Guess who updated! Thank you my lovely readers for supporting my story thus far and being patient with my updates. I love you all so much for your wonderful support. As you can probably tell, this story is slowly coming to an end but that doesn't mean that the action is stopping. Okay, enough of me talking, let's get back to the story. Please enjoy and don't forget to review!

Athelas Chapter 7

"You must be joking."

Naruto's left eyebrow twitched at the loud voice that suddenly appeared in the room.

"Father, you must send more of our army out there." A familiar deep voice begged.

"She poisoned us all. I will not allow it."

Naruto slowly woke up to the sound of people arguing around him. As he began to open his eyes, he saw Neji and Hiashi arguing in front of the door of the throne room.

"Seems like you're finally awake." Naruto looked up to see Kakashi looking at him with a grim expression.

"What happe-" All of last night's events had soon hit him as he gasped and quickly looked around the room. Neji and his father had paused in their argument to look at him. Sasuke was still unconscious next to him.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered as he gripped onto his pants tightly.

The two soon heard Sasuke begin to stir as the Uchiha prince gasped as he bolted right up. "Sakura!" Sasuke's onyx eyes looked over to the gray wizard for answers.

"She left last night." Kakashi replied as the Hyuuga elves came up to them.

"She has betrayed my trust and poisoned us all." Hiashi frowned. "What lack of common sense to have gone out own her own with arrows she cannot even use."

"That means we have to go after her father!" Neji fought.

"Think outside of that love-filled head of yours and think as the future King of the Hyuuga Clan!" Hiashi glared at him. Neji's face burned red but stayed quiet.

"I remember her talking to me before she pricked me with something. It was right before Shenron came speeding towards us last night." Sasuke revealed.

"If you saw Shenron, you must have been the last person to see her before she left. What happened when she came to you?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke recalled their kiss as his ears turned bright red. "She just asked what I was up to when I was sitting next near the lake."

Hiashi took notice of Sasuke's heart beating fast as well as the jealously coming from his nephew as he scoffed. "Two elf princes are in love with her and she runs off to die? Ridiculous."

With that statement out in the open, the said princes blushed with embarrassment. That quickly went away when the doors of the throne room slammed opened.

"Father, that is enough!" Hanabi scolded her father as she entered the throne room with grace. "It was my fault. Before their team arrived, I had envisioned the team's demise and I had shared the vision with her. She took her own measures to make sure it does not come true."

"Why would you tell her such a thing?" Neji asked his younger cousin, frowning as he crossed his arms.

"I had believed that by telling her my vision, she would have thought more clearly and stay and get married to Neji." Hanabi pouted as she turned and looked at the Uchiha prince. She smirked when she saw Sasuke clench his fists.

"She took the arrows that Sasuke's family had created." Kakashi noted out loud. "She can't use them without him."

"And Shenron went with her." Naruto said troubled.

"She is suicidal." Hiashi shook his head. "She will die the moment she enters the cave."

Everyone soon jumped as Sasuke had punched his hand through the wooden wall. "Shut the fuck up."

All the Hyuuga's eyes widened. No one had ever talked to Hiashi in that tone before.

"Excuse me?" Hiashi asked as he walked up to the young Uchiha prince. Staring him down with his pearly eyes, he awaited for Sasuke to step down.

"You heard me." Sasuke said. "If you do not care to help Sakura, then we will go and rescue her. We did not need your help anyways."

"Why do you care so much for her? For a Hyuuga elf, we have no qualms about dwarves. However, your family thinks differently. Your family does not believe in the idea of elves and dwarves together."

"I do not care what my family thinks!" Sasuke said as he glared at Hiashi. "Sakura is a precious person to me and is part of my team."

"Sasuke…" Neji muttered as he looked down to the ground. With some resolve, the Hyuga heir finally turned to Sasuke.

Hiashi glared at the Uchiha prince as he opened his mouth to stop him but was cut off by the other prince in the room.

"Go ahead then Uchiha. Go after her and bring her back safely for me…please." Neji said trying to keep his dignity in tact. He ignored the incredulous look his uncle was giving him. "I'll handle the mess Sakura left here."

Sasuke stared at Neji with newfound respect as he nodded. "Ah."

"Hey bastard! Don't think you're going alone." Naruto said as he place his arm around the dark haired elf. "Let's get that crazy teammate of ours back."

Kakashi's eyes crinkled from smiling as he adjusted his hat. Raising his staff up in the air, a ball of light began to appear in thin air. "Let's head out."

-X-

Sakura ran behind the closest tree to her as she tried to keep her heavy breathing quiet as Shenron licked the large cut on her right bicep. Tilting her head back with her mouth towards the sky, she was able to become more silent as she heard a bunch of Orcs run past her.

The dwarf cursed her luck. She had been resting in the forest when she heard a pack of Orcs coming her way. She quickly tried to escape but was caught and had been fighting her way out of the forest.

Sakura quickly rolled away as half of the tree she was leaning on was broken in half. Looking back, she saw the leader of the Orc pack slowly come up to her with her axe.

"Shenron, run away and go back to Naruto." Sakura ordered as the little dragon shook his head and flew in front of her. Shenron growled as he bared his teeth at the danger coming towards them. The Orc began to sprint towards them as he backhanded Shenron to the side.

"SHENRON!" Sakura cried in shock as she ran to check on him. He was still breathing but was very weak. Clenching her fists, she turned to glare at the enemy. "Damn you!"

Sakura began to charge at him with her angry fists. However, the Orc was too fast as he dodged her attacks and slammed her back to the ground face forward with his elbow. Sakura's head bounced against the head as she coughed off blood. She gasped as she felt a large hand grab her throat and lifted her up in the air. With her legs kicking in the air, Sakura did her best to loosen his grip on her throat but she was failing. With her vision growing dark, the dwarf slowly began to give up. Maybe this was karma for leaving her team like that. Images of Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi appeared in her head as she closed her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry…" Sakura was able to say before she felt the Orc let her go as he cried out in pain.

Falling on her butt, she looked up to see an arrow had embedded through his hand. Quickly turning to the direction of where the arrow came from, Sakura couldn't help but cry tears of joy. Sasuke stood from on top of a boulder, his bow pointed towards them with another arrow ready to shoot.

"Touch her again Orc, and the next one will be a headshot." Sasuke threatened.

"S-Sasuke…" Sakura acknowledged.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted as he had sliced through the Orc in front of her with his daggers. He then moved to attack the others.

"Naruto…" Sakura called out.

"Sorry we're late!" Kakashi said from behind her as he conducted lightning from his staff and killed the rest of the group.

"You guys came…" Sakura said feeling guilty. "Even after everything…"

"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who leave their comrades behind are even worse than trash." Kakashi responded as he helped the injured dwarf up.

"But I…" Sakura couldn't help but look at Sasuke who was helping Naruto take care of Shenron.

"Shenron! Speak to me!" Naruto cried. "Don't go towards the light, especially if it's the sun, its really hot.

Sasuke slapped the blonde behind her head. "You're too dramatic. He is fine."

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle as he bent down and whispered in her ear. "Our little elf prince was really worried about you, you know. The whole team was."

Sakura couldn't help but cover her eyes with her forearm as she tried to hold back her sobs. "I'm really sorry Kakashi."

"We know." Naruto said as the other two finally came up to them. Sasuke ripped off a part of his cloak as he used it to wipe the blood from her mouth. Naruto soon flicked her forehead before smiling and bringing her close so that their foreheads met. "Don't go off on your own again Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded as she soon brought the two into a group hug as she buried her head between them. Naruto was surprised before he laughed and hugged her back even tighter. Sasuke turned his face to the side as he tried to keep his blush down.

"You really are a stubborn dwarf." Sasuke commented, bringing his hand up to rest on the back of her head.

"Thank you!" Sakura cried.

"That wasn't a compliment."

-X-

Naruto braced himself as the dragon's cave came into view. This was going to be the first time seeing a dragon besides Shenron. The little dragon was resting in his bag recovering from his injuries.

"Calm down Naruto." Kakashi whispered as Sasuke and Sakura were ahead of them, planning for the upcoming battle.

"I-I am calm." Naruto tried to sound confident.

"This dragon was the one your mother was in charge of when she was alive. The goddess had cast a spell on him and he attacked our village that fateful night." Kakashi explained. "I'm for certain that he is still under the influence of the enemy. It will be your duty to break that control. "

"But I-"

"I believe in you Naruto." Kakashi patted his head.

"Thanks Kakashi!" Naruto said as he felt his spirit lift up.

As the two got closer to the elf and the dwarf, they heard another argument between the two.

"I should be holding the arrows." Sasuke stated.

Sakura hugged the arrows closer to her chest. "It's my enemy to take down."

"And it's my rite of passage."

"Guys, we need to work together." Naruto said as he jumped in the middle and wrapped his arms around their necks.

"As long as I get the final blow." Sasuke and Sakura said in simultaneously. The two glared at each other as they got in each other's faces.

"Geez, these two need to get a room. I could just feel the tension from over here!" Kakashi called out as he walked ahead. The two ignored the wizard as they finally stepped back from each other.

"How about this dwarf! Who ever can get the most hits before she falls gets the final blow." Sasuke offered.

Sakura's eyes glowed with excitement as she stuck her hand out. "Agreed."

Right as she said that, a large roar echoed from the cave.

"Was that the dragon?" Naruto said as he noticeably gone pale.

"Be on your guard." Kakashi warned as he got his staff ready. Sakura handed the arrows to Sasuke. "Sasuke, you and Sakura will handle Kaguya. I will help Naruto tame the Kyuubi."

Everyone looked at each other and nodded. As the team entered the cave, the heat in the cave hit them in an instance. They finally reached the beginning of the rocky path. There was a deep hole down below. Everyone looked down to see the large red dragon laying down on one of the platform, lava surrounded him. Splashes of lava hit his skin but seemed to have no effect on him. Next to his head was a tall woman with long white hair. Her bunny like horns shined as she petted the large dragon in front of her.

"I have been expecting you, daughter of Kizashi."

"Kaguya..." Sakura snarled as she placed her hand on her axe. Naruto and Sasuke could feel the hatred oozing out of their pink-haired teammate.

"Sakura, calm down." Kakashi warned.

Kaguya finally turned around so that her lavender pupil-less eyes turned and met with Sakura's revengeful green ones. Suddenly in a blink of an eye, Kaguya was in front of the group as her hair moved to trap them and lift them up in the air. With a motherly smile, she flung them towards the platform.

"Let me introduce you to my dragon."

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The final battle has finally come! I know in the manga Kaguya doesn't talk but I decided to make her able to do so in this story. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please be patient for my next update. Thanks for reading!

-Love Kumiko