41. Severing Bonds 1

Ino watched as Yoshino Nara walked out of the hospital morgue with her son holding her arm supportingly. Her heart went out to the women as upon taking several steps away from the room that contained her husband's body she collapsed to the floor as she sobbed into her hands. Before Ino could run over, as she still felt extremely sluggish from how much chakra she had expended in linking the village, a nurse came jogging up with a wheelchair. Shikamaru helped his mother up into the chair before taking the handles to take her to the lobby. As the chunin pushed his widowed mother to the nearest elevator Ino could see that he was struggling to put on a brave face for her benefit.

Ino fought back a sob herself as she recalled all the gatherings she had attended at the Nara's as the older Ino-Shika-Chou team tried to build the bonds they shared among their children. Turning away she took the stairs as she was confident that the mother and son both wanted sometime to themselves. The blond kunoichi struggled slightly as another bout of lightheadedness came over her which she attributed to her having nearly used up all her chakra. Stepping from the stairwell on the second to last floor she saw injured shinobi and civilians dotting the halls as the rooms were dedicated to the most severely injured.

Ino stepped into the room that had been assigned to her father as she put on a brave face for her the woman sitting in a chair at the end of his bed. Ino paused a moment as she was struck how even with all that was going on her mom still managed to look both regal and beautiful. Her mother noticed she was being watched and turning to see her daughter said, "Ino, I thought I told you to go home. A person should know their limits and from what I've heard you've dangerously pushed passed yours."

"I'm fine mom," Ino said but her body betrayed her as she felt another wave of lightheadedness as it reminded her that she had nearly used up all her chakra in her efforts to keep the village linked in order to combat Pain's Paths.

Ino's mother gave her a concerned look, before sighing in defeat as she said, "You're as stubborn as your father."

Ino stepped further into the room and felt tears threaten to spill upon looking on her dad. Seeing him hooked up to so many machines and the flatness where a leg should be, brought her back to the battle for a moment. She was brought back to the present though as a result of being engulfed in warmth. She was surprised at first until she realized her mother sensing her daughter's sadness had gotten out of her chair to give her child a much needed hug. Ino quickly responded in kind.

Ino's mom pulled back to look at her daughter and caused an embarrassed blush to appear as she said, "Ino, you've blossomed into such a beautiful flower. Now please get some rest. The doctors tell me that thanks to your treatment your father should make a full recovery. A Sand Shinobi even stopped by in order to fit him with a temporary prosthesis when he wakes up. You've done enough, now take some time for you. I'm afraid with how badly the village has been hurt rest will be in short supply."

Before Ino could respond her mom turned her around and pushed her to the door. When her daughter cleared the threshold she gently closed it as a way to make her point. Ino knowing that her father would say that her stubbornness came from her mother, decided to take her advice. Walking away she was surprised that a Suna medic would be willing to fit her father with one of their artificial limbs since she knew the technique was a closely guarded secret of the Sand Village. Although Konoha's medical program far outpaced Suna's, the one category where the opposite held true was in creating artificial limbs for those lost in combat. Granted in the right set of circumstances Konoha medics could reattach a lost appendage, but her father's had been less than ideal and while Konoha did have prosthesis they could fit her dad with. They were rudimentary at best and although a few combat models did exist, how effective they were tended to depend on the nature of the injury. In her father's case due to his losing his leg at mid-thigh it was doubtful he would ever be able to be a shinobi again. A Suna made one however, with the proper training, would perhaps give him back most if not all of his mobility.

What was surprising about the Suna medic offering her father one was Ino knew that Sakura had been asking for Suna to share the technique ever since her battling Sasori with Elder Chiyo. Yet, Suna despite Gaara's best efforts had rebuffed the pink-haired kunoichi's requests as the Shinobi Council had been unwilling to share the secrets for the one thing they were better at then the Leaf. She didn't know if the Medic was operating with the Council's permission, but she doubted it. She did take it as a sign that Naruto's dream was becoming a reality.

Ino felt a warmth spread through her as she thought of the blond haired man. She knew that it was because of her association with him that the blossoming her mother had noticed had taken place. To Ino, the jinchuriki was akin to the sun whose light was necessary for a flower to spread its petals. She felt it a most fitting metaphor as she knew quite a few people would be shocked at how well certain kunoichi had done against Pain's Path. Ino though didn't think it a coincidence that those kunoichi all basked in the same light as she. A light that had been sorely missed from her life and one Ino refused to deny herself any longer.

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Tsunade looked at her reflection in a picture for a moment and felt a nervousness creep upon her born of her vanity. The reason for it was that she was not wearing her henge to hide her previous youthful appearance, but to the men and women standing in front of her she appeared perhaps a few years younger than she had when first returning to the village. Meaning instead of the eighteen year old woman she had appeared to be since becoming Naruto's lover, she would guess her current age to be closer to her mid-twenties. The change surprised her since she had been of the opinion that her using her advanced healing jutsu wouldn't carry the same side effects they had before her deaging.

Tsunade though put such concerns out of her mind as she said, "Alright hit me with it. How badly did Pain hurt us?"

Ibiki spoke first as he reported, "There were unfortunately over a hundred confirmed fatalities and almost as many people missing among the civilian populace. Granted it could have been much worse, but I know I speak for everyone when I say one would be considered too high."

Tsunade nodded in agreement as she told the man that was in charge of the civilian evacuation protocols, "Agreed, but that's way down from what we experienced during the Sound Invasion. You deserve praise for that Ibiki." Tsunade turned her gaze to Yuugao and she let the sadness she felt show as normally the person reporting would be Shikaku Nara. "Thank you for filling in Head Captain. What do you have to report?"

"Nothing good I'm afraid," Yuugao said grimly. "Our forces sustained over fifteen percent casualties, and our medics expect perhaps another one to two percent of those that they are treating to not last the night. The number of wounded is much higher. I've sent out orders to teams out performing missions to return to the village provided doing so won't put their clients in danger. Still, if any of our enemies decide to attack we'll be hard pressed to deal with them."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Tsunade said hopefully. "With Naruto's defeat of Pain and it appearing he's come to some sort of arrangement with the Kyuubi. I think it's safe to believe the other villages are going to sit back and observe for the moment."

"That may be true for Kirigakure and Kumogakure," Ibiki replied cautiously. "But with his also mastering the Hiraishin it may prompt Iwagakure to attack like after the Sound Invasion. Considering that jutsu single handily turned the Third Shinobi war against them, I think it's sage say to assume they'll most likely not be thrilled to learn of its return. Or upon their learning that the Fourth Hokage's son is following in his father's footsteps. It may be wise to change your mind on reversing the Third's decision to keep Naruto's parentage an S-class secret."

"You may be right," Tsunade said, but quickly changed her tune as she added, "but honestly I was never a fan of that decision. Furthermore, considering that his rather flashy entrance at the hospital and his Hiraishining all over the village as he dealt with the Paths half the village already suspects the truth. It won't be long before the rumor begins to spread anyway. Besides, Naruto has been forced to live without the ability to take pride in his heritage for too long." Tsunade directed her gaze to Koharu as she asked, "What about Root?"

"It appears that as I suspected most of the remaining members had gathered beneath Homura's residence," the Elder said having reapplied her henge to appear as she had looked before becoming Naruto's lover. "Komachi, was there as well and helped Seven and I in our struggles against them."

"I still can't believe you managed to turn her against Root," Ibiki said impressed. "Still it was damn risky of Kakashi to come up with an idea of letting her strike him down in order to keep up her cover."

"I'm afraid that it was the best they could come up with since she had only revealed her true colors to him and Naruto when they caught up with Danzou," Tsunade said stretching the truth slightly. "It was also necessary in order to draw out the person that warned Danzou of our intent to bring him to justice."

"Yeah...it's still hard to believe not one but two elders were plotting to take control of the village," Ibiki said crossing his arms. He looked lost in thought for a moment before asking, "Are we sure we have removed all of Root?"

Koharu choose to answer by saying, "Not entirely. But with Komachi's testimony we've arrested both Fu Yamanaka and Torune Aburame. They didn't gather with the rest of Root as it appeared they were trying to position themselves to become the leaders of their clans. There may be a few more elites out there that Komachi doesn't know of, but we'll just have to keep our eyes open for them."

"What about Udon," Tsunade asked concerned, "Has there been any sign of him?"

Yuugao shook her head in the negative as she answered, "No, plus considering the current state of our forces, we haven't assembled a search part to locate him. Those resources are currently searching the village wreckage for those listed as missing among the civilians and shinobi forces. It's also a task that both Naruto and this Naruko have been aiding with."

Tsunade agreed that concentrating on finding those likely buried under the many buildings that had collapsed during the battle was a priority. Yet still she added to the conversation by saying, "Very good, but letting Udon run loose may come back to haunt us at some point."

"Agreed," Yuugao said, "But upon Naruto's returning to the village I took the opportunity to ask him if his clones had spotted him. He told me that they hadn't since the one rescued Moegi. He also informed me that he couldn't sense the boy either."

Although all those in the room were surprised it was Ibiki that gave voice to it by asking, "Since when was Naruto a sensor type."

"This Sage mode of his allows him to sense people apparently," Yuugao explained. "It's why both he and Naruko have been so effective at locating survivors."

Ibiki inclined his head at Yuugao's explanation before directing his focus towards Tsunade to ask, "Considering how she appeared in the village this may seem to be a stupid question to ask. But just how sure are we that this girl's story can be trusted?"

"You mean besides the fact that both Naruto and the toads vouch for her. As well as the fact that she took the fight to Pain's Paths as readily as anyone," Tsunade said with an amused smile.

It wasn't often that Tsunade saw her Head of Torture and Interrogation appear uncomfortable. She felt slightly guilty for misleading the man since it was just proof of how good his instincts were that he was questioning the kunoichi's motives when most people of the village likely just saw her as a hero. Ibiki's talents to see underneath the underneath shown through as he said, "I agree her actions were nothing but beneficial to the village. But considering her name and appearance so closely resembles Naruto's something about her story of just being an apprentice to Lord Jiraiya doesn't ring true."

"The appearance is uncanny especially when one considers that she looks exactly like that ridiculous jutsu Naruto used harass Iruka and Hiruzen with during his academy days." Koharu smiled at the subtle looks of surprise Tsunade and Yuugao directed her way for agreeing with Ibiki if only slightly. "I had an opportunity to speak with her and she says that she was an orphan who was apparently given her name by a ramen shop owner before Jiraiya found her."

"Really," Tsunade said as she took the moment to add, "Jiraiya said he came up with the name Naruto while eating some ramen. Considering he was forced to keep his distance from Naruto in order that people monitoring him wouldn't realize his connection to the Fourth, Jiraiya may have taken this girl on as an apprentice to help ease the pain of being made to abandon his godson for so long."

"Naruko would agree with that theory," Koharu supplied. "She also would admit it was a reason she didn't much like Naruto in the beginning since she viewed herself as a cheap copy. Well that and he based that ridiculous Sexy Jutsu of his on what he imagined she'd look like grown up. Apparently Jiraiya brought her to the village once and they had a run in. It didn't exactly go well."

To the women's surprise Ibiki chuckled as he said, "Well considering that Naruto's probably flashed half the men in the village with that jutsu I suppose that would be an understatement, especially since Naruto's imagination appeared to be spot on." Having been on the receiving end of the jutsu himself Ibiki felt his cheeks color slightly as he realized just how closely Naruto had hit the mark. He cleared his throat as he asked, "Well what about her claiming to be an Uzumaki? From my own understanding a significant trait of the clan is their red-hair."

Tsunade shrugged as she answered, "If she wishes to claim a tie to a scattered clan then I'm in no position to stop her. Furthermore as Naruto helps prove, having read hair in no way holds true when members of the clan have children with non-members. It's probably something that won't be worth even mentioning in a few more generations considering the destruction of the Hidden Eddy village. But if you want to put whatever is bothering you at ease I could ask her to submit to a blood test."

"That won't be necessary," Ibiki said after thinking the matter over for a moment, "Considering the power that girl displayed there is no point in alienating her if she is going to be an ally. Not to mention, I couldn't sense any ill intent as I spoke to her. I guess I see her as just another mystery that appears to have come out of nowhere."

Before Tsunade or the others could reply a genin knocked on the door before stepping into the room. The young man quickly made for Yuugao and handed her a note before retreating from the room. Yuugao smiled briefly before handing the note to Ibiki as she reported, "It seems that Naruko has located a good portion of the missing civilians and shinobi. Communication with the group is sketchy as they are banging on pipes to relay their status to us, but a large group was forced to take shelter in the basement of a building which collapsed. Rescue efforts are underway. With that, both she and Naruto believe that all those left alive to be found have been." The smile faltered as she added, "The rest will be up to the Inuzuka or the Hyuuga."

Tsunade stood as she turned to look on her village through the window she had broken which although it had survived Pain's attack hadn't done so unchanged. She just hoped that it didn't change into the type of place Danzou would have wanted as its people looked for a target to direct the pain and anguish they felt.

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Naruto having finished helping to locate survivors, and thus leaving it to the people responsible for digging them out without collapsing the rubble on them, rummaged through his apartment which due to the heavy fighting that had taken place in the area had been rather badly damaged. He looked at the wall he had just finished boarding up which had been one of the obstacles Tsunade's punch had sent one of Pain's Paths through. Looking up he sighed at the hole in his ceiling which had been the Path's exit out of the building. Considering that the building had been deemed unsafe to occupy Naruto knew his repairs were just a form of busy work to keep his body occupied as he let the adrenaline wear off. Plus it was just mind-numbing enough that it also allowed him to consider his next moves.

Moving to his leather chair, he felt a pang of melancholy due to its state, having been damaged pretty badly by the falling debris from the Path going through the roof. Pulling a piece of wood out of the arm of it, he tossed it to the side as he sat down after swiping the seat of dust and ceiling tile. He felt it groan in protest signaling that after serving him well ever since his saving it from a curb it was likely on its last legs. He knew that with all that had happened to the village feeling sad about the loss of a chair was stupid, but since he had lost his virginity in it and it could be considered the throne upon which he had first dreamed up his plan to make Jiraiya and now Nagato's wills a reality felt its current state was some sort of sign or omen.

Leaning his head back he stared through the hole in his ceiling to see the darkening sky and let his mind wander to his brief visit with Konohamaru and Moegi. He hadn't been surprised that due to his friend's status as the honorable grandson of the Third Hokage, despite his being relatively lightly injured a room had been prepared for him in the hospital. He also hadn't been surprised to learn that Konohamaru had refused it in order to be assigned to a cot set up in the nearby Academy where some of the more lightly injured had been sent. But that hadn't been where Naruto had found him, as Konohamaru had been by his friend's bedside. Moegi's bed was in the hospital on the floor designated to the lightly injured but who would require some observation. Upon entering the room he wasn't surprised to hear the two whispering no doubt trying to understand why their teammate and friend would betray them.

Approaching Moegi's bed he could see that the other one was unoccupied prompting the kunoichi to explain, "The woman there took a turn for the worse. She's undergoing emergency surgery."

Naruto noticed Konohamaru glaring at him, so suspecting a confrontation moved towards the door and closed it before returning to standing at the foot of Moegi's bed. He wasn't disappointed as Konohamaru said accusingly, "You suspected Udon was some kind of traitor. Why the hell wouldn't you say anything to us?"

He could see it was a question that was reflected in Moegi's eyes as well. Tearing his eyes away from the kunoichi's due to the look of betrayal mixed in he simply asked upon turning to Konohamaru, "Would you have believed me?"

"Why wouldn't we have," Konohamaru snapped angrily.

"Konohamaru," Moegi said softly, "he does have a point. At the time wouldn't we have questioned how he could accuse Udon of being a traitor? It's easy for us to be mad now at his holding such a thing secret...but would we really have been so quick to believe Karin's intuition over Udon?"

Konohamaru crossed his arms as he turned away from his friend and rival to say, "It still pisses me off that he'd keep something like that from me." However a slightly teasing tone appeared in his voice as he added, "The idea a stinking genin thought he should keep information on a possible traitor from a higher ranked shinobi is unacceptable."

It took Naruto a moment to process his friend's words, but when he did he rose to the bait by replying, "Now hold on a moment. You might have become a chunin, but it's only because I wasn't there to show you up."

"Talk is pretty cheap," Konohamaru replied with a smirk. "For all we know if you were there you'd probably get yourself disqualified."

"Oh yeah..." Naruto said getting in the shorter boy's face.

"Yeah..." Konohamaru replied doing likewise.

The sound of a soft laughing caused both young men to turn towards Moegi as she enjoyed the comedic actions of the two friends. Both Naruto and Konohamaru turned back to each other with smiles of their own, before the older shinobi said, "I'm glad you're both doing okay. I'll look in on you both later okay."

Konohamaru nodded, but Naruto stopped in his trek to the door as Moegi said softly, "Boss." When Naruto turned towards her, she asked, "Konohamaru said Udon has sworn to destroy the village. I thought Root was founded to protect it...why would he want to do such a thing?"

"I don't know," Naruto replied sadly thinking of his own experiences with the boy. But seeing such an answer was less than satisfactory to the two who used to call Udon friend as well, he explained his own theory, "Udon wasn't your typical Root member. Homura was grooming him to inherit it from Danzou and him. Root may have seen itself as protecting Konoha from the shadows, but its goal was also to turn the village to its way of viewing the world. Something that for all intents and purposes the village had rejected when we attacked Danzou." Naruto focused on Konohamaru as he asked, "From what I've heard you say Udon abandoned the village after seeing his grandfather's home erupt into flames."

"Yeah, he said our fight was no longer necessary."

"He may have been talking on multiple levels," Naruto said. Seeing the confused looks he was receiving he explained, "Udon's fight wasn't exactly something one can simply pummel into submission. He was trying to change a way of thinking that is ingrained into all of us as a result of our time at the academy. That's why members of the Foundation were often recruited before actually joining so as to mold them into the soldiers they wanted. They'd still attend the academy, but in those cases it was just a cover to allow them to graduate so they could participate in Village affairs and missions. This was also to further the goal of changing the village from the inside." Naruto paused a moment as he considered that his own plans weren't that far removed from Roots. But knowing their end goals was worlds apart didn't get hung up on the realization as he continued, "Ultimately Udon saw you as a means to an end to change the village into a place that as opposed to avoiding battle at all costs tended to use it as a first resort. Recognizing that this goal could no longer be achieved due to his grandfather's death and his being out as a Root operative he has likely decided on the next most logical course of action."

"What's that?"

Focusing on Moegi to answer her, "That would be to either establish a village based on Root's ideals or to align with one where such principles would be embraced."

He could see that both Moegi and Konohamaru understood that at some point in the future they may be forced to fight Udon again. Konohamaru gave voice to the question that both of them were asking themselves, "Naruto...how is someone supposed to fight a person they once considered a friend?"

It was a question Naruto had asked himself many times and upon hearing it repeated immediately thought of Sasuke. Sad with the memories it conjured up he replied, "I...I wish I knew the answer to that myself."

*****************************

Naruto's recollection ended as he felt a light touch on his shoulder, his eyes snapped open and immediately met the blue ones of Ino. He was about to sit up but her grip turned firmer to hold him down so that she could move around the chair and climb into his lap. Surprised at her actions, he was about to speak but was silenced as she kissed him deeply. Confused, but having missed her touch, he quickly responded in kind as he snaked his hands around her back to pull her close.

After several moments despite feeling as if he was taking a deep breath after holding it forever due to the kiss with his distant lover. The need to actually breathe persisted causing them to pull away from each other. As Ino pulled back it prompted Naruto to ask, "What's wrong?" on the account of the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Ino said forlornly.

"Sorry..." Naruto said his tone questioning as he tilted his head at her as he tended to do when confused.

"For being such a hypocrite," Ino stated as the tears began to fall. "I-I kept demanding you to play it safe and... and yet when you were safely away from the village... I was the one to call you back. After getting all high and mighty with everyone about their seemingly just going along with your recklessness..."

Naruto reached out and cupped her face as he used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. Giving her a gentle smile he said, "Ino listen to yourself. You're apologizing for being worried about me. I'll get upset when the opposite is true." Ino returned his smile with a soft one of her own prompting him to say, "Now let me apologize for being the reckless idiot that would make the woman he loves worry."

Ino pulled her face free of his hands and shook her head in the negative to reject his apology to say, "I couldn't accept it even if I wanted to. I finally understand that what you did for Kin...you just did for the whole village. It was selfish of me to think that you needed a connection to people to be willing to risk your life. You're a hero..."

"I'm not a hero," Naruto said quickly, "I was simply doing my dut..."

Ino placed her finger against his lips to silence him. Naruto met her clear blue eyes and could see the sadness that still lingered there as she said, "Yes you are. You haven't been hearing what the villagers are calling you now, have you?" She received a quick shake of his head as an answer so said, "They're calling you the Hero of the Leaf. And that's exactly what you are. I keep thinking back to when those Paths were approaching me and could only imagine how it would have turned out if you behaved as I had demanded. If you could only risk yourself for people you knew and cared for and I wasn't one of them...then I wouldn't be here today. Neither would my father. But, you're a hero and what makes you one is that you're willing to put yourself in harm's way without a second thought." Tears once more began to fall as she said her voice drowning in emotion, "You saved me as well as my father. You avenged my sensei, my teammate's father, and countless others." Ino placed her head against her lover's chest as she began to sob adding, "And although it hurts so very much today. The reason I can believe tomorrow will be better is because I have you."

"Ino..." Naruto said as he wrapped his arms around her rubbing her back soothingly as she poured her grief into his chest.

Naruto wasn't sure how long she cried but as the tears began to end, she began to squirm in his lap as she requested, "Naruto...please help me forgot this pain if only for a moment."

The jinchuriki wasn't sure how Ino expected him to accomplish that but then he heard the sound of cloth tearing. He then felt Ino's hand grab ahold of the fly of his jeans as she moved to free his manhood from its cloth confines. She managed to fish it out and although flaccid after a few strokes it began to stir. Naruto pushed Ino back by her shoulders to stare at her for a moment due to his surprise at her actions causing her to whisper, "Please..."

Naruto's grip slackened allowing Ino to rise up and to guide his dick to the gap she had torn in the shorts that she wore under her skirt. Both of them moaned as the rigid pole cleared the ripped barrier to touch Ino's silken folds for the first time in months. "Ahhh," Ino sighed in pleasure as her vagina spread to accept Naruto's spear. Both blondes shivered in barely contained pleasure as she continued to sink down it until she was fully impaled and he was pressing up against her inner most spot.

Ino leaned forward as she draped her arms over her lover's shoulders and buried her face into his shirt. She breathed in deeply finding his unique musk to be intoxicating, and simply delighted in being connected to her lover again after being separated for too long. Both blondes appeared to remain motionless as they basked in the feeling of being one once more. But soon, Ino's inner muscles began to squeeze the rod which was stretching her as it filled her with pleasant tingles just from being inside her.

Naruto groaned after several minutes of the unseen massage which was the starting signal Ino had been waiting for. While still keeping her chest pressed against Naruto's she slowly raised just her hips until he nearly slipped free of her love tunnel. She then just as languidly lowered them again pulling a pleased sounding grunt out of her fellow blond. It was a sound which Ino admitted was the ultimate aphrodisiac due to the feeling of pride that it was her pulling such sounds from what many likely now considered to be the most powerful of men the village had ever produced.

The need to hear more drove Ino to increase her pace as she leaned back to begin more forcefully ride the pleasure rod buried inside her. "Ino," Naruto grunted pleased as he leaned his head back to enjoy the feeling of his lover riding him with abandon. His hands began the trek from her hips to her breasts which were still contained by her top. He used them as handholds as Ino's head rolled back while she placed her hands on top of his.

Ino moved her hands to place them on his knees as she arched her back while grinding her pelvis back and forth against his. Naruto took the opportunity to push her top and bra up to expose her breasts to his to his hungry gaze. Leaning forward he latched onto her left tit to suck on and tease her nipple while his hand fondled her right one. The added stimulation caused Ino to lean forward as she wrapped her arms around Naruto's head to pull him harder into her chest. She then switched from her grinding motion to once more raising and lowering herself onto his dick.

"I love you," she said as he switched his oral attention to her other breast. Ino began to repeat the phrase over and over again as she began to slam her pelvis against his harder and harder. A new groan joined with their mingled sounds of pleasure. Naruto realized his chair was about to give way so quickly stood easily holding her weight as he pulled his mouth from her tit and shifted his hands to her ass. They stared into each other's eyes as Naruto kept up her previous pace. Ino's legs rested on his forearms and her arms were wrapped around his neck as she moaned happily while being slid up and down his cock.

"Kiss me," she whispered, and mewed into his mouth as he clamped his lips to hers. Their tongues began to dance against each other as they picked up from where they had been before. Feeling the telltale signs that she was about to receive her momentary escape she began to squeeze herself around him in an effort to stimulate him to cum with her. Breaking the kiss, she put her request into words as she said, "Cum...please cum with me..."

Naruto didn't respond with words but with action as was his want. Moving to his bed, he set her down never breaking his stride as his hips took on the work of stirring up his lover's quim. Ino's feet soon found their way to Naruto's shoulders as he folded her nearly in half as he began to knock on her womb's opening more insistently. Ino's cries grew in intensity as Naruto grunts did likewise. Ino knew that her desire was going to be granted as she felt him swell within her. Letting herself go she screamed in release as Naruto buried himself in her fully and deposited what to Ino felt like gallons of jizz inside her thirsty womb.

Her legs came down from his shoulders as she wrapped them around his hips to keep him inside her and feeling faint from both physical and mental exhaustion began to slip into slumber. But, not before kissing him tenderly and whispering, "I love you..."

Naruto stared at her beautiful face as she slept contently and kissing her lips lightly replied, "Thank you for loving me, my beautiful flower. I'll always love and cherish you as well."

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Haku landed in a place her map called the Valley of Clouds and Lightning and frowned due to the destruction that she encountered. She looked around and felt a sense of dread begin to take hold due to who she knew was supposed to call the valley home. But it also stemmed from the group of people that she had tracked to the location and the fear that they were the culprits. Haku was surprised to find that she felt a great deal of sadness at that being a possibility.

"So this is what you've decided to become, Sasuke Uchiha," she whispered her tone showing her disappointment. She recalled her battle on the bridge with the Uchiha and the young man who would become her lover and found for the first time ever, she regretted not taking a life. A part of the reason stemmed from her believing that if her aim had been truer then perhaps he wouldn't have sunken to the depths he already had. But for the most part it was tied to the simple truth that she could only think of one reason for why Sasuke would lead an attack against the Eight-Tails. He was working with Akatsuki.

Haku felt her anger grow at the Uchiha since by aiding Akatsuki secure the Eight-Tails it would allow the organization to direct more resources towards capturing Naruto. Having felt the mixture of emotions from the women living in Konoha that had been transmitted via her foxmark, Haku was of the belief that the attack they had been expecting had come. Naruto's reappearance confirmed it for her, but with their fading she knew her lover was out of danger for the moment. With it appearing that Sasuke's actions would allow them to focus more resources to capturing Naruto, Haku could not forgive the Uchiha. She felt it was a great shame that the boy who would once nearly sacrifice himself for his teammate was now actually aiding those looking to harm him.

Haku calmed her emotions as she had to admit that she was perhaps jumping to conclusions she had yet to verify. Directing her masked face towards a mountain that looks like the top half had been blown away she had to admit that perhaps it was likely the Jinchuriki Killer Bee had decimated the group she learned had taken to calling itself Taka. Moving towards the lake that was at the center of the valley, Haku let her thoughts wander to her search for the Kubikiribōchō.

She had picked up her search for Sasuke and by extension the current wielder of Zabuza's blade, Suigetsu at the ruined Uchiha hideout where the younger sibling had killed his brother. Haku had found the scene strange even though it had already been combed over by Konoha's Anbu, who were also looking for clues on Sasuke's whereabouts. But where Konoha's shinobi were looking for clues pointing to where Sasuke had gone, she was looking for insight into her target's psyche. To that end she found it difficult to believe that Sasuke had won the fight. Her belief stemmed from a large stone where it appeared the battle had ended. Based on what blood evidence hadn't been washed away by the rain that had followed the battle and foot traffic that she had found. She theorized that Sasuke had in fact appeared to be completely drained of chakra, but the same didn't appear to be true of Itachi. To her practiced eye it had appeared that Sasuke had found himself cornered against a rock wall, as Itachi had slowly closed in on him. It had also appeared that Itachi had been coated in some sort of chakra cloak as a wide path had been formed in the rubble as if it had been pushed to the side. It had faded as he got closer to his younger brother, but only after it had appeared that Sasuke had tried to stop Itachi with a barrage of ninja tools. From what she had deduced Itachi had appeared to weaken. But still whatever technique he had been shielding himself with, she believed should had been enough to finish a cornered Sasuke off. But instead it looked as if things had just simply ended as she couldn't detect any signs of a struggle where there should have been one if one opponent was going to finish off the other. This left Haku with the belief that Itachi had never intended to win against Sasuke and in all likelihood had succumbed to some ailment.

Yet, she couldn't deny a massive battle had taken place so she wondered what Itachi's goal had been. She guessed that he could have simply wanted to see his brother's growth before he died of the ailment that she was beginning to suspect was the true victor of the battle. But for a man such as that she felt there had to be something more. She also doubted that Itachi had told his brother the truth of the Uchiha massacre as that would invalidate all the sacrifices he had made up until that point.

But Haku did believe someone had informed Sasuke about the truth of why his clan was destroyed. Her reason was because while her visiting the site of the battle hadn't shed any clues on where the masked man calling himself Tobi had spirited the Uchiha off too. It had left her with the belief that Sasuke wouldn't have cared if the final blow was struck by him or not. Therefore, upon learning that he had been spotted again heading towards Lightning Country by traveling through Frost, Haku had given chase. But as she picked up his trail, she had learned that Sasuke was no longer calling the group he had formed Hebi. Instead he had renamed it Taka and that worried her. She felt that by renaming his squad, it signified that he had already found a new foe upon which to focus his energies into destroying.

Haku had little doubt that foe was the village of Konoha which meant that at some point he would need to go through Naruto in order to achieve it. Haku vowed that she would not allow that to happen, and if Sasuke did raise a hand against her lover she would insure that it was slapped down. Yet, again Haku felt she may be jumping to conclusions as although it did appear that Sasuke had emerged from his battle with Itachi stronger. Taking in the devastation that surrounded her, she found it difficult to believe he could defeat the man that many people considered to be the perfect jinchuriki.

Coming to a stop at the water's edge, Haku knelt down at a depression in the mud where it appeared a body had fallen. Several people had gathered around it, with one of them seemingly kneeling down to cradle the person. Something else she found strange was that it appeared that one of the people that had gathered appeared to grow smaller as if he had shed some mass. Haku frowned at the sight but suspected that the person whose body had first landed there had benefitted from the transfer somehow.

Haku noticed that a groove had been cut in the ground approaching where she was kneeling like a jutsu had been fired at where the people had gathered, but had been stopped before reaching the spot. Moving towards where it ended, she felt her blood run cold as she spotted a scale in the mud. Picking it up she believed it belonged to the greatsword Samehada. Thinking that she now had an understanding of what happened she suspected that Sasuke and his team which had replaced the loss of Karin with another kunoichi named Tamaki, had ended up being defeated by Killer Bee. With them beaten and on the ropes, the Jinchuriki had attempted to finish them with some sort of powerful jutsu. However that jutsu had been intercepted by Kisame who had used his blade's ability to eat chakra to protect the others.

Haku heard a noise so she pulled out several senbon to defend herself. She focused her attention to a nearby rock face that rose out of the lake, but after several tense moments relaxed when the noise didn't repeat itself. Feeling like she was being watched, she knew it was best that she vacate the area less her presence cause Kumogakure to believe the Hidden Mist Village had something to do with the attack should they find her. Besides, she believed that she could figure out the rest based on what she knew of Kisame. Aware that some called the man a Tailed-Beast without the tails she didn't doubt that he could defeat the Kumo Jinchuriki.

Considering that she had found several signs that the area had been watched by Kumo shinobi likely assigned to keep tabs on Killer Bee, but those shinobi were gone. She believed there was a real possibility that Akatsuki had captured another jinchuriki. This prompted her to think, "If Akatsuki has captured him then they will need a place to perform the sealing. With their forces so weakened it will likely take a considerable amount of time. The lack of a Kumo presence means there may be shinobi in pursuit as well as some heading to their village to report the matter. Akatsuki will likely need a location where they will not be disturbed but with Konan's having been revealed to be no longer loyal to them. They'll have to assume such locations they already had prepared have been compromised."

Haku frowned as she wondered where Akatsuki would take their prize. She knew Tobi could have simply teleported them to the location making it impossible to track, but she would search around the Valley just in case. She suspected though that any tracks she did find would head south as she had no doubt that the Raikage would turn Lightning Country upside down to find the man he considered a brother. She paused in her retreat from the Valley as she considered that it was a real possibility that Akatsuki would bring their prize into Fire Country. She knew that despite the better relations the two villages had as of late, Kumo would have to be careful not to rashly send its forces into the country that housed the Leaf Village. But she knew if there was one trait that some may consider a weakness of the Raikage it was his temper and the rash actions he sometimes took when angry. She figured that Akatsuki was hoping that the Raikage would be foolish enough to send his forces streaming into Konoha in order to put the Leaf Village in a position where they would need to run interference for the group as they sealed the Eight Tails.

Confident that her theory had merit she began heading south while trying to come up with locations that Akatsuki would use to seal the beast in Fire Country. But, a location that would also serve as blind spots for the Konoha-nin, since she figured that Akatsuki would also have to consider the possibility that while Konoha might stop any Kumo incursions into its territory. It would also dedicate resources to locate Killer Bee in the hopes of defusing the situation since if Kumo felt Konoha had aided Akatsuki to deny them their jinchuriki. There was little doubt in her mind it could lead to a new round of conflicts.

*****************************

Naruto stepped into the cave he had left Konan in and felt a swirl of emotions as he saw her kneeling besides the two paper wrapped bodies of her friends. Two of the emotions he was feeling was guilt and grief. The guilt was from how he had failed her and broken his promise to save Nagato from himself. The grief was also a result of the guilt. But, he furthermore attributed it to the fact that he was the cause of the sadness that he was sure would still be written on her face.

His lover's back was facing him, but she must have known where his thoughts were at as she said, "It was not your fault. Nagato put you in a position where it needed to be done. I harbor no anger towards you."

"Thank you," Naruto said contritely, "But it doesn't change the fact that I failed you."

"No, it does not," Konan said unemotionally in a way that made Naruto wince. Getting to her feet she approached him as she said, "You have failed to deliver on the promise you made to secure my services. Therefore, I still require compensation."

"What would you ask of me?"

"You must promise me that you will not stray from the path of light," Konan said as she came to a stop in front of Naruto. Holding up her arm a bouquet of paper flowers appeared from the sleeve of her robe as she continued, "Swear this to me on these flowers that will never wilt."

"That would appear to be a lifelong promise. One that will require you to keep a sharp eye on me." Konan nodded her head so Naruto reached up and wrapped his hands around the one she was holding the flowers with as he replied, "I promise that together we will make the world the place that both Pervy Sage, and Nagato could be satisfied with."

Konan stared into the blue eyes of Naruto which shone as brightly as she imagined the future that he'd build would. She felt an urge to kiss the young man but before it became overpowering pulled her hand free as she left the flowers in his. Turning away she could fell the frown that appeared on his face, but she refused to look since she didn't wish to grow closer to him as there was still a task she must perform. Something she wasn't sure she would survive.

She was about to levitate her friends' bodies to return to Ame, but was stopped as Naruto asked, "Must you return so soon?"

Konan nodded as she replied, "With Nagato gone, Rain may soon erupt into chaos. I must return to ensure that order remains."

"I understand, but before you go I need you to do something for me." Konan looked over her shoulder with a questioning gaze prompting Naruto to say, "I need you to tell my village a story."

****************************

"Tenten, where did all this youth come from," Maito Gai shouted as to his great surprise both he and Lee were falling behind their kunoichi teammate as well as the temporarily assigned one, Anko. The latter of whom, sent him a dark look from over her shoulder as she had grown rather irritable at his eccentric behavior. He gulped heavily as he recalled her threat that if she heard him use the word youth in any way other than its defined meaning of referring to a young person he would awaken to find her snakes surrounding his bed.

Anko looked away as she figured she would let Gai's slip slide since she knew both Tenten and her behaviors were probably disconcerting as they had been running at a blistering pace continuously since they had both sensed trouble in the Leaf Village. The clamor they felt via the foxmarks they wore appeared to have died down, but despite Naruto's presence returning to the network that linked him and his lovers, both Tenten and she felt a feeling of foreboding upon what they would find. Anko's eyes shifted to Tenten and she felt a frown threaten to appear tied to an emotion she didn't want to think about. The feeling wasn't centered on the kunoichi exactly, but on her place in the Harem. In all honesty Anko knew what the feeling was, but refused to name it as a form of denial.

But looking at Tenten, who had yet to respond to her teacher due to her concentrating on maintaining her speed as well as trying to gleam every hint she could on Naruto's current status from the foxmark felt her ability to deny the emotion wane. She then felt a caressing sensation from the blond which was sent to all the women outside the village to assure them that he was okay. Anko noticed Tenten's shoulders relax ever so slightly as a soft smile appeared on her lips as if she had been struck by a warm ray of light on a cloudy and muggy day.

Anko felt the emotion she wanted to keep buried double in intensity and could no longer deny that she was jealous of the kunoichi. But it wasn't just her, but all of the ones whose chakra fell into the red category. She didn't even need the Hyuuga Byakugan to know which women had made that jump either as it just showed on their faces when the blond was around. Anko attributed her jealousy to the fact that the women, whose chakras were red, had not only accepted their lives as harem members. But that they had been accepted by Naruto completely as well, meaning their quirks and the like. Tenten's recent conversion to the red chakra club being a prime example, as Anko had heard that she been rather staunchly opposed to becoming a Harem member seeing as she had believed a strong kunoichi didn't need a man to be happy. She had been less angry upon her finding out that Tsunade was also one of Naruto's lovers, but that had led to a period where the Team Gai kunoichi would almost be more sexually attracted and aroused around the Hokage.

Still Naruto had taken it all with a calm and to Anko at the moment an infuriating smile, having no problem with sharing the kunoichi with his Sannin lover and even going as far as to arrange fulfilling her dream of becoming a student of Tsunade. But that had all changed after the two had enjoyed a date to commemorate Tenten's two month anniversary since becoming his lover. She didn't know all the details, but she did know that Naruto had in some way shown he accepted and loved Tenten, and in turn the kunoichi had come to return those feelings.

For Anko seeing another kunoichi shift to red, especially one that had joined after her was a painful reminder that her own felt like it had gone the opposite way. She still cherished Naruto for his reaching out to her when she had been lonely, but those feelings had cooled as a result of his rejecting the side of her that she had tried to show when his lovers were helping him recover his mojo after the Kanji incident. Anko knew it wasn't exactly fair to say he rejected her as she had come on rather strong, not to mention considering that she had been a virgin before him, so couldn't say she had any actual experience with the BDSM scene. Yet, she would be lying if she said that something about it didn't get her excited, especially when considering she broke people for a living. Something she was extremely good at, and after incorporating some of what she had taken away from her rejection by Naruto had gotten only better. Her breaking of the genin Ryusui had just been a cherry on top of a month in which she had gotten the most people to spill their guts. It had also only fueled her appetite to actually explore such sexual practices as after each success she would often masturbate as she relived the cries for mercy or the look on their faces when she actually broke them.

She had hoped it was something they could share, but seeing Naruto's gut reaction had shattered that dream, and as a result made her once more feel like an outsider. That wasn't to say that Naruto didn't try to make her feel important to him. He did that in spades and the sex was a great as it had ever been. But Anko felt like she couldn't let that part of her show again and as such didn't feel as if Naruto could care for the complete package. She still cared deeply for him, which is why she was jealous of the women that possessed the red chakra. Naruto had given her the warmth that she had craved, and she would always cherish him for that. But there was a part of her that Orochimaru had seen that had been enough for him to take her on as an apprentice and that was the part of her that had made Tsunade nervous when she had first proposed her own way of wanting Naruto to throw off the funk his encounter with Kanji had put him in. She had thought she rejected it when she refused to go with Orochimaru after receiving the curse mark. But it had never left her, and now it wanted the same thing that Anko had, acceptance. But, sadly wanted it in a way that Naruto apparently was unwilling to give.

Anko heard Tenten gasp which pulled her focus to the walls of the village which looked relatively intact except for holes that appeared to have been blasted through them from inside the village. From behind her, she heard Rock Lee ask, "Gai-sensei, what could have happened?"

"I do not know Lee. But it appears that Tenten and Anko's women's intuition must have sensed it."

"More like we noticed all the birds flying away from the village's direction," Anko replied having noticed the signs as they approached, and figured she could use them as her and Tenten's reason for the speedy return. Not that she figured she'd need it seeing as she figured Gai had been satisfied with his women's intuition theory and Lee considered anything the his teacher said as scripture. "Anyhow, it appears we are too late to lend a hand," the Special Jounin said not hearing the sounds of battle and spotting several chunin and genin stationed at the gate they were approaching.

They were quickly allowed to pass after learning that the official Akatsuki leader Pain was behind the damage done to the village. They were told to report to the Hokage in order to make their reports and learn what tasks they were to be assigned. Quickly heading to the village leader's mansion they stopped as Gai shouted to his former student who was standing in front of a collapsed building, "Ha-ha, Neji, I knew that despite your attitude. A cowardly attack like this would not be enough to do you in. But it pleases me to receive confirmation of this."

Neji turned towards his teacher and gave a curt nod as he replied not sure if he had been insulted for not being as hot-blooded as Gai tended to like, "I appreciate that...I think."

"Neji, what is it you are doing?" Rock Lee asked, "Perhaps we can be of assistance."

"There are sixty-three people trapped in a basement shelter under this building," Neji answered turning back to his task as he activated the Byakugan. "I and the rest of my kin have been given the job of getting them out."

"Right," Gai said preparing to open the inner gates something his clone intended to do as well. "Leave it to us we'll have them out before..."

Neji held up his hand to stop his teacher and teammate from doing anything rash as he said, "Thanks, but no thanks. If it was just a question of power then Naruto and that newcomer would have been enough. Unfortunately we had to do this in a slow and careful manner less we cause a further collapse and kill the people we are trying to save."

"Roger," Gai said giving his teammate a thumbs-up, "Then we'll go see the Hokage to be assigned a task where our hot-blooded passion can be put to the most use."

Neji nodded but instead of responding to Gai spoke to the person approaching behind them who he could see as a result of his bloodline ability. "Lady Hinata, I told you we could handle this. I know there are several places you much rather be."

The recently returned Leaf-nin turned to see the kunoichi in question whose eyes were still puffy and red from the tears she had been shedding. "There are cousin... I just wasn't able to do much good there." Noticing Anko, Hinata approached her to say, "Kurenai-sensei...she needs someone right now...I tried to speak with her but she...she says she just wants to be alone."

"W-what happened?" Anko asked concerned the distress Hinata was feeling in regards to her teacher being easy to hear.

****************************

"Poor thing, to lose both her child and lover," a nurse said before closing the door after checking up on her.

Kurenai's eyes snapped open as she had been pretending to sleep ever since she had asked Hinata to leave her alone. Partly it had been to force her student to leave, but also so she could escape the pity filled gazes of the people that knew why she was in the hospital. Despite being lightly injured herself she had undergone a surgery so had been assigned a room to recover and to make sure she didn't develop an infection. But she could be moved at a moment's notice if a more gravely injured person needed the room and the litany of monitoring equipment that remained unused were needed. Staring out the window she would almost prefer to be moved as it was in line with the Hokage monument and as a result of her failures as a mother and a wife, to her the normally watchful and parenting gaze of the Third Hokage had taken on one of disdain and accusatory.

She tried to turn away but the stone eyes simply continued to bore into her making her unable to. They also brought to light all the happy moments that she had experienced on her path to motherhood that had ended tragically short of completion. As well as the dreams for the future that had been dashed. Tears began to leak from her eyes as she recalled telling Asuma that she was pregnant and her giggling happily as his face took on a look of surprise causing his ever present cigarette to hang loosely from his wide open mouth. He had recovered quickly before smiling at her just as happily before surprising her by pulling a box from his jounin vest and proposing to her.

A huge sob racked her body as she recalled the quiet ceremony with just the two of them and the Hokage in attendance. She tried to stop the images from coming as she rubbed at her eyes with the palm of her hand to block the flow of tears, but only succeeded in making the memories clearer. She remembered arguing with Asuma about his filthy habit and how she had only been partial pleased when he had agreed to only smoke outside. Their teasing each other about what the gender of their child would be even though at that point in her pregnancy such a thing could not be determined by scientific means. As a result they had agreed to both learn it when the child joined them in the world.

Kurenai felt the grief and guilt that seemed to be her sole existence grow exponentially as she now knew that although the child wouldn't have been the son Asuma had hoped for, she had no doubt that he would have welcomed their daughter just as gladly. As the pain of that loss became too much to bear Kurenai flashed back to another disaster of the Leaf village and recalled her father's hope that she at least live long enough to create a new light of life to inherit the Will of Fire. Having failed in the task and under what she felt was the now disproving glare of the Stone Third Hokage, Kurenai vowed to make amends.

Stepping from the bed, she moved to the window before leaping away to follow through on her decision. She knew it was perhaps a coward's way out, but doubted it would create much of a stir as the village was already drowning in death

*****************************

Anko stepped into the room that she had been told had been assigned to Kurenai, but frowned upon seeing it empty. Stepping back out into the hall, she grabbed a nurse by the arm to ask, "Hey, isn't this the room for Kurenai Yuhi?"

"It should be," the nurse replied peeking into the room before shrugging her shoulders. Turning to Anko she explained, "She wasn't that badly injured and may have been moved to make room for someone who was. I'm afraid with all the wounded, space is at a premium and people are being shifted about constantly."

Anko frowned at the nurse's response and attitude, however while mindful that the woman may have been dealing with the chaos for most of the day nonetheless said, "Well is there a way for you to go check."

"Yes, but I assure you that she wasn't..."

"Look just do it," Anko snapped as she moved to the bed. Placing her hand on it she could feel the warmth of a body that had just recently left, and aware that not all wounds were physical leapt out of the open window. She landed on a pile of rubble that had once been a building and looked for some sign of her friend. She cursed, and wondered if perhaps she was overreacting, but something was screaming at her to find the woman.

Anko began to move towards the apartment building that she and Kurenai both called home hoping the red-eyed woman had simply decided to head to the familiar environment. As she raced to her home, she recalled the immediate aftermath of her return to the village after her time with Orochimaru in the Land of Sea. Anko recalled going to her teammates hoping they could help her make sense of her life. However, they had coldly rebuffed her treating her with the same sense of suspicion as she had been encountering from just about everyone minus the Third and Fourth Hokage. It really burned her to know that in reality her teammates had been the traitors with one of them being the Sensei of Kabuto's team during the Chunin Exams that had preceded the Sound Invasion. Neither of whom Anko had seen since, but secretly hoped had been turned into some experiment by their sensei or his protégé.

Anko remembered how feeling depressed she had climbed on top of the Hokage monument as she shed the tears she had felt. "Stupid village," she had remembered saying, "If they don't want me they should have just left me wandering Sea Country."

"But what about the people who would miss you," a voice had called from behind her.

Anko turned to see Kurenai standing with a gentle smile. Anko frowned since she and the kunoichi hadn't spent much time together in the academy as she had always been following Asuma Sarutobi around. Still she was the first person she had encountered since her return, besides the Hokage, whose eyes didn't darken upon landing on her or hold hints of suspicions. Therefore despite her initial reaction being to tell the girl, who had climbed the Hokage monument to clear her head after an argument with her on again, off again boyfriend, to get lost she turned back to the village as she said, "Who exactly would that be? My own sensei discarded me and my teammates view me as being a possible traitor. It's an opinion this whole stinking village seems to harbor as well. I'd lead the Anbu right to whatever hole Orochimaru is hiding in if I could remember."

"I know," Kurenai said her voice not holding any hint of deception. "Anyone willing to cry because of how strangers perceive her obviously loves her village a great deal." Kurenai began to approach as she said, "It might be hard to swallow since you've done nothing wrong, but no matter how poorly people might think of you just stay the course and tomorrow will inevitably be better than today."

Anko turned back to the red-eyed kunoichi and scoffed as she replied, "That's easy for you to say. You don't have everyone scrambling away from you like you carry the plague."

"True," Kurenai conceded before holding out her hand, "But it just made it easier for me to get to know you. We weren't close in the academy, but I would really like to be your friend."

Anko remembered staring at the outstretched hand as she had to fight back tears before she took it to introduce herself to the kunoichi, who returned the gesture. She skidded to a stop as she landed on a roof to face the opposite way in order to stare at the Hokage monument. She felt torn for a moment not sure which way to head, but her instincts told her that she wouldn't find Kurenai at home so she took off to her new destination.

Anko reached the monument and began racing up the front of it using chakra. She was just about to reach the top as she ran up the Third's face when Kurenai leapt off of it. The special jounin carried on going forward tackling Kurenai around the waist as her trajectory carried them both to land on top the Hokage's head. Kurenai was obviously shocked at her suicide attempt being interrupted as she stared up at the woman straddling her. She couldn't see Anko's eyes due to how the kunoichi was holding her head so that her bangs covered them. Aware that she was caught but hoping that she could convince the kunoichi things weren't as they appeared said, "Anko..."

Slap!

Anko stared down at her friend now her eyes showing every emotion under the sun, but the most prevalent was anger which caused her to say, "You selfish bitch...how could you? How could you even think of trying to off yourself at this spot of all places? The place we first became friends. The place where you told me to persevere no matter how bad things got."

Kurenai grew angry at Anko lecturing her since to her ears it sounded like her friend was trying to compare their experiences. Trying to push Anko off of her she said harshly, "Don't give me that! Are you honestly trying to compare your pining over Orochimaru to what I've lost?"

Anko felt shocked as a part of her wondered if that was what Kurenai really thought. But aware that she was just lashing out at the world that had hurt her, and that she was currently the only target available surprised Kurenai by pulling her into a hug. Gently she whispered, "I would never try to compare what I felt that day to what you are feeling now. But, this isn't the way to handle it. Because although what we have suffered is worlds apart, the truth is you were right. Yet, if you don't face the pain you are feeling now. Then you'll never be able to know happiness again and it'll only pass the pain to those who care for you and were unable to help you."

Kurenai remained motionless for several heartbeats but then she buried herself into Anko's chest as she began to pour out all the grief and anguish she felt. "It hurts so much," the Jounin said between gut-wrenching sobs.

"I know," Anko replied soothingly as she stroked her friend's hair, "but although the pain may never go away. Tomorrow will inevitably be better than today."

****************************