Hello. My name is SD1124. This just so happens to be my first-ever fanfic. I know, many of you are now getting the proverbial chill-down-your-spine right after hearing that little tidbit. But, of course, it was quite necessary. After all, I wouldn't want you to read on and go, "WTF is this godforsaken tripe?!" without proper warning. Although, I really do quite hope it doesn't come down to that. I really do. So...Enjoy, I guess.

Key:

'What was that?!' - thoughts

"You IDIOT!" - Speech

"Your naivete will end you..." - God, Supreme Power, or Demon.

Disclaimer: This is the part where I insert some pithy joke and/or remark about not owning either Naruto or Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Even though I so very wish they were...


Harmonic Maelstrom

Chapter One: Separation and Anxiety

The girl regained consciousness quickly. Where was she? Had she been kidnapped? In fact, where was here, anyway? All these questions, and more, floated through her frazzled brain. First off, what was the last thing she remembered? Well, she remembered rushing ahead of her sensei after hearing the sounds of battle. Her teammates, she had been looking for her teammates...and then, she found much more than she had been looking for. The battle she had heard, it was between the two. She had seen them rushing closer together, attacks leaving trails of black and red, respectively. She had done the only thing she could think of, then. She ran straight for where they would collide, and find some way to stop them However, she wasn't fast enough to stop the collision. That didn't stop her, though. She ran forward, toward the growing ball of light. Only two words had escaped her as she had broken through the iridescent barrier.

"Naruto! Sasuke-kun!"

She remembered all of that, vividly. Then a sense of being tugged, and then, nothingness. Finally standing up, Sakura Haruno took a good look around her surroundings. What shocker was her blonde teammate was not even ten feet away, laying face down in the dirt. Smiling slightly, she quietly made her way over to him. Naruto was known for falling asleep in the weirdest places. To add to that, he had often played at sleeping like that, just to pull a prank on them when their backs were turned. Still, it was nice to see a familiar face upon waking up. She wasn't alone. Moving closer, she started to quietly call out his name.

"Naruto..."

Nothing. Not even a twitch. Maybe he hadn't heard her, or he actually was sleeping. He could be entitled to it, after all, after that big battle. She continued to call his name for a few more minutes, getting louder each time. Why wasn't he answering? Was he playing a prank again? Starting to get annoyed, Sakura roughly shook him. That's when she felt the damp, cold feeling of blood on her hands. Everything stopped. Time, reality, her very heartbeat, everything. With mounting dread, Sakura slowly rolled her teammate over. What she saw almost froze her blood cold within her veins. Right in Naruto's chest, where his right lung would-should be, there was a large, charred hole that was still bleeding. She then finally noticed the pale color of Naruto's face, how his lips were starting to turn blue, everything.

"NARUTO!!" she wailed out, panic, fear, and terror swelling up in her breast like some sick balloon animal.

Trying her best to overcome the tidal wave of panic, Sakura quickly ripped off her backpack. Not wasting time with such trivialities as zippers, she slashed the bag open with one of her kunai. Rooting through her bag, she finally found her first-aid kit. Ever since the disastrous mission to Wave, she had taken to carrying one around in case of emergency. With trembling fingers, she tried to remember what she had learned from her hours that she had started logging into as a volunteer at the hospital. Numbly, she noticed that she herself was starting to go into shock. Filing that bit of unnecessary information away for later when she could actually think straight, she began. Fingers still trembling as if rocked by incessant earthquakes, Sakura took out a pair of scissors. She knew that Naruto would probably be mildly put-off with what she was about to do to his precious jumpsuit, she started snipping the unresponsive blonde out of it. She would simply have taken it off of him, if the blood hadn't had this much time to congeal to his chest.

After a few shaky cuts, the jacket was in tatters and his black mesh shirt had been removed with minimal trouble. If she hadn't been in total shock, Sakura probably would have blushed. Naruto, for a young, short thirteen-year-old, was in remarkable shape. Well, other than the huge gaping maw that used to be his chest cavity. Tears starting to obscure her emerald eyes, Sakura wasn't yet ready to give up. Even if he was a bit of a pain, and an annoyance, and an overall idiot, he was her friend. She tried to look into his wound, and started feeling green. Standing up momentarily, she managed only three steps before falling, and emptying what she'd had for dinner the night previously. With this particular blonde, no less. Wiping her mouth clean, Sakura managed to about face, and crawl back to Naruto. She didn't really trust herself standing right now. Taking a deep breath of air, the pinkette managed to hold it together to look at the mess that was Naruto's wound. She sighed in relief. He'd gotten slightly lucky. If it had been an inch over to either the left or right, his heart or lung would have been destroyed. This did not detract away from the fact that she could see into his chest, however. Quietly praying to Kami, Sakura pulled a needle and thread out of her med-kit. Luckily, Naruto was comatose, and probably wouldn't be waking up for quite some time. That is, if he woke up at all. No, no time to think like that. She had a job to do. The first slip of the needle between his skin was, without a doubt, one of the sickest things that Sakura had ever had to do. It definitely beat out the time that Ino had encouraged them both to try kissing. Each other. NO TIME FOR THAT, HARUNO! YOUR FRIEND IS DYING! Throughout this thought process, she had already managed getting Naruto's chest sewn up. He'd been extremely lucky whatever it was that had punched a hole through him had probably been extremely hot, and cauterized the wound. Wait, didn't the chidori...Sakura really didn't want to think anymore down that path.

Most of the hard part over, Sakura took a small sigh of relief. Now there was actually a small chance that Naruto wouldn't die. All he would need is a blood transfusion, some bed rest, and he should be fine. She took her eyes off of Naruto's slowly breathing body, and gazed at her surroundings for the first time. Uh-oh.

"This...doesn't look like the Fire Country..."


A young, dark-haired boy shuffled through the underbrush of a large forest, having long since forgotten when he had started. Sweat dripped from his every pore, much like the curses that fled from his mouth every so often.

"Damn forest. I hate forests. Too many briers, thorns, bugs, animals...I wish they'd all just go up in smoke..."

Truly, he didn't really feel that way. He had just lost count of how many times he'd fallen, gotten scratched, and been ambushed by animals much larger than they had good reason to be. Not to mention he still ached from his battle with the blonde. Damn him. The dark boy remembered their match well. Naruto had shown marked improvement within mere moments. One minute, he had all but defeated the knucklehead ninja, and the next he found himself several feet underwater. The sheer power of their final blow...He was loath to admit it, but he had been slightly afraid. Then, he remembered the feeling of ramming his fist through Naruto's chest, as he had only scarred his headband. The boy knew the significance of that act.

'I could've killed you, you know...But I didn't. I could have won...but I chose not to.'

"Stupid Naruto...This is all your fault somehow. I just know it is. You always are the one who screws stuff up..."

After much more cursing, and countless more accidents and mishaps, the moody youth found himself near a darkened temple. He could tell it was a temple, mostly due to the fact that it gave off an aura of mysticism and supernatural power. However, this was nothing like the temples his parents would take him to as a child, to watch the monks train and spar. No, he wouldn't start thinking about his family. He wasn't allowed to, not yet. Not until he had exacted vengeance for each drop of blood that had been spilled. The reason this temple was different was in how it felt. Besides the mystical power and age it exuded, it also felt...wrong. Like he had just stepped from a warm house into a raging blizzard. It felt cold, hard, and overall...just wrong. Like it was a blight upon the earth it had been built upon, or something. However, to the young black-eyed child, it was a sign of civilization, and he still needed to check it out. Wary, he stepped from the now-silent forest into the darkened glade. Each step closer to the temple felt like one more step towards the mouth of Hell, if such a thing existed. He highly doubted it. When he finally reached the large, black marble steps, he could see his own breath, and his hair stood on end. He kept telling himself over and over, "There's nothing wrong here...It's just my imagination..." and other such thoughts as he silently ascended the stairs. It was a shame that he didn't believe his own words. At the very top of the steps, a large granite door stood before him, barring entry into the cold temple. It was taller than he was, and probably weighed at least a ton. Shaking his head, he stepped within reach of the door, and knocked once.

As the youth's hand came into contact with the door, a large, ugly symbol lit up upon the door, glaring red. Surprised, he quickly hopped backwards, preparing for a fight. He was confident in his own abilities, not to mention the power he had received from the man he had traveled to see. That is, until he had been interrupted by Konoha's Number One Surprising Ninja. Once again, damn him. The doors exploded open, a dark, menacing light illuminating out of the temple. A keening cry arose from within, putting even the worst banshee to shame. The sound brought the boy to his knees, crying out in pain as the sound reverberated through his ears. He swore he felt blood running out. However, just as quickly as the sounds had started, they stopped. Even with eyes slammed shut in pain, the young ninja suddenly felt a presence in front of him. He was now severely afraid. This person had not only disabled him within moments, but had also appeared out of nowhere. He waited for a moment, anticipating an end. Then another moment. And another. Finally, he cracked open his eyes, and saw the largest man he had every seen. He could see no flesh, covered in armor as he was. Each inch of the giant's body seemed covered with shining, powerful steel. His helm seemed bizarre, as it had large, pointed horns growing from the sides. A rich, dark blue cape fluttered behind him, seemingly moving due only to the steel monster's own power radiating out. Most horrifying, however, had to be this silver demon's weapon. It looked thicker than the boy's entire body, and sharper than even diamond. Soulless, yellow eyes stared out from the demon's helm, searing his soul. Finally, with a voice that seemed more natural disaster than human, he spoke.

"We have been expecting you, Sasuke Uchiha."


Author's Notes: So...What do you think? How's that for a first chapter, eh? Where are Naruto and Sakura? Why is Garland expecting Sasuke? Will Naruto survive? Find out, on the next adventure of "Harmonic Maelstrom"! (Oh dear god, that's what happens when your little brother talks you into an all-night Digimon marathon. You start talking like Davis. Someone get me help.)

Yeah, you see that button right there? You know, the one with the big ol' "R" on it? Yeah, hit that button, if you would. I'd like to know I don't truly suck at life when it comes to writing, you see.