QOTC:

You're not a burden. You're my wife. I don't care what secrets can destroy me. What's gonna destroy me is that if you leave now, I'll never find a place in my heart.

- Naruto to Sakura

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Chapter 72: Leaf No More

Sakura was taken and held by too many hands today. Kakashi grabbed her, Kiba brought her into this, Yamato had shown her a secret passageway that led to an exit-she was banned from seeing the Akatsuki. Somehow, Tsunade was finally sensing it-they have come for her.

Naruto never left her side. His clone escorted her to a secret boat into the Land of Waves, where she'd be safe and would not be tracked by the enemy. There she wore a black dress; black veil, and she was bringing her bags of clothes and some of the memories she had-a picture of Naruto and Kakashi in her wallet, a necklace given to her by Ino, Kiba's left condom. She was wearing a black veil, too, as an extension of her own disguise. She was like a lovely angel from the Underworld.

There were fishermen and villagers outside, Naruto payed them with gold. As Sakura was about to get into the boat, she couldn't help but stare at her own village. It had become ugly, if she were to be honest-last time she checked, the children were being evacuated to a safe center while parents were left to suffer. The clans on the other hand, defended the villagers with all their might, but perhaps Konohagakure was just too small to become a battlefield.

"Don't stare." Naruto whispered, giving Sakura a light push. It had begun to rain, and Naruto was soaked when they went inside the room of the boat. It had a queen-sized bed, and Sakura wondered if Naruto paid for it. It wasn't just an ordinary boat-it was a ship. What was she thinking?

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, as he took off his shirt and replaced it with an orange shirt. It was only a clone, but Sakura felt as if he were real-as if he were standing in front of him. The real Naruto.

"No, Naruto. I'm not." Sakura smiled, wrapping herself with her own arms. "Konoha is under attack. I'm pregnant. I haven't felt so useless before."

"Hey, don't say that." Naruto said, taking her hands. "You're pregnant with my child. It's gonna be the most gorgeous kid ever. Or beautiful-or I don't know. Try not to think about the village today. Try to think of yourself first."

Sakura smiled. She had not felt so protected before, or felt that Naruto's arms were shaking as he held her. Clones popped easily when touched, and Sakura could tell Naruto was getting stronger.

*P L A Y S O N G* (this is very sad, I swear it's when Jiraiya died)

"Did you know-" Naruto grinned that reminded the pinkette of Minato, "I met a kunoichi once. She was from a village called Nadeshiko, and she had this thing that she should fight any worthy Shinobi to get a husband. Her adviser once did that to pervy-sage too, and I can't believe he sold me out behind my back when he told her that her apprentice should seek out a man named Naruto Uzumaki. So she could marry me like 'dude, how is that possible'."

Sakura laughed. "So you're telling me that you should have married her, instead?"

"Aww, my Cherry Blossom gets jealous." Naruto said, as she hugged Sakura from behind. He was rocking her, his arms wrapped in her on an upside down V. "Of course not. You know what happened? I sort of won the match. She was upset. She believed that was her fate-to get a wonderful blossoming future, your husband is the key. I told her that some things aren't meant to be. Maybe she hadn't found her first love yet, and she would find it by now."

Sakura was holding onto Naruto's arms. She felt the waves of the boat soaring higher that she might have felt dizzy, or that her twins were pounding her belly. It's adorable that Naruto could not sense them.

She did hope he would not figure it out-of how she would have two children. Naruto would never stop hunting for her, the same as for his little kids. Naruto always wanted to have a family of his own, as he recalled him whispering his thoughts to her ear, only he just did not expect it to be sooner. But he did promise that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her or the baby. Whatever the cause, Naruto would fight for them until the end of his breath.

"I told her how I loved a girl named Sakura." Naruto said slowly. "I even confessed that you were still in love with someone else though-Sasuke. And as much as you were working so hard to chase after him, I won't stop looking after for you, too. What could I do?" He chuckled softly. "You never spoke a word about him. But I could read your thoughts, you know. I could still you crying for him. Crying for that bastard."

"I was away from the village. I was assigned on a mission with the Captain and Gai-sensei. When my boat was about to be set, she asked me if I get home, would I tell you how I feel? I said 'no, I don't think she's ready yet.' She asked me if I was satisfied with that. I told her I'll keep on watching after you for a while. To see if there's a chance.. Nothing would make me even happier if you'd choose me someday. As long as your happiness counts, I was willing to bring Sasuke back. For you."

Sakura was close to crying. She wiped her tears silently. "Why are you telling me this?" She turned around, breaking off. "Why do your words never cease to make me cry?"

"I heard my mother talk to me in a dream." Naruto said, wiping Sakura's tear with his own hankey. "She told me that when you love someone-you tell them every word, every story your heart tells. I don't think I've ever been close to you. Ever. Wherever I go,my conscience calls out to you. The trees remind me of you."

Sakura could not handle herself anymore. She had placed down her veil, and let Naruto slide his fingers in her hair gently. Another thing about being married was that your husband could touch you at any angle-she knew that-but with Naruto, he did it with respect and adoration. She wondered if this is what he did to women he had loved.

"Naruto, you're too good for me." Sakura said, as she took his warm hands He was always warm, and never was cold. This was opposite to Sasuke—-he was cursed with the seal of Orochimaru while he was sealed with a jinchuuriki inside. "You don't deserve me."

"I wish I could stay with you more longer, but I can't, Sakura." Naruto said sadly. "I have other responsibilities. Baachan expects a lot from me now, and if I stay here I don't know if I'm able to resist touching you. Seeing you drives me insane."

"Let me look at you for a while." Sakura said, grabbing his hand.

Naruto gave her a cute smirk. A few minutes passed. "Enough?"

"Not nearly."

"I will be back for you, I promise. But right now I need to put you in safety. There's an inn in the Land of Waves with security I've arranged. Tazuna and Inari will take you there."

Inari? Sakura wanted to ask, but dropped the question to herself. She saw the sweat in Naruto's forehead. She realized that while she was keeping the Hokage to herself, lives could be lost. But it didn't matter. "I don't want anyone taking me anywhere. I want you,"

"I'm not sure if I can take it much longer." Naruto said, referring to his clone.

"I'm not sure if I can hold it any longer, too." Sakura said.

At first Naruto said nothing, then it finally synced it. The invasion, the way Deidara said his words to Sai: you all don't know what's coming, do ya? Naruto stared at Sakura from head to toe. He remembered what was it like to be betrayed by someone's feelings-when she had told him she loved him. It was one stupid lie. All this time she had been lying to him, and he was not sure whether other than her shadow clone there was more to it she said that were all false.

"No, Sakura-tell me this isn't a clone. Tell me this is still you."

Sakura was shaking her head.

"The Akatsuki didn't come for me." Naruto said. "They came for you. The invasion-was it all a decoy? Did they risk all those lives for the sake of a distraction?"

"Naruto-"

"Answer me!!"

Naruto was enraged, his pupils turning into orange. Not good, Sakura thought to herself. She felt bad. She hadn't felt slimy and gruesome and traitorous before, other than tricking Naruto that she was still with him into the boat.

"I don't know." Sakura said. "Deidara kidnapped me at our house."

"Where are you?"

"I can't tell you."

"Sakura, I love you!"

"I know that!" Sakura said, as she kneeled in front of the sobbing Naruto. He was like a boy. He looked like he had shrunk at the ten-year-old version of himself. "But I have to stop being a burden to you. I need to get away from you as much as possible, because there are secrets I can't tell you. Secrets that will destroy you. If I don't leave you then I can't stand being guilty that you married me just because I got pregnant, it's what selfish people do."

"You're not a burden." Naruto assured her, as he cried silently. He looked into the floor, then to her. "You're my wife. I don't care what secrets can destroy me. What's gonna destroy me is that if you leave now, I'll never find a place in my heart."

"You will. You will become Hokage, and you'll be the greatest ninja in the entire world."Sakura laughed in joy, while she was crying, too. She never thought parting with the knucklehead was too sad. He was like an angel with torn wings, and Sakura was responsible for his crippledness. "We promised Kakashi we would make him proud, right? Go back to the village, Naruto. I'll visit you someday."

Naruto was crying endlessly like a baby boy-a boy rocking himself into the ground. Somehow, Sakura could only imagine if they were to have a kid someday-blonde hair and emerald eyes, one who loved too much that she forgot to give room for herself. That was Naruto. He never failed to put those ones he loved at first, not to mention how much he was bleeding in the inside.

Sakura remembered it all-the memories, dancing like daffodils. She remembered being tossed and lifted up in the air, at the balcony at the night of their marriage. She remembered what was it like when she had broken an ankle and Naruto hurriedly went to her, bringing her slowly to bed. She remembered how sweet and hurting Naruto's lips tasted when they kissed. That when he opened his eyes, there was a demon in there-the power of the nine-tails that was beginning to melt because of love.

She had given him her Cherry Blossom necklace. It was a floral necklace her mother gave her, and she wore it whenever she was feeling sad and empty. When she had an amnesia, Ino told her she never stopped wearing it.

She handed Naruto the necklace. "I'll be back for this."

She kissed his forehead, and three seconds later, Sakura's clone popped.

⍨⍨⍨⍨⍨ ɐɥıɥɔu pɹıɥʇ ǝɥʇ ⍨⍨⍨⍨⍨

DEVILS FROM HELL

Naruto stayed there for a moment. His clone vanished as well, and by the time the memory came back to him, he was standing inside the Hokage Tower. Blood was everwhere-there was blood painted in Tsunade's window, blood that said: ketsueki ga nagareru.

"Blood will flow." Neji read, as he had given Kisame a one last blow. "Naruto, they are retreating! Madara must have called off the invasion!"

"Naruto?" Kiba said, finally he managed to speak with Naruto clearly. "Naruto, you there, man?"

"Cowards." Naruto spat. Three shadow clones appeared behind him, popping angrily the way he would have envisioned Sakura slipping out of his hands. Two Naruto clones were telling him to considering his reckless idea, but the other one was still manipulating wind chakra in the ball, though vexation in his eyes. When it was nicely done, Naruto warned everyone to step aside.

"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"

The ball gives out a loud screech noise, as Naruto had thrown the most dangerous sphere of all like a planet orb; it broke into the window glass. He let the tiny pieces of sharded glass jab into his skin, and he used his arms to block the severe outcome of Tsunade's giant window. His clones died out. Naruto was left standing there, watching the white ray of light be released into his own village-his home.

Konoha 11 stared in awe-the people-children who were waiting at the evacuation center as they stared up into their own tiny square windows. Team Gai-Kiba, Hinata, Shino, the others just stared up like a shooting star. They said shooting stars were sign of a bad omen, and this one was.

This is not good. Kakuzu said. He had seen what kind of doomed damage it did to people who were standing on its way. His opponents have backed off, and so Naruto must have warned them of what was coming-that wind realease had caused him his death.

Before he could tell Hidan and the others, Obito had pushed Konan and stood there inside, sucking the life out of the ball. It was standing a meter away from him, and Naruto stared at it unbelievably. So that was Madara. It took him full five minutes to absorb it and transport it into the next dimension. As it disappeared, Obito teleported them all away.

Naruto did not realize that Kakashi was involved with the Kamui. He fainted, and would have hit his head if it weren't for Ino.

Sakura was watching her village burn at the outskirts.

"That is war, and would have been worse if you'd disagreed to come with us." Obito said. Zetsu was in his right. "The darker world needs you, Sakura. This doesn't. Perhaps you are summoned for something more. We'll talk about the terms later. First, you must rest."

Sakura slid off her headband impassively. She took a kunai and scratched it, the tips of it crossing the Leaf symbol. It reminded her of Sasuke's-stained with blood and unworn. Useless.

Sakura tore a garment from Obito's Akatsuki cloak. She replaced her headband with it, and tied it tightly to make sure it wouldn't fall off.

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4.17.15

Nigga Sakura's rockin rollin now