Guardian
A/N: Hey everyone I'm back. Okay first I want to thank my beta reader TwilightRaven. And also to my readers sorry for the long wait but here it is, the newest chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
By: CherryFlower05
Summary: The battle to find the nine demons have begun but they may need some help and Sakura is the person they need.
A/N: This is an A/U fic. Just thought I should mention that so, REVIEW!
Key:
Kushina talking to Sakura
Chapter 8
Sakura looked out her window and removed her bangs away from her face. She got up, picking up her small pack from her bed and walked out of her room.
She saw her two teammates waiting for her as she walked out and she nodded at them as her greeting. They were all very serious today even Naruto. He wanted to help save his family and he was willing to do anything to do so.
"Team Seven." Tsunade said as she watched them get ready to leave, "I want to add a last minute member to your team."
"Are you sure about that?" Sakura asked.
"Hai, here is your added teammate, Hinata." Tsuande said.
The black haired teen came forward with a serious expression in her lavender eyes.
"A Byakugan user?" Sakura asked
"Hai," Hinata replied.
"Well off you four go." Tsunade said, "Hinata has already been informed of the mission and accepts the risks she's taking and…just come back all of you."
"Hai!" they all said and well Sasuke just grunted.
"So Hinata-chan you seem very quiet." Naruto said, "You're usually a bit talkative."
"I'm sorry Naruto I'm just trying to understand our mission." Hinata said.
"Well I can explain it to you a bit more as we move on." Sakura said.
They continued to talk as they walked towards Guardian Shire. Sakura explained the reason for the Shire over again and said that it is believed that the souls of the guardians who have passed on are held inside of their charms. She also explained that they will have to go through seven gates and once they enter there is no turning back. The first gate was fire then water followed by wind and earth. After that were lightning, light and darkness. Each gate will test them and their will power to make it to the shire and if they are worthy of even being able to set foot in the shire.
The pathway to the shire was certainly dark and strange. The mysterious forest was known as 'The Forest of Death.' They had to be careful because there were strange animals living within it and Naruto found out the hard what happens when you wake up a giant snake.
"Dope," Sasuke said as he watched his best friend try to kill off the snake. Hinata had a worry look on her face and Sakura just looked at him as if he was mad. I mean was it really smart to go and wake up a snake that would mostly eat him for doing that.
"Sasuke, shouldn't we help him?" Sakura asked looking at the said boy.
"Hn," Sasuke said as he gripped his katana's handle and moved in a blink of an eye. Sakura looked in time to see the snake was hacked in half and Naruto was grumbling that Sasuke was being a show off.
"Damn it teme I had it under control." Naruto said.
"Really loser?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes…and you're not listening to me are you?" Naruto asked.
"Hn," he replied and walked back to where the girls were.
"Naruto are you okay?" Sakura asked.
Naruto's face lit up on hearing Sakura and then said, "Yeah perfectly fine; takes more than a snake to take me down!"
Hinata looked at Naruto and blushed lightly, "I'm glad you're okay Naruto-kun."
"Thanks Hinata-chan." Naruto replied.
Sakura watched Hinata blush while she talked to Naruto. All her seriousness was gone and now she had turned into a timid girl that Sakura couldn't believe existed inside of her. She couldn't understand why she was blushing but she wanted to know. She walked over to Sasuke and said, "Why is Hinata-san blushing?"
"Hn?" Sasuke said looking at Sakura. Her jade eyes looked at him and her head was tilted to the side. It took a while for Sasuke to realize that he was staring at her. He grunted once more and then answered her, "She loves him."
"What? How?" Sakura asked.
"Come on guys let's get moving!" Naruto shouted.
"It was your fault we had to wait in the first place dope!" Sasuke shouted.
They continued until they reached a small hill. They could clearly see the shire sitting on top.
"It doesn't look that far!" Naruto said.
"Just wait till we go through the first gate." Sakura said. She turned to face everyone and asked for the final time after all there was no turning back once the when through those gates, "Do all of you want to continue?"
"Hey I'm sure Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, "I have to help save my family!"
"I have to stay to make sure the dope doesn't mess up." Sasuke said.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said agreeing with Sasuke until it hit him, "TEME SINCE WHEN DO I MESS UP?!"
"Always," Sasuke replied.
"I want to help Naruto-kun." Hinata said, "He deserves to have his real family."
No one had listened to Hinata besides Sakura and then she smiled, "Okay let's do this!" she shouted.
She pushed open the gate and immediately they saw that they were surrounded by water. The only land was the thin piece they were on which looked like it was ready to crack and join the rest of its friends at the bottom of this water source.
"First element water release," Sakura said, "
As usual her appearance changed and she walked as close as she could without falling to the water.
"Are you going to freeze it?" Hinata asked.
"Yes but I have to find out where the beasts sleep." Sakura said.
"I understand." Hinata said, "Byakugan."
She scanned the area and then said, "At the centre."
"Perfect." Sakura replied.
"I can help you." Hinata said.
"How?" Sakura asked.
"My teacher was a guardian keeper, she gave me my element." Hinata said.
"Water I will guess." Sakura said.
"Hai," Hinata replied.
They both went to the water bent down and touched it and suddenly surrounding the water was a circular bridge made of ice. Sakura then turned to everyone and said that they had to go in two groups and be quiet. Naruto of course doesn't understand what it means to be silent.
"OKAY I WANT TO BE WITH HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted.
And then it happened.
'You dope you woke up one the creatures!" Sasuke shouted.
It did surface; its blue eyes looking at Naruto. It appeared innocent but no one talked.
"Hello." She said. Her voice was musical to the boys however to the girls it hurt their ears. It was hoarse and painful to listen to. It kept on talking and continued to rise from the waters.
Sakura had to admit they were beautiful. They had pale soft skin and each had unique colored eyes. Their hair matched their eyes and flowed behind them. They were beautiful but as soon as they spoke it turned the girls off however not the boys.
She was calling them, asking them to come and join them into the waters.
Into their deaths!
Sakura caught herself when Kushina spoke to her. She saw what she was talking about. Both Sasuke and Naruto's eyes showed no life in and were walking into the water, towards the creature.
They take the form of a mermaid. Men are easily taken in by a pretty face.
Kushina said nothing more after that. Sakura knew it was hard for her to talk to her in her state and she was graceful for her help and anything she could share. Hinata's scream made her mind return to the world and she saw Hinata being pulled into the water.
The water was taking the form of a hand and had grabbed Hinata by the leg and was now pulling her down to her death. Hinata tried to freeze the water but it was harder than she thought. Sakura realized that she was being pulled down herself and tried to free her herself.
There was nothing they could do. Only if Naruto had kept it mouth shut. Hinata was already in the water up to her neck. Soon she would be drowned.
"Well if water can't work how about wind?" Sakura asked herself. She summoned her fan and aimed at the hand form of the water where her leg wasn't. Wind blades flew out from the fan and successfully cut the through the water. She fell to the ground and she looked around for Hinata. She was no where to be seen.
"Hinata!" she shouted.
She was so busy looking for Hinata then she didn't when a newly formed hand came and held her in its capture. She was pulled underwater. The water was choking her, locking off her air supply. She saw although she wasn't sure at the moment it she was dreaming it or really seeing it, another one of the creatures called a mermaid or better yet take a form of a mermaid down below. But yet something about her was different from the others, she seemed pure. She saw something before her eyes became heavy, something that looked like humans trapped inside ice.
Sakura felt darkness grabbing her. Something was building up in her; something with a want to be free. She felt it and then without her knowing, her want to be free got stronger.
"Third element wind release," Sakura shouted. Her water prison was destroyed and she jumped towards the surface, towards air. The moment she landed on the water, the spot froze into ice. She was breathing heavily and when she looked up she saw Naruto and Sasuke. They were right in front of one of the creatures. She growled, it was looking like it was about to have a meal.
She formed water needles and threw it at the creature. She moved her mouth from where she was going to sink into the boys and glared at Sakura. They all turned towards her. The water came to life again. It latched out at Sakura trying to bring her down to her own watery grave however Sakura wasn't in the mood to die. She had just lost one new friend to this water and she certainly wasn't going to lose Naruto and Sasuke. She threw a gust of wind at the boys knocking them out of the water. She moved so that she was in front of them and stopped any of the water from pulling them back to the creature.
It was then Sakura saw something, the creatures, they were aging.
They became nothing but skin and bones; their skin went from its beautiful pale white to a mucky brown. They all looked at each other and horror was written in their eyes. In their weak state, she summoned her fan once more. This was the first time she saw how beautiful it was. Its structure was pure silver and had curved lines cut into it. The cloth inside was pure white with a mixture of pink in it. She smiled and then looked at the creatures.
She created her wind blades and it was then Sakura noticed how large they had gotten. They sliced through the creatures turning them to dust. From their bodies, white lights broke free.
"Human souls," Sakura said before she gave into the darkness once again.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. In the water were several bodies and in the center was Sakura.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto shouted.
His loud outburst caught his once sleeping friend. Sasuke returned to the waking world. Even he couldn't contain his surprise on seeing the bodies. He took up and Naruto asked.
"Teme do you remember anything?"
"No," Sasuke replied.
He walked out into the water and checked if the first people had a pulse and he did.
"Sasuke-san, Naruto-kun please help me bring them to the shore." Hinata said as she surfaced from the water.
"H-Hinata-c-chan??" Naruto asked.
"I'll explain later," The Hyuuga girl replied as she dashed back underwater her white tail the last thing seen.
Sasuke was the one to pick up Sakura. Both he and Naruto rested the bodies on the ice floor Hinata had created. Hinata explained that the boys had fallen enchanted by the beasts that lived here. She told them that they took on the form of a mermaid and would lead men into the water and then steal their souls to insure their youth. She realized that when she saw the bodies trapped in the ice when she was pulled down. Hinata also told them that with two of the elements some people-who are powerful enough- gain a transformation. One of the elements was water where the user can gain the ability to breathe under water. For Hinata she also gained a tail, a beautiful white one that helped her swim. She was able to free the men and the more she freed, the less 'youthful' the creatures would look.
"So we were about to hand over our souls to some creature?" Naruto asked.
"Hai," Hinata replied.
"How did you know that freeing the men would well make them less 'youthful'?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto looked at his best friend and Sasuke growled at Naruto, "What?"
"That was the most I have ever heard you talk." Naruto remarked.
"Having the water nature is common in the Hyuuga family." Hinata explained, "We had our fair share of stories with these creatures although none from our generation have faced them until now."
"Hn," Sasuke replied.
Sakura moaned as she started to wake up. Naruto raced over to her and was looking at her waiting to see her jade orbs.
"Naruto?" Sakura asked when she opened her eyes. Her vision was still hazy.
"Yeah, you okay?" Naruto asked.
"I think so." Sakura replied. She moved to get up felt her head spin. She fell and made contact with something rock hard and it wasn't the ground. She looked up and saw Sasuke.
"Hi." She said.
"Hn," Sasuke said.
She tried to shake of her dizziness and her face lit up when she saw Hinata.
"Hinata!" she shouted, "You're okay!"
"Hai, demo what are we going to do with these people?" Hinata asked. Sakura looked shocked at the several men she saw. Hinata explained what had happened and then she understood.
Once you leave here. All the people trapped should be able to leave as well.
"Kushina-sama says once we make it to Guardian Shire and leave, everyone will be able to go!" Sakura told them.
"That's good." Hinata said with a smile.
"We should get moving." Sakura said looking ahead.
"Fire gate right?" Sasuke asked.
"Hai, that's the next gate." Sakura said.
"Well what are we waiting for?!" Naruto shouted.
"Dope it was your fault we got into this mess in the first place!" Sasuke shouted.
"Hey don't call me a dope teme!" Naruto shouted.
"Dope,"
"Teme,"
"Dope,"
"Teme,"
Sakura covered her ears and shook her head, "Boys will be boys I guess." She told Hinata and they both laugh.
A/N: Finally the hated writer's block is gone! I wrote out the chapter. Review!
CherryFlower05
