Here's your next chapter; not much for me to say…except maybe responding to some reviews, including those I've neglected.

Uncle Joe: A character dies when I want them to. Although you probably know by now I did not quite do as you requested.

IronicEnding: Thanks for the comments, as always. Foreshadowing was not my intention, but I can see those two scenes certainly worked like that.

Mangalover248: I don't think I had him manipulated with the expertise you are praising me for, but thank you nonetheless!

Razgriz05: I have to agree with you on the slow development part; it's partially the reason why I've come to like NaruSaku. As for Sakura's strength, considering this takes place 3 years after Kakuzu…all I can say is she better be!

Disclaimer: For the last time: I do not fucking own Naruto. No poseo Naruto! Je ne possede pas Naruto! ClickclickclickBloodyOwnclickclickNaruto!

Shiguri could only stare in disbelief at Iori's transformation. He thought she was vicious before, but if she was like this all the time, he would keep Yuji away from her for his own good.

Iori charged, and the monster tried to counter with its tail. But Iori simply grabbed it one-handed and threw the monster over her body with ease. Before the monster could get up, Iori pinned it to the ground. It tried to get up, but it couldn't even budge. Iori then slammed her fist into its face repeatedly, forming a large crater behind its head. She threw it into the air again, and before it could fall down, Iori jumped up and kicked it down with the velocity of a comet, shaking the earth as it landed. The demon got back up, groggy. Iori landed, bearing her fangs. The kage monster fired its laser, aiming right for her heart…which dissipated when Iori let out a roar. She slashed at the creature's chest, and ran to the other side to avoid having all of her clothes burned off. What burns she did receive on her skin healed instantly. She continued her assault, bouncing the monster around like a ping-pong ball.

Shiguri was scared out of his mind. "What is she? Where is that power coming from?" he thought to himself. Back at the academy, he had a few sparring sessions…okay, fist-fights, with her. He had to admit, she was quite tough, though it was more her tenacity and ferocity than skill that allowed her to stand up to him. But what he was seeing was nothing like the sort.

Finally, the monster struck Iori in the eyes with its poison, and she fell back. Iori simply wiped it away and stared at her adversary, with only one thing on her mind: Carnage.

"Show me what you've got, Kyuubi!" Houkou roared.

Naruto, in his four-tailed form, ran forward and clawed at the creature's face. Houkou bled, but countered by having his razor sharp fur stick straight out and pierce his foe. The mini-Kyuubi screamed in pain, but did not suffer any real damage. Houkou batted it away with ease, as he was still far larger than the four-tailed demon fox. The Kyuubi then dove underground into the sand. Houkou leapt in pursuit, and tried to dig it out, but it was gone.

"Show yourself, you coward!"

Just then, a chakra hand came out of nowhere and grabbed him by one of his five tails. Houkou, realizing what was going on, tried to pull away. Instead, he was pulled under, giving the beach a huge sinkhole. A second passed, and he was thrown through the ground, sand and rock flying with him. He landed on the ground, causing a huge earthquake. The dog lay on its side, and shook its head.

"Not bad. I'm pleased that you do retain your power, my brother."

The four-tailed Kyuubi crawled out of the ground, seemingly sizing its adversary up. Houkou got back up, and smiled evilly. The mini-fox then began gathering its black chakra, its body becoming bloated.

"You shouldn't use moves that take time to charge up!"

Houkou howled as he prepared to pounce on the little demon. However, the demon did not intend to make an attack like he did with Orochimaru. He fired the black chakra ball when Houkou was almost upon him. The ball hit Houkou in the chest, and caused him to fall back. The mini-kyuubi fired more rounds, forcing Houkou back with each one. Houkou managed to stabilize himself, and growled. It shot its mouth open as if to bark, but instead came a bolt of lightning. The bolt hit Kyuubi dead on, and he was sent flying into the beach.

Sakura finally reached a clearing, and stopped dead in her tracks. Before her was Houkou, the five-tailed dog! Sakura had never seen a biju before; the closest she came to seeing one was Gaara, but he was only partially transformed. She was unconscious when he transformed fully. After seeing this, she could see why people feared such creatures.

"Kyuubi! You've put up a good fight, but four tails is the point where I feel safe! I will end this now!"

Sakura realized that thing was fighting Naruto! But there was no way even Naruto could stand up to that thing….unless…

"Oh no! NARUTO!" Sakura screamed. She heard footsteps behind her, and brought a kunai to the stranger's throat. It was a woman!

She held up her hands to show she meant no harm. "I take it you're a friend of Naruto's?"

Sakura was on the edge, and had no time to waste. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kono Mana. I hired Naruto." Sakura's eyes widened. "I hired him because the only thing that could defeat the jinchuriki that is our Raikage was another jinchuriki."

Sakura's eyes narrowed, and she slapped Mana to the ground. "You-"

Mana then yelled "Don't talk like you know me. Kenji was such a good and pure-hearted person! But his brother ruined everything between us! Yes, I want Kenji back above all else, even if it means becoming missing-nins. I tried. But he won't see that what happened wasn't my fault! I can no longer bear to see him consumed with hate…if I have to kill him, it's not for the sake of our village…it's for the sake of his soul."

Sakura didn't know the whole story…but she could tell that what she said was genuine. She lifted the woman up and said "Come on. We've got work to do." Mana nodded, and the two headed off.

"Oh man!" one of the cloud nins said. "No wonder he told us not to interfere!"

Another replied "He's toast now. If that is the nine-tails like he said it was, there's no way he can win."

"Not true." The captain replied. "Each of the Biju have different strengths and weaknesses. Though the Kyuubi is has the most raw power, he doesn't control elements like many of the others do. But whoever wins…may come for us next."

The kage monster was in pain, a concept it thought only others could feel. And the source of his pain was this little girl! The girl hissed and charged yet again. The monster whipped its snake arm around Iori's neck. While the girl tried to rip it off, the snake bit her on the neck. She growled, and fell to her knees. If the monster still had its lower jaw, it would smile. But even so, it would be short-lived. Iori was back on her feet and tore the snake off.

Just at that time, Sakura and Mana came to the cliff. Both stopped when they looked at Iori.

"Is she...a jinchuriki as well?" Mana asked.

Sakura didn't know. Extensive background checks were done on all of the students. It would make sense if Tsunade had one jinchuriki become the apprentice of another…but if so, why didn't she tell Naruto? Or her? She looked at the ground, and saw Yuji cut to ribbons. Sakura then put two and two together: He was the trigger! Sakura ran up and checked his vital signs. He was alive, but barely; he wouldn't last another minute. The wound was severe, too. "I'll need to put all of my chakra into this!" Her palms glowed, and immediately Yuji's wounds began to close. Sakura, however, was starting to feel weak. Although she had greatly improved on her chakra reserves, healing an injury of this degree was practically the same has Chiyo-baa's resurrection technique. It didn't help that she used chakra to fight Kabuto and heal two comrades. Finally, the boy's wounds closed. He was out of danger, but he wouldn't be conscious for a while. She looked over at the other boy, Shiguri. He was hurt pretty badly too, but she'd say that he was in no need of any healing at the moment, with everything else going on. She stared back at Iori, who got the monster in a one-hand choke.

"You bastard!" she screamed, in a monstrous voice. "Yuji didn't deserve to die! You could have just escaped and never returned! But you just HAD to come back!" She threw the monster up in the air. "I'll make sure you wish you didn't!" As the monster was airborne, Iori roared so loud, it would make a lion crawl under a bush and hide. The roar seemed unending too. By the time the kage monster began its descent, a pillar of sharp, white stone sprouted from the earth at incredible velocity. It pierced the monster right in the heart. Though the acid was beginning to eat away at it, its body was also disintegrating. Finally, both were gone.

However, the conclusion of the battle didn't calm Iori down. She began tearing at the earth screaming. Various stalagmites shot through the ground. Before he could be impaled, Shiguri was saved by Sakura. Both she and Mana, with Yuji in her arms, bounded back to what looked like a safe location.

"Keep them safe." Sakura ordered. Sakura ran back up to Iori, who was clearly crying. "Iori! It's all right!"

Whether Iori heard her or not, she only became more upset. "Yuji's dead! All because of me!"

Sakura caught Iori into a hug and pulled her in close. Iori was about to bat her away, but Sakura yelled "He's not dead! I got here in the nick of time and healed him! He's going to be fine!" Iori froze, all of her demonic features faded, and she passed out. "He's going to be fine." Sakura whispered one more time. She picked Iori up, and placed her beside Yuji.

Before she could turn around, Shiguri asked "What's going on? I've never seen anything like that!"

Sakura at first didn't answer. Then she said "I don't know."

She ran to the edge, along with Mana, leaving Shiguri to care for the two. If they were to look back at him, they would have seen a hint of jealousy in his eyes.

Kyuubi swiped at Houkou's eyes, but the demon stepped back and shot a stream of lightning once more. The mini-kyuubi attempted to shield itself with its tails, but screamed in pain, and once again was forced back.

"I consider it an insult that you think you can defeat me using only four tails." Houkou's fur began sticking straight up. "An insult that will cost you dearly!"

Lightning from all over its body sprouted, frying everything in its path. The mini-kyuubi was struck again and again. Eventually, it stopped trying to stand up. However, instead of dying out, more chakra surrounded it. Its muzzle grew slightly, giving it a more canine appearance, the fangs started to take a more physical appearance…and a fifth tail sprouted. Finally, it grew to the size of an elephant. It leapt at Houkou, and bit it on the snout. Despite the vast difference in size, the five-tailed fox managed to pull Houkou down to the ground. Houkou struggled, and finally bit down on the fox. Despite the pain, the mini-biju scratched at the bigger demon's snout like mad. Houkou tossed the fox into the air, but this would not do much. The mini Kyuubi fanned its tails out, slowing its flight, and then spun rapidly. It then suddenly launched straight towards Houkou, and nailed it right in the forehead. The beast fell, and the mini fox screamed in triumph. However, Houkou got up. Though most people probably couldn't tell, the beast was enraged.

"DAMN YOU! Thinking you're the victor when our battle has only begun!"

Houkou charged up another lightning bolt, and Kyuubi fired another black chakra ball. This time both attacks were completely nullified. Both monsters charged again. Houkou pawed at his adversary, but the Kyuubi's smaller size allowed him to evade Houkou's attacks. Kyuubi stretched its chakra hands to get Houkou in a choke hold. The dog was gasping for air! It tried to form another bolt, but that was not possible. Just when the smaller demon thought it had won, Houkou pointed its tails at the fox, and it was struck by lightning. It was different this time though…the lightning streaks were not going away!

"How do you like this, brother?" Houkou howled maliciously. His tails moved up, and the Kyuubi moved with them. The dog then pointed its tails behind itself, slamming Kyuubi right onto the ground. It twirled like it was chasing its tails, and Kyuubi went with them, eating sand and causing the hard earth to crack. Soon, the mini-kyuubi had enough, and planted its tails into the ground. Houkou struggled to drag the fox some more, but the electricity chains broke off. Kyuubi turned around and scratched Houkou across the eyes. The dog charged, and the fox halted its jaws with his bare paws. For a while, neither one budged…but Hokou took a step back, causing Kyuubi to loose his balance, and then charged, knocking his adversary flat on his feet. Houkou bit down on the smaller demon, hoping to snap him in two…

Sakura and Mana ran down to the shore. Sakura's eyes then widened: Her worst fear was confirmed. Naruto went beyond four-tails, which meant he was no longer aware of himself. Jiraya and Yamato both had to use special techniques to subdue this form; Sakura had nothing. If he stayed like this, he could transform further until Kyuubi got out…meaning that Naruto would die.

"Is…Is the small one Naruto?" Mana asked. Sakura barely nodded. Mana's eyes widened, and she stared at the battle in front of her. Tears came down her eyes, and she collapsed on her knees. "I'm sorry…" she said. "I'm so sorry. I thought just using a bit of his demon's chakra would be enough to defeat Kenji…but I didn't want it to come to this…." Sakura didn't respond, she just focused on Naruto. She saw that he was growing a sixth tail…

The sixth tail wrapped around Hokou's neck. The dog gagged, causing him to release the fox. The Kyuubi then wrapped all of its tails around the biju's neck, and flipped it over, causing another enormous shockwave. As Hokou lay stunned, Kyuubi once more doubled its size, at this point becoming as big as the other's face. Hokou got up, and leapt upon the fox, but six-tailed fox simply picked him up and threw him over. By now, the beach looked more like a rocky outcropping due to the damage being done. Hokou fired another lightning bolt without even getting up. The Kyuubi was pushed back some, but eventually it diverted the lightning into the ocean. Kyuubi charged, and started to maul the downed dog. Hokou used his snout to catapult the fox up in the air, but it simply fired another chakra ball, knocking Hokou unconscious. The Kyuubi landed, and howled in triumph…

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She didn't care if she was killed…she could not let Naruto loose his soul! She ran straight towards the battle, tears streaming down her face, just like she did during their first attempt to save Sasuke, and threw her mask away.

"Naruto!" she screamed. The demon paid her no heed, instead proceeding to beat the lesser biju senseless. "Please Naruto! You won! Change back! Please change back!"

The demon instead proceeded to tear its foe apart. Sakura leapt between the rocks to get to him. She then latched on to his leg and hugged him. Her skin burned from the close contact with the chakra, but she didn't know what else to do. Ignoring the pain, she hugged tighter. The demon at first did not react, than it slowed its assault…and finally stopped. It looked to its side, seeing pink hair that was all too familiar…

In the jail within Naruto's body, the Kyuubi was wild with alarm. His flow of chakra to the outside was being disrupted. The chakra pouring out of his cage was caught in a whirlpool, instead of flowing straight out.

"Enough!" Naruto said, in a voice that sounded like his own and the demon's.

"Fool! If you refuse my power, we will both die!" Kyuubi screamed.

Naruto's head finally appeared above the red chakra. "If Sakura dies, I promise you I will kill us both!" he screamed. The red chakra that surrounded him dispersed, and the Kyuubi was forced back into his cage…

The demonic fox slowly began to look more human, and shrunk. Eventually, Naruto reemerged. Instead of a leg, Sakura was now hugging his waste. She slowly opened her eyes, and looked up. "Naruto…"

Naruto was in terrible condition: his skin was burned by chakra, his clothes were tattered, and he was bleeding through every pore in his body. Arguably, he was in worse condition than the time he fought Orochimaru, and yet he still remained conscious.

"Sakura…" he rasped. "…thank you." Naruto returned the hug, but he was too weak to do so at full strength . Naruto then asked "What are you-"

Unfortunately, he never got to finish; Sakura was hurled back by a lightning bolt. "Sakura!" Naruto turned around too late, and was swallowed up by the biju.

Naruto hung on for dear life inside the mouth of Hokou. He just barely dodged the jaws; had he not he would've been in pieces. Electricity did not seem to flow from within the beast, but it was hot. Naruto lost his grip on the tongue, probably from the beast trying to swallow him, but Naruto stabbed two kunai into the beast to prevent that. While this would help him hang on, he hoped the beast would howl him out. No good.

"You are going to die here, that I promise you."

Naruto looked behind him to see Kenji, embedded in the demon's flesh, showing only his torso and head.

"You! If Sakura is…"

"You weakened Hokou significantly. That bolt could only knock a human being unconscious." Then Kenji grinned wickedly. "But as soon as we swallow you, she will be next!"

The beast tilted it's head, and the kunai Naruto used to hang on began to loose their grip. Despite his weakened state, Naruto bounced of the tongue to punch Kenji. However, once he connected, he felt the same familiar shock that defined his enemy, screamed, and was deflected.

"I'm the medium through which Hokou is brought into this world! He will protect me just so he can have his freedom!"

Naruto was finally about to fall into the throat, but made as much kage bushins as he could to plug the hole up. Even though his body was in terrible condition, he still maintained some of the fox's chakra as his own. And he would use that chakra to finish this in one move…

"Kenji…the world has been cruel to you, just as it has been to me. But that doesn't excuse anything you have done. I will never become what the others perceive me to be. If I do, my existence, all my struggles, will have been for nothing." Two bushin came up and started to help Naruto gather chakra in his palm. "Whether they deserve my protection or not is irrelevant. I will protect this world, I will save your people…" Finally, the Rasenshuriken formed. "And I will protect Sakura!" Naruto jumped up right before his bushins dispelled. Kenji surrounded himself with an electricity barrier to stop him, but the Futon technique simply went through and hit him dead on.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Sakura woke up, her vision blurred "Wh-Where am I?" Everything came back to her, and she shot up! She looked up and saw the Hokou. She got ready to run…but the dog did not seem interested in her. Instead, it seemed to be having trouble standing up straight, and it violently shook its head in all directions

"No! How can this be? He wasn't even at full…" Suddenly, he exploded in a flash of light. Sakura shielded her eyes, and glanced to see two figures falling.

She jumped across the rocks, hoping to find Naruto. She found him lying face down. "Naruto!"

She ran over to him, and lifted him up. He looked worse than before! Even with his toughness, he shouldn't be alive! Naruto wheezed heavily. Mana finally came into view. She checked up on Naruto's vital signs, since Sakura just seem to freeze at seeing Naruto like this.

"He'll live." She said. "But I have never seen someone with injuries like these and survive. Naruto, you have no idea how lucky you are to be here with us right now…"

Naruto coughed hoarsely. "S-Sakura…"

"Naruto!" Sakura cried; she didn't know what to say. Until she looked at Naruto's arm. Sakura just gaped open-mouthed, and nearly yelled "Y-you used it, didn't you?"

Naruto weakly smiled. "Sorry, Sakura…I had no choice."

Mana interrupted. "Where's Kenji?"

Sakura became infuriated at hearing the Raikage's name, and raised her left fist, nearly choking Naruto in a headlock with her other arm "Who cares about HIM?"

Mana ignored her comment, since it was perfectly understandable why she would react that way. "Both of them fell within close proximity of one another. He should be here." Mana then turned around "Keep in mind, I'm doing this for our safety."

Sakura relaxed (and released Naruto from her grip). "Sorry. It's just…it's just I was once in love with someone who did terrible things, and I took what you said the wrong way."

Naruto just twitched on the ground. "Sakura…We've got to work on controlling your strength…"

Mana weakly smiled "Don't worry. Anyway, I know that cave wasn't there before." She pointed near the cliffs, where a small cave was. Sakura understood the situation. The three of them went to the cave entrance, and Sakura laid Naruto down on the side. If they chased the enemy outside with Naruto right in the entrance, or right in the open, he could take Naruto hostage. So long as Naruto was on either side, if Kenji ran out, he wouldn't have time to look him with the two kunoichi in pursuit.

"Naruto, wait here." Sakura said. Naruto smiled, and slowly nodded.

Mana then signaled to Sakura "Let's go."

"Did you see that!" one of the cloud nin cried happily. "I think we've won!"

The captain could only smile. "Hokou didn't escape though. He's still trapped within his host. We'll need to kill his host. Not that they were two beings to begin with."

They all got their weapons ready, savoring the thought of their freedom.

Sakura and Mana sprinted inside the cave, weapons ready.

"Mana, are you really ready to go through with this?" Sakura asked.

Mana said emotionlessly "What choice do I have?"

Sakura could tell there was great sadness in her voice. But still, they were both right: Kenji had to be killed at all costs. They ran and ran…until finally they reached a dead end. "Where is he?" Sakura yelled. The two kunoichi searched furiously. There were no other tunnels; they both used genjutsu techniques just to be certain. The roof of the cave was too shallow the entire length for Kenji to hang upside down without having either of the kunoichi's heads bump into him. Mana and Sakura stared at each other in confusion; then their eyes widened with realization and both frantically sprinted to the outside.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto rested outside. He had never felt so beat up after a fight; not even his scuffle with Sasuke left him in so much pain. "I should've practiced the Rasenshuriken more." Naruto thought. Granted, with practice, Naruto knew he could get it down right. But Tsunade caught him one time trying it again on the training grounds, and hit him clear to the other side. Naruto, once he regained consciousness, tried his best to explain, but she wouldn't hear any of it.

"The only way I see you perfecting that technique is by doing it the way that hurts you over and over! Naruto, I know what I'm talking about; that technique damages the cells beyond what even I or the Kyuubi can heal! From now on, I will have Yamato and Kakashi teach you other elemental techniques!"

Naruto abided by her wishes. How could he not? She was CRYING when she said that. Naruto didn't like to make people cry over him. "Sorry, ba-chan; I had no choice." Just then Naruto heard his name called outside the cave. "Wha-?"

Before he could react, two hands grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. Naruto looked up to see a scared, burned, weakened but clearly not defeated Kenji! "AAARRRGGGHHHH!" he screamed. Kenji threw Naruto onto the side of the beach where the rocks were at their sharpest. Naruto was helpless now; all he could do was scream in pain. Naruto tried to move, but Kenji threw kunai that pinned both of his arms to two outcroppings behind him. Kenji leapt in front of Naruto, picked up the biggest boulder he could, and smashed it over Naruto's head until it shattered. Naruto was bleeding severely from the head; how he managed to stay awake at all was beyond comprehension.

"Kenji.' he rasped, in a much lower voice than before. "Everything you have done you did because you felt Mana betrayed you. She didn't. She's always loved you."

Kenji just screamed "What would you know about LOVE?"

Naruto said "Believe me; I know it hurts to see the girl you've always loved to have her feelings for someone else. But all that is important to me is her happiness. Though the thought that she would choose Sasuke over me kills me, I know her sadness will kill her. So long as Sakura will always smile, and will find someone who will make her happy, I will rest easy."

Kenji just took out one keris and charged it up with lightning. "Then I shall put you out of your misery!" Kenji yelled.

Sakura and Mana just came out of the cave. Their ninja senses kicked in once they saw Naruto. Mana looked at Sakura, and back at Naruto. She realized what she had to do. Mana made hand signs lightning quick, thinking "Naruto. Thank you for helping my people, and I'm sorry I nearly made you give in to your inner demon. As he is, Kenji is weakened; my soldiers will be able to do the rest. Though I cannot atone for the sins of deceiving you and endangering your team. I hope that by sparring your teammate the pain I suffered, that will be enough for you to forgive me." At the final sign, she vanished.

Naruto heard guts splatter. "So this is it…Sakura…I…" A moment passed. "This is not as painful as I thought it would be." Another moment passed, and Naruto knew something was up. He looked up, and saw that it was not his guts that splattered: Mana was right in front of him! Mana used a teleportation jutsu to stand in front of Naruto. Most enemies would've normally threw her corpse away and continue to their intended target. But Kenji just stood wide-eyed, blood splattered all over his face, and trembling.

Mana took the knife right into her stomach, and the energy caused it to explode. "K-Ken…" Mana rasped. She coughed up blood. "I'm sorry. For what Kumo has done. For how I ignored you in the beginning. For not being strong enough…to stop Kyo from touching me…"

Kenji just stood there stunned, while Mana used one hand to stroke his cheek. "Please…let it go…they've suffered just as much as you have…"

Kenji could barely stutter "M-Mana…"

"I wanted to start over…regardless of what's passed…but I couldn't…" Mana was interrupted when more blood leapt out of her mouth again "…let you go through with this…I love you Kenji…I will watch over you…and I will tell our child…you said hello…"

With that, the color faded from her eyes, and she hunched over. Now Kenji was visibly trembling. Naruto couldn't see it, but by the time Sakura did, she could: Tears were rolling down Kenji's eyes.

"Mana…" Kenji released his grip, collapsed on his knees. Before Mana could hit the ground, Kenji caught her. Now sobbing noises were coming from him as he shook her. "Mana! Please wake up! I'm sorry! Wake up! Mana!"

Kenji thought back to the day when he just discovered he was the container of Hokou. He was on the training grounds, destroying all of the dummies with his bare-hands.

"Kenji! Kenji!" Mana screamed as she ran towards him. Kenji didn't stop until Mana hugged him from behind. Kenji calmed down, but only slightly.

"How could he do that? How could father just put a demon inside me and abandon me1?" Mana heard Kenji start to cry. He covered his face in shame and sobbed "Why can't they see I'm a human being like them?"

Mana just hugged tighter. "Kenji. I know I treated you no different than they did when we first became a team. But then, I got to know the real you. I don't know if we can change their minds. But I want you to know that even if the whole world becomes your enemy I will always be at your side."

Kenji continued crying, but it was different this time. "Mana…thank you…"He turned around and hugged her close…

Now Kenji truly remembered why he was so full of hate: It wasn't Mana; it was his own family. His revenge on his family did nothing to satisfy him, so he took his rage out on Kumogakure. But it wasn't enough. And somewhere along the line, he blamed the only one who loved him. "How could I have been…such a fool?" Kenji just looked at her lifeless face, and up to the sky.

"If I had only remembered back to that day…I would've realized you would never betray me. I would've dealt with whatever bad thing came to me, no matter what…so long as you were by my side…" He laid Mana's body down, and cupped her cheek.

Sakura, despite hearing about all the terrible things he had done, truly pitied this man. "Naruto…did you feel the same way he did, when we would mistreat you?" she asked the unconscious jinchuriki. She picked him up bridal style, trying to keep herself together. The wounds that Kenji gave Naruto after all that were almost too much for her to bear. She looked back at Kenji, who was on all fours, crying.

"Kill me." Kenji choked. Sakura didn't respond. "KILL ME!"

This is more or less the end of my first arc. Next: Itachi