Hi again, and Happy New Year! I apologize for the long wait. I have two reasons for it:

1) I was on vacation at my grandmother's, were she has only dial-up (can't access personal page on that kind of connection)

2) My laptop died. Thankfully, I was able to retrieve what data I could

So, I'll skip everything else that happened during my winter break and present you with this over-due chapter!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would silence everyone complaining about it.

"This is it." Deidara whispered to himself as he and Tobi flew across the canyon. "After this, just one more and the power Kizu-sama promised us will be ours." Truthfully, when he first joined, he didn't care much about power. But when someone offers it on a silver platter, only a fool would turn it away.

Deidara put his eye camera back on as he scanned the canyon. "Now, where are you?" There was no way he fell to his death; his comrades would've made sure of it. On top of that, if he was alive, he'd be in no position to put up even a minor scuffle, not without falling. "If I were a powerless jinchuriki, where would I…" Deidara noticed a crevice in the canyon wall. It seemed deep, and Deidara could make out a noticeable floor on the bottom good enough for walking. "…be. That place looks perfect. Tobi!"

"Yes, Deidara-sempai?" Tobi answered, seemingly caught off guard by Deidara's oncoming request.

"Get behind me, no doubt they have a trap waiting to be sprung." Deidara ordered. "I'll go first; whatever it is, I should be okay."

"Deidara-sempai, my enton jutsus-"

"Don't worry about it." Deidara said as he held his hand up. "I've a feeling we'll need those powers of yours later on, so just sit back and relax. I'll take care of this." Deidara edged his clay bird closer, while Tobi kept his distance. The jinchuriki acted stupid at times, but he wasn't; Deidara knew he and his companion would be expecting him. While he was frisked when he turned himself over, ninjas had ways of hiding decent weapons; there had to be a trap. Testing the waters, Deidara created some clay spiders. The sculptures came to life and attached themselves to the crevice. Nothing happened. "Smart." Deidara thought. "Whatever trap they've set up, it's not automatic. I guess the old saying is right: whenever you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself!" Without hesitation, Deidara leapt onto the tiny floor.

And before he even had a chance to survey his surroundings, someone shouted "NOW, NARUTO!! DO IT NOW!!!" Naruto pulled a wire, and a series of explosions went off, including the clay spiders. Thankfully, the pair stood at the very end of the passage, and the floor under them remained intact as everything else fell to the bottom. Naruto mentally reminded himself how he really needed to tell Sakura how much he valued her intelligence; she was the one who estimated the damage done and anticipated Deidara sending a few of his clay monsters on top of it. Sakura clung to Naruto tightly, obviously shaken; it was a riskier plan than she was used to agreeing to. "Is he gone?"

"It looks that way…" Naruto saw Tobi stand on top of the clay bird as the smoke cleared. "Wait a minute…" The blonde could see something wasn't right. Naruto threw an explosive kunai into the clay bird. It went off, and both Tobi and Deidara leapt onto the surface right above them.

"Very clever, brat. Most would have guessed me to have been a goner by then, but my clay bird can live only as long as I do. Good thing nendo bushins have many uses." Naruto gritted his teeth. As much as he hated to admit it, he really saw no way out of this now. He tried to make a grab for Sakura, but the two Akatsuki got between them and pinned them against the walls. "Free at last, hn?" Deidara commented to Sakura, noting she no longer had the jewelry and her eye color was back to normal. "Sorry to cut it short, but Kizu-sama was planning to make you help us to release the Kyuubi. One way…or many others." He couldn't help but laugh at one of the prospects he thought up.

Sakura stared at him with pure hatred in her eyes. "Let him go!"

"Make us." Deidara taunted her. Sakura slammed her elbow into Tobi repeatedly, but without her super strength, it was no good. Even though Tobi was clearly flinching in pain, he willed himself to endure it and held on. "Hold onto her, Tobi! Let's get to level ground and get going!" Deidara commanded as he brought up Naruto with him.

"Uhh...yes Deidara…oomph!-sempai!!" Tobi, with much pain, forced Sakura up with him.

"Is it really this simple?" Madara asked his partner, obviously skeptical after reading how to perform the technique.

"Master, as you know, nothing is ever so simple. But it will work, and I know you can do it. Even at your age, you are still the first Uchiha and the only one known to defeat Harishima Senju, a man no other kage as been able to compare to."

Madara looked at the paper again, still suspicious. Finally, he looked straight at his subordinate. "When I first met you, you claimed to have great knowledge and through it grant me great power. After all your years of service to me, I can't deny that. However, you warned me that your memories were fragmented, and I'm beginning to see that it's rather convenient that you remember these jutsus exactly when I need them the most."

Kizu did not rise from his kneeling position the entire time, not even when confronted with such suspicions. "Master…you once told me, in your youth, that you worked on Senju's interrogation unit, correct?" Madara only gave him a slight nod. Kizu looked him in the eye. "Then tell me to my face whether or not I'm lying."

Madara's eyes widened momentarily; this was the first time Kizu openly challenged him. He walked around both sides of Kizu, looking at the tell-tale signs of someone who was lying or hiding something. He couldn't find any facial expression or eye movement to suggest anything of the such. Either he was telling the truth…or he was a really good liar. What worried him was that he met plenty of the latter. Still, not once had Kizu ever betrayed him. If there was ever a time, now would be it; even with the help of Biju chakra, his body was at its limit with every possible malady an old man could suffer. If the scroll was an elaborate trap, it was a silly and pointless one when Kizu could most likely kill Madara with one strike, and they both knew it.

Cautiously, Madara asked "So, the trick is to hold completely still and gather up as much natural chakra as I can into my body?"

"Correct. But be cautious; if you gather more than your body can handle, any number of things could happen. Considering you are the first Uchiha, I'd imagine your body going up in flames to be the worst case scenario, given your affinity for fire."

Madara looked at the parchment once more, and humphed as he tossed it away. "Who do you take me for?" he nearly yelled as he slowly eased himself into a meditative sitting position. "I may be an old wreck, but my ability to sense chakra of all kinds is still one of the best to ever live! Gathering it in the right amount should be of no problem to me…"

Kizu rose, and immediately circled Madara, placing seals around him as he went. "If you do combust, these seals will summon water that should extinguish any flames before you're killed…although even if they save you, you'll probably be too badly burned to continue."

To his surprise, Madara only grinned in response. "Reminds me of the good old days. Harishima and I would take on suicide missions all the time! Our clans called us both crazy, and we always laughed it off! And we'd compete! Always making bets on who would come closest to death!!" Madara began to break into laughter, and Kizu left him to his task. If he stayed longer, however, he would have noticed tears streaking down the old Uchiha's face.

Deidara and Tobi managed to get their prey onto level ground, but both managed to put up one hell of a fight for being beaten though; it had to have taken them at least 10 minutes to climb up the canyon when it should've taken them two. Deidara suddenly yelped in pain as Naruto bit him hard on the wrist. Quickly, Deidara slammed the jinchuriki onto the ground. Seeing some blood pool from his head managed to calm him a little. Very little. "Tobi!! Let's move, quickly now!! I can't stand restraining these assholes any longer!!" The nuke-nin shouted with fury as he dragged his captive.

"Yes, Deidara-sempai!" Quickly, Tobi hurried over, throwing Sakura over his shoulder.

She struggled, kicking and banging her fists against him, but her exhaustion finally began to take its toll as Sakura felt herself go in and out of consciousness. "It looks like…this is it…" Naruto had almost given up hope as well. Almost. Even if there was nothing HE could do…he had friends who would come through for him. So he hoped, anyway.

"Deidara-sempai?" Tobi suddenly asked.

"Tobi…" Deidara sighed, annoyed that his partner was back to his old self. "Whatever it is, it can wait."

"Please, sempai! I've only a small favor to ask!!" Tobi pouted childishly.

Deidara sighed exasperatedly. "Fine!!" He turned to Tobi furiously. "What is it!? I haven't got all day to put up with your bullshit!!"

"Catch!" Tobi suddenly tossed what looked like…a toad!? It clicked in Deidara's mind what that meant, but before he had a chance to react, a fist came out of the toad's mouth, punching Deidara square in the face and sending him spiraling away from Naruto.

Both Naruto and Sakura were too stunned for words at first, but then a smile graced Naruto's face as he came to the same realization. "Ero-senin!!"

On cue, the arm pulled open the toad's top jaw, and a leg stepped out. "I never thought I would EVER be glad to hear you call me that!!" Jiraya exclaimed as he emerged from the toad. Although his face appeared serious, Naruto could see in his eyes that he was smiling inside. Although it seemed like forever to Naruto, it was only a second later when Jiraya averted his gaze and reached back into the toad, pulling out Kakashi.

The copy-nin gasped loudly, taking in the fresh air. "I hate it when you do that!"

"That's the beautiful scent of toads, you big baby." Jiraya responded with pride. "You just need to get used to it!" Naruto would have laughed if the current situation weren't so dire.

Deidara recovered from the blow and stood, pointing his finger at Kakashi. "You! I killed you-"Deidara then came to a realization and then directed his verbal wrath at Tobi.

"Tobi! You-" Deidara cut himself off, realizing there was no point; the ramifications for Tobi were going to be the same regardless. "I should have known your change of attitude was too convenient. Well, thankfully, Kizu-sama was prepared for this…" Deidara pulled out a scroll, but before he could do anything, a kunai knocked it out of his hand. "Son of a…!"

Kakashi closed the distance and attacked Deidara, who barely managed to dodge his attacks. "Jiraya! Take Naruto and Sakura away from here!! I can hold him off; I hold the advantage here!!"

Kakashi threw a few more punches but Deidara leapt onto his bird and took to the air. "We'll see about that fool!" he chided as he tossed his trademark weapons at the copy-nin.

Naruto was about to act, but Jiraya grabbed his shoulder strongly. "Come on, I'll get you fixed up. Tobi, you coming?"

Tobi quickly responded "Yes!!" as he raised a fist into the air.

The four ran deep into the forest, which did not go unnoticed by Deidara. "I don't think so!" Deidara directed his clay explosives at them, but Kakashi jumped in front of them, taking the blows for himself and setting them off. While Deidara was surprised by his actions, it was convenient enough. "Fool."

"Raishin!" Deidara stepped away as a wolf-shaped beam of electricity moved towards him. It didn't hit him, but it tore up his clay bird, causing him to fall to the ground. Kakashi could only smirk in response. "Make no mistake; I am more than happy to die for them. But whenever possible, I think it's best to keep oneself alive to. Right?"

Deidara only smiled gleefully. "Perhaps. But that is the most inappropriate line to say at a time like this, ne?"

Kakashi looked back to the crippled clay bird, which then ejected several bombs from its back and into the sky. "Uh oh." As the saying goes, what goes up must come down.

Once they reached a dense part of the forest, Jiraya and Tobi set their rescuees down. "Alright, lift your shirt up." The sage said to Naruto. Naruto didn't waste time with wisecracks and did as he was told. Jiraya inspected the seal closely but quickly afterwards gave his verdict. "Aw shit."

That sure didn't sound good, Naruto thought. "How bad?"

"Very bad. Do you have any idea what its function is?"

Naruto sighed. "He just said that it sealed all of my chakra, both Kyuubi's and my own. I did try to circulate my chakra, but I couldn't feel a thing inside."

Jiraya nodded as he took the information in. "This could take some time."

"Ero-senin, forget about us! Go help Kakashi-sensei! He-"

"Naruto, I'm worried that if I leave this alone for too long, it might become permanent!"

Naruto just stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"There is one thing I do recognize in this seal; it has a special security mechanism. No one has ever perfected it, and fortunately for us, this one is no exception. Seals, as you know them, can be undone by anyone so long as they know how. However, a few have found a way to make their seals after a certain time respond only to their chakra. It takes time, but when it happens, only the one who cast the seal can undo it. I don't think the Akatsuki will need to break this specific seal in order for them to extract the Kyuubi…in fact, I'd dare say it would work in their favor if they were to get their hands on you now."

At first, everyone stayed quiet as they desperately tried to process everything Jiraya had told them. Suddenly, Naruto shouted "Wait! Even though it was Kizu who made her do it, Sakura was technically the caster! Maybe-"

"That would be true." Jiraya confirmed. "But to my knowledge, Sakura's not a seal expert. And I'm not sure whether or not she was even aware of what was happening, but if she was, lacking control of her body probably threw off her perception a bit. Am I right?" Jiraya asked Sakura, who was sitting against a tree.

Sakura nodded slightly. "It felt too weird. It was almost like I was dreaming, yet it was all so clear. I could feel the sensations…but whatever signals my brain attempted to send to my body were blocked."

Naruto sighed. "Okay; whatever you're going to do, do it fast. Kakashi-sensei-"

"Kakashi should be fine; Deidara's an earth user, so Kakashi should have the advantage. What I have to do…" Jiraya leaned closer in. "…is to undo this seal in time…if it's not too late."

As Jiraya began to get to work, Sakura turned to Tobi, glaring at him with angry eyes. "And what about you?" Tobi could tell by the way she sounded she was not at all trusting of him. "Are you really working with us? You weren't exactly keen on helping me back then, and at this point I see no reason why you would switch sides now."

Tobi sighed. This wasn't going to be easy to explain. "Well, Sakura-san…you see…"

"I was the one who got him to join us." Jiraya interrupted, never taking his eyes off Naruto's belly.

Sakura blinked in disbelief. "What?"

Tobi laughed slightly. "It's true. To be honest, I don't believe it myself…"

Tobi watched Kizu, in Sakura's body, as he inspected the troops. Every time he looked at him in the woman's body, his stomach twisted. His instinct told him it wasn't right. Not just Kizu's methods…but now he was beginning to doubt his ideology. His mind flashed back to when the real Sakura was talking to him. "Even if I am helping to sacrifice these people in order to make a better world…is that really any different from murder?" Tobi rubbed his forehead as he felt a headache coming on. "Come to think of it…once we get the Biju's power, will everyone be the same as before? Kizu-sama did tell me that the worst massacres in history began with leaders claiming they seized power for a better world…how is this any different?" The philosophical questions continued to clutter Tobi's mind.

"Psst." Tobi turned around, and saw a toad. Tobi, thinking he was becoming paranoid, was about to turn away. Suddenly, a hand appeared, prying it open and an old man's head appeared outside the creature's mouth. "You look like you're in deep thought." The senior commented with a smug smile on his face.

Tobi recognized the shinobi as one of the sanin; Kizu warned him about this one especially. Yet he said nothing. He didn't know why; by all means he should be yelling to Kizu-sama that they had trouble, but couldn't.

"You seem to be confused, too. Wanna tell me about it?" The old man commented, never dropping his smirk.

Tobi looked away, replying "You are doing something incredibly stupid by talking to the enemy as if we were friends."

The old man only continued to smile in response. "You're not sounding the alarm; my planning couldn't have been that bad."

The two said nothing for a brief period, as Tobi looked between him and Kizu. "You do realize she's working for us now, right?" Tobi knew that he didn't put enough force in that to convince him.

"Her? No, no, I doubt she's willingly joined you. Tsunade talks about her and her progress all the time. I've even seen them do girl stuff together, like they were mother and daughter. And my baka student…he CANNOT take his mind of her! I've tried to get him to go peeking in all the places women like to go with me, but he's worried about what she would do to him if he ever caught her, and just says he respects her too much for that." Jiraya quickly stole a glance at her. "Then again, I can't blame him entirely for that. She has become quite a looker herself…and her strength is every bit as scary as her predecessor's." Both shinobi shuddered at the thought, having experienced it first hand. Jiraya turned his focus back to Tobi. "In fact, I'm thinking it's because your leader took possession of her that you're beginning to doubt him, aren't you?"

Tobi growled in annoyance, frightened by how well the old man nailed it. "And you want me to join you? How do I know I'll be joining the right side? I think at best, I'm stuck between two warring factions that aren't any better than the other."

If anything, that only seemed to brighten Jiraya's smile even more. "That kind of thinking is that of a true hero." Tobi could only stare at him in disbelief upon hearing that. "Even if you don't believe in our cause…you know in your heart that allowing your master to control that young lady against her will is wrong." Tobi finally sighed in defeat. "Tell you what; you help me, and I promise you're free to do whatever you want afterwards. However, you have to promise me that once you join me, you'll see this through to the end."

Tobi seemed to contemplate the proposal carefully, although it was hard for Jiraya to tell, given his deformed face. Finally, he stuck out his good arm. "It's a deal. But I warn you: the INSTANT this is over, and I'm not satisfied with the results…I won't hesitate to turn on you."

Jiraya nodded in agreement, and shook his hand. "First, Kizu surely knows Sakura's jutsus, right? Get him to heal your arm." Tobi extended his sleeve, which the toad then jumped into.

Kakashi desperately tried to get through to Deidara, but Tobi kept blocking his path. Even with his mask, Tobi's enton jutsus still affected him adversely. The small distraction was enough to allow Deidara to cause a small explosion on any part of the bird, if he wished. Even if Deidara wouldn't, one misstep could send him falling to his doom. "Enton! Necromancer Ryu no Jutsu!" Tobi created two dragons made of smoke, surrounding them. Kakashi prepared to block any attack he could to the best of his ability, but nothing came.

Tobi extended his arm, and showed the jonin a toad in his hand. "Quickly. Inside." He whispered. Kakashi eyed him, completely clueless. The toad opened its mouth…and suddenly the copy-nin got it. Though Tobi was difficult to read even without his mask, Kakashi couldn't see any sign of him anticipating a trap. Not for himself, anyway.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Kakashi created a clone, and placed a seal on it. "That should keep any chakra from leaking out upon moment of impact." Quickly, the copy nin dove in the toad's mouth, seemingly defying the laws of physics…

"…And that's how it all happened. Tobi is here of his own free will." Jiraya said, still studying the seal on Naruto intently.

Sakura let out a sigh, allowing herself to relax and lean against the tree. "So it's true." Tobi turned to her. "You're starting to think for yourself now." Sakura smiled at him, happy that even if it wasn't immediate, she was able to reach someone.

Tobi blushed slightly, upon realizing how…pretty…she really was. "I can't guarantee it will stay this way." Everyone could tell he was bluffing.

Kakashi dodged the explosives the best he could. But even in peak condition, that was proving difficult. The longer it dragged on, the quicker Deidara was able to figure out a pattern. His luck finally ran out when two bombs to his side landed almost simultaneously. He dodged the first, but the blast of the second caught him! "AHH!" Thankfully, it didn't blow any limbs off…but it sure as hell crippled him, as evidenced by the severe bleeding and exposed muscle of his left leg.

"And that's a wrap, ya?" Deidara clapped his hands. "You've put up a good fight, but I couldn't afford to keep it up. You're the copy ninja, after all, and I hear you have an elemental advantage over me. As fun as it was to play with you, I couldn't risk you activating your Raikiri. Sorry."

Kakashi grunted, desperately trying to stand up. He could ignore the pain, but that didn't change the fact that his muscles were torn and useless. "You forgot. I-"

"Go ahead." Deidara replied confidently. "I know about your Magenkyo Sharingan. You used that on me during our first encounter, didn't you? It was impressive, I'll give you that. But you still needed the jinchuriki's help; without him, you would've probably died by my hands, even after losing that arm. Besides…" Deidara formed a tiny clay spider, which leapt towards Kakashi. "…now that I know exactly what I'm dealing with…I can simply prevent the problem altogether as opposed to trying to overcome it." Before the creature could complete its journey towards Kakashi, a tentacle of sand flung it away. A very familiar pile of sand. Deidara's eyes widened as he realized exactly what that was. "That's…no…"

Deidara turned around to look at a very pissed Garaa. "REMEMBER ME!?" A Shukaku-like hand formed from the ground, and grasped the nuke-nin. Deidara screamed in agony from the pressure, and less than a second later almost lost consciousness from being slammed into the ground. He lost an arm from this before, and he knew he wouldn't survive much more of this treatment. Right before the hand would smash him on a rock, it suddenly stopped.

"Wha-?" Deidara looked to see Garaa panting heavily, desperately trying to hold the sand together. Deidara saw his chance, and exploded the sand arm. Although it was not his specialty, Deidara launched a taijutsu attack on Garaa, sending a roundhouse across the Kazekage's head. "I see! You survived, but the Ichibi is clearly no longer yours! Tell me…" Deidara landed a side fist into Garaa's stomach…and nearly broke his hand. "Ahhh…" Deidara could only hold it in agony. "You've…"

Suddenly, Garaa grabbed Deidara by the shoulders. He began to beat the crap out of his former killer, for lack of a better phrase. After a number of knees, punches, and slamming, Deidara was black, blond, red and blue in no time. Deidara managed to grab another fist, and held on tightly. "I see." He spat out some loose teeth before continuing. "To compensate for limited sand powers, you trained yourself into an iron body. Nice. However-"A clay spider landed on Garaa's shoulder. Quickly, he flicked it off, but it exploded, sending him flying into a tree. "…taijutsu, no matter how powerful or proficient, is the worst counterattack to my works of art." Deidara created more clay birds, which gave chase. Garaa ran as fast he could, but he was already tired, and barely escaped the explosions. He managed to create a sand shield when one flew to his face, but he was not strong enough to stand the force of the explosion, and was sent flying on his back. As he struggled to get up, Deidara pinned him down. "That was amusing, hn? Oh well; goodbye!" Before anything could happen, something came hurling towards Deidara. "Wha-"

Quickly, Deidara leapt over the thing as it sped past him. The "object" then crashed into a tree at the same time Deidara landed.

"Oww! Couldn't you have watched where you were going!?" a young boy shouted.

"Excuse me!? Who was bitching at me to go faster!?"

Deidara got up to find three young teens, most likely genin. "Wait…I think those are his students!!" Deidara regained his composure and walked towards them.

The one with the black hair grabbed his teammates' attention and pointed at the blonde. "Shit guys…that's…"

"Well done; if you're here, then that means you defeated my team as well…right?" The three remained speechless, already anticipating the worst. Deidara held up his hand and said "Don't worry; as much as I valued their company, it's how the ninja world works. Not everyone makes it no matter how good they may be, hn?" The teens only tensed up more; Yuji had a hunch he was a psychopath. "Of course, I'm still going to kill you." Deidara created more clay birds. "It will draw that brat out here, and besides, it's fun!"

Yuji sometimes really hated being right.

"AHHHH!!"

Deidara managed to block a jumping kick from his side, and leapt to safety. "You!" In his place stood Tsunade. While she looked as fierce as ever, her heavy breathing gave away her exhaustion. "I can tell you're not at your best, Hokage-sama; if everything I heard about you was true, that kick should have taken my arm off."

"I'm not at my best, true, but for dealing with you, it should be enough." Tsunade charged, and Deidara counterattacked. But not with his usual clay creatures. Something exploded from underground, sending Tsunade flying in the air. Thankfully, she flipped and landed on her feet unharmed.

"Mines." Deidara explained. "As I stepped around this region, my feet secreted a chemical into the ground. When the pressure increases above a certain threshold, it explodes! I'm impressed that you are otherwise unharmed, though."

"I felt how soft the ground was, and as a medic-nin, I was easily able to pick up on the smell; I jumped to avoid the initial fire from the explosion…."

"….but the force of it still threw you off some. I'd like you to come here, and try that again." Tsunade charged, and as predicted, she stepped on another mine, but leapt to save her body from being torn to pieces. The process was almost repeated until she was just upon Deidara. Unfortunately, Deidara threw a smoke bomb down, and escaped to the treetops.

Snorting, Tsunade pushed down on where he was standing previously, and used the force of the explosion to carry herself towards him. "Got you where I want ya." Deidara reached into his pocket…in the air, Tsunade had no way of avoiding anything thrown at her. But unfortunately, Deidara didn't count on having an interactive audience.

"Look!" Yuji pointed. "He's going to blast her!" Iori picked up a kama, and threw it like a boomerang.

Just as Deidara removed his hand from the pouch, the kama came within a hair's width of his hand. Thankfully, that was enough to puncture the explosive, and blow off Deidara's tongue. "WHAAAARRRGHH!" His distraction allowed Tsunade to pummel him into the ground. While her super strength was gone, her experience in taijutsu still helped her give Deidara a good beating before they landed.

Once there, Tsunade knew what she needed to do. "I have enough chakra left for a chakra scalpel. I'll use it to disable his good arm." Before she could land it on his tendon, something crept along her stomach and burned her, while Deidara threw dirt in her eyes. "AHH!" Tsunade stumbled back, and Deidara was back on his feet, his remaining hand tongue coiled like a snake.

"Come on, babe, show me an eye…once I get an eye, you're helpless!" The instant he saw her open an eye, his tongue extended forward at a rapid pace.

"No!!!" Yuji threw his last snag of wire like a bolo, and the wire caught the tongue.

Of course, the wire was rapidly being broken down, but that was all the Hokage needed. Tsunade recovered, and thrusted her fingers onto his shoulder. The next thing Deidara felt was a searing pain, and then a dead weight. With a push kick sending him on his back, Tsunade backed away, and collapsed.

Fighting the Tsuchikage's monstrous machine was bad enough, but she had to fight a true S-class nin with minimal chakra. Deidara, on the other hand, was in pretty good shape. But with Team Naruto's help, she managed. "It's over, Deidara! Your tongues are useless now…" Deidara ran back towards his discarded clay bird, but a wired kunai from Tsunade threw him off balance. "And I'm not about to let you go back to your bird. Kakashi told me all about that one." Tsunade drew another kunai. Normally, she would have wanted him questioned. But he was too dangerous; with no able ninja to help her , she could not risk it; he had to be taken out now!

Deidara growled dangerously. "You think you've won?" With his right arm, he reached behind his back and pulled a cord. His Akatsuki cloak ripped to shreds, and it took Tsunade everything she had to keep herself from throwing up. A mud like substance poured out of his pores like sweat, and his torso expanded in a way Tsunade did not believe was anatomically possible without destroying every bone in the body. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Deidara turned his back to her, and Tsunade saw a mouth on it placed vertically, covering his spine. It opened up, and a large, drooling tongue slithered out. "Well then…" Deidara turned around, and looked at her with an absolutely crazy grin. "I do believe it's time for Round 2."

"And so that is the situation." Kizu explained to Danzou. Danzou gritted his teeth. From here on, the two would have to break contact. Danzou couldn't argue with him though; it wouldn't take long for Tsunade to question how he got the tape and put two and two together. She would be watching him like a hawk from now on!

"I see. Yes, I understand. While I have been hoping for an eventual takeover, I have to face the facts. I'm getting old, and the chances are slim for me to become Hokage. At first, all I had was my ideology; though not in the majority, I've had more than enough supporters to bend the situations as I see fit, enough to consider me as Hokage despite my disability. But if I'm on the verge of death, or worse, senility, it will mean nothing." Danzou gripped his cane tightly. "But while I view Madara as merely an accomplice and no longer my teacher, our ideology of the ninja world is the same. I will see to it my vision will not die with me; I will find others."

"Excellent." Kizu said. "I will leave the candidates to you. All I will ask is that they despise jinchuriki as people, and will never compromise on that. Nothing else matter to me. They may not have much sway now, but I'll be sure to push Uzumaki's buttons the right way. With time, I WILL make the masses turn on him."

"I can see it coming together. Before you depart for good, may I make a suggestion?"

"Speak."

"My grandson is on his team. It's not possible to make him side with us completely; but he is prone to anger, almost as much as Uchiha Sasuke. I think I can manipulate him to hate the system and use that against Uzumaki. Even if you fail, I'm sure I can make him the chink in the armor that will ruin everything for Namikaze's spawn."

Kizu grinned. "Interesting. Yes, I see the merits in that. Uzumaki had to suffer the betrayal of a dear friend before, but one more… as long as he won't become an obstacle, I will trust you with that." Kizu then turned to leave. "I apologize for the inconvenience; the fewer members, new timetables, and your goal of becoming Hokage going down the drain, I admit, it's embarrassing, but that's life. Just when you think you've attained your goal, something comes and obstructs your path. But don't worry, I will find a way around it." Kizu paused momentarily. "Oh, and if you don't mind, I think I will hang out here for a while."

"What will you do?" Danzou asked, intrigued.

"I just want to observe the situation. I finally got to meet him; I would like to get to know him on a more personal level." Kizu smiled maliciously as he anticipated it.

Tobi looked deep into the woods, observing the dire situation. Frantically, he looked back to Jiraya. "Are you finished yet!?"

Jiraya could only grunt in frustration. "Does it look like it!? If I get this wrong, I could kill him!!"

Naruto gulped. "There's a time limit, right? We might have even crossed it over! Damn it Ero-senin, please!! Just go!!"

"I'm sorry, I can't take that chance. I have to try to release you before I do anything else!!" Jiraya answered regretfully.

Tobi emphasized with great urgency "Your Hokage has given it everything she had, and it doesn't look like everyone else out there is going to be of much help! Deidara has transformed!!"

Tobi could see the panic in the eyes of the two men. He was almost caught off guard when Sakura got to her feet. "Shishou-sama!!!"

Tobi held her down. "You're in no condition to fight!!! You've been pushed to the point of exhaustion, and you've just lost to a Hyuuga!! You don't have anymore chakra in your body!!"

"I HAVE TO GO!!! If I don't, everyone…" Sakura finally broke down. She cried hysterically. She made many mistakes, and so often, came up short. If fate and karma existed, it seemed it was working like clockwork. Sakura's closest people were about to die, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Sakura momentarily gasped as Tobi embraced her, trying to comfort her. "I'm sorry. I'm to blame for all this. If only I had helped you earlier when you needed me, I could have stopped all of this." Tobi laid her down. "But rest assured, Sakura. I will make things right!!" With that, Tobi became a stream of smoke, and vanished. Sakura said nothing, only stared in astonishment as a single tear stroked down her cheek.

"Believe in him, Sakura!" Naruto shouted. "I've seen a lot of bad guys, and others who simply wound up on the wrong side. He's on the latter, and he IS going to make things right!!"

Sakura slowly smiled, and nodded. Turning back to the woods, she screamed "GO GET HIM, TOBI!!!"

Deidara's tongue scooped up earth, and threw the bits at Tsunade. The kunoichi rolled to dodge them, but when she got a good look, she realized they were not meant to hit her. The mud piles quickly expanded, and finally, exploded. While she avoided the fire, the shockwave sent her reeling into a tree head first, knocking her out. Deidara's rib cage moved as if it were a pair of wings, allowing him to fly. As he did, he took some of the clay leaking from his skin, and began to chew it like gum. "Now die!!!" Deidara prepared to spit his bomb. But some speeding cloud of smoke tackled him and threw his weapon off target. In no time, he was back down to earth. As Deidara stood, he hissed only one word. "Tobi…"

Tobi could look at him only in regret and pity. Despite his politeness all those years, he didn't really like Deidara that much. But still, to go against someone you worked with for so long was not the easiest thing in the world to do. He had to try to end this well, at least. "Deidara-sempai, please give up. There's no point to any of this; we lost."

"Because of you!!" the blonde shouted in retort.

"Deidara, do you think Kizu is really going to give you what you want? Once he has all the biju, why would he? I didn't allow myself to see it at first…but even though it hurts me to admit this…when he gets what he wants, Kizu will just kill us all."

While he was distracted, Deidara spat mud out of his mouth and pinned Tobi to a tree. "You honestly think I haven't figured that out!? I knew right from the beginning that Kizu would kill us once he found no use for us!!" Deidara's scowl slowly turned into a grin. "That's why I plan to kill him myself."

"It won't work, sempai. Kizu would have never allowed you to join if you had a ghost's chance of killing him. I've never seen him off guard in any manner, not even in sleep. I'm sure he even knows you want to kill him. Sempai, if you leave now, you should be able to escape. He hasn't placed a seal on you, you have a chance!"

"Just the words I'd expect to hear from that pompous oaf's pet!!" Deidara's back tongue scooped up more earth, flinging it at Tobi. Of course, Tobi changed into his corporal form and escaped, appearing right in front of Deidara. The Iwa nin was knocked to his side with a good side kick, but Deidara immediately began his counterattack: He simply placed his foot on the ground. Suddenly, an explosion went off right were Tobi was standing. Though he managed to avoid the brunt of the blast, his arm was badly singed. "I leaked an explosive chemical into the ground, controlling where it went. You have about 15 seconds left before you can become transparent again!" Deidara wasted no time, as he licked the clay pouring down his body. Like the gattling machines his village made, he spat his explosives at a rapid speed. Though Tobi's agility saved him, these projectile explosives were much stronger than the ones his partner normally used. Right before Tobi could become intangible again, one exploded right in front him, sending him flying like a rocket.

Tobi landed his head onto a tree. While he was not unconscious, the throbbing in his head was going to be problematic. No matter; he had to counterattack now! "Enton! Kanzanbai no Jutsu!!"

The area in front of him seemed to explode into smoke, and like a tidal wave, was headed right for Deidara! Deidara gasped for air as he suddenly found himself surrounded in toxic smoke, unable to see even inches in front of him. Before he knew it, Deidara felt himself take another punch to the jaw. Then a kick. In no time, Tobi was going to beat him senseless if he didn't act now.

Deidara's back tongue grabbed random earth and flung it in front of him. The resulting explosion cleared the smoke, and Deidara could breathe again. "I found you!!" Deidara's back tongue lashed at Tobi's face, causing him to scream in pain. "This tongue has a chemical far stronger than the ones my hands used! This won't just burn your skin; it will dissolve your bones!!"

Tobi quickly transformed into his ghost like state, and flew into the woods. As he changed back, he felt the reaction stop. Quickly feeling the side of his face, he realized Deidara wasn't kidding: he could feel the bad side of his face reduced to a stump! All that was left was hardened muscle and bone. At least he wasn't in any pain, and on the plus side, those extra body parts were gone. Quickly, Tobi pulled out a kunai and wrapped an explosive tag on it. "Deidara! I suppose I should thank you!! That acid treatment has really improved my face!!"

Deidara flew above the canopy, scanning for Tobi. "Don't thank me just yet; we've got more work to do!!" As he was flying, the clay seeping out of his body fell onto the trees. Deidara knew that Tobi would do something big, and could only chuckle at what would happen when he did. Deidara banked left as a kunai was shot straight up towards him.

The knife exploded as it reached its peak, but Tobi wasn't done yet. "Enton! Kurotaiyou no Jutsu!!" The cloud expanded, covering the entire forest in pitch black. Deidara flapped his new wings, hovering in place. He also noticed that he could barely breathe; staying in the area too long may even kill him! "You can't see a thing, but I can see you just fine!!" Tobi shouted.

"And I heard you!!!" Deidara flew straight towards the source.

Just as he was about to reach Tobi, he heard him yell another technique. "Enton! Kemurihana no Jutsu!" The air in front of Deidara seemingly exploded in front of Deidara, discombobulating his senses. He spun out of control, into several branches, and finally the forest floor. Deidara hacked as he struggled to breathe. He felt exhausted, like he was going to pass out any minute. He heard something land next to him. "It's over, Deidara. If you keep this up, you'll die. Just surrender, and they won't kill you."

"You're…right, Tobi." Deidara finally managed to stand, though he needed to support himself. "They won't kill me, just torture me so they can get me to say what they want. Most likely you too"

"Deidara, just cooperate and everything will be fine."

"I don't think so. The first thing they'll do is take away my tongues." Deidara looked at his arms, noting a tongue missing on one and the other being limp. "They already kind of did. That's why…" Deidara held up his good hand and made a sign. "…I'm not going to let them get their filthy hands on me!"

Without warning, the whole forest exploded, destroying Tobi's super smoke screen and surrounding them in an inferno. Tobi went into ghost mode to protect himself from the initial explosion, but once he changed back, a tree's roots blew up, causing it to fall, and pin him to the ground When Tobi tried to stand, he yelped in pain. Looking behind him, he could see the branch landed on his leg, probably breaking it. "Oh no…"

Deidara walked up to him, and kneeled. "In a few seconds you'll be able to escape this. But you won't be able to fight me, no matter what you do. You'll just be able to slow me down at best." Deidara's smile grew even wider. "In case I'm wrong, though…I'm going to kill you now, before I kill those others and get the jinchuriki for myself."

Sakura looked into the forest in fear. "No…"

"What's wrong?" Jiraya asked, not taking his eyes off the seal.

"I…I think Tobi lost. I definitely saw Tsunade-shishou get knocked out."

Naruto stared straight into Jiraya's eyes, who read the plea in his eyes crystal clear. "Naruto, I can't!! If we're going to do this, we have to get it right!!"

"Ero-senin, look! Our friends are out of commission! If you can't undo the seal, the only one left to fight will be you!!"

"But it could take too long, and then you might lose all your ninjutsu for good!"

"Up to you, Ero-senin! Me, or you!!"

Jiraya stared at Naruto almost as if he was staring into death itself. Finally, he sat down, muttering under his breath. Quickly, he got back to work. "It needs a tiger sign…it's incompatible with dragon…" Jiraya continued to mutter to himself, ruling out certain hand signs and trying to figure the correct combination of the ones he could use. "Okay. I may have something."

"So…?" the blonde inquired.

Jiraya nodded. "It's still a huge risk. But you're right; I can tell your seal only has a few minutes left before only Kizu himself can undo it. But you must understand: If I'm wrong, there's no telling what could happen. I…" Jiraya seemed to struggle to find the right words. "I might even…kill you." Naruto gulped in response. But an explosion caught his attention.

"Oh no, Tobi!" Sakura cried.

Naruto turned back to Jiraya and yelled "Do it!!"

Jiraya almost hyperventilated, but regained what he could of his calm. "Okay." With one last deep breath, he began. "Tiger, Monkey, Ram…" The signs seemed to go on forever. Before Naruto could yell at him to hurry up, Jiraya thrust his fingers deep into his abdomen. "If this doesn't work…please forgive me!"

Deidara hacked, recovering from a surprise attack. "Impressive. It seems you still have some fight in you."

Tobi leaned against a tree, breathing as heavily as Deidara was. He escaped his initial predicament and got a few good shots in, but his broken leg wasn't helping matters any. Deidara's back tongue scooped up more dirt, and flung it at him. Tobi couldn't become intangible just yet, and dodging was out of the question. "I suppose…this will be my end." Suddenly, something jumped in front of him and flung the bomb away. It was orange, blue, and fast. Very fast.

The thing tackled Deidara and sent him reeling across the forest. "What the…?" Deidara looked up to see a very pissed Naruto. That was made obvious by the orange coat of chakra and beast like features surrounding him. Quickly Deidara counted his tails…three! "Shit!" Deidara scrambled away, shoving dirt in his mouth. The Iwa nin fired, stunning Naruto. It didn't do much damage, but Deidara would take what he could get. "Come on!" Deidara's back tongue threw more mud bombs onto Naruto's skin. A chakra arm reached to grab Deidara, and pull him in. Deidara nearly panicked when he saw an unstable Rasengan about to collide with his face. But in the nick of time, the bombs went off, releasing his hold. They did a number on Naruto, but Deidara knew whatever damage he took would be repaired quickly in his current state. Of course, they were the distraction. Deidara began to prepare his knockout blow, smearing his clay all over the jinchuriki's body. With his clothes in tatters, Deidara was easily able to touch the boy's skin, possibly doing even more damage. Just as he finished, Naruto backhanded Deidara into the flaming trees. Naruto was about to lunge in pursuit, but something distracted him.

"NARUTO!!!" In a beast like manner, Naruto searched the forests, looking for the source. Finally, he took off on all fours.

Deidara grinned in anticipation. "This might be even better. Two birds with one stone at least, ya." Quietly, Deidara followed him, making sure he wouldn't be heard or spotted.

Naruto ran to the edge of the forest, and came face-to-face with Sakura and Jiraya. The elder in particular was especially nervous. "I was afraid of this! I released his chakra, but it caused a leak in his Kyuubi seal! Sakura, get-"

"Don't worry about me!" Sakura yelled. "I'll be fine, just have the seal ready." Sakura took a step forward. "Naruto?" Naruto twitched much like a large carnivore would, growling. "Naruto, it's me! You remember?" Naruto looked like he was about to pounce. "Come on, Naruto!" Sakura screamed.

It wasn't a desperate plea; it sounded more like Tsunade pushing a student, Jiraya noted. "She must have inherited that from her."

Sakura continued to shout at Naruto "I've brought you back from this when you had twice the tails you do now! You've come back from worse! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER NOW!!"

She finally seemed to strike a cord with Naruto, who was beginning to become more stable, and stood on his legs. "That's it sweetie, come on…" Suddenly, Naruto lunged towards Jiraya quicker than either of them could react. Naruto made a downward slash, but thankfully, Jiraya got out of the way in time. A pouch ripped open, revealing a seal. To everyone's astonishment, Naruto grabbed it, and slammed it onto his forehead.

"AHHHHHRRRGGGGHHH!!!" The orange chakra dissipated, and his features returned to normal. Naruto's legs lost their strength, but Sakura caught him before he fell face first.

"Oh Naruto, thank goodness. We thought you lost it."

Naruto chuckled. "Almost. I heard you, and that was enough."

Sakura smiled, but soon frowned when she noticed a sticky substance all over Naruto. "Naruto, what is this-?"

Before anyone could answer, everyone turned their heads toward the forest, seeing Deidara perched on one of the charred trees. "Art is a-"Everything seemed to slow down as the three watched Deidara about to activate the explosive clay all over Naruto. Sakura's and Jiraya's first instinct was to duck for cover, but there was no time. Besides, doing so would mean abandoning Naruto.

Time seemed to start again when Deidara suddenly screamed, clutching his eyes. Everyone looked up to see Shiguri lodged on Deidara's shoulders, trying to stab his eyes out with a kunai. "Shiguri!!" Naruto cried.

"Hurry!" the boy cried.

Deidara elbowed Shiguri off him, clutching his face. "You son of a bitch! I'll deal with you later!"

Before Shiguri fell to the floor, something caught him and came towards Naruto at an incredible speed. "Fuzzy brows!!"

Lee set his friend's student down. "I finally defeated most of the enemy, and Jaa told me your students headed in this direction. The explosions confirmed it for me."

Before anymore questions could be asked, Jiraya quickly shot his toad oil all over Naruto. "AHH!! What'd you do that for!?"

"No!! You ruined it, you old fool!" Deidara screamed.

"Oh."

"It seems the oil disrupted whatever chemical reaction could take place." Sakura confirmed.

Naruto and Sakura turned heads when they heard more people come to join them. Garaa supported Tsunade on his shoulder, and Iori carried Yuji and Kakashi on her back. "No more…I'm pooped…" Iori collapsed right on her face.

"She's so strong Naruto…" Kakashi noted, smiling beneath his mask. "You should be proud."

Finally, a stream of smoke landed next to Naruto, and a crippled Tobi appeared. "Thank you. He would have gotten me if you hadn't come."

Naruto did not have time to respond to either one; he had a plan. "Ero-senin, summon a toad stomach. A really, really strong one. But don't close it completely until I'm ready."

The two sanins' eyes widened as they realized what it was the jinchuriki was planning to do. Tsunade called him out on it. "Naruto, it's-"

"Sorry Ba-chan, but we're out of options." Jiraya gulped, and did as his pupil asked once again. So did Naruto.

"Taijuu Kage no Bushin!" Thousands of Narutos appeared, and rushed Deidara.

"You fool! That won't work on me!" Bombs blew up each bushin on contact, but there were too many of them for Deidara to destroy altogether, as many dodged his attacks and forced him to dodge theirs.

Meanwhile, all the Konoha nin ran inside the frog stomach Jiraya summoned. "Just a little longer-!"

Deidara began to retreat to the woods, with the army of clones following him. "Scared, are ya!?" the clones shouted. Suddenly, explosions from underground went off and destroyed all of them.

"You all should have never followed me into territory that I've been in already. You never know where I will plant some mines." Deidara circled back to the edge and touched down." Now-"Deidara stopped his tirade when he noticed something forming in Naruto's hand. "Is that…a Rasengan!?" It looked similar, but Deidara noticed something swirling around it, resembling a shuriken. "This…this must be the jutsu that killed Kakuzu!"

"Ready to meet your maker, Deidara!?" Naruto yelled as his clones completed the sphere in his hand.

Deidara smiled. "I think that should be said about you!" Deidara leaned down and chewed dirt. "He's gotten better over the years, but he's still a close range fighter! No matter how good that technique is, I'll make sure it never reaches me!!"

"Here goes! Futon: Rasenshuriken!!" Deidara shot his mines out like a gattling gun, but before any could reach Naruto, he threw his weapon. It didn't dissipate; it continued to travel, and continued to grow. "Now, Ero-senin!" Naruto dove into the toad stomach, where a hole sealed up. None of Deidara's explosives could stop it. And it was too fast for him to dodge. Naruto, nor anyone else inside the cocoon, could hear him scream.

"Is it over?" Jiraya and Naruto worked hard together to keep the wind chakra from puncturing the toad stomach; one mistake and Naruto could have killed everyone, including himself.

"It should be. If I remember my fight with Itachi correctly, when I threw the Rasenshuriken, it seemed to explode all it once. I don't feel any more pressure, so let's check it out." The toad stomach dissipated, and the group beheld the devastation in the area. The ground was barren and cracked, the forest trees were reduced to stumps, and there was simply that eerie feeling one had after an area has been completely destroyed.

"Wow, Naruto-kun. You always have to steal the show." Lee commented.

Naruto continued looking around. "I don't see Deidara anywhere…"

"Naruto, look!" Sakura pointed.

Naruto turned to see Deidara rising from the rubble. At first, he panicked, but calmed down once he saw Deidara's condition. He was bleeding through every pore, coughing up blood, and most notably, his arms were gone. Upon seeing that, Naruto relaxed. "It's over. The Rasenshuriken damages at the cellular level; if it weren't for the Kyuubi, I would have lost my arm the first few times I tried that jutsu. I'd wager you don't have much time left, even if you smeared your entire body with clay armor." Deidara grunted like he wanted to say something fowl. Then he started laughing. Soon his laugh became more and more maniacal. "What's so funny!?" Naruto demanded.

"I never…ever…thought I would be forced to show it!!!" Naruto looked at him quizzically; but whatever it was, he knew it couldn't be good. "My ultimate art!!!" Deidara bent over and seemingly bit his stomach.

"There's a cord there!" Tobi yelled.

Deidara pulled, and a large mouth appeared. Though subtly, the mouth began to open. "I installed it myself. It takes time to open, but once it sucks in enough oxygen, everything you see around you will go up in smoke!" Deidara laughed as his body bulged and skin began to turn red.

"Kakashi-sensei…"

Kakashi already had a good look with his sharingan. "Kamui will not be enough, not this time. He's really doing it; he's committing suicide and taking us with him! If I'm reading it correctly, the amount of chakra he's putting out could completely obliterate Konoha if he was in its center!" Naruto prepared to attack him, but Kakashi held him back. "Even if it won't be as powerful, touching him will set off a powerful explosion prematurely!"

Everyone let it sunk in. No way of preventing it, no way of escaping it. Quickly, Sakura embraced Naruto, who returned it. Unseen by everyone else, Iori quickly grabbed onto Yuji. Though taken by surprise, he too returned the embrace.

Soon, Deidara looked like he swallowed a giant marshmallow whole. The mouth on his abdomen looked wide open; he was going to blow any second now. " Twenty seconds. It's been nice knowing everybody, and it's as I always say…Art is a Bang!"

Quickly, Tobi limped over to Sakura and Naruto. "Sakura…let me ask you…" Sakura nodded, indifferent to anything else that might happen at that point. "When you told me that you could do all those things for me, in exchange for leaving the Akatsuki…did you mean it? A place to call my own? Real friends? Even…" Tobi rubbed the area on his face where his unusual deformity once was. "…this?"

Sakura smiled sadly. "Yes Tobi, I meant every word I said. It wouldn't have been easy, but with the support of my friends, we could have made you one of us. I'm sorry it's come to this…and I want you to know…I forgive you."

Tobi chuckled lightly. Sakura noticed he was crying. "That means a lot to someone like me. But to be honest…even if you had lied to me…I would still do what I'm about to do now…" Quickly, he looked Sakura in the eye. "Haruno Sakura…thank you for showing me the way…it's with my deepest regrets that I must inform you…I'm afraid I cannot walk that path."

Before she could respond, Tobi hopped as fast as he could to Deidara. Lightly, he touched his skin. "Tobi!!...What are you planning!?" Deidara shouted, unconcerned about his own death.

Suddenly, they both became a cloud of smoke. The smoke swirled up towards the sky at an incredible speed. Both Naruto's and Sakura's eyes widened in horror as they realized what Tobi was doing. "Tobi!!"

"Everyone get down!!" Jiraya yelled. "That explosion now has all three dimensions to expand!!" Everyone pressed themselves flat to the ground, as they watched Tobi continue to take Deidara up in the air. "He won't have much longer…" Finally, the trail seemed to have disappeared. Then, there was a sudden ball of light. "Brace yourselves!!!"

The sound was deafening, and the pressure was enormous. The few remaining trees were flattened, and rocks flew over the Konoha nins. Naruto was worried just the force of it would kill them all. It seemed to last forever…then, it stopped. Slowly, everyone rose.

"It's gone, everybody!!" Naruto shouted. Everyone stood up, relieved.

"It's over…" Tsunade said.

"Yeah…" Naruto confirmed. Quickly, Sakura embraced Naruto again. "I thought I lost you. I thought I really lost you this time."

"I'm never pushing you away like that again."

As the two hugged one another, Sakura looked up to the sky. "Tobi…thank you…and sorry. We'll make you a grave as soon as we can. It's the least we could do…"

While Tsunade inspected everyone's injuries, Naruto and Sakura continued to hug each other. Then, Naruto felt Sakura's body go limp. "Sakura…?" At first frightened, Naruto calmed down when he felt Sakura breathe. She fell asleep!

"She's exhausted." Tsunade noted. "I'm partially responsible. I've worked the poor girl to death; being both a fighter and a medic is a difficult job, and I could only afford to give her a few days rest at a time."

"Plus, from what she told me, she was fighting Kizu in her mind." Kakashi mentioned. "Non-stop, she did not rest once. She was under his control for a day, at least. Good thing for Hinata, he forgot that Sakura's weak point was her stamina, and wound up treating her like what I would presume to be his own body instead."

Naruto's eyes widened when he mentioned Hinata. "Is she…?"

"She was hurt pretty badly. But I think she'll be fine."

Naruto felt guilty for not at least realizing Hinata's feelings for him sooner. And for making her feel like she had to prove herself for him. But for now, Sakura concerned him more.

"Alright." Tsunade was out of chakra, so most of her patients needed to have their wounds stabilized by hand and treated at the hospital later. Tsunade used parts of her jacket as bandages. "Kakashi, your leg is going to be fine, but we need to get you to the medics, as I can't treat you as I am. Miyamoto, your foot is pretty bad, we need to hurry along. Kazekage-sama, you're fine. You just need some rest." Garaa gave her a weak nod.

Then, she turned to Sakura. "Same for her…" Tsunade began to rub her chin. Sakura's top was going to cause some problems; she couldn't carry her wearing a top that screamed Akatsuki. She used up all of her jacket too. "Hmm…" Then, she saw Jiraya's. "Gimme that!"

"Hey!"

Before he could protest, Tsunade walked with Jiraya's jacket towards Sakura. "Eyes back!" Everyone, even Iori, turned around as Tsunade discarded Sakura's Akatsuki top. "Okay, you can look now."

Jiraya's jacket was tied around Sakura's chest. Naruto asked Tsunade "So, what now? When do we go back out to the front again?"

Tsunade smiled. "We won't. The Tsuchikage is dead. Without him, Iwagakure will be in ruins for quite a while. And with the stronger nins usually being executed under his policy, finding a new Tsuchikage is going to be difficult for them." Everyone conscious laughed out loud in joy.

"Are you alright, Naruto?"

"I'm fine, Ba-chan."

"You know, I can-"

"But I want to carry her!"

Everyone slowly walked back to Konoha. Those that were debilitated were carried. Lee carried Yuji, Jiraya carried Kakashi…and Naruto, obviously, carried Sakura, bridal-style no less. Tsunade kept nagging him to hand her over, but to no avail. "A god-mother's love, I guess." Jiraya guessed. But what was more important was that everyone was glad to be alive, and heading back home. The trek back was too long for their liking though; in prime condition this would have been a quick five-minute run for them. Everyone doing the walking hoped that Deidara and the Tsuchikage were being forced to do triathlons in hell as they struggled to get back.

Soon though, the village came within sight. "Finally…" Naruto grumbled. "After this whole mess is cleared, I just want to go home, have a nice bath, some Ichiraku ramen, and bed." His thoughts then turned to the pink kunoichi he was carrying. "And maybe…" Something in his mind screamed "Don't go there!..." But truthfully, at this point, he could think of no reason not to. "We'll see, I guess…" His cheeks began to flare red the more he thought about it..

Everyone's attention was then focused on the group in front of them. The elders and the council. "Homura, Koharu…is there a problem?"

Homura nodded. "I'm afraid there is, Hokage-sama…regarding your pupil." Both Naruto and Tsunade's minds halted when he mentioned Sakura. "I'm sorry…but we've seen the tape."

Next: The court martial of Sakura!

Kanzanbai-Volcanic Ash

Kurotaiyou-Black Sun

Kemurihana-Smoke Flower