Reversal

The End of the Beginning

The sword rushed towards Naruto, the cold steel glinting in the afternoon sun. He stood, unflinching; he had already decided that he would not give into fear so easily. The wielder laughed as he and Naruto met eyes.

"You're too weak," he whispered to Naruto, who defiantly returned the enemy's gaze, daring him to attack.

Suddenly, Naruto felt the cold steel penetrate his back, and as he fell into an abyss, he heard a distant scream, but he could not say whose. He began to feel as though he was falling… falling… into nothingness; drowning in the darkness.

As he fell into oblivion, he opened his eyes, trying desperately to remember who had been with him, where he had been, who he had been battling. It seemed as though he had lost all of his memory when that icy weapon had reached his heart. He floated in the darkness, for what seemed like forever until suddenly, he remembered everything.

He, Sakura, and Sai had met up with Sasuke, only to find that he was still unwilling to return to the village. He remembered…. Sasuke suddenly appearing behind him, and that sword; that deathly sword. Naruto realized who had screamed: Sakura had been standing behind him and probably had witnessed the entire thing. He hoped that she had not followed his own fate. Naruto closed his eyes again, letting the darkness lull him into a deep sleep, allowing it to carry him into the unknown….

Blood dripped from Sasuke's sword, creating a pool of red beneath him. He withdrew his sword from Naruto's body, letting it fall to the ground. He watched as Naruto's blue eyes faded to a blank gray, there was no longer any life in them. Sasuke was pretty sure he had rid the world of the orange bundle of annoyance.

Sakura watched the entire scene through teary eyes, but could stand aside no longer. She ran to Naruto's body and quickly started to try to revive him, conscious of Sasuke's eyes sharply focused on her.

"There's no point, I hit him in the heart. There is no chance of survival for him, unless of course, you have the medical supplies you need. As I said, he was too weak. He wasn't powerful enough to kill me." Sakura looked up at him with teary defiant eyes. She wasn't going to give up on him- he had never given up on her, so she refused to return that favor by letting him die. But even so, as she looked down at him, she knew she was losing him fast, and she needed medical supplies that weren't going to be available in time. She frantically tried to stop the bleeding, but found it difficult, Sasuke's eyes seem to slow her movements.

Naruto coughed and winced as Sakura placed her hand on the main wound.

"No, Naruto! Please don't leave me!"

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself in the familiar corridors of his mind. He knew not where he was heading, but wondered aimlessly, pondering thoughts of life and death. He felt numb, as though the sword had stolen his sense of touch. He looked warily around the corridors for any sense of direction.

Water could be heard dripping in the distance, as if it were a forgotten underground dungeon, memories locked away in the cells.

As he examined the passageways, he found that everything seemed cold and even more uninviting than usual. He turned a corner and found himself in front of the chamber in which Kyuubi lay in wait. But as he took a step forward, he heard a slight crinkle of paper. Removing his foot, he looked curiously down at the paper and widened his eyes in surprise as he picked up a familiar piece of paper… the seal.

Naruto stood shocked at the crumpled and wet seal that he held in his hand. If he as holding it, that meant-

He looked up as a low growl came from the now open gates. Naruto stood for several moments, frozen with fear. What would Kyuubi do now that he was free? How had he been able to break from the seal?

Questions swam through his heads, clouding his thoughts. He was suddenly gripped with terror, who knew what Kyuubi was capable of.

Kyuubi abruptly burst out of the gates, stumbling blindly around. His roars echoed throughout the chamber, and Naruto backed away, eyes wide with fear. Then suddenly, Kyuubi crashed up against a wall and slumped to the ground.

Naruto cautiously stepped forward, examining Kyuubi, and found that his pelt was matted with blood. He breathed heavily and unevenly, revealing that he was heavily injured, and nearly dead.

Naruto gasped as he recognized the gash in Kyuubi's side. An injury that had been given by a sword, the injury that had thrown Naruto into this dark chamber. He looked down at his own chest, searching for the wound, but found none.

A sudden wave of worry crashed over Naruto as he realized with dread that Kyuubi must have taken the blow, rather than him.

Kyuubi shuddered and his body went limp. Naruto gasped and quickly tried to arouse the fox demon.

"Kyuubi?"