How long has it been…? Sakura wondered faintly to herself as she had herself tucked under her light's arm and under their shared blanket. The two sat outside on their houses porch in the middle of winter while they stared at the starry, clear night sky. Little clouds of breath formed when their hot breath hit the cold air. Snow glistened in the full moonlight.
Sakura looked up at Lee and sighed sadly. A large poof of air drifted in front of his face, catching the man's attention. He looked down at her in concern. "What is it, Sakura-chan?" He questioned.
Sakura snuggled a little closer and sighed again. "How long has it been again, Lee?"
Lee didn't need to ask what she meant by that. His bond with her was more than enough to inform him. He kissed her head lightly. "Four years, almost."
"When do you suppose Naruto and Gaara will return?"
"They said they wouldn't be long this time, considering their informant didn't live too far away."
Sakura looked back at the sky and remembered the days that happened merely four years ago.
A war had occurred in the streets of Konoha. All of the Niokoni and their lights in the city -Lee, Sakura, Neji, Gaara, Sasuke, Naruto (with Kyuubi, the nine-tailed Tailed Oni), Itachi, and Deidara- all prepared and battled it out. The injuries were bad in some cases, but they had won. But the ringleader of the battle, Orochimaru, had appeared and tried to capture a weakened Naruto. Sasuke, being Naruto's light, instead gave himself up in Naruto's place. Naruto and the rest watched in horror as Sasuke was taken away and a part of Naruto was ripped away from his soul.
Later on when injuries were dealt with, Naruto had announced that he was leaving to train in 'Kyuubi's home', what Sakura had assumed was the underworld, and that Gaara planned on tagging along. They said they would train for one year and then come back. That was the last time anyone saw them for a while.
During that year and the years afterward, everyone trained nearly constantly to prepare to rescue Sasuke. It was no easy task, especially for Sakura, for she was untrained and human.
Sakura looked at the full moon in slight despair, remembering the day Naruto and Gaara had returned.
It was exactly a year later as expected. Neji, Itachi, Deidara, Sakura, and Lee had all gathered in the last place they had seen the two boys. The scorched mark that had signaled the spot where the two had disappeared had grass grown back in it. The five had waited impatiently, each wanting to see their friends. A minute passed, and then two. The minutes stretched into an hour. Sakura feared the worse. Neji was pacing anxiously.
Finally a burst of fire appeared out of nowhere and formed an orb similar to the one they had watched the two jinchuriki disappear in a year earlier. The fire peeled back and disappeared from the orb and showed a water orb, which in turn peeled back and showed a wind orb, then earth, then thunder in the form of lightning, dark purple for living, yellow for nonliving, bright white, and then darkness finally peeled back and revealed two forms.
Naruto and Gaara definitely looked older. Their hair was much longer, below their shoulders, and messy. Their whole forms looked unkempt. Gaara had a scar on his right cheek. Their clothes were absolutely filthy, wearing the same outfits -though much more tattered- that they had worn when they had left. Muscles were a little more apparent on their arms. Sakura could spot six-packs on their stomachs through the tears in their shirts. Naruto's necklace that contained the elements was perfectly fine.
Naruto and Gaara looked around them, trained indifference in the eyes except for some shock. They were very tense, as if expecting an attack at any moment. Nobody moved. The first to speak was the nearly blood red fox that sat on Naruto's shoulder. Her nine tails waved around casually as she grinned, looking naturally evil. "Welcome back to earth!" She called.
Suddenly everyone moved, seemingly unfreezing. Gaara went straight for Neji. Naruto grinned and walked over to his friends and greeted them. They cheered and talked animatedly as they all tried to talk at once to catch up on everything that had happened in the last year. They were startled however when from Gaara's shoulder appeared a tan colored raccoon, except it had no stripes. It still had the rings around it's golden eyes. It appeared unhappy. Gaara had introduced the creature as Shukaku.
Sakura enthusiastically hugged Naruto and smiled tearfully. He smiled back, and Sakura faltered, sadness reaching her. She could see the empty look in her friend's eyes and smile.
The emptiness that came from loosing one's light.
It had been three years since then and Sakura had barely seen Naruto afterwards. Naruto and Kyuubi constantly left the town to travel. Often times Gaara went with him, sometimes bringing Neji along. Naruto and Gaara were searching for info on Sasuke and/or Orochimaru hoping to locate the Niokoni. Naruto promised to never stay away too long. The longest was half a year. He came home to rest quite a bit. Luckily the first time Naruto and Gaara came back they had cut their hair. It was now only slightly longer than the hair they used to have a year ago.
Sakura and the rest had finished up school and now lived in other homes. Itachi and Deidara still lived in the same cabin on the edge of town and Neji and Gaara still lived in their home. Sakura and Lee had gotten married at nineteen and moved into an apartment together.
"No, gaki!" Kyuubi yelled as Naruto launched himself at a demon, the hilt of his invisible, wind blade clutched in his hand. "You'll just get-" Kyuubi got cut off as Naruto's wind blade missed the wolf shaped demon and instead hit the ground. The wolf turned with all of its speed and bit ferociously into Naruto's side. Naruto cried out in pain and turned, slamming a fist into the demon's snout. The beast yelped in pain and its jaws loosened, allowing Naruto to escape, clutching his wound.
"Baka!" Kyuubi scolded. "Your speed isn't high enough to have close combat with a level four demon! Long range is your specialty!" Naruto grinned helplessly at Kyuubi.
"How am I suppose to get better at close combat if I don't try?" He asked shyly.
"Do it with lower levels, not the higher ups!"
"What fun is that?" The blond boy pouted and pivoted on his heel, sending his wind blade through the demon's chest as it launched itself at him. The demon squealed harshly before dissipating in a burst of black cloud. Kyuubi felt it as Naruto's mood turned darker at the cloud. His mood always plummeted when he fought demons because he was reminded of Sasuke.
Kyuubi felt a faint whine in her throat at her host's sadness. She hated the hollow feeling as much as Naruto did, but they haven't found hide nor hair of the younger Uchiha brother.
Naruto returned the glowing silver orb into the fourth container on his necklace as the silver glowing of his hand stopped. Using the same hand he scratched Kyuubi behind her ears, following the fox's train of thought. We'll find him. He thought fiercely. We'll find Sasuke and we'll kill the bastard who dared to touch him.
Kyuubi's fur stood on end at Naruto's thoughts. Lately she'd noticed that Naruto's thoughts were darker than they ever were before. Though Kyuubi herself was an Oni, she hated the darkness lurking in Naruto's heart. She knew exactly what it was: the 'curse' of being a light. If you're too far from your light for too long then darkness begins to fill the void left over, eventually turning you into an Oni. Kyuubi feared for Naruto, but was mostly scared for Sasuke. The boy didn't have anything to keep him in the light. They would have to find him soon before it became to late.
A dark fluctuation rippled the air and the sky around the area became darker. Two figures emerged from the dark void that had formed in midair and the void disappeared around them.
The shorter of the two figures looked around apathetically. His dark eyes held no emotion as he examined his surroundings.
The taller of the two looked around as well and smiled down at his partner. "Do you know where we are?"
The latter didn't respond. His eyes held no recognition. One might mistake him for actually being bored as he finished examining his surroundings and stared blankly ahead.
The taller placed a hand on the latter's shoulder, as if proud. "Why, Sasuke-kun, we're in your old hometown."
A gust of wind blew black bangs away from Sasuke's pale face. His facial features didn't show any signs of caring at what the man had said. "Why are we here?" He spoke for the first time.
Orochimaru grinned the best his evil features could. "We're here to test your potential."
"In what way?" Sasuke glared slightly at the older man. "There's nothing more you can teach me."
"Oh but it's the contrary, Sasuke-kun. We're here to unlock the last level of your sharingan and afterwards you will force a certain little kitsune to come with us."
A mental picture of a teenage boy with spiky golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes flashed in his mind for less than a moment before it was replaced with a picture of a fox. Sasuke didn't see the reason to capture a fox.
"Is the fox a demon?"
"It's a Tailed Oni and it's container." Sasuke gazed indifferently down at the city of Konoha, grinning at the challenge placed on his hands as one of his tests felt ready to begin.
A/N: Well there you go! Kind of a small chapter, but it'll pick up later on. R&R please! I wanna know what you all think!
Oh, and for the whole story to know…KISHIMOTO OWNS NARUTO, NOT ME! Though it would be awesome if I did. :D
