At What Cost Love? Chapter 19: Pein Attack!

"So Madara have you heard anything from Pein lately?"

"Unfortunately, no I haven't heard from Pein in the last few days Sasuke."

"What is he doing that he's not contacting us?"

"It would seen he's masking his chakra signal so he can get the jump on Konoha when he attacks."

"Madara I can sense that the dobe isn't even in Konoha right now. I can't lock onto his chakra signal since it seems to be blocked."

"Hmm could it be that Naruto has gone into hiding fearful for his life?"

"If anything the dobe has probably gone off to train in hopes of matching your power. It doesn't matter because he'll never be powerful enough to take you on Madara."

"I am well aware of that Sasuke, but don't count the Nine Tails out just yet, he's proven quite the nuisance in the last few weeks and with his friends helping him out he'll be much harder to get at."

"I thought you sent Kisame to take care of that annoying friend of Naruto's?"

"Yes, I have and from what I can sense they're in battle right now."

"If you'll excuse me Madara I need to go think about a few things."

"That's fine with me Sasuke, but just think within a few more days you'll have a new body and once I have all nine tailed beasts nothing can stop me!"

Sasuke walked off as Madara laughed to himself about his plan. He was successful in capturing the other tailed beasts and all that remained was Naruto. Yet somehow Sasuke couldn't quite get over that he was going to take over his former friend's body, but yet he smirked a little the more he thought about it.

"So the dobe thinks that by training he'll be able to face off with Madara? Ha! He won't even last five minutes with Madara. I've tired my best to fight him, but its almost impossible to as any justus or attacks I threw at him, he absorbed them with his eye. There's something special about that eye of his. I wonder what it is? No matter once the dobe defeats Pein, which I'm sure he will I'll make my move and bring him back to Madara so he can extract the demon from him, but once he is done with that using Naruto's body I'll plot out my revenge against everyone that has ever wronged me."

Sasuke smirked at what he had just said to himself and looked up at the sky knowing that somewhere Naruto was training, becoming stronger so he could protect those precious to him.

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It was a late afternoon in Konoha and all was peaceful right now. The villagers when about their daily lives not caring about what was going on around them or what would happen to the village within the next few days. Meanwhile a seventeen year old woman was walking the streets of Konoha and she had just comeback from the hospital with some exciting news. Sakura had found out that she was indeed pregnant, but only a few weeks which was good since she didn't want the trouble of having the extra weigh.

"Hey forehead!"

Sakura right away knew who was talking to her since no one else used that nickname for her.

"Hey Ino-pig…"

"Sakura where have you been the last couple of days? I've been looking all over for you! Your parents said you when to the hospital for something, yet they seemed to keep quiet about it? Care to explain what's going on?"

"Well, I didn't really want to say anything right now, but I'm sure it would have eventually gotten out anyway."

"What's the big news then Sakura?"

"Umm… I just got back from the hospital… remember how I told you that I was throwing up in the mornings and not feeling well?"

"Well, yeah I just thought you had a flu or something."

"Actually its something much different Ino… it turns out that I'm pregnant…"

Sakura had said the last part in a whisper hoping that Ino wouldn't catch it, but unfortunately for Sakura Ino had pretty good hearing and gasped at what Sakura had said.

"You're what?!"

"Yeah… I'm pregnant… remember when I told you about that night Naruto and I had together…"

"Oh yeah I remember all the juicy bits you told me…"

"Not like that pig! Its just that when I found out I thought Naruto would react differently to it, but I was surprised when he took it well."

"You mean that knuckle head actually took it well? I thought for sure he'd freak out!"

"I thought so too, but he was happy for both of us since it means he'll get something he never had as a child himself…"

"You mean a family right?"

"How'd you know Ino?"

"Well, its kinda obvious from the way that Naruto reacted and I'm happy for both of you as well."

"Thanks Ino and I was wondering would you like to get something to eat? I haven't eaten since this morning and I'm feeling a little famished."

"Sure why not? I didn't anything else to do…"

Sakura and Ino walked for a little bit as they were having a hard time deciding on what to eat and as they were passing a store, they heard an argument from within.

"I'm telling you sir we don't expect this kind of money!"

"What do you mean you don't accept it!? Money's all the same to me!"

"I already told you we only accept ryo and this don't look like ryo to me."

"Just accept it old man before I have to get physical!"

As the man said that he was forcefully kicked from the store and landed right in front of Sakura and Ino who just looked at him. He got up and dusted himself off.

"Lousy bastards… how's a guy supposed to buy anything if they don't accept my money…"

The man turned around to face Sakura and Ino who right away recognized him. He wore a black cloak that covered most of his clothing which was yellow and had some black in it as well, but when made him recognizable right away was his hair which was black and had some streaks of green in it as well. Sakura and Ino whispered to each other while the man just looked on.

"Wait a minute I recognize that man. Isn't he the one that attacked Naruto Sakura?"

"Yeah that's him all right. I think his name was Kaji was it?"

"He's Kai's brother right?"

"What's he still doing in the village?"

"Maybe he's looking for his brother still?"

"Excuse, but what are you two bitches looking at?"

"Excuse me? Did you call us a bitch?"

Sakura and Ino were very pissed at what Kaji had said. If Kai was the nice one than his brother was the exact opposite of him. Rude in every way.

"So what if I did?"

"You know that's not very to say things about someone you don't even know."

"What a minute, I recognize you the pink haired girl, you're the fiancée of that weak ninja my brother calls a friend right?"

Sakura so wanted to kick the crap out of Kaji for what he said. He was calling Naruto a weakling when he himself had decided to not even lift a finger in help Nauto out.

"So what if I am? I wouldn't go around calling my Naru-kun a weakling you asshole! He's more of a man then you'll ever be!"

"Oh now you're getting hostile aren't we? So what if I call your little Naruto a loser… he is!"

"You bastard! Don't you dare call him a loser! He's done so much for our village and yet you come from another village and talk trash about someone you've never meant?!"

"Don't get mad at me pinky. I was only kidding with you. Can't you take a joke?"

"You shouldn't really talk about people like that. It can get you into trouble."

"Hey I wasn't asking for your opinion blonde so stay out of this."

"Why you!"

Ino was about to attack Kaji when Sakura put a hand up keeping her from attacking.

"No Ino… I'll handle this jerk. It looks like I'm going to have to beat some sense into him because he reminds me of a certain Uchiha that's also like this."

"So you want to fight against me now? This should be interesting. It won't even be much of a workout for me…"

Without warning Kaji rushed at Sakura and tried to hit her, but suddenly his attack was stopped by Sakura who seemed to be more focused than usual and she definitely looked pissed at Kaji. For the first time in his life Kaji was atcually scared of a woman.

"What the? How could you just stop my attack like that?!"

"If you would have learned anything you should have realized that I'm the apprentice to one of the Three Legendary Sanin. The current Hokage of Konoha Tsunade Senju!"

Kaji had an oh shit look in his face as he didn't see Sakura's attack hit him. She used all of her strength in one punch that send him flying right into a wall.

"That serves him right for making fun of my Naru-kun…"

Ino's mouth hung wide open. She couldn't believe it. Her friend had just taken care of a high leveled ninja that was at least jounin rank or better with just a single punch.

"Remind me to not get on her bad side."

"Come on Ino… let's go I'm hungry."

"Uh sure whatever you say Sakura…"

"Is that guy going to be okay?"

"He should be fine. I didn't use all of my strength in that punch, but I give him enough force to make sure that if he even talks crap about Naruto again I'll break him in half!"

After Sakura and Ino the wall that Kaji had hit started to move a little and out popped Kaji who was hurt from what Sakura had done to him, but luckily for him he activated his electrical barrier before he took any major damage.

"Holy shit… that girl she's strong… maybe I shouldn't have said anything bad about Naruto. Maybe I should try to be nicer and help out the village…"

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Meanwhile back at Mt. Myobokuzan Naruto was still training hard to learn sage mode and he had improved somewhat as he wasn't turning into a toad anymore when he started to absorb the chakra, but the problem was thanks to his poor chakra control he was having a hard time trying to keep the chakra focused within him.

"Argh! Dammit! This isn't what I expected… I thought that since I'm absorbing the chakra better it would be easier to control it, but every time I do it runs out on me. What is it that I'm I doing wrong?"

"Hmm it seems as though you could use a little help Naruto…"

"Huh? What do you mean by a little help Fukasaku-sama?"

"You're having a hard time keeping in the chakra right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, maybe this can help you."

Fukasaku pulled out a bottle of something and handed it to Naruto.

"What's this?"

"Its toad oil… it helps to draw in natural energy and it should help you control the chakra better."

"Thanks Fukasaku-sama."

"Don't mention it Naruto… besides Jiraiya is wondering how your progress is going. He's hoping you'll have it mastered soon."

"Well, I'm trying and that's all that matters right?"

"I'd like to stay and chat Naruto, but I've got to talk to Jiraiya about a few things… I'll be back within a few hours to see how you're doing."

Naruto just nodded and before he started to mediate again he rubbed some of the toad oil on himself and surprisingly it actually helped him out as now the natural energy stayed within him longer. After a few more hours of mediating he had finally mastered gathering the chakra and he focused it within him. The changes to himself weren't noticeable right away, but he could feel that he was stronger and felt at one with nature.

"Okay I'm back Naruto… I'll be you finally did it!"

"Huh? What do you mean Fukasaku?"

"Have a look for yourself."

Once again Fukasaku reached within his robes and pulled out a mirror so Naruto could look into it and when he did he almost jumped at what he said. He didn't look any different, but what caught his attention was the fact that his eyes weren't their usual blue color instead they were a yellow color and it looked as though his eyes were of toads.

"Unbelievable! I didn't even notice! I could sense the change within me, but I never thought it would change me like this."

"Well, get use to it Naruto. Those that master sage mode all share this in common."

"I see. Does Ero-Sennin also look like this when he goes into sage mode?"

"Its different for everyone Naruto, but the effects are pretty much the same. So now that you've mastered it, now comes the hard part."

"What do you mean?"

"Jiraiya will take over from here. He'll teach you the necessary things while you're in sage mode."

"All right then…"

For the next few days that were left for Naruto. Jiraiya put Naruto through hell as he called it. He himself had used sage mode on Naruto and forced him to fight him in hopes of bettering his sage mode and increasing its length so Naruto could stay in it longer. Once he had put Naruto through the ringer, he taught him some justus that he could only learn while in sage mode and surprisingly these justus were very powerful. Much more powerful that anything Naruto had learned at the Academy and with Kyuubi. At the end of the week Naruto had mastered his sage mode and learned a few new justus as well. Jiraiya smiled at the now beaten and bruised Naruto.

"Well, what can I say? I'm proud of you Naruto. You learned more than I did when I trained here."

"Thanks Ero-Sennin and I'm glad you took me here to train… because its given me some more insight on what I had to learn, but I wonder? Is there anything else I can learn before we head about to Konoha?"

"For right now Naruto what you learned within this last week is enough."

"You're right Ero-Sennin!"

"Well, Fukasaku I guess this is it once again…"

"It seems so Jiraiya… it was good to see you again, but I know your duties call to you."

"Yes, I'm afraid so, but before we go Naruto needs some new clothing since his old uniform was ruined thanks to our training…"

"I see that…"

Naruto's usual orange jumpsuit looked horrible. In the last few days it had gotten torn and cut thanks to Jiraiya not holding back on Naruto. He didn't seem to care as he said once he got back he could change into his spare clothes at home, but Jiraiya wasn't about to let his student go home looking like a bum.

"Naruto before we leave you're going to get a change of clothing…"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do!"

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"I've finally reached Konoha, but yet I can't sense the nine tails. Is he hiding somewhere? It matters not. I'll destroy this village just to find him."

Five other people joined this man as the looked on from a hill overlooking Konoha seeing how peaceful it was. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Children were laughing, playing on the streets until something happened. Part of a building suddenly fell onto the ground in the middle of the street and it send those within the impact zone into a frenzy of screaming and shouting.

"Oh my god what's happening!"

"The village its under attack, but by who!?"

Thankfully some of the jounin that were on duty saw what happened and started to evacuate the people away from the area as some of the other building started to fall apart and crumble.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

One of the jounin demanded, but suddenly he was grabbed by an unseen person and shoved into the nearest wall. The jounin was scared for his life as he saw a man with orange hair holding him up and his eyes looked very different from everyone else's.

"Where is the nine tails at? Answer me!"

"I… I don't know where he is honest!"

"You lie! For that you paid with your life!"

In one swift motion the jounin's head was twisted passed its natural way and cracked killing him almost instantly.

"Now where to look for the nine tailed demon…"

In other part of town…

"Oh my gosh what in the hell is going on?"

Sakura had been at her house when she heard a lot of noise and she was pretty close to the source of it as well. She quickly looked out her window and saw buildings being blown up, but from what Sakura could tell they weren't being blown up, but rather being forced apart by some type of justu that involved gravity. At that moment Sakura realized that the Akatsuki was attacking the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Oh no! This isn't good! Jiraiya-sama warned us that the Akatsuki would attack Konoha! I need to go tell Tsuande-shishou about this!"

Before Sakura could move she felt the floor to her room give away and lucky she reacted in time to avoid most of the rubble, but some of it still managed to hit her and cut her up somewhat. Sakura was surprised by what just happened and looked around to see that none of her house remained standing. It was at this time that Sakura realized just how useless she was. She couldn't fight against whatever this was.

"Naruto! Please comeback! You're the only one that can help us! We need you!"

It was clear what was happening. Pein had come to Konoha to capture Naruto and he was intent on destroying the village just so he could find him.