Chapter 22 : One Man Rescue Squad

Yugito sighed into her drink as she sat on her stool in one of the many taverns located in Kumogakure, a relatively small joint where shinobi went in their off time to engage in the ancient art of getting shit-faced wasted. Not that she herself would ever get drunk, like all Jinchuuriki, her Bijuu burned most of the alcohol from her system before it could have any serious detrimental effects. Yugito suspected she could get sloshed if she drank enough, but disliked the thought of having her ability to think logically hampered.

"You seem bothered..."

Looking up from her drink, the young blond Jinchuuriki for the Nibi let her gaze stray over to the woman on her left. The dim lighting in the bar cast number of shadows around her friend, Samui, as she too sat at the bar nursing a drink. Her friend looked at her with a curious expression on her slightly cold face.

"Care to share what's bothering you?"

"Nothing... much," Yugito spoke with a grimace at the end. Frowning, she brought the cup of sake in her hands to her lips, drinking the warm liquid and letting it burn down her throat. Setting her cup down delicately, she grabbed the bottle from her right and poured herself another glass. "I guess I'm just going a little stir crazy from not being allowed to take missions."

Her words were something of an understatement since the Akatsuki's botched – but nearly successful – attempt at capturing her; both she and Kirabi had more or less been placed under house arrest. Now, while that term may have been a little harsh, it was a very accurate description of her current predicament. She was not allowed to leave Kumogakure under any circumstances, she was now allowed to take missions, in fact, Raikage-sama had specifically told her that until the Akatsuki crisis was taken care of she would be more or less forced to stay in the village.

The only time she had gone out was during the Chunin Exams, and that had simply been because of the fact that she was with both Kirabi and A, and the exams were being hosted in Konoha.

She frowned at the thought of Konoha, or to be more accurate, a specific person who lived there. It had been quite a while since she had seen Naruto, mainly due to the mission he was now on. Yugito hadn't been told what the mission entailed but knew that it had something to do with Uchiha Sasuke, her fiancé's traitorous teammate.

That had been nearly two weeks ago. She still hadn't heard from him.

"When people say nothing much, it usually means the opposite," Samui commented idly. She took a sip of her sake, closing her eyes she swallowed, hummed, and then poured herself another glass. "Hiding your feelings and thoughts from your friends is not cool."

Yugito snorted a bit, amused by her friend's words. A moment later she sighed, pushed the saucer of sake away, and said, "I dislike being a burden."

"Whoever said you were a burden?" asked Samui, frowning a bit when she heard her fellow blonde's words.

"No one, they don't need to," Yugito said, shrugging her shoulders. "But as things stand right now, I'm more of a burden than an asset. With Akatsuki on the loose, I can't take any missions, I've been confined to the village, and I'm not even allowed to go outside to train."

Even Kirabi was still being allowed to travel to his favorite training spot at Unraikyō. Meanwhile, she was confined to the training grounds inside of the village. Yugito thought the Raikage was showing favoritism towards his adopted brother, but would never admit that out loud.

"Don't forget that you are also bothered by the fact that Naruto hasn't been able to spend much time with you," Samui added, a small smile gracing her face. Yugito huffed a bit, looking away, which just caused the normally frigid woman's smile to grow. "Not to say that I can't see why you would be bothered by that. If I had someone like him as my boyfriend, then I wouldn't have to worry about all of the men around here staring at my breasts."

"Fiancé," Yugito corrected absently, along with silently agreeing on the other woman's assessment.

Especially the breast part, even now she could see the men around them staring at Samui's large assets.

"That's right," Samui spoke with a small smirk. "How could I forget that you two are engaged? Especially with that small gem on your finger." Her eyes flickered to the beautiful ring that Naruto had crafted for Yugito, then back to the other woman's eyes. "You know, I'm surprised Raikage-sama is actually allowing this."

"You shouldn't be," Yugito stated, turning more fully so she could face Samui. "Everyone knows that Raikage-sama and Naruto-kun's father fought each other in the last war. And everyone knows how each and every single one of those battles ended." Samui couldn't help but nod her head. She knew how those battles ended, and how none of them had been in the Raikage's favor. No matter how hard the man had tried, how many times he and the man who had earned the moniker of 'Kiroii Senkou' had fought, A had never won.

And now Naruto had learned the very technique that had made his father so feared, and could use it to the same degree that Minato had. On top of that, the blond was capable of fighting A on even ground without its use. And that was not even going into Naruto's abilities when he used the Kyuubi's chakra. That alone made the Raikage wary of Konoha, so when the chance came to form an alliance, he took it. Better to be allied with someone capable of such power, than to be against them. The Raikage, for all his power, skill, and stubbornness, was also intelligent and did what was best for the village.

The fact that Naruto had fallen for Yugito was really just the icing on the cake, it ensured that Konoha, and Naruto, in particular, would remain Kumo's ally.

The conversation drifted after that, Samui had never been that talkative of a person to begin with, and Yugito became lost in thought.

The thing would have continued as they were, with silence as their only companion. However, an interruption came in the form of Omoi and Karui, who were bickering together as they came in.

"Gah! Why can't you shut up! Just once, I wish you would stop overthinking everything!"

"I'm just saying that whatever Raikage-sama wants from us must be very important, he wouldn't have asked this of us if it wasn't. Maybe he wants all of us for some kind of top-secret mission. It would have to be something super-secretive, like sneaking into a foreign country that we're not friendly towards. Maybe we'll even end up having to assassinate someone proclaiming themselves to be a god with plans for world domination."

Hundreds of miles away, Nagato sneezed, then frowned. Gods don't get sick, so why did he sneeze? He shrugged and then got back to using his paths to fight Jiraiya and Konan.

"And I'm telling you there is no way we'd be given a mission like that," Karui said through grit teeth. It was easy to see that the woman was about to blow her top, meaning this conversation had likely been going on for some time now.

Deciding that she wasn't in the mood to listen to the pair arguing about something that, in all likelihood, was pointless, Samui interrupted them. "What are you two doing here? I thought you were serving under Darui at the moment as bodyguards for Raikage-sama?"

"We were," Karui said, straightening herself in front of the blond woman. "However, Raikage-sama has requested the presence of yourself and Yugito-san, along with both of us. We were sent here to get you."

Yugito and Samui looked at each other, blinked as similar expressions of curiosity formed on their faces, and then simultaneously turned their attention back to the dark-skinned pair in front of them.

"Did Raikage-sama say what he wanted?" asked Yugito.

"Only that we were to retrieve you two and escort you to his office," answered Karui before Omoi could say anything. She was not in the mood for his conspiracy theories, having listened to them far more than anybody should have to.

The two blonds shared another look, before standing up. Yugito gestured to the two Chunin in their presence and said, "Lead the way."

The trip they took to get to the Raikage's office was very roundabout. Unlike in Konoha, one could not just shunshin into the Raikage's office. As a village that was more militaristic than any of the other hidden villages, Kumogakure followed very strict protocols that were enforced to the letter. The only person capable of breaking these protocols was Kirabi, which Yugito suspected was simply because he was Raikage-sama's adopted brother.

Though even the famed Hachibi Jinchuuriki couldn't get away with some things.

Shaking her head, Yugito did her best to ignore the pair bickering in front of her, only catching the occasional word from their heated discussion. She instead remained silent as they made their way along the village, hopping across the flat roofs to the many conical buildings in the city.

Like most days in Kumo, the sky was fairly clear, with the only clouded areas being around the Raikage mansion and the large mountains that their village was built around. Unlike Hi No Kuni and some of the other countries she had been to, the weather in Kaminari No Kuni was very predictable.

When they arrived at the Raikage's mansion and walked in, they were greeted by Mabui and quickly ushered into the Raikage's office. The man himself was sitting at his desk, a large stack of paperwork off to one side, and an even larger stack of paperwork on the other. It was clear from the scowl on his face and the way he was grumbling while taking papers from the larger stack that he had just received the large stack of paperwork a few minutes ago, probably right after he had finished the first.

However, the moment the door shut and Yugito, along with the other three shinobi present stepped forward, the Raikage stopped stamping papers and placed his hands on the desk, pleased to be doing something other than seeing how long it would take for his hand to get carpal tunnel.

"I have a mission for the four of you that is of the utmost importance," A began without preamble. The man was never one for beating around the bush, a surprising lack of subtlety considering all of the plans and plots he had come up with in his life to help his village gain more power.

Opening a drawer on his desk, he pulled out a scroll with two symbols on the bottom. The first was easily recognized as the Cloud shaped symbol of Kumogakure. However, the second took a bit longer for most of the shinobi in the room to place as the symbol of Kirigakure.

"This scroll contains important documents that will help solidify our alliance with Kirigakure," the man's statement drew surprised gasps from Karui and Omoi, while Samui and Yugito only raised an eyebrow. "You are to deliver this scroll to the Godaime Mizukage and wait there until the treaty can be signed and formalized. This will be a long-term A-rank mission of the utmost importance. I'm counting on the four of you!"

Yugito now realized why the Raikage had called on her for this mission, especially as he had been so adamant about keeping her in the village after getting almost captured by Akatsuki. It was obvious to her that she was being sent because Mei was one of the women that Naruto was engaged to, and the Raikage – along with everybody else who saw them at the Chunin Exams in Konoha – knew about their relationship. Never had she been so thankful that knowledge of Naruto's relationships with her and Mei had been known.

She, along with Samui, Omoi, and Karui snapped to attention upon receiving their orders.

"Hai, Raikage-sama!"

XXXXXXXXXX

It hadn't been long since Naruto had hooked back up with the rest of his squad, who had just come back from successfully retrieving Uchiha Sasuke – with said traitorous ninja being sealed up inside of Naruto's Prisoner Transportation Scroll. He, along with Yamato, Kakashi, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Sai, and Sakura, were all hopping along the trees as they made their way back to Konoha. They were in a standard arrow formation, with Naruto in the lead, Kakashi, and Sakura on either side and the others evenly spaced behind them to create the key points of the formation.

Naruto scanned his surroundings, keeping an eye open for any possible threat. Madara may have been injured, but the blond wasn't sure if that would be enough to stop the man. And even if the one claiming to be the ancient Uchiha was unable to attack, it didn't mean he wouldn't send a subordinate to do the same. Kisame and Zetsu were both very real threats, especially Zetsu as Konan had told him that the plant being could travel underground at overwhelming speeds.

'Hey, brat.'

'Kyuubi?' Naruto frowned as he continued hopping along the trees. It was very rare for the Bijuu to start a conversation with him, preferring to stay quiet unless it was to make the occasional snide comment. 'What's up?'

'I've been waiting to tell you this until after your fight with the Uchiha. But that man who was claiming himself as Uchiha Madara was not, in fact, Uchiha Madara.'

'E-Excuse me?' Such was Naruto's shock that when he landed on the next tree branch he stumbled and nearly lost his footing. Only experience and long-standing use of tree hopping and a quick application of chakra kept the blond from plummeting to the ground in a rather humiliating way.

"Naruto?" questioned Kakashi, who was hopping along right next to the blond, a small note of concern in his voice at seeing the rather confident and normally skilled Naruto nearly fall off during something as routine as tree hopping. Behind them, the rest of their squad was also looking at the whiskered blond in concern.

"Hold up Kakashi," Naruto said absently, "Kyuubi's trying to tell me something important." He missed the looks of shock and concern he got with that statement, or to be more accurate, he ignored them. What the great Bijuu had to tell him was far more important than their shock at the moment.

'What do you mean that's no Uchiha Madara? How could that be anybody else?'

'I don't know!' By the snarl in Kyuubi's voice, it was clear the ancient beast was even more frustrated by this than he was. 'I'm only telling you what I felt. I know Madara's chakra signature as well as I know my own. So I'd know if it was him. That man was not him.'

'But what about when he made you attack Konoha when I was born?' asked Naruto, trying to gain enough information that he could wrap his head around what Kyuubi was telling him. 'I thought you said that Madara was the one who forced you into attacking the village.'

'I never said that. You just assumed that because that Konan girl you are mated to told you Madara was the one who is leading Akatsuki from the shadows that he was the real Uchiha Madara.''

Kyuubi's words were a cause for alarm. If what the fox was saying was true, then the person that Naruto had assumed was the reason for Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, and the secret power behind Akatsuki was not who Naruto thought he was. It also meant that Konan was wrong and the man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara was deliberately handing out misinformation on his identity to further confuse everyone, including his own men.

The problem Naruto had with that was that if Kyuubi was right, and the man he had faced was not Uchiha Madara, then who was he? Why was he impersonating another person? Especially one who had been considered one of the most powerful Shinobi to date? None of this made sense to Naruto. He could not see any discernible reason for Tobi to impersonate Madara, especially when only a few people even knew of his existence, and of those few only himself, Konan and Pein knew who he truly was.

Or at least, who he was pretending to be.

'But I thought Madara was the only Uchiha who had the power to control you,' Naruto said, eliciting a growl from Kyuubi, who was angered at the blond for bringing that up. The blond did his best to ignore his prisoner's angry growls, however, as he continued speaking. 'And if that isn't the case, and there really is someone out there with the power to subdue a Bijuu, then who is it?'

'How should I know?' asked Kyuubi, his voice something akin to a snarl. 'As far as I knew that blasted Madara was the only Uchiha whose eyes had the power to... subjugate me.' The way the Bijuu said subjugate as if the word were some kind of poison, did not go unnoticed by Naruto. There was a prominent pause following the ancient Kitsune's words. 'That there is another Uchiha with the power to control a Bijuu is troubling.'

'Why is that?' asked Naruto, curious. He had his own thoughts on why having another person capable of controlling a creature as powerful as Kyuubi was troubling, but suspected his reasons were vastly different from the Bijuu's.

'You mean aside from the fact that it means there is another capable of making me subservient to their will?' said Kyuubi in a dry growl. Naruto didn't say anything, knowing the question was rhetorical, but his feelings of mild embarrassment that went through the seal made the ancient kitsune snort in a mild form of amusement before continuing. 'The reason it is so troubling is that not just anyone of the Uchiha clan can do this. To be capable of subjugating a Bijuu requires more than just a Sharingan eye. Even the famed Mangekyo Sharingan of legends is incapable of enslaving me, from what I know, Uchiha Madara's younger brother, Izuna, also possessed a Mangekyo, yet he could not control my actions with it. It requires a mental fortitude that few possess.'

'Which means whoever this man is, not only has a strong Sharingan but also has powerful mental abilities,' Naruto concluded. So it required more than just a Sharingan or even a Mangekyo like Itachi's. It required a powerful will that could oppress and subdue the will of the Bijuu they were trying to take control over; meaning that their mind and will have to be stronger than normal.

That was a scary thought.

'Exactly. The Uchiha in question also must have a very powerful chakra. It takes a lot of power to use the Sharingan's ability to subdue me, just the act itself would require more chakra than most of what you would call Jonin level Shinobi to possess.'

'I see...' Naruto resisted the urge to sigh as he felt a slight headache coming. This new piece of information was troubling, especially since it essentially meant he would need to reevaluate the situation entirely. Still, it's better to deal with it now, than not know and find out sometime down the road when the knowledge he now held could have made a difference. 'Thanks Kyuubi.'

'Che, whatever brat.' Naruto almost smiled at the grumble in Kyuubi's voice. He could almost picture the ancient Bijuu scoffing at him.

"Naruto," Kakashi's voice interrupted his thoughts. Turning his head Naruto looked at his former sensei with a curious expression.

"Something wrong, sensei?"

"I was just wondering if you were done talking with... Kyuubi. And if so, what was so important that it had to tell you."

"He," Naruto corrected absently, tilting his head a bit as he tried to decide how much he should tell Kakashi – and the others who were secretly listening in. He couldn't tell them everything, not only because they were out in the open but because secrets never stayed secret for long when more people knew about it. And the information that the man claiming to be Uchiha Madara was not Uchiha Madara was a pretty big thing.

Knowledge was power, and in this instance, it may be better to tell them as little as possible.

"Kyuubi was just giving him some information on the man that I fought a few minutes ago."

"Oh?" Kakashi raised a single eyebrow in question. It was obvious to anyone that the silver-haired man was looking for more information. However, much as Naruto may trust Kakashi, this was the kind of information that he was not willing to hand out callously.

"Yes," Naruto replied with a nod, then snapped his mouth shut. After several seconds, when it became obvious that the blond was not going to elaborate on what he and Kyuubi spoke of, Kakashi sighed and went back to monitoring their surroundings and looking out for signs of danger.

It wasn't until three hours later that something happened. In mid-jump, Naruto's body stiffened and his eyes widened in surprise. He stopped, abruptly and, turned his head in a specific direction with eyes slightly glazed over; looking at something only he could see.

"Naruto?" said Sakura, surprised by the sudden stop as was everyone else. They had been making good time so far and were only a few days away from Konoha. Naruto had been driving them rather hard to make it back to the safety of the village where Akatsuki wouldn't be able to attack them, which was why everyone was wondering what had caused the blond to stop moving so suddenly.

"Someone just activated one of my Hiraishin seals," Naruto said with wide eyes. The look didn't last as his eyes sharpened and he turned his head to look at Kakashi. "Sensei, from this moment onwards you are in charge. I want you to head to Konoha with all due haste. Do not stop until you are within those walls. Understand?"

"Yes," Kakashi nodded and then paused before voicing his concern. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know," Naruto frowned and then shook his head. "But everyone who has a Hiraishin seal knows that I am on a mission. They wouldn't have activated it if they weren't in very serious danger." He paused, and then looked at everyone on the squad before nodding in goodbye. "I'll see you all in Konoha."

And with that, Naruto disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Naruto knew almost as soon as he used the Hiraishin to flash to the location of the person who summoned him, that something was wrong. It was not just an innate sense of instinct that told him this but ran more along the lines of all of his senses and combat experience screaming at him with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The vast and erratic flares of chakra told him that whoever had summoned him was likely in a battle.

This theory was proven to be a reality when he appeared in the middle of a battle between Konan and Jiraiya, and six different people all with ripple patterned eyes, which he guessed were the Six Paths of Pain.

It was immediately apparent that the battle was not going in the favor of his mentor, and his lover. Jiraiya was missing his entire right arm and was crouched down panting heavily, his eyelids drooping as he fought to maintain a conscious state. Konan was faring better, but it was clear she had seen better days as well. The clothing that she wore under it was ripped and cut, along with her body, a large bruise was forming on the right side of her face, and she was bleeding profusely from a wound on the left side of her torso.

Things definitely weren't looking good for the two.

Using the split second he had to analyze the situation, it was obvious to him what was going on. It was clear that they were in Amegakure if the rain didn't tell him that much, and then the large steel city several meters before him would have; which meant that his sensei had tried to infiltrate Amegakure. If Naruto had the time, he would have taken a moment to curse out Jiraiya for his foolishness.

Unfortunately, he didn't. It would not be long before the others reacted to his presence and he needed to be out of there by then.

Reacting with due haste, Naruto put on a burst of speed and appeared right in between Jiraiya and Konan. He placed his hands on the water's surface and flared his chakra, molding it, directing it, controlling it. In a burst of electricity and wind, a large cylinder of water, nearly one hundred feet high, rose around from around them, protecting them from the paths that had been just about to attack when he had flashed here. The water crackled and howled as blue arcs of lightning danced across its surface, and green gales of force-cutting winds moved around life-giving liquid. It was a three-way state of protection and one of Naruto's ultimate defensive jutsu, Araton: Fiferement No Shōheki.

"Naruto!" Konan shouted, recognizing the jutsu for what it was. She spun around to face him to see that the blond already had a now unconscious Jiraiya held over his right shoulder. The blond didn't say anything, just held out his hand to her. She took it, and the moment she did, Naruto pulled her to him, wrapped his free arm around her waist, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

There was a flash of yellow. The protective elemental barrier that had been held up by Naruto's chakra dispersed, the water falling back into the lake and disrupting its movement with large waves, the lightning dispersed into the atmosphere and the wind blew outwards in a shock wave that forced the paths that had been standing next to the protect cylinder several meters back, where they skid along the water's surface, creating crevices.

The Deva Path let its hands fall down to its side, the protective barrier of gravitational chakra that he had created dispersing. His eyes roved over the now empty landscape, expression never changing. When it became clear that Konan and Jiraiya were gone, escaped by the help of the person he belatedly recognized as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, he – along with the other paths – began making their way back to base.

He would need to inform Madara of this new development.

XXXXXXXXXX

The moment Naruto, along with Konan and Jiraiya reappeared, the blond Shinobi quickly dropped to his knees, gasping as he heaved in a great lungful of air.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Shouted Konan, surprised to see her lover looking like he'd just run a five thousand mile marathon with Gai and Lee. Her arm encircled his waist as she tried to hold him up, but due to her own exhaustion only managed to bring her down with him.

As the blond fell to a knee, Jiraiya slid from Naruto's grasp, falling to the ground and laying on his side. The slow breathing was the only thing that let them know their sensei was alive.

"Are you alright?" asked Konan, her voice clearly stating her concern.

"Yes," Naruto got out, his voice raspy as he continued heaving for breath. It took him a few seconds before he could continue talking. "The Hiraishin is a jutsu where the chakra cost is proportional to the mass I'm using the jutsu on. That cost is tripled when I'm taking more than one object at a time, especially if I'm flashing with them." And that wasn't even mentioning how he had just gotten out of his own battle with the Madara-that-was-not-Madara. As it was his reserves had already been cut down to a third by that battle. By the time Konan had summoned him, he'd been running on empty and was just barely able to use the Hiraishin.

His eyes landed on Jiraiya and he remembered that time was of the essence.

Acting with as much haste as possible, Naruto summoned a scroll from inside his left kunai pouch. Unrolling quickly and flattening it against the ground, he smashed his hands on the seal located in the center of the parchment. With a puff of smoke that cleared soon after it appeared, Naruto summoned the medical supplies that he always kept on hand. He grabbed one of the jars containing several black pills, popped the lid, and threw two into his mouth.

The blond grimaced. He hated using chakra pills, or any kind of artificial enhancers. But at the moment, he didn't have much of a choice.

As he felt his chakra replenish, Naruto turned to Konan and began speaking. "I'm going to get Tsunade. I need you to stay here with Jiraiya and keep him alive."

Konan nodded sharply. She wasn't a medical ninja but having been the one who healed most of her friend's wounds when they were injured, she was decent when it came to the application of medicine and field bandaging.

Naruto didn't respond with words to her affirmation. Instead, he disappeared within a swirl of leaves, leaving her to tend to Jiraiya's wounds.

The first thing Konan did was roll Jiraiya onto his back. He had long since lost consciousness and was beginning to look drawn and pale, a sign that he was running low on blood, which meant he needed to replenish what he'd lost.

Konan easily found the blood replenishing pills; Naruto was very meticulous in his labeling. She opened the container and grabbed several, feeding them to Jiraiya one at a time. It was difficult to get him to swallow them since he was already unconscious she had to help him chew by moving his chakra, and then help him swallow by forcing the pastedown his throat with some water. Thankfully, he wasn't dead enough that his survival reflexes weren't kicking in, and he automatically swallowed the water and pills.

When the blood replenishing pills began working, it showed the now severed stub that was his arm beginning to leak more blood than before. Konan, knowing that she had to stop the blood flow, ripped off the right sleeve of his tunic, and used it as a tourniquet. The blood flowing out of the wound slowed to a mere trickle, which she knew was about as good as she was going to get it.

Realizing that there wasn't much else she could do for her sensei now, Konan fell onto her backside, hands going behind her for support, and for the first time since she had appeared with Naruto, took in her surroundings.

The room they were in was a bland, square room with very little in the way of personality. She and Jiraiya were on some kind of pad, a light tan pad with a rubber grip texture. They were in the center, surrounded by gray lines that formed a square around them. The walls were made of cement, a light tan color weathered and cracked with age. Several stone columns acted as support and held up the roof. Behind her, she noticed a set of stairs with rust-colored handrails surrounding it leading to a door. The few personal effects that she noticed were the tri-pronged kunai hanging on the wall at the far end, and several haori's that Naruto wore.

It wasn't long after her initial survey of the room, maybe five minutes later that Naruto reappeared in a yellow flash next to her, this time with two other people.

Naruto dropped to his hands and knees, panting. The one on his left, who she absently recognized as Tsunade swore, loudly.

"Shit!"

The blond Hokage was at Jiraiya's side in an instant, running a medical scan over him. The worry that was clear on her face began to get grow into fear, letting Konan know that something was wrong with the man. Her theory was proven a moment later when Tsunade began speaking again.

"He's going into shock! Shizune! I need you to help me carry him upstairs!"

"Hai! Tsunade-sama!"

Konan watched with tired eyes as Tsunade and the dark-haired woman that could only be Shizune grabbed Jiraiya and lifted him as delicately as possible. The pair of medical ninjas moved as quickly as they were able without jostling the white-haired hermit, moving up the stairs and through the door. When the door closed with a click, Konan was snapped out of her stupor and moved over to where Naruto was sitting.

"Naruto-kun?" she questioned, making his eyes snap open to look at her. The blond offered a tired smile, which she tentatively returned, though it didn't last for long.

"Come on," Naruto said, pushing himself to his feet with a great heave. He wobbled for a moment, his legs shaking as he showed just how tired he truly was. The blond looked like he was about to fall over, but thankfully for him, Konan seemed to realize this and managed to catch him just as he was starting to tilt.

"You're tired," she noted, not bothering to berate herself on how obvious that statement was. With a few deft movements, Konan managed to wrap her left arm around his waist, while pulling his right one over her shoulder and allowing him to lean on her for support.

"Yeah, no kidding," Naruto said with a dry chuckle. When he looked at Konan out of the corner of his eye and saw the look she was giving him, one that told him she was not in the mood for smart-ass remarks, he decided to elaborate. "We ran into Madara on our mission."

Konan flinched, a clear indication of how she felt about this knowledge. "You fought him?" she asked.

Naruto gave a tired nod as he said, "yes, it was probably my hardest battle yet, and I'm not even sure how serious he was." His left hand pressed against the now healed shoulder wound. Aside from having exhausted most of his chakra in that battle, he'd been more injured than all of his other battles for the past several years. The only fight he'd had that had been that tough was when he went up against Yagura during the Kiri Civil War.

As his mind went to the battle he'd had with the one calling himself Madara, he remembered Kyuubi's words.

Turning his head to look at Konan, he said, "Let's head upstairs. There's something important that I need to tell you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Konan watched as the large wound on her torso healed, the flesh that had been shredded by the serrated blade-like sash of Pein's Asura Path knitted together very slowly. It was only a few minutes later that the torn skin fully healed, not even leaving a blemish.

"You are very good," Konan complimented the woman who healed her wounds. Shizune looked up from her work and smiled.

"Thank you," she said before her still glowing green hand moved to deal with Konan's less grievous injuries. As Shizune began healing the smaller cuts and bruises that had formed all over her body, she began speaking some more. "I've been trained by Tsunade-sama since I was a little girl. She's taught me everything I know about being a medical ninja, and while I can't use her strength technique, I like to think that my skills in healing are at least around her level."

Konan gave a nod as she remained silent and let the woman work. Her eyes moved around, staring at the bland white walls of the hospital room she was in. The smell of blood and disinfectant hung in the air, a retched scent and one that Konan had never liked. It had been a long time since she'd been injured enough to require going to a hospital. Her job as the Angel of Ame kept her in the village, so unlike the other members of Akatsuki who were always out on missions or capturing Jinchuuriki, she had stayed in one spot and thus never got into any serious battles.

A grimace came to her face as she closed her eyes, her mind flashing back to the battle she and Jiraiya had with Pein. She couldn't help but curse herself for not having intervened sooner than she had. If she had more resolve to fight her friend, then maybe Jiraiya wouldn't have been as injured as he was. That she had taken so long to steel herself was a cause of great guilt for her, and because of her hesitation, there was a very good chance Jiraiya wouldn't live out the night.

He could only imagine how Naruto must be feeling right now.

"There," Shizune said, the woman's voice bringing Konan out of her funk. She opened her amber-colored eyes and looked to see the medical ninja standing back up, having just finished healing the last of her wounds. "Your wounds have been healed so you're free to leave. However, your body is still going to be very tender. I would suggest not doing anything too strenuous for at least a few days."

Konan gave the woman a sincere nod. "Thank you."

"No problem," Shizune said with a smile, though it was clear the woman was not really in the mood. The smile was as fake as the ones Naruto used to wear when he was younger. Not that Konan could blame her given what transpired just a little over half an hour ago.

Standing up, Konan made her way out the door with Shizune following close behind. Looking over at the woman who had decided to walk alongside her, she asked, "Do you know where I can find Naruto-kun?"

Shizune absently noted the suffix Konan added to Naruto's name as she nodded. "He's probably standing outside of the emergency room that Tsunade-sama took Jiraiya-sama to. I'm heading there myself so just follow me."

With a nod, Konan did just that, following the woman as she moved through several halls, up a flight of stairs, and down another hall. In the end, they found Naruto just as Shizune said they would. He was standing in front of a large set of double doors with a red light blazing above the door to let everyone know it was currently in the middle of an operation. The blond himself was pacing back and forth in front of the door, the thumb of his left hand in his mouth as she chewed on it in worry, while the other was cupping the elbow of his left hand and holding it up. Every few seconds he would stop, turn his head to look at the door, and when he noticed that the light still hadn't turned off, he would continue his pacing.

It was easy for Konan to see that her lover was worried, the expression on his face, his movements, and the stiff pacing told her all that she needed to know and more. Knowing from experience that if he continued to stand there with nothing to occupy him, he would just worry more, Konan walked over to him, the soles of her shinobi sandals making light squeaking noises along the floor.

Behind her, Shizune watched the proceeding events with idle curiosity. She looked over at the door, seeing the light burning brightly and letting her know that Tsunade was in the middle of a delicate operation. Unless her master called for her, she would be better off not entering. Therefore, she turned her attention back to Naruto and the mysterious woman he was with.

"Naruto-kun?" she said, her voice bringing him to a halt. Naruto turned to look at her just as she reached him. His arms relaxed upon seeing her, moving back down to his sides, and some of the worries on his face turned into relief at seeing that she was alright. It warmed her heart to know that he cared about her, to see the emotion of worry on his face, and to know that at least part of it was because he was concerned for her wellbeing.

She moved the rest of the distance between them, closing the last inch as her arms slid his waist and wrapped themselves around him tightly. Naruto was taller than her now, when they had first met the blond was about the same height as she was. Now he was at least a head taller. Her head was able to easily fit underneath his.

In response to her hold on him, Naruto's around wrapped around her shoulders, squeezing her just a little tighter than he normally would, as if to make sure she was really there. His chin came to rest on the crown of her head, eyes closing as he tried taking deep breaths to calm the worry that was raging in his mind.

"It will be ok," Konan murmured, her voice so soft that Naruto almost missed it. They parted only slightly so that Naruto could look down at her as the blue-haired woman looked up. She tried to offer him a reassuring smile, though it was clearly forced. Despite this, she continued. "Everything's going to be fine. Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't let something like this kill him so easily."

"Yeah..." It was clear Naruto didn't quite believe that as he looked over at the still closed door, a prominent frown marring his face. He shuddered a bit, his body shaking and sending a reverberation through Konan. She watched in concern as he closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

"Are you alright?"

"We should have told him," Naruto whispered, his voice breaking ever so slightly.

"About us?"

"About everything," Naruto said. Opening his eyes again, he turned his head once more to look at Konan. "I should have realized that he would eventually figure everything out on his own. Amegakure's the only nation in the Elemental Countries that has been totally isolated from the rest of the world. It's the perfect place for Akatsuki's base. I should have realized that he would eventually figure this out and go there to see for himself."

"You can't predict the future, Naruto-kun," Konan said. "At the time, you thought this was for the best. We both know how Jiraiya thinks. If you had told him back then, he would have still gone there. Maybe things would have been different, but maybe they wouldn't have. You can't know for sure." She rested her head in the crook of his neck, breathing his scent in through her nose, and blowing her breath out through her mouth. "All we can do now is hope that Jiraiya will pull through this."

"Right."

As one of Naruto's hands went to the small of her back, his other one came to her head, fingers beginning to brush through her hair as he rested his cheek on her head.

"Excuse me?" asked Shizune, bringing attention to herself after watching the exchange. Naruto and Konan looked over at her. Seeing this, she continued, focusing her eyes mostly on the blond. Asking the question she wanted to ever since she worked on Konan, she said, "Naruto-kun, who is this?"

"That's right; I haven't introduced you yet, have I?" Naruto said rhetorically.

He ended their embrace, taking a step back from Konan and grabbing onto her left hand. She responded, lacing her fingers with his as they walked over to one side of the wall, where Shizune had chosen to stand.

When they reached the dark-haired woman, Naruto introduced the two by saying, "This is Konan. Konan, this is Shizune."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Konan said, hands held in front of her as she bowed slightly in respect.

Though Shizune was dissatisfied by the very small introduction, having been hoping to learn more about this mysterious woman that somehow knows Naruto – and in an intimate sense if their previous actions were any indication – she returned the gesture.

"It's nice to meet you as well."

Returning to an upright position, and hoping to learn more about the blue-haired beauty, Shizune opened her mouth to speak. Before she could, however, the light above the door blanked, and a few seconds after that the door opened and a tired Tsunade walked out.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune said as she, Naruto, and Konan walked in front of the blond Hokage.

"How's Ero-Sennin?" asked Naruto before the woman even had a chance to speak. "Is he alright? Did he make it through? How is he doing...?" He was forced to stop talking when Tsunade held a hand up in front of his face, backed by a tired glare to let him know she was not in the mood to listen to him.

After a few seconds, when it became clear that Naruto would not interrupt her, Tsunade said, "It was come and go for a while, but Jiraiya's going to be fine."

The relief that washed through the area was almost palpable. Both Naruto and Konan closed their eyes and sent out a silent thank you, neither realizing that Tsunade was eying the two curiously, though her attention was more focused on Konan. Deciding that she would get her answers as to who this woman was – and why she looked so familiar – along with the knowledge of why Naruto was here without his squad later, she first decided to tell them more about Jiraiya's condition.

"His right arm is gone completely, and since you didn't have it with you, I can't reattach it. Even if you did bring his arm, the wound was beginning to get infected and I'm not sure reattaching the limb would have worked. In the end, I was forced to cauterize the wound. This will hamper his ability to use Ninjutsu, but I'm sure he'll find a way around that when he wakes up. There were several other problems as well, namely that he had more than a few broken bones, including a nearly shattered ribcage. His left lung had also been punctured by several bone fragments from his ribs." She paused for a moment, catching her breath before continuing. "As things stand he was very lucky that you managed to get me when you did. A few minutes later and he would have died from any number of the injuries he suffered."

It was a harsh diagnosis and one that made everyone listening wince as they heard the number of life-threatening injuries he had. At the very least he was still alive, that had to count for something.

"Can we see him?" asked Naruto.

Tsunade shook her head. "Currently he's been put into a medically induced sleep so that his injuries might heal without him aggravating them." She then fixed Naruto with a glare. "I'm also going to need a mission brief from you, as well as an explanation as to why you are here, without your squad I might add, and who this woman is."

Naruto sighed. He should have expected something like this.

"Right. Well, let's go to your office. This explanation will take a while and isn't something you're going to want to become public knowledge."