Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Naruto was loosing chakra too fast. There was a vicious yank on his arm, and he was pulled to the ground. Followed by a wind jutsu, Naruto folded his hands for the Shadow Clone seals, using the his copies to deflect it. Arata reminded Naruto of his own fighting style. He was fierce and unrelenting, like a mad whirlwind blowing out of control. It didn't take Naruto long to figure out that Arata was on-par with him as far as power level went.

Arata could feel his chakra draining. He was using too many high-powered jutsus in order to keep up with the Hokage. It was obvious that he would never be able to defeat Naruto hand-to-hand, the other nin was too skilled and his chakra level was higher. Danzo had pointed out that Naruto only used the power of the Nine-Tails when he was completely drained of chakra, and then he would be unstoppable.

The next phase of Danzo's orders were about to go into affect. Arata had one purpose in fighting the Rokudaime: seal off the power of the Nine-Tailed fox. There was only one window of opportunity that he would have, and Arata had to hang on until then.

"What?" Arata landed on the ground in front of him, "Can't keep up with a mere jounin? For a Sage, you're rather slow."

Naruto frowned, why the nin was trying to goad him, he didn't know, "I'm getting tired of this. I have better things to do than play around with you."

"Then defeat me if you think you're so great," Arata held his arms out. He was taking a risk, but he had trained for months for this specific moment, "I'm still standing here, Naruto-sama."

"You won't be for long," he held out an arm. The people needed him, the village was in danger, and he was wasting his time. In the center of his hand, the familiar trademark of the Rasengan began to form in his hand. Over the years, it had grown more powerful and more destructive. It took more of his chakra, but if he could get one good hit, Naruto was positive that he would be able to take the man down. He flashed towards the man, bracing his arms for the kickback, "Rasengan!"

Arata stood his ground, a smirk spreading across his face.

Sakura through the woods towards the Hokage estate. It was close to the government building, but there was a path that wound through the woods, leading to the four-story house. She could hear the sounds of the battle ahead, and saw the blue glow through the dark shadows of the trees. A smile spread across her face, knowing there was only one ninja at the moment that could be producing the blue light of the Rasengan.

The steps ended up at the clearing, at the entrance to the gardens, and she saw Naruto running towards the black ninja. She could feel the massive chakra pouring out of the other man, and felt herself shiver. It was almost exactly like Naruto's, in the way it felt and how the power was like a rushing sea. Sakura watched as Naruto slammed into the nin, and she covered her face as the rush of debris and wind flew past her.

Opening her eyes, it was suddenly quiet except for the sounds in the village. A massive trench from the power exerted from the Rasengan disappeared into the treeline, and Naruto was the only one left standing. Sakura's eyes scanned the area, and she felt nothing besides herself and Naruto.

"Naruto!"

He stood his ground, exhausted from the battle, his chakra too low for him to think. It disgusted him that he was so drained after fighting just the one opponent, even if Arata had been powerful. Even simple jutsus from stronger shinobis were backed by stronger chakras, and required even more chakra to defend against. He took a step, and swayed slightly. A pair of arms caught him, and he caught a scent of cherry blossoms.

"Naruto!" Sakura held him to his feet, he was covered in minor injuries. Her hands frantically moved over him, checking to make sure that there weren't any major ones, "Are you okay? Where are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," he tried to wave her off, struggling in her arms, "I'm just a little drained. I need to get the village-"

In one motion, Sakura pulled him into her arms, indulging herself by burying her face in his shirt. Naruto gripped her shoulders, unable to move out of her arms. It felt like she was using her superhuman strength without knowing it.

"You're okay," she sighed, her voice shaking, "F-For a second...I thought you were..."

Naruto stared at the top of her head, and then let himself smile over his raging thoughts, "I'm okay. A little worse for wear, but I'll be alright," bending his head forward into the crook of her neck, he took a deep breathe of her warm skin, "Come on, let's go help the others and find out who did this-"

It happened in a flash. He had masked his chakra, so neither Sakura nor Naruto detected Arata as he flew towards them. His fingers burned an eerie black, and Sakura found herself shoved out of the way. As she fell, she watched as Arata jammed his black fingers into Naruto's stomach. There was a flash, and Naruto felt the power all the way to his core. The black fire burned through his clothes to his flesh, and with another spurt of power, Naruto found himself flung into the nearest tree.

Sakura watched in horror as the Rokudaime's eyes slid shut, and he fell to the ground in a heap.

"Naruto!" she rushed to his side, finding him unconscious. Sakura turned him onto to side, crying out slightly when she saw the blood soaking into his shirt. It wasn't the blood, however, that alarmed her. His chakra was completely gone, as if someone had shut the lid to his power. Her hands smeared through the blood, and she found the Nine-Tailed fox seal surrounded was a completely new seal, around the outside of the original markings.

Arata gripped his side, knowing his ribs were shattered. Rose would be able to fix them, but in the meantime, he could barely breathe. His master had been right about Naruto and the brief pause in chakra after the use of the Rasengan, and if Naruto was severely drained in chakra. The seal had been designed by Danzo himself, and taught painstakingly to Arata for the last year.

"I've sealed his ability to harness the power of Kyuubi Nine-Tails," Arata limped towards her, gripping a kunai his free hand. It would be easy to kill the Hokage now, the woman medical nin wouldn't be strong enough to protect the Rokudaime, "His chakra is now completely cut off. It's as if he never became a ninja in the first place."

Sakura felt her heart stop, and she dragged Naruto into her arms, covering him with her own body, "Stay back."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" Arata chuckled, stepping out of the shadows and coming towards her, "You barely have enough energy to keep you're own heart beating."

Her hands tightened around Naruto, "If I have to die to save him, I will."

"Such courage," he stepped out of the shadows into the moonlight.

Her eyes grew wide. His hair was exactly like Naruto's, except for the red color. Arata's eyes were blue as the ocean, and from where the mask had been torn from his face by the Rasengan blast, he looked so much like Naruto he could have been the blond nin's brother. Who was he? Sakura stared at the kunai was held high in the air, and the murderous intent in Arata's face. With a shriek as she saw the kunai come towards her, she bent her face over into Naruto's chest.

Something clamped onto her, around her, and she suddenly couldn't move. A massive rush hit her as she was swept into the air, and she passed out.

Shikamaru stood on the top of the Hokage hill next to Gaara. The large sand bird was sitting patiently on the stone ground, Matsuri standing beside it. Screams and smoke still filtered out of the village, and after the reinforcements of the Dark nins, Shikamaru knew the village was lost. He knew that the others were trying their best to hold their own, but too many people had already been captured or killed. Hinata, Shino, and Kiba had managed to evacuate a majority of the civilians to the mountain refugee not to long ago, but many of their friends were stuck in Konoha.

"I will return from Sunakagure as soon as possible."

He shook his head, "Keep Naruto..." Shikamaru glanced towards the sand bird again, "Keep the Rokudaime with you. As long as he's still safe and alive, we still have a chance. The surviving leaf nins will group together at the hidden camp, and we'll work from there. Tsunade-sama is still trapped in the government building as well."

Gaara glanced back towards Konoha, and watched as another building collapsed as it burned. He turned back to Shikamaru, and said, "Stay alive. My sister wouldn't be happy if you died."

"I don't think I would be happy if I died either."

Walking back towards Matsuri and the bird, Gaara laid a hand on her shoulder. She had tears in her eyes, and he couldn't stop himself from leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. Helping her up onto the bird's back, she situated herself behind him. With a swoop of wings, they lifted off into the air and away from the fallen Konoha. Matsuri glanced back at Shikamaru, and then towards her fiance, "Is it a good idea to leave him there?"

"Nara will do what he needs to do," Gaara stated, "We have a much more important mission right now."

Matsuri's glanced adverted to the two forms that were wrapped in blankets and bandages, clamped protectively in the bird's claws. Sakura wasn't in as bad shape as Naruto, but overtaxing her chakra had left her too weak to sustain anything beside a brisk run through Konoha. Naruto, on the other hand, was more worrisome. His level of chakra was completely gone, like it never existed. Matsuri sensed it, but didn't know what it meant.

Gaara had noticed it as well, and as a jinchurriki, knew exactly what it was. He kept his concerns to himself, holding onto his thoughts until they were safely in Suna's borders. His job was to keep the Rokudaime alive, and he was going to do it if it was the last thing he would do.

A/N: This was a short chapter, but I decided to write a new chapter so the flow of the story went more smoothly. Thank you for reading, and feel free to send a review to tell me what you think! It's getting late, so I think I'll continue the fic tomorrow. The next couple chapters will start to pick up for Naruto and Sakura as well :D

::Happy Valentine's Day::

Arigato,

Lilith