A.N.

Bless all of those who have reviewed, faved, and followed my story. I really, truly appreciate it!

If you have not kept up with the manga from here on out there may be spoilers.

Disclaimer: Naruto does NOT belong to me.

Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga and/or anime are completely original.

Please Review!

"This is me." Sakura turned to walk into the building before she stopped a few steps away from the door. Sayuri watched as her former teammate suddenly took her in a tight embrace taking her completely by surprise. "Promise that you'll stay alive."

Sayuri slowly returned the gesture. "Only if you promise first."

Because despite the fact that they had always had more than a few differences, that one felt hurt that the love of her life had chosen the other, and that the other felt that she had taken by accident something away from her, the two had still been teammates as Genin, the two still cared for each other at some level.

The two pulled away and nodded before they turned and headed for their respective homes.

War

Dawns early light filtered through the small office as a young brunette sat in the middle of the room, a scroll in hand. Brown eyes scanned the scroll for the fifth time that morning in an attempt to memorize it because, unlike certain people, she wasn't a genius. There was a light knock on the door before it slid open revealing a young man. He donned a green vest, and black long sleeve shirt underneath, the Konoha head band tied around his forehead, side swept blue hair framing his face.

"Lad—" he froze as the brunette lifted her gaze to him in a cold glare. "Sayuri!" he quickly corrected turning scarlet as the girl turned back to the scroll in her hands.

"Yes?" she murmured distracted.

The young blue haired man stood at attention. "We're all ready to go…" he almost said ma'am but he caught himself just in time. He sighed in relief as the brunette rolled the scroll and placed it in her pouch as she stood up.

"All right let's get moving." She walked past him heading towards Konoha's newly constructed gates.

XXX

Sayuri tugged at her sleeve nervous about what was to come. Around her were her fellow shinobi all heading to the Hidden Cloud. They had all taken their time to make the adequate preparations, unfortunately one of their detours took longer than expected making them arrive to head quarters at the last minute.

"Whoa!" One of the men beside her exclaimed as they reached camp. Her entire team was stunned, heck even she was stunned.

Ninja and samurai were everywhere. Some ran from one side to another, others walked. There were small wooden homes all over the area, boxes with materials being transported to their proper locations. She couldn't believe there were that many people willing to fight in this war. Her group took a step forward only to be stopped by two samurai guarding the entrance.

"Halt!" the one on the right ordered.

"What village do you hail from?" demanded the other.

Sayuri pointed to her forehead where her long forgotten headband gleamed proudly. "We're the last of the ninja from the Hidden Leaf."

"How many are in your team?"

"Um…" She turned to men behind her who seemed to shy away from the samurai. Nice…real nice… Sayuri turned to the two armored men. "…twenty."

One of the samurai took out a note pad and jotted the number down as another pushed a crate towards them. "Each one of you will trade in your headband for these new ones as a sign of your alliance."

Carefully picking one up her eyes read over the kanji. Shinobi…She smiled and quickly reached to untie her headband and replace it with the new one. Silently the others followed her example before marching in.

As they walked she saw plenty of shinobi that she did not recognize, however their attire told her where they came from. The further she and her group ventured in the more she noticed how divided everyone was. There were small groups on ninja all around mingling among their own, excluding any outsiders. She felt several of them stare after them some even openly glaring.

"More ninja from Konoha…like we need any more good for nothing nuisances."

"What did you say?!" asked a tall blonde man from her group who directed his anger to a group of Hidden Rock ninja. "I dare you to say that again!" Sayuri glanced over her shoulder and sighed.

"That's enough!" she ordered as the blonde froze, his face bright red with rage. "We're not here to pick fights." Sayuri turned away from them and continued walking ignoring the small snide remarks from the ninja around them.

If this is ever going to work someone has to find a way to unite these people otherwise there'd be not point in having a joint shinobi force if we're all trying to kill one another. Sayuri thought as she headed towards the Kage's meeting room.

"Go mingle, I have business to take care of." She ordered the men following her as she was suddenly lost in the sea of people. She pushed he way through until she saw another pair of samurai carrying a crate. "Hey!" she yelled as she was shoved aside by a foreign ninja.

"Hey yourself, brat!" the man continued on his merry way leaving a seething Sayuri behind.

"Stupid, rotten, good for nothing, piece of…" she grumbled as she literally stomped her way over to the samurai. The two men turned just in time to watch the brunette take a deep breath.

"May we help you?" asked one as they placed the crate down.

Regaining her composure she tried her best to keep her irritation from showing. "I need to talk to the Hokage. Do you by any chance know where she is?"

"Uh, yes, all the Kage are over there." One of them pointed to a spot behind her.

Sayuri turned around only to face a cliff. Tilting her head up she noticed the building that rested atop of it and almost groaned in frustration. Why couldn't they have been somewhere closer? She just finished doing one last mission and it had taken her two days and five hours to get here and now she had to climb a stinking cliff!

"Thanks…" she mumbled as she headed over expecting to find some stairs but not even that. "Really?!"

"Yes…I know tedious right." Sayuri stiffened and turned to Kakashi who stood behind her, eyes glued on a certain orange book. "You have to climb it…but it'll serve as training," he placed one leg up followed by the other as he stood horizontally. "Well?" he flipped a page. "Are you coming?"

Gritting her teeth out of irritation Sayuri gathered chakra to her feet and began to climb at a slow pace. Since when had something as simple as this become so difficult? She wondered when her foot suddenly sank into the rock below her.

"Easy now..." Kakashi who was a few feet ahead of her spoke. "You're still getting used to your chakra don't overdo it."

"I'm not overdoing anything." Sayuri muttered under her breath as she carefully followed her silver hair instructor. Upon reaching the top the two dusted themselves off and entered the building.

There were several people with note pads running around the room. Others sat on the floor with helmets on strapped to a pillar while anther group held up a giant circular mass in the air.

"Don't lag behind." She turned to Kakashi who was heading towards a door at the back of the building. She moved quickly to catch up to the jounin as he opened the door revealing a circular desk with the Kage and their respective guards around them.

Tsunade looked up and smiled. "Sayuri…"

"Lady Hokage, Kages." She bowed respectfully and took out a scroll from her pouch, presenting it to the blonde woman.

"Is everything ready?" she asked as she broke the seal to the scroll and pulled it open.

"Yes." She nodded. "I took the last teams and split them into teams of four, each being headed by one of my clones. The barriers were set up around the villages successfully and I placed several tags that will summon me in case of an emergency. The only village we had a bit of trouble with was the Hidden Rock," she turned to the short old man. "It was difficult to figure out where your village's borders were."

Ōnoki let out a deep laugh. "Of course girl, what did you think? That we'd let just anyone figure out where we lived?"

Sayuri refrained from glaring at the old man; instead she turned her attention to Tsunade who read the mission details. "Good." She hummed as she placed the scroll down.

"Will she really be enough to protect our villages if someone attacks?" asked the Raikage as he sized the brunette up looking for the tiniest flaw.

"She will be more than enough." Tsunade smiled at Sayuri. "She's the daughter of the late Yūkan Marihasha and Nagisa Mizuchi, she's also an ANBU level Jounin with plenty of experience in S-class missions." The Raikage scoffed seemingly not impressed while the Mizukage turned to Sayuri in interest.

"Nagisa Mizuchi, huh..." The Mizukage smiled. "I knew your mother. She was a very skilled konoichi. You should be proud." Sayuri forced a smile at the mention of her family. It was still a touchy subject, but she nodded anyways.

"Thank you for all your help." Gaara smiled. "Our villages will need someone to look after them while we're here." Sayuri nodded with a smile.

"In any case…"Mifune interrupted as he opened a file before him and began to read over it. "Sayuri you will be in my fifth division. We are to provide back up to the teams as needed."

"Yes sir!" Sayuri straightened as she was quickly briefed in her duties. As soon as the Mizukage was done she bowed and left the room followed closely behind by Kakashi.

She glanced over at him as they stood outside of the building while he read his porn without a care in the world. "Where is Moriyo-sensei?" she finally asked after two minutes of awkward silence, well awkward for her.

Kakashi looked up at the clear blue sky. "She's actually in my team."

"It must be hard to for her to take orders from you." Sayuri smiled up at her sensei who looked taken aback.

"I have no respect from any of my students…" The man sighed while Sayuri laughed as she moved to leave.

"How are you doing?" Sayuri turned back to him with a questioning look. "Do you think you would have been better with them to begin with?"

"Them?" she asked.

"Your memories and chakra."

Sayuri's shoulders slumped forward. No one had asked her that until today, and quite frankly she never really wanted to answer that question. She had argued with Itachi for sealing her memories back then, she thought she wanted to know but now…There were too many vivid nightmares. Nightmares of her not being able to do anything but watch as her mother, her aunt, and her clan were murdered. Watching helplessly as Sasuke and Itachi fought…maybe the older Uchiha did have a point. Those memories were only going to cause her trouble.

She couldn't sleep, sometimes she couldn't eat. Her chakra wasn't helping much either. The time she spent in Konoha, she spent it relearning the basics in order to control her chakra. There were times when she'd lose control and it would cripple her until she was able to regain her bearings. Sometimes she would lay on the training field for hours until she finally rein her chakra in, however those episodes were becoming increasingly rare. Only occurring on occasions in which she was too overwhelmed. And that was what made her nervous…what scared her.

What if during battle she lost control again? She could die because she'd be vulnerable. Other ninja could die because of her weakness. Yes, now she was able to hold clones for longer periods of time, and for greater distances than the any other shinobi because of her enhanced chakra, but that very same gift had its own down side, a very dangerous downside.

If Itachi hadn't sealed her memory or her chakra would she have been better? Would she have been able to use her chakra and have greater control over it?

Not if I lost my mind from all the trauma. Sayuri thought sadly. Itachi was right. She would have pushed everyone away. She would have dwelled upon those events, running them over and over in her mind, each time blaming herself for it until she lost it…until she cracked. She would have lost control of her chakra, and it would have destroyed her from the inside out. She could honestly say she knew herself well enough to know that it would have happened eventually, maybe not right away, but eventually.

"No." she finally answered. "I don't think I would have been better off with either. But I'll just have to get over it now, won't I?"

Kakashi smiled from under his mask and nodded. "Right." The man turned back to his book while Sayuri jumped down the cliff.

XXX

"There's so many ninja!" Sayuri exclaimed as she stood beside Kiba and Ino both of whom were on her team. While the commanders stood at the top of the cliff of head quarters. There was still tension in the air that much was clear. Everyone was wary of the other. The feeling of disdain only became increasingly noticeable when a ninja from the Hidden Rock threatened a ninja from the Hidden Sand. Everyone's attention was on the two when Gaara separated them. They all turned to the young redhead for an explanation.

"Three times now. We've fought world wars for our nations, our own villages. We've hurt one another. We've hated one another. That hated bred lust for power and that lust for power created me. I was a jinchuuriki the embodiment of hatred and power." Not a single person dared to utter a word as the Kazekage stood hand still raised out towards them. "And I hated this world, and all the people in it. I wanted to destroy it with my own hands. The exact same thing Akatsuki is trying to do today. But one man, one ninja from the hidden leaf stopped me."

Sayuri smiled at the thought of her blond friend and teammate. The guy really did work wonders.

"I was his enemy, yet he wept for me! I hurt him, yet he called me his friend! He saved me! My enemy, my fellow jinchuuriki…He suffered the same pain as me, yet bore no I'll will. There are no enemies here because we've all suffered at Akatsuki's hand! So there is no sand, no stone, no leaf, no mist, and no cloud! There are only shinobi!"

"And if you still hold a grudge against the sand, then when this war is over, come and take my head instead!"

"Whoa…" Kiba exhaled beside Sayuri while Ino's eyes widened in surprise. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the man from the Rock who looked up at the Kazekage in shock.

"Our enemies are after the friend who saved my life! If they take him, if we hand him over, our world is finished! I want to protect him and I want to protect our world! But I'm too young to protect it all on my own! All of you lend me your help!"

Suddenly everyone cheered. Sayuri laughed and clapped her hands; the Kazekage was no longer the scary, dark, redhead that had almost killed her when she was still a Genin. No, now he was a confidant, young man who'd do anything for his friend.

"Everyone who's with me let's go!" He pumped a fist into the air as everyone below cheered, having finally found some unison.

Just like the Naruto…She smiled.

XXX

They hid in the woods, strategically placed in between all of the divisions ready to provide back up at a moment's notice. Sayuri was perched atop a tree branch when they received notice of the fight that had begun. She jumped down, landing gracefully on the ground as she turned to their intelligence ninja.

"Who's fighting?" She asked the man that sat among her group with his headset on.

"Divisions one and two…we've sent the closest platoons to aid them."

"I see." She turned around just as the man began to receive more instructions.

"I need a 'Sayuri Marihasha.'"

The brunette tensed as her name was called but answered regardless. "That's me."

The ninja looked up from his seat and nodded. "Your presence is being requested back at the fifth's divisions head quarters."

"Headquarters?" she echoed confused. "Do you know why?"

The man shrugged. "Lord Mifune just requested you."

"O-Ok." She nodded before she took to the trees. Her brows dipped in confusion as she leapt from one branch to another. What could Mifune want with her? She arrived rather quickly as her platoon was only a few miles away. She watched the samurai tense at her arrival and relax once they realized who it was.

Everyone's on edge…She thought as she approached the small camp and headed into her captain's cabin. As she entered the room one samurai ran out most likely to send orders while four others stood around the small room. She cleared her throat to catch the old man's attention.

"Sit." He gestured to the empty spot across from his as he turned back to the map.

"It'll be easier for us to provide back up if we're spread out between all of the platoons." Mifune told Sayuri who sat before him as he pointed at the map on the floor. "See in this arch we can send the closest teams for back up when needed."

"I see…" Sayuri nodded feigning interest, as she sifted in her seat. I'm supposed to be out there, helping not sitting in headquarters across a musing old man! She almost frowned in irritation at the thought. No, Sayuri…She scolded herself. I must remain calm. I was called here for a good reason.

"It's important to come up with a good strategy when at war. There must be no room for mistakes." He continued as he looked down at the map. Sayuri looked up at the old man and tilted her head why the heck was he explaining all this to her as if she didn't already know?!

"Lord Mifune," he grunted in response, obviously trying to come up with more strategies to try and aid the others. "Not to be rude sir, but why am I here? Shouldn't I be with the others?" He looked up then, face devoid of emotion and she immediately panicked. "It's not like I don't enjoy being in your company sir!" she raised her hands up in a pacifying manner.

Mifune laughed then managing to confuse the girl. "Calm down." The man ordered and she quickly obliged. "We've received information that someone has been using the Edo Tensei," Sayuri's eyes widened. "Do you know what that is?"

"Yes…" Sayuri recalled Moriyo talking very briefly about it after the Third Hokage's death. It had been the technique that had killed the old Kage three years ago.

"I was told that Orochimaru was the only one other than Tobirama that was able to use it…however that is obviously no longer the case." Mifune crossed his arms. "I understand that you were sent to infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout a couple of months back, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Then you must know if there was someone that he could have taught the technique to? A lackey or maybe Sasuke?"

"No, not him." She shook her head. "If anyone would have learned that technique it had to have been Kabuto." Mifune raised an eyebrow so she quickly explained. "Kabuto was like his right hand man. He knew everything that had to do with the snake…He most likely learned the technique from watching the sick man experiment."

"I see." He nodded. "Sayuri, how well are you with tracking?"

She smirked. "I do predominantly infiltration missions so I had to learn how to effectively track people along the way."

"Good." He nodded. "Sayuri Marihasha, you will be assigned a separate task." She sat straighter as the man narrowed his eyes. "You are to find Kabuto, and you are to stop the Edo Tensei."

"Sir!" a samurai rushed into the cabin just as Sayuri stood from her seat.

"The surprise attack division has sent a distress signal! They're being perused by four Edo Tensei summons. Among them is Hanzō of the salamander!"

Mifune frowned and stood up with a grunt. "All right…" he turned to the four samurai that had kept watch in the room. "You four will go with Sayuri, you will be under her orders." He turned back to the samurai by the door. "The rest of us will go aid the surprise attack division. Let's move!"

"Yes, sir!"

The leader of the samurai rushed out of the room followed closely behind by Sayuri and her new team. As soon as the man and the rest of the fifth division left the area she turned to the four men behind her.

"How will we search for this Kabuto guy?" one of the asked.

"Well it's a summoning so he must be hidden close by in order to keep control over all of the people he revived." she said thoughtfully. "If that's the case…" she quickly performed some hand seals before stopping on the seal of the tiger. "Earth Style: Shadow Clone." The ground around them suddenly lifted up taking the size and shape of the brunette user. Soon their appearance began to clear up leaving three identical copies of Sayuri.

The four men looked at the clones in amazement. It wasn't often that they got the chance to see a ninja make clones up close.

"We'll split up." She ordered. "We will search the North while my clones will search the East, South, and West areas of the land for Kabuto."

"Right!" the three clones gave their original a firm nod before leaping in off in three different directions.

"All right let's…" Sayuri trailed off upon noticing two figures hiding amongst the trees. Sensing the two foreign chakras as well, the samurai took out their swords trying to figure out where the strangers were.

Slowly Sayuri crouched down and placed a palm on the ground making a single seal with her other hand. Her head snapped to the right where one of the intruders was located just before their chakra flared.

"Light Style: Beast Running Jutsu!"

"Scatter!" she ordered and quickly leapt away from the area, the samurai following her example just as a lightning shape hound pounced on them sending lighting sparks around the area it landed on.

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

Sayuri's eyes widened in shock as five large dragon shaped water jutsu headed towards each person in the clearing. "Earth Style: Earth Barrier!" The brunette crouched to the ground a dome covered her and the four samurai just as the dragon struck. The domes fell in muddy clumps as the jutsu wore off, having absorbed the impact of the water bullet. The lighting hound roared but did not move from its spot at the center of the clearing

"You've grown, Sayuri." A soft voice caught the brunette's attention as she turned around.

"I'll say. Look at you executing advanced jutsu!"

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the two women before her. "Mother…Aunt Kaminari…" she managed to say as they stepped into the clearing.

"Sayuri." The silver haired one of the two smiled.

A.N.

Sorry for the long wait. I've been studying for midterms and well it gets crazy here. Anyway, please leave a review! It makes me happy to know that people are really interested in my story.