The next day, Team 7 and company quickly made their way through the land of frost (mostly because of Naruto). They reached the Kumogakure gates by mid-afternoon, but that was as far as they got because the two guards would not let them in.

"We need to speak with the Raikage," Sakura stated. The guard eyed the group up and down and then shook his head.

"My apologies, but we will not allow four of the Leaf's most wanted criminals into Kumo if we can help it." The other guard nodded,

"You have guts to show your faces here at all. What's stopping us from turning you into Konoha?" The nin asked.

"You would be willing to risk war with Suna just to appeal to a village that is slowly collapsing on itself?" Gaara said, walking to the front of the group making sure the nin recognized who he was. The Kumo shinobi did, instantly. And with wide eyes, they bowed and said.

"Our apologies Kazekage-sama. We shall inform A-sama of your arrival." The ninja then hastily stepped to the side. Gaara and the two ANBU passed through easily, but the guards blocked Team 7 from passing.

"Nani?" Kakashi asked, shrugging the guard's hand off of his shoulder passive-aggressively.

"New headband or not, you four are still wanted in Konoha. And we have specific orders to avoid crossing them in any way. You will have to stay out here-"

"No," Gaara interrupted, "They're coming with me."

"My apologies Kazekage-sama, but this is non-negotiable." Gaara was about to protest once again but was cut off by Naruto.

"Just go, Gaara, we'll see you soon." The kazekage sighed and nodded. He, followed by the two ANBU, then proceeded to make their way deeper into Kumo. And it wasn't long until they disappeared into the bustling crowd.

.

.

.

"This is bullshit dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed, running his fingers through his blonde hair as he paced back and forth. They had decided to travel around the wall and were now on the east side of Kumo. Thankfully none of the guards seemed suspicious of this. "Konoha isn't even all that scary! I think those guards just had something against us." Kakashi nodded,

"1000 Ryo says that they were some of Gato's men that we forgot to take care of." Sakura snorted.

"Who do you take us for, Kakashi? Tsunade?" The masked jounin merely chuckled in response,

"Anyway, I think we all agree that this wall," Kakashi gestured to the large mass of stone to their left, "Is a trivial little thing,"

"You betcha. Looks like Team 7 is gonna be doing some more breaking-and-entering 'ttebayo!" Naruto then began to scale the wall, infusing chakra into his hands and feet to make it easier. The rest of Team 7 soon followed suit and soon, they were at the top of the wall. However, Naruto stopped them before they could climb over.

"Henge," Was the only word the blonde spoke before he held up a hand sign, and transformed into a well-endowed female version of himself. This made Sasuke raise an eyebrow while henging himself into a middle-aged man.

"Isn't the whole point of this to make us all less conspicuous?"

"Jealous you can't do the sexy-jutsu like I can, Teme?" The ravenette's eyes widened and a slight blush crept onto his cheeks.

"What? I-I mean, No! No!" Sakura snorted once again, turning to Kakashi with a smirk.

"Translation: Save it for the bedroom." The jounin gave an amused smirk, but said nothing, and then returned his eye to the two now-bickering chunin.

.

.

.

"Huh, no wonder the guards didn't follow us here 'ttebayo," Naruto said as his eyes scanned the vast abyss that separated them from the village itself. The four of them made it up on top of the wall, but that was only half the battle. 

"Sakura, can you make a bridge with your metal?" Sasuke asked,

Sakura nodded and held out her hand, only to drop it a moment later with a curse before smacking her forehead.

"Nani?" Naruto asked, making Sakura purse her lips.

"I left my tungsten in Suna."

There was a long period of silence after that. Everyone was still letting Sakura's statement sink in, while said pinkette waited nervously for her team's reaction.

Sasuke was the first to break the silence, letting out a quiet chuckle first as he ran his hand through his hair. His face took on a stressed expression as his chuckle grew into a humorless laugh. Turning his back to the rest of his team to face Kumo, he began. "Why am I not completely surprised that you forgot your main weapon? I bet you were too busy making out with Gaara and forgot to prepare for our SS-rank mission."

"Sasuke," Kakashi said warningly, but Sasuke ignored him, and instead turned and walked up to Sakura, towering over her in an intimidating way.

"Thanks to your screw up, we have no idea what's going on inside Kumo with Gaara. And forget that, you're going to be useless in a battle! Do you have any idea-"

"Sasuke that's enough!" Naruto said, raising his voice slightly and forcing himself between Sasuke and Sakura before the ravenette did something he would regret.

"Look, I get it. You're stressed, angry, and scared. We all are too. And for good reason. The fate of the whole damn shinobi nation is in our hands!" Naruto glanced back at Sakura briefly, "And sure, Sakura made a mistake, and sure, it was kinda a major one. But that's no excuse for you to take out all your frustration on her 'ttebayo." Sasuke took a step towards Naruto and Sakura but was quickly held back by Kakashi.

"But she-" The ravenette began,

"Screwed up. Big deal, 'ttebayo. We all screw up, Sasuke. You do too, and I think it's time you realize that 'ttebayo." Naruto then turned around to face Sakura, only inhale sharply when he found the girl in tears.

"Oh crap! What do I do dattebayo! U-uh here, Sakura um...don't cry, okay?" The blonde said frantically before gingerly wrapping his arms around the trembling pinkette. He let her bury her face in his chest as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"H-he's right you know," Sakura said through hiccups, "I haven't managed to manipulate anything except tungsten."

"How so?" Naruto asked quietly, still holding the pinkette in a comforting embrace.

"I don't know exactly. But any other material just... goes out of control, but not really. It moves and morphs when I want it to, just not in the way I want."

"Ah, I know how that feels 'ttebayo," Sakura's description basically summed up Kurama's personality. If you tell that damn fox to send a bijuu bomb to the left, he'll turn so that you're on his left and then fire it directly at you. That actually happened once, but that's a story for another time.

"Hey, Sakura, what if we give you another metal? Would you be able to manipulate it?" Kakashi asked, pulling out his several metal kunai, senbon, and shuriken. But before she could reply, Sasuke cut her off.

"You heard her. Even if she does manage to make a bridge, would you really trust it to be stable?" Naruto looked over his shoulder to glare at Sasuke, but Kakashi was the one who spoke up.

"Well do you have some magical flying jutsu that you'd like to share with us?" Sasuke said nothing and glared at the ground, "That's what I thought, so be quiet, and stop acting like a brat."

"Tch,"

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That last chapter was kinda short imo so here's a longer one with some drama ;P

Whaddaya think so far?

- How's the plot going?

- Things you like?

- Things you'd like to see (I can't make any guarantees but I'd love to hear your ideas)

- Things you think need work?

- More humor? Less Humor?

- More drama? Less drama? 

Your input is always appreciated! ;D <3