Disclamer: I do not own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts. This is purly a work of fan fiction, and will not be used commercially.
Chapter 1: Months After
The sun set on the horizon, illuminating the small island with a warm glow. Three figures sat against the crooked tree that sprout out of the ground, relaxing from the hard day at school they had just experienced The tallest of the three, a silver-haired boy of sixteen, was staring off into the sunset, seemingly lost in thought. The other boy, who was slightly younger than the other and had spiky brown hair, was laying on the horizontal tree and dozing peacefully. The last person, a girl who's long red hair was blowing gently in the wind, glanced at the sleeping boy and giggled.
"Sora, you lazy bum, school isn't that tiring," she said. Sora opened his eyes and glared at her.
"C'mon Kairi, I'm not used to having to go to school everyday. I haven't gone for two years," he excused.
"If anyone has reason to be sleeping so early, it's me. With all the training you and Riku have been putting me through, it's a wonder I haven't died from exhaustion yet," she said with another small laugh. Sora sat up and grinned.
"I told you, Kairi, I'm not leaving you on this island the next time I have to leave. You need to be able to fight."
"And what makes you think there'll be a next time?" Riku finally said. Sora frowned at him.
"And what makes you think there won't? There are still Heartless and Nobodies out there, and it's only a matter of time before someone tries to get Kingdom Hearts again. When that happens," he started as he jumped off the tree, "I want both of you to be with me."
"Sounds to me like you love your job a little too much," Riku mocked. Sora grinned and scratched the back of his head.
"Yea, traveling around different worlds was great! I had so much fun with Donald and Goofy. The only thing that would've made it even better was if you two had been there. Especially you, Kairi." Sora's comment surprised her.
"I mean, with Riku, I always knew that he would be able to take care of himself if he ran into trouble. But you... er, I mean, not that I thought you couldn't take care of yourself," Sora said quickly to save himself, "I was just worried, that's all..."
Kairi blushed.
"It's getting late," Riku said after a moment. "Time to go home. You need to rest up for tomorrow, Kairi. Saturday means no school, so it's ample time to get in plenty of training."
"Right!" Kairi said as she hopped off the tree. "I'm going to get stronger so I can help out next time!" With that, she summoned Flowering Strength, and held it out in front of her. Sora summoned the Kingdom Key and Riku summoned Way to Dawn, and touched the tips of their blades to Kairi's. A glowing light emanated from the tips of their weapons, illuminating their faces against the failing daylight. They held it like that for a moment. Sora looked from Riku's face to Kairi's and knew that no matter what he had to face in the future, as long as they were with him, he could accomplish anything.
"Alright!" he said. "We meet back here tomorrow morning at dawn!" Riku and Kairi smiled and nodded. Then, as they broke the pose, there was a brilliant flash of light, and the three of them raced off down the beach towards the docks.
--
That night, Sora had a dream. Or more accurately, a conversation. Ever since he had merged with Roxas, from time to time, the former Nobody would come to him in his sleep and talk with him. It was almost like a dream, because Sora lost no sleep over it. And yet, it wasn't a dream. It was as real as any conversation he would have with Kairi or Riku, only within himself.
The two of them had taken on an odd existence since the World that Never Was. They shared everything; the same body, the same memories, the same emotions. Yet at the same time, they were still two completely separate people, if you could even consider Roxas a person. Sora supposed that Kairi had formed a similar relationship with Naminé, but he had never bothered to ask.
As Sora laid his head on his pillow, he almost immediately felt that familiar sensation he and Roxas had affectionately named a "dive." Water seemed to rush past him as he fell farther and farther downward. He soon came to a stop and landed on a platform. On the platform was a stain glass mural. But this one was different than usual. Usually, the mural depicted Sora and Roxas standing back-to-back. On Sora's side were two windows with Riku and Kairi's face in them. On Roxas' side were another two that contained Naminé and Axel's face.
This one however, showed a boy Sora had never seen before. The boy wore a black and orange sweater and orange pants. He had a mess of spiky blond hair, deep blue eyes, and appeared to have whiskers. Around his forehead was a black headband that had a metal plate on the front. Etched into the plate was a swirly symbol that was shaped vaguely like a leaf. On his feet, he wore what looked like some type of sneaker, except his toes were exposed. He appeared to be pulling a strange shaped knife out of the pouch that was tied to his right leg.
Beside him was a girl with bright pink hair that fell to her shoulders and jade eyes. She wore her red headband so that the plate was on top of her head instead of on her forehead. She wore a red vest and black shorts, which were covered by a pink skirt that split up the middle and sides, allowing for better mobility. She had footwear similar to the boy's, except instead of sneakers, they looked more like heels, and they came up to nearly her knees. In the mural, she was in the process of putting on a pair of black gloves and she also had a pouch tied to her right leg.
Around the edge of the mural were an assortment of characters. Each person was unique and caught Sora's eye for different reasons, such as one man who's face was almost completely covered by a mask, a boy and girl who seemed to have no pupils, and another boy with a very ridiculous looking bowl cut. But the people that caught Sora's attention the most, were the ones that stood behind the blond and pink-haired girl, far in the background of the mural. Only their silhouettes were shown, but the way the one in the center glared with those strange, ringed eyes, caused a shiver to run down Sora's spine.
"That showed up this morning, after you left for school," Sora heard behind him. He turned around to see his own face staring back at him. Sora jumped in surprise and ended up on the ground. Roxas laughed.
"Ever the graceful one, aren't you?" he teased as he offered Sora a hand. Sora took it and Roxas pulled him to his feet.
"Do you have to sneak up on me like that?" Sora complained, although he didn't expect an answer. He looked back at the mural for a moment.
"Who do you think they are?" he asked his other self.
"I don't know, but whoever they are, they're important. And since the mural has changed, something is going to happen soon," Roxas answered knowingly.
"Yea, the question is, will we be prepared when it does happen?" Sora wondered. Roxas nodded in agreement, then grew solemn. Sora felt the sudden influx of sadness coming from his other.
"I feel so useless," Roxas growled. "All I can do is sit here and watch, I can never help you three out. I want to fight too!" he yelled. In a act of frustration, Roxas summoned his keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and struck at the ground with several bolts of light. He continued to attack for another few seconds before he stopped, leaving himself tired and panting. Sora put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You aren't useless, Roxas. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here. You've become like my brother in the last few months. More than that, even. You're just as important to me as Riku or Kairi." Roxas listened to him talk, and calmed down. Oathkeeper and Oblivion disappeared and Roxas sat down on the ground.
"Thanks, it's just frustrating, you know? Having to stay in this place all day, only being able to observe," Roxas sighed.
"You still get to see Naminé, right? Whenever me and Kairi are close to each other?"
"Yea, when you two are near each other, Naminé and Kairi's mural is close enough to ours that I can jump over to theirs and we can talk. But..."
"It's not enough," Sora finished for him. Roxas nodded. He didn't need to finish the sentence, though. They were so connected that Sora was fully aware of everything Roxas felt, and vice-versa. It was no secret between them that Sora desperately wished for more time with the red-head.
They sat and conversed for several more minutes before Roxas decided to get some sleep of his own.
"Make sure you're ready for whatever it is that's coming, Sora. Kairi has gotten a lot stronger, but if anything happens to her, it happens to Naminé. And if anything happens to her, I'll make sure you live to regret it," Roxas said coldly, although they both knew it wouldn't come to that. Sora would never let anything happen to Kairi as long as he was alive.
As Sora stood up, he looked back down at the mural. The blond boy's sapphire eyes seemed to stare right through him, and Sora had the oddest feeling of familiarity. It was almost as if he and the boy were the same person, much like how he and Roxas were the "same person."
"Yea, I get that feeling too," Roxas said voicing Sora's unspoken thoughts. "And you know who the girl reminds me of, don't you?" And Sora did know, because he felt it too.
"Kairi," he whispered.
"Yea. I get the feeling that these two are going to be very influential in whatever it is that's coming. And those figures behind them, they give me a really bad vibe."
"Yea, same here. I've got a really bad feeling about them," he said as the world around him began to fade.
"Be prepared, Sora. That's all I have to say." Roxas' voice grew more and more distant as their connection broke and Sora slowly faded back into dreams.
Outside his body, Sora tossed and turned on his bed, mumbling incoherently. Finally, as he stilled, a single word could barely be heard escaping his lips.
"Naruto..."
A/N: wow, i never expected that this story would do as well as it has so early. seriously, i hadn't even posted a real chapter yet and i already got several positive reviews and favs. and to all of you who faved my story and reviewed, i thank you from the very bottom of my thanking place. this story is turning out to be the most fun thing i've written so far. i'm so excited to continue this, and i'll be working on this as often as i can, between school work and such.
