*A year later and there's an update, amazing right?

In His Own Right:

Chapter 26:

War was like acid. Like a corrosive agent even, gnawing away at shinobi kind like chalk in a bowl of bleach. It was scary, it was infuriating. It was saddening and simply terrible.

Arguably the most powerful shinobi alive were all gathered together and not one of them –including herself- could do anything to stop the man before them. She found her heart shifting in her chest, like a lost key in a washer machine.

His presence was intense, yet he seemed so relaxed. Everyone else in the room, on the other hand, was on edge. The room was silent, as all eyes were on Tobi. His one visible eye glowed a glorious red.

His chest heaved, everyone watched in a stupor and the self-proclaimed Akatsuki leader began to laugh.

"This is humorous to you?" The Raikage's fists were, as he squeezed until blood fell from his hands.

Tobi didn't cease. The goofy foolish persona that he'd fooled everyone into believing came out, as he exaggeratedly slapped his knee. Then, he stopped fixed his posture and stared directly beside her.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

...

"You have until sunset on... Thursday." He pointed his finger at Naruto.

Izumi raised her head, her Mangekyo revealed. He didn't even gaze in her direction.

"Three days from now?" The Mizukage howled.

"On Thursday. My forces will be unleashed upon the world. And I will have what I desire..."

There was nothing more to be said, nothing more could be said. The man disappeared in a convoluted swirl, leaving the leaders to marinate in his declaration.

That's when she turned to Naruto, finding the young Jounin's eyes staring heavily at the empty space Tobi had only seconds ago occupied. His eyes were like electricity, intense and concentrated, yet lost somehow.

She touched his shoulder causing him to turn immediately. With light-speed she grabbed him pulling him into a tight embrace, consuming his warmth and rubbing his hair. This is what he needed.

"My fellow Shinobi and Samurai. As surprising as it sounds, this is real. You heard it! The fourth great shinobi war begins in three days and we must prepare immediately! Every second is drastic—every moment matters. We must gather our troops, all able body ninja to combat this great evil. For more than shinobi kind my friends!" Gaara shouted this.

"Yes. Let us join together...under unfortunate circumstances. But together, unified as one. As the Allied Shinobi Force! We will not allow these tyrants to destroy what our predecessors established many many moons ago" Onoki said enforcing Gaara's statement with a nod.

They continued their speech, but Izumi completely zoned them out. The blonde lightly grabbed her waist before looking into his eyes. "I don't want you to feel guilty."

Air passed through the gaps in his teeth. "I don't. Well, I don't think I do. I—Nobody needs to die for me, no one should lose their life protecting me. I'm gonna beat the snot outta that dude… and I should've while he was still standing there."

"You would have gone through him."

"I could've tried though, now look at this mess."

"The results would be the same, or worse."

They released one another, honing back in on the leaders and other fellow ninja. And although the circumstances were a convoluted collection of horrible...circumstances, although they were in the beginnings of a blooming war, they were together and they had each other. No matter what happened, she would protect him, even if she had to kill this self-proclaimed Madara Uchiha herself.

"He must be very confident if he thinks his more than half broken gang of missing-nin can take on the combined strength of all six of us." The Raikage was eternally flexing his muscles.

"I find it hard to believe that, that man is Madara Uchiha."

Izumi agreed with the Mizukage's words. Madara Uchiha would be years beyond his prime if he had somehow survived his battle with the First Hokage. However... "We should be cautious Madara or not, his power isn't something to underestimate."

"Of course."

"So, what now?" Naruto stepped forward his body immediately being consumed by ember, the power of the Kyuubi manifesting itself on him and changing the color of his body. Kyuubi mode is what it was called. The airburst and the entirety of the summit all eyed the Jinchuriki. "I'll do whatever it takes to end this war before it even gets the chance to throw the world into—into chaos!"

What was this? This feeling. This energy-burning within her. Every cell in her body jumped simultaneously, as she felt her body shiver. No, it wasn't fear. No, it wasn't the smoldering reality that this very well may be the end of shinobi kind. It was this feeling, a feeling she was sure that all present parties felt. The will of fire?

No.

This time it was more.

It was all the elements coming together, synchronizing as one, one powerful optimum force. No one present was afraid anymore.

"There's no time to waste. We must return home and make preparations. We'll stay in contact."

"My, my. Who would think that I'd find you here?"

Scales and a hood was all he could describe. Despite the transformation...well, obvious physical differences, Kisame could easily pick out certain familiar features. "I'm sorry, where are my manners. We haven't quite met before. The names Kisame." Teeth pressed together.

Orochimaru's former apprentice smiled in return, his smile similar to the other snakes.

"Kisame, I've heard... much about you."

"I'm flattered. Now, what business do you have here, and how did you find us?" The blue missing-nin lowered his sword, the weapon splitting rock and sending dust airborne.

"My business is with the masked man. He goes by Madara Uchiha nowadays."

"Ohh? Madara isn't home right now. You can check by later...unless…"

"Oh, no. I'm not here for a fight, actually I'm here to join you guys."

Intriguingly, Kisame rose an eyebrow. "Really? Pray tell why?"

"Oh, I have my reasons—my own interests. And considering that you guys are without numbers."

That's what he thought. "Oh, we have numbers. Plenty— more than you can phantom."

"Really?" He scratched his head. "And here I thought I would be of use, huh."

"Feel free to stay 'til the big boss arrives. However…" he allowed his razor-sharp teeth to show. "If you try anything stupid...I will. Kill you."

It was Tuesday. They had returned home in record time.

Tsunade had yet to wake. The village fell further into a panic when the revelation of war met its gates. Security measures and increased construction took place in the literal hours after the declaration of war. The Five Daimyo had approved of the allied shinobi alliance. It was like a snowball down a steep slope.

Businesses had been ruined and the economy ravaged. To say that they'd be in debt after all of this was an understatement...if they made it through all of this, that was.

Block! Clang!

Izumi swiped a small tri pronged kunai from Naruto's hand, before shoving a steel-reinforced kick to his chest. All of this was performed in one move. The back of his head hit the grass and his face met nothing but a cold blade.

"I win."

Naruto grumbled and muttered something about Sharingan. "I'm still up 5-4."

"Hm." She put out her hand for him to grab.

"Admit it, I'm out playing you." He grabbed it and she pulled him to his feet.

"I'll admit that you're particularly... lucky."

He frowned and Izumi smiled. There was a pause between the two, and that's when she let go of his hand.

There was something she wanted to say. But the formula of words just didn't roll of her tongue.

"There's a lot of pressure."

"I know. Trust me, I feel it too."

"I'm the hero of Konoha, son of the fourth and Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. It's like this war and everything that it's for is because of me."

She glared. "None of that is your fault. You had no control over the Kyuubi being sealed within you. You were but an infant."

"People are going to die because of me."

She bit her tongue. "No, that's not the case in any shape or form."

"I'm gonna defeat, Madara. Leave it all to me. I'm gonna save the world, and put a stop to the Akatsuki!"

He wanted to do everything himself. There was so much pressure because he was placing pressure on himself. She shook her head.

"Naruto… we're all here to help. Everyone. You heard all the Kage. We're in this together. You have the entirety of shinobi and samurai world reinforcing you." She gave a reassuring eye grin. "You have me."

"I know ... and that's another reason I'm scared."

She didn't need to ask why. "You don't need to be worried about me. You worry about rearranging every Akatsuki member's face and nothing more." The Uchiha heiress laughed, her attempt at making light of what was possibly the worst collection of circumstances. She knew the ending results, war had been apart of her earliest days on Earth. She had always hated it too.

"What if I lose you. Or Sakura?..or Sasuke... Kakashi-sensei...Ero-sensei? Baa-chan's already not doing good, I don't think I'd be able to bare losing her—or anyone..." He looked to the side, his eyes not facing her. "You've all done so much good—so many good things for the world, just for some asshole to come and—and…."

"No, don't think so negatively. And even so, we as shinobi should feel honored to give our lives in the line of duty. There's so much going on, so many things that have to be completed, and a great quantity of them have to be completed in a small sum of time. I don't want you to overthink any of these things. There's one thing about us Konoha shinobi...we're stubborn...we don't die so easily."

"I know—I know these things— it's just...different. It'd be different if it were me. If I die, I go out protecting my friend. But, if I were left alone without you guys in the aftermath…" he realigned his gaze with her's. "Izumi-chan, promise me something."

She didn't respond, and he grabbed her by the waist.

"When we win, promise that you'll come back in one piece. Promise that you won't die..."

She placed her hands across his face, feeling the

delicate and seemingly chiseled facial features. Oh, he still had a scar from his battle with Pain on the side of his face. He pulled her close, his warmth radiating over her entire being. Battle-hardened hands glossed over her face, her body shivered like a rabbit caught in a blizzard. He cupped her cheek and stared directly into her eyes. The black-haired Uchiha sighed.

"Without a doubt." Izumi's eyes brightened as she swiftly went into her pocket, grabbing the small button pin. They created space. "I still have your gift. I've kept it rather safe and particularly clean. I don't wear it much in fear of getting dirt on it." Pale hands held out the button pin with an Uchiha insignia.

"What're... you doing?"

"I'm giving it to you."

"Why?"

"You wish for me to come back in one piece. I want the same thing in return. You must come back alive Naruto...and when you do, you'll give that gift back."

One head scratch later and Naruto was sighing. "Sure, yeah I'm game. I accept!" He took his gift back, examining it with huge blue eyes. "I'll keep it clean and unscathed, yeah! It'll come back as if it's never been through battle!."

The clouds were white, and their bodies were so close. Her heart jumped like a jackrabbit caught in a cage with a coyote. It was spectacular that this person could raise her anxiety to levels that not even dangerous...tyrannical villains could. This… Naruto Uzumaki just smiled like a goofy chipmunk hanging off a tree branch. And this goofiness made her face flush and heat up. Oh, how she felt so out of character.

"So, um—"

Before she even knew it, her lips fell onto his. Her tongue plunged in like an anchor spiraling into the deep ocean. His response? Wrapping her tongue with his own. She allowed a small whimper to escape. Warmth, comfort, and stress all lifted at once. Izumi felt as the blond ninja grabbed at her backside, caressing it and causing even more noises to spill from her mouth. Naruto leaned forward and they fell into the grass, him grasping at her like a hungry animal. It was all euphoria. Their lips locked, saliva dripping and their bodies ever so close. That's when they separated, a small wire of saliva splitting as they pulled away from each other. It slid down the side of her face, her own charcoal hair laid splattered. It stuck to her moist face like a wet piece of paper.

She breathed slowly. Her heart was running a marathon, but she surprisingly felt calm.

He was on top of her, his chest resting neatly on her own. Both slowly rising and falling His breath came out in waves of peppermint. No ramen? Their faces were long hair lengths away from one another.

If they could stay together, like this for the rest of eternity you know, Izumi wouldn't complain.

There was a shift in the wind, Naruto removed himself from her persona and inconspicuously laid beside her. She just stared at him dumbly as two figures landed beside her.

"Oh, Ino...Sakura-chan. What's up?"

Such bad timing on their part. She sighed and sucked it up.

Sakura's lip curled Izumi watched her curiously. "What's up? You've been back an entire day and you don't even have the courtesy to say hi?" She stomped on the ground and Izumi could've sworn the Earth shook.

"Uh… yeah sorry 'bout that, you guys were just so busy with the injured—"

"C'mon Sakura, Naruto has a girlfriend now, can't you see that you're no longer a priority."

Sakura growled.

Izumi looked back and forth between the three parties. This was little to none of her business, her own presence rather trivial in this matter if you asked her.

"No that's not it at all—"

The elite medic ninja turned to Ino. "I know that already! Don't have to tell me, I just think it's rude to be here for an entire day and not say anything. Maybe I was worried… maybe I'm still worried. There's a damn war starting and I have yet to even find Sasuke."

Izumi felt her hand twitch and she sat up slowly. "He's still...displeased then?"

All eyes fell to the Uchiha. "He...isn't himself."

"Ah."

"But, I'm sure he'll be okay. He just has a lot on his mind."

"A trivial matter at the moment."

"Right, we're at war!" Shisui added. Where had he come from? Ino jolted away at the sight of him. "We have more important matters to think about. Like...how are Izumi and I gonnato kill this Madara fella."

"Shisui?" Ino spat.

Sakura just palmed her face.

"What's up blonde. You know… you should've let me take you on that dinner the village was destroyed and all." He shrugged.

"I don't go on dates with assholes...not anymore at least."

He shrugged again, before taking a seat besides Izumi. "Whatever… I'm just sayin'...it may be our last week and you still wanna act like a stuck up little bi—"

For the life of her she couldn't quite comprehend what was wrong with her favorite cousin.

"Cousin, do not antagonize Yamanaka-san. No isn't a hard concept to understand."

The long haired blonde wanted war though. "No! What was that? I wanna hear what you were gonna say!"

He let out a heavy sigh.

Sakura tilted her head. "You don't think that Madara guy can take on the entire continent?" Thank Kami she successfully changed the subject.

"If he's as strong as they say—almost equal to the First that is, then hell yeah he can! That's why y'all leave him to us." He pointed between himself and Izumi.

"Hey, I pretty strong too. Actually, I bet I'm stronger than yo—OW!" A rock pricked the back of Naruto's head, Izumi raised an eyebrow while Sakura and Ino just looked on perplexed.

Shisui simply whistled as he lazily grabbed at loose grass. There was a pause, then the spiky-haired Uchiha spoke. "Izumi or I would've dodged that."

The blond shot up to his feet. "Shut up, ya bastard. How about we go at it, right here and right now!"

Shisui put his hands behind his head. "You don't want it."

"I'll pulverize ya!"

"Psst. I don't wanna embarrass you."

"Who's the hero again?!"

Her cousin rolled his eyes. "Okay… you can join our mission to kill Madara. Even though you're kinda the prize he's after...actually this works out perfectly."

Mission? The Anbu captain frowned. "Why am I just now hearing about this?" That was perfect because what, now? "We are not using Naruto as bait."

"Oh, it isn't really an official mission. Not 'til I get permission from Kakashi-sama that is. And that's where you come in!"

"Naruto is not being used as bait." She repeated.

He raised his hands. "Okay, okay. We won't use Naruto as bait."

"If it helps the war effort, I'm fine with being bai—"

"That's fucked up if you were gonna do that Uchiha-san," Sakura commented.

No one but Izumi seemed to be paying attention to Naruto. He let his head drop like a weeping willow.

Ino crossed her arms and agreed silently. "Sounds like a death wish. Fighting someone who the textbooks consider nearly undefeatable."

"We'll need a medic or two also." It was just a weird cycle of everyone hearing only what they want.

"Uhh, I'm not sure that would be the best course of action. There's an entire army's worth of inexperienced medic ninja who may need my help."

Shisui stood to his feet and stretched along with a grin of determination. There was a quick breeze, splashing grass and leaves into the air and whistling across the beautiful landscape.

"From this point on...We. Are….The Madara Murder Force." The wind blew again, as Shisui posed with his hand in the air.

Shisui definitely wasn't listening to everyone.

"I never agreed to any of that… did you Pig?"

"Nope, not an ounce of it."

Shisui slowly joined Naruto, his head falling like a tree with a split branch.

That's when Izumi brought herself to her feet and fixed her long and messy hair.

"For what it's worth cousin, I do believe that killing the leader of the Akatsuki is the most effective way of ending the war. I'm in."

"Hey, it's not that I think it isn't a good idea. I just—A lot of people are gonna die, and... I need to help them." Emerald eyes dropped to the ground. "We lost the greatest medical ninja in the world when she went in that coma, and we don't know when she'll come back."

Ah, Tsunade-sama. It made sense, the student usually did follow in the master's footsteps. Building upon what the teacher had originally left off or begun. In this instance, Sakura wanted to make up for the absence of the most powerful healer in the world.

"Think of the lives that will be saved if we eliminate him before the war even gets to reach a climax. Think Sakura." Shisui said.

"I— I'm—"

"I'm in," Ino said with a smirk. "I don't think I can do much in the fight, but I do have some medical skills. I'll keep y'all on your feet."

"Everyone is significant in battle," Izumi informed.

"And you bet I'm in. If I get to beat the living shit out if that dude Madara, then I'm all for it!" Naruto was done moping

"That's everyone but you Sakura… are you in or…"

The pink-haired girl shook her head and blew somehow air. The female Uchiha already knew the answer before the words left the Pinket's mouth. "You guys…only if Kakashi-sensei approves of it!"

"Great!" Shisui swiped his Katana from out of its sheath and then held it towards the sky. "From this moment on..., we are, Shisui and his amazing friends!" The wind blew again, as if on a queue.

Whatever it took meant to keep the village safe and preserve the way of shinobi.

*Wow, it's actually incredibly amazing going back and reading through all these reviews. I'm like, really fucking surprised that so many of you are intrigued by this piece. I'm so sorry that sometimes I don't deliver and my writing can be very repetitive and the humor is corny...OH and also that my grammar is absolute shit. I appreciate the love and criticism that I've received.

*Thank you for the reviews, I wanna hear some advice and if you guys have story ideas or ideas for this story, please feel free to message me.

"Loving the fic so far, your own interpretations of the non-massacre world as well as implementing female Itachi has been executed very well.
25 chapters deep and my only disappointment in the story is that there aren't any more chapters!
I cannot stress how much I loved reading this fic even if I read it in four days (With school and work in between). Much love from me and I hope that you continue to write!" ~ DeceitfulFox

*This was the review that really reminded me that this fic NEEDs to be updated. Thanks a lot, the next step is to finish Act III!