Dimensions 2

Chapter 39: Arrival of the Unknown


Konohagakure Forest

"Kochou: HANAUTA TSUBASA NO JUTSU!" Sanomi spread her wings in a brisk second and started to fight Chikako as a spar partner. They had been going at it since morning in the forest and it was afternoon. Birds flew quickly to avoid turmoil if things start to happen, but Chikako tried to avoid it also. She blocked a punch from the samurai and; Sanomi just wanted to keep on going as much as possible. When Chikako could feel her hits, it felt like Sanomi was getting stronger everyday. But her wings started to fade away and Sanomi was sent on the ground.

"Argh!" Sanomi was on the ground panting.

"Daijoubu desu ka? Was I hard on you? Come on." Chikako teased with her tongue sticking out.

"Urusai! I'm still trying to master it!" Sanomi shouted back. The Spirit sighed and let Sanomi rest for a while.

"Mou...no need to get so wrapped up on something like this..." Chikako murmured. Just when she let her guard down, the Sanomi in front of her disappeared in a puff of smoke. The real one was behind Chikako and punched her in the back. The Spirit was punched toward a tree trunk and pain hit her back.

"You let your guard down...I still have my wings..." Chikako stared at Sanomi's back and it was true. On her back were small little wings; the only thing left from the big wings. She realized that this was a whole new level for Sanomi; she stared at her once the wings disappeared.

"Eh...nice..." Chikako made a thumbs-up weakly. Sanomi chuckled a bit.

"Arigatou..."


"Err...you woke me up too early. I didn't really eat anything..." Sanomi's stomach was growling for food. She hoped to eat very soon as they walked back to the village.

/Not my problem. You said, "Spar with me! Spar with me! And don't stop until the afternoon! With or without food!"/ Chikako replied. Sanomi sweat dropped.

/I should really think about what to say and when to say it.../

/Tell me about it.../ Chikako responded.

/I didn't ask for your insult!/ Sanomi argued.

/Hah. You heard it anyway...baka./ Sanomi made a vein on the side of her head.

Soon Sanomi went inside a small shack to get some food. She ordered a small order of dumplings and a cup of green tea with rice. As she was ordering, two people had came inside so silently that anyone barely notice them. Sanomi's eyes widened when she sensed an amount of chakra in the shack. She was a bit frightened and she started to shiver.

/This chakra...what is this.../ Sanomi thought to herself.

/Sanomi...this chakra.../

"Here you go miss. Miss?" The man who was working at the shack was a bit concerned. Sanomi finally went back to reality and made a small smile. She took the small bag and was still by the counter to count her change. She held a small thermos that the man gave her for her tea and inside the bag were her dumplings and the reciept.

"I put inside a free jelly rice ball for you. We're giving them for free of every purchase." The man smiled.

"Oh, sugoi! Arigatou."

As she turned around a man, very taller than her, blocked her way. Sanomi looked up to see only a hat but couldn't see a face. The hat had bells that jingled when she accidently bumped into him. Before Sanomi could finally realized who it was, she only bowed to the man, apologized, and went off. The man eyed his partner who was sitting in a small table, away from the other people coming in. His partner nodded his head and the man smirked evilly.


It was a few minutes after Sanomi finished her food by a nearby bench. She chewed the last morsel of the rice ball and stood up. She spotted Naruto walking with Jiraiya as if he was excited about something.

"Hoy! Naruto-kun!" Naruto blinked and grinned at the girl in front of her.

"Sanomi-chan, konichiwa." Naruto said loudly.

"What are you doing today?" She asked.

"Hehe. I'll be with the ero-sennin to go to another village." He responded.

"Oh...ano...Jiraiya-sama..." Sanomi bit her lip.

"Hai? You're name is Kariko Sanomi am I correct?" He asked. Sanomi nodded.

"Ah, you're the one that Kakashi spoke to me. Nice to meet you. What do you need? A copy of my research?" Sanomi's eyes widened with disgust.

"Uh...I don't think so..."

"Oh really? You should read them when you get a little older eh? Haha. Little children who read these books would always get in trouble with their parents."

/So I've heard.../ Sanomi thought.

"But please read an example of the book!" Jiraiya took out a few pieces of paper, which Sanomi believed was garbage in her mind.

"Oh come on! NO!" Sanomi backed away.

"You know you want to-"

"ERO-SENNIN, LEAVE HER ALONE AND ANSWER HER QUESTION!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Ah! Gomen, gomen. I get so wrapped up with women and books!" Jiraiya laughed loudly like the old man he was. Sanomi showed a faint color of red in her face, probably for embarassment.

"C-Can I come with you to the village?" She asked, "I'm bored..."

/What about training?/ Chikako asked.

/Later. I need a break!/ Sanomi replied.

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto pleaded, "Onegai, Jiraiya! Her skills are so cool!"

"Hehe...I don't think that..." Sanomi lacking confidence.

"Hoy! It's true!" Naruto retorted.

"Hmm...a bother to bring two genin. But I might need one more assistant. Are you willing to stay for the whole thing?" Sanomi made a big grin.

"Arigatou!" Sanomi bowed, "Demo...if something happens, I'll go back to Konohagakure. But overall, I'll be with you the whole way."

"AWESOME!" Naruto screamed with joy.

"All right...now would you like to see a copy-"

"NO!" The Genin screamed at him.


"Wah. The village looks so carefree."

The village they were in right now had a lot of markets, food, and random games to play. Naruto, Sanomi, and Jiraiya walked around to find a hotel to go into. Once they found one, Jiraiya told Sanomi to get some food, while Naruto stayed behind at the hotel room to train his chakra. Naruto argued about the food distribute, but as usual Jiraiya trusted Sanomi to go. After that, for some reason, he rushed off with a pretty girl, which made the Genin a little embarassed asthe owner stared with confusion.

"Stay in the room, okay, Naruto?"

"Hai! I'll be waiting!" Naruto smirked.

Sanomi walked out of the hotel and had money to buy the food. Lately, she had been doing D-rank missions to get the money, but Sakura usually lent her a few yen. She walked around and bought as much as possible to feed Naruto, herself, and of course, Jiraiya. As she was walking, she felt something bad in her mind. She didn't know why though, but she knew that she had to go back to the hotel. She put the food in her bag and ran, passing through a lot of people.

/Sanomi-I sense chakra. A huge amount./ Chikako replied. Sanomi knew she had to go faster. When no one was looking, she ran to a dark alleyway and jumped to reveal her Kochou wings. She flew swiftly through the alleyway with all her might and flew high in the air.

/Now where is the hotel.../ Sanomi quickly spotted the window of the hotel room that Naruto was in and gazed inside. She saw Naruto clones in one room, knowing that Naruto was working on the chakra. Sanomi sighed with relief.

/I thought something would happen.../ She thought in her mind. But then, she heard a loud knock on the door, and when Naruto opened it, thinking that it would be Sanomi or the sennin, both of the Genin had a shock on their faces.

/Uchiha...Itachi.../ Sanomi thought.

Inside the room, Naruto could only stare at his eyes-his red eyes. His long black cloak with red clouds, his purple nails and ring on his finger, and the Konoha headband scratched in a straight line in the middle. Behind him was his Akatsuki partner, Hoshigaki Kisame. One of the seven swordsmen, he also had the Akatsuki attire. But he had a look that was a fish and gills on his face. A Mizugakure headband was on his forehead and also scratched in the middle.

/Damn...right now?/ Sanomi thought with anger. Naruto stepped out of the room while Sanomi knocked hard on the window. The window was not budging, nor making noise that anyone could barely hear. But the Akatsuki might of heard it; they just didn't want any distractions.

"I got no choice..."

/Sanomi, no!/ Sanomi took out a kunai from her holster and stabbed the window with all her might. Small cracks were visible and Sanomi had to do it one more time to fully crack it. She revealed her sword and slashed the window into bits.

CRASH

Shatters of glass from the window were on the ground and with the door open, the Akatsuki finally paid attention to the sudden crash. Sanomi swiftly went inside, placed her bag in the bed, and went in front of Naruto, defensive with her sword.

"S-Sanomi..."

"Daijoubu desu ka? Naruto?" Sanomi whispered as she gulped frightened. The Akatsuki were right in front of her and the Kyuubi container. That was what the Akatsuki needed at the moment. But the Leader gave them direct orders and find one more target...

"So...you're the Kochou Samurai, ne?" Kisame chuckled. Sanomi bit her lip and she forgot to hide her wings. They were still visible and Naruto was surprised seeing her like this. Sanomi was silent as Kisame went closer and closer to them.

"I would like to fight a little sword girl myself..." Kisame revealed his large sword that could eat chakra away and make it stronger. Sanomi made her wings disappear and backed step by step; Naruto doing the same thing.

"If you want Naruto, forget it." Sanomi said out loud to them.

"The leader told us to get the Kochou,too." Kisame smirked as sharp teeth were visible to see.

"The Kochou chakra was seen a week ago. Leader asked us to confiscate it." Itachi murmured under the cloak.

/Sanomi...don't fight./ Chikako warned her.

/They...they were the guys from the shack. How could I have been so stupid?/ Sanomi confused in thought.

/It couldn't be helped. Pay attention./ Kisame lifted his sword high in the air and when Sanomi was ready to block a sudden voice stopped him.

"It's been a while..." Kisame looked behind and saw a young boy that looked exactly like his partner; except a small version.

"Sasuke..." Itachi said out loud.

/No...not now.../ Sanomi thought. Sanomi could only watch Sasuke standing there at the end of the hallway-sharingan eyes glaring so closely to the one he wanted to kill.

"He has the same eyes as you Itachi-san. Who is he?" Kisame asked curiously.

"My little brother." He said in a monotone voice.

"I'm going to kill you now. Naruto, Sanomi, out of the way!" Sasuke pounded the Chidori he formed in his hand by the wall and he started to charge right at his brother.

"Naruto!" Sanomi grabbed Naruto ducked out of the way, only to hear a huge explosion from the wall.

As the smoke cleared away everyone could see that Itachi grabbed Sasuke's wrist during the attack. The Chidori from Sasuke's hand faded away into a crackle of electricity. As time went by,Sasuke's wrist was gripped tightly by the hands of his brother. Sanomi and Naruto wanted to move,but they couldn't. The fear of what would happen would be terrifying and regretful. It was too late.

Sasuke screamed by the broken wrist Itachi snapped and he was sent to the ground. This only made Sanomi shake with fear and pain. Seeing him like this killed her heart, knowing that he only did this for revenge. She just wanted to jump and get the Akatsuki, battle with her heart's content.

"Sasuke-"

"Naruto, don't." Sanomi blocked Naruto a few feet away from going near him. The Akatsuki started to make another move and sooner or later Jiraiya arrived at a late notice. The girl was just a distraction to keep him and Naruto apart so that the Akatsuki could get Naruto themselves when he was alone-so Jiraiya exclaimed. Jiraiya never knew that there would be another target.

"Kisame, battle the girl..." Itachi muttered. Everyone was in shock right now, although Sanomi wasn't too surprised when she still held the sword in her hands.

"You're not touching her-" Jiraiya commented.

"We are anyway."

"Otherwise I'll fight you-"

"No..." Everyone stared as Uchiha Sasuke got up from the ground. He wobbled a bit as his hands from moved side to side as if they were made of rubber. Sanomi bit her lip as she wanted to comfort him, but Jiraiya gripped her left arm shaking his head to stop her from coming closer. Sanomi could only stare at the sennin with plead but what was there to do?

Hit after hit, Sasuke was sent back to the end of the hallway and blood burst out of his mouth every time he hit the wall. Naruto wanted to stop the fight, but Sasuke screamed a no. It was his fight and he wanted to get it over with. As much as he looked at Sanomi, trying to struggle with Jiraiya's hand, Sasuke wanted to do his best to defeat him before his brother has his hands on her. He stayed on the ground, trying to move his wounded wrist around to make hand signs but to no avail. Sasuke was in grave pain, but he wanted more from his brother.

"So be it..."

As Jiraiya started to pay attention to the brothers instead of Sanomi now was her chance. She got out of his grip and wanted to run up to Sasuke.

"SANOMI, NO!" Naruto shouted.

Sanomi closed her eyes, holding her sword tightly in her hands. She attempted to block Kisame's blows with his sword, trying to get passed him to be near Sasuke. Sanomi made her hand signs and did the Kochou Element jutsu. Kisame smirked as if he was being entertained. When the swords hit each other, the chakra from the Kochou sword was drained from his Samehada and the Kochou sword became weak. Sanomi could only gasp with disbelief and with a swift second, Kisame punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"Pathetic girl..." Kisame muttered.

Sasuke struggled to stand up to get to her, but as usual his brother was right in front of him-glaring at him with dark crimson eyes of the Sharingan.

"GET ME THEN!"

Sanomi laid her hand on the ground, supporting herself to get up. But without noticing, Kisame used his sword to hit her in the back-luckily it was the flat side of the sword. Sanomi screeched in tremendous pain. Jiraiya wanted to get her but Kisame threathened him by using the sharp point of the sword to her. Sanomi panted slightly as Kisame hit her one more time. He gripped her neck into a headlock and his large sword was in front of her neck.

"Where's that Kochou power girl? Show it!" When Kisame wanted to slash her to bits, a shield block him from preventing to hit. Kisame stared at the crystal shield covering the Kochou Samurai's body.

/I can hold on...you can too, Sanomi./ Chikako's chakra covered Sanomi's body to make the shield.

/The power is strong.../ Kisame thought. He pounded on the shield to shatter it, but nothing was happening.

Meanwhile, inside the shield, Sanomi opened her eyes a little bit to see the continuous beatings of Sasuke. She cried softly as it kept on going. Sasuke, while he took the beating, had confused thoughts in his mind. He couldn't focus at all when nothing changed about his strength. As Itachi gripped his brother's neck and slammed him to the wall, he spotted the silver chain hanging from his little brother's neck; Sanomi's necklace. Itachi leaned forward to whisper in Sasuke's ear.

"Why are you weak?" The only response was a small cough from the young boy.

"Why are you so weak? Because you lack... hatred." Itachi lifted his hand to feel the cold pendant of the necklace.

"This...is making you more weaker..." Itachi gripped the silver chain from Sasuke's neck and with one pull, the chain broke. Sasuke groaned as the chain was being held in his brother's hand. He saw the silver butterfly pendant move back and forth like a metronome. Itachi let go of the necklace and Sasuke watched as the necklace fell slowly down to the hotel floor.

"You don't need this anymore." Sasuke struggled weakly to stop him but it was too late.

CRACK

Itachi had stepped on the necklace. Hearing that was like a heart breaking between the two of them. The butterfly pendant and the actual necklace itself, broke into little pieces. Sanomi stared with depression, tears coming out of her eyes. She cried sadly when she couldn't move around. That necklace meant so much to her, making it just for him. Now that it was broken, she was out of words to say.

/D-Damn you.../ Sasuke stared at the necklace; broken and shattered down. He didn't pay attention to his brother's speech of his weakness, just the necklace. The only thing he last saw were the eyes of Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan.

/Kuso...this girl is hard to get.../ Kisame thought as the shield continued to cover the body. His attention was now drawn to the screams of Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi tormenting him with past memories and kills.

When Naruto stared with hateful eyes, he had no choice but to charge at him. Jiraiya was alert with the certain action and did a jutsu to stop the fight. The hotel hallway started to form into a frog's stomach and the Akatsuki had to escape. If they were trapped here it would be a bother to get out. Itachi pushed his brother through the sticky walls and went off in a flash. Kisame followed behind him, leaving Sanomi down on the ground. As the Akatsuki left, Chikako stopped her shield and Sanomi was safe, out of the clutches of the Akatsuki.

/Daijoubu desu ka?/ Chikako asked softly.

/H-Hai.../ Sanomi responded softly herself. She looked at the shattered necklace, making Sanomi blue in her heart.

/He wore it...even though in his mind he didn't want to wear it at all...he wore it. For me./ Sanomi made a small tear fall.

/Arigatou...Sasuke.../


"Sanomi, you okay? You should be treated."

Sanomi walked slowly to where Sasuke fell down from the wall. She couldn't help but see an opened exit with black flames bursting out. This was the making of the Tsukuyomi, Itachi's speciality of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Sanomi tried hard not to look at Sasuke, but she kneeled down on her knees and inspected the broken wrist.

"I'm fine." Sanomi reassured the blonde-haired shinobi.

/Chikako...can a Kochou Spirit heal other people?/ Sanomi asked in her thoughts.

/Yes...but in order to do that, my chakra needs to pass through your body and you heal him. Not me./ Chikako replied. Sanomi took a deep breath.

/Please...Chikako./

Chikako closed her eyes and chakra started to flow through Sanomi's body. Chakra moved to her legs, her arms, her whole body. She mostly focused the chakra on the hands and gripped Sasuke's wrist gently. Sanomi started to heal him carefully. The Kochou Spirit's chakra and regular Kochou chakra mixed together in a few minutes and soon, she felt his wrist. It felt right as she took out bandages from the pocket.

"Sugoi, Sanomi-chan." Naruto whispered. Sanomi could only nod and wrap the wrist with bandages. Jiraiya could only stare at her.

/She's good with healing abilities.../ But when he wasn't paying attention-

"DYNAMIC KICK!" A green-suited sensei kicked Jiraiya in the face. The Genin were shocked at what had just happened.

When the chakra went back to Chikako's body, Sanomi grew very weak. She didn't know why as she started to fall on her back unconscious...