Naruto POV

Smoke was all around us as the power withdrew from the seal array. I was still fairly disoriented by the trip but I was pretty sure that there was someone there with me at least. It looked like my friends had survived the trip to wherever it was that we had ended up. I peered around me, trying my damnedest to focus through the choking haze of airborne dirt. I could barely make out a shape beyond my outstretched hands. "Kakashi-sensei? Ino? Shika? Anyone there?" I barely managed to get the words out through the hacking coughs. I couldn't see my hands in front of my face, nevermind me team.

"Dobe." I heard Sasuke's voice choke out through the cloud to my left, I turned towards his voice and made a handseal. "FUUTON:DIATOPPA NO JUTSU" I put as much energy into the wind jutsu as I felt I could spare in an unknown environment. The wind that bellowed forth from my mouth was weak in comparison to almost any time I've ever seen the jutsu performed but luckily for me you don't need a lot of wind to clear dust. The shroud of debris wafted away and left me reeling with relief to be able to breath and see again, I could see Sasuke in front of me but it seemed like we were alone. "Teme, where are the others?"

Sasuke has a wary look on his face and is glancing around "Dobe, I don't even know where WE are, what makes you think I'd have any idea where they went? I can tell you this though, wherever they are it isn't near here. My Sharingan would have spotted them even through the dust."

I couldn't help but worry over the fate of my friends, but even as I wondered where they could have gotten off to I realized Sasuke had been right. I didn't know where we were. I looked around me and tried to spot anything familiar about my surrounding, and couldn't help but gape in shock at what I saw. All around me was what appeared to be cliffs of purple stone, but that wasn't even the strangest part, atop the cliffs was what appeared to be a winding path of that same strange rock, forming a sort of rising road up to what could only have been described as some sort of strange twisted castle.

I saw Sasuke out of the corner of my eye taking in the view himself, and was just a tiny bit satisfied to see that he looked just as shocked as I was at the tableau around us As I glanced at Sasuke I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A solitary black speck in the distance, on one of the posts of the gate near the castle perched a single crow. Its beady eyes appeared to be trained directly on us and I couldn't help but feel like it was watching our every move. I turned to Sasuke and pitched my voice low "Do you see that bird over there?" There was an oppressive and sinister silence stifling the air, like if we didn't keep out voices down we would wake some dreadful beast sleeping away the centuries beneath that monstrous keep.

Sasuke seemed to feel it as much as I did, he kept his voice to a murmur as he replied "It's watching us, has been since I spotted it a minute ago, something about it seems wrong, it's paying to much attention to us for a carrion bird." I nodded in agreement and motioned toward the castle "We should go, as creepy as that place is I doubt we'll be getting any answers sitting out here in the rocks, and the sooner we're out of that things eyeline the better."

We set off toward the castle along the winding path and soon came to the same odd stone gateway at the front of the caste that we had seen earlier, but at some point while we had wound our way up the path the crow had vanished. The gateway stood above us massive and imposing made of a strange brown stone topped with two green spires jutting out at odd angles from the top. Standing just before the gateway was the oddest creature I had ever seen, it looked like it was made of pure darkness. With shining citrine eyes blazing in a spherical head, atop which was perched a pair of what seemed to antennae. The antennae twitched and moved as we approached and after a moment the creature turned to face us. It stood only a foot or two in height, not imposing in any way really, but I felt Sasuke tense beside me as a feeling of profound wrongness washed over me. I wasn't sure how I knew it but this thing was wrong, and it was dangerous to me somehow. I glanced over at my friend "Is your Sharingan noticing anything unusual about it?"

He shook his head slowly and uneasily "It makes my eyes hurt to look at it, I don't now what it is but it seems like my Sharingan aren't fans of it. Whatever it is it feels like a threat." I made a noise of acknowledgment and before we could go any further in deciding what to do it headed straight for us. Sasuke and I both reached in our pouches and simultaneously drew and launched a kunai at the thing. As the kunai flew toward it the strangest thing happened, the shadows it was made of sort of shifted and flowed forward.

The creature twisted itself into a spiral and corkscrewed around the kunai, using the motion to bring itself close enough to attack. Or it would have been close enough to attack if Sasuke and I hadn't started moving back as soon as it began its charge, It came right up to where we had been and Sasuke let loose with a few handsigns and shouted KATON:GOKAKYU NO JUTSU before letting loose a massive sphere of billowing flame. The creature screamed and reared back, somehow managing to remove itself from the fireball before it closed its shape. It's antenna were alight and it seemed to be squealing in agony, without any sort of pause at all it barreled past us and down towards the path and was quickly swallowed up into the darkness.

"Okay," I wondered aloud "What the hell was that?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a high melodic voice come from behind me "That was a heartless, and a mostly harmless one at that." Sasuke and I whirled around to see a delicate girl with silvery blonde hair and a porcelain complexion smiling softly at us. I didn't really care about her skin though, even her hair was only of secondary importance. What I found most special about her was her eyes, a startling sapphire blue that I had only seen twice before. In the mirror when I got up in the morning, and inside the kyuubi's seal when I had gotten the chance to meet my parents for the first time. The eyes that had stared out of me from my fathers smiling face.

Namine POV

"Mostly harmless." I amended myself, "A single Heartless is not too much to be concerned about...but there rarely ever is one Heartless."

I could see the blank stares on the boys faces, my eyes lingered a bit too far on Naruto's. My drawings don't compare to how he actually looks, the intensity of his eyes served as a reminder to the eyes our father...sorry, his father. Perhaps this was the emotion of hope, the emotions Nobodies weren't supposed to have, in any case I found myself hoping for a second of a life that does not exist for me. I am Kairi's Nobody, but I am not her nor am I a person. Still...what part of a heart that I have is just content with at least seeing him.

"Follow me." I said, turning around down the road to Castle Oblivion.

"Who are you?" one of the boy's spoke, the dark haired one I believe. "And where are we for that matter?"

I didn't respond, not at first, it was a moment where I began to struggle with myself as to how to answer...or if I even wanted to answer at all. The dark haired boy seemed to be a bit impatient as he spoke again, with more insistence.

"Answer us! Who are you?"

"Wait." Naruto spoke, his voice caused me to spin around to him. "I don't think she's going to hurt us."

"Don't be naïve," the dark haired boy snapped, "She appears just shortly after this 'Heartless' does and that is not a single bit suspicious? Think dobe."

I flinched, the dark haired boy had a point; now looking back I probably should not have announced my presence just yet, I was a bit...caught up in the moment I suppose. I couldn't help but turn my eyes to Naruto, trying to make out the flashes of expressions that are running across his face. He seemed to be thinking intently before he spoke the dark haired boy, "I know...I was suspicious too. But...somehow...I don't think she will harm us," he turned his expression to me and back to him, "Do we also have a better plan?"

The dark haired boy frowned for a moment, he seemed to be struggling with himself for awhile before he gave a defeated grunt. "Fine. Lead the way."

The road to Castle Oblivion was not a far one, I made sure they kept a brisk pace with me as I lead them down the twisting path to the Castle. I could notice them get more anxious as the path became a bit more twisted, but the moment we reached the Castle they stopped in a display of surprise and slight awe. I let them have their moment for awhile, Castle Oblivion even to me was a mystery – I cannot claim to know it's secrets. Just that the Organization that held me used this as a testing and research base for the longest time, until late last year that is...when he came to the Castle. At that point I had to stop trying to recall those painful memories and turned my attention back to Naruto and the dark haired boy. "Once we are inside, I will tell you anything you wish to know."

With the promise of answers the two boys eagerly followed me through the front doors of the Castle, stepping into the bright white hallway I could hear the boys wince from the bright white. Once the Castle doors closed shut I turned around to face them, there we were: three unlikely strangers in the middle of a large empty Castle. It didn't used to be just me...I had him around for awhile, checking back every now and then on his friend...but he's off now running some other errand.

"Alright, we followed you. Now who are you?" the dark haired boy asked. I did promise them answers after all.

"My name is Namine, and this is Castle Oblivion." I gestured to everything around me. Naruto looked all around the room, seemly taking in all the sights as well as the magnitude of the Castle.

"Wow...my name is Naruto, this is Sasuke." he gestured to the dark haired boy who merely folded his arms.

Now the introductions were made, here comes the difficult part. "Naruto, Sasuke...what brings you here?"

Naruto was about to speak when Sasuke suddenly cut in, "Naruto." It was a warning tone, meant to prevent the blond ninja from revealing too much than they needed. Naruto hesitated before nodding, it didn't matter me as I already knew why they were here. "I am looking for someone...someone important to me, we don't know where this person is and we're hoping someone could tell us."

"Who is that you are looking for?" I asked, knowing full well his answer, but I had to get Naruto to admit it out loud. It would make this next part far much simpler.

"...My sister." Naruto finally said, "I am looking for my sister, her name is-"

"-Kairi."

Naruto's eyes widened while Sasuke's narrowed, "You know her name? How?"

"Have you met her before?" Naruto cut in anxiously, "Do you know where she is?"

"No, I have not met her." I could see Sasuke begin to react and quickly added, "I know of her from him." The two boys exchanged glances for a moment.

"Him?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, if you want to find your sister...you will need Sora." I began to gather energy through my body, raising my arms out. "Let me show you." A bright flash of light coursed out as I brought them out of the entrance of the halls and to the pod chamber, once their eyes adjusted to the flash of light they began to take in their surroundings...before their eyes centered on the pods before them.

"What is that...?" Naruto asked; looking closer his eyes widened, "T-There are people in there!"

Sasuke moved to the pod as well to get a closer look and when he did his eyes widened as well; he turned to me with a twinge of anger in his voice. "What is this, what's going on?!"

I kept my calm even with Sasuke's anger brimming to the surface, I walked to the pods and began to explain, "A little under a year ago...some things happened and I was forced to tear apart the memories in Sora and his friends. In order for him to get his memories back I had to put him and his friends asleep; it's been a slow process...but I am nearly done. Soon they will all wake up without realizing what happened to them." Sasuke was giving me a critical glare while Naruto seemed...unsure of what to think.

"Why should we care about this 'Sora'?" Sasuke asked, "What does he have to do with Kairi?"

"Because...he's her hero." Naruto's eyes widened at this statement as I continued, "Last year...Kairi was taken from her home by forces of darkness who wished to see her used under their control. Sora left his home to find her, traveling alongside two others he finally found and rescued her. He cares a lot for her...and she cares for him too."

Naruto turned to the pod and walked up to get, staring through the glass to Sora's sleeping face – he stared at the boy for a long time as Sasuke walked up to me. "It sounds more like you want to make up for your mistake than help us find Kairi. Come on dobe, we don't have time for this."

"You said you can wake him up?" Naruto asked quietly, turning away from the pod to me; I nodded.

"I still need a bit of time, but he is very close to waking up."

"Then do it." Sasuke gave Naruto a look, but the boy shook his head. "You heard what she said...he protected her, he did what I could not. For that...I owe him. If waking him up is the best way to find Kairi then that's what we should do. I want to meet this person who cares for her so much."

With the decision made I made my way over to the control panel holding the pod life supports; I began to run a check up as Sasuke moved over to Naruto, they were speaking in hushed tones so I focused my ears to try and pick up what they were saying. "...too convenient. We don't know this place and we don't know her, while your naivety has not once surprised me you can't tell me you trust her."

"I don't know..." Naruto confessed, "There's something about her...something familiar, I feel like I have known her my whole life...I can't explain it, but I feel like we can trust her..."

I paused for a moment in typing, the two boys heard it and they turned their heads to me. I cleared my throat and resumed typing, albeit very quickly, I could see out the corner of my eye the two boys shrug and I resumed my work. Several meters appeared on the screen, each showing the life signs of each person in the pod. I began to check on the status, touching the panel with Donald's information and the screen shifted to the pod details. At the bottom highlighted in green was a status marker: ready to awaken. I felt a slight rush of excitement and touched the file with Goofy's status, as before the pod stats appeared with highlighted in green: ready to awaken. I refrained from a smile I went over and touched the status of Sora's pod, my eyes trailed below to the status marker and saw: incomplete.

My eyes bore into the red words that was not the words I wanted to see, at least Donald and Goofy could be awakened. I sadly hit the back button and opened the program that controlled the three pods, I selected Donald and Goofy's pods and went over the selections in the drop box. Finding the section 'awakening process' I selected it and a window box opened: Are you sure you want to awaken these pods? I touched my finger to yes and the computer began to send the signal to the two other pods: which began to hiss and react. Naruto and Sasuke turned to the other two pods in surprise and I spoke over the computer, "Good news and bad news. The good news is I can awaken Sora's companions Donald and Goofy, which is what I am doing right now. The bad news..."

"Sora can't be awakened?" Sasuke cut in, I nodded and he frowned, "Figures."

"Not yet anyway, he will be able to soon, if I can just-"

Suddenly the castle shook! I yelled out and grabbed onto the computer for safety, the two boys kept their balance as the castle shook for a moment. "What was that?!" Naruto yelled out, the computer I was using began to beep and I pulled up the warning box. My eyes widened in fear as familiar black forms raced across the hallways outside...Shadows...Neo Shadows...big ones, small ones, everything I could see rushing through the hallways to us.

"It's the Heartless!" I cried out, yelling over the hissing of the pods as Donald and Goofy's were opening. "They're heading this way! Donald and Goofy will be too tired to fight and...and I don't know if I can awaken Sora yet!"

"What do we do?!" Naruto asked as the doors suddenly began to bang and shake.

I paused, trying to think...if only Riku was here...wait...Riku, that was it. He left something here, something for us to use if the Heartless were surrounding the castle and we needed to leave. "There's a ship! A spaceship here! I can load Sora's pod onto the ship and we can get out from there!"

"A what?!" Naruto asked, the doors began to break down and he shook his head, "Nevermind, what do we need to do?!"

"Keep the Heartless away from the pods while I get the ship ready," I pulled up the bay controls to the ship and began to do the pre-flight preparations.

"That we can do!" Naruto nodded, he and Sasuke standing side by side as the door began to break down. Sasuke's eyes narrowing as the door went 'bang', 'bang!', 'BANG!'.

"Here they come." Sasuke announced grimly, assuming a fighting stance.

Naruto POV

An echoing roar rang out around the strange white chamber as the door shoo in its moorings. I could see little puffs of dust falling from the ceiling to float down toward the ground where the stone around the door was buckling under the assault from whatever was smashing into it was impacting the wood. The girl was standing off to the side, frozen in fear, eyes wide and terrified and guileless in the face of some instinctive drive to flee and whatever ties were holding her to the people in this room.

Sasuke was standing beside me with his sword drawn, his face a grim mask of concentration, but I could see the gleam of excitement in my old friends eye. Sasuke was always cautious but he was never smart enough to be afraid of a powerful enemy, its one of the reasons we became friends in the first place. I could feel a slight prickling on the air and knew my friend was running lightning chakra down the length of his blade, whatever that monster was it wasn't going to get off lightly in this fight.

I was braced to fight, a kunai in one hand and confusion running through my mind. I didn't understand why I was feeling the way I was about this fight, my normal confidence was gone, replaced by worry. I was afraid, not for myself of course as I said I've never had that kind of common sense, but I couldn't help but fear for the girl. I turned as quickly as I could and grabbed her by the wrist, and I had to grit my teeth as some kind of pulse raced down my arm and through my body. It felt like my chakra just…came alive at her touch. Like it knew her, like it could sense her fear and wanted to help her. I saw her eyes widen and opened my mouth to ask what the hell had happened when the door made a sharp crack. I head Sasuke bellow from behind me "Dobe! The doors giving way, what the hell are you doing?"

I gritted my teeth and shoved the girl behind Soras pod. He seemed to have a good track recording protecting girls who were important to me which, Namine obviously was. I looked in her eyes and barked out "Stay here, don't move and when I get back I want some damn answers." Her eyes, still widened in fear, met mine and she nodded her assent. That was all I had time to wait for, I turned and bolted back towards Sasuke and just as I reached his side the door exploded in a shower of stone mortar and wood shrapnel. The creature that stood behind it was…terrifying. I had and empty heart shape missing from its chest and it eyes burned with a sickening citrine fire. Tendrils of ropy shadow writhed around its onyx face as it stared hungrily about it.

There was an…alien quality about the thing that chilled my spine, I wasn't sure exactly how to define it but I knew that it hated me, just for being alive, for having a heart it HATED me. Everything that was good or right in the world this thing simply wasn't. It was in the most literal sense of the word an entire existence of NOT. I felt a bellow of challenge bubble up from mythroat and rip from my mouth, a tangible, auditory assault against the insubstantial wrongness of the creature standing in front of me.

Sasuke was already moving as I started my roar and I felt my eyes widen in panic because somehow I KNEW that my friend couldn't hurt this thing, that I couldn't hurt this thing. We were men, fighting a mans battle against a force the unmaking. We were like children trying to cut a cloud of poison gas. This thing was simply not of the world we stood in. I hurtled forward, drawing on the Kyuubi as I went to propel myself into way of my friend as the beast swung an arm in a wide brutal ark at Sasuke's charging form. I interposed myself ahead of him a second or two before it would have hit and couldn't help but close my eyes to brace for the attack.

I waited for the blow... and waited... but it never came and then I felt a horrible wrenching sensation and my chakra was simply RIPPED away. I screamed and collapsed, thinking that this horrible rending pain was the feeling of being struck by this disgusting behemoth. But despite the pain I kept breathing... kept thinking... kept hurting. Tentatively, afraid this was a dream I opened my eyes. I stood dumbstruck as I saw the monster held at a dead stop by glowing golden chains wrapped around the sinewy shadows of its form. Dumbstruck because I KNEW those chains, those chains were my mothers. They belonged to a woman that couldn't be alive, and I certainly wasn't making them. I wasn't making much of anything because my chakra appeared to be gone. As in no longer in existence, I looked behind me to see if Sasuke was somehow doing this and saw him frozen in shock at the sight as well. Then my eyes kept moving and for what felt like the tenth time int his crazy horrible day I stopped dead in my tracks. The girl was standing there with her hands raised a look of pure RAGE plastered across her soft features. She bit her words out like chips of glacial ice "Leave. Them. ALONE!"

Something about the way she howled that was new, like a baby learning to walk, like she had never been angry before, and boy had she been saving up. And I realized why I was so shocked, because I had thought she was the spitting image of my father but I was wrong, my mother stood in front of me seething with the scarlet rage that earned her the nickname the red hot habanero. And I couldn't see how I had been so stupid, how I could have ever not felt this girl, could have ever missed my FAMILY.

Because I didn't know how but this girl had taken my chakra from me and had used it to fashion a shield for me from love and anger and everything a sister should feel in the protection of a brother. She held this monster away from me with righteous fury and protective wrath and my eyes began to burn with tears. Tears for my new baby sister and how she'd had to stand in front of me and watch me treat her like a stranger and how she still loved me so much she was literally holding back the darkness to keep me safe.

But love and anger and family can only do so much. The chains my new sister had somehow made to restrain the beast shattered as it braced itself and gave a mighty heave and I watched helplessly as she crumpled in a heap to the ground. Or she would have, had Sasuke not appeared at her side in an instant and caught her gently. He lifted her into his arms and cradled her protectively against his chest and looked at me, and he nodded. That nod meant the world to me 'Take care of this will you?' it said 'No harm will come to her while I'm here, besides you don't need me for this punk.'

With that on moment of affirmation of my best friends trust, of my sisters safety, and of my need to protect them both I felt something inside me SHATTER. I felt power well up from the fountain from which all my blood welled up and race through my veins and into every cell in my body. A wave of light crashed down from my hands and I was holding a key. A red and black steel key the size of one of my legs with nine curling tails making up the shaft and the of them curling out into teeth. The grip was neck of a fox with burning read eyes, and in its mouth was a black pulsing jewel poised as if it were a blast about to be unleashed.

I could feel the energy of the Kyuubi pulsing through the key mixing with my own power and I had never felt so much strength. The Kyuubi wasn't inside me anymore, It was in this key, in my hand, and it wasn't a prisoner, it was my partner. I looked up at the ebony nightmare lumbering towards myself, the sister I hadn't even known I had and my best friend and I couldn't help but grin. I looked it dead in the eyes and took a step. With that step I was suddenly right in front of the thing, it swung a mighty hand at me, trying to crush me flat, but I evaded it with ease and swung my key.

I took its arm off at the elbow, I swung again at it chest and though it tried to dodge a deep furrow was ripped down its torso. It dropped down to its knees before me, and though it dwarfed me in stature I couldn't help but feel that it was cowering before me. I lifted my key and readied a swing at its head, and suddenly felt a certainty rip through me as my keys name rumbled through my mind. For my sister who was lost and my other who was found, for my brother in all but blood who held her protectively in his arms, for my parents who watched me from the afterlife smiling down at me.

I could feel the two words that described it best, the two words that said that no member of my family would be harmed while I drew breath to help them. And I spoke my weapons name with calm certainty as it cleaved the monsters head from its shoulders "Never Again."

Namine POV

..ain...

...ver again...

Never Again.

With those words my eyes shot open and I gave a huge gasp of air, sputtering and coughing as my lungs fought against the sudden rush of air. I could feel a pair of arms hold my shoulders and a commanding voice call to me, "Namine! Namine you need to remain calm, breathe, breathe slowly okay?"

It was a struggle, but I was finally able to control my breathing and soon my eyes could really focus on what was going on around me. I could see the floor of the pod chamber, smoke coming from when the Heartless burst through the door. Small dark wisps coming from Heartless that were fading back into darkness, similar to the dark hair of Sasuke who was watching me like a hawk. Once my eyes focused on him he gave the tiniest sigh of relief and gently helped me up, keeping a hold on my arms as I stumbled up. As I took in the scene before me my eyes widened when they landed on Naruto, standing in the middle of the room with the collection of dark wisps around him and in his hands held a familiar but different weapon: the Keyblade.

"...How...how did you-"

"Sora!"

The familiar quacking like voice had me turn around, Donald and Goofy who I had released from the pods were gathered around Sora's pod with concern. "Sora!" Goofy knocked on the pod glass, "Wake up Sora!"The two of them turned around to us, Donald's large eyes narrowed in anger as he approached the three of us, "Hey, let Sora out!" his quacking voice sounded unhappy and a bit worried "Watch it," Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Donald did not seem intimidated as the two stared each other down, at another time this would be rather funny.

Funny...wait...this would be funny? I felt my breath hitch and my own hand go to my chest, a something seemed to rush through my body things that I have never felt before. There it was, that word again, felt. Why do I keep using that word? Am I poisoned? I don't feel ill...again, there it is, feel...it was then the realization finally dawned on me. Feel. I can feel things...so many things...laughter...fear...rage...joy. This couldn't be possible, I am a Nobody and Nobodies don't have hearts. If Nobodies don't have hearts and Nobodies cannot feel anything, that would mean I am not a Nobody anymore. How? How was this possible?

A hand grabbed my shoulder and I turned to Naruto's face, my breath quickened as he observed me with those suddenly critical eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I...I don't..."

"That power you used...no one can use it...no one. Except my mother...she had that power and you have that power, you are my sister. I don't know how, but you are my sister."

"I..." I paused, this was a bit difficult to explain. "In a way yes...and in a way no."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked, but another rumble from the Castle stopped all questions short.

"Whaaack!" Donald spluttered, "What was that?!"

I ran back to the control panel and continued to type on it, images on the screen confirmed more Heartless were beginning to invade Castle Oblivion. How though? The Heartless have left this place alone most of the time why has that changed now? Someone was definitely controlling the Heartless...but who and why? I shook my head, none of this mattered right at this moment.

"The Heartless, there are more of them, too many for us all to handle." I checked on the preparation status of Sora's pod to be loaded onto the ship. I touched the screen and...found it was still 'sending the signal'; I gave a growl and tried to cancel the request and restart it. Which ended up with a frozen page, followed by a blue screen and a total shut down. I gave a yell and slammed on the computer screen...my eyes looking to my hands in shock...was that anger? It came out so naturally...as if it was my own.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, I shook my head and rebooted the system."The computer is not sending the signal properly to the ship bay." I said, opening two different tabs and began typing commands onto one of them. "I'm activating some of the internal defenses in the Castle, they'll slow the Heartless down as we run for the ship."

"How are we all going to escape if the pod won't load onto the ship?" Sasuke asked, coincidentally after I finished telling the computer it's final command."If we can't take the pod." I said as Sora's pod started to hiss and open, Donald and Goofy cried out as the still sleeping Sora collapsed on top of them. "We'll take Sora without it."Donald gave a grumble as he and Goofy slowly stood up, the latter tucking his arm under Sora and carrying him. I was walking away from the computer to the door when Naruto again grabbed my arm, I could see it in his eyes: he wanted those answers. "Naruto I will explain everything to you, but not here and not now we have to go! Because believe me...I have questions I want you to answer too."

Naruto reluctantly released my arm after that, he knew I was right there was too much danger to stop and answer questions. He looked at the weapon in his hand, clenched it tightly and held it to his side – ready to fight if needed. I ran over to the side of the room and opened the side exit to the ship bay below. Donald ran through first followed by Goofy carrying the sleeping Sora, once they were through Sasuke and Naruto quickly followed. Down the small hallway was a set of stairs that spun all the way down to the basement levels, as we descended the Castle's lighting system activated the small low-watt lights as we descended. Once we reached the bottom of the steps a small set of doors slid open, the basement levels unlike the upper floors used dark walls rather than the bright white ones.

This made the hallway near impossible to see until the lighting system activated, once enough of the lights turned on I led the group through the tunnel until we approached an open door at the end of the hallway. It led into a large hangar that seemed to be a massive garage, large industrial sized cranes, heavy machinery, all here for one purpose: the ship in the middle of the hangar. The ship had an oval body, with four small wings: two on the top and two on the bottom. The front of the ship had two pincers at the front, smooth for less resistance but had air flaps for landing – in between the two pincers at the body of the ship was the cockpit. Riku had been working on this in his free time after finding what he described to be a 'silvery sleek gummi block' he assembled it together in four months and had it flight ready in two. I found him down here one night, admiring his new ship, when I asked him why he was down here he told me he was naming it: Destiny. In memory of the home he now had a greater appreciation for.

"Wooooooooooooowwww!" Naruto and Goofy let out as they stared at the ship, even Donald seemed awe-struck. Sasuke fought it but there was a sense of wonder in his eyes, however brief. The Castle began to shake again and the six of us began to move to the ship, Riku had shown me how to use it in case for emergencies like this. I opened up the cargo ramps in the back of the ship and we all scrambled in. The lights of the ship activated with a hum and the ship's navigation came to life, after a tight squeeze to the cockpit we found a rather roomy ship: probably intended for five to ten people.

"Alright Namine get us out of here!" Sasuke said, which caused me to freeze in point. "What?"

Riku did show me what to do in case of an emergency, he showed me everything...except how to fly. My silence suddenly caught everyone's attention as Sasuke's jaw dropped, "Don't tell me you don't...oh perfect!"

"I'll fly the ship!" Naruto raised his hand eagerly, to which Sasuke cut in.

"You had never even heard of these things until now! Look if someone is going to fly is may as well be-"

"Me!" Donald suddenly cut in, hopping into the cockpit seat and began to interact with the controls.

"Look, little...thing," Sasuke struggled, "I know you want to be helpful and all but I don't think you can-"

Suddenly the ships engines roared to life and the ship began to hover off the ground, Donald gave Sasuke a rather smug expression and Naruto started to giggle at the dumbfounded ninja; who said through gritted teeth, "Shut it Dobe."

"Everyone strap in!" Donald yelled as he began to turn the ship around to the cargo door exit, I hurriedly sat myself into the seat and fastened the seat belt tight enough that was near vice like. The hangar bay doors opened with a loud mechanical roar – we could see the Heartless buzzing outside like a swarm of bees. I could feel a rush of something...fear perhaps...fearing that the moment these Heartless see these open doors they'll swarm in and surround us. My fears finally vanished when Donald yelled, "Blasting off!" The ship shooting out of the hangar bay and straight up into the sky, the Heartless were not fast enough to pursue us and quickly fell behind as we escaped Castle Oblivion and into the darkness of space. Naruto and Sasuke giving us a play by play of their feelings with the various sounds they made as the ship traveled out of the planet and into space.

"We're in the stars Sasuke! Look at this!" Naruto pointed at all the various stars outside the cockpit windows.

"It's...it's certainly something..." Sasuke admitted, his usual anger and sarcasm leaving him as he stared out to space in wonder.

As I stared at Naruto being wondrous at space I felt another rush of emotion...yes, I can finally say that, rush of emotion. It was a strange one...it made me a little sad, but joyful at the same time. Seeing this man who is...my brother...suddenly filled me with so much of this strange emotion that I felt like I was going to burst with it. I had been denying my existence for so long, now that I have no reason to deny it I felt this overwhelming happiness that I could finally feel for the first time. In a few minutes the wonder of space will vanish for Naruto, he will ask me for answers – the ones I promised him earlier. I will give them to him now, all of them. We will then wake Sora up and...I do not know what the rest will hold. I just want to hold onto this one moment, this moment where I am no longer a Nobody. My name is Namine...I have a brother...I have feelings...

I exist.

AN/Ok this is Kingofclubs8129 we just finished everything up for this chapter. We got a lot of views on the last one and we're really glad youre liking the story. If you guys could review it'd really help us out with furthering the story. Let us know what you think we're really looking forward to hearing from you. Im really psyched about the direction this story is taking and my co-author is really helping me out with this one so I feel its way better than any of the other fics im working on. Ill let aforementioned co-author talk now. Hey guys, Michael of Black Scepter here. This particular chapter was a bit harder to get out because there was a lot we had to cover in a single chapter. I think most of it came out very well, we had a vision for this chapter but had to compromise quite a bit to come out with something that made sense for the logic of the story. We're gonna be handling our first Disney world in a moment, we're excited for the themes that surround some of the worlds that we want to use for this story. Enjoy the future chapters to come and let us know how we are doing!