Welcome back! It's been over a year since an update, so feel free to go back and review the last few chapters to reacclimate yourself with the story.

Many thanks to all who reviewed since last time: avengeme; tahkz01; Those-carrots; ahmadaziz; The Keeper of Worlds; Darious Frost; Konoha's Crimson Fox; sortofbored; .love; 1Fanfanatick; prithi 666; titanoffate; The Whirlwind Jinchuriki; Shadowwitch042190; Zero-Tails317; Sensuto; Refraction of Light; St3rfire; Guest; Starcalista

Onto the main event.

I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and the manga would have had a VERY different ending.

Please do enjoy, Guardian - Chapter 19: Worn Down

The world came back into focus and Naruto looked around hoping to see Ino and that traitor Maso.

"Shit! I must have overshot it." He swore to himself. The hirashin was an especially difficult jutsu for him to master when he was training at the academy. Without Itachi's help, he probably never would have. If you use too much chakra, you overshoot your target. Alternatively, if you use too little chakra you undershoot it. Using the three-pronged kunai acted as an anchor and gave a little more leeway, but there was still a balance. A balance that his fluctuating chakra wasn't able to maintain…

Naruto calmed himself down. So he overshot it… he was still closer to Ino than he was before. He wished his chakra wasn't so screwed up right now so he could enter sage mode and find her. But he couldn't trust his chakra to enter sage mode. He bit his thumb and slammed it on the ground.

"SUMMONING JUTSU!" A poof of smoke enveloped the area around Naruto and he anxiously waited for it to clear. With his chakra, he couldn't be sure what toad, or even how many, he summoned. But judging by the fact that the smoke was a high column, he was guessing he got someone good.

"Good to see you again, Naruto." A deep booming voice greeted as the smoke cleared. Naruto grinned; this was exactly who he was looking for.

"Gambunta! Perfect! Thanks for coming."

"Sure. Glad to see you alive and well. The last time I saw you, you were in rough shape. Looks like you managed to make it out of that fight though."

"I did, and I'd like to talk to you more about it, but there's no time right now. I let a friend of mine, a celesti, get kidnapped by a man. He is taking her to a guy named Orochimaru, a sick bastard who experiments on celestis."

"I'm familiar with Orochimaru." Gamabunta growled. "That snake and I have clashed plenty of times in the past. That bastard actually tried to experiment on Minato you know. Luckily your…"

"Gamabunta! No time! I want to hear that story, but we have to find Ino before it's too late."

"Right. Hop on, kid. Where are we headed?"

Naruto leaped onto the giant toad's head. With Gamabunta's immense height, he was able to get a better view of the surrounding area. Unfortunately, that didn't help much. Without the use of sage mode, he really didn't have a way to track Masa and Ino.

"I'm not really sure… I gave Ino a three-pronged kunai so I could use the hirashin to get to her at any moment, but I overshot it a little… They have to be somewhere in this area though."

"You're missing something obvious, Naruto." Gamabunta chuckled. "Think about what you just said. You can track them."

"I…" Naruto's eyes suddenly widened. It was blatantly obvious. "The kunai! I can lock onto it!"

He couldn't believe he overlooked that simple fact. But he would berate himself over that later. Action was needed now. He closed his eyes and focused on the kunai in Ino's possession and grinned when he sensed it.

"That way Bunta! Let's go kick some ass!"

"Bunta eh? I'm ok with that actually. Let's go, kid."

Gamabunta leaped into the air and Naruto instantly learned there was another thing he was overlooking – with his chakra fluctuating, sticking to Gamabunta's head proved difficult. As the giant toad landed, Naruto was thrown from the back of his head. Luckily Gamabunta had quick reactions and caught him with a webbed hand.

"What the hell, kid? You gotta stick on."

"I was poisoned and my chakra is fluctuating randomly. I can't really control it enough to stick onto you."

"Poisoned? Good thing you were able to summon me then if you have a fight. I'll try my best to hang onto you then, but grab ahold and hang on tight."

"Thanks, Bunta."

Instead of replying, Gamabunta leaped into the air again, this time with his webbed hand closed protectively around Naruto. The landing shook Naruto again, but he stayed safely in Gamabunta's hand.

Don't worry Sai… I won't forget my debt. I'm going to save Ino. Naruto silently promised.

Danzo was a picture of calm as he read the latest battle report, but inside, he was seething. It appeared Tenzo had begun joining the battles themselves. The traitor appeared to no longer be content just giving his information to the enemy. Tenzo's power was one of the reasons Danzo coveted him so much. In the report he was currently reading, Tenzo appeared on a battlefield just as a squad of his soldiers were preparing a suicidal technique where they turned themselves into literal bombs.

The squad, a four-man group, should've wiped out a large portion of Hirzuen's forces. But Tenzo appeared at the last second and encased them all in a thick wooden prison. The prison didn't completely protect Hiruzen's forces from the blast, but it was enough to keep the casualties to a minimum.

The only good thing about Tenzo being on the battlefield was that it would be easier for Danzo's agents to capture the traitor. Then, after defeating Hiruzen and the rest of the order, Danzo could take his sweet time making Tenzo understand why you don't betray ROOT. It was tempting to make capturing Tenzo a primary objective, but he didn't want to divert too much of his forces to one task that ultimately wouldn't change the flow of the battle.

Tenzo was strong, but he alone wouldn't win the war for Hiruzen. And taking him out of the fight wouldn't win Danzo the war either. Heck, that could be part of why Tenzo was even on the battlefield to begin with…to distract him. Danzo wasn't going to be distracted though. His vision for the world was too important. His vision for what ROOT could do with the academy students was the correct path forward for the world. His vision to help Orochimaru complete his research and understand how to unlock and control celesti power was bigger than any of this.

He picked up another report and smiled at the information. This would do nicely.

"You are sure this information is correct? Hiruzen has converted the student residence wing into a medical facility?"

"Yes sir. It's close enough to most of the fighting that they can get their injured there quickly, and the guards have the area surrounding the wing completely locked down. We have the advantage now, but once their wounded heal, we may be at a disadvantage. Our losses are permanent. Our soldiers either live, or they sacrifice themselves to defeat the enemy."

"That's why we're not going to let them recover. Send the shadow squad in. Their stealth abilities are unparalleled. Hiruzen doesn't have anyone in his forces who could possibly detect them. Shadow squad's mission is to infiltrate the wing and use their sacrificial jutsus to blow the place sky high."

"Yes sir."

Danzo smiled. The battle was fairly even so far, with his forces having a slight advantage. But after shadow squad completed their mission, and they would complete their mission, the battle would swing wildly in his favor. The sudden loss of troops and the loss of morale on Hiruzen's side would provide the opening Danzo needed to finish this war quickly.

"He what?!" Sakura yelled. "His chakra is still messed up! Does he even have enough kunais left to fight?"

"We really don't have any other options at this point, Sakura." Jiraiya replied. "If we do nothing, Maso is going to deliver Ino to Orochimaru."

"That son of a bitch…" Sakura growled. "I can't believe we let him take her! If I could just get my hands on him…"

"You cannot, and each and every one of us was fooled by him." Tsunade cut Sakura off with a stern look on her face. "Naruto is not in any condition to be fighting right now, but that's the life of a guardian. They have to fight whether their body is prepared or not. Naruto is the only who can save your friend. Getting angry and worrying is not going to help anyone. The only thing we can do is wish him luck and have faith in his abilities."

"I know…" Sakura sighed. "I just… I hate this. I hate always having to stand on the sideline and having him do all the fighting. Just sitting around like this makes me feel so useless!"

"You are a celesti – not a guardian." Tsunade reminded. "This is your job. One day, you may be called upon to save the world. Until then, the 'sideline,' as you put it, is where you belong."

"I know I know!" Sakura groaned. "That still doesn't make it any easier."

The stern look on Tsunade's face softened. "I know it doesn't. With time, you'll become accustomed to it. It does become easier."

"I don't want to become accustomed to it though! I don't want to be a useless burden…"

"Just because you want something doesn't mean you get it. Complaining, refusing to accept it… that will not help you. There is nothing you can do to change your role. It doesn't matter how hard you wish, how much you pray, you will remain on the sidelines until it's time to face your destiny."

"I know that, but…"

"You don't seem to know that!" Tsunade snapped. "I like you. I like you a lot actually. You're determined and you refuse to just accept things you don't agree with. But you have to get it through your thick skull. Complaining isn't going to help you. Wishing isn't going to help you. Everyone has a part to play in life. You need to truly accept yours."

Sakura looked like she wanted to say something else, but she decided to stay quiet instead.

"Don't worry about Naruto anyways. That kid is something else. He's resourceful. I'm sure he'll be back here with Ino in no time!" Jiraiya interjected, trying to lighten the mood some.

Sakura simply nodded her head. She wanted to complain some more, but Tsunade was right. She hated sitting around being useless, but that was the role she had to play for now.

Be safe, Naruto…

BOOM….BOOM….BOOM

"Umm… Maso, what is that?" Ino asked. The ground seemed to be shaking with tremors. This definitely wasn't natural.

"That is an enemy pursuing us. He's been pursuing us for a while now… he's getting close."

"We're being pursued?! You didn't think to tell me that before?"

"You don't need to know. All that matters is your safety. Speaking of… Please stand over there. I'm going to deal with this enemy now."

"A-alright. Be careful though, ok?"

"I'll do what I have to." Maso replied. He ran towards the booming and quickly set up a trap. Judging by the tremors, his pursuer must have summoned a boss level summon. And there was only one person he could think of that had the ability to do that and would be pursuing him. His old squad must have somehow failed to stop Naruto.

That left every aspect of the mission on his shoulders. He had to kill Naruto here for Lord Danzo. He leaped backwards once his trap was finished. The trap should take care of the boss toad, making it a one on one fight.

He glanced over his shoulder at Ino. If Naruto was pursuing him, that meant Naruto knew about ROOT's plans for the girl. He was bound to tell her to run. He couldn't allow that. The mission depended on him, and the mission would only be complete with Naruto's death and the girl being delivered to Orochimaru. He would not fail Danzo.

He leaped over to Ino and pulled out a containment scroll he had prepared. He activated the scroll, encasing Ino in a yellow barrier.

"What's this?" Ino asked, pressing her hand against the barrier.

"For your protection. I don't want to risk you getting hurt by any collateral." Maso lied. Now that Ino was secured, he could focus all of his attention on doing what his former squad failed to do – kill Naruto. He calmly walked forward and waited for his enemy to arrive. The booms got closer and closer until finally, Maso saw a giant toad leaping down from the sky.

Perfect… Maso thought to himself. The toad leaped exactly where he calculated it would land.

BOOM!

The massive explosion rocked the surrounding area the second the toad landed on his trap. The giant toad only had time to let out a started grunt of pain and throw something before dispersing. That something, as it turned out, was Maso's target. Naruto landed gracefully and glared at Maso.

"It seems you survived."

"Is that… Naruto?" Ino asked. "Maso! That's Naruto! He's not an enemy. You just saw him earlier today!"

"Are you ok, Ino?" Naruto asked, glancing behind Maso to see the person he was here to save. He mentally swore when he saw that she was in a containment field. Just grabbing Ino and running was not an option anymore. It would take him some time to dispel the field. And he was sure the only way he was going to be given the time to do that is over Maso's dead body.

"I'm fine! What are you doing here? Is Sakura ok?"

"She's fine. I'm here for you."

"Me?"

"Maso… if that's your name… I'm going to give you one chance. Give me Ino and walk away. That's the only way you're going to survive this."

"What?! Naruto what are you doing? That's my guardian!"

"He's one of Danzo's dogs." Naruto replied. "He's taking you to Orochimaru."

"So you do know everything."

"SAY WHAT?!" Ino yelled. "YOU…"

"Shut up!" Maso yelled. "You insufferable woman… just shut up! I'm sick of your voice."

"SICK OF MY VOICE?! YOU FREAKING ASSHOLE! I TRIED TO… AHHH!" Ino screamed out in pain as the containment field suddenly shocked her.

"I control the field you're standing in. If you keep trying to talk, you'll keep getting shocked. Simple as that." Maso said with a cruel smirk.

"That was your last mistake!" Naruto growled. "Hang on tight, Ino. I'll get you out of there soon!"

He withdrew his final two kunai. If he could take out an entire root squad without the use of his chakra, then just handling one shouldn't be too hard. He ran forward at full speed. Maso was fresh; Maso hadn't just had to fight off four guys. Naruto was going to be at a disadvantage the longer this fight went. He needed to end it quick.

During spars in his academy days, he would often catch his opponents off guard with his speed and end the spar quickly. Sadly, that wasn't going to be the case with Maso. He swiped at Maso's neck with his kunai the second he was close enough, but Maso effortlessly blocked the blow with a tanto. Naruto launched a kick towards Maso's knee, but he leapt backwards before the blow could connect.

Naruto wasn't one to be deterred though – not when so much was on the line. He burst forward, slashed at Maso and then spun his body completely around to deliver another slash with his other arm with the full momentum of rotation behind it. The strike forced the tanto Maso was using to protect himself down, dangerously close to his face.

Naruto used the distraction caused by the extra strain to again strike at Maso's knee; this time the blow connected. Naruto grinned when he heard the crunch of bone being broken. Maso gasped out in pain and shock at the sudden blow.

"All that talk, and you're already done?" Naruto taunted. "I barely switched up my strategy at all! Take a swipe or two at you with a kunai and then go for your knee."

"Arrogance is a sign of weakness." Maso grunted out in pain. "Danzo-sama teaches all ROOT members that. Never underestimate your…urk!"

Naruto interrupted Maso by jamming a kunai straight into his throat. He shot the traitorous guardian an ice cold glare as the man choked on his own blood.

"I don't underestimate anyone when the lives of those important to me are at stake." He pulled the kunai out of Maso's throat and kicked the man to the ground. He inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Finally, something went according to plan for a change. He needed to finish the fight with Maso quickly, and that is exactly what he did.

He turned around and started walking to where Ino was trapped.

"Sorry you had to see that…" Naruto apologized as he approached her. "Now just give me a few minutes to disrupt this containment field and get you out of there."

"Umm… Naruto?" Ino mumbled with a scared look on her face.

"Hey, it's all right now. No need to be scared. He's dead; you'll travel with us until we reach the Academy."

"Naruto…" Ino said again, the fearful look on her face growing.

"This is a complicated containment field…" Naruto mumbled to himself. "It's…it seems to be set up to be tied to a life force. But how could it still be up then? He's dead…"

"NARUTO! BEHIND YOU!" Ino screamed, suddenly finding her voice.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Maso's fist coming towards his face. He couldn't react quick enough to dodge and took the blow square on. His head bounced backwards from the impact only to bounce off the containment field he had been trying to dispel. He was too stunned by the sudden attack to react when Maso's fist came flying at his midsection. He wheezed in pain as the air was driven from his body by the blow.

Gasping desperately and trying to clear the stars from his vision, Naruto took a clumsy swipe at Maso with his kunai. To his surprise, Maso didn't even try to dodge, allowing Naruto to cut a deep gash across the top of his chest. To his even bigger surprise, Maso didn't react in the slightest. Instead, Maso brought his two fists together and slammed them down on his head, like some sort of club.

"NARUTO!"

The stars blurring Naruto's vision only intensified as the attack knocked him off his feet and onto his face. His lungs were still burning for air from the punch to his gut moments ago, and his body was starting to panic. Naruto desperately needed to stop Maso's assault long enough to recompose himself.

On pure instinct, he rolled to the left. Maso's foot slammed down where he had just been. Naruto swept Maso's leg, knocking his opponent off his feet. He swung his right arm the full length of his body and jammed his final kunai straight through Maso's skull. He got up off the ground and put some distance between himself and Maso, just in case the man rose from being seemingly dead a second time.

He took in quick, short breaths to refill his lungs with the air they desperately needed. And the stars in his vision, and the dazed feeling he had from being hit in the head so many times was starting to clear. But Naruto quickly realized that the fight wasn't over. He watched with morbid curiosity as Maso pulled his kunai from his skull and flung the kunai far away.

"You… this is your sacrificial technique." Naruto said in realization. "And if your body is being restored like this…your soul powers this technique, doesn't it?"

"You're observant." Maso smirked. "So… are you going to use yours? Danzo-sama is very curious what it is. You can't hope to beat me like you are. Sacrifice yourself, Naruto. That's your only chance at saving her. If you don't, I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill her."

"I don't need to beat you; I just have to outlast you." Naruto replied. "Your technique won't last forever."

"It will last long enough to kill you." Maso countered. "Now either use your sacrificial technique or die!"

Naruto took a calming breath as Maso charged him. Now that he knew what he was up against, he knew he could do this. There was no point to trying to fight back. No blow he landed would do anything to Maso. He just needed to devote everything he had to avoiding Maso until he used all of the power of his very soul.

Naruto leaped into the air, flipping over Maso's head. The second his feet hit the ground, he pushed off with his legs, getting some distance away from his opponent. One glance over his shoulder confirmed that Maso was coming after him.

Naruto grinned as a new idea popped into his head. This was going to be easy. Why even bother fighting when he could just run until Maso ran out of power? He took off at a dead sprint away from Maso.

"You think you can run from me?" Maso yelled. "Go ahead and run. You're just leaving the girl vulnerable!"

Naruto knew he was the main target; Maso was just trying to goad him back into the fight. But that wasn't going to work. Naruto wouldn't be fooled. He glanced over his shoulder again, fully expecting to see Maso hot on his tail, but his eyes widened in alarm. Maso wasn't bluffing! Naruto growled as he watched Maso place his hand on the barrier. He skidded to a halt, and burst back towards Ino and Maso.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Naruto roared. "I'M YOUR TARGET!"

"You both are targets." Maso replied. He dispelled the barrier, leaving Ino completely vulnerable to attack. He reared his fist back and swung at Ino with all the force his body could muster.

CRACK!

The sickening sound of bone cracking rang out through the clearing that was accompanied by a hiss of pain. Naruto had made it just in the nick of time to protect Ino from being struck. The only problem was that he didn't really have time to get her out of the way or deflect Maso's fist. His only option had been to extend his arm and stop the blow with his wrist. Thankfully his strength was enough to keep his wrist from being batted into Ino's face. Not quite so thankfully, Maso's fist struck his wrist at just the right angle with just the right amount of force to break it.

He grimaced. This was not helpful. He had no kunai, he couldn't rely on his chakra, and now his left wrist was broken. That basically took his entire left arm out of the equation. Any strike he made with his left arm would only aggravate his injury. And there was certainly no way in hell he could put weight on it.

Naruto pushed the pain to the back of his mind. So he didn't have kunai, chakra or the use of his left arm… He still had two perfectly good legs and a right arm, which were all deadly weapons of their own accord. He used a quick elbow to knock Maso backwards, and followed up the elbow with a powerful roundhouse kick, which sent the man flying backwards.

"Are you ok?" Naruto quietly asked Ino while keeping his attention focused on Maso.

"I'm doing a lot better than you…" Ino replied in a worried tone. "That crack did not sound good…"

"It's ok. I don't need it anyways. I just need to keep lasting. He can't keep this technique up for very long. The soul is so powerful that when you tap into it, it comes out in a massive burst. There's really no way to control the flow. I doubt he can keep his technique up for much longer than five minutes…"

"Just live." Ino quietly replied. "I do not want to be the reason Sakura loses you."

"I've got this." Naruto confidently replied. Now that Ino was vulnerable, he had no option but to fight. He ran at Maso and launched a kick at the man's midsection. Maso let the kick connect, but otherwise stood his ground. Naruto brought his right fist the entire length of his body to deliver a powerful punch to Maso, but the he ducked underneath it and caught Naruto in the gut with a quick jab.

Yet again, Naruto felt the air being driven from his lungs, but this time he controlled his body's reaction. He forced his body to remain calm through sheer force of will, and it was that calm that allowed him to catch Maso in the side of the head with a powerful roundhouse kick. The force of Naruto's kick sent Maso flying off his feet and into a nearby tree. The force of the impact wasn't strong enough to take down the tree, but it was strong enough to cause the tree to splinter.

Naruto rushed forward and launched a flying kick into Maso's midsection. The force of that resulting impact was enough to take down the tree. Maso's body went through the trunk, and Naruto kicked the tree with the sole of his foot as it was coming down so it landed directly onto Maso's body. A sickening crunch echoed throughout the area as the tree crushed Maso's body.

"Not bad for someone who can't use their chakra." Maso sneered. "But what do you really hope to gain with your attacks? You can't do anything."

"It doesn't matter if your body can heal itself when an entire tree is keeping you pinned to the ground." Naruto countered.

"You think this is enough to stop me?" Maso snorted. "You're facing my ultimate technique. This is nothing." What Maso did next was something that Naruto would never be able to unsee. The part of his body where the tree fell was basically a mangled mess. Maso wriggled and pushed, ripping his body in half where the tree had fallen.

Naruto could do nothing but watch in morbid fascination as Maso's jutsu completely rebuilt the entire lower half of his body. Naruto had heard of powerful sacrificial techniques before, but this one was truly terrifying in its power. Of course… that was to be expected when tapping into the raw power of a soul. Naruto's own sacrificial technique was even stronger and more terrifying than this after all…

Still, despite the fact that dropping a tree on Maso had no effect, it still accomplished one very important thing – it bought him more time. It took about a minute for the entire lower half of Maso's body to fully regenerate. That was valuable time that Maso needed to finish him off before he drained his soul of every last drop of power it had. Naruto just needed to last a few more minutes now.

His body hurt, his lungs burned for more oxygen and he was completely exhausted… But despite all that, he was completely confident. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he wasn't going to come out on top of this fight.

Judging by the look on Maso's face, he realized he was running out of time as well. He didn't waste another second with any sort of chatter, he just lowered his shoulders and charged at Naruto. Maso launched what appeared to be a clumsy right hook, which Naruto easily evaded. What he didn't evade was the quick knee that Maso launched at his gut while he was busy dodging the punch.

Again, Naruto's lungs screamed for oxygen as more air was driven from them, and again, he used his sheer force of will to maintain his composure. He reared his right arm back to deliver a punch strong enough to send Maso sprawling backwards, but his opponent caught him in the chin with a quick jab. Naruto counter attacked with a quick kick to the midsection, but it didn't have enough force to create any separation between the two. If Maso didn't have a sacrificial jutsu active that basically turned him into some kind of terrifying zombie, he would've reacted in some way that Naruto could've taken advantage of. But there was no reaction. Instead, he received a quick chop to the side of his head for his troubles.

It seemed that Maso was a smart fighter. He switched to quick attacks that limited the strength of attack Naruto could land on him. And with the current state of his battered body, the quick, nonstop attacks were beginning to overwhelm him. Naruto tried to leap backwards to put space between he and his opponent, but Maso gave him nothing. When he leaped backwards, Maso leaped forwards. Naruto tried running backwards to put some space between them, but his opponent remained on him.

Thanks to Maso's jutsu, Naruto's quick counterattacks were essentially worthless. He switched his strategy to focus solely on defense, but he Maso's quick attacks were too much for him to fully keep up with in his state. Quick blow after quick blow continued to land, and Naruto found it harder and harder to maintain his body's composure. He could feel his body's panic and desperation that continued to mount as more air was driven out of him and more blows landed.

Maso caught Naruto in the side with a quick kick and then caught him upside the head with a powerful haymaker, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. He tried to get up, but Maso was on him. Naruto lost the war with his body, and true panic gripped him as he felt Maso's hands wrap around his throat. This couldn't be it. All he had to do was last and he could get back to Sakura. Maso began squeezing his throat with all the pressure he could manage.

Naruto squirmed and struggled in desperation, but there was nothing he could do except look into Maso's extremely pale eyes. After all his bravado, after all his confidence… this was how he met his end. Worn down by sheer numbers and a powerful sacrificial jutsu.

Black dots started dancing across his vision, and he desperately tried his best to ignore them. Because Naruto knew that once he embraced the block dots this time, it would be his end. He idly cursed himself for being so confident that he could take on a sacrificial jutsu in his current state. He should've used the blood angel release the second Maso used his jutsu. Ino would have been saved that way, and Sakura would only have had to deal with losing him.

Naruto's eyes began drooping close in bitter defeat. His throat felt like it was on fire, and there wasn't so much as a molecule of oxygen left in his lungs. There was…nothing…he….

And then, just as he accepted his failure, the pressure stopped. He vaguely felt Maso's grip weaken before sliding off his throat completely. Naruto forced his eyes open as he desperately gulped in sweet oxygen. Strangely enough, as soon has he had regained enough air, he began laughing when he realized what happened. Maso's soul ran out of power. Naruto actually outlasted the technique. Had Maso been able to maintain it for just a little longer, Naruto would be dead. But he hadn't.

"What are you laughing about you dumbass!" Ino yelled in a worried tone. "You almost died!"

"But I didn't." Naruto grinned. "I won. You're safe. Now come on, we need to get back to the others. Sakura isn't going to be happy that she has to heal me all over again after she just got done piecing me back together… but that's unavoidable sometimes."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Yeah. Maso didn't get too far away. We'll be back at camp within an hour or so. Let's go."

It had been well over an hour since Naruto went off to rescue Ino, and Sakura had spent every second worrying. Tsunade's harsh truth reverberated through her mind, but they weren't enough to stop her from worrying for her guardian's safety. Tsunade said that, as a celesti, she had to accept being on the sideline until it came time to fulfill her destiny… and what the older woman said certainly seemed true.

But Sakura wasn't ready to give up so easily. In her time traveling with Naruto, she had seen the impossible happen. She witnessed a man create a flying dragon made out of some crazy explosive substance. She had witnessed Naruto summon the very elements themselves around his fists. She had witnessed Naruto launch extremely powerful attacks that cut bodies apart… Surely there had to be some way out there for her to not be so damn useless.

Her thoughts were interrupted by two figures approaching their camp. Her eyes lit up relief when she noticed both had blonde hair.

"Naruto! Ino!" Sakura sprinted to the pair in relief.

"Hi, Sakura. Everything is ok now. No need to worry." Naruto said in a reassuring tone as soon as she was within earshot.

"Ok? You nearly got yourself killed you idiot!"

"But I didn't get myself killed." Naruto countered. Sakura's eyes widened when she finally reached the pair. Naruto's body was, once again, in pretty bad shape. Bruises covered his entire body, and there were particularly nasty looking bruises along his neck… as if he had been strangled. To make matters worse, his left wrist was very clearly broken.

Her chakra wasn't completely revitalized from healing him earlier, but Sakura didn't care. She grabbed his good hand and gently pulled him down with her without saying a single word. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and quickly snapped it shut as Sakura set to work.

As she set about repairing the battered body of her guardian for the second time in basically as many hours, Sakura made a mental vow to herself. She didn't know how, but she would figure out some way to help Naruto beyond just patching him up after a fight. If what Ino said was true, then Sakura almost lost him today because he got so worn down.

Tsunade said that she had to accept that celestis were destined to wait on the sidelines until it was their time to shine. She basically implied it was all but impossible for her to do anything more for Naruto than she currently was… But to hell with that. If it were impossible for a celesti to be anything more than a burden, she would just have to figure out a way to accomplish the impossible. And for Naruto, she could figure that out.

Another chapter down! I originally planned on getting more into the Guardian Civil War in this chapter, but the Naruto vs. Maso fight was longer than I originally thought it was going to be, thanks to his edo-tensei'esque sacrificial technique. A showdown is coming as Naruto and co are going to resume their journey to the Academy, where Itachi (and the Akatsuki) and Orochimaru (and his cursed seal army) are currently marching towards.

For the second chapter in a row, despite being worn down, Naruto was confident he was going to win. Then his confidence appeared to be for naught as he seemed to be about to die. It will be fun to see how this affects Sakura moving forward, as she has now seen first-hand that, no matter how strong a Guardian is, if they get worn down enough, they can be defeated.

Anywho, thanks for reading and please do review! Another chapter will be posted...sometime...in the future.

-ND

Speaking of reviews... review responses!

avengeme:Thanks for the kind words! And yeah, Naruto is a pretty big badass in this story. He doesn't need no stinkin' chakra!

tahkz01:Hahaha. Sorry if I make you go through the whole process again!

Those-carrots:Whelp...maybe a year helped you remember?

ahmadaziz: About that update before people forget what this fic is about... *cough* Naruto and Sakura's relationship is pretty well established atm, so there won't be a lot of cute moments between the two of them right now as things devolve with the Guardian Civil War. But eventually they'll get back to cute, fluffy things. As for Strength... I'm so close to finishing it, I really should just wrap it up, eh?

The Keeper of Worlds:Thanks!

Darious Frost: Glad you enjoyed the fight! These fights have been a lot of fun, because up until this point, Naruto has been portrayed as such a powerful badass in this story, that the reader really has no reason to think he's at risk of having the typical guardian's fate befall him. But these fights show that he can get worn down just like anyone else.

Konoha's Crimson Fox:Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully you didn't forget in the "short" time since my last update! *cough*

sortofbored: Appreciate the kind words!

.love: Thanks for the kind words, and apologies on the extreme delay on the update!

1Fanfanatick:Haha, hopefully you remained hooked after actually reading the story =P

prithi 666: Thank you for all the kind reviews. They were much appreciated!

titanoffate: Ain't nobody wants a tadpole to get thrown up in here! Thanks for the kind words.

The Whirlwind Jinchuriki:I have no comment on Tobirama. As for Kakashi - I plan on bringing him in on a later arc, but it might get scrapped seeing as how long it takes me to update this story. As for other members of Naruto's generation, we'll start seeing more of them once we get through this whole Civil War mess.

Shadowwitch042190: Tsunade is Jiraiya's first celesti! He was originally a teacher at the academy (it's how he knows Naruto's father so well). Jiraiya caught wind of Orochimaru's experiments (who was still an academy teacher at the time), but he couldn't prove anything so the council didn't believe him. Thinking he was just trying to stir up trouble, the Council punished him by stripping him of his academy job and turning him into a guardian. As an act of mercy, however, they assigned him an older celesti (Tsunade) who would be much less likely to be actively hunted at this stage of her life.

Zero-Tails317: Indeed!

Sensuto:Glad you like it! And never abandoned - just a super slow update. I know exactly how this fic is going to end - just gotta get there!

Refraction of Light: Hah. So I "slightly" missed the year. Jinchuriki's aren't a thing in this universe. If a tailed beast makes an appearance (which depending on what story arcs I don't scrap, it's a possibility), it will just be as a big bad monster. Killer B will not be in this story - he's just way too frickin hard to write for me to ever include. Rhyming takes way too much effort. Thanks for all the kind words and thought out comment!

St3rfire: Thanks - I wrote more!

Guest: Not rude at all, and I can completely understand. At this point in the story, Sakura can do little more than just be the damsel in distress. Of course, given her status, we have a good idea that she will end the story on a badass note. But right now, she can't do much beyond grumble over her lot in life as a burden and heal Naruto. That's one of the main reasons I wanted to give her Naruto's determination in this story. Adds a little something something to her that makes her something more than just a typical damsel in distress. As hinted at the end of this chapter, however, we're going to see Sakura change a little bit.

Starcalista: Thanks - I did indeed continue!