We are here...at the End.

The end of a decade. Two decades actually.

Naruto: And yet you have not accomplished anything in your life.

Juubi: What are you doing here?! And you take that back! I have accomplished a lot of things!

Naruto: Name one!

Juubi: I created a Collective Reading story, which inspired many authors to do the same, creating branched out Reading Universes. I ALSO created the copyrighted "Juubi-verse", establishing various alternate versions of YOU as kickass cool models. AND I also have, read it, FOUR stories that have over 1 THOUSAND favorites, with one being FOUR THOUSAND! So HAH!

Naruto: ...Okay fine. You're right.

Juubi: Good. Now, why are you here?

Naruto: Well, not only is it the end of a decade, but this story not only has reached 40 Chapters, but I just looked up the states, and out of ALL your stories, this one has 1,060,640 views!

Juubi: Holy shit! That means NOTHING compared to the favorites!

Naruto: I know! I just wanted to say that!

Juubi: Whatever. Anyway, yeah! Happy 40th chapter everyone! Never thought I would ever achieve something like this!

Naruto: Well, reading stories are technically easier compared to others.

Juubi: True. Speaking of my other stories, announcement! Throughout 2020, and beyond, I will start working on the other stories I want to do. Hopefully, one should be out by now. At best two. 2020, big plans in mind.

Naruto: Does that include updating Juudo?

Juubi: I'LL GET TO IT...eventually….Shut up!

Naruto: Whatever, let's just get on with the story.

Juubi: Speaking of which, which Naruto are you?

Naruto: Wouldn't you like to know!

Juubi: ...Yeah, that's why I'm asking.

Naruto: On with the story!

Juubi: Son of a-

Disclaimer: Juubi owns Naruto (Juubi-verse) but not the original one.

Support my work!

Note: January 1st is my buddy The Sith'ari's birthday. He asked me to do a story here for him, but...it may have to come later.

Sorry Sith! But I need my rest.

So everyone be a dear, head to his profile, and either through story or PM absolutely BURY that man (or girl, I don't think I ever asked) in "Happy Birthday" wishes. Bury them so much, they curse me. XD

P/S. It will be the LAST Birthday request I take. NO MORE!

I can't keep doing them, guys! I have a plot to keep!

World 5 Scene 6: Return of the Duke Wolf (Pre-Break off)

Sasuke glared at Shin as he crossed his arms, finally free from his chains.

"Don't pout, Sasuke-chan." He teased, getting a heavy glare from the Uchiha. "We're almost done with this world. Once it's done you can go pout and question your gender as much as you want."

"I'M NOT A GIRL!"

"Sure sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Shin waved him off as he started the scene.

Deidara and Sasori arrived at the Akatsuki base in the Land of Rivers, the former of whom more than a little annoyed since his fight with the Ichibi Jinchuuriki cost him most of his clay and left arm had been crushed leaving it useless. With both Akatsuki member was a giant clay bird Deidara created to carry the unconscious body of Gaara.

"Gaara?!" Naruto shouted, shocked to see the state his friend's alternate was in as he was held in the strange white bird thing. He glared at the two Akatsuki members, gritting his teeth in anger. "Those bastards!"

Tsunade also glared. "So they captured the first container." She muttered, having been told by Jiraiya of the Suna-Sound invasion, so she knew the kid was the JInchuuriki of the Ichibi, as well as Naruto's former enemy, now friend.

"They're making their move." Jiraiya muttered, crossing his arms. From what was seen last scene, the Akatsuki divided into groups and went out to capture the Jinchuuriki one by one. It also looked like they went out in partners.

Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki

Sasori the Red Sand formerly from Suna and Deidara the "Mad Bomber" formerly from Iwa

He also had to guess Nagato/"Yariko" and Konan were also a team.

Finally, the mentioned Kakuzu and Hidan, who he had a feeling was the same Kakuzu who had fought the First Hokage decades ago, and Hidan the insane 'Jashin' cultist. However, it seemed that those two had been killed.

And he had a feeling he knew who was the one to do it.

Entering the cave where they saw Pein's projection already waiting for them.

"Mission accomplished Leader-sama, the Ichibi Jinchuuriki has been captured and ready for extraction." Deidara said, Pein nodding once in approval.

"Extraction?" Naruto muttered, frowning, worried for A-Gaara.

"Extraction of the biju." Shin stated, watching the scene calmly. "The Akatsuki's plan require the biju, which are sealed inside of containers. As such, they are required to extract the beasts out. However, doing so kills the container."

"What?!"

"Are you serious?!" Naruto shouted at him, eyes wide. He quickly turned back to the scene, his hands clenching, shaking. "Gaara..."

Haku placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto-kun..." She muttered, frowning as worry gripped her.

"Well done we will perform the sealing immediately." Said Pein wanting to get the sealing started immediately especially since with Kakuzu, Hidan, and Zetsu no longer present it will take even longer than the three days it'd normally take to seal the Tailed Beast.

'No matter, our plan will be completed and any who stand in our will know true pain.' Pein thought summoning the Gedo Mazo and the other Akatsuki members.

"Nagato...what happened to you?" Jiraiya muttered sadly, staring at the body of his old student Yahiko, possessed by another student with the power of his legendary eyes. 'Is it my fault? Would you be like this...if I had taken you three with me?'

It's time to perform the sealing.

*Konoha-Hokage's Office*

"The Kazekage has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki. I'm sending you three to assist Suna and bring him back." Tsunade said to the three standing before her and her sensei

Everyone sighed in relief. "With the time given, hopefully we/they should be able to save Gaara." Tsunade muttered, Shizune nodding in agreement as she held Tonton tightly in her arms.

The three being Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyuga. These three were chosen due to Kakashi's experience with the organization from when Kisame and Itachi infiltrated the village three years ago, Sakura due to being Tsunade's apprentice in Medical Ninjutsu, and Hinata with her Byakugan and mastery of the Gentle Fist.

"Tsunade-sama's apprentice? Me?" Sakura asked, surprised while Tsunade hummed. She'll admit, she has had the thought for sometime after looking at the girl's file.

'Let's see how the results look before making a decision.' The woman thought, smirking.

Looking at the three Tsunade and Hiruzen thoughts became more personal and how they have been the past three years since Naruto left and 'Sasuke' turned rogue. Kakashi and Sakura didn't truly care when they learned Naruto left, given their already low opinions of the boy. In fact, the only reason Sakura became Tsunade's apprentice and took the Kunoichi life seriously was so she can bring back her "precious Sasuke-kun".

Sakura flinched while Kakashi frowned at his counterpart, very disappointed at him...and by extension, himself. 'It's something when it is me going against my own oath. You, my other self...are worse than trash. I have no doubt our sensei is very disappointed in you.' He thought, glaring at the man who held his face.

Right then and there, Kakashi made another vow…

He would never become like his counterpart and abandon any of his students. Just as he would never allow Sasuke to abandon the village - his home - for Orochimaru.

'Oh, the poor deluded girl.' Tsunade though mentally smirking.

Her sensei had told the truth about the last Uchiha, that 'Sasuke' was really Satsuki and Tsunade couldn't deny she was eager to see her apprentice's reaction to the truth. She'll either have a mental breakdown that the object of her affection was in fact a girl or she'll come back stronger from it.

Surprising even herself, Sakura giggled. Even she could say the reaction would be hilarious. Hell, if her Sasuke with them actually did turn out to be female, she would laugh...then maybe faint. Hey, finding out your longtime crush was actually a girl would be very shocking news.

'It'd be like one of Naruto's pranks.'

Yeah, annoying as they were...she had to admit her teammate's pranks were hilarious as hell. Especially the one he pulled before their genin test.

Not that she would ever tell him. Wouldn't want to give him a big head..

Tsunade had only agreed to train Sakura was because it'd be foolish to leave the girl weak, or worse try learning Tsunade's techniques on her and end shattering her bones, better to make her a semi-competent kunoichi, she says semi given the girl was still obsessed with 'Sasuke', than leave her as she was. Though Tsunade did have to resist caving the girls head in the way she talked about her former teammate, of course after Sakura said such things Tsunade just happened to start a rather dangerous training session of throwing boulders at highspeed at the girl to break, Unfortunately Sakura couldn't break all the boulders and had to heal herself, either way it was good to either master her super strength or practice Medical Jutsu on the fly.

Sakura paled, while Tsunade hummed. It seemed like an appropriate punishment, given that Tsunade hated fangirls. Sadly, it seemed that the girl (A-Sakura) did not learn her lesson and was still a fangirl. A shame. 'Still,' She thought, glancing at the nervous Sakura. 'I'll have to keep my eye on her to see if she's worth my time.'

Girl better not be the same as her counterpart, or swear to Kami...

Kakashi meanwhile only filled both the Godaime and former Sandaime with disappointment and anger. While they understood his reasons for focusing on Satsuki, given the need to keep her identity a secret, that didn't mean he couldn't have just created a clone to focus on Naruto and Sakura with their training, instead he did no such thing. In fact, they learned Kakashi only saw Sakura as a waste believing she had only even become a Genin due to her book smarts, other than that she never tried to train on her own. He believed that Sakura would return to being a love-struck fangirl as soon as 'Sasuke' was brought back that is until she learned the truth behind the Uchiha's identity. Once that happened, she'd either quit being a Kunoichi, seeing she had been pursuing someone who wasn't even real, or she'd go insane after learning that her crush doesn't exist.

One of the two.

Kakashi flinched from the heavy glares of both his student and Hokage. Sweating, he held his hands up. "Not me!"

As for his behavior to Naruto, that is what angered Tsunade and Sarutobi the most, as Kakashi just didn't like Naruto. He didn't like the reminder Naruto presented at losing both his sensei and his sister-figure, whether he overlooked that they'd be royally pissed at his treatment of their son or just didn't care, was anyone's guess. And like Sakura, Kakashi blamed Naruto for Satsuki's departure, seeing the former blonde as the reason he lost his prized student and last link to his teammate Obito.

Kakashi once more flinched, not only by the narration, and added glare from Jiraiya, but also the betrayed and struck look on Naruto's face. "NOT ME!" He shouted, hoping they believed him when he said he was nothing like his counterpart. In his mind, he cursed A-Kakashi to all nine levels of hell and eternal torment. "Worse than trash" didn't even describe him properly. He was worse than the most rotten of tards!

Now the third member of the team had impressed Tsunade and Hiruzen, along with many others, in the past three years. Out of everyone Hinata had taken Naruto's quitting as a shinobi and later departure the hardest. But rather than become a shell of herself she managed to pick the scattered pieces and come back stronger. She had devoted herself to her training and is now one of the strongest Kunoichi in Konoha and becoming a master of the Gentle Fist, becoming both a strong Kunoichi and a worthy Hyuga Clan Heir. Though it did raise some concern when she started training under Anko Mitarashi, and with good reason as no one wanted a second sadist running around. Thankfully Hinata's time with Anko didn't have her develop a sadistic streak of a fetish for blood, but she did take to wearing rather… provocative clothing, and if rumors are true, she's got nearly the entire Hyuga Clan terrified of her.

"Hell yeah! I got myself a student!" Anko cheered in excitement, while Kurenai turned white at the thought of her sweet and kind Hinata as a student of Anko. Just the thought of a grinning Hinata spinning around a kunai around her finger with snakes wrapped around her, made Kurenai mentally scream out in horror.

Discarding A-Kakashi's thoughts about his counterpart away, Naruto blinked in surprise. "Whoa, really?" He asked, turning to the equally surprised Hinata, smiling at her. "That's awesome, Hinata! You're other seems really cool!" He praised.

"EEP!"

Hinata's face slowly began to glow fierce red. "Me-e-e-e-e-ME?! A-A-A-Aw-Aw-Aweso-so-some?! Co-Co-Co-COOL?!" She stuttered like crazy, before her eyes rolled to the back of her head, falling backwards.

THUD!

"Hinata!"

"Oh crap!"

"HAHAHA! Kurenai! Let me take her under my wing! I'll fix her shyness no prob!"

"SO NOT THE TIME, ANKO!"

Naruto and Haku blinked at the knocked out girl, Naruto tilting his head to the side. "Nani?" He questioned, while Zabuza was busting a gut from laughing so hard.

'I am making that girl a dere...and I don't regret it one bit.' Shin thought, smirking as he looked at the unconscious, red faced Hyuuga. Oh how he enjoyed messing around with the characters' personalities and actions. He was allowed to do so, being an Author. He then cupped his chin, humming in thought. 'Now, what type of dere was the one where the person is mostly shy and nice, but can become scary when needed? Was it Yandere?'

"We'll set out immediately Hokage-sama." Kakashi said

"See that you do, we can't risk the Akatsuki extracting the Kazekage's Tailed Beast. Dismissed." Tsunade said, as the three left to prepare for their mission.

"Kazekage?!" Naruto shouted in surprise, turning away from the KO'ed Hinata - whose head was smoking for some reason - and back to the scene, gasping. He then grinned widely. "That's awesome! Gaara became the Kazekage...Oh man, I can't wait to tell him!"

"Gaara-san must be really strong for his village to pick him as their Kage." Haku commented.

Grinning, Naruto nodded. "Heck yeah he is, dattebayo! His sand armor is really strong and tough to get through!"

"YOSH! I agree!" Lee shouted, pumping a fist. "When I faced the youthful Gaara in the Chunin Exams, he was a tough and worthy opponent! I hope to have a rematch with him someday!"

"Lee! Remember that he damaged your body so hard you can't be a shinobi! There's no way you could fight him!" Tenten reminded him, glaring at her teammate for being so reckless with his desires.

"That may be true, but I trust in Lady Tsunade's ability and power to restore me back to full health!" Lee stated, grinning.

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her forehead. "The chances of a full success are still 55% right now. I need time before I can officially accept doing the surgery."

Lee gave her a thumbs up. "I believe you can do it, Tsunade-sama!"

Gai full heartedly agreed with his student. "That's the spirit, Lee! Soon, you'll be back to 100%! And we will celebrate with training!"

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING! AND DIDN'T I JUST SAY THE CHANCES OF THE SURGERY WORKING WERE 55%?! LISTEN, WILL YA!" Tsunade roared at them.

Haku looked at Naruto for an explanation. He sweatdropped, chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head. "Um...I'll tell ya later."

"Seems like a lot of things will need explaining." Haku commented, watching the legendary healer shout at the two green wearing shinobi.

"Sensei, hand me that scratcher please." Tsunade said once the three were out of the office.

Raising a brow at the request Sarutobi handed Tsunade one of the many scratch off cards she kept in her desk.

"Keep handing them to me." Said Tsunade as she went to work to see if any of the cards were good.

Still confused Hiruzen did as she asked and kept handing her cards as she kept seeing what they were. Eventually he had handed her twelves cards and Sarutobi realized what she was doing, knowing anytime Tsunade won something bad would happen soon, the more she won the worse it would be.

"Well?" Hiruzen asked

Rather than respond Tsunade held her face in her hands and shook her head while pushing the cards to her sensei.

"…That's not good." Hiruzen stated seeing the amount she just won

It'd be enough to but a small town with some to spare.

Zabuza raised a nonexistent brow, looking at Tsunade. Seeing the look, she explained. "I have terrible luck. I have never won at gambling in my life. If I ever did, it meant something bad was going to happen."

"You're basing off bad events on bad luck?" He asked, finding that weird.

Tsunade shrugged. "As shinobi, we take any signs of omens seriously, no matter how strange." She stated.

Zabuza had to agree with her on that. As a former member of Kiri's Seven Swordsmen, he knew even the group had their own form of superstition. Mostly it was the state of the weather when going to battle. If it rained, they would come out victorious. If it was clear, there was a chance they would die.

For shinobi, especially veterans, anything could be a sign of their upcoming death. Be it a clear sky, or winning the lottery.

"Tell the Anbu to be on high alert, same with the gate guards and all our forces out on patrol." Tsunade said, Hiruzen nodding knowing whatever is coming definitely isn't good.

*Timeskip-Two Days*

*With Naruto*

Seeing the appearance of his counterpart, Naruto paid close attention. Especially with Gaara being in Akatsuki's hands. He hoped his other will be able to save him in time.

Approaching the walls of Suna, Naruto frowned when he noticed the number of Ninja along with what looked to be damage to the walls and village from an attack.

"Be on guard, we don't know what happened here and it'd be better to be safe than sorry." Naruto told Kin and Tayuya, both nodding while ready to draw weapons at a moment's notice.

Though as they walked to the gates Naruto stopped as he felt four Chakra Signatures also approaching, all of which he recognized. One he knew was Temari and the other three were people he could have lived with never seeing again.

Even knowing the acceptable attitude towards their counterparts, Sakura and Kakashi still flinched, getting Naruto to apologize to them for his counterpart.

Kurenai shot Naruto a quick glare, before stopping, taking a deep breath. While she did not like A-Naruto's animosity towards A-Hinata, as the girl didn't deserve it, she will let it slide, labeling it as his animosity towards anyone from Konoha, not the individual. She turned back to trying to wake Hinata up.

'Fan-fucking-tastic.' Naruto thought annoyed as he turned to face the four.

"Naruto?" Temari said upon seeing the one who saved her brother accompanied by two girls.

"Temari." Greeted Naruto while feeling the eyes of both his former teammate and sensei glaring at him while the third member looked at him in shock.

Sensing the tension in the air Temari moved between the two groups with her arms held out.

"Alright I'm only saying this once, no fighting until I know both my brothers and village are safe, is that clear!" Temari said giving both groups glares daring them to try and contradict her.

"Well I can promise we won't try anything, I can't say the same for Hatake and Haruno. Now what's happened to Gaara?" Naruto asked worried about what happened to his friend.

"He's been taken by the Akatsuki. Kankuro tried going after them but was poisoned and is in critical condition." Temari answered having received a message on the way back to Suna of what's happened and is worried for her brothers.

Looking to Kin, Naruto nodded making the Uchiha step forward.

"Show me." Kin said

Temari looked at the girl warily now recognizing her and Tayuya as having worked with Orochimaru three years ago. Looking to Naruto she saw him nod making Temari sigh, if he trusted them then she could trust them as well, for now.

"I would be best for all of us to pay close attention. In the event this event occurs in our own future, it'd be advantageable to know everything so we can prepare ourselves." Tsunade instructed, getting nods from her shinobi as they all watched the scene.

Shin smirked. They were learning.

*Later*

Naruto leaned against the wall with Tayuya sitting next to him, while sitting away from him was Hatake, which was just fine for Naruto.

They were currently waiting as Kin and Sakura went about healing Kankuro of the poison he was injected with.

'Not many people outside of medics and puppeteers use poison. Considering this is also an unknown poison and the fact Gaara was captured means the Akatsuki members are Deidara the Mad Bomber and Sasori of the Red Sands. Deidara would have been the one to fight and capture Gaara, as there's no way Sasori could have as no matter how skilled a puppeteer he'd be he still wouldn't be fast enough to get past Gaara's sand. While Deidara is crazy enough to be unpredictable and either tire Gaara out or force him to lower his own defenses, like dropping a massive bomb on the village.' Naruto thought

Either both members specialize in long range combat, but he can't put off the chance they have ways to counter their own weaknesses. Deidara will also likely be weakened from his fight with Gaara, so they'll have to hurry before they have a chance to regain their strength or complete the sealing.

"So a puppeteer and an explosives expert." Kakashi stated.

"Both S-Rank, so that makes them deadly enough." Asuma said, with Kurenai nodding.

"Especially Sasori, as rumors had it that he possesses a hundred puppets, which he used to conquer a small nation during the Third War." Kakashi said, shocking everyone.

"Are you serious?" Kurenai asked, wide eyed. To be able to command a hundred puppets was insane, even amongst puppeteers.

"And Deidara, the Mad Bomber. His strongest bombs would live massive craters that stretched out for large distances. Practically impossible to escape." Gai commented.

The genin were shocked that such monsters could exist. And not even someone like Gaara could defeat one?

Shikamaru frowned. 'These Akatsuki guys are more troublesome than I thought.'

"N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eye snapped and looked at Hinata who had walked over and was now standing in front of him.

"Yes?" Said Naruto neutrally watching the girl fidget under his gaze.

"Naruto..." Kurenai growled dangerously, making Naruto flinch.

"Nai-chan, leave him alone. He's not like his other." Anko defended her target...I mean, fellow Konoha shinobi.

Kurenai crossed her arms, huffing, as Hinata sat up with a groan.

"Why did you leave Konoha?" Hinata asked since no one had figured just why Naruto had left, there were plenty of guesses but not an actual answer.

Hinata eeped, surprised her other was actually talking to A-Naruto. Her heart beated nervously.

Naruto looked at the girl considering just not answering, he had no obligation to answer any questions anyone from Konoha asked but shrugged not seeing the harm.

"I simply had no desire to remain in a village that clearly hated me. I had no friends there, the rest of our former classmates were acquaintances at best and my team made it no secret they considered me deadweight. So, I left to live my own life away from a village that either hates me or seeks to control me." Naruto answered honestly and neutrally since he didn't really have a problem with Hinata.

"Hey!"

"Dude! We're friends!" Kiba told Naruto.

Normally Naruto would immediately agree, but...the mysterious voice was messing with his head, and made a mess of his thoughts.

'Were they really friends?' He thought, frowning.

Him, not the voice. And for the first time...he was unsure.

Naruto's silence made everyone frowned at him in confusion

"I'm sorry." Said Hinata, Naruto looking at her with a raised brow

"For what? You did nothing to me." Naruto

"That's why I'm sorry, because I never did anything for you, because of my own shyness. I used to always cry and give up… I made many wrong turns… But you… You helped me find the right path… I always chased after you… I wanted to catch up to you… I wanted to walk beside you all the time… I just wanted to be with you… You changed me! Your smile is what saved me! Because… I love you…" Hinata finally admitted feeling like a weight had been lifted off her chest at getting her feelings out in the open

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Wait...what?" Naruto asked, eyes wide as he turned to the stunned Hinata, along with everyone else.

"..." Hinata blinked, looking back at everyone as they stared at her, before she turned her gaze to Naruto. "..." Her face has never been as red as it was now. Wordlessly, she fell back, once more fainting.

The room was silent, everyone staring at the unconscious girl wordlessly.

"...Yeah, she's not waking up anytime soon." Shin said, snapping everyone out of their thoughts.

Naruto was silent, still trying to comprehend what he just heard. "Hinata...loves me?" He muttered, completely stunned.

Haku frowned, humming as she stared at the girl on the ground.

"Wow...didn't see that coming." Anko muttered, with the shocked Kurenai nodding in agreement.

"On with the scene!" Shin announced, wanting everyone's attention back on the main focus..

'Are you fucking kidding me?!' Tayuya thought glaring at the Hyuga

She's already sharing with Kin, potentially the mystery girl they're also trying to find if she's still alive, there's no way she's sharing with another not unless they got her okay.

Naruto meanwhile kept a neutral expression but on the inside he was frowning in annoyance and even a little anger. The fact that she was only now confessing these feelings, when it's already far too late, and the fact he would have actually liked it if he'd had someone by his side growing up. Grunting Naruto rubbed his temple feeling another memory flash.

"We'll always be together." The girl said smiling at him.

Sasuke's eye twitched, but surprisingly stayed quiet. Mostly because he was tired of defending himself when no one would believe him.

Assholes

Willing the coming headache away Naruto looked to Hinata.

"Well thank you for revealing this Hinata, but I'm afraid I don't feel the same." Naruto said while he can understand her past shyness he just doesn't have romantic feelings for her

Though he was confused when she nodded in understanding.

"It's fine, I just wanted to let you know one day. Besides… I uh… actually… met someone." Said Hinata blushing at the admittance.

"Oh?" Ino said, grinning as she was not intrigued. "Never thought Hinata would turn her eyes on someone besides Naruto." She said with Sakura nodding.

"Ah… and who's the lucky guy if you don't mind me asking?" Said Naruto, as Hinata's face turned even redder.

"It's actually… not a guy." Hinata said.

Anko blinked, along with several others. She then whistled. "Wow! Didn't expect the Hyuuga princess to play for the other team! Guess it's true what they say: It's always the quiet ones you never expect!"

Kurenai groaned, rubbing her head to ward off the headache. She had no issues if Hinata liked boys or girls, but this whole things was giving her a big migraine.

"Oh… well I wish you both the best" Naruto said not being one to judge who a person loves.

"Thank you."

"THE WHITE FANG!"

Kakashi blinked at the mention of his father's title. "Excuse me?"

'Oh thank Kami.' Thought Naruto, relieved at the distraction before things got even more awkward.

Though when he saw the distraction in question was an old lady attacking Hatake, Naruto felt like slamming his head against the wall.

"Same here." Asuma muttered, shaking his head. The whole scenario seemed weird and completely random to him.

Kakashi raised a brow, turning to Shin. "Do I want to know?" He asked.

"Long story short, that was Chiyo, one of Suna's Elders. She mistook you for your father, who had killed her son and daughter-in-law, who were also Sasori's parents."

"...Oh." Yeah, he had no idea what else to say to that.

*Later*

Naruto's group and the Konoha Ninja stood at the gates. After Kankuro was healed and cured of the poison he had revealed he'd managed to grab a piece of fabric from Sasori's cloak allowing them to track the Akatsuki members.

Tsunade frowned at not having the chance to see what the poison was. If she did, she would have worked on a cure for it, so when/if that moment came, they would be prepared and get to rescuing Gaara faster.

Biting his thumb Naruto flipped through handsigns before slamming his hand on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

In a puff of a smoke three Direwolves, colored brown, black, and grey that came up to his waist appeared, the Konoha Ninja looking surprised at the appearance of the massive wolves.

"Naruto-sama, why have you summoned us?" Questioned the grey one, while Naruto pulled out the fabric Kankuro gave them

"I need you three to track the scent of the person who was wearing this." Naruto said.

The wolves got close and sniffed the fabric before nodding showing they got the scent.

"Scatter!" Said Naruto as his summons ran off immediately followed soon by Naruto, Kin, and Tayuya.

"Good plan." Kakashi said, nodding. If he was in their shoes, he would have done the same with his hounds.

"Hinata can you track any residual Chakra left by the Akatsuki or Kazekage?" Kakashi questioned, Hinata nodding before activating her Byakugan.

"It's faint but I can see a trail, if we can get to where Kankuro fought the Akatsuki I should be able to get a stronger trail." Said Hinata.

The jonin nodded at that plan of action as well, Kurenai smiling at A-Hinata, proud of her student.

"Good, let's go team." Said Kakashi though before they could go they were approached by the old lady who had attacked Kakashi, Granny Chiyo one of the elders of Suna.

*With Naruto's Group*

"You don't think it would have been good to go with the others? I mean I know you don't like the scarecrow or pinkie, but wouldn't it be better to have strength in numbers?" Kin asked, looking to Naruto.

"In most cases yes. But not now, it's likely the Akatsuki will know teams will be in pursuit of Gaara after Kankuro's rescue attempt, so they'll likely have set up precautions to delay anyone in pursuit or at the very least something to alert them of anyone that gets too close to their location. If that's the case better to work separately, that way if one group is delayed the other can continue forward." Naruto explained, Kin nodding in understanding

Once more, people nodded, amazed at A-Naruto's thinking. More so Jiraiya. 'Guess the kid really can use his head...at least an alternate him.'

Naruto's brow twitched, suddenly getting the urge to kick Ero-Sennin's ass.

*Later*

Running through the Land of Rivers Naruto's group followed his Direwolves to where the Akatsuki were hiding.

'I can sense Gaara and Shukaku. They're both getting weaker meaning they've already started the extraction process.' Naruto thought having developed the ability to sense Tailed Beast Chakra from the Chakra Katsumi left in him.

"That's handy." Jiraiya said, Tsunade nodding.

Though they suddenly stopped when they saw someone appear in front of them. It was a woman with shoulder length blue hair, amber eyes, a piercing in her lower lips, and a blue origami flower in her hair. But what the three noticed was the cloak she was wearing.

Jiraiya frowned. "Konan." He muttered, recognizing the once young girl he trained.

"Akatsuki." Naruto said lowly seeing the black cloak with red clouds.

"Kyuubi Jinchuuriki you will be coming with me." Stated the woman.

"Out of the way lady! Gaara's in trouble!" Naruto shouted, glaring at Konan, gritting his teeth as his counterpart being delayed. Haku grabbed his hand to calm him.

"Kin, Tayuya." Naruto said

"Right." The girls said

Tayuya jumped back and pulled out her flute while Naruto and Kin drew their respective weapons and charged forward.

'Swift Style: Shadowless Flight.' Naruto thought vanishing in a blur of speed and began appearing around the woman slashing his blade at various angles only for the woman to dodge all of his attacks

Appearing behind her Naruto went to strike her across the back only to jump back when large paper wings shot out the woman's back.

'What? She controls paper?' Naruto thought.

"What the hell?!" Naruto questioned, wide eyed.

"A bloodline?" Haku asked.

"Never known such a thing as a paper bloodline, but hey, there are stranger ones." Zabuza said, crossing his arms.

"Resistance is futile, you can't beat me." The woman said using her wings to block the Senbon Kin threw.

Reappearing next to Kin both nodded before going through handsigns.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

The two Jutsu combined unleashing a firestorm that engulfed the woman. Frowning that she didn't try dodging the attack, though Naruto noticed burning pieces of paper floating down. Getting a closer look Naruto's eyes widened when he saw they weren't regular pieces of paper but explosive seals!

"Get down!" Naruto shouted pushing Kin back before going through handsigns again

"Water Style: Water Encampment Wall!" Said Naruto as a wall of water formed from the moisture in the air just as the explosive tags went off.

"Close one." Shizune said, letting out a breath that A-Naruto was safe.

"True, but that water jutsu no doubt drained most of his chakra." Tsunade said.

Gritting his teeth Naruto held the Jutsu until the explosions died down, once they did he dropped the Jutsu panting heavily.

'Damnit! Being on Uzushio rusted our skills more than I thought it did.' Naruto thought before stiffening when he felt the woman appear behind him

"This ends now." Stated the woman going to wrap Naruto in a cocoon of paper

"Oh crap!"

However before she could she felt her body freeze up as she heard a melody on the wind.

'Genjutsu.' She realized

"You're right this ends now." Naruto said drawing his blade while channeling Fire Chakra through it

"I have a message for you and the rest of the Akatsuki." Naruto said while driving his blade through the woman's chest.

Jiraiya flinched at that, but held himself together, doubting Konan would go down that easy. Not with her being part of Akatsuki.

At least he hoped.

"You want the Kyuubi… come and get it." Said Naruto as the woman was engulfed in flames unable to use her Jutsu to escape.

Once she was dead Naruto pulled his blade out and resealed it while Kin and Tayuya rejoined him. But they frowned in confusion when in the place of the Akatsuki member was someone completely different.

The Toad Sage let out a breath. While he knew he shouldn't show worry for the enemy, he couldn't help himself.

"A decoy?" Kurenai asked.

Gai nodded. "Possibly. That battle was too easy in Naruto's favor against someone like an Akatsuki member."

"A fake?" Tayuya said.

"No, some type of shapeshifting Jutsu, she probably possessed whoever this was to delay us. I'm also guessing she wasn't at full strength either." Naruto said mentally cursing.

He had trouble against an Akatsuki member that wasn't even at full power, that just proves he's grown complacent. He'll have to rectify that once they've rescued Gaara.

Naruto frowned. 'And I thought Itachi and Shark Face were tough. These Akatsuki guys are something else compared to Zabuza and Haku-chan, dattebayo.'

His hands shook, a feeling of worry spreading through him. He quickly clenched his hands, determination filling him.

'I have to get stronger.'

"Let's go, we still have a ways to go." Naruto said

*Later*

'Well this is just fucking lovely.' Thought Naruto seeing the Konoha Ninja and Chiyo along with four more, two green wearing guys, a girl with her done up in buns, and another Hyuga, the last of whom Naruto noticed was glaring at Hinata who surprisingly returned the glare

"Hey! It's us!" Tenten noted, grinning widely at finally getting an appearance, and she had to say, she loved her older counterpart's attire!

Neji smiled lightly at seeing his counterpart, while Lee sang about his counterpart flames of youth no doubt burning brightly. Though Neji frowned at his other's animosity towards Hinata. 'I suppose without Naruto there to...kick my ass, my counterpart never made peace with Lady Hinata. However, I'd never expect her to glare back at me. Makes me wonder what other changes Naruto-san's departure made.'

Jumping down in front of the large boulder ignoring the questioning and tense looks from the new arrivals, Naruto jumped up to the boulder to look at the sealing tag placed on it.

'Hm, looks like a Five-Seal Barrier preventing us from simply busting in. This tag along with four others need to be removed simultaneously.' Naruto thought before looking to the new arrivals.

"Good thing there are three groups." Asuma said, getting nods.

After radios were handed out he sent Team Gai, as he learned they were called, after the four other tags while he had a clone ready to rip off the fifth.

"On my mark." Naruto instructed while holding his hand out in front of him to prepare a Jutsu to destroy the boulder

"Three, two, one, now!"

Instantly all five tags were ripped off while Naruto created a dark purple orb of Chakra in his hand surrounded by a series of white rings orbiting the ball.

"Spiralling Ring!" Naruto shouted slamming the attack into the boulder reducing it to rubble as they all jumped into the cave ready for anything.

"Cool!" Naruto shouted, star-eyed at the cool looking jutsu.

Suddenly, the scene went dark.

"What the hell?!"

"And that's the end of that!" Shin announced, clapping his hands.

"C'mon man!"

"How long will you do this to us?!"

"When are we actually going to finish a world?!" Anko demanded, glaring at the man.

Shin shrugged. "When I feel like it. Honestly, your disappointment amuses me." He said, grinning at the glares aimed at him. "But anyway, like I said we will be having an extended break for a while, as I need to head out. I'll leave the control at automatic random so when you guys want to check out other worlds, albeit some mostly unimportant, just gather here, and it'll start itself automatically. Remember that food is made on mental command, don't abuse it. I'll be back in...when I feel like it. See ya!" With that, Shin vanished, leaving the group alone.

"I hate him." Tsunade growled, glaring at the spot Shin was.

End of Chapter 40!

Phew! I made it! Just in time for New Year!

Tell me, how many of you are glad Naruto FINALLY learned about Hinata's feelings for him? How many of you are glad?

How many of you hated it?

Now, before you go spamming my inbox with death threats and curses for being a, quote: "Idiotic Hinata Lover", unquote, let me tell you.

I DON'T hate Hinata. I don't even hate Sakura!

What I DO hate, are the idiots who bash on those two for NO REASON!

You hate the constant NaruSaku / NaruHina stories?

DON'T READ THEM!

"But they're everywhere! Even harem stories!"

So what?! Learn to tolerate them!

Look, guys! I get it. You don't like Sakura for having been (and still is) a Sasuke fangirl in canon, or Hinata's stalking Naruto.

That's canon. We can't change it.

But this is fanfiction. Where we have the power to do the show OUR way.

I get it, I really do. I also don't like NaruHina, but it's NOT for the reasons you might think.

I hate NaruHina...for how it's written. Seriously, I CANNOT tell you how many stories have:

"Naruto...I always loved you."

"Hinata...I always loved you too. I just never said anything because of how the village treats me! I didn't want you to experience that!"

Seriously, I've seen that SO MANY TIMES!

I can stand Naruto with Hinata, but ONLY when it is done RIGHT!

I hate rush pairings, especially with those two. Having it that Naruto always loved Hinata but just never said anything?

That's just flipping the roles!

I don't think I have ever seen a "good" Naruto/Hinata story where the two get together RIGHT!

Naruto...doesn't know what love it. He doesn't! He thinks he does, but doesn't. He's an orphan who spent the beginnings of his life without parents or a family. Anything he learns is from watching other people, or from Sarutobi. His love for Sakura, is just him thinking it's love.

A good Naruto/Hinata pairing is Naruto learning that Hinata loves him, but being unsure of what love is, and has to learn it before accepting hers.

For me, that's how it should be.

Not rushing those two like they're soulmates or something.

As for Sakura?

Yes, she was a bitch in the show, BUT not so much she's a monster like MANY people make her out to be. The A-Sakuras that appeared in this story?

That's YOUR Sakura. Not the show, who I'm trying to base my Sakura like.

I tell yah, the few Naruto/Sakura stories I've read, I enjoyed, because the Sakura there is nice and appealing to me. Because she's a nice change of pace compared to the Bitch-Sakura's found around on Fanfiction.

Does this mean Naruto/Hinata/Sakura could become a thing in this story?

Maybe, but that's MY decision, and I won't let any of you manipulate my thoughts.

Now, if what I said does not sit well with any of you, you can leave and I'll understand.

Because I'm WARNING you right now:

NaruSaku and NaruHina stories WILL happen if I feel like it.

Bitch, I'm doing Die Another Day which has Naruto hooking up with the past form of his own mother (disclaimer: Juubi no Shinju does not accept real world incest, only fictional found in fanfics and Hentai).

THERE ARE VERY FEW ROADS I WON'T TAKE!

Pretty much anything is allowed, except for NaruSasu Yaoi, and Male/Fem. Naru. I'm talking to you person who just recently offered a Kakashi/Preg story!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my End of 2019 stories/chapters, and that you had a great year.

See you in 2020!

JA NE!