Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Warnings: AU and MAJOR MANGA SPOILERs!
Pairings: Up for suggestion
Equilibrium
Chapter 1
By Precious Ivory
"Madara! I won't let you get away with this! Sakura stay back!"
He didn't understand what was going on...where he was...when he was...everything didn't make sense...
"Foolish little boy, always trying to be the hero. But even with the fox's chakra, you cannot defeat me; an Uchiha who has brought the five nations to its knees...who's defied time itself!"
Earth...He felt earth beneath him. Was he lying on the ground?
"Where's Sasuke! What have you done with Sasuke-kun!"
"Dobe, why can't you just give up...by coming here you've only sealed your death"
His head hurt...everything hurt...why couldn't he remember...why was everything so blurred...
"You-you used me you-"
"Now-now Sasuke-kun, you came to me willingly...... I opened your eyes to the truth...I gave you your revenge...But now I have the last puzzle I need for my plan and... I don't need you anymore"
Pain...he remembered pain...something burning from within, spiralling up from his stomach...the temperature rising to unbearable levels...the extraction.
"I-I c-can't move...S-Sasuke-kun help N-Naruto"
"This chakra...Dobe, what are you doing?"
The fox...what was he saying...w-why couldn't he feel him anymore?
"How could this be? The fox should be powerless against this Jutsu! Pump more chakra! Don't cancel the Jutsu whatever happens! I've come too far...too far..."
"Kyuubi's chakra's rising! Hold onto me Sakura! It's coming!"
Then...nothing...What happen next...What happened next!
"Naruto...Naruto, wake up!" What? This voice... Sakura? "Come on Naruto, that's it, follow my voice..."
He blinked once, then twice; allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. A cough escaped from his mouth, vibrating against his ribcage sending a sharp pain to shoot through his stomach and he moaned with a grimace, not even acknowledging the soothing hand rubbing circles on his chest. His whole body ached but his stomach hurt the most. It felt grated and raw. Trying to not use his stomach muscles; he started to sit up. Sakura smiled in relief as she helped the blond into a seated position against the cool, jagged stone wall, then scrambled back so that he could have room to breathe.
"Thank God!" she sighed tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear. "I thought-"
"Sakura-chan...Where are we?" Naruto interrupted weakly, eyes having been surveying the cave curiously. It was obvious they were not at the Akatsuki cave anymore. It was dark, the only light coming from the miniature fire softly cackling within a pile of dry twigs and leaves, illuminating the space between them. His blue eyes finally fell on her face, narrowing as they took in her ragged features. She bit her lip self-consciously under his scrutiny, and turned away from him to look towards the mouth of the cave. Her hair was matted with spots of dirt and grime and was only slightly filthier than her face which's cheeks were caked in mud. Her clothes were ripped at the seams and he only had to glance down at his red bandaged torso to know what they were used for.
"I'm not quite sure anymore, Naruto" was her quiet reply, muffled by the cackling of the flames flickering from the centre of the cave. Naruto frowned at the vagueness of her answer. She was hiding something.
"What is it Sakura-chan?"
"I don't know-"
"What do you mean you don't know?" Naruto yelled, before wincing and clutching at his stomach.
"Don't yell you idiot! I don't have the Chakra to heal your wounds" Sakura chided exasperated, pivoting back to him to check he didn't re-open his injuries. He smiled at her sheepishly and slowly some of the tension left her shoulders, "This place...it looks familiar and yet" her fingers paused over his bandages before they continued to re-adjust them, "I don't know...As soon as I regained consciousness, my chakra was very low, I just dragged the two of you into this cave-"
"Wait!" Naruto interrupted, "You said the 'two of you', who else..." Her eyes dimmed and her face went blank...guarded. The same expression she would always wear when talking about... "The teme! The teme is here as well! Where is he now?" Naruto frowning, realising that the brooding Uchiha was not sharing the cave with them.
Sakura sighed as she answered, rolling her eyes closed as if in preparation for what was sure to come next, "He left, as soon as I bandaged his wounds. He left without a word-"
"And you just let him!"
"What was I supposed to do Naruto!" Sakura shot back whilst giving one of the bandages a vicious tug, ignoring the pained gasp that escaped from the blond, "He was the least injured of us all and someone needed to watch over you!"
Naruto looked away abashed, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan... it's not your fault" he explained, running a hand through his blond hair in frustration, absently noting the absence of his headband, "I'm just confused"
"You're not the only one..."
There was a pregnant pause as Naruto took in all the information that he'd gathered since waking up: they were lost, they were injured and they were low on Chakra. In other words, they were in big trouble. He sighed in dismay.
"There's something else...Something you should see..." Sakura announced quietly after a while. Her voice had become somewhat distant causing Naruto to frown as he rose, using the cold stone walls to steady his rebellious body.
"What?" Naruto urged, suddenly feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The pinked haired medic didn't reply but instead silently slung his arm around her neck and helped him stumble towards the entrance of the cave; her expression grave.
"Sakura-chan...w-what is it?" He continued to prompt her as they reached the opening, made anxious by her uncharacteristic silence. However, all she did was point, but that was all that was needed in order to drain the colour from the teen's face.
"No..." The blond gasped as he fell to his knees causing the medic supporting him to falter at the unexpected movement and land on the ground beside him.
The surrounding area was crammed with tree's that could be recognised within the borders of the country of fire and the wildlife that poked in and out of the foray of leaves could have brought relief...But that wasn't what made the teen's blood run cold or his bones shake at its very core in disbelief. It was what was displayed above, for it was not the moon that watched over the creeping night, but the spinning, three tomatoe eye of the Sharingan.
Unnerved would be an understatement to describe how one young Uchiha felt when his eyes rose to gaze at the altered sky from within the forest. "The Sharingan?" he muttered incredulously. Only for the sound of distant footsteps to force him back into the cover of the old oak trees' shadow. A hand clutched at his chest as he fought to control his rapid heart rate. Being a part of the man's organisation for over a year, Sasuke was well informed on the details of his relatives plan; to control everything in sight with those damnable eyes. But the plan had failed, he could remember it clearly as every detail was record by his Sharingan and stored in his memory. The Dobe had stopped the extraction using kyuubi's power. They had got away...somehow. That detail was still unclear; it hurt his head to think about it. It felt as if a brick wall was blocking the part of his mind that held the content.
'But what does this mean?' he thought mystified, sparing another glance above...'did he succeed? Could he see me now?' subconsciously, the teen took another step back into the shadows. The last time they had met he had tried to kill him. Sasuke's fist clenched causing his leather gloves to squeak in protest, angered by the traitorous emotions that brought a coldness to wash over him at the thought of that name. Uchiha Sasuke did not fear that man, he wouldn't allow that. Instead his thoughts began to fuel the familiar burning desire that used to drive him for the majority of his life. A desire he thought he had lost. He hated that man with an overwhelming passion, more than he had ever hated Itachi. He had just been a pawn. The man had used his anger, manipulating both himself and his brother; unforgivable. Once again he had let his emotions blind him from looking underneath the underneath. His fists loosened and his red eyes shut wearily at the irony at the sudden memory of his old teacher's words at a time like this. However, thinking of his perverted sensei made him think of his ex-teammates, whom he left unconscious in the small cave around the edge of the forest. They had come together; united for the first time in four years in an attempt to take down Madara and even though they failed, the experience had unsettled him greatly. The little breaks he had managed to create in the bonds connecting him to his teammates had started to mend as they stood together and it was almost too easy for him to forget the memory of his betrayal and the pain it caused them. But sitting awake in the cave with only the dull ache of his eyes to keep him company, they came back with a vengeance, like salt to a wound...
And it burned.
It didn't take long for him to decide what to do next. He just couldn't face them right now and so he left.
The sound of voices became more distinguishable as the figures drew nearer; they were approaching eastward from his position, where he could just make out the makings of a rundown path. 'If there's a path here, there's probably a village nearby too'. That thought managed to calm him. A village meant people. People meant answers and answers meant away back to the rice country. It had already occurred to him that he was not in a Gen-jutsu, after ditching his ex-teammates he had surveyed his surroundings carefully with his Dou-jutsu for the tale-tail signs of a illusion but could find none, just rare pulses of chakra that disappeared just as soon as they came. And nothing could hide from his eyes. What was happening was way more than a simple illusion.
A soft wind blew past him, playful picking the loose trails of black hair that hung over his forehead, stifling the beginnings of the passersby's conversation, but with the help of his chakra he was able to pick up the last segment of their discussion.
"-nearly there, I have to report in on the activities of the 'Ninja's'" came the voice of a middle-aged man; smoker, by the gruff edge in his voice. His companion snorted, but it came out distorted, mixed with another sound...he was swinging around a kunai.
"You think they would give it up by now, it's just a matter of time before he sends them to get rid of the miscreants" The other man gave no reply and the footsteps slowly faded away leaving Sasuke filled with even more unanswered questions.
What did they mean by 'the ninja's'? From the way they walked, he could tell they weren't simple traders; they had ninja training themselves. Tired of not knowing what's going on, Sasuke began to follow the men to their village, but even as he shadowed them he couldn't help feeling the sense of nostalgic as he drew closer and closer to the village wall, he couldn't explain it but he felt like he had travelled this way before. Everything just looked so familiar...
"Kai! Kai! Kai!"
"Stop it Naruto!" Sakura hissed trying desperately to pull the boy back into the cave, "Your making too much noise!" shaking her off, the blond stared resolutely at where moon once dwelled and channelled more chakra into his hands, trying hard to stop them from trembling.
"Kai!" he yelled once again, growling afterwards as the moon refused to take its rightful place, "Why isn't it working! It should have dispelled by now! Damn it!"
"Naruto!" Sakura pleaded, "We need to get back inside before someone finds us!" But the boy refused to move, eyes still locked on the sinister sight above them.
"Not until I dispel this jutsu" Naruto stated, determinedly drawing more chakra, ignoring the pain it summoned from his seal.
"It's not a gen-jutsu Naruto! That's what I was talking about before, I don't know-"
Sakura didn't get to finish her sentence as she found herself back in the cave with her back against the wall, facing her teammates tanned, muscular back before she could even blink. "Baka! What are you-"
"Shh!" Naruto silenced her, slowly retrieving a kunai from his weapon pouch. His head snapped to the opening of the cave and he sniffed, "Someone's coming..."
Sakura didn't even have a chance to feel shock as before Naruto could finish, she was pushed to the ground and a kunai aimed at her was deflected into the ceiling.
"Move!" Naruto yelled before wincing, a dark colour spreading across his bandages. Grabbing three shuriken in each hand; he grit his teeth and turned to the mouth of the cave.
"I know!" Sakura shot back annoyed as she got to her feet and put on her gloves, just as they felt the presence of three chakra signatures outside. Seeing the low glow resonating from her fist she cursed. Her chakra was not fully replenished yet; she would just have to make sure that they didn't get any more injuries. If their enemies were as strong as their signatures suggested, she would need all the chakra she could get.
Naruto released the barrage of shuriken as soon as the first shadowed figure entered the cave. The man, he realised shortly, was of average height and a lean build, he was dressed in dirty grey and black ninja gear with two weapon pouches strapped along his right leg.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Naruto demanded as the stranger dodged the missiles but he received no answer. Instead, at the sound of his voice the man seemed to move faster, the bottom of his face hidden from view by a black cloth yet from the way his eyes were narrowed, he could tell he was scowling. A fist was suddenly aimed at his face and Naruto had to quickly bring his arms up to protect himself from the blow, grabbing onto his arm Naruto swung the figure round; gathering momentum , before releasing him towards the cave wall. Instead of the expected impact, the man pivoted in midair and landed gracefully with his feet on the wall before flipping to the ground. Growling in frustration, Naruto brought his hands into his trademark hand seals and created two clones, which 'poofed' into existence in front of him. The stranger seemed momentarily taken aback by the sight of the three orange clad shin-obe, but then relaxed starting to perform a justu of his own. Before he could finish a body came soaring towards him at high speeds and recognising them as one of his own he grabbed onto it, swinging round on his heel to bring his body to a stop and placed the knocked out man on the ground.
"SHANNARO!" The cave began to shake and they all turned to Sakura to see her pulling her fist from the wall.
"Take that!" Sakura cheered, panting slightly as the last opponent was buried under a pile of debris, "and then there was one"
Thinking fast the last fighter threw a kunai from his vest at the blond only to have it easily deflected into the wall behind him by a clone whilst the others began preparing a Resengan.
"Nice try, but it's over!" Naruto beamed victoriously, injury seemingly forgotten. The figure said nothing but simply put his hand into a seal. Eyes widening in recognition, Sakura began to run towards him, already knowing she was too late.
"Naruto run! It's an explos-"
BOOM!
Before he knew it he had been thrown into the opposite wall by the force of the explosion tag, the heat almost unbearable against his back. "Ahhh!"
"Naruto!" He distantly heard Sakura call out to him but when he tried to speak the dust from the rocks infiltrated his mouth and caused him to break into a violent coughing fit. From his blurry vision he could make her figure out hastily coming towards him...but suddenly she jolted to a stop. He frowned in bewilderment as he watched her struggle against herself to move. He blinked once again and now was able to see the shocked expression on her face as she once again began to move.
"No, it couldn't be!" she exclaimed over the ringing in his ear, just as she wondered out of his field of vision and it was only the sound of her body hitting the floor that told him she was out of the fight. Heart filling with panic he tried to stand but failed miserably, his ears still ringing causing him to feel dizzy and unbalanced. When he finally managed to sit up there was a kunai at his neck waiting for him. It was only then that he took a good look at his adversary and wasn't sure whether to feel confusion or relief.
"You were weaker than I thought you would be" began a frightfully familiar voice, "What a drag, after all that time spent preparing for you...for this moment" his voice had gone hard and dangerous towards the end and Naruto knew that even if it was who he thought it was, right now he would not hesitant to cut his throat. Hesitantly, Naruto spoke.
"S-shikamaru?" the figure tensed at the name then relaxed letting out a short bitter laugh.
"Shikamaru? I haven't heard you call me that in a long time..." Then he frowned, "You're acting strange..." he muttered looking hard into the blonds eyes, "Your appearance is slightly off too" a quick glance to the side, "both of you..." without warning his kunai pressed deeper into his air pipe and the sharp sting made Naruto aware to the fact that he was most likely bleeding, "I don't know what game your trying to play but it won't work!"
"I'm not trying to play any game Shikamaru!" Naruto answered back with difficulty, trying not to cut himself deeper with the kunai, "Listen! Sakura and I are not your enemies!"
Whatever Naruto expected to follow his proclamation he could never have predicted this.
Cursing Shikamaru punched the ground next to Naruto's face with the force to leave an indentation and he could have sworn that if he had had the guts to look into his eyes he would have been scorched by the fires of hate that burned within them.
"Don't think you can buy me off like you did to the others!" The kunai was now dangerously close, "I haven't got time for your games...It's over" Eyes widening at the resolve in his voice Naruto tried one last time.
"Shikamaru wait! I don't understand any of this! We just woke up here a few hours ago and then we saw the sky and then we got confused because we stopped Madara! We're sure we did!" He was rambling by now but he didn't care; Shikamaru had loosened his grip on the kunai. He decided to keep on talking. "We stopped him Shikamaru! This is all wrong! I'll never betray my friends! It's my dream to become Hokage! My nindo!" By now Shikamaru had removed the kunai from his neck and staring at him as if he had seen a ghost. Finally after a tense moment, dropping the weapon, the Nara fell back on his rear.
"N-Naruto?"
Rubbing his neck tenderly, Naruto sat up straight, wincing as he incidentally stretched his sore back.
"Yeah, who else would it be?" Naruto said with a dry laugh, body tense and watching the other warily in case he decided to attack him again. The dark haired teen pulled down his mask revealing the rest of his face to the world, confirming what Naruto already knew. His appearance may have been more rugged but that was definately the face of Konoha's laziest ninja.
"Heh, I haven't heard you talk like that in a long time" Naruto watched as the teen lit a cigarette and narrowed his eyes in thought, inhaling deeply. He may have escaped death for the moment but he wasn't out of the water yet. He still had a lot of explaining to do if he planned on surviving against this new and (scarily) active Shikamaru.
"How can this be possible?" the Nara began, staring at him hard in the face, " They said that the changes were impossible to reverse...Don't worry she's just unconscious, I don't kill girls, it's too troublesome" Naruto frowned in confusion, turning his eyes away from where Sakura lay unconscious to look at the heir to the deer clan questioningly.
"What changes?"
The boy only shook his head and placed his hands in the vaguely familiar shape resembling a circle and closed his eyes with a sigh. "How troublesome...You said you just got up a few hours ago and ended up here right? Where were you before?"
"We were in Rice country" Naruto answered dutifully, "two days travel from Konoha" Shikamaru lip twitched downward.
"Impossible, Konoha and Rice don't exist anymore...in name anyway"
"What!" Naruto yelled leaning forward in disbelief. Strangely, Shikamaru just snorted, opening his eyes to stare dryly at him; a familiar gesture that Naruto was relieved to see directed at him, "You're so loud, you'll alert everyone in the whole empire with your voice...but now thinking about it, we should probably move to the back of the cave...or what's left of it anyway. We're lucky no one has been sent to us already...a miracle even" he commented, glancing up at the sky. Following his gaze Naruto couldn't help but shiver.
"Yeah, I guess you're right..wait!" Shikamaru, who had gotten up to walk, sighed and turn to face the frowning blond, waiting, "Why is that? He should be able to see you...us, why isn't anything happening?"
Instead of answering the Nara heir narrowed his eyes and stared hard at the blond and without another word, strolled deeper into the cave.
Sasuke stopped a few meters outside the wall which once stood to protect his old village, now reduced to clumps of rock situated at random intervals around the border. In its place was a simple fence marking the entrance. The Uchiha didn't know how to feel. He had abandoned this land for power a long time ago. He knew that if Madara carried out his plan, Konoha would have been the first to fall, but to actually see it…
Walking further, he realized the area was not all in ruin, a few yards after the fence, Sasuke could make out the roofs of distant buildings and stalls. He frowned wondering why this was kept this way when the village had obviously been rebuilt. He then realized what the fence stood for and surprisingly he felt himself bristle at the insult; the subtle reminder of Konoha's fall. He walked up to it and hesitantly placed a hand on the rotting wood, feeling the peeling bark and frowning at its rough texture. It had been there for a while.
Looking up, he placed a hand upon the hilt of his sword hanging loosely from his hip and turned to face the two men that he knew were standing behind, waiting for him. Finally having seen them, Sasuke couldn't prevent his eyes from widening slightly in shock. The first was taller and had short spiky black hair, whilst the other's was covered by a navy bandana. They wore shin-obi footwear but their clothes were hidden behind a cloak that resembled the ones worn by the Akatsuki, except alternate of being covered in clouds there was only the three tomatoes of a Sharingan eye exposed on the back. But that wasn't what stunned the young Uchiha. It was the fact that instead of standing in a stance, ready to attack him and bring him down…they were bowing.
"Sasuke-sama" One began, "You have returned…"
Sakura coughed as a cloud of smoke was blown into her face. "Damn it Shikamaru!" The aforementioned youth only smirked around his cancer stick and lazily leaned back against the wall; Kunai lying on the floor in front of him which all present knew was ready to be picked up and used at a moment's notice. The medic made a face, not happy with his response, "those will kill you, you know"
"To troublesome to stop now..." he looked down and a smile slowly pulled at his lips, "She would keep telling me that all the time…" "He remarked, a foreign look glazing over his brown eyes. There was a small movement from his left and the look disappeared just as quickly as it came. If either of the two saw the exchange, they tactically did not comment on it. "Anyway, back to business, judging by your appearance and what you've told me I've come to three conclusions"
Upon hearing this, the two outsiders leaned in anxiously, knowing that this moment could decide the fate of their future.
Re-entering the cave, the two boys had kept themselves busy dealing with their injuries in silence, waiting for the pink haired medic to regain consciousness. It had been an awkward half hour of evasiveness and quick wary glances up at the sky but finally- to the relief of both boys, a quiet moan alerted them that she was awake. They then proceed, between the two of them to retell the events that lead them to arriving at the cave to a very skeptical Shikamaru. But giving them the benefit of the doubt, the dark haired teen lit another cigarette and called them over-after sending them away so he could think- to hear his judgment. His two companions, now awake sat next to him on either side and were yet to reveal their identities.
"The first is that you've done the impossible and gone back to your old ways" Naruto was about to interrupt but was silenced by a look from the Nara heir, " The second isn't even worth considering and is that you are not even from here, not even from this plane" He saw Naruto clamp his mouth shut against his urge to speak and sent his a small grateful look, but it was gone with what came out of his mouth next, words that caused the Konoha ninja's to tense in alarm, "The third and most probable…Is that your lying and this is a trick in order to gain our trust and destroy us from the inside"
Sakura inhaled sharply, and tried with all her heart to send her good intentions through her eyes as she knew words would not make any difference now. Naruto however, had reached his peak. Shikamaru's companions tensed as the boy jumped to his feet, only calmed by Shikamaru's raised hand. It was obvious he was the leader in their group.
"What! Of course were not lying to you! I hardly understood anything you just said, besides, how can I be the enemy if I don't even know what's going on myself!" Sakura's eye twitched and she pulled the boy back down with minimum effort.
"That didn't even make sense you baka!" Shikamaru snorted as he rose to his feet, and took another drag from his stick.
"How troublesome, you guys sure act like they used to" He remarked calmly, spinning his kunai around his index finger before putting it away.
Sakura's eyes lit up at his comment and she stood up feeling hopeful, "So you believe us?"
Shikamaru only blinked before answering calmly.
"Nope" It was only then that the medic realized that his friends were missing, she only had time to gasp in alarm before she found herself being painfully pinned to the wall and a paper seal being placed on her back. Sounds of struggle from beside her told her Naruto was going through a similar situation. Her wrists were bound tight and she tried to break free only to find that any attempt made her feel weak. Chakra draining seals!
"Well not really" the teen continued lazily, stopping out his cigarette, "There is something going on here, I'm sure of it but until I know what it is, I can't trust you" He nodded to the two mysterious figures and they began heading out of the cave. When entered the forest Shikamaru took something out of his pocket and threw them at their captors. "Gag 'em" he said simply.
"What! Why?" Naruto yelled out in outrage. Shikamaru only grimaced and rubbed his ears tenderly.
"That's why! You're too loud, plus if this is a trap we don't want to your back-up to know where we're going"
"There is no-"but the rest of the blonds words were muffled by the gag shoved in his mouth.
"Wait!" Sakura called out before her captor could silence her; there was one thing she needed to know. "You said you had three theories right? What if it was the second one?" Shikamaru gave her strange look before sighing, deciding to humor her.
"That would mean that the chakra outlet pushed you into a parallel world"
"You mean-"
"Yeah" he said with a roll of his eyes " a world of 'what could have been', an existence due to a changed action or response" The medic went silent and with a guarded expression turned to her captor, and so was surprised when Shikamaru continued talking, mind now running with the idea.
"But then that would be a very troublesome situation for both sides" She frowned at his comment, not understanding what he meant.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at this way" he began, using hand gestures to illustrate his explanation, "The worlds would have to be balanced for it to co-exist right?" He raised one hand, "what becomes of you in your world" he lifts up the other, "and what becomes of you in ours. Now even though you're both different, you're still essentially the same people, meaning that if you have crossed over here, you've upset the balance"
"No…" Sakura's eyes widened, her quick mind picking up where this was going.
"There has to be a balance Sakura, if that is destroyed the universe will try and regain equilibrium. Two of the same people cannot co-exist in the same world; if that were to happen both would disappear"
Finally managing to push the gag out of his mouth Naruto voiced his confusion, "What are you guys talking about? So what if we're here, what does it mean?"
"If-If we're here Naruto" Sakura begun shakily, "then that means they're…"
"Yes, The Naruto and Sakura would have to of been moved to restore the balance" Shikamaru finished, frowning at the idea that, considering the circumstances, didn't seem so absurd anymore. However, Naruto still didn't get it.
"The 'us' from here would be moved? But moved where?"
The sound of a mockingbird rung through the dark forest; calming her babes and creating a peaceful atmosphere for those close enough to hear it. The bird was known to sing for minutes on end and so it caused a few raised eyebrows from weary travelers as the song suddenly came to an abrupt end.
If one was curious enough to find out why, they would soon come to find the poor bird pinned to a willow tree by a black kunai whilst her babes chirped away in sorrow.
The owner of the deadly weapon growled and put clawed hands to their ears, scowling when he heard the laughter of his female companion.
"Haha, you've just made it worse" she commented as she shifted her weight and placed a hand on her hip, over her black cloak that was loosely tied to her waist.
"Shut it, I feel like I've been drained of all my Chakra" the first retorted pushing his long, dark blond hair away from his face, "…my head hurts like a bit-"
"What have you gone and gotten us into baka" a cold voice interrupted from behind the pair. The first glared looking straight into his glowing red eyes.
"I didn't do anything! One minute I'm cleaning the blood from my kunai and the next a fell a strong pull!"
"A pull?" the other male commented doubtfully, raising an elegant black eyebrow.
"Yes a pull…From my stomach" Two pairs of eyes narrowed at that.
"It doesn't matter now" the female decided, leaning down next to a stream and staring down at her reflection. She had long pink hair tied into a high pony tail and a short red vest top that was cropped to show her bellybutton. She frowned as she saw that a few hairs had escaped from their bind and deftly tucked them behind her ears. Her reflection was soon joined by a feral looking teen with dark whisker marks; three on each cheek below red eyes with black slits in them. He wore his cloak over a bare chest, one sleeve hanging loosely over one of his shoulders as if he couldn't be bothered to pull it up.
"What do you mean?"
"She means" The second boy began, joining them by the riverside, "that we should be focusing on trying to figure out where we are…and how we get back" The last had short jet black hair that was tied similar as to how he would have worn it when he was younger; in a neat pony tail. His cloak was also around his waist, the arms hanging inside out as if he had taken out his arms from the top and folded the cloak down so it was still closed halfway. He wore no shirt but a necklace holding a ring with a kanji hung from his neck by a black thread. "The obvious things Naruto"
"Any ideas Sasuke" Sakura asked him, rising to stand by his side, picking a few strands of grass from her black, shape-fitting shorts. But he did not answer, instead his eyes wide and transfixed on an image reflected in the water's surface.
"What is it Teme?" Naruto asked him, surprised that there was something that could leave the Uchiha so shaken. When he didn't answer the two tried to find what had caught his attention, but when they did, they couldn't believe their eyes.
"How could this be, the process took place a longtime ago!" exclaimed the erratic blond.
"I know Naruto, this is impossible" Sakura agreed, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder in an attempt to calm him.
Sasuke tilted his head curiously to look at the round watcher of the night that shone brightly and tinted the forest with a urethral glow. "It's been soo long since I've seen the moon" he commented faintly, "just where in the world are we?"
Author's note: Hey, i've put this story up before some time ago but took it down to make some edits. What do you think so far? I was reading the manga and when they told of Mandara's plan and I just got hit with this idea that wouldn't leave me. There are a few holes that need filling though and questions that I know you want answering. YES there is a reason why Mandara hasn't been alerted to there appearance and actions when they first arrived which Shikamaru notices but can't reason...yet...anyway, please review to give criticism or just to tell me what you think...i have alot of ideas of where to take this! Thank you!
P.s..beta anyone?