Chapter two
Skylar woke to voices and footsteps getting closer and she could make out the muffled voices to be Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke. She stood up and flinched at her still pounding headache and leaned against the wall facing the door. The door slammed open by Naruto already in his Kyuubi chakra mode with Kakashi and Sasuke behind him. Naruto's eyes scrutinized her and she could feel the buzzing of Naruto's power.
She didn't know what happened next but she felt the buzzing become powerful and dropped into a jazz split with Naruto's fist meeting the wall where her head just was and she swung her leg around and tripped him before scrambling underneath the desk, watching with wide eyes with some fear but also not knowing what just happened.
"Dobe, are you trying to breakdown the hide out?" Sasuke said as he offered his hand to help Naruto up. Naruto dropped out of Kyuubi chakra mode and his face went blank for a second.
"Kurama confirmed she's not under the Tsukuyomi… I must apologise miss Skylar, I tend to act before thinking." Naruto said calmly. Kakashi went over to her and offered his hand, which she took but stayed behind him away from Naruto and Sasuke.
"I-it's okay… I understand, it's hard to trust people easily during these dark times… Just try not to kill me again please?" She asked with a slight shake to her voice. Naruto let out a laugh but it was so different to his carefree one, it was guarded and almost sad and Skylar's heart ached for him. She carefully stepped around Kakashi and stepped towards Naruto as everyone watched carefully. Skylar lifted her hands slowly to his face and placed them gently on his whiskered cheeks before one hand moved to his hair and brushed gently through his golden locks as she let a few tears well up at the serious kid, so different to how he was in the anime.
"What has war done to you… It's heartbreaking." Skylar whispered. Naruto gave a small and sad sigh as he leaned into her one hand for a second before stepping away and Skylar wiped her tears away and became serious again. "I can now tell you my story but I don't think you'll believe it which is understandable as I didn't believe it either." Skylar said as she slid onto her desk and sat. Kakashi took the chair and moved it off to the side while Naruto sat down on the bed and Sasuke leaned against the broken wall. " I come from a different dimension where there is no such thing as ninja's and our lives are ruled by dictatorships, fake democracy and technology. I was a normal eighteen-year-old girl who was still at school for an education… I was teased for my red hair and blue eyes with this purple to them, which isn't normal where I come from. I never knew my parents and was adopted until three months ago my real father appeared… He explained to me that he has been reincarnated from this world to save it and send me here to help save it as he is too weak to do it himself and said he believes in me. He said he sent me back with the ability to bring ten people out of the Tsukuyomi but I don't know what I must do to do it. That's my story." Skylar finished with uncertainty.
"If there's no such thing as ninja's from where you come from then how did you perform that wind jutsu?" Kakashi asked.
"My father remembers his life he had here and I always believed that there was a way to do what you guys do in the ninja world. Most people call it magic but anyway I was well tuned to that side of it and was taught some jutsus to use in the other world before I came here for self defence to find you." Skylar tried to explain.
"What other jutsus do you know?" Sasuke asked.
"I know the dragon jutsus for wind, fire and water as well as the grand fireball and a water wall but the wind also acts on my will and movements… I can't really explain it." Skylar said.
"You look like my mother, an Uzumaki, who was your father Skylar?" Naruto asked harshly.
"He claimed to be the Rikudo Sennin and on the first night I mistook him for being him plus he had the rinnegan, I watched his eyes change in front of me, I doubt it was a trick. His name was Richard Serrin and I'm Skylar Serrin was the name that was left with me at the orphanage." Skylar explained.
"I think you should go under the name of Uzumaki Skylar as it's more believable and safer if anyone was to catch on. Why should we trust you Skylar?" Naruto questioned again.
"Perhaps we should test the theory of her bringing people out of the Tsukuyomi… What do you think Kakashi?" Sasuke said.
"Oh, right… I was wondering why you three weren't affected by the Tsukuyomi?" Skylar asked suddenly.
"Kurama snapped me out of it and it seems Kakashi and Sasuke were saved by their sharingan… I think we should test that theory Sasuke." Naruto said, not taking his eyes off of Skylar with his arms crossed over his chest. Sasuke smirked and left the room quickly.
"Where's he going?" Skylar asked as she watched him move off.
"He's going to get someone so we can try snap him out of Tsukuyomi. Come, we'll meet him in the training area." Naruto said as he walked out and Skylar followed him with Kakashi behind. "By the way, how did you dodge my attack if you've never been trained properly as a ninja?" Naruto questioned with suspicion in his voice.
"I think I can feel people's chakra and I felt your chakra flare slightly and I ducked as a natural reaction then I thought of and offence to get away… It's self-defence training I was given when I was younger that I think saved me." Skylar said, also confused by her actions.
"Does it feel like a buzzing sort of sensation?" Kakashi questioned.
"Yeah but it's weird… I was able to do this in the other dimension and no one could ever sneak up on me but it's stronger here." Skylar tried to explain while the rest of the walk remained silent until they reached a large pillared room with a snake statue in the end with Sasuke leaning against a metal box with some sort of tubes connected to machines. Naruto turned around in a fluid movement and faced Skylar seriously.
"Okay here's what's going to happen. In that box there is Sabaku no Gaara that was captured soon after the activation of the Tsukuyomi. He is in that box so he can't use his sand and the machines are keeping him unconscious and alive. We will open that box and you have about a minute before he can start attacking with sand and for you to snap him out of the Tsukuyomi." Naruto explained. Skylar's eyes widened and she swallowed hard before composing her face seriously and nodding her understandment. Naruto turned to Sasuke who unlatched the box and played with the machines before stepping away and the box fell open.
Skylar licked her suddenly dry lips and stepped up close to Gaara when his eyes fluttered open, she stumbled back and fell on her ass where her I-pod slid out and began playing out loud. She got up slowly, capturing Gaara's attention and their eyes met and he seemed to become hypnotised by them as he began staring deadly into them. The song that was playing was something she recorded with the piano and a song she wrote one night after a bizarre dream, she swallowed and did the only other thing she could think of and began to sing her song. Her eyes seemed to blur for a second then clear as she remembered everything that had happened to Gaara from flashbacks she had seen from the anime.
Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were standing with the pillars and watched as she stumbled backwards and a small box fell out her pocket and began playing a song on a piano. They watched in amazement as she gained some courage and stood up to Gaara and began singing, her eyes glowed for a second before shifting into the rinnegan. The air began to whip around her, the flames from the candles grew to blaze and whip around with the wind and water seeped through the ground to join the air and fire. Naruto stumbled backwards with wide eyes as her chakra hit him like a brick wall it felt so clear and pure, like a stream of water or a warm fire on a cold night or the companionable feeling of the wind in a stressful situation. Her voice was so clear like a glass bell above the blaze of the fire, splashing of water and the howling gale of the wind as it pierced through his heart. He could hear Kurama almost purring to the noise as they listened and a smile graced his face for the first time in over a year with tears pouring down his face. As the song came to a calm towards the end, the whirlwind died down as water seeped into the ground again and the flame returned to it's candles and the wind came to a stop and she stood stiff in the same place.
Skylar didn't know what to think as her singing ended and the whirlwind died down. Her vision blurred again and she fell to her knees as she clutched at her painful head. She was dizzy exhausted like she had just run for miles and the splitting headache was pounding. She could feel Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi move up next to her but she tried not to concentrate as it hurt her head more. She peaked open one eye to look to see if Gaara was okay and he was blinking rapidly with a confused expression. She saw his mouth moving and some sound but she couldn't concentrate on what they were saying as she fell gently to her eyes and tried to sleep off the pain and found herself asleep soon afterwards.
Kakashi looked behind him and smiled at what he saw. Naruto had a smile on his face with a spark of life to his once dull eyes that were pouring with tears. Naruto looked up to him as he offered a hand and helped him up, Kakashi responded with an eye smile as the stunned three made their way over to a kneeling Skylar.
"Na-naruto… Sasuke… Kakashi-san… What happened and who is this?" Gaara asked as he looked to each of them and down to Skylar.
"It's good to have you back Gaara. She is the one who saved you from the Tsukuyomi… It's been a year already." Naruto said with a smile and Kakashi picked up the already unconscious Skylar.
"So Madara and Obito succeeded huh? Who is that girl, I could feel her pulling me out of the darkness, almost like that time I died from the Akatsuki… So… Pure?" Gaara said with questioning disbelief. Sasuke undid the chains on Gaara and Naruto helped him to stand up.
"It was amazing… I'll explain everything later but right now we need some rest…. It's good to have you back old friend." Naruto said as he supported Gaara and walking for the rooms with Kakashi carrying Skylar and Sasuke behind them.
"It's good to be back." Gaara said with a smile.
Naruto began explaining what happened when Killer B was killed and the Hachibi was captured and sealed into Obito and his reanimated father with the yin half of the Kyuubi was also captured and that side of the Kyuubi was sealed into Obito as well and the Tsukuyomi was cast. It instantly was cast on everyone including Naruto but Kurama was strong enough to snap Naruto out of it and run with Kakashi and Sasuke behind him as their sharingan managed to cancel it out. They were forced to fight their friends but Gaara had followed them and they managed to capture him in one of Orochimaru's hide outs that Sasuke knew well and knew that box was there and they used it as a last resort. And how no progress had been made between them until Kakashi decided to visit the memorial stone quickly and found Skylar.
Kakashi took the story from there and explained how he met her and how he figured she wasn't affected by the Tsukuyomi and guessed that since the rinnegan showed up in her eyes during the process with Gaara that it was the reason for her being unaffected. He explained how they were nearly caught by Konoha ANBU and how she had saved them and he moved to explain what happened with her story and how it led them to freeing Gaara.
Gaara began to explain what it was like to be under the Tsukuyomi. You were stuck to float endlessly as you wondered who you are and you're purpose of being there as the questions continually showed up with no answers… It was near maddening. Then he felt something warm yet cool at the same and he began to float towards it as his name was called and how his life and memories came back to him as the safe warm feeling enveloped him and pulled him to a light where he ended up waking up to the scene before him. He said that the thought of Naruto's courage and warm heart kept him from loosing faith and staying sane and thanked them and the sleeping girl again before being laid on a bed to rest.
Kakashi and Naruto took Skylar back to her room with her I-pod as they read what it was and placed her on her bed and the I-pod down on the table. They left water and painkillers on her bedside table and stopped to watch her for a while with smiles on their faces.
"She really is special isn't she?" Kakashi said and Naruto hummed in agreement while brushing away a piece of hair and they left her to sleep and find out what food Sasuke was making.
Skylar woke up with a headache and groaned as she rolled over and noticed the water and pills. She still felt tired and noticed the dark rings under her eyes in the waters reflection as she swallowed the pills. She sat but then began humming a tune and twitching with imagined dance movements… She sighed, she always did this whether she was sick or dead tired, her dancing mind worked twenty-four seven and she decided to get up and have a shower.
She hummed out loud then it moved to words as the water soothed her pounding head and exhaustion. She was singing at the top of her voice as she dressed in tight pants with a tight long sleeved shirt that both were a maroon red. She slipped her earphones in and turned over to the song as she began to follow her photographic memory to the training hall. She looked around with caution and curiosity before dancing with flips, spins and fast movements as she turned up the music and began to smile,. Stretching out the kinks in her body.
Kakashi ran down the halls looking for Skylar after finding her room empty. It's not that he didn't trust her, he was worried she had gotten kidnapped or would get lost and there were still places down there they hadn't checked or cleaned of traps. He heard a slight thud and followed it to the training hall where he quickly hid his chakra and hid behind a pillar to watch with fascination. She had a smile and white ear plug things playing music in her ears but that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the perfection of her flips and dips onto haunches and up again into another kick or flip, it was a dance so delicate yet deadly. The moves were done with force and perfection almost taijutsu and were completely silent to the trained ear except for a foot fall every now and again from a flip not done perfectly right. She acted too much like a ninja for her own good without realising it and she could be trained quickly and easily into a deadly ninja. Kakashi was grinning behind his mask as he heard the change of music, which influenced her moves. It was a heavy rock with a fast beat and that's when he saw it, perfect taijutsu with open palm thrusts instead of fists. He uncovered his chakra and she immediately sensed him and pulled out her earphones, looking around calmly and barely out of breath.
"Kakashi, is that you?" She called out carefully and he stepped out of the shadows with an eye smile.
"You're getting good… What was that you were doing?" He asked as he stepped next to her.
"It's just a mixture of dance techniques that fit nicely together, I just needed to do it and started to twitch so I remembered my way here and started to dance… Did I do something wrong?" She asked carefully, her face dropping like a kicked puppies.
"No you didn't. I just got worried when I found your room empty that's all this hide out isn't cleaned out properly yet. Can you dance like that again I want to test something." Kakashi said with something hidden in his voice. Skylar stepped back with a guarded nod, unplugged her earphones and lay her I-pod on the ground to play out as she started the song again. She concentrated to the music and began to dance again. Kakashi pulled up his hitai-ate and opened his sharingan to start to move with her movements. He just dodged, flipped and blocked her palms and she watched with confusion and Kakashi began to throw some hits into it as well and Skylar blocked like she was taught in a self-defence class she took but fumbled with the next movement.
Kakashi noticed her stumble but told her to carry on and she did with determination as her movements became more random but still fluid, landing some soft hits to Kakashi to his surprise. Naruto and Gaara were walking down the corridors to find what was taking Kakashi and Skylar so long and followed their chakra to the training hall where hits could be heard and they tensed and suppressed their chakra as they got closer and couldn't believe what they saw. Kakashi had his sharingan open and barely dodging against Skylar as she moved with relentless attacks and dodging his hits. Kakashi dodged a leg sweep but wasn't quick enough to recover as she stood up and a roundhouse kick to his chest set him flying backwards. Gaara manipulated his sand and caught Kakashi while Naruto was on her in a spark of orange, holding her down with a knee to her middle of her shoulder blades and her arms held behind her back with a rasen-shuriken at the ready. Kakashi stood up and panicked when he saw the deadly intent in Naruto's eyes as he held Skylar face down who luckily had stayed still and wasn't moving.
"Naruto, calm down, we were just training, it's all right now put the rasen-shuriken away." Kakashi said as he stepped slowly towards Naruto. Naruto looked down at Skylar who had submitted to him and was relaxed with her chakra calm and let the rasen-shuriken go but didn't let go of her. Naruto studied her closer and noticed her face and he was shocked at his own action as he instantly moved to the other side of the training hall and had exited Kyuubi chakra mode. He became angry at himself as he thought about the look she gave him. It was open and submissive but so trusting at the same time yet guarded for her life, she would defend herself if pushed and he doubted his abilities against hers… He heard Kurama snort at this thought before he slid down the pillar and sat with his back resting against it, looking anywhere but at Skylar.
Skylar felt Naruto before he was on her and could have dodged but that would have hurt the situation so she let him take her down and hold her down. She calmed herself as she relaxed in his hold and held no expression in her face. The screech of the rasen-shuriken was the most scariest sound as she braced for its attack but she heard it die down and she was released and felt Naruto had moved far away. Kakashi helped her up and checked her over before stopping his flurried movements and saying she was fine in a stern tone and let her eyes land on Naruto's hunched form.
Gaara was torn between the scene in front of him as he set Kakashi down. He wanted to help Skylar strangely but he didn't want to hurt Naruto either so he opted to just watching and was surprised to see her being held down like that. No ninja would submit so easily to being held down and dangled between life and death so easily. He noticed Naruto's instant regret as he sat by the pillar and felt pity for his friend… He had changed and was so hurt from the war that he wanted to help Naruto in any way he could but knew Skylar was the key to getting the world back and lighting the fire back in Naruto. He went over to Naruto and helped the numb teen up and left for the kitchen, leaving Kakashi with Skylar.
"He hates me now." Skylar said when she felt they were far enough away. Kakashi placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. She swallowed and refused to cry.
"He doesn't hate you but he probably hates himself for hurting you. He's become very protective of Sasuke and I and he didn't read the situation correctly." Kakashi reassured her and slid his hitai-ate over his eye again. Skylar noticed the deep gash through his Konoha hitai-ate and then noticed the hitai-ate of the Allied Shinobi Force around his arm.
"I'm sorry it's turned out like this… It must have been hard to cut your ties with Konoha." Skylar said suddenly with tears in her eyes and her lips pulled into a thin line and looked down. Kakashi was taken back by what she said and his curiosity got the better of him.
"What do you know of our lives and how do you know them?" Kakashi asked as he wrapped a protective arm over her shoulder and led her towards the kitchen.
"This may sound strange but I know everything about everyone as I have watched it happen. You see, in my dimension your stories are a very popular manga and anime, mainly following Naruto from when he graduated the academy to the war but it also explains the story of the people he's close to. I know your story, loosing your teammates so suddenly and retreating into yourself… It's understandable. You haven't changed and neither has Sasuke or Gaara but Naruto… He's like a completely broken person, his spirit is dampened and nearly dead, his blue and expressive eyes have become dull and tired and he talks too grown up but at least one thing hasn't changed." Skylar said as she leaned into Kakashi and let her tears fall.
"And what is that?" Kakashi asked before they got to the kitchen.
"His fierce loyalty and his acting before thinking… He's still in there somewhere." Skylar said with a smile before walking into the kitchen without Kakashi. He smiled and sighed.
"I believe you are the only one who can bring him back Skylar." He said softly as he continued into the kitchen and sitting down at the table. They ate in silence and from left to right sat Kakashi, Naruto, Gaara, Skylar and then Sasuke. It was deadly silent as Sasuke sat back against the chair and crossed his arms across his chest and tapped, surprisingly annoyed at the silence. He watched how Kakashi looked between Naruto and Skylar and Gaara did the same thing. He heard from Gaara what happened and watched how Naruto and Skylar avoided each other's gazes. His jaw clenched and unclenched as it became uncomfortable as they finished eating… he wasn't very hungry. He jumped up eagerly when everyone had finished eating and cleaned the table while everyone eyed him with surprise and suspicion from Skylar.
"I want the rest of this hide out cleared if we have nine more people to save… Let's go Gaara, Kakashi… Dobe and Dobe number two, stay here." Sasuke ordered.
"Teme, don't you think it would be better if I go?" Naruto said back.
"No… Stay here… Both of you." He ordered and the three of them left with a shrug from Kakashi.
"What's with him?" Skylar mumbled with annoyance and began picking at her sleeve, avoiding Naruto's gaze.
"I don't know but he'll beat the shit out of us if we move so we better stay here." Naruto mumbled out, avoiding Skylar's gaze as he picked at the table. Skylar had pulled a thread loose on her clothing and it wouldn't break so she pulled out a kunai, making Naruto look up and watch her curiously. She placed her arm on the table and pulled the thread so it lay out along the table as well. She took the kunai, aimed and stabbed it down to cut the thread only to stab her sleeve instead and find herself stuck to the table. She heard something mumble from Naruto and looked up to see him trying to hold in his laughter. When their eyes met they both packed out into laughter, breaking the tension. They calmed down a bit and she tried to pull the kunai out ending up ripping her sleeve out of it and them ending in laughter again.
Naruto stood up and went next to her, held the table down with one hand and pulled the kunai out with the other and laying it on the table, away from Skylar when she tried to reach for it. She pouted and Naruto thought it was cute and brought it closer before pulling it away from her grasp at the last second, making her pout again like a kid and Naruto laughed.
Seeing the sign of weakness, she jumped from her chair and tackled him to the ground. He held the kunai above his head and against the floor while she sat on his stomach and reached for the kunai while Naruto laughed more and tried to stretch further as he could feel her hands touch his wrists. He wiggled and made her loose her balance and fall off to the side. She rolled to her feet quickly while Naruto pushed back on his shoulders and flipped up onto his feet. They watched each other and Naruto dangled the kunai in front of her teasingly with a grin. She narrowed her eyes with a determined pout.
"Come on, you can dodge me at top speed but you can't get a kunai back from me at my normal speed… What kind of ninja are you?" Naruto teased.
"That was different, I was fighting for my life!" Skylar said with happy annoyance. Naruto grinned and got into a feral stance that made Skylar shiver.
"Like now?" Naruto asked with a deep and serious but still playful tone. Skylar's eyes widened before she began to run back to her room with Naruto close behind. She managed to get to her room but Naruto was to close to slam the door closed so she dove under her blanket and Naruto landed on top of her and began to tickle her after throwing the kunai into a wall. She wiggled and squealed and laughed and Naruto was laughing so much he was getting out of breath and his cheeks began to hurt.
They had been searching the hide out and had one last room to do, which wasn't rigged at all. They began making their way back to the kitchen when they saw a flash of maroon and red and then a flash of orange and heard laughing? They looked at each other and they all had the confused expression on their faces. Sasuke led the way, following the laughing and came up to Skylar's door, which was open and heard squealing and laughter. They stopped at the door and watched with amusement as Naruto laughed like he use to and tickled the wiggling Skylar.
"Naruto, hahahaha, stop, hahahahahaha, they… they're hahaha WATCHING!" Skylar managed to shout out between laughing and out of breath. Naruto stopped and Skylar calmed down with a few laughs and pulled the blanket down to look if she was right and there stood three very shocked people but Kakashi's eye stood out from the rest as it twitched. Naruto was frozen with a hard blush as he peaked behind him and yelped when he snapped his face forward again and noticed where he was sitting… He was straddling Skylar's waist and blushed harder. Skylar rolled her eyes and pushed him back off of her.
"What are you looking at?" Skylar shouted and threw a pillow. Sasuke and Gaara moved quickly out of its path and the pillow hit Kakashi dead square on his face. Skylar and Naruto held back a laugh when the pillow slid off of his still twitching face.
"Naruto… I'm giving you five seconds to run before I catch up… One…" Kakashi began counting and Naruto ran and Kakashi chased him without finishing his counting. Skylar smiled and laughed silently and shook her head before standing up and brushing out her butt length red hair to fix it. Gaara and Sasuke had moved off to the kitchen and Kakashi caught up as she heard him.
"One Thousand Years of Death!" Kakashi yelled and you heard Naruto yell afterwards. Skylar laughed.
