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Warning: Angst. Language. USUAL. Fluff.

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Interlude - Omniscient - 17

Lee leapt off from the roof of a building, landing precisely in front of his rival. A shine took to his eyes and he gave a thumbs-up in greeting. "Yosh! It is time, my rival, to continue our competition."

Nao lowered her book on fūinjutsu for a brief moment. Her hair fell over her face, concealing her wounded eye. She was on her way to the academy to assist in teaching - one of the standard Chūnin missions all fresh Chūnin had to partake in at some point - and as such, was in her uniform.

"What?" Nao asked, tilting her head. "I'm sorry, Lee, I wasn't paying attention. Could you repeat that?"

Lee fell forward for a moment. "Ah! That cool attitude of yours...! Never mind that, my youthful attitude will outmatch yours. I challenge you!"

Nao blushed faintly, looking a little nervous at all the looks the two were given. "Ah... okay. What shall it be?"

A blaze lit up in Lee's eyes. "I challenge you to..."

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. . .

"What's going on?" I whispered, as Yagura's clone began to make rapid handseals. He did not immediately respond, but slammed both of his hands on the ground. Sakura looked up, startled, when rocks erupted and surround us.

"Things are getting more intense," the clone said. "When Itachi is stable enough, I'm to escort all of you out of the village."

Sakura bit her bottom lip. "It will take a while. I... There's a lot of damage, I don't know how much I can fix with the limited supplies."

"What do you need?" I asked quickly, my heart leaping to my throat. Did that mean Itachi could still die? Was she saying she might not be able to save him, after all he's gone through?

"More chakra for one thing," Sakura said grimly.

"T-Take mine," I said, thrusting my hands out to her. Another shudder ran through me, reminding me that the adrenaline had yet to leave my system. Sakura stared at my hands for a couple of seconds, before she carefully raised one of her own hands and gripped my right hand.

"Do you understand the risks?" Sakura inquired.

Nodding my head, I said, "I know. Withdrawing chakra can also cause chakra exhaustion for the volunteer. I trust you not to take too much, and I trust myself to know when to stop. I know the other risks, as well, and I'm fine with them."

Sakura squeezed my hand. "Alright."

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"It's over."

Slowly, tiredly, I dragged my eyes to Yagura. When he had put up the rock walls, he had subsequently sealed off our sight of Naruto, Pein and the real Yagura. We only heard and felt the battle. With each explosion and each painful silence, I always squirmed and squeezed Yagura's hand tighter and tighter. Sakura had finished taking my chakra a while ago, citing that it would be enough for now, leaving me feeling helpless to do anything.

Itachi refused to sleep; instead he just stared with one creaked open staring up at the sky.

I wasn't certain how much time passed. It seemed to drag on for an eternity. It was excruciatingly painful just sitting there in silence... waiting... hoping...

The clone stood up, and pulled me up with him, as neither of us had let go. "I'm going to lower the walls. My real self is with Naruto, on our way back to the village."

"You left?"

"Naruto did," Yagura said simply. "He wanted to go alone. He's exhausted, though, and I'm carrying him back."

I looked down at Itachi, and my heart jumped when I saw he was trying to sit up. Sakura glared at him, placing a firm hand on his chest and pushing him down. "Stay down, Itachi-san. You can't get up, yet, I'm not done!"

Itachi resisted Sakura's insistence, continuing to sit up until I kneeled back down and used both my hands to push him down.

"Itachi, please," I said softly, quietly. "I'll be fine. Please... stay here with Sakura."

Itachi frowned. "I... cannot do that... I must insist..."

Yagura's clone gripped his staff, whirled it around and then slammed the butt of it on Itachi's forehead. I gasped, looking up at an annoyed Yagura. "Sensei!"
"He'll be fine," Yagura dismissed. "He doesn't have a head injury - he's exerted, so he needs sleep more than anything. I'm dispersing now."

Still looking irritated, the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke after lowering the stone walls. Sakura and I exchanged long glances, before she looked back down at Itachi, her hands glowing green. Taking that as permission to leave, I turned on my heel and stumbled a couple steps. I was physically and mentally exhausted - even more so due to the fact that I had very little of my chakra left.

Once I caught myself, I took off into an unsteady sprint to the front gate.

I saw many others were heading that way - I heard the whispers and shouts of joy and I caught a handful of words. Namely that it was Naruto who they had to thank for their lives. They all swarmed to the gate, and I stopped. I was a ways from the gate, but I knew that they were all waiting Naruto's return.

Naruto, who had been scorned by Konoha, was about to be welcomed home with utter love.

It brought a tired smile to my lips, and I continued on, but this time I chose to hop up on the gates when I reached there. I preferred to stay out of the crowd. I crouched low on the pillar, until Kakashi flickered up to crouch beside me.

"Sensei," I said, looking over at him, "are you alright?"
Kakashi's eyes closed as he smiled at me. "Mn. Just tired. You?"
"Just tired."

Hesitantly, I reached out and grasped his shoulder, making sure he was real. After seeing such devastation done to my home, it felt a little odd to see one of my dear companions be... alright. Kakashi seemed to sense this, because he placed his hand over mine and gave me a reassuring eye-smile. "Don't worry, Nao. Everything's okay now."

My brow furrowed, worry still squirming inside the pit of my stomach. I opened my mouth to respond, but abruptly shut it when I sensed two familiar chakras. My head whipped around to find Naruto slowly pulling away from Yagura. My childhood friend stumbled a bit, but walked into the village, grinning sheepishly.

Yagura stayed behind, panting and leaning on a tree.

Kakashi let go of my hand and in the same instant, I leapt down from the pillar, stumbling and running to Yagura. My eyes were on his blood-soaked shirt and my hands flew to his chest, feeling for any wounds. Yagura sighed. "I'm fine, Nao."

I ignored him, continuing my search. There was so much blood - that couldn't be right, how could a body hold so much blood? When I found no wound on his chest, I grabbed his arms and started examining them.

"Nao, really, I'm fine," Yagura grouched. "Would you stop that?"

I turned him around and he gave a groan of annoyance, before digging his heels in the ground, whipping around and gripping my shoulders. Startled, and still a little dazed by the fact that he was drenched in blood I relentlessly continued my search.

"Honestly, Nao, I'm okay," Yagura groaned. When it seemed like I wasn't going to respond - and I wasn't, hadn't planned on it - Yagura finally grasped my shoulders, and forced me to look him in the eyes. "Nao, I am okay."

I stared at him in uncertainty. Was he really okay? Could he really be okay? Seeing how his eyes unwaveringly stared back at mine, and his self-assured presence didn't falter, I finally found myself relaxing. Wave after wave I felt the relief crash over me. It weighed me down, and lightened my load all at once.

Biting my bottom lip, I continued to stare at him, uncertain of how to convey what I felt. I was speechless, words caught up in my throat, choked by emotion. Yagura continued to look at me for a couple more seconds, before his gaze softened and his grip on my shoulders relaxed.

"Hey," he said softly, "it's really okay."

Just nodding my head, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. He stiffened, then after a couple moments of being unresponsive, he returned my hug, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"Okay... you can let go now."

Slowly, I released my hold on him, still giving him a worried look. Yagura shook his head, rolling his eyes. "I swear... you're too nice to be a kunoichi."

I flushed.

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I was clinging onto Ino, and she was clinging onto me. Our entire family was gathered, along with Shikamaru and Chōji's. We had all met up at where our compounds met. We didn't have a lot of food left over from the attack, and orders had already been sent out to the outskirt bases to send some food over. Reconstruction was already starting. Thankfully, we had plenty of resources to rebuild.

Others that were not bound to us by blood were there. Anko and Ibiki, for starters. We knew them fairly well - they both have had dinner with us on several occasions, as they were close coworkers with Papa. Anko had, surprisingly, hugged both Ino and myself, before mingling with the rest of the family.

Naruto was being hugged by Momma at the moment, fiercely I might add. He was blushing and looking mildly uncomfortable, but relaxed at the same time. It wasn't the first time Momma had hugged him, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Kakashi and Yagura sat up in the trees, perfectly content with watching the reunions from afar.

Ino kissed the top of my head, squeezing me tightly. "I'm just glad you're okay. I really owe Itachi..."

I nodded my head. "I owe him my life, many times over now."

"Where is he?"

"He's in the urgent care with Tsunade-sama. Tsunade-sama..." I trailed off and Ino just held me tighter. News that our Hokage had slipped into a coma in her valiant effort to protect us was unsettling, to say the least. Hopefully... hopefully she would wake up soon.

Ino sighed, pulling back long enough to glance around. "... What a mess. I know I said I wanted a new room, but..."

"Not the way you pictured it?"
"Not even close. Thankfully Konoha learned its lesson from the Kyūbi attack and have stored away quite a bit of money in case of something like this," Ino sighed. "It's going to take a while to rebuild, though."

"Maybe not," I said, smiling faintly. "Maybe we can just have Naruto pop out a couple thousand clones."

Ino gave a giggle. "A thousand Narutos running around rebuilding Konoha? No, thank you! He'd paint everything orange."

"Not everything," I teased.

We both erupted into a fit of giggles, only stopping when Papa wrapped his arms around us. He kissed the top of both of our heads and then said, "Well, it really does seem like we didn't lose anyone in this invasion. We're lucky Naruto was able to persuade the enemy to perform that mass resurrection."

"That's our Naruto," I said.

"Mn. But, sadly, it's about time we stopped celebrating. We need a roof over our heads tonight, so ladies, it's time to get to work! Looks like all those D-Rank carpentry missions are paying off, eh?"

We both groaned.

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. .

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Interlude - Nao's POV - 17

A gasp tore at my throat and I shot up in my bed. I clutched at my eye, feeling it throb and burn. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to lie back down. A sheen of sweat covered my form, and I had to concentrate to steady my breathing.

Minutes passed by, as I waited for the throbbing to subside. It came rarely, and never lasted long. I could go months without ever experiencing it, so each time it came, it came as a bit of a surprise.

When it had calmed down, I gently removed my hand and sagged, staring up at the ceiling.

Several more minutes ticked by, and I found that sleep would not greet me warmly. With a sigh, I threw back my covers, grabbed Obito's goggles, and crawled out my bedroom window. My bare feet hit the cold, wet grass and I leapt up onto the roof. With ease, I began hopping from roof to roof, a destination in mind.

I wanted to go to the Memorial Stone, but when I neared there, I found a couple unfamiliar chakra signatures there. Not wanting to intrude, I decided to go Obito's grave. It didn't take me long to reach there.

My toes dug into the cold grass, and my hands curled as they clutched onto my nightdress - just a simple, white one. I had pulled the goggles over my eyes on my way here, so everything was tinted blue.

Sighing, I turned my back to his grave and sat down, resting against his stone. My hands clasped as I rested them in my lap.

"I've always been a light sleeper," I told Obito, feeling mildly irritated. "When I was little, I used to go just go into the library and read until I fell asleep. After I met Kakashi, though, and got to know him a bit better, I started going to the stone. He was there most of the time, and sometimes we would talk. Other times we would just sit there."

I fiddled with my fingers. "I miss them. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. I miss them more than I care to admit, actually. Do you miss anyone, Obito-ue? I'm sorry if this is bothering you, but... I don't know. I got into the habit of visiting Kakashi and talking with him, that I guess I need to talk to someone before I can go back to sleep. He's about as responsive as you, so..."

My lips twitched into a faint smile at that.

A chill ran down my spine, and goosebumps rose along my skin. I felt, for a brief moment, I was being watched - as I normally do when I come here. My smile widened at that - it was rather comforting, that feeling. There were some days where it felt like Obito really was there - that he was just sitting on the other side of the stone, listening to me and responding in his own way.

Perhaps to some, that would have seemed a bit off or creepy, but to me...

It just seemed like I made a new friend.

Even if he wasn't actually real.

Clearing my throat, I said, "Have I ever told you about the time that Naruto dyed Kakashi's hair pink? No? Well, it was an interesting day to start off with..."

If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn I heard a chuckle.

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Short chapter is short 'cause it's a transition chapter, and the last chapter was pretty long.

Cute fanart by maskedbeauty09. Dunno what's going on with my profile, as it's not updating, but there should be links there. Or you can check out their dA gallery or my favorites.

Question: Gimme your three favorite characters from any single genre. Now make them fight to the death. Who wins?

Reviews are love!