A/N: Back with more of my Naruto x Sakura AU. Now some fights will still happen like they do in canon I just won't write them out but I'll go into more detail about that after the chapter.

There is a slight formatting issue with the site, it won't insert the horizontal line that usually separates my author's notes so I bolded them instead. Annoying but I can't do anything about it I already tried.

I hope you like the chapter, it wasn't easy to write.

Naruto had a front-row seat on the battlefield and continued fighting, making him frustrated to still be bound by the demonic chains of the Gedo statue, most notably Sakura who was in the midst of trying to fight Obito.

"Dammit, I have to break free of these chains, Sakura is fighting that fake Madara by herself, and the others need help too!" Naruto said angrily.

The White Zetsu were relentlessly trying to make sure nobody could rescue Naruto, luckily Killer B and Guy were stopping Kakashi from being pursued by the creatures as the Sensei rushed to rescue his student.

"Just hang on Naruto!" Kakashi said anxiously.

Meanwhile, Sakura was busy with Obito, and because of his Kamui, she was defensive and hyper-aware of every move she made while fighting him.

"I need to take out his Sharingan eye." She thought quickly.

That would not be an easy thing to do because it was such a small target and Obito would likely teleport the second Sakura got close enough.

"Fighting is useless, I won't let you land another hit on me, you will die," Obito said bluntly.

Sakura warned him. "Just because you have your own transportation jutsu doesn't make you invincible, If I hit you once already I can again— "

"Enough—Blast Wave Wild Dance!" He yelled triumphantly.

Obito expelled a massive stream of fire that became a fiery spiral, his goal was to trap Sakura in a vortex of fire.

"Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!" Sakura shouted clapping her hands together.

She would flood this entire area just to stop my attack! can't use Kamui without a stable surface, I would be materializing in the flood of water, and she is somehow keeping it away from her friends! He thought in bitter frustration.

Sure enough, that was exactly Sakura's intent, to at least temporarily limit Obito's movement with Kamui. She didn't want him pursuing Kakashi while he attempted to rescue Naruto from the binding chain of the Gedo Statue. He was able to reach Naruto unimpeded, breaking the chains, however, was another matter entirely.

"Kakashi Sensei…help…me." Naruto was struggling to stay conscious now. "My chakra…is draining…so fast."

"The nine tails, he hasn't been extracted yet, how is that possible?" He asked.

"Sakura, that jutsu she used on me…protecting us…the fake Madara…she's fighting him." He said clearly in pain.

"Sakura is holding her own, getting you free is my priority." He said seriously.

Lady Katsuyu chimed in but she was worried. "I've weakened the chains with my acid spray but breaking them won't be easy."

"Lady Katsuyu doesn't the summoning jutsu have a time limit?" He was clearly surprised.

"That's just an unspoken rule so that ninja who are contracted with us don't rely on our power too much—I stay by Lady Tsunade, and Sakura's side at my own discretion." She said pridefully feeling somewhat offended that anyone might think she would flee during a dire situation in the midst of a war.

Kakashi was just realizing the gravity of even accidentally disrespecting a creature that had probably been around since the Sage of Six Paths lifetime. "Oh I didn't mean to suggest- He stammered.

"Can you be offended later, milady?" Naruto asked still in pain.

"Lady Tsunade…oh dear—I must go to her, she is in dire need of healing. Please apologize to Sakura on my behalf!" The towering slug Queen split into two and the other half vanished without another word.

"I think I can break the eroded chakra chain—lightning blade!" Kakashi shattered the chakra chain freeing Naruto, now that his bind to the Gedo Statue was severed.

"The other tailed beasts-I have to free them!" He staggered to his feet.

"Naruto you are in no condition to free the captured-tailed beasts," Kakashi said seriously.

"I can heal you, Naruto, but it will take extra time, please be patient." Lady Katsuyu implored urgently.

"But I don't have time—Sakura is still fighting that faker by herself—I promised…" He struggled to stay upright.

Kakashi supported Naruto. "Stay put, Sakura is holding her own against Obito— " He didn't want to sound too blunt, but he was worried.

Suddenly Obito appeared on the head of the husk of the ten-tails. "The girl is nothing more than a nuisance, though she was enough of a distraction for others to free you Naruto—not that it matters, I will bind you again!" He mocked them all. "Time to bring out the other tailed-beasts again, and this time I will crush you all and claim the demon fox!"

"His name is Kurama!" Naruto yelled angrily.

"Why struggle Naruto, you are in no condition to resist." He goaded. "Now— " Obito was interrupted as where he was standing shook violently. "What— "

"Earth Release: Titan Smash!" Sakura shot up through the ground and upended the demonic statue and Obito simultaneously.

Kakashi watched in awe. "She used the headhunter jutsu to borrow underground and then shot upward like a missile…what's more is she encased her entire body in a hard shell of Earth-infused chakra—to think that even one of her elemental release infusions has progressed that much so quickly in terms of pure chakra, especially in a real-time battle … She seems to have taken after Lord Fourth in naming her jutsu on the spot too."

Obito's internal reaction was very different. He felt like he had been struck with the force of a massive boulder; it was somehow worse than the one that left him gravely injured all those years ago… "No, I was careless, she used the wall of water as a shield so that I never saw her go underground— "

"Stay away," She smashed Obito back into the ground at her apex, "…FROM NARUTO—CHA!"

"Just how powerful…? She reminds me of…" He crashed through the Earth several layers deep and choked up much more blood as he went, he wasn't used to feeling physical pain and yet he had been punched head-on for a second time, "Dammit all!" He needed to bring the other tailed beasts out again.

Sakura landed on the ground with enough force to make a mini crater, her full body earth infusion of her chakra dissipating just afterward.

"Naruto, I'll heal you—Kakashi Sensei I know you don't want to fight your friend but he won't stay down for long and I can't do two things at once." Sakura said seriously.

"You were friends— "

"There's no time for that—it looks like Guy and Killer B are still fighting the White Zetsu, we'll protect you!" He assured them rushing off without another word.

"Obito hasn't resurfaced." Sakura said after some silence. "He's up to something…" Healing Naruto had to be her focus, they wouldn't succeed without him. "I swear I will protect you, Naruto."

"YOU WILL PROTECT NOTHING!" Obito burst out of the ground in outrage.

With a single hand-sign Obito summoned all the tailed beasts from inside the statue.

"Oh that's not good!" Guy said anxiously.

Killer B entered his full tailed beast transformation and rushed off to intercept his enslaved brethren, launching multiple tailed beast bombs—hitting the three tails and six tails, the others avoided the impact…

"Kaurma will you trust me this time." Naruto said aloud. "We have to free the rest of the tailed beasts.

"Finally something we can agree on, don't screw up this time." Karuma warned with a little amusement.

"Thanks Sakura…now I won't fail!" He said seriously. They transformed in mere moments and wasted no time in grabbing the remaining chakra rods from the other tailed beasts. "Oh man, I forgot how difficult it is to remove these—Sakura give me time!" Naruto said through gritted teeth.

"No offense Naruto but I'm stronger." Sakura reasoned. "Karuma can you share your chakra with me?" She asked quickly.

"Are you actually suggesting that WE enter full tailed beast transformation." He wanted to laugh but… "Since you linked your chakra to Naruto's chakra, that means my chakra is also linked to yours." He gave a low growl. "Fine I will share my power with you just long enough to free the other tailed beasts, just undo the seal!" It was a smart move he had to admit.

"Okay-Naruto you help Kakashi Sensei keep Obito occupied while Karuma and I handle the other tailed beasts." Sakura told him seriously. "Go now, I don't know if he will be able to fight his old friend, let alone defeat him! She hadn't meant for it to sound like an order but it was.

"Yeah, right!" Naruto said quickly, disappearing moments later.

"Are you sure you can handle my chakra, Sakura." He challenged.

Sakura was determined. "My chakra control is far superior to Sasuke and Naruto, I knew what I was doing when I linked the seal and your chakra with mine." She unlocked the seal without a second thought.

"The fact is that you don't have as much chakra so we won't have as long in the transformation, make it count!" He warned.

"No problem, let's go Kaurma!" She said calmly.

Several feet away Kakashi was trying to reason with the friend—now enemy that he long thought dead.

"Obito why? Why are you trying to end a world in which you always dreamed of being Hokage!" Kakashi asked, his tone pleading for answers.

"I've seen the hell that is this world…Kakashi! A world of dreams is the only salvation, stay out of my way, or die!" He said bluntly.

Using a single-hand sign yet again, Obito unleashed a massive stream of fire at Kakashi, covering the distance between them.

"Water release: exploding water shockwave!" Kakashi countered hastily.

For the second time, water collided with fire saturating the ground to a much larger degree than the water jutsu Sakura used earlier. However, Obito was able to keep himself above water this time, staying in his pocket dimension while the water receded, this meant that he was temporarily gone from the battlefield.

"Dammit, even from here I can sense that the chakra chains binding and subduing the captured-tailed beasts have been removed, they will be much to control now, but at least they are still linked to the statue." He couldn't hide his frustration.

"Obito…" Kakashi was struggling to comprehend how his friend ended up so cruel and hateful.

Sakura joined Kakashi sounding worrisome. "Where is Naruto? I freed the other tailed beasts from those chakra rods but that stupid husk of a statue vanished just after that." She said seriously.

"Obito is gone too," Kakashi said anxiously.

"Oh no, he's going to reappear and summon the damn statue again." She said darkly.

"I thought you removed the rods?" He asked.

"I did, they might have some control over themselves again but they are still bound to the statue," Sakura told him. "Why did they both vanish at almost the same time." She was also worried now.

Naruto appeared in the momentary silence that followed their exchange. "Where is that faker?" He said angrily.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you should have stayed hidden," Obito said reappearing and sounding newly ominous. "Summoning Jutsu!" The statue burst out of the ground again.

"I can feel the chakra from the captured-tailed beasts." He said in amazement.

Suddenly Naruto found himself in yet another tailed beast's psyche plane, with all the other tailed beasts standing around him.

"Son Goku and the other tailed beasts you're all together." He said in shock.

Kurama explained quickly. "Between you Naruto, and Sakura, that stubborn girlfriend of yours, the others have been freed." He was reluctantly impressed. "But that won't stop them from being pulled back into the statue—the four tails is already being recalled." He said seriously.

"It's Son you irritable Fox!" He said. "Naruto, all you need to do is hold out your hand to the others just like you did with me, and your chakra will be linked to all of us, just as I predicted." Son was grateful.

"The other Jinchiriki are here too…" He hadn't realized this at first because of the difference in size with their respective tailed beast.

"You can be a social butterfly later just share your chakra with everyone, quickly, and that goes for Sakura too, our enemies will never expect that!" He said smugly.

"But I'm not actually one of you— "

"Don't get all modest now, you linked your chakra with Naruto's when you layered your own on top the seal that keeps me contained inside his body. I'm a lot of things but I'm not dumb." He continued begrudgingly. "I hate to admit it but you have mastery of the control of chakra the likes of which I have not seen for a very very long time—now hurry up you little brats!" He said impatiently.

They did as instructed, and immediately felt the additional chakra as a result, it was just a shame that they would be getting used to it on the fly… The thing about having these internal conversations was that time didn't stand still. Obito was toying with everyone and the White Zetsu seemed endless.

"What's the status of the other companies?" Guy asked Kakashi clearly getting exhausted, though he tried hard not to let it show.

"Last I heard they were all trying to make their way here." He had a bad feeling that would not go away.

Obito laughed derisively. "There is no one that can sway the war in your favor, I will just send the tailed beasts after Naruto again—same old same old!" He sneered.

"I told you before the only way you get to Naruto is over my dead body!" Sakura shouted in determined defiance.

"Oh I will gladly kill you." He said bluntly.

"Obito, you can't have forgotten everything you once held so dearly." Kakashi said with somber disbelief.

"I didn't give it up, it was taken away right in front of me by you Kakashi, and make no mistake an added benefit of this war is that I can kill you where you stand—not that you're even worth it!" He spat in disgust.

"Kakashi give me your hand, now," Kurama ordered suddenly, speaking through Naruto.

"The nine tails?" He had a blank expression.

"Just do it." He demanded impatiently.

Kurama surprised everyone by throwing Kakashi directly at Obito and they both disappeared together into his Kamui dimension.

"What did you do that for?" Sakura yelled impatiently.

"I wasn't going to do anything more than that." Kurama said smugly.

"What?" Naruto asked blankly.

"Kurama used your body for a moment and took care of distractions." Sakura said sarcastically.

Kurama was unapologetically blunt. "Those two can kill each other in that pocket dimension for all I care. We have a much bigger problem, the real Madara will be here soon, you can both yell at me later, assuming you're not dead." He said seriously.

"How do you know?" They asked nervously.

"When you live as long as I have you recognize the chakra of certain people—that faker Obito felt different, but I couldn't be sure while he was wearing that mask. The point is the real Madara's skills as a shinobi are what you need to worry about!" He sounded unusually nervous.

"All we can do right now is subdue the rest of the tailed beasts." Sakura said rationally.

Guy was quite out of breath. "If you have a plan please do it now. I've used so much chakra that I am actually getting tired and I never get tired."

"I do have a plan, I just don't know if it's going to work, I guess it's time to see if my other training will pay off." She was anxious.

"What is your plan, Sakura?" Naruto asked curiosity.

"The chakra of the other tailed beasts is still bound to the Gedo Statue—I'm going to try and unbind it!" She explained seriously.

"Can you even do that?" Guy asked blankly. Still occupied with trying not to get attacked by enemy forces—which the other tailed beasts still belong to ironically.

It was a fair question certainly…

Affecting the chakra of just one of the tailed beasts was difficult enough but affecting the chakra of six of the nine animals at the same time? Even with her Genjutsu training, Sakura knew that it would be a monumental task.

Sakura was determined. "I'm the best in our village and this war at chakra control—not that I've ever tried to control chakra besides my own before, let alone the chakra of multiple-tailed beasts, but I'm the only one who might be able to do it. I can't fight and focus on this at the same time though…Naruto, everyone— "

"Don't worry Sakura, I won't let anything happen to you!" Naruto said seriously.

"The power of youth will— "

"Now is not the time bushier brow sensei." Naruto pleaded hastily.

Aided by Guy and Killer B, Naruto kept the other tailed beasts distracted, though this was not an easy task, given their immense size and power. For some reason Sakura thought of Itachi, able to perform Genjutsu with one finger—if only she was that skilled, what she was attempting would be a lot easier. Kakashi couldn't keep Obito occupied forever and if it was true that Madara was on his way here… She needed to free the other tailed beasts, or rather their chakra, from the Gedo Statue binding it, and so with the others as a distraction Sakura began weaving numerous hand signs.

Meanwhile for Kakashi and Obito…

"You always did defeat in traditional sparring," Obito said bitterly.

Kakashi was in shock at how ironic that Obito was an enemy now. ""The last thing I wanted to do is fight you Obito, stop this, the lighting blade wasn't meant to be used against a comrade—past or present. Your ideals you always believed in helping friends and strangers alike…"

"Idealism is useless in a broken world." Obito was laughing derisively.

"Everything that you once stood for—how could you have fallen so far…" It was a genuine question, not an accusation.

"You let Rin die, I saw everything." He said bitterly. The sound of Kakashi's Chidori still ringing in his ears. It was odd to have just been struck through the heart and feel nothing.

Kakashi's voice was heavy with emotion. "Rin was made into a Trojan Horse by the hidden mist village, she didn't have enough chakra to suppress the three tails, so she sacrificed herself for the leaf village." He pulled his hand from Obito's chest and jumped back, guilt and pity on his face.

"All I see— " Obito began to cough up blood yet again. "Are promises that a broken man couldn't keep." He was laughing now but every breath was a struggle. "So…I'll let you have this battle…" He lifted his head giving Kakashi a death stare. "But I am not conceding the war!" He said ominously before disappearing from his Kamui pocket dimension, leaving Kakashi alone, too exhausted to follow.

As destruction reigned over the battlefield the real Madara Uchiha spoke with amusement and ire. "Who knew one could be so nostalgic?" Madara addressed Obito as he came out of his Kamui dimension. "You are late!"

"I was here before you Madara, I was preoccupied fighting Kakashi." He had healed from any critical injury, but he was still in a lot of pain."

"You don't look well Obito, and you didn't even notice that you, and the Gedo Statue, have been completely severed from the chakra of the other tailed beasts." He was extremely disappointed.

"That's impossible!" He was in denial.

"Not for someone who can disrupt it. The question is which of these people has the best chakra control." He said overlooking the battlefield from atop a nearby hill. "That girl…she is in a Genjutsu stance." He was strangely excited. "Give me my weapon back Obito, it's time to show these children a real ninja." With his weapon in hand, Madara Uchiha jumped onto the battlefield. "The best of the Shinobi Alliance pardon the interruption, but the Gedo Statue is mine and so are the other six tailed beasts." He was blunt.

"That's the legendary Madara Uchiha," Guy said in an awed voice.

"I see that future generations are in awe of my reputation as a ninja." He was amused. "I commend anyone brave enough to stand against me, but I won't hesitate to kill so if you don't want to die I give you one chance to flee or you will end up like your precious Kage—probably on the brink of death at this very moment." He sounded almost mocking.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Naruto definitely yelled.

"Obito— "

"I'll handle the other's." He was not going to lose again.

"Naruto Uzumaki the Jinchiriki of the nine tails. I can see that you believe in yourself, just as Hashirama always did." Madara got right to the point. "Let's see if you can fight like him!" He dared.

Fighting Madara was more difficult than Obito, which was saying a lot considering Obito was able to freely move part of—or his entire body—in and out of a different dimension with his Kamui. Madara's Taijutsu skills alone were enough to kill dozens upon dozens of ninjas in the shinobi alliance.

"Kurama— "

"You better not waste my chakra Naruto." He said in a sharp tone.

"Yeah, yeah I know…" He said smirking.

Naruto donned a chakra cloak again knowing that it would be foolish not to while fighting against Madara Uchiha. From the moment they met in hand-to-hand combat, Naruto's speed and precision were not on Madara's level, something which the back from the dead shinobi, noted quite smugly.

"You could never hope to keep up with me." He mocked.

"People have been telling me that my entire life, I always prove them wrong!" Naruto said with determination.

Naruto summoned shadow clones and surrounded Madara completely.

"Fire release flaming vortex inferno," Madara cooly shouted, expelling intense fire from his mouth.

The flames began to spin violently around until they were a tornado of fire, trying to suck Naruto in and burn him alive. Luckily Naruto vanished using the Flying Raijin technique.

Madara was impressed. "He knows Tobirama Senju's transportation jutsu, but where did he transport himself, I don't see any marked kunai lying around…"

"That was close." Naruto said anxiously.

Naruto had surrounded Sakura instead, to her credit his sudden appearance did not break her concentration as she continued trying to pacify the other tailed beasts.

"I did it!" She finally said in relief.

"Good because I think we will all need to work together to fight these two," Naruto said seriously.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed quickly, just realizing his sudden appearance. "Where are Madara and Obito?"

"Madara is probably wondering where I disappeared to, I barely escaped a jutsu— " Naruto looked blankly at her. "I thought Obito would be trying to stop you?" He said quizzically.

"No, he didn't, but they could both be trying to regroup before they attack again." Sakura reasoned aloud, before turning her attention back to the other tailed beasts. "Will you fight with us?" She asked them all tentatively.

It took Naruto a moment to realize that Sakura was asking to the other tailed beasts for help.

They all agreed, giving their names.

"I'm not going to remember that many names," Naruto said sheepishly. Only Naruto could make Sakura laugh while they were in the middle of fighting a war. "I'll get Kakashi back here." He said seriously.

"You think you can travel to other dimensions using Flying Raijin?" She asked uncertainly.

"Only one way to find out." He said before disappearing again.

Kakashi was still wounded so Sakura healed him when they returned moments later.

"I guess it's good that I kept one of your marked kunai with me. Thank you, both of you," Kakashi said gratefully, they nodded.

Back at the other end of the current battlefield, Madara was showing impatience with Obito.

"I told you to take care of the girl, and yet you did nothing, except lose to your former rival." He was blunt.

"You're one to talk Madara, Naruto escaped your jutsu moments ago?" He challenged smugly.

"Flying Raijin is a problem. Like all of the second Hokage's Jutsu, it was specifically created to combat the Sharingan—in this case, its power of insight." He acknowledged calmly.

"I learned that the hard way when combating the Fourth Hokage, he became more skilled at Flying Raijin than the man who invented it, and despite Naruto's occasional stupidity, he is Minato's son." It was a bitter admission.

"Our goal is still the same, we need to extract the nine tails from Naruto Uzumaki." He was blunt.

"A sealing jutsu is preventing extraction—the girl's chakra is permanently attached to the tetragram seal Minato placed on his son the night he sealed the nine tails." Obito warned harshly.

"A sealing jutsu that binds the caster's chakra to an existing seal—I admit I have never heard of such a jutsu. Regardless, that girl must be killed." He said as if stating the weather. "I sincerely hope you do not fail again Obito." It was clearly a threat.

"Funny, I was going to say the same to you, Madara." He said defiantly.

Obito used his Kamui to transport himself and Madara back to Naruto and Sakura's position on the battlefield.

The moment they materialized in front of the heroes again, Madara spoke directly to Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki you will die today, shortly in fact." His eyes shifted to Sakura. "But first, to kill this girl who Obito tells me is currently preventing extraction of the tailed beast that you possess."

"You won't lay a finger on Naruto!" Sakura said defiantly.

"Such threats from a Kunoichi, but can you follow through, let's see." He said bluntly.

Madara went after Sakura right away forcing her into hand-to-hand combat and immediately on the defensive. With the shadow clones created earlier, it took no time at all for Naruto to appear as a shield protecting Sakura on all sides.

"Unorthodox defensive application of Flying Raijin, but you won't stop me from killing her Naruto Uzumaki…" Madara said sharply.

The next things to happen all occurred very quickly. Madara attacked and destroyed all of Naruto's shadow clones in one physical assault without breaking a sweat, and then without another word summoned a giant river of flame that forced both Naruto and Sakura to flee.

"Madara's trying to keep us separated from everyone else, I doubt the others can handle Obito with his Kamui…maybe Kakashi, but still…I don't trust that he can bring himself to fight Obito another time—damn Sharingan!" Sakura said anxious and irritated at the same time. She glanced hastily sideways at Naruto. "You have to transport yourself back to the others. I'm sure he is trying to bind the other tailed beast's chakra again too; leave Madara to me." She insisted seriously.

"I'm not leaving you alone to face the second-strongest shinobi in history." He said rather incredulously.

"I'm not alone since Kurama's sharing his power that's more than enough to hold my own," Sakura assured determinately.

Kurama said nothing but gave a reluctant growl of agreement.

"Okay, just…don't die." He said disappearing without protesting any further.

"I love you too, Naruto!" Sakura thought emotionally to herself.

Even from a distance so as to focus on maintaining this particular ninjutsu Madara was keenly aware that Naruto had transported away using the Flying Raijin Jutsu. Madara decided that he was done toying with his prey.

"It's hopeless to think you can defeat me, the five Kage didn't even manage that, you can't run from me either." He said calmly.

"I know—water release exploding water shockwave!" She shouted.

"Useless—Earth style giant mud wall!" He countered sharply. Both ninjutsu collided violently, canceling each other out completely. "You'll have to do better than that, little girl!" He smirked.

"I already won against two other Uchiha during this war. If you defeat me, you're going to earn it." She finished defiantly.

"You certainly believe your words," Madara said in a smugly matter-of-fact tone. "But the Granddaughter of Hashirama believed her words too. She and the other Kage are dying as we speak if they are not already dead." He had a twisted and sadistic smile now.

"Then I have even more reason to defeat you, I wonder how you will feel losing to someone who came from nothing." Sakura was very calm and very defiant.

"Interesting, you have no ninja legacy to speak of, no bloodline traits, and yet you were obviously a student of Hashirama's Granddaughter—the one your generation calls Hokage…" Madara seemed eager now. "Can you last longer than she did against me?" He challenged skeptically.

It was clear that Madara didn't know—or had completely forgotten, about Lady Katsuyu…that was definitely a good thing. As boastful as they were, Sakura could tell that Madara had indeed left her master and the other Kage near death, thus pulling Lady Katsuyu away from where she was needed most was not an option. She knew that she was in for a very difficult fight. During her fight against Sasuke Sakura had relied heavily on her knowledge of his fighting style and tactical tendencies to gain the upper hand—she had no such luxury against Madara Uchiha.

"Let's find out, old man." She retorted defiantly.

Madara closed the distance on Sakura in the blink of an eye, and as they started to spar, with every blow she knew that a prolonged Taijutsu clash with Madara Uchiha would not end well. She wasn't delusional enough to think that her Taijutsu skills were on the same level or anywhere close to it for that matter. No, she needed a different strategy and she needed one fast. If only she could bait him into dropping his guard, then she could focus a single punch amplified by both her Byakugō seal and Kurama's chakra and wound Madara enough so, at the very least, he temporarily retreated. There was only one way that Sakura thought her plan could work. She was going to have to purposely drop her guard and leave herself open and wait for the right moment to counterattack—this wasn't something that she liked doing and she hadn't done it since her fight against Sasori. The tricky part was not making it so obvious that Madara caught on to her plan. Definitely difficult, she was certain of that. Luckily Sakura was able to make Madara's superior speed work to her benefit. It wasn't long before he let his ego show quite plainly.

"So slow— " He punched her hard in the chest and sent her flying back into a nearby rock formation. "All that tough talk and you hardly last a moment or two. The current generation is even more disappointing." He looked disgusted.

Evidently, Sakura's acting job was great, because even Kurama took pity on her current situation.

"You need my power, Sakura." The nine tails said bluntly.

Not yet!" She said, getting up rather gingerly, taking punches hurt a lot, even if it was on purpose. "I'm not giving up yet!" She yelled breathing hard.

"If you insist on being hopelessly defiant to the very end so be it," Madara said with pity in his voice.

Maybe it was just Sakura's perception but time seemed to slow to a crawl as Madara attempted to punch straight through her chest and crush her heart. She didn't miss the look of surprise on his face when her grimace suddenly turned into a triumphant smirk as she activated her Byakugō seal and then cloaked herself in the nine-tails chakra—caught completely off guard Madara took the full force of Sakura's newly amplified strength, the punch hitting him so hard in the face that it left a huge hole in the side of his head. He staggered backward made a terrible wrenching noise and coughed up blood for several seconds straight. If it was anyone else they would have been dead where they stood, but Madara could still speak, which told Sakura his Hashirama Cells were already doing their job…

Still, he was unquestionably hurt, when Madara spoke it was a struggle, he clearly wasn't healing as fast as he expected. "So that sealing jutsu I didn't recognize…is more than just a protective barrier against the extraction of the nine tails." He continued even more labored, he could breathe but it was extremely heavy and ragged. "You can freely access its chakra!"

Technically that brat Sakura could only use his chakra because he was willing to share it, but he hated Madara Uchiha so much that it didn't matter to Kurama what the man believed about this begrudging partnership.

"I have had enough of the Uchiha clan! " Sakura shouted punching Madara again, this time purely with Kurama's chakra.

Multiple chakra fists sent him flying until he crashed the impact leaving a massive crater in the ground quite a distance away. Sakura wasn't foolish enough to believe that would stop Madara, but she didn't have time to deal with him any further.

As Madara got to his feet still waiting for his body to recover the damage he sustained, there was murderous intent in his eyes. "You are living on borrowed time because I am going to kill you myself!" Yes, he would make sure that this Sakura Haruno regretted making him look this foolish.

Meanwhile, Sakura spoke to Kurama. "Kurama can you sense if Naruto is okay!" She asked hastily.

"That annoying little brat is fine," He said impatiently. "You need to get back to the other-tailed beasts. I have a bad feeling that the ten tails is coming, and if that happens it won't be long before we have to contend with cataclysmic disasters that make the destruction of the leaf village seem laughably insignificant…" He didn't bother to sugarcoat the stakes.

"Alright, alright." She said seriously.

If Kurama's warning about the ten tails were true then the entire war was going to be way more dire very soon. That's why Sakura was thankful that she had taken the time to learn how to perform Flying Raijin while helping Naruto master it.

"The sooner we can put an end to this damn war, the better," Sakura said with a sense of foreboding as she transported away, focusing on Naturo's marked kunai which he always had with him now, to rejoin him and her other comrades.

Little did she know that the rest of the Allied Forces and the five Kage freshly healed thanks to the efforts of Lady Katsuyu and a few other unexpected allies were about to join or rejoin the war at the perfect time.

A/N: I didn't see any point in acting like I could write the Kakashi versus Obito fight better than it was shown in the anime so I didn't try, deciding to pick up right at the very end of it. It's better that way because I would never do that fight justice.

Going forward it is much more likely that what happens in the war is entirely my idea, but I'll be sure to mention anything that ends up being in line with cannon.

I'm trying to update all my active stories before the release of FF7 Rebirth so I am happy I got this out before then. Playing that game is the only thing I will doing in the immediate future. Apologies, but I am a gamer at heart.

Until next time everyone:)