16

Mourning Fire

The Leaf nin proceeded to jump on the toad's palm. After stretching his arm back, Gamabunta shot the young Jinchuuriki towards the burning raccoon with all his strength.

"I only have one shot at this…" Naruto thought as he tore the bandages in his arm to give view to a summoning tattoo. Smearing the mark with blood from one of his wounds and gathering his remaining chakra, the blond preformed the necessary handseals. "Namikaze – Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Just as Naruto was about to reach Gaara, both Jinchuuriki were swallowed up by a blinding light.

Gamabunta let out a sigh as he watched the lustrous flare. "Just like Minato…" The Toad Boss commented as he took his smoke pipe back out. Gamabunta could feel the summoning jutsu wearing off, the last thing that the enormous toad saw before returning to his world, was the gigantic body of sand starting to break down and dissolving as it fell into the ground.

Kankuro watched in shock and amazement as the light and the black flames faded away, leaving a cloud of dust in the middle of the clearing. "Gaara was… defeated…" The puppet user managed to say in utter bewilderment.

Down in the clearing, Gaara was equally surprised when he found himself standing back on the ground. His body was extremely weakened and his legs were about to give up at any moment, but, despite what the redhead had thought a couple of seconds before, he was still pretty much alive. "Why…? Why did you stop those flames…?" The Suna Jinchuuriki asked the boy standing in front of him as the blonde's image appeared through the dissipating dust.

Ragged breathing followed by a low laugh were the initial answers to Gaara's question. "I already told you… I can't forgive you right now…" Naruto answered as his Sharingan eyes set on the redhead's light blue ones. "The right thing to do is give you a chance to change; after all, everyone is supposed to deserve at least one, right?"

The inquiry was received by a scoff. "Supposedly, yeah…" Suddenly, the Sand genin's eyes narrowed. "But what makes you think I'll change, there's no way that you can make me betray Mother!"

"Stop calling him your 'Mother' already!" Naruto exclaimed as he brought up one of his hand to rub his temple. "I get all sorts of disturbing images when you call the Bijuu by that term…" The blond commented.

Anger resurfaced inside Gaara at the Konoha nin's words. "Shut up! You don't understand the bond between Mother and me! You don't understand anything!"

"Baka!" Naruto's outburst silenced the redhead. "It's you who doesn't understand. As carriers we are discriminated by others, I spent most of my life trying to change their views, trying to show that I wasn't some sort of demon to be feared and hated, yet you, by choosing that thing over anything else, prove their perception of us right!" The boy exclaimed as his Sharingan eyes narrowed on the Suna genin. "There's a world out there apart from the Bijuu, I know, this eyes have seen it, and I already used my chance to try to reach it…" Abruptly, Naruto's voice went quiet.

The Leaf shinobi's silent immediately caught Gaara's attention. "You failed?" The redhead wondered.

A dry laugh followed the question again. "I don't really know…" The blond admitted. "I ended up turning into someone who doesn't really know what he wants anymore." Naruto commented. "It's like I'm stuck in a crossroad without knowing where either path will take me…" The spiky haired boy let out another humorless laugh. "Funny isn't it, here I am trying to get my point across to you while I don't really know what it is myself." Naruto added before his eyes narrowed once again. "But what I do know is that I will protect my comrades and teammates no matter what, because they are all I have…"

Gaara stood silently as he regarded his fellow Jinchuuriki and trying to match the glare he was receiving.

"You have a better shot than I did." The blond said as his glare weakened. "You have people that will stay by your side at any given time." Gaara was surprised when the other boy's gaze move up to look at Kankuro and Temari standing on the branches. "They've proven how much they truly worry about you…" The Leaf genin commented.

Gaara scoffed again. "Care for me?" He repeated. "All my life, I have known nothing but apathy and disdain from them!" The redhead stated as he glare at the blond Jinchuuriki.

Naruto appeared unfazed by the Sand nin's outburst. "Yet, they are still here…" The spiky haired boy simply said. "They could have left you behind at any point during our fight, but instead, they decided to remain here for you. It's just that you're too blind to see their worried faces."

At the blonde's words, Gaara couldn't help but force his neck to turn his head around so that he could look at his siblings.

Temari's hand gripped the part of her cloths that laid over her heart, while Kankuro's slight inclination forward of his body was enough for the redhead to know that the puppet user was about to come forward to his aid at anytime.

"You and your 'Mother' are the ones that are keeping them so far away." The sound of Naruto's voice snapped the Sand genin's attention back to the blond. "You have a real opportunity to change your ways." The Jinchuuriki stated. "I know how difficult the villagers in Suna must be, they're the same here in Konoha, but don't do it for them, instead do it for the people you care about and those that care about you, because They are worth it…"

The redhead boy found no retort to the Leaf genin's words, not even Mother had an answer for him. "Heh… You're really something…" Gaara managed to let out after a while. "Maybe this is why I wanted to fight you so much? I guess I needed to find an enemy like you…" The Suna nin commented as he regarded the other Jinchuuriki.

Naruto simply shook his head at Gaara's words. "No, we are too similar to be enemies; at least that's what I hope." The blond stated. "You just need to work on your social skills…"

Something between a smirk and a smile appeared on the Sand shinobi's face. "For someone that tries to appear so cold, you really have a positive look of the world…" The redhead commented, he could already feel his body about to give up. Looking at the Konoha genin one more time, Gaara sighed. "…I wonder if I should feel jealous of you…" His vision faded into darkness.

Taking a step forward, the blond caught the Sand genin's body. "No, you shouldn't…" The Sharingan user said as he looked down at the unconscious redhead. "…I'm just looking up a well…" Naruto commented. Two soft sounds caught the blonde's attention, causing the spiky haired boy to look up.

Both, Kankuro and Temari, stood at the edge of the clearing regarding the two Jinchuuriki with caution.

Naruto's Sharingan eyes set on the two siblings. "I'd suggest you take Gaara and get out of the village before the ANBU find you, but if you're looking for a fight…" The Jinchuuriki's voice carried a menacing tone. "I have more than enough energy for the both of you." He added as his eyes narrowed, though he was silently trying to force his body not to give up.

"We both do…" Sasuke's voice announced as the raven haired boy landed next to the blond. "The others are safe… Shikamaru is taking Sakura back to the village already." The Uchiha informed his teammate.

Nodding at his teammate's words, the spiky haired boy turned to look at the Sand nins again, daring them to make a hostile move.

Taking a deep breath, Kankuro started to move forward, keeping his hands visible to the two Leaf genins. Standing in front of they guy that defeated his brother, the puppet user received a small nod of acknowledgment from the blond followed by his younger brother's body.

Not wasting any time, Kankuro and Temari jumped up on a tree and soon disappeared from view.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Naruto had to use his own knees for support to prevent his body from falling to the ground.

"Nice tough guy image, I almost bought it for a second…" Sasuke's voice broke the silence in the clearing.

Snapping out of his trance, the blond looked up to find, to his surprise, his teammate's hand extended towards him. Letting out a small laugh while shaking his head, the spiky haired boy took the other Sharingan user's hand.

The raven haired boy swung his teammate's arm over his shoulder in order to support him better.

"You know, I can still walk by myself." Naruto commented as the two of them started on their way.

"Yeah right, you can barely stand, let alone walk. If I wanted to, I could just let you fall into the ground."

"And I could easily trip you right now."

"Either way you'll end up on the ground." Sasuke countered.

A smirk appeared on Naruto's face. "Yeah, but I believe I'd feel a lot better with you by my side…" The boy commented giving his relative a small smirk and receiving one back. "Sasuke…" The blonde's face suddenly turned serious. "About my Sharingan-…"

"Save it…" The raven haired genin interrupted. "We can talk about it later." He added, keeping his eyes on their path.

The smirk returned to Naruto's face. "I was just going to say that mine is stronger than yours…" The genin stated.

A scoff escaped the Uchiha. "I doubt it…"

Naruto's smirk grew slightly. "I'm not kidding." The blond began once again. "I've seen what you can do with yours and it's just-…" Suddenly, the spiky haired boy when silent and his hand shot towards his chest.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked as he noticed the change on his teammate.

The Jinchuuriki gripped his shirt; this was just like what he had felt that morning before the exam. "Yeah, I'm alright…" The blond lied, because deep down, he knew that something terrible had just happened.

"Where's Naruto? Is he coming at all?" Sakura asked, unable to lift her eyes from the rain soaked floor. A couple of feet ahead of her, the last group of villagers were finishing paying their last respects to their fallen Hokage.

Managing to glance at the pink haired girl beside him for a few seconds, Sasuke eye's immediately shifted back to the grieving procession. "I don't know…" It took the boy a couple of moments to elaborate. "I haven't seen him much since… in fact, I haven't seen him at all since we found out…"

It still haunted the young Uchiha's mind, the memory from when he and his blond teammate had made it back to the village after their intense battle with Gaara.

They had been met by Shikamaru's father, apparently Sakura and the others had already been taken in to receive medical attention. Shikaku had tried to lay it on the two genins as gently as he possibly could, Sasuke now thanked him for that, but sill, when the moment came to reveal the terrible truth, the raven haired boy could clearly recall how his teammate had gone eerily quiet and still for well over a minute before giving some poor excuse and going off without receiving any treatment and before anyone could stop him.

Sasuke had gone against his usual nature and had tried to talk to Naruto during the couple of days after the events. Most of the times, he was sure that the blond was in the apartment, but had decided to ignore his knocks on the doors.

"I'm worried…" Sakura spoke again. "No one has seen him since that day… If he isn't even coming to the funeral, then he might be…!"

"He came before the ceremony started." The two genins looked at the source of the voice. Kakashi had suddenly appeared next to his students. "I saw him come by while I was here earlier…" The jounin's eye scanned the mourning congregation. "I guess he preferred to show his respect in private, I can relate to those feelings…" The silver haired man shared.

The raven haired boy nodded at his teacher's words. Silent engulfed the three Leaf nins for the next couple of seconds until Sasuke suddenly turned to face his sensei. "Wait… Are you telling me that you were actually here on time, but then you left just so that you could be late?" The boy asked the other Sharingan user.

The bored look on Kakashi's face didn't even waver. "You could say that…" The jounin answered simply.

The fact that they were in the middle of the ceremony to pay tribute to their fallen comrades was the only thing that kept the Uchiha from attacking his teacher. Shaking the violent ideas off, Sasuke turned back to the service.

"So, Naruto, are you finally going to tell me what your dream is?"

The flames started to consume their surroundings.

"I'm going to be Hokage someday! You better take care of that hat, because someday it's going to be mine!"

They simply engulfed all in their path, reducing everything to ashes.

"You want to be Hokage because of the hat?"

"No, I want to become Hokage so that I can protect the whole village, that way, everyone would look up to be! Plus, I like the hat…"

"Heheheh…That's a nice dream, Naruto, but, why didn't you want to tell me?"

The flames destroyed everything, except for the memories.

"Because you kept asking for my 'dream', and becoming Hokage is my goal!"

"Heheheh…I almost believe you when you say it with such confidence…"

"What?! What do you mean 'almost'? I will become Hokage!"

Why wouldn't those memories disappear? Why couldn't the flames get rid of them?

"Never change, Naruto…No matter what may happen in this world, always retain your vibrant spirit and bright smile, remember that."

Why wasn't he here anymore to catch him if he fell?

The flames continued to devour everything in their paths, except for the memories that seared the boy's heart.

No one felt like talking afterwards. It was as if all the villagers had come into an unspoken agreement as they started on their way home.

"He's stronger…" Sasuke's words cut through the silent.

Giving her teammate a curious look through her saddened eyes, Sakura waited for the raven haired boy to elaborate.

"Naruto…He…He has become stronger than me…"

Just as she was about to ask the Uchiha how he could possible think about something like that in a moment like this one, the pink haired kunoichi felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking back at her sensei, the girl understood the message he was trying to get through. In time likes these, people tend to want to talk about anything but the matter in front of them.

A light chuckle snapped Sakura out of her thoughts. Looking around, the girl was surprise to find the source. "Heheh…I remember a long time ago…" Sasuke started as his onyx colored eyes looked up. "The Sandaime told me that one of the hardest things to do for someone that was born talented was to find a suitable rival, someone who could become a goal to be reached…I think Naruto has become that for me…" The boy admitted.

Sakura wasn't sure what to make of the raven haired genin's words. One part of her was happy that Sasuke was opening up and sharing this with her, but the other was terrified of the prospect of her teammates fighting again, the memories from the Forrest of Death came rushing back into her mind.

"Sakura…" The pink haired girl was taken back when the Uchiha suddenly turned to look directly at her. "…Thank you…About warning me not to face Naruto…" Sasuke looked down at his hands before closing them into fists. "I'm not sure about what happened last time, but it's now clear to me that a fight between the two of us would have ended in my defeat…Or even worse-…" The raven haired boy left the sentence unfinished as he continued. "Both, Naruto and I, still have much maturing to do, we have many issues to solve before we finally meet each other across an arena, and until that day comes I will keep on moving forward so I'll be able to protect what I care about, just like Naruto did when he fought Gaara." The Sharingan eyes set on Sakura once again.

The kunoichi was taken back once again by her teammate's words, but before she could think of something so say, the Leaf genin continued.

"Sakura…" His onyx eyes gaze directly into her emerald ones. "Please…Don't ask me not to fight Naruto again." Sasuke stated, his eyes never wavered as he spoke.

The girl was perplexed by the raven haired boy's request, she struggle to find something that would change his mind, that would stop her teammates from fighting each other. Anything that she might have been able to say was silenced when the Uchiha placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sasuke tried to manage a comforting look to calm his teammate. "Naruto and I will fight someday…" He said. "But I promise you, that until then, we will still be Team 7, we will still all be friends." The boy's words came out in a quiet voice.

Hearing the sincerity in the Uchiha's words, all the girl could do was nod.

A small half-smile formed in Sasuke's lips. "I'll keep on training, just as I'm sure Naruto will. I don't know how long it would take or how we will be when it finally comes, so don't worry about it, we will still be here for you, ok?" The raven haired boy said as gave the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

The Leaf kunoichi nodded in response before looking up and smiling herself.

Meeting the smile with another half, Sasuke removed his hand from the pink haired girl's shoulder before turning around and starting to walk away. "And who knows…" The Sharingan user stopped for a second. "Naruto and I might have to face each other for leadership of the Uchiha clan; maybe our fight would not be until then." He added before reassuming his walk back to the Uchiha compound.

Sakura pressed her hands against her heart. She still had many mixed feelings about the situation between her teammates, but for now, she could smile with the thought that maybe things were starting to finally improve. "…Sakura…?" The pink haired girl thoughts were cut off by the sound of her name. Turning around, she found herself facing her former teacher.

Iruka walked towards Team Seven carrying a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong…?" Sakura asked, realizing how foolish her question had sounded after all that had happened.

The chuunin seemed to struggle to find the correct words for what he needed to say. "It's about Naruto…" He finally said.

The mention of his altered student caught Kakashi's attention. "What happened?" Despite what he showed to his two other students, the jounin was really concerned about Naruto. After everything that had happened, the silver haired still had not been able to muster enough courage to face his blond student.

Iruka found himself struggling to answer the jounin too, he still couldn't help but think that Kakashi was partly to blame for what happened to Naruto a few months ago, it had broken his heart to find how broken the one radiant boy had been left.

– Flashback –

Despite telling himself that he only stopped there for his former student, Iruka had to admit that had come to thoroughly love Ichiraku Ramen.

Nearing the ramen bar, the chuunin was not surprise to find a familiar blond seating next to many empty bowls. It didn't take long for the chuunin's eyes to become aware of the lack of bright orange in the boy's clothing, as well as the sullen expression that should have been impossible with a bowl of ramen in such close proximity.

"Iruka-san…" The man turned at the sound of his name. The owner's daughter, Ayame if he wasn't mistaken, had approached him with a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Iruka asked, sensing the young lady's distress.

The girl's eyes shifted momentarily to gaze at the blond boy at the other side of the bar before looking back at the chuunin. "It-It's Naruto…" She started. "He's been like this since he came, he simply sat down and ordered, he didn't made any of his usually conversation with Otou-san and me…" Ayame explained rapidly under her breath, trying to prevent Naruto to realize she was talking about him.

"Calm down…" Was the first thing Iruka managed to say. "I'm sure it's not that bad-…"

"All he said was 'Thank you' when Otou-san told him that the ramen was on the house…" The girl revealed.

Iruka's eyes widened at that piece of information. He could clearly recall all those days of detention where Naruto had spent hours talking about how much he liked ramen, the dish had become some sort of a solace in the cruel world that the young boy was forced to live in. While other people might dismiss it with the idea that the boy just wasn't in the mood for ramen, Iruka knew better.

Ayame took another glance at Naruto. "I'm worried about him, Iruka-san." She confessed. "This is the first time he came in over a month and he's like this, what if something happened during a mission and he-…"

"Please, Ayame-san, don't bother Iruka-sensei with such a trivial matter…"

The young lady yelped at the blond genin's words. Iruka's eyes traveled towards his former student to find him looking back at them from his seat. A gasp escaped the older shinobi as he realized how much the boy's eyes had changed.

Once vibrant and shining sapphire orbs had become dark and sullen. The smile that had taken shape in the boy's face was nothing but a pitiable shell of what it used to be. Iruka suddenly felt like the night had become darker at the thought of losing Naruto's smile.

"I'm sorry I can't stay and talk, Iruka-sensei, but it's late and I have training tomorrow." The genin suddenly said and begun to stand up. "See you later, Iruka-sensei." Naruto said, giving the older man a small, courteous bow. "Ichiraku-san, Ayame-san, goodnight…" He gave two more bows and another empty smile before turning around and walking off.

The chuunin was left speechless. "That's…That's what I was talking about…" Iruka registered Ayame's quite whisper. Not wasting anytime, the Leaf nin turned around and started off towards the one person that would know what had happened to the once energetic blond, he had never made such a short time to the Hokage's tower.

– End Flashback –

Iruka had been left shocked, saddened, enraged, and concerned after what the late Sandaime had revealed to him. Unfortunately, the only person he had for an outlet now was the silver haired nin. If it hadn't been for his complete disregard for his student, Naruto wouldn't have…

Realizing where the chuunin's train of thought was, Kakashi immediately look away. The jounin didn't want to be reminded of all the wrongs he had done during the past few weeks, the fact that he still had not found the strength to do anything about it did not help at all.

Reminding himself of the matter at hand, the brown haired man decided to disregard the silver haired jounin for now and turned to face Sakura again. "I was worried when he never showed up to the service." Iruka started to explain. "I asked around and it appears that he was seen going towards the training fields right before the ceremony started. I'm concerned about how he's dealing with this whole situation. Normally, I would go see him myself, but I-" The chuunin turned around.

Sakura followed the older man's gaze to the Sandaime's grandson, who stood at the other side of the walkway with a grief-filled face.

"I promised Asuma that I would walk Konohamaru home." The chuunin informed. "So, could you please check on him? Just to see how he's dealing with everything that has happened." The brown haired man requested.

The pink haired girl didn't hesitate to nod. "Of course, Iruka-sensei, in fact, I'm a little worried about him as well." She responded.

Iruka gave his former student as smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Sakura. Well, I better take Konohamaru back to his house now; please tell me if something happens with Naruto, OK?" He said and waited for the girl to nod in agreement before turning around and walking towards the grief-stricken boy, sending a glare in Kakashi's direction during the process.

"I'll be going home too…" The silver haired man suddenly said. Iruka had reminded him yet again of how unfit of a sensei he had been during the pass couple of months, how he had left two of the most important persons in his life, and how his student had ended up paying for his mistake; the jounin just felt like being alone to sulk. "See you later, Sakura…" He added, excusing himself before starting to walk away.

The young kunoichi couldn't help but think that her teacher's voice felt quiet and weak. "OK, Kakashi-sensei…" She said, not sure if he could hear her, but nevertheless she tried to keep any blame from her words, even if a part of her heart felt otherwise.

Shaking her head, Sakura turned around and set off towards the training field.

"We'll arrive there in a couple of days…" Kisame waited a could of seconds for a reply, receiving none, the former Mist nin continued. "News have already spread about the attack the village suffered at the hands of Sand and Sound…" Still, the retort was absent. "Like it takes some sort of genius to realize that this is all Orochimaru's doing, I mean, they even found the Kazekage's corpse already well into decomposition." He added.

The blue skinned shinobi waited yet again, but no matter how much time passed or how long they walked, his partner remained silent.

Sighing, Kisame looked to his side. Itachi Uchiha walk silently next to him with his eyes set on the road. "You've been really preoccupied as of late." The missing nin commented. "I'm not sure if I want to infiltrate Konoha while your mind is drifting somewhere else."

"You don't have to worry about that…" The Uchiha suddenly spoke for the first time in a couple of days. "I already have several plans for infiltrating and escaping the village." The former Leaf shinobi assured.

Kisame couldn't help but snort at his partner's words. "And here I thought we were just going to wing it." The Kiri said. "You know, Jiraiya is supposed to be in Konoha, what should we do about him?" The missing nin wondered as he looked at his partner again.

The black haired man's face showed no concern about the Legendary Sannin. "His presence in the village has been taken in consideration during the formulation of our mission." The Sharingan user stated. "We will act accordingly to what we need to do in order to accomplish our objective." He callously added.

A sigh escaped Kisame. "Just once, I wish that involved staying the night in a brothel to accomplish the task." He commented, before letting out a long yawn. "Anyways, I'll be fine as long as I get first row seat to the Uchiha family reunion." The man added as a grin appeared in his face and he glazed at his partner.

Itachi had already returned to absolute silence.

She moved as quietly as her genin skills would allow her. Sakura was so deep into the training area that she had no idea what field she was exactly in, whichever it was it would have to be near the edge of the forest.

After several minutes of searching around, the pink haired girl was finally able to catch a trace of her blond teammate's chakra and followed it deeper into the training fields.

Her uneasiness increased with every step she took. Apart from their interaction, or lack there of, in the Forrest of Death, she had not actually talked to Naruto since the boy's transformation. The kunoichi really didn't know what she was going to say once she was face to face with the blond, she didn't even know that she could expect to find once she got there, which, if the intense chakra in the surroundings was any indicator, was right about now. A gasp escaped Sakura once she stepped into the training field where the chakra had led her.

Black flames, that was all that she could think about. The terms kept resonating in her mind time and time again as she gazed around the clearing.

The flames that she had seen only twice in her life, once in the Forest of Death and the other during the wild fight against Gaara, both time it had been produce by… Naruto!

Her eyes immediately moved to the middle of a clearing were her teammate stood. There were no sobs, no shouts of anger, no gritting of teeth, there was only a low breathing as he stood rigidly before the black flames, observing them as they devoured all the surrounding trees.

Sakura took small steps towards the blond, slowly approaching him until she mustered enough courage. "Naruto…" The girl whispered.

The boy made no acknowledgment of her presence, but merely stood there, watching the dark flames overwhelm anything they touched and reducing it to ashes.

"Naruto." The pink haired girl tried again, this time with a little more confidence.

A small jerk of a hand and a slight shift between feet was prove enough that he was aware of her presence, but that was enough for her. "Is it over?" The question caught her off guard.

His voice was so low and void of emotions that she was left slightly startled and it took her a few moments to answer his question. "Ye-yes, it ended a little while ago…" The kunoichi managed to say.

Naruto went completely silent after that. The blond simply continued watching the flames burn the training field to the ground.

She couldn't take it anymore, how was it possible that, when one teammate was finally opening out, the other was shutting himself away? It was obvious to her how the blond was drowning in sorrow and yet he wouldn't even try to reach out for help, but instead sealed his emotions off and tried to bear the pain of loss by himself. Pushing her audacity to the limit, Sakura reached out and laid her hand on the spiky haired boy's shoulder.

It was a slow movement, but the action left the kunoichi astonished anyway. Moments after her hand touched the blonde's shoulder a silence overcame the clearing, but, suddenly, slowly but surely, her teammate started to turn around. When they finally came face to face, Sakura gazed at the boy in front of her as his head slowly descended until it was resting on her shoulder.

A skipped heartbeat was barely registered as she was left frozen by the impossibility of her situation. Sakura needed a few moments to recover, but she was finally able to regain control of her body and moved her arms to embrace the distraught blond in front of her into a comforting hug. She wanted to let him know that he wasn't alone. Yes, he had lost someone important, but he still had people that cared for him, she wanted him to be able to feel secure once again.

Suddenly, she felt water running down her shoulder. It had stop raining for a while now, nevertheless the pink haired girl glanced up at the sky, only to find the dissipating clouds starting to give way to the sun. The kunoichi's eyes widen as she looked to her side at grieving blond. "Is he…?"

"It's going to rain again…" Naruto's voice was just as even and stoic as before.

A small smile graced the girl's face. "Yes…" She agreed. "It seems that it will." The pink haired nin said as she tightened her hold on her teammate.

He was surprised that a smile found its way to his face so soon. Jiraiya sighed as he watched the two genin in the middle of the clearing before turning around and starting to walk away. Looking down, he regarded the scroll bestowed upon him merely a few hours before the catastrophe. "If you gave them to me, then I assume that you trust my judgment one when he should get it." The sannin's said as he continued to walk. "The brat still has some growing up to do, but…" He looked back at the clearing for a second. "I'm sure he'll get there." The white haired man commented. "I'm sure this generation will do just fine." Jiraiya stated as he looked up into the sky. "You can just rest now and don't worry about them, they'll live up to all of our expectations…I guess…That's because of your influence on them…" Another smile formed on his lips. "Thanks…Old geezer."

A/N – Now, the reason why I said that this might be the last chapter where I'll put A/Ns it's simply because, fore everyone's interest (or at the very least my own amusement), I've decided to hand to job down to these two guys that are sure to make things a little more interesting, and now I leave the stage to them.