and my fiancees?"

"Both proved themselves during the fighting. The Hyuuga is definitely being promoted to Chunin, the Yamanaka… maybeso, maybeno. Hard to tell. Your new sister is being promoted as well, but she'll be assigned to a Jonin for a while to get her non-Jinchuuriki skills up to where they need to be. I'm sure that her Kage Bunshin will be of great value."

"Good to know." Naruto nodded. "Did you get the information you needed?"

"Yep!" Jiraiya smirked. "Tomorrow, we are heading for Nikko Shukabaka."

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Sakura slowly opened her eyes. For a long moment, she simply gazed out of the large window, then she blinked in confusion. Pulling herself into a seated position, she looked round the room and her gaze locked onto a blond kunoichi sat by her bed.

"I… Ino?" Sakura croaked and Ino smiled at her before pouring a glass of water and offering it to her.

"Here, drink. You need this."

Sakura accepted the glass and sipped the cool liquid even as she tried to marshal her whirling thoughts.

"You probably have loads of questions, so I'll do my best." Ino said as Sakura drank. "You're in my house at the moment. Hinata-chan and I've moved your personal stuff here since being alone is the last thing you need at this point. Naruto-kun sent some clones to tell your team, but then he had to leave.

"The house is bigger than the last time you visited and I'll show you around once you're up. We've got our own bedroom with attached bathroom, so the morning rush isn't anywhere near as bad as it was. There's also an extra shower room with two loos. Naruto-kun was busy during the first two stages."

Ino accepted the glass from Sakura and placed it on the table. Sakura looked round again, then she stared down at herself.

"What…"

"You needed a sleeping kimono, so I got you one." Ino explained. "Now, you need some food and I can smell some wonderful scents from the kitchen."

Sakura's belly growled and she blushed furiously as Ino smiled.

"Come on." Ino said, gently taking Sakura's hand. "Let's get some food into you."

Sakura let her friend lead her out of the bedroom (noting with bemused astonishment how her name had been placed on the door) and down the stairs.

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"…and this is the bedroom that Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan and I share." Ino said, opening the door to the room on the third floor. Sakura looked around curiously and Ino waved to an interior wall with a glass-brick window in it.

"Our bathroom's on the other side of that, we have a hanging blind in the doorway. While you're here, you'll have to compete with Fu for the downstairs bathroom or simply use the shower room. We have a balcony over there where I like to sit in the evening."

Sakura peeped into the bathroom, noting the shower cubicle in the corner, then she saw Ino waving for her to follow her up the final flight of stairs. At the top, the stairs terminated in a glass room and Ino stepped out of the door.

"This is the upper balconey." She said as Sakura followed her. "It also doubles as a launching platform for those of us who have the Armour. If you see me leaping off the edge, don't worry, I'm just activating my Guyver."

"Guy-ver?" Sakura repeated and Ino nodded.

"It's the actual name of the Armour. Now, we just shout Guyver to activate it. Quicker than Armour On."

"Oh." Sakura managed as she took in the view from the balconey, then she frowned. "Ino, what are you going to do with all of this space?"

Ino looked at her curiously and Sakura expanded her question.

"You have two basements, a living area, a kitchen, a dining area, a second living area, seven bedrooms, four bathrooms… isn't it too much?"

Ino shook her head. "Nope. Big sis Fu lives with us, you live with us now… Naruto-kun's always wanted a family, the bigger the better. He didn't have one growing up, so…"

Ino trailed off with a shrug, then turned her attention to the sky.

"I wonder how Naruto-kun's getting on with that mission that the Hokage sent him on?"

"What mission?"

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"Oh, I can see why Kakashi likes this!" Jiraiya hollered as he clung onto Naruto's back. "What! A! View! And such a smooth ride!"

"Kakashi-sempai usually reads one of his books when we travel." Naruto replied.

Jiraiya nodded. "Proof that he has excellent taste. There it is! Nikko Shukabaka!"

"I'll land us outside." Naruto stated, changing course slightly.

"By the way," Jiraiya said, "When we find her, she'll try to defy us, so we need her off-balance. I need you to do something…"

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Authors Afternote – The layout of Naruto's expanded house can be found on my DeviantArt page.