Shadow's Light

by Azteka

Second Installment of the Adventures of Daniel and Kail, and see that the Balance of Light and Shadow does not just fall upon the immortals but are essential to mortal as well...

A Shadow's Strength; Shadow's Light

"Hmm... How interesting…" A sickly voice whispered.

Daniel could not shake the icky cold shiver crawling over his spin; it was like someone was pouring cold slime down his back and it was causing Kail to quietly growl deep within their Soul. While Daniel battled himself to remain calm and mostly battled Kail to keep him calm, Daniel's sapphire blue eyes never wavered from the sickly pale male, who just appeared from a cloud of smoke. This man was ashen in complexion with long stingy black hair and reptilian gold eyes, and the man's entire presence just screamed snake to Daniel.

He and the rest of his teammates, Earth's Flag-team SG-1, were exploring PMK-1974. Of course, the Ori continued to be a threat to them; however, the Ori have been quiet for the time being. Thanks to the sound beating they received from Kail, and to think, the Shadow entity was actually holding back his true power, but... shh... the Ori need not know that. As it were, this small reprieve allowed the infamously famous group of explorers a chance to find the Sangraal, the Holy Grail of Earth's history and lore, Merlin's ultimate weapon.

During their long search of possible location for the missing weapon, Daniel and Vala came across a reference to the allusive stone being on a planet of Night Warriors, a planet of Shadow Protectors at one time. Apparently Merlin believed it would make a suitable place to hide the awesome weapon; however, it did not mean that it would still be there but it was a start… But...

There was another reason why Daniel was instantly drawn to the red-labeled planet, and the young archeologist had a suspicion that it involved his beautiful Shadow, Himura Kail, Childe of Anubis and Night Warrior...

As SG-1 was exploring the nearby forest of the planet, they were immediately surrounded by a group of men; eight strong and armed only with blades… Kunai. Kail whispered quietly into Daniel's mind. Right, the team was surrounded by eight strong looking men armed with kunai. Kunai versus P90s; it did not take a genius to figure out who would win; however, SG-1 was not there to pick a fight (they usually don't in general unless you were Goa'uld or Ori, but that was neither here nor there).

Neither parties attacked nor said a word to each other, but simply observed one another. Each group was sizing the other up, and Daniel could not shake the odd sense of familiarity that he saw in their stances.

"How interesting indeed…" The sickly voice whispered again, which caused Daniel's internal battle to remain calm to intensify. There was something about that man that was setting off all of Daniel's internal alarms and grating on Kail's nerves.

"It would seem our guests have come through the Chap'pai…" The ashen pale man cooed, which did not ease the man's older warriors. In fact they tensed up even further; causing the air to stir with unseen activity.

Daniel wondered about what he was feeling, sensing in the air and whether or not the others were feeling, sensing it as well.

While the majority of the pale leader's men were tense, only two gave no reaction. It seemed either they did not care that SG-1 came through the Stargate or they did not know what the Stargate was. The two men were far too young to truly be part of the group in Daniel's honest opinion but then again looks can be very deceiving. And one of them was exceptionally young in appearance. He looked no older than maybe 15 or 16 years old with raven black hair and moon pale complexion. And his eyes!

Daniel had never seen anyone with pure onyx colored eyes. Oh sure, he have seen people with a deep shade of blue that they appeared black at first glance. He had even seen people with deepest shade of brown that also looked black, but he had never seen onyx black eyes. There was something about the youth's eyes that stirred at his Shadow's soul.

Kail? Daniel whispered to his other half, but mentally frowned at the silence he heard. Daniel could still feel Kail, but he was oddly quiet.

"And you would be?" Mitchell's voice broke Daniel's musings.

Focus Daniel! Daniel chided himself for his carelessness. They were in the midst of a stand-off, and he was not even paying attention. He felt like the Outsider again. The One that all the big-bad military guys had to protect. He hated that feeling. He gave as well as he got, but still it was in his nature to doubt himself as a fighter. Focus you idiot! Daniel chided himself again then he felt a blanket of warmth and unconditional devotion wrap his Soul. It was Kail.

Kail purred reassuringly to his Light; assuring his Scholar Light that he would protect him if the need arise, and that it was okay for his Light to doubt the fighter he had become. Daniel was Daniel. It comforted Daniel greatly that he had Kail.

"I am Lord Orochimaru." The pale man purred; bringing Daniel back to the situation at hand. The ashen face male bowed but never wavered his golden eyes off of Mitchell. "I am the Kage of the Hidden Village of Sound… And who are you delightful people?"

Again Daniel was battling to remain calm. This Orochimaru character was really making Daniel's skin crawl, and by doing so Orochimaru was unknowingly making Kail edgy.

Mental note: an edgy Kail is hazardous to one's health. A voice strangely sounding like Mitchell's echoed in Daniel's mind.

"The name's Mitchell. Colonel Mitchell and this is my team." Mitchell replied; not bothering to further the introductions, especially with weapons drawn at each other. There was something about this man that made Colonel Mitchell want to shoot first and run the hell away as fast as possible.

"Kernel Mitt-Chill..? What a strange name…" Orochimaru purred again as he relaxed his stance; a signal to the others to lower their weapons, but they did not relax.

"Yeah, well, your name isn't exactly normal either, Mac." Mitchell bristled; there was really something about this guy that made Mitchell to just shoot him and not stop until the other guy was a nice puddle of human goo.

Daniel could hear the tension in the usually casual and carefree Colonel. It would seem that the pale male rubbed Mitchell the wrong way as well, and Daniel could feel Kail's silent approval in Mitchell's behavior.

Orochimaru chuckled coldly; causing Daniel to clutch a bit tighter on the pistol grip of his weapon.

The sickly looking man's chuckle was like cold slim over his flesh. It was making Daniel to want to have a very, very hot shower to just to feel clean again.

Kail growled… This false Kage, this false leader was making his Light uneasy. Nothing trouble his beautiful, sensual Light and lived!

Suddenly Orochimaru's pale gold, reptilian eyes focused on Daniel, who knew that slivers of Kail's aura was slipping through in attempts to protect and soothe Daniel. Usually Daniel would not be concern because there had never been anyone able to sense it before... That was until now.

Calm Down! Daniel hissed at Kail; mentally pleading for his Shadow to calm down. Then the young archeologist went rigid when he saw Orochimaru's tongue flicked much like a snake's tongue. Never mind… Daniel whimpered, Go Shadow on his ass…

"Gross…" Vala mumbled.

"That ain't normal..." Mitchell faintly whispered.

Orochimaru chuckled again in amusement at their reaction, which was mixed with disgust, mistrust and of course fear.

"Please, we are not your enemies…" Orochimaru cooed, "We are fascinated by a possible alliance… Would you care to join us in our village?"

"Eh… How 'bout no?" Mitchell replied as he quickly glanced at the Blonde archeologist; suspecting that Kail was oh-so close to breaking loose. Did the Colonel really want Kail loose to wreak havoc on those that could possibly be a threat to Daniel?

"Ah… But I insist that you join us… Especially you…" Orochimaru's eyes remain focused on Daniel, who was having a difficult time calming an enraged Shadow from disemboweling the stranger with his bare hands.

Yep. Yep, Mitchell really did want Kail let loose to wreak havoc and chaos on this guy because the Colonel knew that it was going to be a rude wake-up call for this guy, who seemed to always get what he wanted. That wake-up call would be:

Shadows were possessive and protective creatures when it came to their Lights. The Ori learned that lesson… very well.

"So, what's you name kiddo?"

The raven-haired youth looked at the foreigner with narrowed eyes.

The foreigner was tall; taller than himself with light tan complexion. His brown hair was cut short while his blue eyes sparkled with curiosity and suspicion. It was a strange mix to see then again these people were strange.

The bastard of a snake had said they came through the Chap'pai. Whatever the hell that was.

These foreigners were strange. The raven-haired youth knew that they were not shinobi. No self-respecting shinobi would ever use…Guns. The youth sneered at their weapons. Out of this five-man team, two of which were females, only the black man with the gold tattoo seemed to be of any worth… As a fighter. And yet the raven-haired youth could not ignore the disturbing resemblance that the blonde-haired male had to another blonde-haired male of his former life. The youth openly glared at the blonde man, who was oblivious to it because he was strangely fascinated by the decoration and muttering to himself about something or another. Oblivious to the dark looks sent his way like the other usually was…

"Hey kid, I asked you a question." The brown-haired man, their leader, this Kernel Mitt-Chill, was annoying in the teen's opinion. Well, if this man was soo interested in his name then the youth would oblige and he was going to relish the stupid fool's reaction.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke." The raven-haired youth smirked.

"See! Was that so hard?" The brown-haired man grinned.

This stunned Sasuke. This man did not flinch. Everyone flinched… well, not everyone, but still a good number of shinobi flinched at his name. Either this man was stupid or he did not know who Sasuke was. Sasuke opted for the former. Everyone knew who the Uchiha clan were. None of the foreigners reacted… Save for…

"Uchiha… Uchiha no Amatersu…"

"Daniel?" The brown-haired man looked concern when they heard the blonde's soft voice.

"Hm..? Sorry." The blonde began, "Uchiha was the common name of Amatersu's Fan, the Japanese Sun Goddess. From the style of the artwork and the architecture, I would say this culture has its origins similar to our own Japanese and Chinese cultures…"

The blonde rambled excitedly. The females were smiling fondly at the male as if this was normal. The dark one looked stoic as always while the brown-haired man nodded. Sasuke suspected that he was not really paying attention. Although he may not admit it, he found the blonde's words and excitement interesting… it really reminded him of someone…

"Unfortunately we're going to be needing to defer to Another for cultural information… I'm sorry."

This caused the group of foreigners to pause. Sasuke found the wording odd and yet very informative. It would seem that there was another in this group that was left unaccounted for. Hm, this may prove interesting… Sasuke decided to just keep this little information to himself.

"Meaning?" The dark haired female asked.

"I'm knowledgeable of western-based cultures. Not Eastern. This is the first time we've come across an Eastern-based civilization."

"Daniel's right, Sir." The blonde-female agreed. "This is the first time we've come across any Asian-based societies… Well, with the exception of Khept and Yu."

Their words were interesting and odd. Their words were a jumble mess if one did know the context of their discussion. Sasuke was impressed. They knew that he did not understand them; hence, the reason why they were talking so freely… Or they were underestimating him and thought him only as child and not as a shinobi.

"Okay then, we'll 'defer to Another'." The brown-haired man replied with authority. The first indication that he was the leader.

"So what does Kail—"

"VALA!"

They had finally reached their quarters without further discussion; save for Daniel asking the young Uchiha a question here and there about the artwork and its historical value. The others were amazed at Daniel's insatiable curiosity of new cultures. Even the original members of SG-1 were continually amazed at Daniel's thirst. He could always ask questions about each new world's culture regardless if the planet's inhabitants were friendly or foe. Daniel could go from rough 'n' tough SG-member to "Anthro-Puppy" in 0.5 seconds flat, or at least so said one General Jack O'Neill.

After inspecting their spacious quarters, they all met in what appeared to be the living room.

Vala unceremoniously plotted herself next to Daniel, who had his eyes closed. T'leac remain standing as the others found their comfortable spot.

Daniel, being the first to seat down, found himself immediately standing in a stone hallway; reanimated of the corridors of ancient tombs that he had studied with his adopted family before... It was rare that he managed to walk in this corridor of his mind. Usually when he meditated, Daniel would always be in his 'Soul-room'. His 'Soul-room' was like a well-lit and well live-in library; an ancient library filled with knowledge he had accumulated through the years or obtained during his year as an Ascendant that looked up to the sky… Or on the rare occasions, Daniel would sometimes found himself in Kail's 'Soul-room'. It was beautiful and a stark contrast in their personalities and yet...

There was always a dusk glow in Kail's 'Soul-room'. The room itself was simple; done in hues of dark blues, white and reds. Spacious, neat and orderly and with a beautiful view of a garden. Everything about Kail's room screamed ninja! But Daniel was not going to Kail's room...

Daniel sighed then tensed as he felt a presence behind him. He knew it could be only one person, but it still unnerved him that someone was behind him. Painful memories best left forgotten to the sands of time but still leaving talon deep wounds were left on his soul. He knew it was no one other than his Shadow. He hated being unnerved at his beautiful Shadow's abilities to approach behind him. To him it felt like he was betrayal his Darker Half.

Glancing over his shoulder, Daniel saw Kail, standing grabbed in black and without his jackal mask; not that he wore it when the two were within each other's Souls. Daniel knew instantly something was wrong. Normally Kail's eyes would glow in pleasure and understanding at Daniel's ability to sense him, but now Kail looked troubled.

"I wish to speak."

Daniel frowned. He turned around to face his mysterious Shadow with a hand on hip in attempts to refrain from hugging himself. Daniel could sense that whatever his Shadow wanted to talk about it was serious.

"Kail," Daniel began, "you can always speak. You don't need to ask! How many times do I have to tell you?"

Kail grinned at his sensitive Light's attempt to light the mood. Although the situation they were in was dire, Kail could never deny his Light's attempts.

"At least once more, my Light..."

Daniel blinked owlishly at Kail's teasing then smiled. He was going to hurt Jack when they got back home for introducing Kail to that movie, Pirates of Caribbean. Really, now, pirates and ninjas, do they honestly mix well?

"So what's going on, Kail?" Iwatomi commented when Daniel's eyes opened to reveal amethyst hues instead of the usual sapphire blues.

Kail nodded his head in greetings; however, he did not speak. Instead he slowly stood up and walked. His movements were fluid and silent but did not have that shadow-like quality, which Kail usually possessed when he had complete control over his Light's body. This meant that Kail was on the Surface, and Daniel was like a ghost; meaning Daniel heard everything that would be said.

Kail knew everyone was watching; mesmerized by his presence. He did not understand why he had this effect on people. He could vaguely remember having the same effect when he once had mortal form. Then he stopped; both in his remembrance and in his movements. He was in the middle of their quarters. Taking a slow and steady breathe, Kail brought Daniel's ungloved hands together. At first Kail thought it would take a moment or two to remember what he needed, but apparently being on the planet was enough for his body to remember even though he did not.

The others watched curiously. They knew that Kail had secrets that was beyond their understanding and knowledge. They knew that they were about to witness some of Kail's secrets. They had discovered early on that it was easier to let Kail be rather than asking the quiet Shadow about his secrets. Nothing could make him talk about himself or what he knew unless he felt it was necessary. So they did not bother. If their Daniel trusted him then they too trusted him.

Suddenly their eyes widen... Well, T'leac arched an eyebrow when they watched Kail preformed a flurry of hand signs.

"Chinmoku." Kail whispered. At first nothing happened then they felt it... A pulse rushed throughout the quarters and through them. It caused them to jump to their feet in battle readiness.

"What the hell was that?" Vala gasped in shock as she looked at Kail; they all did.

"Good, you can sense chakra." Kail replied as he returned to the group then sat in traditional Japanese fashion before them. When he was seated before them, the others slowly returned to their seats or in T'leac's case, relaxed position.

"Chauk-ra?" The Fox' Mate asked.

Kail nodded but did not explain further.

"And why is that good? And what is it anyway? I think I've heard of it before..." Iwatomi asked.

"It is good. It means you will be able to sense them." As Kail gestured toward the door, "It is the source of a shinobi's jutsu."

There was a pregnant pause. For one this was the most that they had ever heard Kail speak. And two they had no clue as to what he was talking about.

"Okay... And you would know this because?" Iwatomi asked.

Kail placed his gaze on the Tau'ri Night Warrior he respected and acknowledged as leader.

"This was my home-world."

No one knew how to react to Kail's revelation; not even Daniel. None of them assumed that Kail had a home-world; well, save for Daniel. The young Light may not understand everything about his Dark counterpart, but he knew that the Childes of Anubis were like the Ascendants. Like the Ascendants, they were born mortal, and when they reached maturity, or as the Ascendants called it "gained Enlightenment", the Childes became Shadows.

Your home? Daniel whispered uncertainly. If this was Kail's home, could Daniel bare the idea of being alone? Again? Especially if Kail wished to remain...

Was, my Light. Kail whispered back. He sensed his beautiful One's unease, and knew what caused it. It would have to take an Act of the Great One to separate him from Daniel; an act from his maternal Sire... However, the likelihood of that happening was an absolute never. After all it was the Great One, who brought Daniel to Kail while Kail was imprisoned among the Ascendants. Kail sent a wave of warmth and unconditional love before whispering, You are my Light. You give me strength, form, existence. You are my Home. Now and End.

Daniel's presence suddenly beamed. He knew it was uncharacteristic of him to be so emotional, but he really loved Kail. He felt whole with Kail in his heart and soul. He felt complete. Daniel curled himself in Kail's Essence; burrowing in it like a child burrowing into his favorite quilted blanket.

Kail purred in delight.

"Eh... You okay, Buddy?" Iwatomi asked.

It was strange for them to hear Kail purr like an overgrown lawnmower... eh, meaning panther.

Kail's amethyst eyes darken in delight. A Shadow and a Light were only strong in each other presences and were only powerful by the love they share for one another. However, the others did not need to know this just yet...

"I am well."

"Okay..." Mitchell mumbled as he observed his best friend's Shadow.

It was strange to see Daniel's features so exotic. It was difficult to realize that there existed two souls in one body, and that the other soul was extremely dangerous and possessive when it came to the other. Shaking his head, Mitchell returned focus to the problem at hand...

They were miles away from the Stargate. He was still trying to figure that one out. One moment they were approximately ten minutes away from the Gate then the next they were encase in some strange circle of light and poof they were here. Wherever here was. They were in a society that was reminiscent of ancient Japan, with ninjas and samurai, which meant that they were going to have to rely on Kail. It was not the fact that he did not trust the mysterious entity. Far from it, but it was because the two's condition of existing. Mitchell did not quite understand it all when Daniel explained it to them after the battle with the Ori, but from what he could understand: the two cannot "exist" at the same moment for too long. To "exist" was equivalent to being "awake", as Daniel called it. Kail cannot stay "awake" for too long without harming Daniel. And let's face it Mitchell would rather convert to the Ori and become a Goa'uld host before he would allow harm to come to Daniel, which meant that he would happily order Kail "under" to keep Daniel healthy. Not that Mitchell expected any complaints from Kail on that matter. Shadows protected their Lights. A rule that seemed to be pounded rather thoroughly into the Air Force Colonel's head. Aside from the tactical issue, there was another issue... Orochimaru... The creep really got underneath Mitchell's skin, which was an amazing feat! Because not even Baal, the annoying Pop-Up Book from Hell as Mitchell affectionately named him, managed to get under the Colonel's skin... Well, at least not in the same way that this Orochimaru had. And the way Orochimaru was looking at that Sasuke kid and Daniel!!! Seriously could they go anywhere without some sicko trying to kidnap the good Doctor?!

"Orochimaru." Mitchell simply said; knowing that Kail would understand, and judging by the deep and threatening growl coming from said person, Kail did.

"He is Rotten."

That was something Mitchell also found strange... Kail never used the term "evil". He would use "Dark", "Corrupt" and "Rotten"; "Rotten" being extremely bad.

"He has the Stench of a Rotten Soul... He sensed Daniel." Kail growled.

Mitchell stared at the possessive Shadow. He ignored the fact that Kail's eyes were slowly bleeding out to molten gold. Purple good. Gold bad.

"Do you mean he could sense DanielJackson's Ascendant powers, HimuraKail?" T'leac asked.

Kail nodded.

"Well Shit!" Vala whispered while everyone mentally agreed.

Daniel's powers surfaced time-to-time, which saved their lives enough times for them to appreciate Daniel's powers and yet they also understood that they could not rely on it. Mainly because they had seen what affects it had on Daniel after he used his Ascendant abilities, and they never everwanted to see that again unless it was absolutely necessary, which they prayed never happened...

"I am pleased that you have join me in dinner." Orochimaru purred while his eyes were focused on Daniel, who was happily ignoring the stare and mentally soothing his Darkness' desire to rip out the man's intestines and use them as garland after Kail had effective squeezed the pathetic life out of the worthless being. The possessive protective nature of a Shadow knows no bounds...

"Not like you gave us much choice." Vala mumbled around her cup; hoping not to be heard.

Unfortunately the snake-like man did as he coldly chuckled.

Daniel ignored the pale-faced male and focused on a conversation with the young raven-haired youth, who seemed to have peeked Kail's interest.

"You are a doctor?" Orochimaru asked; not caring if he was interrupting the Doctor's previous conversation.

Daniel knew he was being addressed. He woefully sighed; it was not the first time that another culture and society believed him to be a healer. Of course, it did not help that he had helped deliver a few babies during SG-1's long history on active duty. Shaking his head from his musings, Daniel steeled himself as he stared at the creature that he really had hoped not to speak to.

"I'm not a medical doctor if that's what you're asking." Daniel replied casually.

"Then what type of doctor are you?" Sneered the silver haired youth named Kabuto.

Daniel narrowed his eyes on the youth all the while ignoring his friends' chuckle. The young man may not have said it, but Daniel was a linguist and knew how to read and hear the underlining meaning: what good are you? That was what this Kabuto had really said. Even in his Heart and Soul, Daniel could feel Kail's amusement at the youth's arrogance.

"I am an archeologist and a linguist." Daniel coolly replied. Of course, Daniel was a great deal of many other things, such as a soldier, scientist, scholar and the occasional artist, but they did not need to know that.

"Dr. Jackson's skills has proven their worth time and time again." Mitchell interjected before Daniel went Geek on them, "His linguist skills saved our asses more times than I can count."

"Then you must be an idiot." The silver-haired youth replied.

Mitchell just shrugged.

"Your weapons are impressive." Orochimaru commented; gaining a few disgusted looks from his men. "Far more impressive than the local gangs."

"Orochimaru-sama?" The silver-haired youth called in shock.

SG-1 just stared at him; awaiting for him to continue. They knew that they were not going to like where his comment was heading.

"You see, my village is small and our enemies --"

"No." Mitchell clearly stated; interrupting the sickly man.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed to deadly slits. No one interrupted him and lived regardless what uses they might have.

"Explain yourself." The serpentine man demanded.

"Your enemies; your problem."

Daniel mentally winced. Military personnel were not known for their diplomatic skills. Well, at least not former Black Ops Colonels... However, Daniel could always appreciate the Colonel's blunt nature. It usually saved them a lot of political back talk and headaches... Usually.

"I see." Orochimaru stood up while a dozen of his men appeared with their weapons drawn on SG-1, "Then you are of little use to me... Save perhaps you, Doctor Dannal JackSan..."

Daniel mentally groaned as he closed his eyes. Why me?!

Daniel remain still as he felt a blade's edge cut into his flesh. Really why me?! What have I done to deserve this?

Aside from being Beautiful, Tantalizing, Intelligent and Powerful, my Light? Kail replied to Daniel's rhetorical question. It caused a gentle rose hue to kiss the scientist's cheeks.

Kail purred reassurance to his blushing Light.

Daniel felt his body relax as he slipped into the Shadowed embrace of Kail's Dark Soul. He knew that Kail would never allow any harm come to him or to the others.

Slowly Daniel's Light stepped back; allowing Kail to step forward. Daniel could feel Kail's dark Shadows cool through him then slowly warming him up. A serene smile graced Daniel's face as he snuggled into the Shadows and watched Kail play.

Sasuke was speechless, shocked, stunned, mesmerized and scared when he heard the bastard of a snake's comment toward the blonde male. He was speechless that the serpentine creature would desire the blonde as much as it desired his own body. He was shocked that he knew what Orochimaru was planning, and he was stunned that he did see it sooner. Sasuke may not care what happened to himself after he had taken his revenge against Itachi, but he would never wish Orochimaru's plan on even his worst enemy, not even his own brother, Itachi.

Sasuke looked upon the blonde and was mesmerized. He was mesmerized to see a serene smile of the blonde's face. His body was relaxed; his eyes closed and head bowed regardless of the fact that a kunai was pressed against the soft flesh of his throat. The blonde had a naturally calming chakra about him, which Sasuke could not ignore; but quickly and almost instantly the chakra changed and grew.

Sasuke, although never admitting it, became scared as he watched the blonde's form become engulfed in shadows.

Suddenly the shinobi, who held the blonde at blade point, became frighten and attacked; disregarding his leader's desire to keep the blonde alive.

"NO!" Orochimaru hissed.

THUD

All eyes widen when they saw a body that fell over with a shinobi's kunai in his throat... But it was not the body of the blonde... It was the one who held the blonde at knife point...

"Whoohoo! Way da go Kail!" The brown-haired male cheered; causing all attention to be focused on the now armed foreigners.

Their missing comrade! Sasuke realized.

"But how?" Kabuto muttered.

"Of course, a Substitution jutsu and a genjutsu..." Orochimaru commented in disgust.

But where is he? Sasuke looked around then suddenly had the urge to look up.

And what he saw shocked him.

The youth's mouth opened to shout a warning but no sound emerged. Sasuke never thought he would come face-to-face with something far worse than his brother's ultimate technique, but he was mistaken. For crouched low on the ceiling was a shinobi grabbed in shadow-black clothing and bore an ANBU mask of a Jackal with glowing amethyst eyes.

"Ah... Ah... ANBU!" Sasuke managed to finally cry out and scrambled to his feet.

"What?!" Orochimaru hissed and followed Sasuke's gaze.

Before anyone could attack the lone ANBU, the foreigners attacked with their weapons as well as the ANBU soldier.

"Kail! Time to go!" The brown-haired male ordered.

Suddenly the Jackal disappeared while five bodies of Orochimaru's men dropped dead from kunai and sonben sticking out their bodies.

Sasuke barely dodged the Jackal's attack.

Onyx eyes widen at the Jackal's speed... He's faster than Gai and Lee combined!! and mysteriously glowing hands... Just like Hyuuga's hands!!!

Sasuke was surprised and unnerved that the Jackal could make him remember people he preferred to forget. The Jackal was just as bad as the blonde male...

"KAIL!" The brown-haired male bellowed; distracting Sasuke for less than a second, but that was all that the Jackal needed...

"ACK!" Sasuke heaved as he felt a forceful punch to his solar poleaxes and a wave of hot chakra coursing through his chakra pathways; effectively knocking him out.

Before falling to his knees and being swept away into darkness, Sasuke noticed amethyst eyes flickered a beautiful shade of sapphire blue... A shade of blue he had seen belonging to another...

"Naruto..."

Slowly falling, Sasuke felt a strong arm wrap around his waist; carrying him like a sack of potatoes.

Then darkness enveloped him. His last thought was Why now? After all these years, why now... Naruto...

"Kail," Iwatomi narrowed his blue eyes on the usually masked Dark Entity. Naturally, Mitchell was pleased with Kail's plan and retrieval of their gear prior to that dinner fiasco, but currently, he was unnerved by the fact that the Shadow had taken a "hostage". Mitchell did not work that way. He did not need a hostage to gain the upper hand, especially if said hostage was a kid. It left a foul taste in the former Black Ops' mouth. "What's with the kid?"

"The child was trapped." Kail replied.

"What do you mean, HimuraKail." T'leac questioned the stoic Night Warrior, who was observing the still raven-haired youth.

The impromptu camp site became deathly silent. Mitchell was knelt next to Kail, who was just watching the boy. T'leac remain standing as he kept an eye out for enemies. Sam and Vala had gone off because Vala had the call of nature. Suddenly the wind picked up just as the females returned, which caused Mitchell and T'leac to be a bit jumpy... That was if T'leac was capable of being jumpy.

"Eh... What's going on?" Vala questioned with her usual confusion.

"Sir?" Sam called as she noticed the Colonel's stare on Kail, who was still looking at their hostage.

"Dunno." Mitchell replied, "Kail was gonna explain why we took the kid with us."

All eyes were on Kail, who they saw was slipping away and their Daniel slowly coming forward. However, they still heard the mysterious Shadow's voice.

"He bears a curse mark that once fully engrain with his chakra, it will make him powerful. Powerful enough for whatever he desires, but such power comes with a high price." Kail's usual monotone voice suddenly became heavy with time, regret and pain. It made the others wonder just how old was Kail. It appeared to be young but at that moment, he sounded so ancient.

"High price?" Vala asked with great concern. She knew all too well about paying a high price for something.

But Kail was silent.

Slowly Daniel opened his sapphire blue eyes, which were glittering with unshed tears. Daniel knew. Kail had told him once long ago, but Daniel could not truly grasp it until he saw it in Sasuke. The young Light just could not understand how could anyone be willing to trade that?! And for what? Daniel could not fathom anything worth that price... Well, not really... He knew of one thing and one thing only.

"Daniel?" Mitchell quietly whispered, "Time's up?"

"Yeah." Daniel's voice was quiet. Daniel knew but could not really understand it until now. He knew that only one thing would be worth that sacrifice, and Kail almost made that sacrifice for his desire to protect his love... Which never had died. Daniel smile meekly and thanked whatever deity that was listening that Kail did not make that sacrifice. If he had then the Dark Shadow would not be with him today, and for that, Daniel was truly grateful.

"Guess, you wouldn't know what that high price is, would you?" Vala asked.

"The price is one's soul." Daniel calmly stated as he coldly stared at the young man, who he knew was not asleep and was hearing everything. "That thing eats your soul; devours the Essence of what makes you you and leaves behind an empty husk of what you once were when your desire has been fulfilled."

"Shit." Mitchell hissed in surprise at both what that curse could do and at the venomous tone that dripped in Daniel's voice. Daniel never used that tone unless he was dealing the Goa'uld.

"Indeed." T'leac replied. The old Jaffa warrior was above vulgar oaths, but even he would agree to the fact that sometimes only vulgar oaths could convey the proper sentiment of the situation... From time to time.

"Daniel, is there a cure?" Sam asked as she looked on the raven-haired youth. "And why would he accept such a thing? Does he even know? He's just a kid!"

Her maternal instincts were kicking in. She saw her Cassie in this young man. Her precious Goddaughter.

"He knows." Daniel solemnly answered as his eyes grew brighter in his anger; again surprising everyone who knew him well, "As to why, we'll have to ask him. But the only cure is to kill the castor of the mark."

The others just stared at Daniel in shock. Daniel would be the last person in the known universe to say or even agree to the outright death of another. He would not even suggest such an action for a Goa'uld! The statement made the others realize just how grave the situation was for Sasuke.

"Well, Sasuke? What's so important that you are willing to give up your Soul to that Rotten Soul? To give up your body once your desire had been fulfilled?" Daniel hissed.

He was angry. He was angry at how could a young child be willing throw his life away? Daniel had one time been like that child; willing to throw his life away, especially after the death of his adopted parents when he was 8 years old, but quickly learned a greater strength within himself. True strength is in living. Daniel had lived by this principle and had even beat this simple principle into one suicidal Colonel Jack O'Neill on their first mission to Abydos.

Slowly the raven-haired youth lifted his head up and revealed space-cold black eyes. Sasuke's focus was on the blonde-haired man, who reminded him of a certain idiot he loved and hated. Sasuke hated the blonde-haired man for reminding him of his forsaken past; hated him as much as he hated the blonde kistune-avatar, who made him love.

"When I break free, you pathetic excuse of a hu-- ACK!"

"Whoa Kail!"

Sasuke suddenly saw stars as he attempted to breathe, but a steel-grip and acid-like touch was blocking precious air to his lungs and brain. Slowly the bright vile faded to reveal a pair of pure molten gold eyes. They were nothing like Orochimaru's golden eyes. These were like two pools of molten sun burning into his soul... Well, at least remained of his soul.

"Hold your tongue, Weakling." Kail growled, "Or I shall remove your voice... You have no right to insult my Light. You, who have willingly allowed a Foul Creature to covet your body! And for what Desire?!"

Kail, please, calm down. Please, my Shadow, my Darkness. Daniel purred into Kail's Heart and Soul.

Sasuke, although struggling for air and ignoring the faint hissing sound as his flesh burned under the blonde's strong hand, was mesmerized by the golden eyes staring into his own half-eaten soul. Slowly molten fire faded into bloody crimson that looked oddly familiar... The blood-red eyes with... Four pinwheels?! A Sharingan Eye?! As quickly as Sasuke recognized the Blood Limit of the Uchiha Clan, the murderous red color faded away to deep amethyst then to sapphire blue.

Quickly Sasuke gasped as air rushed into his hungry lungs when the blonde man loosen his grip but did not remove his hand from Sasuke's slender, pale throat.

Daniel closed his eyes as he attempted to tap into the powers of the Ascendant. Kail's bare touch was acidic to all save for Daniel. Daniel never knew why but suspected that it was part of Kail's punishment. And counter to Kail's touch was Daniel's own touch; however, he must reach for the Ascendant powers locked away within him.

It was a long process to clear his mind and to disconnect himself from Kail... This was Daniel's punishment for his actions and belief... In order to tap into the awesome power of the Enlightened, Daniel must separate himself from everything he held dear... Slowly through the process of clearing and separating himself, Daniel offhandedly was aware his companions were waiting on him. They waited patiently for him to waken from the self-induced trance. They waited for him to come back to them. Strangely even the young raven-haired youth waited on him... Soon after an eternity and a minute, Daniel felt the hot power that lay dormant within him come rushing to his call. If the young Light did not know any better, he would have guessed that the Powers That Be was happy to answer his call. Ignoring any sentiment that thought might produce, Daniel quickly pushed it forward and ordered it to Heal the troubled teen. Heal both the burnt flesh and the tortured soul.

After a few moments more, Daniel immediately reached for Kail, who was waiting patiently for him. The moment that Light and Shadow touched; the powers of Those That Be were effectively sealed behind the proverbial steel door. It was Daniel's punishment. He could never touch the power of the Ascendant unless he gave Kail up to Oblivion and well... Daniel could never do that to his beautiful Shadow; it would kill him, both of them.

Slowly sapphire blue eyes focused on onyx eyes, but Daniel could not make his hand obey. It would seem that Kail wished to ensure the youth's cooperation. Daniel was too tried to care at that moment.

"Please, Sasuke, help me understand." Daniel's words were soft. Daniel's words held his own special power, his special Light that not even Sasuke could deny nor resist.

"Revenge." Sasuke replied then relaxed as he felt the blonde's hand moved; more like slid down the man's side. Sasuke had planned on only saying that but the calming presence of this man. This Dan'El was too much for him to resist. "My entire clan was murdered and I was too weak to stop it."

"You're... What... 16?" Kernel Mitt-Chill stated as he leaned against the tree, which Sasuke was bound to. "You were just a kid. Still are."

"I am shinobi." Sasuke growled, "You would never understand our ways."

"Iwatomi is a Night Warrior." Kail's voice echoed from the shadows that surrounded them.

"BLOODY HELL KAIL!" Vala hissed for Kail's voice startled them. They would never openly admit it, but it really creeped them out when Kail disconnected his voice from Daniel and spoke from the Shadows itself. Really creepy!

"I keep forgetting to ask him what that means..." Kernel Mitt-Chill commented off-handedly; masking his unease at Kail's dismembered voice.

Sasuke was stunned.

This Kail entity claimed the brown-haired man as a shinobi as well as nicknamed him after the animal familiar of his clan, the Clan Uchiha. The same Kail entity who possessed a Four Pinwheel Sharingan Eye. Sasuke did not know if that was even possible nor could he believe that such a powerful entity could be willingly bound to a weakling like Dan'El... However, even Sasuke begrudgingly admitted that Dan'El had a strength of his own kind... much like another beautiful blonde.

"And who do you wish to seek vengeance on, UchihaSasuke?" The dark one asked.

Sasuke knew he should remain silent but this odd group was compiling him to talk, to bare his soul. Only one other person had that type of power over him, and Sasuke hated and yet loved him for it. Sasuke stared at Dan'El.

"My Brother..."

"Ouch!" Kernel Mitt-Chill and the dark-haired woman mumbled together while the other three were quiet.

"Why did he spare you?" The blonde female asked.

Sasuke coldly laughed.

"I am beneath his notice. Too weak to be a threat... Become stronger, Little Brother, if you can."

The silence was heavy and thick like fog, but suddenly it lighten and it became easier to breathe. Sasuke could only think of one person who could do that, and he was staring at him.

"You're wrong." Dan'El stated with simple conviction.

"What?"

"Daniel?"

Daniel smiled. It was his holistic smile that made everything seem okay. Nobody ever questioned or brought the subject of the smile up because they were afraid that if Daniel knew the impact of his small, holistic smile then he would not smile again. It was stupid, but they needed that little reassurance, especially with everything they have been through and probably will go through.

"It's something I survived on. It even saved a good friend of mine's own life, and I think it was what your brother meant by become stronger."

"What would you know?" Sasuke sneered; afraid to hear it. He too sensed an ease and sense of rightness when he saw Dan'El smile.

"True strength is in living; not dying." Daniel answered then stood up.

Sasuke was speechless. He had heard those words before... He heard them from...

"Naruto..."

"Hey Daniel!" Sam whispered as she sat down next to her long-time friend and battle brother.

"Hey Sam." Daniel replied as he casually leaned against the strong female.

They have been through hell and back more times than they can count. They have watched each other's back enough time that they always sought each other's companionship in their time of need.

Daniel knew that Sam had questions about Kail and his earlier behavior. He also knew that she would ask when she knew that he was ready to answer. It was one of the reasons why he loved her.

"How's Kail?"

Daniel grinned as he sighed. He knew her well.

"He's fine but angry at himself for letting his emotions to get away... Something about it being un-shinobi or something of the sort..."

Sam arched an eyebrow.

"It kinda sounded personal to me."

"It is in more ways than one... You see, Kail was affected by the same curse mark."

"What? But how is he?" Sam asked. Although she was scientist and soldier, she also understood on a romantic level what Daniel and Kail were.

"Kail himself broke the curse mark by killing the castor."

"Aside from the obvious, why?"

"Kail's Desire was to protect his love," Daniel replied vaguely. He did not want his best friend to learn of one of his many previous lives... At least, not yet. "But the castor killed Kail's love, which sent Kail into a blood rage... You see, the curse mark brought Kail's Shadow powers forward too early. Kail was not "mature" enough for his Shadow powers. It's dangerous for a Shadow's power to surface prematurely..."

"This is important?" Sam was confused as to why Daniel was making such a point about Kail's powers.

"Because he not only killed the castor but every single individual who shared the castor's bloodline... An entire family, clan, tribe, village, nation... An entire civilization."

Sam's eyes widen in shock. She knew that the Shadow personae had power and was powerful enough to destroy an Ori, but to actually destroy an entire civilization...

"Light forms Shadow. Shadow defines Light. Light is Life. Shadow is Death. Death protects Life; strange as it sounds, but if you really look at it, it's true. Death keeps Life in balance; thus, Death protects Life. Kail failed, and was punished for it."

"I see..."

"Also..." Daniel paused as he looked back at the youth, who had promised to behave, was unbound and sleeping in Daniel's sleeping bag, "I'm pretty sure Sasuke figured it out..."

"Figured what out?"

"Himura is Kail's Shadow surname."

"Shadow surname?"

"Every Shadow adopts the name Himura as their last name sort of like a mark of their ascension."

"So they have a family name?"

Daniel nodded.

"Give you three guesses what Kail's family name was, and the first two don't count!" Daniel teased; needing to lighten the mood of their conversation.

Sam frowned at Daniel's friendly play. Of course, next to Jack, the SGC and motorcycles, she also loved puzzles. Sam watched Daniel as he watched the stars and began humming an unknown melody; probably from Kail's memories. Then she looked at their raven-haired guest. Daniel commented that the teen knew, but why? Suddenly she remembered...

Uchiha... Uchiha no Amatseru...

"Kail is from the same clan?!"

"Hai, Haigusha no Kitsune." Kail's voice purred pass Daniel's lips, which caused Sam to blush. She may love Jack with all her heart and soul, but there was something about Kail's voice that would make her to go from Rough 'n' Tough Soldier to a pile of giggly-goo in less than five seconds, and she was not the only to feel that way too!!

"Daniel's asleep?" She asked once she regain her composure.

"Hai. The Healing taxed him."

"Ah!... So, this is personal for you, I understand, but will it affect the mission?"

"It already has for it is one and the same. I regret."

"Don't worry. We've had our fair share of personal missions. Only God knows how many. It's part of being with this team, you know that."

"Hai."

"Heh! It just means this is going to be one interesting mission to get back home." Mitchell chirped from his resting place.

Kail smiled at his Light's friends. It would appear that they were eavesdropping out of concern for their friend and Shadow. What true companions you have, my Beautiful. Daniel's Light purred in delight but remain asleep. Yes, what true Friends you have, my Heart.

"Again... How the hell did we make this trip the first time?" Mitchell swore.

Sasuke had just informed the group that it was another two days to the Chap'pi and to also expect Orochimaru to be there; waiting. After this little tip-bit, all of SG-1... Well, save for T'leac, Carter and Daniel... Okay, it was just Mitchell and Vala, who were groaning about the two-day hike. The others knew that the loud colonel was not really annoyed... Okay maybe a little; however, they knew their colonel well enough that he was, as Kail called it, playing. And Vala was... well, she was being herself.

However the former Black Ops Colonel would only play if he had spotted someone trailing them. They all had, even Sasuke. They continued quietly, with a few more gripes from Mitchell for good measure, on their way.

As the odd group made their way through the forest, they came across a clearing. Mitchell had stopped the team and automatically took a knee. Slowly the others mimicked the combat soldier's movement as it was practically second nature to them; even Sasuke followed the groups' movements.

The young Avenger took this time to observe how this strange team of aliens worked. Sasuke was impressed... For all his casual and relaxed nature, Mitt-Chill was a good leader: like a cross of Shikamaru's battle instincts and... His playfulness. Next was the blonde female. The one called Cut-tah. She was intelligent; her eyes reflected that analytical gleam that raven-haired youth had seen in his former sensei. The other female reminded Sasuke way too much of a certain pink-haired kunoichi. It was not that he did not like his former teammate, but it was... The pink-haired girl and this dark-haired female were too girlie for his liking. Then came the dark one, who was covering their rear. The dark one named Teal'k. Sasuke had never meet a man like, and he doubted anyone in his village ever had. Teal'k was big: big in height and muscles. Teal'k was quiet like a sage and yet gave an aura of formidability that screamed warrior of the highest class. Sasuke could not wait for a chance to spar with him... If he ever got the chance to.

While observing the group, Sasuke sensed that this line-up was so engrained that it was like breathing even with an additional member. The true "fighters" surrounded the one non-true "fighter" and "child": he and Dan'El were in the middle. Sasuke knew that Dan'El knew how to defend himself but clearly was no match for even a Genin. Aside from the mysterious personae named Kail, there was something about Dan'El that made him unique, which made everyone wanting to protect him. Being around the blonde male was like being around another certain Blonde. True, the two personalities were different, but their auras had the same affect on the troubled Avenger. Both of them calmed his tortured soul enough to allow him to think... He hated it. He did not want to think because to think was to remember his sins, which in turn tortured him more. In all honesty, Sasuke just wanted to be an empty shell of a being because then he would not have to be in pain. He hated to be in pain.

Sasuke pushed aside his thoughts as he felt Dan'El's gentle touch. The young shinobi cursed himself for his carelessness. While he was lost in thought, the two females have already crossed the clearing and were waiting on the other side with their weapons pointed in opposite directions.

Strange... Sasuke thought. It was as if the team was one unit; everyone moved forward. Unlike the Shinobi. The mission came first; if one was slow then they were left behind.

"Never leave a man behind." Dan'El's gentle voice whispered softly in Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke looked at the blonde, who was watching Mitt-Chill.

Suddenly Mitt-Chill nodded his head.

Dan'El held onto Sasuke's arm and bolted forward; taking Sasuke with him.

The two quickly raced across the field when suddenly Sasuke twisted around Dan'El, causing the blonde to break contact and lose his balance.

"Daniel" Someone called, but the blonde did not know who. As he was about to hit the deck, he heard metal on metal.

Daniel immediately rolled away from Sasuke, pulled his Zat, aimed then... paused. Daniel was unsure of what to make of the new teen. What made the archeologist uneasy was the similarities in their looks. The new teen was grinning very fox-like while the sun shined on his sun-golden locks. The youth's hair was long and tied back by something.

Although the youth appeared relax with one foot behind the other and his arms folded behind his head, Daniel knew that this youth was far from relaxed. The entire presence of the youth just screamed shinobi. The youth wore a variation of Earth's BDU trousers and the customary shinobi sandals but black in color. Daniel was not certain, but he believed the new blonde teen was wearing a quarter sleeved meshed undershirt with a black tank-top and a faded, old orange jacket tied around his waist.

Daniel was uncertain of the time that past. It could have been an eternity or just merely seconds, but regardless' the two teens just faced one another not saying a word until...

"Dobe."

"Heh! TEME!" The blonde chirped with a mix of fondness and relief.

That confused Sasuke.

"What are you doing here." Sasuke's voice gave no indication of curiosity or annoyance. It was neutral, but everyone knew better.

Suddenly the blonde smiled at the onyx -eyed youth. Their eyes are the same. Sasuke mentally noted as he stared in the other teen's clear sapphire blue eyes. The Fallen Avenger was surrounded by a sea of the clearest and purest sapphire blue eyes, and it was making his head spin.

"I'm gonna knock some sense inta ya, teme." The other's voice was playful, as if the two were just playing and not in a life and death situation for the other's soul. However, despite the playfulness of the blonde's voice, Sasuke saw those clear blues dark with passion and conviction.

"Tch, like a weakling like you can." Sasuke sneered; hoping to rile his former friend up, "If Kakashi-sensei couldn't, what makes you think you can, Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage?"

Something flashed in Naruto's eyes: sadness, a bit of regret but most definitely resolve. Naruto then smirked. It was odd to see an Uchiha style smirk on the usually hyperactive happy youth. It reminded Sasuke of a fox playing with his prey, and unfortunately, he was the prey.

"Because I'm doing this for a reason better than just to 'bring you home'." Naruto stated with such passion that Sasuke wondered what that reason was.

"Daniel."

"Yeah."

Kuso. Sasuke had forgotten about the travelers.

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

"Good. What about our angsty, suicidal idiot?"

"Sasuke?" Daniel asked as he glanced at their companion. Daniel had to bite back a chuckled when he saw Sasuke's eye twitch. The older blonde heard the younger snicker.

"He's the idiot." Sasuke growled. He did not meant to be heard, but he was.

"He's fine!" Daniel called back.

"Good!" Mitchell's voice was closer as he directed his questions at the new arrival, "Who are you? And what do you want?"

The other teen looked at the Colonel. The youth's eyes were soul-piercing and unblinking; the look a predator coming across a bigger predator. Then something akin to hope shined brightly.

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna knock some sense inta the teme's thick skull, believe it!"

Sasuke was stunned. The blonde did not give his customary 'I'm going to be the next Hokage, believe it!' speech. The dobe always gave that stupid speech!

"Really?" Mitt-Chill sounded doubtful.

"Yep!" Naruto was cheerful.

"Okay." Mitt-Chill suddenly sounded casual as he lowered his weapon and walked over to Dan'El. "Don't hurt him too badly. We need him."

"Not a prob!"

What the... Sasuke could not just process what had happened.

"Colonel, do you think this is wise?" Sam asked as the team regrouped and watched the flurry of attacks.

"Not really, but I get the feeling that this needs to be done." Mitchell calmly explained. He was trying to follow the fight, but failed miserably. Then he glanced at Daniel, whose eyes were moving in flow with the fight in front of them.

"Besides... The new kid's name is Naruto."

"So?" Vala mumbled.

Mitchell resisted rolling his eyes.

"That is name that UchihaSasuke had spoken of often, especially around DanielJackson." T'leac explained. He too was fascinated by these she-kno-bee's style of fighting. It was like nothing he had seen before. It was beautiful.

"In-coming!" Daniel called as he suddenly dropped to the ground as did everyone else. They all dropped in time to see the blonde teen's body come flying through the air.

The blonde twisted in mid-air so as to have his feet connecting with the tree. Somehow the teen remain in place! The mysterious teen was crouched low on a tree! And grinning like a loon!

"Heh, not bad, teme! Afraid ya might 'ave gone soft!"

"Hn."

"Heh!" Then the young man disappeared and the fighting resumed.

SG-1 did not know how long it took; the teen's fight, but the finale had left them troubled. Not only were they worried about their raven-haired guide but their own teammate, Daniel...

Prison gates won't open up for me

On these hands and knees I'm crawlin'

Oh, I reach for you

Well I'm terrified of these four walls

These iron bars can't hold my soul in

All I need is you

Come please I'm callin'

And oh I scream for you

Hurry I'm fallin'

The two teen shinobi were going at each other as if much more than their own lives were on the line. As if much more than their personal desires were on the line. It was as if their very existence, reasons to exist, their very souls were on the line. It was a fight that could have gone on for an eternity until somehow Naruto tripped and landed on his back; exposing his belly to his enemy.

Show me what it's like

To be the last one standing

And teach me wrong from right

And I'll show you what I can be

Say it for me

Say it to me

And I'll leave this life behind me

Say it if it's worth saving me

Sasuke was immediately on top of his former teammate, rival best friend... and an untouchable dream. With a marble-like grip around Naruto's slender tanned throat and a kunai held high for the strike, Sasuke's Sharingan stared coldly into a sea of calm sapphire blue; causing the damned Avenger to pause.

Do you really think that HE can give you what you want? He doesn't know what true strength is! He doesn't know what true power is! True strength, true power comes from living! Living even though you just want to die to end all the pain. That's true strength! True power!

It's something I survived on. It even saved a good friend of mine's life. True strength lie in living; not dying.

Become stronger, Little Brother, if you can.

Heaven's gates won't open up for me

With these broken wings I'm fallin'

And all I see is you

These city walls ain't got no love for me

I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story

And oh I scream for you

Come please I'm callin'

And all I need from you

Hurry I'm fallin'

These words echoed and danced in Sasuke's heart and soul; causing his body to tremble as his conflict seem to consume him. The Fallen Avenger's chakra began to raise; causing the curse seal to break under the pressure of the curse chakra and the teen's own legendary chakra. Soon the raven-haired shinobi was engulfed by the black chakra of Orochimaru's curse and his own naturally golden chakra. The black chakra markers swept over the teen's pale form as if it were being chased away, and in a sense it was... Shortly after the black chakra left its mark on the teen's body, Sasuke's golden chakra thundered over his body; causing him to scream in agony.

Show me what it's like

To be the last one standing

And teach me wrong from right

And I'll show you what I can be

Say it for me

Say it to me

And I'll leave this life behind me

Say it if it's worth saving me

As his mind was consumed by the icy-fiery pain of the battling chakras, Sasuke was unaware of his beautiful Dobe's chakra rising to his painful plea for help. The Fallen Teen was unaware of his untouchable dream engulfing him in a warm hug; grounding him with the chakra of an angel and a demon.

Hurry I'm fallin'

It was a magnificent battle of chakras: Red fought black, Blue fought gold.

Red and blue blending to form the holy color of amethyst and fought against the disconnected hues of golden darkness.

It was beautiful and painful.

And all I need is you

Come please I'm callin'

And oh I scream for you

Hurry I'm fallin'

As the battle raged on, SG-1 were mesmerized by the battling auras that they failed to notice their own Daniel had rushed forward; engulfed in the dual auras of his own naturally golden white Essence and Kail's own purple black Essence.

Show me what it's like

To be the last one standing

And teach me wrong from right

And I'll show what I can be

Say it for me

Say it to me

And I'll leave this life behind me

Say it if it's worth saving me

Hurry I'm fallin'

Say it for me

Say it to me

And I'll leave this life behind me

Say it if it's worth saving me

Suddenly the clearing was engulfed by an array of visible chakra; causing the remaining SG-1 members to cover their eyes for fear of blinding. Once the blinding glow and sudden warmth subsided, Mitchell immediately checked for his team. He found them all, save for one, safe and unharmed. Of course, the instant that he noted his missing archeologist, the former Black Ops Colonel assumed the others were fine while he desperately searched for the blonde scientist.

Bright blue eyes immediately gazed at the unexpected and surprisingly larger carter, which the Colonel knew the two teens were previously fighting there. Mitchell paled as he rushed forward. Of all the ways to die, being blown up was not the way the maverick Colonel had envisioned for the scientist to go. Of course, if the Colonel had his way, the blonde would never die! However, he was not god; thus, his frantic rush toward the carter. Standing at the carter's edge, Mitchell sighed deeply as he saw his trouble-magnet of a friend was safe, unharmed and sound. Mitchell took a knee as he observed the odd and yet serene scene before him.

The air in the carter carried the multitude of golden white and purplish black feathers; indicating that the scientist and his Shadow were in their winged forms, but there was no sign that Kail had assumed physical form. Daniel was laying in the middle of the two teens, who were holding onto each other as if their very lives depended on each other. Mitchell suspected that was probably not too far off the mark. Mitchell noted the strange calm on Sasuke's face as he slept, but the older frowned at the strange markings that engulfed half of the pale youth's body.

The golden black markings were neither of any familiar designs that Mitchell recognized nor were they tribal, The markings were like random brush strokes that Mitchell had seen Japanese calligraphy artist perform prior to doing their craft.

"Colonel!" Carter called as she ran to his side; followed by the others.

Mitchell returned his attention to the slumbering trio. The Black Ops Colonel looked at the two blondes and noted that nothing was out of place with the two. Well, at least, nothing he could visibly see.

"Is Daniel okay?" Vala immediately asked.

Mitchell nodded toward the sleeping trio.

"What the hell?!" Vala sputtered, "We were nearly blinded, and he's sleeping?"

Mitchell rolled his eyes at the former Goa'uld host. He may not understand everything about Daniel and Kail. After all, he was just a soldier. But the soldier did know that anything dealing with Daniel and Kail's powers usually drained Daniel to the point that Daniel would drop. Not that Mitchell would complain. In his honest opinion, Daniel needed to sleep! Of course, due to their current situation, Mitchell would not mind complaining.

"Okay, let's get our sleeping beauties and get outta here." Mitchell ordered as he and T'leac went into the carter. Especially after that light show, it was a matter of time before that stupid snake-faced bastard would show up instead of waiting at the Gate.

"Hey Big Buddy, can ya carry the kiddies while I get Danny?" Mitchell asked.

"Ngh..." a groan answered the Colonel as the two men glanced down to notice that the blonde teen was waking up.

"Hey kiddo, you okay?" Mitchell asked as he knelt next to the slowly waking teen.

And somewhere in the mumbled series of groans and words, Mitchell caught only one word.

"S'ske..?"

"Hey T-man."

"UchihaSasuke appears to be only sleeping." T'leac answered the Colonel's unasked question.

The blonde teen nodded his head approvingly while muttering a weak, "Good."

Mitchell suddenly winced as he watched the blonde youth's head flop to the side as the teen looked at Daniel.

"'im..?"

"Oh Danny's fine. Just needs to catch some Zz's." Mitchell explained, "Whatever he did, knocked him out."

"Kay..."

"Are you okay?" Mitchell asked.

Suddenly the blonde teen double over; holding his stomach as he groaned, which was followed by a deep rumbling.

"Hey! Hey! You okay?!" Mitchell was in a panic.

He never liked seeing people in pain, especially children.

Sapphire blue eyes sparkled into the Colonel's own sky blue orbs. This confused the military officer, especially with that impish grin on the teen's face.

"'ungry..."

Mitchell blinked and blinked again.

"ColonelMitchell."

Suddenly the clearing roared with laughter from one overly happy Colonel...

That was mid-morning and neither their raven-haired guide nor Daniel had woken up. After securing a camp site away from the carter, SG-1 began "interrogating" the blonde youth. Which actually failed miserably because the blonde was more interested in his friend's well-being and food. Not even T'leac could make the teen talk! And T'leac could make anyone talk! Mitchell even tried a roundabout way of getting information out of the teen. However, when asked about the raven-haired teen's new body art, sapphire blue crystals darken in sadness; making Mitchell feel like an eel for asking but he listened as the other simply stated that it was the price that Sasuke had to pay then nothing more. The blonde teen remain by the other's side; remain constantly alert of any threat to the raven-hair's slumber.

The darkness of slumber was a nice place to be in, in the Fallen Avenger's opinion; however, that peaceful time, where he was free from pain, was being interrupted by not only an annoyingly persistent light but also by something soft tickling beneath his nose. Groaning Sasuke's body heavily rolled over to get away from the nuisance that was the attempting to wake him. Through his sleep-fogged mind, the young missing-nin thought he heard giggling. Great... Fangirls... Sasuke warily thought but that did not seem right. However, he could not figure out why. Well, no matter, he was finally free from the annoying light but not from the damned thing tickling his nose.

"Grgh..." Sasuke growled as his hand snapped with a serpentine's speed and grasped the offending thing and yanked.

"GYACK!"

"OOPF!"

Sasuke was now wide awake by the extra weight that was attached to the offending thing, which landed on top of him after yanking it.

Onyx eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared into the pair of mischievous sapphire blue eyes that belonged to only one person he knew would dare to wake him up before he was ready to.

"Dobe..." Sasuke growled at his precious person.

"Heh! Morning Teme!" Naruto chirped; loudly, too loudly for Sasuke's liking.

"Get off." The raven-haired youth ordered as he pushed the blonde idiot; still holding onto the damn thing that woke him up.

"Ow! Leggo!" Naruto yelped as he gently tugged at a sun-gold colored rope, which Sasuke was holding the end of.

"Hunh?" Sasuke mumbled as he experimentally tugged on the braided rope.

"OW! STOP THAT TEME!" Naruto yelped louder as he pulled the precious braided rope free from Sasuke's grasp.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide in realization that what had woke him up was a long, sun-gold braid that was Naruto's long, sun-gold hair!

"Wazza matta kiddo? Never seen anyone with a braid before?" Mitchell's voice was thick with amusement.

"Stupid Teme." Naruto pouted as he messaged his abused scalp and sat next to Dan'El, who was smiling brightly at him.

If Sasuke had not known any better, he could have sworn that the two blondes were brothers. Sasuke then lifted his left hand to his face to rub his sleep away but paused and looked in silent horror at the golden-black curse markers that covered his flesh. Slowly with fear he rotated his wrist to see his left hand was covered with the curse markers.

So lost in fear that Sasuke tensed when he felt himself being embraced by the familiar arms of Naruto. The young Uchiha heir even felt himself being embraced by the blonde knucklehead's chakra. As he attempted to figure out what happened, he leaned into his best friend's embrace; allowing the Blonde's chakra to wash over him and the Blonde's soothing words calm him.

"What happened." Sasuke's voice was small and lost.

"I'm sorry, S'ske... I'm so sorry." Naruto whispered gently, "It was the only way... I'm sorry, S'ske. Please, forgive me... Please..."

Sasuke was stunned. Yes, he did not know what happened, but the way that Naruto was pleading for forgiveness just sounded wrong to the Dark Avenger. In all reality, Sasuke should be the one to be begging for forgiveness for being an idiot in believing that he could honestly withstand Orochimaru's influence and kill his precious person! Slowly and timidly Sasuke wrapped his own arms around the lithe form of his blonde dobe.

"Shut up, Dobe." Sasuke replied.

The raven-haired youth was never good with his emotions and was especially never good with public displays of emotions, but for Naruto, he would try.

"Hunh?"

"I said shut up." Sasuke said a bit louder for everyone to hear.

"Hey!" The dark haired woman gasped, but the others seem to know and understand.

"Whatever you did I know you did it for a reason..." Sasuke explained to the worried blonde, "There's no need for forgiveness... You always followed your nindo, your shinobi way... Always..."

Soon the comfortable silence became awkward; causing Sasuke to gently push his friend away to see if it really was the blonde dobe and not his sanity taking a vacation.

Naruto grinned his fox-like grin. He gave the raven-haired teen one more bear hug that could crush even Master Gai's ribs then bound over to Dan'El as if that was where he belonged.

Slowly with a sore and stiff body, Sasuke stumbled over to the group and unceremoniously plopped down next to Mitt-Chill and Teal'k. Suddenly a strange bar was handed to him by the dark haired female. He looked at it suspiciously and was about to refuse it when he heard Mitt-Chill's voice ordering him to eat. Normally Sasuke would scoff at being ordered around, but Mitt-Chill had earned Sasuke's respect and trust, which caused the Dark Avenger to comply without question.

Even Naruto took notice of this and watched with illegally large, surprised eyes.

"Here Naruto." Dan'El's voice sounded unusually cheerful, unusually hyper, which struck Sasuke as odd.

Apparently Dan'El's companion also noticed.

"Is everything alright DanielJackson." T'leac was curious to see the young scientist's playful side, especially since they were on a mission. The Jaffa had a suspicion that the Shadow was behind the blonde archeologist's good mood. Also the old warrior was getting that prickly feeling at the base of his neck whenever the team's former leader was... "playful". He was feeling it again, except it was being caused by both the blonde teen and the blonde scholar.

"Hm..." Daniel purred, "'m fine... Kail'ss fine... Just a little tipsy... Iz all..."

"Eeah..." Mitchell mumbled as he observed his friend's eyes. They were doing something funky and quite frankly it was freaking the former Black Ops soldier out.

"What happened." Sasuke's voice was controlled; causing two seas of sapphire blue orbs to look at him. His breath hitched. He suddenly got that feeling that he was the newest plaything for a very happy fox and iwatomi. He kept the illusion that he was calm and in control. Kami only know!!!

"You gonna answer or are we gonna play twenty questions?" Vala snapped. The former Goa'uld host was never a morning person, and all this hyper activity was making her very cranky.

Both Daniel and Naruto peered at her like a pair of catnipped-high predators determining on whether or not to just want to play with their prey or eat it.

Vala seemed unaffected by the looks or she was unaware of it; however, the others were not. Each from their own respective personal experience that whatever happened to make their respective blondes this way was not good. This is not good. They all thought.

"What the heck is going on?!" Sasuke growled at his dobe; mentally steeled himself from Naruto's kistune behavior as he drew their attention to him. If there was going to be a fight, it be best that he was the prey as he was the one with the most experience in dealing with the kitsune, which he hoped would be enough when dealing with an iwatomi as well. Sasuke also steeled himself from the kistune did to his libido; he really did not need the kistune hybrid to scent his arousal.

"I'm suspecting that they're having a nice adverse effect to what happened yesterday." Cut-tah stated as she observed the two blondes. Her analytical mind was shining through her eyes while her lips twitched as if she was attempting to keep her amusement to a minimum.

"Well, we can see that!" Mitt-Chill exclaimed.

The blonde female gave their leader a pointed look.

"What I mean is that we have a pair of very happy felines, Colonel." She stated plainly.

"But they're human, not animals." Vala was confused.

However, Sasuke understood. He understood what was happening to his Naruto and why. It was because of the Nine-Tail Fox spirit that resided in Naruto's body. It was bound to happened that the fox spirit would affect Naruto's physical make-up by why was this happening to Dan'El? Unless... Of course, Dan'El's shadow, Kail, wore a jackal mask when Sasuke first saw the Dark Entity. Now, it was true that a jackal was from the canine family, but they do have cat-like tendencies just like foxes. And if Kail was anything like the Kyuubi spirit then Kail too affected the kind blonde man in the same manner as Kyuubi did Naruto.

"Damn." Sasuke muttered. He had his suspicion prior to Cut-tah making that statement; he really did not need the truth. He knew he could handle one but both. That might be tricky.

"He figured it out." Dan'El quietly whispered as he stared at the raven-haired youth intently.

"Heh! That's the Teme for ya!" Naruto chirped with loving pride.

"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Mitt-Chill nervously asked.

"Hn. The Dobe and Dan'El are full of energy that they need to dispel before..." Sasuke grunted.

The others did not need further explanation on the 'before'. They each had their own personal experience with hyped-up pets or children, and to be honest, they would rather deal with the Goa'uld and Ori at the same time while filing for taxes! Yes, that scary!

"Now, what happened to me? And why don't I feel Orochimaru?" Sasuke managed to ask without wheezing. The group had opted to run for however long it took to bring the blonde duo down from their high. Now, Sasuke had wished that he had fought the two blondes. They had run far even for him. He had no idea how the travelers managed to keep up, but they did.

The questions were directed to Naruto, who began playing with his braid. Dan'El subtly leaned closer giving the younger blonde his support while calming his breathing down. Sasuke felt his chest tighten at the sight. He did not know why. He knew that it was not because he was out of breathe, and it hurt to see that the young blonde would seek comfort from another. Then again when Sasuke thought about it, he realized that he felt unworthy to feel the way he did.

"...forced the merge." Naruto's quiet voice broke Sasuke's musing.

"What?" Sasuke asked. Honestly, he had meant to listen, but Naruto always had this effect on his cognitive skills either in ways of making him think naughty thoughts or making him reflective on his past actions.

Naruto sighed and nuzzled closer to Dan'El, who returned the nuzzling. Yep, it's like watching a pair of litter mates cuddling. Sasuke thought as he watched them.

"I said I forced the merge of your chakras."

Sasuke frowned.

"I only have one chakra. I'm not like you or Gaara." Sasuke visibly winced. He had not meant to be harsh; it was... Damn! He was no good with his emotions.

"I - "

"Yes! You are!... Well, now more than before." Naruto contemplated; completely oblivious at Sasuke's previous harsh tone.

"Meaning?" Mitt-Chill asked.

"Huhn?! Oh! The curse seal has its own chakra; separate from that of the host. Or at least, that's how it was explained to me." Naruto stated off-handedly then continued, "The human body can't handle the pressure of having more than one chakra, especially if the chakras are in conflict with each other. Did you ever noticed anything out of sorts?" Naruto directed his question to Sasuke.

The pale youth frowned as he thought about it.

"Feeling feverish... Often. Nothing major."

In other words, Naruto mentally translated, I was able to fight the effects to keep Orochimaru from killing me or worse...

"Question. What's chak-rah?" The dark haired female asked.

"Chi, qi, energy, life source..." Dan'El answered before the two shinobi teen could.

"Yeah! So... I didn't know if the Snake-face can be killed. I mean, three of the Legendary Ninjas couldn't do it so what chances do we, the rest of the shinobi, have against the bastard? Well then I gotta thinkin' how do I save the Teme if I can't kill the snaky-thing? Then it hit me!... Quite literally too..." Naruto grumpily mumbled, "I could merge the two chakras! Freeing the Teme from the Orochimaru but... Unfortunately, not the curse."

"Whow... Kail said the only way to be free of the curse is to kill the castor. Now, you're making it sound as if the curse a living thing." Mitt-Chill clearly stated.

"The Kistune Avatar is correct as am I." Kail's cool voice slipped past through Dan'El's lips.

Naruto looked at the now amethyst-eyed Dan'El then shrugged as he sat up straight; away from Dan'El. Sasuke noticed and deep down was happy that the blonde kistune had no interest in Kail.

"Carter!" Mitchell's voice was pleading. So much was going over his head.

"I don't know how to explain it, sir. I'm as lost as you are."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance, ColonelMitchell." T'leac's deep voice rumbled; drawing all save for the blondes and the raven-haired youth's attention. "It would be similar to when a Goa'uld takes a host. The presence of the host remains but suppressed or hidden by the Goa'uld's own presence."

The others immediately looked at Sasuke, who was quietly eating the energy bar that Vala had given him. Then they looked at the blondes, who were in their own world. Well, that explained to what happened to Sasuke, but the blonde teen... What was his deal? And what did he mean by the human body could not handle the pressure of more than one chakra? And what did that mean for their Daniel? Some many questions and unfortunately so little time!

"Okay, Dobe," Sasuke finally said after he finished his meal, "I understand what happened, but why don't I feel the bastard?"

"Eh... Well... That's the part I don't get... Sorry." Naruto replied with a shrug then bound next to Sasuke's feet.

Sasuke could feel himself being lost in his best friend's eyes while Naruto continued his stare.

"Hunh?"

"Wha--?"

The group then looked at T'leac; hopeful for more information. However, T'leac just shrugged.

"Again it's similar to a Goa'uld. A larva has the genetic memory of its queen but develops its own personality." Dan'El's voice returned, which caused Naruto to really smile.

Sasuke had seen Naruto smile before, but he had rarely seen his blonde idiot truly smile. Of course, Sasuke knew that the smile had nothing to do with Dan'El's or Teal'k's explanation because quite frankly he did not understand it and neither did Naruto. No, Naruto was smiling at something else. He was smiling at what only he could see; see in him.

"Okay, lemme see if I got this right." Mitt-Chill exclaimed, "This curse thing was created by this Orochi-Maru guy kinda like an offspring?"

Dan'El nodded.

"And this kid," Mitt-Chill pointed to Naruto, "did something to it, which basically freed Sasuke from Mr. Snaky but not the curse, right?"

Dan'El nodded again.

"Okay... So what's up with the new body art? And why do you two look like two very happy large kitties?" Mitt-Chill questioned as his bright blue eyes trapped the two high blondes.

Yes, Sasuke was curious as to why half his body was covered with the curse markings. Suddenly he felt soft and yet calloused fingers gently caressing the markers. Without thought, reacting purely on instinct, Sasuke's eyes drooped and a quiet hum, a human's equivalent to a purr, rumbled from the dark teen's throat. Sasuke knew that he was trapped... As long as Naruto continued his gently caressing, Sasuke was putty in the kistune's hands. The blonde's touches, although shy for the loudmouth, were warm and tender. Yes, Sasuke always longed for these touches, but he could also sense something baser craving for these touches, and it was willing... Willing to what? Sasuke did not know, but he suspected it had to do with a rain of blood if anything should happen to the blonde...

"This is the price... The price for having the curse." Naruto replied even though Sasuke heard it through his hazed mind, "The curse is now a part of Sasuke and all will know it... Sorry."

Naruto stopped and was about to pull away when the steel grip grabbed the blonde's wrist. Naruto's pure sapphire blue orbs stared into a strange sea of obsidian and garnet.

"S'ske..?"

"Don't. Ever. Apologize... Dobe." Sasuke ordered.

"Mou! Don't call me that! Teme!" Naruto pouted but did not move.

Someone coughed, causing the cursed duo to look at the group of foreigners. Sasuke noted that the group was naturally at ease with their relationship or whatever it might be. Teal'k bore the expression of an ancient warrior. The females were smiling knowingly while Mitt-Chill just shrugged, but it was Dan'El's expression that caused Sasuke to pause.

Dan'El's eyes were the same shade of blue as Naruto's. But now they were an array of colors ranging from sapphire blue to molten gold. However, beyond the supernatural display of colors, it was the expression... What was Dan'El proud of him? Or was it Kail, who was proud of him? But why? Of course, Sasuke suspected that Kail was an Uchiha because only the Uchiha Clan possessed the Sharingan Eye. Of course, Sasuke was also curious about the Four Pinwheel Sharingan Eye, but that was for another time perhaps if he was worthy. Now, was Kail really an Uchiha? How was that possible?

"Come. We must go." Kail's voice commented through Dan'El's lips and retreated into Dan'El's being.

"Yeah, you're right." Mitt-Chill sighed, "We gotta get outta here. But we're not done. You hear me."

Mitt-Chill's bright blue eyes nailed all three of them. Dan'El looked sheepish. Naruto and Sasuke were confused.

"The moment we get home. We'll all have a nice little chat, comprende."

Raven eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"We?" Naruto's voice was quiet and hopeful; making Sasuke suspicious.

"Well, yeah." Mitt-Chill stated then thumbed at Dan'El's direction, "He's notorious 'bout bringing home strays."

"HEY!" Dan'El shouted indignantly then began to pout, which caused the others to lightly chuckle... Well, save for Sasuke and Teal'k, both of whom just had twitches in their lips.

The team plus two were making great time in reaching the Chap'pi. None said anything then again none need to. At that moment all they wanted to do was to go home. Even Naruto and Sasuke...

As Naruto and Sasuke jogged side by side, Sasuke could not help but glance at his friend... Possibly the only person in their entire village that still believed in him. Sasuke knew that he could never return to Konoha. He was a traitor, and traitors received only death upon their return. Of course, he might suffer a worse fate than death if the Council had their way. His bloodline was highly coveted. Sasuke knew that he village would do anything to keep the bloodline in the village. Thus Sasuke knew his fate would not be an honorable death and thanked kami for the salvation that this group of foreigners, the S.G.1, was providing. But what of Naruto? What of Naruto's dream to be Hokage? It may have been Sasuke's dream to revive his clan and kill his brother, but over time he also dreamed that Naruto would become Hokage as well.

Sasuke knew of the village's hatred toward the blonde. He knew that the village did not see Naruto for Naruto but instead they only saw the Nine-Tail Fox Spirit. Of course, just because he knew it did not mean that he understood it. It was hard for him to comprehend how could anyone hate a beautiful and pure being like Naruto for an act that he was not even born to commit. Sasuke could count the numerous times that the blonde knucklehead had saved the village and himself. Naruto had risked life and limp for that arrogant village and himself enough times that the blonde should be sainted as a kami! Then why would the village allow the blonde to come get him... Alone?! Was it a suicide mission? Was it an ANBU operation? Why was Naruto alone on this?! Sasuke was afraid of the answer.

"IN-COMING!" Mitt-Chill shouted.

S.G.1 immediately dropped to the ground and opened fire with their weapons.

All this happened in a span of Sasuke noticing the exploding scroll on a shuriken and grapping his dobe to dodge the explosion... In other words, this all took place in less than 30 seconds.

Sasuke and Naruto landed behind S.G.1; shuriken and kunai at the ready.

"CEASE FIRE!" Mitchell cried and immediately the team stopped firing.

Mitchell slowly stood up; weapon pointed down range. One-by-one the rest of his team followed suit.

"COME OUT AN' IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" Mitchell commanded.

It was moments like these that the former Black Ops soldier existed. The other immediately fell under and into his command; including the two teens.

A laugh echoed after Mitchell's command. It was arrogant and so full of itself. The type of laugh that Mitchell immediately thought of a Goa'uld. However, Mitchell knew that no Goa'uld existed on this planet, which meant it was probably one of the snake's men.

"Who do you think you are? Using guns," The male voice sneered the word out as if it was vile, "against a true shinobi?"

Mitchell heard Naruto snort. Apparently the blonde disagreed with the man's assessment of himself.

"Oh really? A true shee-no-bee? Don't believe ya." Mitchell replied, "Now show yourself!"

Suddenly a small army of men and women appeared.

"You really did it this time, Mitchell." Vala murmured while a catchy little ditty that went like this: Shit, shit, shit, shiit! was going through Mitchell's head.

"We are Shinobi from the Hidden Village of Leaf, and you foreigners are abiding two criminals of our village."

"What? Two?!" Sasuke gasped then looked at Naruto, who did not waver his gaze from the small army in front of them.

Mitchell's gaze did not waver either from the speaker.

"Kail." Mitchell's voice was low but his team plus two heard him nonetheless.

"Criminals come in all shapes and sizes." Kail's voice whispered but Daniel remain, "One can become a criminal just by leaving one's village without permission..."

"Okay," Mitchell mumbled, "Alright, Mac! It appears we're in a disagreement. You say criminals, and we say refugees..."

"Refugees! Ha! How the mighty have fallen!" The man snickered, "Just hand over the traitor and the demon, and we might let you live."

"Demon? What demon?" Mitchell whispered even though his expression showed no sign of his confusion.

"He means me." Naruto's voice was small; barely audible.

"As in having a Goa'uld?" Mitchell's voice suddenly became hard like a shinobi's kunai.

"Negative, Iwatomi." Kail's voice whispered around them, "There exist creatures of extraordinary abilities... Much like youkai of Japanese lore..."

This caused Mitchell to suddenly look at Naruto, whose pure sapphire blue eyes showed an array of emotions beginning with fear and ending with understanding. This made Mitchell wonder on how many times Naruto had to endure this form of bigotry. This made Mitchell royally pissed. He liked the kid! And in this line of work one does not make immediate friends, and if one did then one held onto that friendship like a life line.

Mitchell's bright blue eyes narrowed and darken as he could feel his former Black Ops personae surfacing.

"And what will you do with them if we hand them over?" Mitchell's voice was unbelievably cold and yet it somehow reassured the two teens in their care.

"Not like it's any of your concern, but I'll tell you." The man replied; oblivious to the cold wrath of an American soldier protecting one of their own. "We have some use of the traitor, but as for the demon, we have orders from the Council to exterminate with extreme prejudice."

The pure malice and hatred could even be felt by the SG-1 members. It was beyond their understanding on how these people could hate the blonde so much, especially since their own blonde liked the young man! Hell, Kail approved of the young man, and nothing that could possibly harm the overprotective Shadow's Light was permitted to get near the Light. Thus the blonde teen had two immediate supporters, which in turn meant the entire SG-1 team were also supporters.

"Colonel, your orders, Sir?" Sam's voice was also cold. To her, these boys could pass off for Cassie's little brothers, and anything that reminded her of her dear little Cassie, she was extremely protective of.

Mitchell looked over his shoulder and with a smile that could make the devil weep.

"We don't leave a man behind." Mitchell cited the military and SGC's number one creed, "We all go home or not at all. Is that understood?"

"Yes'sir!"

"Hai!"

"Yes!"

"Yep!"

And T'leac just nodded.

"Okay... So I guess we each take on a hundred?" Mitchell asked.

"Iie..." Kail's voice sounded physical, "We need to conserve our firepower for him."

"Agreed, but whatta 'bout these guys?" Mitchell asked.

"It has been a long time but..." Kail trailed off as he lifted a hand to his lips and bit... hard!

Blood began pooling to the surface; followed by a flurry of hand signs.

Suddenly amethyst eyes bleed into a deep crimson shade with four spinning pinwheels and a deep bone-chilling voice commanded, "Summoning jutsu!"

Winds picked up and danced around the known defenders of the universe.

Slowly from the shadows of each teammate and from the forest's own shadows, jet black creatures emerged and took defensive positions around the team. Their black fur coats melted with the shadows and their amber eyes glowed in anticipation as each Shadow Hound could smell their preys' fear.

"Oooo! I can do that too!" Naruto yipped in delight them immediately proceeded to perform the Summoning Jutsu.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto yipped in delight as a mist covered the group then quickly dissipated to reveal an army of toads of varies shapes, sizes and armament. Including one perched on Naruto's shoulder armed with a katana.

"Holy Hannah!" Sam exclaimed as she noted their unusual army of toads and jackals.

"Neat!" Mitchell chirped.

"Your orders, Iwatomi." Kail's voice was within the shadows again.

Mitchell was grinning like a loon.

"Punch a hole through to the Stargate!" Mitchell ordered.

Daniel motioned Kail's summonings forward.

"You heard the man! Go!" Naruto shouted.

And en masse they all charged forward.

The charge of humans and summonings seemed to have startled the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village that when the two armies collided, no resistance was met. Until the opposing shinobi had regain their nerve and fought back; however, by then their only opponents were the summonings. Predator and Prey fought side by side against a great threat to their Masters.

As the shinobi discovered these unusual summonings were more of a threat than original thought, the SG-1 plus two rushed past them to their goal.

As they ran for the Ancient's Gate, Mitchell could be heard laughing at how the summons were better than the Delta Force.

It was exhilarating to feel one's blood pumping through one's veins, and the instant feeling of being one with the environment as one ran head-long into danger and fight for home. This was what made SG-1 infamous as well as the best. This was when they were at their best! And Orochimaru was going to learn why SG-1 was the scourge of the Goa'uld and the Ori alike...

The Stargate was within sight, and Mitchell also knew that the Snake was laying in wait... Somewhere. However, he also knew his team. Although ready for a fight, they preferred to just punch through and tag this planet as off-limit faster than warm-hole travel, especially since they now have two refugee teens that they have became very fond of and want nothing more than to protect.

"Vala. Daniel. Carter. Dial us home. Naruto. Sasuke. Cover their flanks. T'leac with me!" Mitchell shouted as they punched through the clearing where the Gate rested.

Daniel and the females pushed forward with several of the summons leading the way and attacking the shinobi that had just appeared in attempts to stop them, which allowed the three to break through the clearing with no trouble.

Naruto and Sasuke immediately jumped into battle alongside the summons; protecting the three that was sending them to their salvation and new home.

Mitchell and T'leac stopped (or more like skidded to a stop on the Colonel's part) and opened fire on the attacking shinobi; forcing the shinobi to take cover and giving the other three a chance to dial home.

'Colonel!' Carter's voice boomed into the Black Ops' earpiece.

The Gate had been opened, and it was time to go home. All of them.

"Fall Back!" Mitchell ordered as he and T'leac continued their suppressive fire on the shinobi and falling back to their key home.

"Fall Back Teme!" Naruto's shouting could be heard over the sounds of battle, which caused Mitchell to pause and check on the young raven-haired teen.

"NO! THE UCHIHA IS MINE!" A cold voice hissed a little too close for the maverick Colonel's liking.

Mitchell looked up to see an elongated neck belonging to Orochimaru descend upon him with weeping venomous fangs.

"SHIT!" Mitchell yelped in surprise as he stumbled back in attempts to escape. He had just enough time to lift his P90 to protect his vulnerable neck.

The Black Ops soldier and the Rotten Soul crashed onto the ground and began to wrestle.

Mitchell saw stars as he struggled against the steel jaws of this insane monster.

Sasuke skidded to a halt once he heard his former master's shriek. Turning around the Fallen Angel watched in horror as the foreigner, who he had come to respect, struggle against the demented madman, who had cursed him. Sasuke could feel his own curse humming dangerously under the surface in tune with his anger. He could feel his anger rising within him; an anger once reserved for his bastard of a brother.

How dare Orochimaru assume possession over him, an Uchiha?! Uchiha were their own masters! How dare Orochimaru attempt to poison an honorable man like Mitt-Chill?! Men like Mitt-Chill were rare in the world of the shinobi and were often Kage, which any true shinobi worth their salt protected without prompting. How dare Orochimaru even attempt to take possession of Dan'El, a man that his Naruto was fond of?! A man, who had given the troubled teen so much hope. How dare Orochimaru threaten all what he held dear?! His pride, his service to an Honorable Warrior, his renewed will to live and finally his Blonde.

"RGHA!" Sasuke growled as he felt the flood of his new harmonic chakra course through his veins; asking to be released for vengeance.

Onyx eyes slowly began to bleed their vibrant bloody color with tomoe spiraling out of control. His uneven tomoe spiraled and spiraled until all that be seen was a pair of bloody crimson eyes with a ring of obsidian.

Sasuke was once helpless to prevent the murder of his family. He was even so helpless to protect the one he loved from their own village's idiocy... He was so weak that he had actually believed that Orochimaru could give him what he wanted, needed... But... But that was his mistake and his sins, which he now knew and understood and will make amends for all eternity to his Precious Person, to his Precious Light of his Life.

"Orochimaru!" Sasuke growled with inhumane rage; causing said creature to turn his attention to the Uchiha heir.

Raven flame disappeared.

Raven flame reappeared.

The Raven swooped down and attacked the Snake.

The venomous creature had no chance to defend itself from the winged predator.

Talons to weeping fangs.

Beating wings to the slender body.

More talons to weeping fangs.

A sharp nip from a beak to the exposed body.

Weeping fangs feebly attempted to strike.

Talons and beating wings defeated the striking fangs.

A sharp claps of the beak grasped onto the serpentine's neck and flipped the dangerous creature into the air...

Raven flame surrounded by the chirping of a thousand birds and lightening.

"DIE!" A battle cry to make the God of War proud echoed over the unearthly screech of a damned creature dying.

Slowly smoke and dust began to settle, a gentle breeze wafted into the clearing. All battle ceased. Standing in the middle of the clearing, a lone figure in black with humming golden black curse markers relaxed. His nightmare had ended, and now he can begin his path to redemption.

Naruto slowly approached his best friend and secret love. He had nearly died watching his Raven turn back to fight Orochimaru. At first, it was like all of Sasuke's battles against Itachi, but when he heard Sasuke cry his battle-cry, the young kitsune hybrid knew that this was different. That this time Sasuke found another reason to fight other than blind vengeance. The young blonde avatar watched, hypnotized as Sasuke relentlessly attacked the object of the Raven's nightmares and the source of all their pain. He could feel and taste the other's powers in the air, and it made him purr in a high that he had experienced once... When he forced the merger of Sasuke's chakra. Sasuke's chakra always had this effect on the young kitsune, even before Sasuke's defection from the Hidden Village of Leaf. And now as he slowly approached the object of his affections and the current source of his high, Naruto could see that Sasuke was suffering the aftermath of his attack.

"S'ske..?" Naruto purred out.

Sasuke sighed deeply from the sudden release of some hidden burden. Slowly turning around, Sasuke opened his eyes and looked freely at the blinding light of amethyst color, which slowly faded away to reveal his best friend and future.

"Naruto."

Naruto smiled brighter than the sun and proceeded to hug him.

An appreciative whistle drew the teens' attention but neither broke their hold of each other.

"Now that's some attack." Mitt-Chill remarked approvingly.

"Indeed." Teal'k replied.

"Bloody hell." The raven-haired female mumbled as she watched him warily.

"Holy Hannah," Cah-tah whistled through her teeth, "I know a couple of teams that would love to have them."

"Uchiha no Amatseru." Kail's voice slipped through Dan'El's lips.

However, neither Dan'El nor Kail were in control and yet they both were. One eye remain a pure sapphire blue while the other was the bloody crimson Sharingan with four calm tomoe.

"Wow! You two have the same eyes!" Naruto chirped, which caused the others to look closely.

"How many eye colors do you have?!" Mitchell asked.

Kail's grin was feral as his eyes shifted colors from amethyst so deep it appeared black to the crimson Sharingan with four tomoe to molten gold.

"Don't do that!" Vala shrieked.

Suddenly their moment of peace was interrupted as the remains of Orochimaru's men and the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village began to converge and fought amongst themselves.

"Well, kiddies, it's time to go." Mitchell stated.

As soon as he said those words, SG-1 plus two scattered and made a run for the Gate that lead to Home...

"Woohoo!" A jovial voice echoed throughout the Gate Room.

"Yeah, I feel the same way every time too." A familiar voice chuckled.

"Can we do it again?! Pweazzzz!?" Asked the first voice.

SMACK

"Dobe."

"Owie! Teme! Da' hurts!"

"Teenagers."

"Indeed."

Followed by a chuckle and a poor attempt to cover a snicker.

General Landry was at a lost at the sight of two teenagers with his team, but he knew on whom he could get answers from.

"Colonel Mitchell! What on earth is going on?" The General bellowed through the mic.

Mitchell looked at his team plus two. The teens, although at ease with the team, watched the Security Forces in case they needed to defend themselves. Daniel sighed then nodded his head in silent agreement to their unspoken dialogue.

"They followed us home. Can we keep them?"

Mitchell's impish grin was only matched by that of the blonde teen's, who kept chirping 'please', and their own blonde archaeologist.

Oh boy, I think we're in trouble. Echoed throughout everyone's mind.

Author's Notes:

Hello Everyone! How are you? And did you enjoy another installment of Kail and Daniel's adventures? I know it's not quite like the first one. To be honest, I really have no idea as to where this one came from. I just started writing and this came forth. I know that it is a bit of a stretch to cross these two genres; let alone these two series. I just hope that I did a decent job at entertaining you. Please, only constructive criticism will be appreciated; any other will be ignored. Anyhoot, I hope that you've enjoyed my storytelling!

Also to note, I do not own the characters of Stargate. They rightfully belong to MGM Studios Inc. Nor do I own Naruto or any characters from the series. They too rightfully belong to Masahi Kishimoto and Shonen Jump Graphic Novel. As for the song, that would be Savin' Me by Nickelback, from their album "All the Right Reasons".

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed this piece. Until next time!

-Azteka