The sound of footsteps crunching over dirt and grass pulled their heads up. The boys, still gathered around the training ground in a loose circle, shuriken embedded in targets behind them, looked toward the path leading in. Sakura's pink hair caught the sunlight first, swaying as she approached with her usual sure stride, green eyes scanning until they landed on Naruto. He froze mid-throw, hand awkwardly still in the air, a shuriken dangling between his fingers. Shikamaru smirked instantly. "Well, speak of the devil."

Kiba's grin widened like he'd been waiting for this moment. "Oi, Naruto, your date is here."

Naruto flushed immediately, nearly fumbling the shuriken. "Wh-what are you guys-?!"

Choji leaned back on his hands, unbothered, but his voice was teasing all the same. "You were just giving us the full play-by-play, Naruto. Timing's perfect."

Lee's eyes widened in boyish excitement, practically sparkling. "Ah! Youthful Sakura-san arrives just as Naruto's feelings were being laid bare! Truly fate burns brightly for you both!"

Sakura slowed to a stop just in front of them, one brow raised, her hands finding her hips. "...What exactly were you all talking about?"

Shikamaru gave her a lazy smile, deliberately dragging it out. "Oh, nothing much. Just your little dinner with Naruto."

Her cheeks went pink instantly, a flush she tried and failed to fight. "Shikamaru-"

Kiba barked a laugh. "Don't bother denying it. Lover boy over there already told us how it ended."

Naruto groaned, running both hands through his hair. "Why do you guys gotta make such a big deal out of everything?!" Neji, of all people, stiffened slightly, his face heating at the memory of their earlier conversation. He quickly looked away, but not before Naruto caught it and smirked. "Oh, and don't even get me started on Neji." Naruto crossed his arms, grinning devilishly. "He already saw our second kiss back in Suna. And, uh... let's just say it wasn't exactly a 'sweet goodnight' type."

Sakura's face went crimson. "Naruto!" she hissed, mortified.

And right on cue, Neji's nose gave another sudden, traitorous drip. His hand shot up lightning-fast to cover it, eyes narrowing as though sheer willpower could erase the evidence. His ears burned red, and he muttered through clenched teeth, "I was patrolling. Nothing more."

The group exploded into howls and laughter. Even Sai tilted his head with his usual blunt delivery: "You really were aroused by watching them kiss."

Neji's entire composure nearly cracked in half. "I- that is not-"

Sakura buried her flaming face in her hands, groaning, while Naruto laughed so hard he had to hold his stomach. "Oh man, Neji, you should've seen yourself that night! I thought your head was gonna explode!"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, though his grin betrayed how much he was enjoying this.

Finally, Sakura threw her hands down and cut through the chaos, her voice sharp with embarrassment. "Alright, enough! I didn't come here to listen to you all act like children." Naruto was still snickering, trying to calm himself down when she pointed directly at him. "I came to get you. And Sai," she added with a glance at the pale boy, who only blinked in response. "Kakashi-sensei wants to see us. Now."

"See?" Kiba whispered to Choji with a grin. "She's dragging him off like they're already married."

Sakura's head whipped around, eyes narrowing dangerously. "I heard that."

Kiba instantly paled and ducked behind Choji, who shoved another chip into his mouth and muttered, "Not getting in the middle of this one."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks still pink but eyes warm as he stepped up beside her. "Guess duty calls, huh?"

She rolled her eyes but couldn't quite suppress the small smile tugging at her lips. "Guess so." As they turned to leave, the boys' voices rose behind them again, wolf whistles, cheers, and more teasing.

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do!" Kiba yelled.

"Ah, the flames of youth burn ever brighter!" Lee added.

Even Shikamaru's dry voice carried: "Try not to traumatize Neji again."

Naruto groaned. "They're never gonna let this go."

Sakura gave him a sidelong glance, her blush still faint on her cheeks. "Probably not." Then, softer, so only he could hear: "But... I don't mind."

Naruto blinked, his heart giving a jump. He grinned sheepishly, scratching at his cheek. "Yeah. Me neither." Together, with Sai silently trailing behind, they left the training ground for Kakashi's summons, while the boys behind them dissolved into another round of laughter.

The sliding doors of Konoha Hospital parted with a soft hiss as Sakura led the way, her expression calm but firm. Naruto walked at her side, arms folded behind his head, his usual easy stride contrasting her purposeful pace. Sai trailed slightly behind, his expression as unreadable as ever, though his eyes flicked around the sterile hallways with quiet curiosity. Finally, Sakura stopped at Kakashi's room and knocked softly before sliding the door open. Kakashi sat upright against his pillows, book tucked at his side, the sharp eye of his Sharingan hidden behind his headband. He looked up with a faint smile. "Well, if it isn't the rest of Team Kakashi. What a pleasant surprise."

Sakura stepped in first, her voice carrying a tone of authority Naruto had come to recognize. "Kakashi-sensei, I wanted Sai to meet you properly. He's part of this team now, so it's only right that he understands who he's following."

Sai blinked, tilting his head. "You are our commander, then?"

Kakashi's eye curved faintly. "Something like that." His gaze swept over the three of them, lingering on Naruto a moment longer before softening. "I'm glad you came. There's something important we need to discuss."

Naruto perked up, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei? If it's about missions, we're ready to go. We can handle whatever comes at us."

Kakashi chuckled low in his throat. "That enthusiasm is good, Naruto. But right now, it's not about rushing into missions, it's about making sure this team is prepared. Stronger. Together." His visible eye sharpened. "You all need to grow, both as a group and individually."

Sakura stepped closer to his bedside, her voice steady. "I've been thinking the same thing. Naruto, I already have a strategy in mind for your training. Something that builds on what we've been working on together."

Naruto blinked at her, then swung his head back to Kakashi. "Wait... what kind of strategy? You're both acting like you've already made plans without me!"

Kakashi leaned back against his pillow, his eye narrowing in amusement. "Well, if you insist on knowing... Naruto, you and I will be creating something entirely new. A brand-new ninjutsu. Not just any ninjutsu, but one more powerful than the Rasengan or anything else you've learned thus far."

The words hit the room like a spark. Naruto froze, his mouth hanging open, then let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. "Wha- seriously? More powerful than the Rasengan? That's insane!"

"Insane," Kakashi agreed lightly, "but possible. And it's something only you will be able to use. This technique will be uniquely yours."

Naruto's fists clenched at his sides, excitement and determination surging through him in equal measure. "Tch, then I'll do it! Whatever it takes, I'll make it happen."

Sakura smiled faintly at his fire, but her tone was calm, grounded. "Good. Because you'll need every bit of that determination. My training plan will push you in other ways... ways that complement this new technique. Between both strategies, you won't just get stronger... you'll start becoming the shinobi you've always wanted to be." For a moment, Naruto just stared at her, then Kakashi, his heart hammering. Two of the people he trusted most in the world had already envisioned his path forward. He grinned, wild and bright.

"Alright then," he said, voice full of resolve. "Let's make it happen!" Before Kakashi could elaborate further, the sliding door creaked open again. A familiar plume of smoke drifted into the air before Asuma stepped inside, his trench coat swaying behind him. Team 10 followed closely, Shikamaru with his usual bored slouch, Ino with a bounce in her step, and Choji munching contently on a small bag of chips he'd smuggled in.

"Asuma-sensei?" Sakura blinked, surprised.

Asuma offered a nod to Kakashi, his tone calm but firm. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need a word with Kakashi in private. Something important." His gaze shifted to both teams, and he softened slightly, the corner of his lips curving into a half-smile. "In the meantime, lunch is on me. Why don't you all head to Yakiniku Q and enjoy some barbecue? My treat."

Choji nearly dropped his chips. "Barbecue?!" His eyes sparkled like twin suns.

Naruto perked up immediately, fists pumping. "Seriously?! Awesome!" But it wasn't just the food that caught Naruto's attention. When his eyes darted toward Shikamaru, he caught the strategist already giving him a sidelong glance. A slow, knowing smirk spread across Shikamaru's face. Naruto's grin mirrored it instantly. Both thought the exact same thing at once: Set Ino and Sai up.

Meanwhile, Choji noticed their synchronized smirks and nodded enthusiastically. "I knew it! You guys are thinking the same thing as me, huh? Barbecue!" Naruto and Shikamaru froze for a split second, then laughed it off, neither correcting him. Sakura, however, raised a brow at the three of them, her intuition already suspicious of whatever schemes were brewing. Sai tilted his head slightly, studying the exchange without comment, though his expression suggested he was quietly cataloging the odd dynamics of the group.

"Alright then," Asuma said, already turning back toward Kakashi. "You kids go enjoy yourselves. Kakashi and I will catch up later."

Kakashi gave them a lazy wave, amusement flickering in his eye. "Don't get into too much trouble."

"Trouble?" Sakura muttered under her breath, glancing at Naruto and Shikamaru's conspiring expressions. "Why do I feel like that's exactly what's about to happen...?"

The yakiniku place was packed with smoke and chatter, but Team Asuma had secured a long table. Shikamaru, ever the tactician, slid in beside Naruto before anyone else could claim the spot, leaving a very deliberate gap for Sakura. She took it without hesitation, brushing Naruto's shoulder as she sat, their closeness easy and natural. On the opposite side, Shikamaru's planning showed again: Ino landed beside Sai, with Choji happily settling next to her, food already in hand. Naruto shot Shikamaru a grin across the table. Mission accomplished. Ino, of course, noticed immediately. Her blue eyes flicked between Sai's sharp profile and Shikamaru's smug expression. She leaned over to Sakura, voice low but not that low. "You know, Forehead... our little strategist friend isn't as subtle as he thinks."

Sakura smirked, already catching the pink in Ino's cheeks as she stole another glance at Sai. "And you're not as mad about it as you want me to think."

Ino's lips twitched. "What can I say? He's one fineeee man. Cold, but fine."

Sai blinked, overhearing, and in his flat, too-literal tone asked, "Are you referring to me?"

Ino almost choked on her tea. "Shut up!"

Shikamaru stretched lazily, though his eyes gleamed. "What I'm implying is... you two should get to know each other. Sai, this is Ino. Ino, Sai. Simple enough."

Naruto snorted into his drink while Sakura elbowed him, muttering, "Don't laugh."

But it was Shikamaru's next comment that detonated the table. He leaned back, as casual as if he were commenting on the weather. "Speaking of getting to know each other... funny how everyone thinks you two just kissed three times." He tilted his chin at Naruto and Sakura. "No one mentions the second one being a full-on make-out session that had Neji nosebleeding in the bushes."

Silence. Chopsticks froze mid-air. Sakura's face went scarlet. "Shikamaru!" she hissed, half-rising from her seat.

Naruto slammed his hands down. "WHAT?!" His voice cracked, and his whole face went redder than Sakura's.

Ino's eyes widened to the size of saucers, sparkling with the kind of glee only gossip could bring. She whipped around to Sakura. "EXCUSE ME? Forehead, you left that part out last night!"

"I didn't tell you because it wasn't-" Sakura buried her face in her hands, groaning.

Ino pointed furiously across the table. "Wait, wait, wait... NEJI was WATCHING?!"

Choji almost choked on his food, laughing. "So that's why he disappeared with tissues the other night..."

Ino clutched Sakura's arm dramatically. "A make-out session? Like, full tongue and everything?!"

Sakura peeked between her fingers, glaring. "Ino, shut up!"

Sai tilted his head, monotone. "That explains Neji's physiological reaction. He told me it was from allergies. I didn't believe him."

Naruto covered his ears. "STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!"

Ino collapsed against Sakura's shoulder, howling with laughter. "Forehead, you and Naruto are way too spicy for this table, no wonder you didn't wanna tell me. We are talking about this later."

Sakura groaned louder. Naruto buried his face in his arms. And Shikamaru? He just smirked at the chaos he'd caused, muttering, "Troublesome... but worth it."

The table was still buzzing with laughter from Shikamaru's casual mention of the "second kiss." Ino nearly fell into Sai's lap shrieking, Choji was choking on dumplings, and Shikamaru had his usual smug, lazy grin as if he'd orchestrated the whole mess.

Naruto sat rigid, face bright red, Sakura's hand resting on the table beside his. Her presence, even when she said nothing, was commanding, long pink hair spilling down her back, the violet diamond glowing faintly against her pale forehead, sharp green eyes softened only when they flicked toward him. She sat with that calm, unshakable air that made the others think twice before teasing her too much. But Naruto couldn't take it anymore. His fists clenched, and he suddenly stood, chair scraping loudly against the floor. "That's enough!" he barked, making even Ino shut her mouth mid-squeal. He turned toward Sakura, blue eyes blazing, heart thundering in his chest. "I don't care who knows, I don't care if they laugh, Sakura-chan, I love you more than anything. So be my girlfriend already!"

The words hit like a detonation. Silence. Even Choji stopped chewing. Ino's jaw dropped so hard it nearly hit the table. Shikamaru stared like his worst troublesome theory had just come true. Sai tilted his head, studying Sakura's reaction like he was cataloging an experiment. Sakura blinked once, the violet mark on her forehead catching the lantern-light. Her face was calm, too calm. Then, without a word, she rose gracefully to her feet, the entire restaurant watching as her long pink hair shifted around her shoulders. She stepped to Naruto, and for an agonizing moment, the others thought she might actually deck him in front of everyone. But instead, she reached out, cupped his cheek with steady fingers, and leaned close enough that only he could truly feel the heat of her gaze. "You're an idiot, Naruto," she said softly, her voice even but carrying steel. "But you're my idiot. And yes. Of course, I'll be your girlfriend."

Naruto's eyes went wide. His face broke into the brightest grin, like he'd just been handed the Hokage's robes on the spot. The table erupted. Ino let out a scream that rattled dishes, grabbing Choji's sleeve. "OH MY GOD, ARE YOU SEEING THIS?! FOREHEAD JUST SAID YES! THIS IS... THIS IS LEGENDARY!"

Choji grinned, shaking his head. "Honestly? About time."

Shikamaru sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Unbelievable. You two couldn't just... keep it quiet? Troublesome..." but his smirk betrayed him.

Sai, staring openly at Sakura, tilted his head. "Her face is flushed. Is this a symptom of heightened emotional response? Ino, your face is the same color."

"Shut up, Sai!" Ino shrieked, though she was still giggling. Meanwhile, Sakura slid back into her seat, posture elegant and calm, though her hand slipped easily into Naruto's under the table. He beamed like the world's happiest fool, too proud to care who saw. And in that moment, it was crystal clear to everyone watching: Naruto and Sakura weren't just teammates anymore. They were something unstoppable.

The chamber was deep beneath the earth, carved from stone and thick with damp. A single lantern burned low, throwing the two figures in half-shadow. One sat cloaked in darkness, posture rigid, features impossible to read. Only the faint outline of a bandaged hand, resting on the table, betrayed any detail. His voice, when it came, was low and unyielding. "You've been observing her?"

Across from him, Tanuki Shigaraki's grin split his gaunt face, teeth catching the lantern's glow. His thin fingers drummed the table in a steady, feverish rhythm. Tap. Tap. Tap. "Religiously," he whispered, almost reverent. "Since the Forest of Death. When that... golden axe manifested in her spirit. I saw it the moment it gleamed behind her eyes. It is not of Tsunade. It is older, deeper... Yes it was something divine. A relic of a goddess buried in mortal flesh. Her blood must carry its imprint. If I could just... touch it, take a drop, a thread-" He shivered, eyes shining behind his glasses. "The secrets I could pull from her veins would make this village untouchable." The figure in shadow did not move. His silence pressed like a weight. Tanuki leaned forward, voice dropping to a hungry hiss. "I won't harm her. Not yet. One vial. One test. She'll never know I was there."

At last, the other man shifted, sliding a small, sealed scroll across the table. The parchment whispered against the wood. "Proceed," came the flat command. "Quietly. Failure will not be tolerated. Nor will exposure."

Tanuki's grin faltered, just for a heartbeat. Then it returned, sharper, hungrier. He clutched the scroll to his chest and dipped his head. "She won't suspect a thing. To her, I'll be no one. Just another man in the crowd." The lantern guttered, smoke curling against the damp stone. By the time Tanuki looked up again, the other man was gone, leaving only the whisper of authority and the heavy weight of expectation behind.

The restaurant pulsed with warmth and laughter. Smoke curled from sizzling meat, mixing with the chatter of friends and the clink of dishes. At one long table, the next generation of shinobi gathered. Naruto laughed too loudly, waving his chopsticks as he reenacted a training mishap. Sakura sat beside him, serene yet radiant, her long pink hair spilling like silk down her back. The faint violet glow of her Byakugō mark caught the lantern light, setting her apart even here.

Ino smirked at her across the table. "Honestly, Forehead, how do you stand him chewing like that?"

Sakura's lips curved, calm but warm. "Because he's mine and that's Naruto for you." The table erupted, Choji choking on rice, Shikamaru groaning "troublesome," Ino cackling so hard she slapped the table. Naruto flushed crimson, scratching the back of his head.

In the chaos, no one noticed the waiter weaving closer, balancing a tray of drinks. His face was unremarkable, his steps unhurried. But behind his glasses, Tanuki Shigaraki's eyes gleamed. He moved to Sakura's side, setting down a dish just a little too slowly. In his sleeve, a silver needle waited, no bigger than a sliver of light. All he needed was a brush of skin, the tiniest prick, and he'd have the goddess's blood.

Sakura leaned slightly toward Naruto as she reached for a cup, strands of hair spilling forward. Perfect. Tanuki shifted. His hand began to dip-

Clatter. A fork slipped from Ino's hand, bouncing off the table and onto the floor. The noise made Naruto jolt, blue eyes flicking instantly to the waiter hovering too close. His grin vanished, replaced with sharp suspicion. "Oi! Watch what you're doing with that tray!" Naruto's voice carried, not loud enough to draw the whole room, but sharp enough to cut the moment. The needle vanished back into Tanuki's sleeve in a blink.

Sakura turned her head, Byakugō seal faintly pulsing as if her chakra had stirred on instinct. She locked eyes with the man. Something about him snagged her instincts like a kunai against stone. Wrong. He was wrong. But before she could react, he bowed too quickly, muttering an apology, and slipped away into the press of the restaurant.

Naruto frowned, muttering, "Tch. Creepy waiter." The laughter at the table resumed, drowning out the tension. Only Sakura's hand, resting beneath the table, betrayed her unease when it tightened over Naruto's. She smiled, but her thoughts lingered. 'Not a waiter. Not normal.' Someone had reached for her, and she had felt it.

Across the room, Tanuki's lips twisted as he adjusted his glasses, fading into the kitchen shadows. "Not tonight," he whispered. "But soon. Very soon." Later that night, far from the warmth of the barbecue, Tanuki knelt again in the underground chamber. His hands shook as he pulled down his sleeve, revealing the silver needle. Empty. Danzo's lone eye fixed on him, cold as ice. "You failed."

Tanuki's grin was sharp, desperate. "Not failed. Tested. She is vigilant, yes, but her instincts... ah, they flared. Do you understand what that means? She's more than I imagined. Her body resists intrusion like a fortress. That only confirms the power locked within." Danzo's silence was suffocating. Tanuki pressed on, voice trembling with zeal. "Next time, I won't reach. I'll draw her in. Circumstances can be shaped. An ambush, an injury, a disguise. A battlefield leaves blood everywhere, after all."

Danzo closed his eye, contemplative. "Do not mistake my tolerance for patience. You have one more chance."

Tanuki bowed low, lips twisting into a near-manic smile. "And this time, she will bleed."

The night air was cool, carrying the faint scent of grilled meat and smoke from the barbecue restaurant. Laughter still echoed faintly behind them, the rowdy chatter of their friends fading into the distance. Naruto walked beside Sakura, hands stuffed awkwardly in his pockets. He'd been quieter since dinner, the kind of quiet that was rare for him but never uncomfortable. Sakura glanced at him from the corner of her eye, the faintest smile tugging at her lips. His energy wasn't loud tonight, but steady, warm, like the glow of a lantern guiding her home. Every so often, he would kick a stray pebble along the road, mutter something under his breath, then glance at her as if debating whether to say more. She let him wrestle with his words, enjoying the simple silence they shared. By the time they reached her apartment, the street was still, washed silver in moonlight. She paused at her door, turning toward him. His blue eyes caught the glow, brighter than the stars above.

Naruto hesitated for only a moment before stepping closer. His hand brushed her wrist, tentative at first, then firmer as if anchoring himself in the reality that this was her, Sakura, who had chosen to walk beside him. She tilted her head, green eyes steady, lips parted in the faintest curve of invitation. The world seemed to narrow: no Hokage, no missions, no looming wars, only this moment. When their lips met, it wasn't rushed. It was warm, lingering, a promise rather than a question. Her hand rose, fingers ghosting along his cheek, grounding him in a way words never could. Naruto drew back, face flushed, grin crooked and boyish in spite of all his growing strength. "Goodnight, Sakura-chan," he said softly, almost reverently.

She let out a quiet breath, the kind that trembled with happiness, and answered with a rare gentleness: "Goodnight, Naruto."

After he left, Sakura didn't retreat straight to bed. Instead, she drifted toward the window, drawn by the pull of moonlight. She unpinned her hair, letting the pink cascade down her back in silken waves until it brushed her hips. The night was quiet. Only the occasional rustle of leaves broke the stillness. Her reflection hovered faintly in the glass, long hair, sharp eyes, and the violet glow of her Byakugō no In pulsing faintly at her forehead. For a fleeting moment, she looked older than her years, almost untouchable, more goddess than girl.

She replayed the evening in her mind, but one detail kept intruding: that subtle prickle along her skin earlier. A shift in the air, too precise to be imagined. At the restaurant, she had felt it, a gaze, not curious but covetous. Her Byakugō seal had stirred of its own accord, chakra rippling beneath her skin without conscious command. That only happened in battle, when danger pressed close. Yet this time, it had been subtle. A brush, not a blow. She pressed two fingers against the mark, feeling its quiet thrum beneath her touch.

"Someone was watching me," she murmured, her voice steady despite the tension coiling inside her. Her reflection in the window hardened, eyes narrowing like sharpened glass. "No... someone was reaching for me." Her hand dropped lower, brushing instinctively against the scar across her back. That unhealed wound, her reminder of pain survived, of promises kept even when it nearly cost her everything. She would never allow her body to be made into a trophy, nor turned into a weapon for others. Not for the Akatsuki. Not for Orochimaru. Not for the looming hand that coveted her for malicious intent. Not for anyone. If someone wanted to make her bleed, they would pay for every drop in blood of their own. With a slow exhale, she forced herself calm, centering her breathing the way Tsunade had taught her. But her hand lingered against her back, tracing the scar through her night robe. Her eyes stayed open long after she lay in bed, listening for footsteps in the dark.

The clearing was quiet, a few birds flitting between branches overhead. Naruto and Sakura stood side by side, facing Kakashi, who had his usual casual stance, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a little orange book he hadn't even opened. Kakashi tilted his head toward Naruto. "The plan's simple: no shortcuts. You've relied on the Nine-Tails far too much already. I want you to focus only on your own chakra. Wind Release, your natural affinity. Master it, and then maybe, just maybe, we can discuss anything further."

Naruto blinked, then looked at Sakura. Her lips curved in a faint smile, a glint in her eyes betraying her amusement. Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Ehh... Sensei, are you sure that's all you want me to do?"

Kakashi's visible eye crinkled. "It's the foundation. Don't tell me you expect to pick up another nature overnight."

That was all it took. Sakura let out a soft laugh, low and knowing, while Naruto broke into a wide grin. Their laughter came together, startling Kakashi enough to lower his book. "Maybe," Sakura said smoothly, brushing a strand of pink hair behind her shoulder, "we should tell him."

Naruto nodded, grinning like a child caught hiding sweets. "Yeah, might be time."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "...Tell me what?" Naruto lifted a hand, fingers glowing as flame sparked to life, then just as quickly shifted into a whip of lightning crackling in the morning air. The sparks fizzled, replaced by a swirl of wind chakra that tore a shallow groove in the dirt. Water condensed in his other hand, forming a solid sphere that shimmered before splashing to the ground. The lazy curve of Kakashi's eye flattened in surprise. "Wind... Lightning... Fire... Water..." His words were quiet, sharp.

Sakura folded her arms, her tone calm but edged with pride. "He mastered them all while he was away with Jiraiya-sama. And yet you still thought he was only a little stronger than three years ago." Kakashi was silent, book forgotten at his side. Sakura stepped closer to Naruto, her presence both steady and commanding. "My goal isn't just to see him wield those elements. It's to push him further... to master the Nine-Tails' chakra the way I mastered Sekhmet's goddess chakra. It's not about control alone. It's about harmony."

Naruto's grin softened, more determined now. "She's right. If Sakura could tame that from a literal goddess... then I can tame the Nine-Tails."

Her voice dropped, precise and deliberate. "And beyond that... there's more. If we combine what we've learned, your elemental mastery, my chakra precision, we can create new releases. Hybrid forms. Naru-Saku combos that no opponent could anticipate."

Naruto lit up, excitement blazing in his eyes. "Yeah! Imagine it, Kakashi-sensei, me and Sakura unleashing something brand new together in battle!"

For once, Kakashi didn't have a witty comeback. His visible eye lingered on them, the way they stood in sync, their laughter, their shared conviction. He exhaled slowly, as though conceding something to himself. "...You've both grown more than I expected," he admitted at last, his voice quieter. "Maybe this training isn't about me teaching you anymore."

Sakura's smirk returned, her tone cool but protective. "No, sensei. It's about us showing you what's coming next." Naruto grinned beside her, chakra already flaring.

The ground was littered with shallow craters and blackened scorch marks from Naruto's earlier attempts. He stood breathing heavily, red sparks of Kurama's chakra flickering around him, tails threatening to form before snapping back into nothingness. "Damn it," Naruto muttered, fists clenched. "It's like trying to hold a river in my hands."

Sakura stepped forward, her presence steady against the wild, corrosive waves of chakra. Her voice cut through his frustration, calm and sharp as steel. "Because you're trying to fight it," she said. "Nine-Tails chakra isn't meant to be chained. It's meant to be woven."

Naruto blinked at her. "Woven?"

She lifted her hand, and for a moment her own body glowed faintly, threads of divine gold interlacing with the soft blue of her natural chakra. The seal on her forehead pulsed once in resonance. "When I first touched Sekhmet's chakra, it nearly tore me apart. It burned, it raged, it didn't want to be held by a human body. But I didn't force it. I braided it with my own, strand by strand, until we were no longer separate." She extended her hand to Naruto. "That's what you need to do with the beast. Not dominate him. Not cage him. Blend." Naruto swallowed, watching her hand glow with that dual aura. Slowly, he mirrored her, letting the red chakra flare again. His own blue mixed in faintly, unstable, flickering like a candle in the wind.

"Good," Sakura said, stepping closer, her voice dropping into that precise, teacher-like tone she had adopted during their months of training together. "Now control your breathing. Don't think of it as two chakras colliding. Think of it as one river flowing into another, currents aligning. Inhale. Exhale. Synchronize."

Kakashi leaned against a tree some distance away, his book forgotten in his pocket. His eye narrowed as he watched Sakura's poise, the way Naruto responded instantly to her words, the way his chakra calmed under her guidance. 'She's not just strong,' he thought. 'She's leading him. Teaching him. Almost like...'

A tail of Kurama's chakra lashed out, but Naruto gritted his teeth, forcing his own chakra to spiral with it instead of resisting. The red flare steadied. Sakura's lips curved. "Better. You're learning."

Naruto exhaled shakily, grinning. "Heh... guess I got a good teacher."

Her cheeks colored faintly, but she pressed on. "And now comes the next step." She crouched, palm slamming into the dirt. The ground trembled faintly as earth chakra surged beneath her hand. A jagged stone pillar rose before them, solid and heavy.

"Earth Release," she said plainly. "I've mastered all the basics, Wind, Water, Fire, Lightning, Earth. And the deeper ones too: Yin and Yang. If you want to make new releases, to blend powers like we talked about earlier, you need to understand them all. You've got four down. Let's start your fifth."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Earth, huh? That's not my natural thing."

"Exactly," Sakura replied, her green eyes sharp. "Which is why you'll learn control here more than anywhere else. Earth is about patience. Grounding. Stability. The perfect counterbalance to the nine-tails firestorm." She rested her hand on the rising pillar, then placed her other hand over Naruto's. "Feel it. The pulse underneath. Don't crush it with force, listen to it. Coax it upward."

Naruto closed his eyes, concentrating. For a moment nothing happened. Then the dirt at his feet shifted, trembling faintly. A small stone bulged from the ground, rough and uneven, but undeniably there. His eyes snapped open. "I did it!"

Sakura smiled, proud, but not indulgent. "Yes. And tomorrow you'll make more. Stronger. Higher. Until you can raise walls, sink valleys, or harden the very battlefield beneath your feet."

Kakashi exhaled quietly from his place against the tree. Watching them, the reckless boy who had once been all bluster and heart, and the girl who had once hidden behind others now instructing with composure, he found himself smiling beneath his mask. "They've surpassed every expectation," he murmured to himself. "Maybe it's time I stopped looking at them as students."

Naruto was still grinning, punching the air. "Sakura, this is awesome! We're totally gonna crush anything that comes our way!"

Sakura nodded, but her hand brushed unconsciously against the scar on her back. Her voice softened, steady but firm: "We'll be ready, Naruto. Whatever comes."

The Hokage's desk was piled high with mission reports when Shizune entered with two scrolls in hand. Tsunade glanced up, the flicker of weariness hidden behind her sharp gaze. "Two high-priority missions came in this morning," Shizune said. "One concerns an outbreak of grave robberies in the western forests. The other..." she hesitated "involves suspicious movements on the border with the Land of Fire. There's a high probability the Akatsuki are connected."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "And the team assignments?"

Shizune unrolled the first scroll. "Team Asuma will investigate the border movements. They're experienced, and Asuma can handle worst-case scenarios. As for the grave robbers..." her gaze flicked toward Sakura and Naruto, who had just entered the office alongside Yamato and Sai, "Team Yamato will deal with that."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What? Hold on a second!" He jabbed a finger toward the other scroll. "Why do they get the dangerous mission while we're stuck chasing grave diggers?!"

Sakura crossed her arms, jaw tight. "Exactly. With all due respect, we're the ones Akatsuki have already clashed with. And we've survived."

"Survived?" Shizune snapped, exasperated. "You two didn't just 'survive.' You fought and killed two Akatsuki members together. That's precisely why you're not going near them again unless absolutely necessary. They'll target you the moment they sense your chakra. It's too great a risk." The words stung. Naruto's fists clenched at his sides, while Sakura's lips pressed into a thin line. Both remembered the brutal, life-and-death battles that had earned them this very caution.

Yamato, ever the steady voice, stepped in. "The Hokage and Shizune have made their decision. Our orders are to suppress the grave robbers. If the reports are accurate, they've been desecrating battlefields, digging up ninja remains for jutsu purposes. That makes them dangerous in their own way."

Sai tilted his head, ever detached. "Corpses for forbidden techniques. A familiar tactic. The Akatsuki might not be involved, but such groups often orbit their influence."

Sakura's irritation simmered. "So we're kept on a leash because we're too valuable. Wonderful."

Naruto groaned loudly, tugging at his hair. "This is so unfair! We're stronger than ever, but everyone treats us like we're still kids who can't handle anything real."

Tsunade finally spoke, her voice like a hammer striking stone. "Enough. You'll follow your orders. Your strength is not in question. Your value is the problem. I will not risk handing Akatsuki the Nine-Tails or one of Konoha's most advanced kunoichi on a silver platter."

Sakura flinched at being called out so directly, but Tsunade's eyes softened for only a heartbeat. "Prove yourselves on this mission. Handle it cleanly. Show me that you can follow orders as well as win fights. That's the difference between prodigies and true shinobi." The room fell silent.

Finally, Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Tch... fine. But next time an Akatsuki shows up, I'm not sitting back."

Sakura gave a small nod, though her expression was still stormy. "We'll complete the mission. Efficiently."

Asuma entered just then, his usual easy smile in place, though his eyes were grave when he caught sight of the mission scroll in Tsunade's hand. "Looks like we've got our assignments."

Naruto shot him a half-pout, half-glare. "You're lucky, Asuma-sensei. You get the real fight."

Asuma just gave him a long look, a faint shadow crossing his face. "Sometimes, Naruto... you should be careful what you wish for." The words hung heavier than the Hokage's sake bottles.

The next morning, as they traveled through the wooded path, Naruto slowed to a stop when he noticed leaves spiraling down from the canopy above. Something about the sight made him pause. Clenching his fists, he dropped into a stance and closed his eyes. Red chakra surged around him, hot and wild, Kurama's presence pressing against his body. His own blue chakra rose to meet it, steadier and calmer, but struggling to hold its ground. His shoulders trembled as sweat slid down his cheek.

From the side, Sai observed silently, tilting his head. 'He's shaking. Is it fear?' Yamato's tale from the other night came to mind, that graves might have been disturbed by shinobi clawing their way back from the dead. Fear would be a natural reaction, Sai reasoned.

But Naruto's focus didn't falter. He pushed, forced the two energies together, and this time, they didn't clash. They wove into balance. The red and blue spiraled in unison, steady and controlled. Naruto's eyes flew open. "Yes! I finally did it!" He punched the air, grinning ear to ear. "Sakura-chan's not gonna believe this!"

Later, when they reached their designated meeting point, Yamato frowned. The monks from the Fire Temple who were supposed to greet them were nowhere in sight. "Strange..." he muttered. After searching the area, he turned to the group. "Sai, Naruto, you two wait here. Sakura and I will check the grounds. If the monks arrive, stay put until we return." With that, he and Sakura disappeared into the trees.

The clearing fell silent. Naruto shifted uncomfortably, glancing around. An owl hooted from a tree, its sudden call startling him enough that he flinched. He scowled at himself, crossing his arms. Sai, however, took immediate notice. He's frightened again. I should apply tenderness. Pulling out his book, he flipped through until he found the passage: If a friend is afraid, show reassurance by placing an arm around them. Without hesitation, Sai walked over, sat down beside Naruto, and wrapped a stiff arm around his shoulders. Naruto stiffened like he'd been hit with a jolt of lightning. "Wha- hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Sai studied his face, noting the unease. 'Perhaps the gesture wasn't strong enough.' He shifted closer and reached out with his other arm, leaning in for a full embrace. That was the breaking point. Naruto shoved him off, face burning. "Stop it! I don't like you like that!" he barked, pointing a trembling finger at Sai. "Sakura-chan is my GIRLFRIEND, got it?!"

Sai blinked, unbothered. "Yes. You made that clear last night at dinner." He glanced back down at his book. "But this wasn't romantic. It was meant as... comfort. Friendship."

"THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO IT!" Naruto shouted, flailing his arms. "You're just being creepy!"

Sai calmly flipped another page. "It also says, If misunderstood, explain your actions clearly. I was attempting tenderness. Perhaps Sakura can demonstrate the correct method, and I will replicate it."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "WHAT?! No way, you're not learning anything from Sakura-chan!" His face went scarlet as he waved his arms wildly. "You're seriously the weirdest teammate I've ever had!"

Before Sai could respond, Naruto turned and stomped off through the trees. "I'm finding Sakura. At least she doesn't act like a weirdo with a book!" Sai remained seated, jotting a neat note in the margin. 'Physical tenderness may be misinterpreted as romantic. Confirm method with partner before attempting again.' He closed the book with a nod, then went back to waiting.

Naruto stormed away from Sai, muttering under his breath, fists jammed in his pockets. "Weirdo with a book... thinks he can just hug people whenever he wants... tch. Sakura-chan wouldn't fall for that garbage." The forest pressed in around him, quiet except for the crunch of his sandals against the dirt path. Then, rustling. Naruto froze. The bushes ahead shivered again. Yamato's story about the disturbed graves replayed in his mind like a whisper. His pulse jumped. It's them. The grave robbers. Without hesitation, Naruto yanked a shuriken from his pouch and hurled it toward the sound. The blade cut through the foliage, and out burst a furious boar. "EEEHHHH?!" Naruto shrieked as the beast snorted and lunged at him. He leapt aside, branches whipping at his arms as the boar charged past, then wheeled and came for him again. "This is NOT what I signed up for!" Naruto yelled, sprinting through the undergrowth. The boar plowed after him, tusks gouging the earth. In its frenzy, something clattered loose from its hide, a faintly glowing slip of paper, etched with symbols. Naruto only caught a glimpse before it skidded across the ground. 'That's a barrier seal...?' The distraction cost him. He tripped over a root, rolling downhill until he crashed into an embankment. Groaning, he pushed himself up, only to find himself staring at a moss-covered stone wall. Carved into its face was a half-hidden doorway. The air seeping from within was cold, damp, and heavy. A tomb. Naruto's eyes widened. "So this is... one of the Fire Temple's hidden tombs."

Heart still pounding, he pressed inside. The chamber smelled of dust and old stone. Shadows clung to the walls. At the center rested a stone platform... but the coffin that should have been there was missing. Before he could react, a voice snapped from the dark. "You!" Naruto spun, kunai raised. From the shadows stepped a boy in monk's robes, his head shaved except for a wild tuft of hair. His eyes were sharp, suspicious. "You're the grave robber, aren't you?" the boy accused, fists tightening.

Naruto bristled. "Me?! You're the one sneaking around a tomb!" The boy lunged. Naruto barely dodged the strike, countering with a kick. The two clashed, fists and kunai striking against one another. "I'm a shinobi from Konoha!" Naruto shouted between blows.

"Liar!" the boy snapped. "No outsider would be here unless they came to steal!" They grappled, rolling across the stone floor, neither willing to give ground. Dust clouded around them as their scuffle grew more heated.

"Enough!" The command boomed through the tomb as two monks rushed inside, followed by Yamato, Sakura, and Sai. The monks seized the wild-haired boy, dragging him back, while Yamato caught Naruto by the collar before he could lunge again.

"Stand down!" Yamato barked. "Explain yourselves!"

Breathing heavily, Naruto jabbed a finger at the boy. "He attacked me first! He thought I was some grave robber!"

"And he thought the same of you," one of the monks said sharply. "Both of you, stop this foolishness."

The boy glared, chest heaving. "My name is Sora. I'm a monk-in-training of the Fire Temple. I was protecting the tomb!"

"Protecting it? The coffin's gone!" Naruto shot back, pointing to the empty platform. The older monks exchanged grim looks. One immediately summoned a messenger to alert Chiriku.

Moments later, Chiriku himself entered, robes swaying, his expression set in deep concern. He took in the empty tomb, then turned to his fellow monks. "It's as we feared. The grave robbers have grown bold. The coffin has been stolen."

Sora's fists tightened. "Then why are we relying on them?" He shot a glare at Team Yamato. "The Fire Temple can protect itself!"

"Sora." Chiriku's voice was calm, but firm. "Do not be reckless. These are no ordinary thieves. Whoever did this bypassed our barrier seals as if they were nothing. That requires shinobi skill." His eyes turned to Yamato. "And that is why Konoha's aid is necessary."

Sora looked away, jaw tight, but said nothing. Naruto, still catching his breath, frowned and muttered under his breath, "Tch... and here I thought I was fighting a grave robber. Turns out I was just fighting a monk with a bad attitude."

Sakura sighed, planting her hands on her hips. "You're one to talk, Naruto. You nearly started a war with a pig earlier."

Naruto flushed bright red. "That was different!" Even Sai cracked the faintest smile, making another neat note in his book.

At the top of the Fire Temple's long staircase, Naruto found himself suddenly losing his footing as Sora shoved past him. He tumbled down several steps before catching himself on the railing. "Oi! What was that for?!" Naruto shouted, glaring up.

Sora looked down at him with a smug smirk. "Divine retribution. Must be fate telling you to watch your step."

Naruto clenched his fists, irritation spiking, but before he could fire back, he caught sight of the other monks' expressions. Their eyes weren't on him, they were fixed on Sora. Cold, sharp glares that cut through the air. Naruto recognized that look. It was the same one he'd seen from the villagers growing up. The same one that marked someone as an outsider. His anger faltered, replaced with a flicker of recognition, though he said nothing. Inside the Fire Temple's great hall, Monk Chiriku gathered them together. The atmosphere was solemn as he spoke. "The graves that were disturbed... belonged to the Twelve Guardian Ninja," Chiriku explained, his voice heavy. "They were shinobi sworn to protect the Land of Fire's daimyō."

Naruto tilted his head, frowning in confusion. "But... isn't that what Konoha ninja do already? We protect the Land of Fire. Why would the daimyō need another guard?"

Yamato folded his arms, answering calmly. "The shinobi of Konoha protect the nation as a whole, villages, borders, and its people. But the Guardian Ninja had one role only: to guard the daimyō himself. They lived and died for him." Naruto blinked at that, his expression softening with dawning realization.

Chiriku gave a slow nod, confirming Yamato's words. "Few have ever been chosen. They were warriors of exceptional strength and loyalty."

Yamato's eyes shifted toward his own teammate before adding, "Asuma Sarutobi was once among their number."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait- Asuma-sensei?!" The weight of the revelation sank in around the group, the Fire Temple cloaked in both reverence for the fallen and unease over the desecration of their graves. Naruto and Sakura exchanged an impressed glance at the revelation of Asuma's past. Neither had ever guessed that their comrade's easygoing teacher carried such a legacy. "I never would've thought..." Naruto muttered, scratching the back of his head. "Asuma-sensei was really one of them."

Sakura nodded, thoughtful. "It explains a lot. The way he fights, the confidence in his chakra blades... he's not just strong, he's experienced in ways most jōnin aren't."

Chiriku's expression softened as he looked into the distance, hands folding into his sleeves. "I pray that Asuma is still well. He was always a man of great conviction." The silence lingered for a breath, heavy with respect, until Chiriku continued, his tone more grave. "Once, long ago, all twelve stood united in their duty to the daimyō. But power... has a way of twisting hearts. Six of them, my own brothers-in-arms, began to believe the Fire Daimyō should extend his rule to every land bordering the Land of Fire. They wanted to carve an empire from their strength."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "They turned on their own country?"

Chiriku shook his head, his voice weighted with memory. "They believed they were saving it, by crushing any who could threaten it. But ambition, when tainted by greed, becomes no better than tyranny. When the daimyō learned of their plot, he gave the command to stop them. The other six, loyal to their oath, were forced to battle their own comrades."

Naruto's brows knitted together, fists clenching. He didn't need the details spelled out. "That means..."

"Yes." Chiriku's voice lowered. "Only two of us survived. Myself... and Asuma Sarutobi." The room seemed to still, the gravity of his words sinking deep. Sakura's chest tightened at the idea of fighting not just enemies, but friends who had once shared your oath and purpose.

Sai, who had been silent until then, tilted his head with a thoughtful frown. "So these tombs that were defiled... they weren't just random graves. They belonged to your comrades, men you fought beside. Men Asuma once trusted."

Chiriku inclined his head, his lips pressed tight. "That is why this desecration cuts so deeply."

Sai's voice remained flat, but there was a piercing sharpness in his words. "That would be like if the same happened to Sasuke. If his grave were robbed, his body stolen and used for some dark purpose. How would you feel then?"

Naruto froze. The comparison stabbed right into the rawest part of him, and Sakura flinched at hearing Sasuke's name spoken so bluntly. For a moment, Naruto's face darkened, his anger and grief flashing across his features before hardening into fierce resolve.

He took a step forward, looking Chiriku square in the eye. "I get it. I really do. And I swearwe'll stop these grave robbers, no matter what. We'll bring them down and make sure your comrades can rest in peace."

Chiriku studied the young shinobi before him, then gave a solemn nod. "Your spirit reminds me much of Asuma's... and perhaps that is what gives me hope."

Beside Naruto, Sakura placed a hand over her heart, her own eyes unwavering. "You can count on us. We've already faced down enemies stronger than we ever imagined, and we're not about to turn away from this." The fire in both of their voices filled the chamber, and even Sai, stoic as ever, gave the faintest of nods. For the first time, the monks seemed to truly look at them not as children from Konoha, but as warriors who understood the weight of comradeship, and the pain of losing it.

Later that evening, as the Fire Temple settled into hushed silence and the monks drifted into meditation, Sakura found Sai by one of the outer balconies. He was sketching idly in his notebook, the faint scratching of his brush against paper the only sound. She stood behind him for a long moment, arms folded. Her presence alone was enough to make him glance over his shoulder, dark eyes blank as always. "You said Sasuke's name earlier," she said quietly. Her voice wasn't angry, but there was a razor's edge under the softness.

Sai blinked once, tilting his head. "It was the most effective way to make Naruto understand. My mission requires-"

"That's not the point." Sakura cut in, stepping closer so her shadow fell across his sketchbook. "You don't get to throw his name around like a tool to sharpen your words. Not when you don't know what he means to us. Not when you've never bled beside him."

Sai studied her face, but found no cracks in her expression, only calm, controlled fire. After a pause, he asked, "Does it upset you because I'm right? Or because I spoke it aloud?"

Sakura's jaw tightened, but she didn't look away. "Both. Naruto and I... we don't need reminding. Every mission, every fight, every time we see the Akatsuki... he's already there with us. You can't begin to understand that bond, so don't act like you do."

Sai lowered his brush, eyes flicking briefly to her clenched fists. "I see. Bonds are... still foreign to me. I will choose my words more carefully next time."

For a heartbeat, Sakura thought he was mocking her. But when she met his gaze, she saw no malice, only a strange, distant sincerity. She exhaled, tension easing just a fraction. "Good. Because Naruto's carrying enough weight without you pressing down harder." Turning to leave, she added over her shoulder, quieter, "And Sasuke... is still our teammate. No matter what anyone else says." Sai watched her go, her words lingering longer than he expected. His hand hovered above the page before he finally began sketching again, this time, not a faceless figure, but the vague outline of three silhouettes walking side by side.

As Team Yamato trekked down the dark mountain paths toward the next tomb, their footsteps echoed against the stone. Sora walked a little ahead, muttering half-prayers and half-taunts under his breath. The rest of the team stayed focused, every sense sharp, because if another Guardian's grave had been disturbed, the enemies would not be far. Back at the Fire Temple, Yamato had already dispatched a message hawk.

Back in Konoha, Shizune unrolled the scroll swiftly, brow furrowing as she read the neat coded script. "The third grave... broken into," she said gravely, glancing up.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, fingers steepled beneath her chin. Her amber eyes sharpened, darting from the scroll to the maps of Fire Country spread across her desk. "This makes three of the Twelve Guardian Ninja taken. The Akatsuki's hunt continues. Orochimaru slinks back into hiding after his humiliation, but that snake never sleeps for long. And now Danzō..." Her lip curled downward faintly. She drummed her nails against the wood of her desk, weighing the tangled threats pressing down on Konoha. "Internal enemies are more poisonous than external ones," she muttered. "If Root moves unchecked, he'll destabilize us from within before the Akatsuki ever get the chance."

Shizune looked uncertain. "What would you have me do?"

"Quiet surveillance." Tsunade's tone was clipped. "Dispatch ANBU not tied to Root, men and women Danzō hasn't had the chance to touch. From this night on, I want his every move tracked."

Shizune bowed. "At once, milady."

Danzō, seated in shadow, leaned on his staff. His single visible eye gleamed like a predator's. "So, Tsunade finally moves her pawns." At his words, a masked operative stepped forward and kneeled. "The surveillance is expected," Danzō continued, voice like gravel. "But they forget, I've already placed my own hand deep inside her chosen heirs." His lips curled faintly. "Tanuki continues to shadow Haruno. Her blood... is the key. More precious even than Uzumaki's." He did not elaborate further, but the hunger in his voice said enough.

That night, exhaustion pressed into Sakura's muscles as she lay down, her body heavy from the long march through mountain roads and the ache left over from confronting Sai. For the first time in days, she allowed her eyes to close, surrendering to the dark. And then, like a storm breaking over still water, Sekhmet's voice surged through her. "My little blossom... you've been wondering why I've kept silent." Sakura's eyes snapped open, her heart stuttering in her chest. The air inside her mind seemed to ignite. She sat up within her chambered thoughts, and there she was. Sekhmet. The sight never dulled, no matter how many times she had borne it. The goddess hovered above the broken earth of Sakura's mindscape, robes stirring in a phantom wind. Golden sandals gleamed at her feet, violet markings burned faintly like embers across her face, and rose-pink hair wild and unbound, framed her regal features. Her emerald eyes, mirrors of Sakura's own, pinned her in place with terrifying clarity. She was Sakura, and yet not. She was the woman Sakura might one day become, divine, boundless, unafraid. Tonight, though, her presence felt different. Heavier. No longer a sparring partner, no longer a whisper of guidance. Sekhmet stood like judgment incarnate, a reflection of everything Sakura feared she could be, and everything she might need to be. "You must know this," Sekhmet said, her voice a low flame that seemed to vibrate through Sakura's bones. "Any piece of you...your blood, your flesh, even a strand of your hair, carries my essence now."

Sakura's breath caught. "What...?"

Sekhmet began to pace across the temple ground of their shared plane, her movements measured, graceful, terrifying. "Your cells are no longer entirely human. They brim with divinity, as Hashirama Senju's brimmed with vitality. If harvested, if spliced, your enemies would wield more than healing flesh. They would wield fragments of me, godhood itself. Flesh that heals beyond reason. Chakra that strengthens beyond mortal limits. Do you understand, child?"

Sakura's stomach turned to stone. She remembered the whispered horrors of what had been done with Hashirama's cells, abominations grown in labs, shinobi twisted beyond recognition, and her very own Captain powered with wood release. And now... her? Her fists trembled at her sides. "If someone got hold of my blood..."

"They could forge soldiers who walk with the shadows of gods," Sekhmet finished, her tone grim. "Or monsters that would rip this fragile world apart." Silence fell heavy.

Sakura lowered her head, breath sharp and unsteady, the weight of her own existence pressing down on her. She had trained to carry burdens no girl her age should ever touch, but this? This was different. This was her body itself, her very being, turned into a weapon others might claim. "...Why tell me this now?" she whispered, throat tight.

Sekhmet stopped pacing, turning her mirrored emerald eyes upon her. The weight of them was crushing, like looking into a divine future self she could never fully escape. "Because you are hunted," she said simply. "Not for what you can do, but for what you are becoming. Each year, each month, your body grows richer with goddess chakra. The older you grow, the more potent your cells will be. And already, the eyes of men like Danzō are on you. You must guard yourself, Sakura Haruno, not only for your sake, but for every soul that would fall beneath such a power if misused." The words sank in like blades.

Sakura shut her eyes, fighting the tremor in her hands. She could feel it now, the faint pulse of that foreign divinity in her veins. A gift. A curse. Both. Slowly, she lifted her chin, green eyes hardening, steadying, catching that same stubborn flame Tsunade carried. "...Then I'll protect myself," she said, voice firm despite the quiver of her heart. "I won't let anyone take me apart, or use me like that. I'll fight until there's nothing left of me to give."

For the first time that night, Sekhmet's face softened. Her lips curved into the faintest smile, proud and sharp. "That is the spirit of a goddess." And with that, she dissolved back into heat and shadow, leaving Sakura alone in the dark, heart pounding, mind racing, and burdened with the chilling certainty that Danzō's eyes were already seeking her blood.

The temple chamber was quiet, lit only by the trembling glow of a single candle. Its shadows stretched long and crooked along the stone walls, moving when the wind whistled through the thin cracks near the ceiling. Sakura sat cross-legged on the rough mattress, eyes fixed on the faint brown stains darkening the cuff of her sleeve. Her own blood. The cut that birthed it was gone, her body had long since closed the wound, knitting flesh together in an instant without her thinking about it. Auto-healing had become so natural she no longer registered the sting. But the evidence remained. That thin smear. That single stain. Proof that she had shed something of herself that could not be recalled. And with it came the suffocating thought: What if someone had been waiting? A grave robber. Orochimaru. Root. Any of the scavengers who stalked battlefields after the living had already moved on. All it would take was a single opportunist to collect it. Her blood. Her cells. A thread of her hair torn loose in a fight. That's all they'd need. A piece of me small enough to forget, large enough to twist into something I never gave them permission to have.

Her stomach twisted. She pressed a palm flat against it, the candle's glow catching the faint tremor in her fingers. She had spent months, years building herself into something formidable, an arsenal of Purposeful Forms, elemental training, gates that cracked her limits wide open. She could crush stone, rebuild shattered flesh, summon domes of light to shield comrades. And yet, all it would take to undo her was something as small as a drop left behind. Her jaw clenched. I can't protect every strand of hair. I can't keep from bleeding. I can't stop being human.

The thought clawed at her chest until another memory surfaced, stark and steady as stone: sand. Gaara standing before enemies, his shield rising before he even raised a hand. Unbreakable. Relentless. His armor was more than protection, it was refusal. Refusal to let the world take what was his. Her breath steadied, if only a little. If anyone could understand what she was afraid of, it was Gaara. He had lived with people trying to claim him, twist him, reduce him to something they could weaponize. And yet he stood unshaken. His sand denied them. She rose from the bed suddenly, the decision leaving no room for hesitation. At the small desk by the wall, she lit another candle, the extra light making the parchment glisten as she pulled it close. Her brush hovered above the page, trembling until she forced her hand still. Then the words came in a rush, as if she had been holding them back all night.

To Gaara Sabaku of the Sand,

I'm writing this only to you. Not to Tsunade-shishō, not to Kakashi, not to Naruto. Just you. Because I think you, of all people, might understand.

Tonight I learned something that shook me: even the smallest piece of me; my blood, my flesh, even a strand of hair, can be turned into a weapon if it falls into the wrong hands. If someone were to harvest or study it, they could twist what's inside me into something monstrous.

You know better than most what it's like to be hunted for what you carry inside. To be valued less as a person and more as an opportunity. That's why I'm reaching out to you.

I've been thinking of your sand. How it shields you, not just from attacks, but from leaving yourself exposed. I remember watching how it caught even the tiniest threats, shuriken, blades, grains of dirt in the wind. Of the way your sand shields you, of how it denies anyone the right to touch what is yours. I need something like that, not just to guard me in combat, but to reclaim even the pieces of myself I cannot control. It made me wonder if there is a way I can develop something similar. A defense that guards not only my body but the traces I leave behind. I can't stop bleeding in battle. I can't stop my hair from falling. But maybe... I can stop those things from becoming tools for others. Maybe there's a way to destroy or reclaim what I shed before it ever touches the ground.

I'm asking for your insight. Not your pity, not your sympathy, just your thoughts as someone who has lived with this kind of burden longer than I have. How do you endure the constant awareness of what you carry? How do you protect yourself from being used?

I don't expect an easy answer. But I trust you with this truth. And if you can guide me toward a way to guard myself, even a little, I'll be in your debt.

Signed, Sakura Haruno

She pressed her thumb into the wax seal, leaving her mark, and wrapped the parchment in cloth. For a long moment she sat with it cupped in both hands, the firelight turning the edges orange. Her pulse still thundered, but the act of writing had steadied her breathing. The temple halls were hushed when she stepped out, only the faint murmur of monks chanting prayers in distant corridors. She carried the letter to the alcove where messenger hawks perched, their dark eyes glinting in the low light. One of them shifted as she approached, feathers ruffling. Sakura tied the cloth bundle carefully to its satchel, whispering, "To Sunagakure. To Gaara." When the bird took off, vanishing into the night, she stayed at the window long after its silhouette disappeared. The fear still lingered in her chest, sharp and suffocating, but she had acted. She had reached for someone who might understand. For the first time that night, she let herself lie down again. Not at peace, but not powerless either.

The next morning, the woods surrounding the Fire Temple buzzed with a tense stillness. Chiriku's voice was low but urgent as he leaned toward Yamato. "The coffins will be heavy... their escape route can only be South. They cannot move fast carrying such weight." Yamato nodded sharply, his eyes narrowing at the valley ahead. The earth itself trembled faintly, betraying the movement beneath. Four coffins, burrowing like predators beneath the soil, cutting a path southward.

"Underground," Sakura murmured, emerald eyes sharp. She placed her hand against the ground, feeling the faint chakra ripples that clung to the coffins' movements. "But not deep. If we time this right, I can tear them out of the earth myself."

Naruto's fists clenched, but this time not from impatience, rather from focus. "If it's a trap, we'll spring it on our terms." His voice was stronger, calmer than in years past. His training and battles had forged him differently.

Yamato, cautious as ever, gave the orders. "Chiriku, stay behind. The rest of us will move. Pairings: Sai with Sakura. Naruto, you're with Sora. Let's go." The squad broke into motion, bodies flashing through the dense woods. But as they neared the valley, the ground convulsed. Fūen's chakra spread across the battlefield like ink bleeding across parchment.

A scroll unfurled somewhere unseen. "Her chakra's weaving terrain," Sakura hissed, instantly recognizing the sealing foundation of the technique. Symbols bled into the ground like veins, carried to life by Fudō's Earth Release: Mutability. The earth buckled. Trees twisted into walls. The valley itself reformed into a labyrinth.

"Maze," Naruto spat, eyes narrowing. He flared his chakra, orange sparks already licking at his skin. "They're trying to isolate us."

"Then we don't give them the chance," Sakura said sharply, activating her Byakugō Seal. Chakra patterns raced across her forehead. Her fists glowed with compressed energy, ready to shatter the shifting terrain. But the maze closed like jaws. Walls surged between them, scattering the squad. Yamato's wood lashed out to anchor himself as the ground tried to swallow him whole. Bark shielded him, but when the dust cleared, a man coated in stone armor stood before him.

Fudō sneered. "So the rumors are true. Wood Release... in this age. Show me how strong your bloodline truly is." He struck with fists heavy enough to crater stone, but Yamato met him with speed, dodging while weaving his own technique. Elsewhere, Naruto and Sora found themselves dodging the crushing weight of a boulder that tore down the twisting passage. Naruto's chakra flared like a beacon as he shoved Sora aside and shattered the rolling stone with a single Rasengan. Dust and shards exploded outward.

Sora gaped. "You-"

But Naruto cut him off. "Stop whining and keep up. We don't have time for your ego." His eyes burned with focus. "If you can't work with me, stay out of my way."

Before either could regroup, Fūka appeared, her smile venomous. "Tch. He slipped through? Fūen's trap wasn't enough. Guess I'll take his chakra for myself."

Naruto stepped forward, cloak of raw orange chakra flickering. He didn't posture or hesitate. "Try."

Meanwhile, Sai streaked through the air on his ink bird, darting above the shifting maze. His brush was already in motion, counter-drawing against the seals below, attempting to disrupt their flow. But Fūen was precise, cunning. She intercepted him, her hands glowing as she slapped a seal onto his bird. The ink construct buckled mid-flight. Back on the ground, Sakura landed lightly in another section of the maze, her eyes sharp as she assessed the situation. Her fingers brushed the walls, chakra flowed through them like blood through veins. A sealing lattice. "Smart," she muttered. "But not perfect." With a twist of her wrist, she formed a sealing sign, mapping the terrain like a puzzle in her mind. She remembered Fūen's name, her reputation. "If she's behind this, then she's nearby. And if she thinks paper walls will hold me-" Sakura's fist slammed into the wall. Stone and ink symbols cracked in an explosion of dust, chakra shattering the terrain's hold like glass breaking under a hammer. The shockwave rattled half the maze, her strength tearing an opening wide enough to realign herself with the others. "Sai!" she called upward, spotting his descent. She sprinted, vaulting across crumbling terrain, chakra gathering in her hands to steady his fall.

Near the Fire Temple, Fudō with his Rock Armour stood like a fortress, every strike Yamato threw bouncing off. Even kunai rigged with explosive tags detonated uselessly against his hardened skin. Yamato tried to bind him with Wood Release, but the man broke free with brute force. "Pointless," Fudō growled, slamming his hands together. "Earth Release: Bedrock Coffin!" The ground swallowed Yamato whole, entombing him in stone. Fudō smirked and branded the surface with the insignia of Konoha, mocking his fallen enemy before departing. What he didn't realize was Yamato had merged into the rock itself with Earth Release, carefully waiting for his chance to resurface.

Meanwhile, Sai found himself being hunted by Fuen. Her Altering Terrain Scroll shifted the maze with every stroke of ink. Walls rose, pits opened, and traps reset themselves around him. Refusing to battle in her territory, Sai used Ink Mist to obscure himself, only to feel a sharp tug, a tracking seal burned into his pack. "Tch..." Sai ripped it off, only to have a barrage of rock spears rain down. One struck through his side, only for his body to smear into black ink. Behind her, the real Sai emerged with practiced calm. "You're clever," he said, unrolling his own scroll. "But so am I." His beasts charged her, not to defeat her but to stall, letting him slip away deeper into the maze.

Elsewhere, Naruto and Sakura were separated. Naruto was cornered by Fūka, who purred as she licked the edge of his cheek, tasting his wind chakra. "Rare... I'll take this for myself." She leaned in for a chakra-stealing kiss, only for the Naruto she touched to dissolve in smoke, a shadow clone.

From behind, the real Naruto smirked. "You've got a bad habit. And I've already got a girlfriend."

Fūka arched an eyebrow. "Really? That pink-haired one?"

Naruto's grin sharpened, battle-ready. "Yeah. And she'll break your face if you keep talking like that." With a flare of chakra, he sent dozens of clones at her, overwhelming her with feints and relentless strikes. She blasted through them with fire, then drowned more with her water techniques. But Naruto refused to falter, weaving his own Wind Release into his Rasengan, preparing for the counter.

Meanwhile, Sakura pushed through the maze on her own after Sora abandoned her, calmly smashing through collapsing stone traps with precision strikes. A massive spider ambushed her, its legs slamming down to pierce her. Sakura didn't flinch. She met its strike head-on, chakra focusing into her fist. "Shannaro!" The spider shattered into fragments, its ichor staining the stone.

That was when Sai stumbled into her, poisoned by venom after shielding her from another ambush with one of his ink beasts. He tried to make light of it, flipping open his ever-present book. "Self-sacrifice... one of the best ways to move a woman, apparently. Maybe it would even work on Naruto, if I tried."

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're insufferable." She jabbed him quickly with a syringe of antidote, her chakra sealing the worst of the damage.

Sai winced. "You didn't even- ah! Gentle hands aren't your specialty, are they?"

"I'm not wasting time coddling you." Sakura hauled him to his feet, eyes narrowing. "Stay behind me. You'll just slow me down." Up above, Fudō and Fuen regrouped. Fudō boasted that he'd killed Yamato. Fuen admitted Sai was more trouble than expected, though she was convinced he'd die soon enough.

They didn't yet realize that Yamato was alive, Sai was regrouping, and most dangerously that Naruto and Sakura were cutting their way through the maze with ease, each blow of hers and each Rasengan of his tearing apart the enemy's carefully laid plans. The ambush was meant to split them apart. Instead, it was giving Konoha's strongest pair room to unleash.

Naruto's clones were ripped apart by fire, drowned in water, and shredded by lightning as Fūka spun through her arsenal of stolen chakra natures. But Naruto wasn't the same loud, reckless kid anymore, his training had honed his instincts. He matched her element for element, pressing his advantage. A wall of water surged toward him, but he countered with a blazing torrent of fire that boiled it into steam, clouding the battlefield. When she struck from behind with lightning arcing down her blade, he caught it with wind chakra cloaked around his kunai, dispersing the current before driving a Rasengan straight into her guard. The impact blew her back, blood staining her lips. She smiled anyway, unfazed by the punishment. "Impressive... You really are one of a kind. That chakra of yours will be mine."

Elsewhere in the maze, Sakura tore through Fuen's illusions with brute precision, refusing to be disoriented. Fuen's ink bled into the ground, shifting walls and paths, but Sakura had stopped playing her game. Every obstacle was obliterated by her fists; stone pillars crumbled, ink traps shattered before they could take shape. "All this trickery... it won't save you." Her voice echoed coldly through the maze. Fuen tried to bind her with seals, ink lashing out like serpents, but Sakura slammed her palm to the floor, chakra radiating outward in a pulse that disrupted the markings. In that brief hesitation, Sakura closed the distance. With Byakugō blazing on her forehead, she drove her fist through Fuen's chest, ending her in one devastating blow. Blood sprayed the walls, the maze dissolving as her jutsu collapsed along with her life.

Sakura wiped her hand, eyes already scanning for the others. She followed the sounds of battle until she reached an opening, and what she saw snapped her patience. Fūka was leaning close to Naruto, voice low and sultry, even as he stood his ground against her. Sakura's steps were silent as a blade's edge. Before Fūka could land another word, a crushing blow cracked against her jaw, sending her sprawling across the stone. Sakura's hair, long and pink, streamed behind her in the draft of her strike, her Byakugō mark glowing violet against her brow, highlighting the cutting clarity of her green eyes. She stood over Fūka with disdain. "Naruto could never be with someone like you." Her voice was low, dangerous, absolute. She glanced back at him, her expression softening only a fraction. "Finish it."

Naruto stepped forward, his grin sharp as steel. "Told you she'd break your face." Without hesitation, he slammed his Rasengan into Fūka's chest, grinding it until she collapsed lifeless against the stone. The battlefield went quiet for a heartbeat.

That was when Yamato emerged, battered but alive, his expression grim. "She wasn't exaggerating... they're stronger than we expected." Behind him, Sai arrived, bloodied but still standing, his ink beasts slithering protectively at his side. Fudō loomed ahead, rock armor covering his entire body, his presence like a mountain bearing down.

"Then we bring him down together," Sakura said, her voice steady. The four fell into formation without hesitation. Yamato's wood surged upward, binding Fudō's legs, while Sai's ink serpents coiled to restrict his arms. Naruto flooded the air with wind chakra, amplifying Sakura's leap as she vaulted above them, her fist glowing with dense, lethal chakra. She struck from above, shattering his armor in a spiderweb of cracks. Fudō roared, breaking the bindings, but Naruto was already there, lightning crackling through his palm as he drove it into the fracture. The current tore through the weakness Sakura had made, breaking the stone apart from within. Yamato's wooden spikes shot forward, pinning the man as Sakura descended with one final crushing strike that ended him in an explosion of rock and blood. The dust settled. Fudō lay broken, the last of the grave robbers silenced. Sora stumbled onto the scene just in time to see the carnage, his eyes wide at the devastation left behind. All around them, the desecrators of the temple had been destroyed, every last one defeated, killed, or scattered to the winds. Konoha had prevailed, not by chance, but by the sheer overwhelming force of its finest shinobi standing together. The battle left the maze in ruins, crumbled walls, scorched stone, and smoking earth scattered with the bodies of their enemies. Fudō's monstrous form lay shattered, his so-called rock armor crushed from within by their coordinated assault. Fūen's maze scroll was torn and blood-stained, her illusions permanently ended. Fūka's final smirk had vanished under the weight of Naruto's wind-laced Rasengan. The grave robbers were finished.

Sakura knelt first, violet Byakugō no In slowly dimming on her forehead as she exhaled. "Everyone, sit down. Now." Her voice left no room for argument. She set her medical pack at her side, already forming glowing seals of diagnostic chakra over Sai's battered body, then moving to Yamato's cracked ribs and Naruto's blistered forearms. Even with her auto-healing, her own knuckles bled faintly where she had struck stone and bone alike, but she ignored them.

Naruto winced as she pulled scorched fabric away from his arm. "You're too rough, Sakura-chan."

"Stop whining." She pressed glowing green chakra into the burns, her touch firm but precise. "You could've been dead three times over if you weren't so reckless."

Naruto grinned sheepishly but leaned closer, lowering his voice so only she heard. "Hey... don't worry about that witch. Fūka. She meant nothing. You're the only one I'd let stand by me." His blue eyes held hers for a long, steady moment, no hint of teasing this time.

Sakura's hands faltered for the briefest second, then steadied. Her lips curved into a faint, restrained smile. "...Good. Because I'd hate to have to break someone else's face."

Yamato, sitting against the remnants of a broken wall with a bandage tied across his chest, watched them with a thoughtful silence. The mission had gone sideways from the start, split units, traps, opponents designed to counter them individually. But instead of falling apart, Naruto and Sakura had surged forward with a kind of unity he had only seen from hardened veterans. Sai had bled for her, Sakura had dragged him back up without hesitation, and Naruto had unleashed elemental versatility far beyond what Yamato had expected. Together, they had done more than survive. They had crushed the ambush designed to destroy them. He let his eyes drift to Sakura's careful hands glowing over Sai's wounds, to Naruto's unwavering gaze never leaving her side, and finally to the ruined battlefield that lay littered with enemies who once boasted they would steal the bodies of Asuma's past comrades and restoring the Land of Fire. Quietly, Yamato thought to himself: This isn't just a team. This is the future of the village, right here.

The battlefield had grown still, save for the faint hum of Sakura's healing chakra. The acrid scent of scorched stone mingled with blood and dust, heavy in the valley air. Sai gave her a nod of gratitude as she tightened the last bandage across his side. Naruto flexed his newly-mended arms, grinning at her handiwork, while Yamato leaned quietly against a fractured wall, eyes half-lidded but alert. Sora had stood at a distance the whole time, arms crossed, expression sharp. He had seen enemies fall before, monks, wanderers, nameless threats that his foster father had unleashed upon him. But never like this. Not with this precision. Not with this kind of unity. "You..." Sora muttered finally, his voice uneven. "You killed them. All of them. Like it was nothing." His fists clenched. "Are you even shinobi? Or are you something else entirely?"

Naruto straightened, bristling at his tone. "They were grave robbers using stolen bodies to defile the dead and destroy lives. We don't leave people like that alive."

Before Sora could retort, Sakura rose to her feet, her violet seal glowing faintly as she stepped into the ruined center of the maze. Her hands pressed together, fingers forming a seamless seal as she exhaled slowly. "I won't let their crimes linger," she said, voice steady. Closing her eyes, she let her chakra spread outward like a web through the broken earth, threads of green-gold light flowing into the stone. The ground trembled, faint lines appearing beneath the rubble.

Yamato sat forward, recognition flashing in his eyes. "She's... tracing them?" A low hum resonated through the valley. Slowly, with a sudden pull of chakra, three coffins of dark-stained wood tore free from the soil, sliding forward as if drawn to her presence. They settled in the dirt before the team, perfectly aligned.

Sakura opened her eyes, sweat at her brow, but her expression calm. "Recovered. Intact." She lowered her hands. "These people will return to their temple, where they belong. Not one hair will remain in the hands of the men who tried to desecrate them." Sora's eyes widened, his mouth half open. He had seen raw power before; Naruto's burning chakra storms, Yamato's impossible wood walls. But this... this was different. A girl not much older than him had reached into the earth, seized something sacred, and returned it with reverence. She looked more like a protector than a killer.

Naruto stepped beside her, flashing his familiar grin. "Told you, Sora. She's scary when she wants to be."

Sakura smirked faintly, brushing her long hair over her shoulder, eyes softening on Naruto before returning to the coffins. "Scary isn't the word. Necessary is." Yamato said nothing, but inwardly, his reflection deepened: Not just the future. This girl is already a pillar. When the coffins were secured, the team made the trek back to the Fire Temple. The air was heavy with the scent of incense and ash, the monks lining the courtyard in silence as Sakura, Naruto, Yamato, Sai, and Sora arrived with their burden.

Chiriku stepped forward, his expression calm but his eyes full of gratitude. His hand brushed reverently over the first coffin, and then the second, before his gaze lifted to Sakura. "You have done more than defend the living," he said softly. "You have restored peace to those already passed."

Sakura bowed her head. "We promised their rest would not be disturbed again. That promise is kept."

Yamato gave a nod, his voice even. "Our mission here is complete, Chiriku-sama. It's time for us to return home."

Chiriku's gaze shifted across each of them, to Sai with his quiet composure, to Sora whose eyes still lingered with conflict, to Naruto who stood tall, fire in his grin, and finally back to Sakura, who held herself like both warrior and healer. "Konoha is fortunate," he said, a quiet benediction. "The balance of the world is not so easily maintained, but with protectors like you, the scales remain steady." The team departed at sunrise, their shadows long against the temple walls.

The village gates came into view, warm and alive, a sharp contrast to the valley of coffins. Naruto stretched his arms overhead with a loud yawn. "Man, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad to see these walls again."

Sakura allowed herself a faint smile, though her body still bore the weight of everything she had done. The violet diamond on her forehead dimmed back into dormancy, her long hair brushing her back as she adjusted her pack. "It feels... right," she murmured. "Like no matter what we face out there, we always come back here." Yamato said nothing, though he walked slightly ahead, already preparing in his mind how he would debrief Tsunade. Sai trailed just behind, sketchbook half-open, his brush making quiet strokes that captured the image of the temple under twilight.