Pic of Naruto being celebrated <3 --->

(Lol, the quality of some of these episodes though......)

Song on the side is Sengunbanba (Experienced Many Battles) from the Naruto Shippuden Sountrack ( You can play it whenever, but I'll mention when I reckon you should press play ;)

Third Person's POV

"Let me go you big idiot!" Tiez barks indignantly, pushing against Aki's chest with her two front paws as he cuddles her tightly. "Stop Aki!.......I'm gonna kill you if you don't let me go!"

"Given the circumstances my darling" the black and white Wolf drawls softly, half opening his sapphire eyes as he gives Tiez a mischievous smile, "That's hardly an appropriate thing to say to me, don't you think? Weren't you crying about my death a few moments a go?"

"No....." Tiez argues half heartedly, pouting as she turns her head away, ceasing her pushing against Aki. ".......There was just a lot of dust floating around and it got in my eyes. I wouldn't cry over you."

"Your sentimental undertones touch my heart darling" Aki chuckles, finally releasing Tiez and sitting up, though he can't resist winking at the purple Wolf.

Teasing her was going to be so easy from now on, as she had been embarrassed to admit that she loved Aki to his face. Tiez liked to be seen as tough and showing her softer side was something she'd never been good at. Aki was going to enjoy taking advantage of that.

Laying her ears back, Tiez sits down in front of Aki and frowns, glaring up at him from the corner of her eye. She merely sighs when he smiles back at her, teeth sparkling brilliantly.

Jet sits silently, his shoulders slumping as Chi and Tsumetai excitedly chase each other, running circles around the much larger Wolf. His hooded eyes watch the two blandly, unsure if he should interrupt them or not. It was inevitable that one of them was going to trip over some debris soon, and if it was Chi, then Jet was going to have to be the one to deal with his tears and whining.......Not that he minded all that much.

Kai watches Chi and Tsumetai as well, his nose wrinkled in distaste. Their incessant, high pitched giggling was slowly beginning to drive the larger Wolf mad. If Atsui wasn't sitting right there glowering at him, Kai would have already made them shut up. Not that Kai was scared of Atsui or anything, he just didn't feel like dealing with the protective guy after everything that had already happened. Atsui's temper was just as bad as Kai's after all.

Instead, Kai was just going to glare at Chi and Tsumetai until one of them burst into flame.

Tiny hearts float above Rei's head as she rubs her cheek against a stoic Ace's shoulder, the white Wolf more than ecstatic to have her beloved mate back by her side. She'd been beside herself with grief when she'd seen him lying there dead, and she wasn't about to let him out of her sight again for a long time!

"Are you alright Milady?" Ace asks in his usual calm tone, watching as Kiba carefully helps the girl down into a sitting position.

"I'm alright" the blonde girl assures her Guardian, though she raises one hand to her head. "I'm feeling kind of dizzy though, and my body aches. Other than that, I'm okay."

"Lucky your Demon has turned friendly" Kiba comments, easing himself down to sit next to Ashley. He places as arm around her shoulders as she leans against him, smiling tiredly. "The last time he took over your body, you passed out!"

"I find it difficult to believe that this evil beast has now become your friend Milady" Ace admits, briefly closing his unscarred eye as he lets out a low sigh, "However, if you say that he is no longer evil, then I will trust your judgement."

"Hakuba is my friend" Ashley reiterates firmly, "And he's a friend to the Leaf Village. We all owe him a lot for what he did today, especially me. He took down Pain and protected everyone for my sake......He didn't have to do that."

"Didn't you say he gave you some of his power after Pain destroyed the Village as well?" Kiba questions, narrowing his eyes up at the sky as he tries to recall.

"Yeah, he helped me lift up the debris so Kohana and I could-" Ashley cuts herself off mid sentence, sitting boltright up as her eyes widen. She begins to frantically look around, eyes scanning the area for something.

"Where is she?" Ashley asks, jumping up in a panic. "Where is she you guys?!"

"Whoa there Angel!" Kiba says, hastily climbing to his feet and placing his hands on Ashley's shoulders to steady her, before she falls over. "You gotta slow down a bit, or you're gonna get a dizzy spell and pass out or something."

"Where is who Milady?" Rei asks kindly, looking to the fretting girl with her lavender eyes.

"Kohana!" Ashley just about shouts, her eyes wavering. "Where's Kohana?! I promised Kyoku I'd look after her and- huh?"

"Ashley" Kiba says seriously, holding the girl still as he looks down at her. "Calm down alright? Your body has been through a lot, and you need to rest. Sit down and stop stressing before you hurt yourself, okay?"

"But-"

"That kid's fine" Atsui interrupts, leaning back on his hands as he scowls at Ashley. "Some lady with blue hair came and got her while your Demon was fighting that Akatsuki guy. Quit freaking out and sit down already."

"A lady with blue hair?" Ashley repeats, blinking as she and Kiba both turn to look at Atsui, though the Inuzuka doesn't seem too impressed with his attitude. "Oh thank goodness.......I'm glad Kyoku was able to find her."

"Was that her Mom or something?" Atsui wonders distractedly, tilting his head down. He hoods his fuchsia eyes as they land on Shimei, who is lying beside him.

The red headed male's chest rises up and down slowly as he breathes, a faint rasping sound signalling that he is having some difficulty. Atsui didn't honestly care about the blue haired woman or the kid, right now he just wanted to get Shimei some medical attention.

Maybe they'd be lucky and a Medic Ninja would rise from the dead right near them.

"Yes" Ashley answers, brows furrowing a little as she notices the expression on her fellow Minami's face. "Is Shimei alright? Do you want me to have a look at him Atsui?"

The green haired male raises his head and blinks in surprise at the offer, studying the worried expression on a tired Ashley's face. He slowly wrinkles his nose and narrows his eyes, before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Nah, don't worry about it" Atsui replies, shaking his head. "Fang already healed his external injuries, I'm just worried about the broken bones he's probably got. You're in no condition to be healing anyone right now anyway. Sit down."

"Are you sure?" Ashley asks uncertainly, able to hear Shimei's ragged breathing. "He doesn't sound very-"

"Sit down" Atsui reiterates quietly, looking at the blonde girl from the corner of his eye, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Look after yourself for a few minutes."

"......He's right Angel" Kiba agrees, his hard expression softening. As brash and rude as he could be, clearly Atsui was putting Ashley above his own desires. He didn't want her to hurt herself to try and help Shimei.

Ashley remains silent for a few moments, staring at Shimei. She hadn't known him as a child, but he was a blood born Minami, as was she. That meant that he was important to Ashley, and she wasn't happy that he'd sustained injuries serious enough to leave him unconscious. She just wanted to heal him to the point of being awake, but it didn't seem like Atsui or Kiba were going to let her do that and she was admittedly too tired to argue with the two stubborn males.

"Fine" the blonde Minami eventually agrees, begrudgingly so. "But I'm keeping my eye on him."

"Allow me Milady" Ace offers, rising to his feet and walking over to the girl. Rei closes her eyes, smiling as Ace steps behind Ashley and lowers himself down to the ground, planning to let the girl rest her back against him. He stretches his large paws out in front of him and crosses them, turning his head to watch Ashley as she eases herself down into a sitting position.

She glances at Ace, breaking into a grin and reaching up to drape an arm around his neck. The navy coloured Wolf grunts in reply, though he rubs his cheek against Ashley's shoulder, before laying his head down on his paws.

Kiba smiles to himself at their silent exchange, placing one hand down on Akamaru's head when the Ninken walks over and sits down by his side.

Leaning back against Ace's side, Ashley tilts her head backwards, watching as blasts of green chakra flash through the air in all directions, causing more and more people to climb up out of the rubble or rise from their motionless positions.

'I don't know what you did Naruto' Ashley thinks to herself, smiling wearily at the sky, 'But you did a good job. Where would we be without you?'

"I'm getting dizzy now Tai-chan" Chi tells his older brother, eyes spinning. He stumbles to the side, before overcompensating as he tries to right himself, which causes the caramel coloured Wolf to crash right into Jet's chest.

"O-Oww....." the disoriented Chi whimpers, dropping to the ground, ears laid back. "I walked into a wall Jet-chan...."

"Silly Chi-chan!" Tsumetai giggles, tiny paws covering his mouth. "Jet-chan isn't a wall!"

Jet remains silent, merely tilting his head down to watch Chi through half lidded eyes. His mouth sits in a straight line, the large Wolf not overly surprised by the outcome. In fact, Chi walking straight into him was possibly the best outcome for this situation. Having known the young Wolf since he was a tiny pup, Jet knew that just about anything could've happened. He could've walked straight into a mine field for example.

Jet knew that there weren't any of those close to the Leaf Village, but somehow, somehow, Chi would have managed to find one in his dizzied state.

"Boss!" Tiez suddenly barks, sounding panicked. "Help me!"

The irritated Kai, ears flat against his head, slowly averts his narrowed eyes from Chi and turns to look at Tiez. His ears immediately prick up, aggravated expression being replaced with one of extreme amusement.

Tiez scrabbles at the dirt with her front paws, digging her claws in, in an effort to pull herself away from Aki. The black and white Wolf laughs delightedly, holding Tiez in place by stepping on her tail. She clearly didn't like all of the affection Aki was happy to give her, at least, not while everyone else was around, so the larger Wolf was going to hold her hostage instead.

"No way kid" Kai chuckles roughly, shaking his head. "I don't want any part of that."

"Screw you Boss!" Tiez growls out, scowling in embarrassed frustration. "Aki! Let me go dammit!"

"I'm having too much fun my darling" he replies, winking one sapphire eye. "Besides, we all know that you don't really want to escape my clutches."

An anime vein appears on the side of Tiez's head as she ceases her wild flailing, turning her head to glower at Aki. Baring her teeth in a mean smirk, the purple Wolf scrapes her claws through the dirt and flings a pawful of it into Aki's fur.

He immediately recoils in absolute horror, tail between his legs. His wide eyes regard the now dirtied patch of white fur in utter distress, mouth hanging open.

Taking advantage of the situation, Tiez darts away from Aki and quickly ducks behind Jet to hide. She peers around him however, chuckling evilly to herself as she watches Aki collapse to the ground in a dramatic fashion, one paw held over his face.

"My love has betrayed me" the vain Wolf announces, pained. "I would rather that you had killed me than tainted me with this abominable act! Nobody look at me!"

"Nobody was looking at you" Kai informs Aki rudely, causing the other Wolf to pause. "....You idiot....."

"Pardon me?" Aki inquires sharply, dropping the paw from his face and sending everyone an accusing look. "Well, why not? Even defiled as I am, I'm stunning!"

"Even when our Village has been destroyed and hundreds have been killed" Kiba speaks up flatly, releasing a loud sigh, "You guys never let up, do you?"

"Disaster doesn't reduce my level of fabulous" Aki states matter of factly, turning his nose up at Kiba. "Not that I would expect the likes of you to understand."

"Could we get Naruto to ask that Pain guy to kill Aki again?" Atsui asks, running a hand down his face. "I didn't have a headache before he came back."

"That's not even funny you jerk!" Tiez snaps, jumping out from behind Jet, visible eye glaring at Atsui angrily. "How about I kill that rodent you call a Guardian and we'll see how you like it!"

"Eep!" Tsumetai squeaks, whirling around and scampering back over to Atsui. He climbs up the Minami's arm and perches on his shoulder, trying to hide in the crook of his neck. "No, please leave me alone Tiez-icky-chan! I'm not a rodent, I promise! At least, I'm not a rodent anymore.....Chi-chan and I used to be Butterflies, so maybe I used to be a rodent, but I'm a Wolf now!"

"How could one threaten to kill something so innocent and lovely?" Rei coos, smiling over at Tsumetai. The tiny Wolf closes his eyes and grins back, blushing slightly as he rubs the back of his head.

"Shut his mouth and I won't have to say stuff like that!" Atsui barks back at Tiez, unconcerned by anyone else's comments. Electricity shoots through the air between Atsui and Tiez's eyes, the two baring their teeth stubbornly.

"Being dead was so peaceful....." Ace mutters under his breath, sounding almost wistful.

Jet looks between the others blandly, glad that Chi is still too dizzy to give any input. He would certainly be making things worse with his naïve, friendly approach to life. Tiez would probably try to eat Chi alive if he so much as opened his mouth right now.

Not that Jet would let her of course, but that wouldn't stop her from trying.

"Let's stop arguing now children" Aki says wisely, rising back to his feet. "We need to focus back on the main issue.....Me!"

Tiez and Atsui break eye contact, turning to stare at Aki, who has fluffed up his fur and is smiling brilliantly at them, tail curling prettily behind him.

"I've changed my mind" Tiez states wryly, closing her eyes and turning her head away. "You can kill him."

"......I actually don't really want to touch him" Atsui admits, leaning back and grimacing. Whatever weird disease the black and white Wolf had that made him act that way, Atsui didn't want to risk catching it.

Smiling to herself, Ashley can't resist shaking her head. Usually she would probably be getting pretty annoyed with her Wolves by now, but today, Ashley doesn't feel anything but entertained. At least the whole Pack was alive again and right now, that was all that mattered.

Feeling someone approaching, Ashley tilts her head forwards, only to see Kyoku and Kohana walking towards her. Upon seeing that Ashley is alright, Kohana breaks into a run, arms outstretched.

"Ashley!" the young girl cries, diving down onto the blonde and hugging her tightly. "You're alright!"

"Oof!" Ashley grunts as Kohana lands on her, before returning the girl's embrace. "Kohana, I'm glad to see that you're safe as well."

"I saw you turning into that giant....that giant thing" Kohana says quietly, eyes shining with unshed tears. "I thought you were gonna die...."

"No, that thing that took over me is my friend" Ashley explains softly, placing her hands on Kohana's shoulders to push the girl back. "He helped save all of us."

"Ashley....." Kiba says hesitantly. "Maybe you shouldn't tell her about that? For your own safety?"

"I know, I know" the Minami agrees, nodding. "Look, it's hard to explain Kohana, but I'm really okay."

The young girl stares into Ashley's visible eye for a few moments, uncertain, before she nods her head, silvery blue hair shining in the sun.

While she didn't understand why Ashley couldn't explain what had happened to her, Kohana was just happy to see the blonde alive. Though she was usually very stoic and withdrawn, Kohana had become rather attached to Ashley and seeing her transforming into that strange creature had been frightening.

Kohana had been able to feel how evil that chakra was, and the anger it exuded. It didn't make sense that chakra could convey emotion like that, but somehow, Kohana knew that's what she had felt.

The young girl had been relieved when her Mother had finally found her, though she was a little hesitant to leave Ashley behind. Luckily, Kohana had been able to convince Kyoku to come back, though the ex-ANBU had been a little tentative to bring her young daughter back into possible harm's way.

"I'm glad to see that you're back to normal Ashley" Kyoku says, her voice as calm and cool as ever, "And thank you so much for looking after Kohana. I don't know if I can ever repay you for that."

"Don't worry about it Kyoku" Ashley replies, glad to see her older friend. "I'm just happy that she's safe. I'm happy that the both of you are safe."

Kyoku smiles at that, her ocean blue eyes hooded as she brushes the long parts of her hair away from her face.

"It seems as though your friend has ended the conflict with the Akatsuki" the woman comments, to which Kiba shrugs.

"I dunno about that" he replies, shoving his hands into his pockets, "But he's definitely sorted Pain out. We don't know what's going on with the rest of them."

"I don't think there are many Akatsuki members left alive" Ashley adds, brows furrowing in thought. Kohana remains kneeling by the girl's side, still gripping her white shirt with one hand. "I know that Deidara's dead and I'm assuming Pain is as well."

"Plus Shikamaru's team took out those Hidan and Kakuzu guys too" Kiba remembers, snapping his fingers. "So that's four of them."

"Oh, Sasori's gone too!" Ashley exclaims, having forgotten all about him. "He was the first one I think. Then there's...........Well, I don't know what happened to Itachi-kun actually. He could still be alive I suppose......."

The blonde girl drops her gaze to the ground, biting her lower lip. She had no idea what had become of her beloved, older cousin. Ever since she'd last run into him though, Ashley had had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach any time she thought about him. It felt as though......It felt as though that had been the last time she'd ever get to see him.

"Well" a male voice says, making Ashley freeze, her eyes widening, "I'm glad to see that all of you are safe. Apart from Choji and Choza, I haven't seen anyone else too familiar yet."

Slowly raising her head, Ashley feels her heart thudding against her chest at the sight of Kakashi standing ahead of her, poised beside Kyoku with one hand in his pocket.

"Kakashi" the blue haired woman greets, giving the man a faint smile. "I was wondering if you'd made it or not. I should have known bet-"

Kyoku suddenly cuts herself off, her eyes growing wide. She casts Kohana a quick, side long look, the girl frozen in place, before she glances back over to Kakashi, fidgeting uncomfortably.

This was certainly not an ideal situation and while Kyoku had been relieved to see Kakashi alive, now all she wanted him to do was go away. She definitely did not need the silver haired Jonin wondering who Kohana was or asking any questions about her.

"Kakashi Sensei" Kiba greets happily, dragging the Jonin's suspicious look away from Kyoku and over to him, "You came back to life as well! This is great!"

"Yeah, it's an odd feeling" Kakashi states, rolling one shoulder. "My body felt so heavy when I woke up, but I feel fine now. There was a Katsuyu with me when I woke up and she explained the whole situation to Choji, Choza and I, so I'm up to speed. I'm actually on my way to find Naruto now. He's probably going to be exhaust-"

"Kakashi Sensei!" Ashley cries, leaping to her feet and racing over to the Jonin. Before he can so much as react, Ashley throws herself at the man and wraps her arms around his neck, feet no longer touching the ground.

Kakashi's eyes are wide with surprise, not having expected such a reaction from his sharp tongued student. She usually kept her emotions in check relatively well and having her cry into his shoulder like this was definitely a new experience for the Jonin.

"Katsuyu told me you had died!" Ashley sobs, eyes squeezed shut. "I'm s-so happy that you're alive Sensei......"

His expression softening into an affectionate smile, Kakashi gently returns Ashley's hug, just as relieved to find his student safe and well.

"Katsuyu told me what happened with you and your Demon Ashley" the silver haired man says quietly, leaning down to set Ashley back on the ground. He places one hand on her head and closes his eyes in a smile, as she reaches up to wipe her own eyes. "I'm proud of you."

The Minami's eyes well up once again, though she can't help laughing. She feels happiness bubbling up inside her at Kakashi's words. He didn't say them often, and Ashley would never get sick of hearing them. It was the best thing Kakashi could possibly say to her.

When her Sensei said he was proud of her, Ashley could truly feel pride in herself and relief that she hadn't let him down. Ashley didn't look up to many people, but Kakashi was certainly at the top of her list.

Kohana, still kneeling next to the spot Ashley had just been sitting, stares in wonder and disbelief at the scene before her.

She'd never seen Ashley cry before and while she realised Kakashi was the girl's Sensei, Kohana hadn't realised they were so close. It almost made the young girl jealous. Ashley got to enjoy her Father's presence and get told that he was proud of her, while Kohana had to sit back and pretend that she didn't exist.

She didn't really know anything Kakashi, except for the stories Ashley had told her in the past, but Kohana wanted to hear those words addressed to her one day. She wanted to be that close to her own Father.

If the reaction by Kyoku was anything to judge from though, Kohana wouldn't be introducing herself to Kakashi any time soon though. Her Mother looked as though she were about to pass out or something....

Kohana freezes again however, as Kakashi's eyes drift back over to her. He straightens up and removes his hand from Ashley's head, hooding his eyes. Though feeling incredibly nervous, Kohana holds the man's gaze with her own dark eyes, before Kakashi tilts his head to the side and glances at Kyoku suspiciously.

The blue haired woman merely closes her eyes and smiles pleasantly, looking completely innocent and calm. Kakashi stares for a moment longer, only to sigh and turn his head away.

"As happy as I am to see that you're all okay" the Jonin states, "I've really got to go and find Naruto. I'll be bringing him back to the Village. See ya!"

That said, Kakashi breaks into a sprint, bounding across the debris with ease and disappearing from sight within seconds.

"I don't know why" Kiba speaks up, looking totally confused, "But that felt super awkward. Like, I'm really happy that Kakashi Sensei is doin alright and all, but.......Didn't anyone else feel like that was sort of weird?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Kyoku says, tilting her head to the side. "It didn't feel strange at all."

"You're straight up lying to yourself lady" Tiez states dryly, giving Kyoku an annoyed look. "You coulda cut the awkwardness in the air with a knife or something."

"Well, I suppose it did feel a little strange" Rei admits, giving Kohana a sympathetic look. "Poor dear, she looks terrified."

"Kakashi Sensei's totally gonna catch on" Ashley says, now calm from her reunion with her teacher. "Didn't you see him looking at her? He's definitely suspicious."

"It's fine" Kyoku chuckles softly, holding out her hand. "I just need to get Kohana somewhere safe, so she can rest."

Ashley scowls as Kohana slowly climbs to her feet, her usual stoic expression replacing the wide eyed look of shock she'd earlier been sporting. The girl takes her Mother's hand, eyes now hooded and focused on the ground.

"You mean, you want to hide her again?" Ashley can't resist asking. "I'm telling you Kyoku, he's gonna figure it out. Kakashi Sensei isn't stupid!"

".......Everything is fine" Kyoku reiterates, turning on her heel. "Thank you once again for all of your help Ashley. We'll see you later."

Kiba walks over and pauses beside Ashley as Kyoku and Kohana begin to walk away, the blonde girl folding her arms over her chest and heaving a big sigh.

"Just what the hell is going on?" Kiba demands to know, both extremely curious and frustrated that he doesn't know what everyone else seems to know. "What exactly is Kakashi Sensei going to figure out?!"

"Ruff?" Akamaru asks, tilting his head to the side as a question mark appears above him.

"Don't stress about it Kiba" Ashley mutters, shaking her head in disapproval. "It looks like Kyoku still wants it to be a secret...."

"Huh?" the Inuzuka exhales, shoulders slumping a little. "I don't get it, I just don't get it....."

"Hey!" a loud voice calls, causing everyone to turn around. "Quit your yapping and help a cripple out here wouldja?!"

Ashley's eyes brighten when she sees a small group of people making their slow way over. Sakura smiles tiredly, glad to see that her blonde teammate is well, with Hinata walking beside her. Sakura keeps a hold of the Hyuga's arm however, making sure that the girl is able to get over the debris. She'd been seriously injured earlier and despite being healed by Sakura, the pinkette didn't want to take any chances.

Lee and Tenten grin broadly, with the brunette waving both arms above her head. Guy Sensei also flashes a brilliant smile, holding up one hand and giving everyone a thumbs up. Neji walks a few metres behind the others, one arm around a limping Saffire. The girl has her arm slung across his shoulders, her fuchsia eyes shining and her sharp teeth bared in a mischievous smirk.

"Saffire!" Ashley cries, bounding towards the incoming Minami, "Sakura! You guys are alright!"

"I'm so relieved to see you Ashley" Sakura says, helping Hinata to sit down, before running over to Ashley and enveloping the girl in a hug. "When I saw your Demon take over, I thought we'd lost you!......"

"You know me Sakura" the Minami chuckles, returning her teammate's embrace. "I bounce back from everything!"

"I'm beginning to think you can survive just about anything" Sakura jokes, leaning back. "Swords through the stomach, being eaten alive by giant Centipedes, being taken over by a Demon...."

"Ah" Ashley counters cheekily, "But you survived years of training with Lady Tsunade."

"What does it take for an injured best friend to get a little love?" Saffire complains, to which Ashley laughs and Sakura rolls her eyes, still not a huge fan of the black and white haired Minami.

"I'm sorry Saff" Ashley apologises, before giving Neji a sheepish look and bowing her head. "Uhh....Thanks for helping her over here Neji. I appreciate it."

"She stayed with Lady Hinata while she was unconscious" Neji replies coolly, a ghost of a smile gracing his usually stoic face. "It was the least I could do."

"Such a gentleman" Saffire comments lightly, only to let out a loud shout when Ashley shoves her backwards. "Hey!"

Quickly sitting up, Saffire rubs her back and glares up at Ashley, with a surprised Neji looking between the two girls strangely.

"What was that for?" Saffire demands to know, pouting like a child.

"You know what that was for" Ashley replies dryly, subtly flicking her eyes over to Neji and raising one brow at her friend.

"What?" Saffire asks innocently, blinking her now large eyes. "I wasn't doing anything."

"Uh huh" Ashley mutters, clearly not believing the taller girl. She points to Saffire with her thumb and turns to look at Sakura over her shoulder. "Hey Sakura? Could you please heal Saff's leg? I know you don't really like each other, but at least she won't have to bother Neji if she can walk."

"I wasn't bothering anyone!" Saffire denies vehemently.

"You bother everyone" Atsui retorts, rolling his eyes. "You've been here for two seconds and I'm already tired of you."

"That's just because you hate everyone!" Saffire complains, now sulking like a child. "He offered to help me walk over here, so I fail to see how I was annoying him!"

"You can bandage her mouth closed too if you want" Ashley offers, winking when Saffire glowers at her.

"As much as I'd like that" Sakura finally speaks up, not having been able to get a word in, "I'd much rather take a look at your unconscious friend over there. He looks like he's in bad shape."

That said, Sakura makes her way over to Shimei and kneels down beside him, green chakra already glowing around her hands. Atsui turns around and speaks to the pinkette in a low voice, explaining what had happened to Shimei to put him in his current state in the first place.

Rising from his sitting position, Kai makes his way over to Saffire and prods her shoulder with his nose. She turns her head and tilts it back to look up at the large Wolf, signature grin spreading across her face.

"Hey Kai" the Minami greets sunnily. "What's up?"

"Where's Fang?" Kai asks, not even bothering to return Saffire's greeting.

"She's dealing with a couple of injured kids back there" Saffire informs the Wolf, using her thumb to point behind her. "She'd probably be happy to see you, if you feel like walking over there."

"I do" Kai replies simply, head lowered as he turns in the direction Saffire had pointed him in. He hadn't spent any time with Fang yet and come hell or high water, he was going to see her!

"If you do not mind my asking Ashley" Lee speaks up, walking over to the girl as Tenten finally spots Rei, her brown eyes lighting up, "What happened to you? Why did your Tailed Beast take over like that?"

"It was a rather impressive transformation" Guy admits, one hand on his hip and the other rubbing his chin. "The creature was bigger than anything I've seen before......Although, if I recall correctly, the fully transformed Nine Tails is a bit larger."

"Yeah, Hakuba would definitely be bigger than the Nine Tailed Fox if he was at full power" Ashley explains, suddenly feeling quite tired again. "To keep a long story short, Hakuba knew how upset I was because Pain attacked the Village and killed Kakashi Sensei and two of my Wolves. So he decided to get revenge for me by getting rid of Pain."

"That is amazing!" Lee breathes, eyes shining. "I am grateful that he was on our side though! He seemed very powerful."

"He purposely helped you?" Sakura queries suspiciously, glancing back over her shoulder. "That seems very out of character for him."

"You guys don't understand" Ashley sighs, reaching out for Kiba with one hand. Understanding what she means, Kiba steps over and puts one arm around Ashley, supporting the tired girl's body. "Hakuba and I are friends now. We used to argue all the time, but we've grown closer over recent times. I....I trust him now. He's our ally."

"I find it difficult to believe anything you say anymore" Neji informs Ashley seriously, his pale eyes hooded and focused on her face, "However-"

"Dude" Kiba interrupts impatiently, "It was just a mission. When are you gonna get that through your thick, Hyuga head man?"

"However" Neji repeats pointedly, completely ignoring Kiba, "I saw the way that Demon of yours ignored Naruto's Nine Tailed Fox and focused on getting rid of Pain. That kind of behaviour can't be faked, so I think you're being truthful about him becoming our ally."

Ashley stares at Neji for a few moments, before she hoods her eyes and smirks cheekily.

"I can appreciate your cautiousness" the blonde chuckles, raising one eyebrow, "But I find it pretty amusing that you trust a Demon's behaviour more than mine."

"Demons are easier to understand" Neji replies smartly, though the twinkle in his eyes reveals that he is merely teasing Ashley. The blonde laughs quietly at this, before wincing at a faint pain in her stomach.

Okay, so maybe she was a little hurt after letting Hakuba take over. Not that anyone else had to know.

"Are you okay to be doing this?" Atsui asks Sakura, watching the girl closely as she works on healing Shimei. "You're breathing pretty hard."

Reaching up one hand to wipe some sweat from her forehead, a tired Sakura nods and smiles to herself, eyes never leaving her work.

"I'll be fine" the pinkette assures Atsui. "I've used up a lot of chakra from healing people, but once I'm done with your friend here, I'll take a break."

"What about me?" Saffire demands to know, pouting as she gestures to her injured leg. "I can't even walk on my own!"

"It's too bad your mouth is still working so well....." Sakura mutters disdainfully, to which Saffire's eyebrow twitches.

She'd never liked Sakura very much, even from the moment she'd first met the girl back when the Leaf Ninja had first visited the Land of Ambience. She was whiny and bossy and just all around, not very pleasant to be around.

Opening her mouth to retort, Saffire pauses, watching the pink haired girl as she grits her teeth, forcing herself to push through her weariness and help Shimei. A bead of sweat drips down the side of Sakura's face, her arms shaking a little.

Not only had she been busy healing the injured for the past few hours, but before Pain had even wiped out most of the Village, she'd also been fighting hard to protect those who hadn't been able to protect themselves in the assault.

Closing her mouth, Saffire hoods her eyes and turns her head. While she didn't like Sakura all that much, the pinkette had been trying her hardest to help as many people as she could. Despite her lack of chakra and physical weariness, Sakura had still insisted on healing Shimei.

Saffire would let her off without a sever tongue lashing, just this once.

"Kakashi has located Naruto" Katsuyu suddenly speaks up, positioned on the other side of Ace. "He is bringing Naruto back to the Village now, and they should be at the main entrance soon. I will relay the news to the rest of the Village as well."

"Kakashi Sensei sure found him quickly" Kiba comments. "I'm impressed."

"He probably had Pakkun or one of his other Ninken searching for Naruto's scent" Ashley replies, holding her arms up towards Kiba and smirking cheekily. "Help me up Mutt. I want to head to the entrance to meet them!"

(Music time yo)

Kakashi walks through the quiet forest with Naruto on his back, the tired boy half asleep. He has his arms hooked around Kakashi's neck loosely, with the Jonin silently noting how heavy his student had become over the last few years.

'He's grown so much......' Kakashi thinks to himself, feeling incredibly proud of the blonde boy he's carrying. 'Lord Third, Minato Sensei.......If only you could see what Naruto has become....'

Naruto half opens his blue eyes, staring down at the grass as a smile spreads across his face. He'd done it. He'd actually done it.

Just like Pervy Sensei would have wanted, Naruto had managed to end Pain's vicious assault on the Village without the use of violence. He'd found a way to get through to Pain without breeding anymore hostility. Pain, or Nagato as Naruto had discovered was the man's real name, had entrusted Naruto with his dream of a peaceful world, just as Jiraiya had done.

Naruto didn't know how he was going to achieve their dream, but seeing as the Fourth Hokage, Naruto's own Father, had expressed his belief in his son, Naruto just knew that somehow, he was going to fulfill his promise.

"There they are!" a voice calls, catching Naruto's attention and making him blink a few times as he raises his head. "Naruto's back!"

"What......" the blonde boy asks softly, thoroughly confused by the huge crowd gathered at the front of the Leaf Village. "....What's going on?"

"I have already relayed the information of what transpired between you and Pain to all of the Villagers" Katsuyu informs Naruto, riding on his shoulder.

"They've all been waiting for you to come home" Kakashi adds, crouching down slightly to allow Naruto to slide off of his back. "You did well Naruto."

Still looking stunned by the crowd, all throwing their arms in the air and cheering for him, Naruto is almost bowled right off of his feet as a large number of children all suddenly swarm around him, firing excited questions.

"Was the enemy scary?!"

"Did they hurt you at all?!"

"What did the enemy look like?!"

"Did you have to kill anyone?!"

"Whoa, whoa" Naruto complains, sweat dropping as he tries to fight his way out of the small mob, all grabbing at his shirt and vying for his attention, "Watch it you guys! That hurts!"

The blonde boy pauses and turns his head however, as someone familiar marches out of the ground, stomping right towards him.

"Oh" Naruto says, "Hey Sakura......Ow! What was that for?!"

"You're such an idiot....." the pinkette murmurs, smacking Naruto upside the head. As he tumbles forwards from the impact, Sakura is quick to catch him, embracing the blonde male in a tight hug. ".....Thank you Naruto....."

Standing at the front of the crowd, Hinata wipes at her eyes, crying with happiness to see that Naruto is alright. After she'd seen Pain almost kill him, Hinata had thought she might never see him again.

"Heh, I can't believe he actually did it" Shikamaru says with a smile, watching as more people rush forwards to congratulate Naruto on a job well done. "He's changed so much since the Academy days...."

"Yeah....." Ino sighs dreamily, batting her eyelashes. "You know, I could almost fall for him....."

Also at the very front of the crowd, Ashley stands by Kiba's side, one arm around his waist to support herself. She stares at the people fussing around Naruto, all eager to know if he's alright and to thank him for saving the Village, her eyes wavering a little. A broad grin is plastered across her face, the girl wanting nothing more than to push everyone out of the way and give Naruto a hug.

But she'd be good just this once. Ashley didn't think anyone would really appreciate her shoving all of the Villagers out of her way.

"I am so proud of your teammate Milady" Rei says excitedly, fluffy tail wagging as she watches the boy grinning at one of the many Villagers surrounding him. "I shall give his cheek such a good lick as soon as there is room for me to! He saved my dear Ace after all!"

"He started off so puny and weak" Jet states, sitting down and tilting his head to the side. "How did he become so strong?"

"But Jet-chan" Chi barks, bouncing up and down beside the older Wolf, "You started of real little once too didn't you? Or were you born as big and strong as you are now? That's not fair if you were Jet-chan, coz I had to be born real tiny and then I had to grow for so long! I don't like growing, I wish I was just big all the time and-"

"You are still not very big" Ace cuts Chi off, poised at Ashley's side. He doesn't even spare the caramel Wolf so much as a glance, though Ashley elbows his in the side.

"B-But......" Chi stutters sadly, his ears and tail all drooping as he looks up to Jet with teary eyes. "Jet-chan? Ace-kun said I'm not....I'm not very big.......Is that true? Am I still real small and little and tiny and puny and small and little and-"

"You're fine the way you are kind" Jet interrupts, raising one paw to gently push Chi's shoulder. "Ace is just jealous because you're going to be bigger than him one day."

"Am I?!" Chi exclaims, eyes shining at this revelation. "Am I really?!"

"Sure" Jet confirms, rolling his eyes as Chi begins spinning in circles. "Why not?"

"Yaaaaayyyyy!" the caramel Wolf cheers. "I'm gonna be bigger than mean, old Ace-kun and I'm gonna sit on him!"

"I can't believe how far that loser had come" Kiba states, an affectionate smirk on his face. "He's making the rest of us look bad!"

"You?" Ashley asks sarcastically. "Look bad? Surely not...."

"You're real funny Angel" Kiba says dryly, though his smirk doesn't fade at all. "Now go on and congratulate your teammate already. I can see that you're dying to go over there."

"I was going to wait" Ashley replies, brows furrowing for a moment, before she breaks into another sunny grin, "But what the heck! I'll just push those people out of the way!"

"Just don't hurt anyone" Kiba warns, watching as the blonde girl bounds forwards.

"And do not hurt yourself any further" Ace sighs, shaking his head as the girl almost trips over due to her tired state. "Milady is hopeless sometimes......"

"Naruto!" Ashley cries, jumping up in an attempt to allow Naruto to see her over the rest of the crowd. She continues to move forwards with determination however, elbowing people out of her way. "Naruto! Hey you doofus! Over here!"

"Huh?" Naruto says, eyes filled with confusion as he searches for the person calling out to him. His face soon lights up when he spots Ashley a few metres away, her head bobbing up and down amongst the rest of the Villagers as she jumps and waves her arms. "Ashley-chan!"

Finally managing to break through the crowd, the Minami dashes forwards and barrels straight into Naruto's chest, almost knocking the wind out of him as he stumbles backwards. She was small, but she certainly packed a wallop.

"Naruto, I'm so proud of you...." Ashley tells her friend softly, squeezing her eyes closed as Naruto wraps his arms around her. "You really did it."

"Thanks Ashley-chan" the boy replies gratefully, "But I couldn't have done it without your help."

"Yes you could!" Ashley laughs, playfully smacking Naruto's chest as she takes a step back from him. "You would've been fine and besides, I didn't do anything. Hakuba wanted to kill Pain because he hurt me......"

Half closing her now twinkling eyes, Ashley gazes around at the crowd, before looking back up at Naruto.

"I remember being pretty doubtful when you first told us all that you wanted to become a person that everyone in the Village would look up to and have respect for" the girl admits, smiling sheepishly. "Do you remember that? It was back when I first met all of you and Kakashi Sensei made us all introduce ourselves."

"Hmmmm, yeah I remember" Naruto chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "You were pretty mean back then!"

"I still am" Ashley responds with good humour, before sweeping an arm towards the Leaf Village. "You've finally done it Naruto. Look at all of them. They're all here for you. They finally see the person you are......The person that we all already knew you were, right guys?"

"Definitely" Sakura says with a closed eye smile.

"About time too" Kakashi adds, nodding.

Naruto looks between the three people standing before him, all smiling at him proudly, which causes his own eyes to tear up a little. He didn't know what he'd done to deserve such great friends, but he was glad that he'd managed to defeat Pain and save them from any further harm.

"Now go on!" Ashley laughs, darting behind Naruto and shoving him forwards. "Enjoy your moment Naruto! Let the people adore you!"

Not given any time to respond, Naruto stumbles forwards, only to be swept up by his friends and some of the adoring crowd. Kiba and Shikamaru work together to hoist Naruto up above their heads, with the whole Village cheering as the blonde hero is thrown up into the air in celebration of his extraordinary victory.

Chi and Rei rush forwards to help catch Naruto and throw him up into the air again, with the rest of Ashley's pack watching on respectfully.

"Yeah!" Saffire cheers, throwing one fist in the air. "Go Blue Eyes, you champion! Knew you could do it! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Neji can't help sweat dropping as Saffire shouts, almost receiving a fist in the eye as she throws it up into the air again. Everyone had disappeared in a hurry when Katsuyu had mentioned Naruto's arrival, so Neji had ended up having to help the injured girl again.

He didn't overly mind helping the girl, seeing as she'd been so thankful about it, but that didn't mean he wanted to get a black eye during this celebration.

"C'mon Sakura!" Ashley cries, laughing as she grabs the girl's hand and tugs her forwards. "Let's join in!"

"Okay!" the pink haired girl agrees, running alongside Ashley.

The blonde releases Sakura and squeezes in beside Kiba, who grins down at her, before Ashley throws up her arms to help everyone else catch Naruto.

She and the others all cheer loudly as they fling Naruto upwards again, his arms waving around as he sails high up into the air.

Ashley feels a strange sense of pride and affection swelling up inside her, the broad grin on Naruto's face even brighter than the sun shining above him.

Ashley had always considering Naruto an annoying brat when she'd first arrived at the Leaf Village, but he had been persistent in trying to obtain Ashley's friendship, even when she'd made it obvious that she didn't want it.

He always knew what to say to make Ashley feel better and his presence alone would now set her at ease, even in the harshest of battles.

He'd been such a huge part of Ashley's life and in bettering her as a person. Without him around, who knew if Ashley would still be the cold, awful person she'd previously been.

Without Naruto, Ashley probably would have released Hakuba in the Land of Ambience and wreaked havoc on the island. He'd rescued her from Hakuba's clutches back when Sora was in the Leaf Village as well.

He's always been a proud, determined Ninja, all the while making friends wherever he went and being the ray of sunshine that most people didn't even realise they'd needed.

Despite every hardship he'd gone through in his life, Naruto had chosen to stay true to himself, and finally, he had finally done it.

The Village had finally recognised him as the hero he had always been, and Ashley couldn't have been any happier for her teammate.

So, I searched for a good song to add to this chapter for quite a few hours, but I just couldn't find one that I felt matched the feeling that you get when Naruto makes it back to the Village and is finally recognised by the Village, so I went with the track that actually plays at this moment in the anime :)

Also, just a heads up with the Q&A video I mentioned, it may take awhile for me to upload it to my YouTube channel guys.

It ended up being pretty long, so I'm splitting it into 2 or 3 videos and I'm completely animating them myself, so give me some time and I'll let you know once they're up ^-^