"Man you suck, if you performed like that you'd be booed right off the stage." The dark skinned man said to his counterpart who was on the ground.

Naruto pulled himself off the ground glaring at the man who looked on at him not impressed with his performances.

"Gotta say foxy," Killer B, the brother of The Raikage and the vessel of the Ox said to him. "How did you put the hurt on that Pein guy if this is all you got?" He asked Naruto who stood across from him.

Naruto was with him at the place he had told him to meet him, which turned out to be an island on the back of a giant turtle. He had spent the past time here training with him so to help him get better control but thus far, Naruto hadn't improved at all with the training. He was having trouble connecting with the fox as nothing was going right.

"Let's continue," Naruto said ignoring him.

"Uh uh," B responded to him. "There's no point in doing this now, this is just wasting our time. You've gained nothing at all since we started."

"If that's the case, then thanks for inviting me here, but I'm going to head back to the mainland." Naruto said thinking this whole thing to be an utter pointless venture. He'd been better off training on his own than coming to this place.

B stopped him drawing one of his swords out to prevent him from going.

"Your heads either all up in the clouds or shoved straight up your rear, that's what holding you back man. Need to get that problem fixed or else this is a waste of time and the only thing worth staying here for is some bear jerky ya dig?"

"So you're a ninja, a rapper, and part time shrink. What job don't do you do?" Naruto dryly asked him.

"Enough spewin and talkin' its time to get serious. Come along fox," B said sheathing his sword and turned and walked away and Naruto reluctantly followed him. The two went and Naruto saw the giant bears that dwelled on this place but the beasts paid them no attention as he walked with him.

They walked for an half hour until B stopped and motioned for Naruto to look ahead. The teenager did and looking on saw a body of water before them.

"It's a pond." Naruto said looking on at it. Came all this way just for a simple pond.

"Bingo, but that just ain't no ordinary pond. It's very special." The Eight Tailed Jinchuurki said to him. "I went and put my foot in it myself when I was about your age or so." He said and Naruto looked on at him a bit dubious of his claims.

"Step in the center of it Fox, though I'm tellin' ya now. If you falter and aren't able to do it, you're gonna die." B told him his tone grim but Naruto made his choice.

Naruto walked and stepped foot in the water and made his way to the center. He stood there as the only sound was the ripples of the water.

"This is stupid," He muttered minutes later as nothing was happening. This was wasting his time, here he needed to train and all he was doing was getting himself wet for no reason. He turned his head to give B a dirty look thinking he had tricked him

Just as he got ready to get out he suddenly felt something pulling at his leg and the next thing he knew he was pulled under and disappeared without any sign of him.

B squatted down not paying any attention to his disappearance and pulled out a scrap of paper and pencil and tapped it against his cheek, thinking up what would be best.

Naruto found himself in an empty place. Looking on, he saw nothing around him. No sign of anything. The only thing there was an empty grey space all around him

"Where the heck am I?" He mumbled to himself looking on as he had no clue where he was.

"You who's mind is filled with rage, what is the reason for you coming here?" A voice said suddenly and Naruto looked all around trying to find out the source of where it was coming from but didn't see anyone around him for miles.

"I'm here to get training, so I can master my power." Naruto answered as he folded his arms across his chest.

"No," The voice said suddenly. "You are here because your mind is darkened and inner anger has consumed you. Recent events that has happened has consumed you and is on the verge of overwhelming you, if it happens you will never be able to find peace."

Naruto listened on to whoever it was that was talking, "If that's the case then show me how I'm suppose to keep it from consuming me then." He said in a dry tone.

"For that to happen, you must confront your demons that have engulfed you."

Naruto was expecting The Fox to appear but to his surprise, the Bijuu didn't show up. Instead a girl with pink hair and green eyes appeared in front of him.

"She is the source of your recent anger that has engulfed you is she not?" The being said as Sakura stood in front of him. Naruto gritted his teeth but didn't say anything in response. "I see that the two of you are both on the same path of despair. Standing on a thin edge of a knife, one step is all that would take to fall into it and never be able to recover." The being said to him as Sakura disappeared

"So then how do I keep myself from doing it then?" Naruto asked outloud.

"There are questions that you must answer." He was told and Naruto saw someone else standing in front of him.

It was Kakashi. "For what reason do you hold such an vendetta against her?" The being said speaking out of Kakashi's mouth with his voice.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "She killed our teammate, our best friend!" He answered

"If that's so, then why did she?"

"She…She did it to save me. She says she did for that reason but a whole lot of good its done for us." He told the voice who then shifted and changed into Tsunade.

"Sasuke sought to kill everyone in Konoha, for believing that they took joy in his Clan's demise and were laughing at him. What has anyone in Konoha ever done to deserve to be killed by him? Who there wronged or slighted him before?

"Danzo did!"

"And he was slain in the end, but Sasuke decided it was not enough and vowed to kill them all. Would you have let him kill me as well?" She asked before changing into Iruka Umino. "Or me?" The Chunin asked before changing into Teuchi and his Daughter. "Or us?"

"No! I wouldn't have let him kill anyone in Konoha!" Naruto protested as the being then changed into Gaara.

"And yet you refused to fight him." He was told. "Numerous times you encountered him and numerous times he attacked you with no hesitation. What were you going to do when he came to Konoha intent on slaughtering its inhabitants?"

"I would've stopped him!"

"Like beforehand?"

The image then changed into Yamato. "At Orochimaru's base in Grass, who refused to fight against Sasuke?" The ninja demanded to know.

"I didn't know his strength or abilities at that time, it was my first time seeing him in years!" Naruto protested recalling it. "I, I couldn't bring myself to fight him."

"Why not?"

"Because he was my friend that's why!"

"Even though he attempted to kill you there with no remorse?"

The image to his surprise then turned into him, no not him, but his younger self, when he was but a rookie Genin.

"Who threw the fight against Sasuke in the Valley of The End?" His twelve year old self asked. "Who refused to counter his Chidori and instead decided to aim at his hitai-ate knowing what was gonna happen when you did it?"

"I…I…I did!" Naruto shouted angrily. "I threw it, I let him win that!"

"Why did you?" The younger self asked.

"I, I would've killed him! If I had used my Rasengan against his Chidori back there than I would've killed him! I was in a no win situation there!" Naruto said as he thought back to all that had happened as the image then turned into Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Sometimes I'm afraid there's no happy scenario in life no matter what you chose to do. There are things in life you cannot ignore no matter how hard you wish that it doesn't exist." The Third Hokage said to him before vanishing.

"There was another way!"

"Was there? Was there truly another way? What could it have been that you would've done?"

"I…I…" Naruto stuttered trying to think of an answer. "I don't know, I couldn't think of anything to stop him. I just thought if he came back and saw everyplace we used to hang out and been to together he'd stay with us."

"So you admit then that there was no other way to stop him?"

"I did everything I could!" Naruto shouted at the being. "Every time I trained, every action and choice I made these past years, I did what I thought was best for everyone! So that the best outcome would be for everyone's sake!"

"And she did as well." The being said before transforming back into her as she stood in front of him. "Just as you did, she made the choice just as you did in which she believed would be the best outcome for it." The being said back in its own voice as Sakura stood silently before him. "Why do you continue to hate her so? Everything she has done, she did for you knowing what would likely happen when she killed him. The burden she placed upon you was going to kill you as she saw what was happening."

"I know!" Naruto said pain in his heart. "I know she did what she thought was best but…" His voice faltered as he looked down.

"Stop hating her and yourself over what has happened." The being said and Sakura put her hand on his cheek. "It's not her fault, it's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault for what happened. Life can be either happy or cruel at times." The being said to him and Sakura looked on at him sadness in her eyes. "Can't you see that the both of you have suffered enough? Why do the two of you continue to let your hearts' be shattered?" It said and Sakura began to fade away. Naruto reached out to grab her but his hands went through her body as Sakura looked on saying nothing as she disappeared forever

"What if the positions were reversed?" The being asked and Naruto saw himself back in Iron, he was looking on as the memory played out before him but instead Sasuke was preparing to kill Sakura with his Chidori. Sakura was standing there looking on ready to take the blow as she wasn't defending herself in anyway. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he saw what was gonna happen. He went to stop him but his body wasn't moving as Sasuke prepared to charge at her.

Only for a different him to appear and blast Sasuke from behind with a Rasengan, blowing a hole through his body and killing him before he could unleash his attack. Sakura screamed out loudly at what she saw as Sasuke died by the other Naruto's own hands who looked on with remorse but saw no other choice in what to do.

"If things had gone differently, if you had killed him instead back there, would you want Sakura to hate you forever?" The being asked as Naruto found himself back in the empty place. "Would you want her to never speak to you again and refuse to accept anything you said about what needed to be done? Would you have let what's happened to you two still happen if that had happened instead?"

"No, I, I wouldn't want her to hate me." Naruto said looking on as he saw again the positions reversed with Sakura standing before Sasuke's headstone having died by his hands and him looking on from afar at the sight. "I'd never, ever want her to hate me." He said solemnly as he looked on as he slowly realized what he had put Sakura through with how he had acted.

All this time he had lashed out against her, refusing to even listen to a word she said. More concerned with how his feelings were hurt than what she was going through. This whole mess started back at Sasuke's grave when he had yelled at her. He had shoved her away back there when she had tried to talk to him forcing her to do the same to him as he was acting the same way she had accused him of.

If neither had done it, if he hadn't had that outburst leading her to yell back at him, than maybe they wouldn't be in this situation. They would have eventually accepted what happened despite the pain they were in from it and instead of being like this, they would have begun to heal.

"I've made mistakes in how I've handled things. I have to face the consequences of what I was doing. Sasuke, Sasuke crossed the line when he vowed to kill everyone in Konoha! There are things you can't let people do no matter how much of a friend they were once before. I didn't want to see it, I know everyone including me wanted him to come back so we could be whole again, but Sasuke didn't want to come back as he was harming innocents! He'll always be one of my precious people but I can't overlook the things he did any longer. I can't let my anger of what's happened control what I do from here on out! Sakura isn't a murderer!"

A glow surrounded the place as Naruto looked on.

"You may go back now." The being said to him as Naruto was engulfed by the glowing light.

Naruto emerged from the pond soaking wet as he coughed up water his arms flailing as he swam to the shore and pulled himself out.

"Looks like ya done it Fox." B said as he was writing down lyrics on a sheet of paper the whole time while waiting for him "So, now your mind is clearer than a nice dream yeah?" He asked him

"Yeah, I'm ready now." Naruto said as his voice and tone had changed as he was finding peace with what had happened. "It hurts, Sasuke's passing hurts a lot and I know it'll likely stay within me for a long time as I'll always remember the good days and time we had with him. She's thinking the same way as well. But I can't let it just consume me like its been as well as staying angry at Sakura for what she did. I…I understand now why she had done what she did back at Iron. We both held out on the faintest of hopes that Sasuke would come around but she saw it before I did or was refusing to see it. She regrets what she had to do I know she does, but she was right, she didn't ever have any intention of harming me. I was just being so angry at her and refusing to see it. I'll never forget our time together as Team 7 but I cannot allow that to overlook everything else that has happened. If our positions had been reversed, I'd want her and Sasuke to stop me before I wound up hurting someone who didn't deserve to be hurt."

"Good, now then let's get to work and see if Ol' Nine Tails is in the mood to cooperate with you ya?"

Naruto went with him now ready after having finally found peace with all that had happened.

A coffin was shown standing upright, on its side were numerous other coffins as well and they had been opened or broken out of. It was the sole one that was still closed amongst them.

The lid of the coffin opened slowly with a creaking sound and out stepped its occupant, stepping foot onto the ground. Looking on he realized that he was amongst the living again and could easily guess the reason why he was no longer dead.

He brought a hand up to his face and looked on before clenching it tightly as he recalled what had happened, his untimely demise as he remembered the piercing sting of the kunai into his back.

He remembered it all, charging his attack, after having avenged the first of his clan's murderers and was preparing to dispose of the last remnant that would hold him back as he would remove any lingering sentiments or threads that would potentially stop him. Only to be cut down and his revenge thwarted by the one person he never expected would interfere. But he had learned from that and would never ever allow that to happen again now that he was alive once more.

"Sakura…you killed me back there." The ninja said as his eyes then turned red knowing who had done it and was responsible for his passing. "Allow me to return the favor the next time we meet." Sasuke Uchiha, having been resurrected from the dead said vowing to kill her first.