Chapter Nine

Takara's POV

"Hey, hey, Takara?" I fell Daichi lightly hitting my cheek, trying to get me to stay awake. "I know you're tired, but you can't fall asleep."

He's right. We're in the middle of a battle. My friends might need me.

"Right," I say through gritting teeth. "Help me up."

Daichi slips my arm around his shoulders and gently pulls me up. I cry out silently and Daichi freezes.

"No, no, I'm fine. I'm fine. Just a little sore," I tell him and he nods and keeps going. When I'm at my full height, Daichi hesitantly lets go.

My body still hurts, but not as bad now that the jutsus over. My muscles still feel like jelly, but that's way better than what I was feeling.

"Lets go," I say to Daichi and we head back to the fight.

Whenever we get back to the battle, the first thing I notice is Naruto and Sasuke arguing rather loudly from inside Haku's ice dome.

Wait, Naruto wasn't in their when I left. How did he- wait, please don't tell me he went in there voluntarily.

As I listen to Sasuke and Naruto's arguing, I come to my conclusion. Yep, that's exactly what he did.

"Takara!" I hear another familar voice cry out. I turn to see Ichirou and right next to him in Masaru-sensei. At that moment, I don't think I could have been happier. I take a step towards them, but someone steps infront of me. Etsuko.

I unintentionally back up behind Daichi. What are you doing!? I curse myself. A ninja should have no fear! But I can't help but feel scared by someone who nearly killed me by boiling my blood moments before.

"You again," I hear Zabuza growl. "You've escaped twice before, but you won't be as lucky this time."

Etsuko sits down again, preparing to use his kekkei genkai on me again. I fell myself begin to shake. I can't handle it another time.

He thrusts his palms out. "Hemmor-"

Before he could finish, Ichirou comes out of nowhere and kicks him over, interupting the jutsu.

I sigh in relief when nothing hits. Masaru-sensei appears besides me and places a hand on my shoulder. "You did well. I'm very proud. We'll take care of him now. Stay off to the side and recover."

I nod because right now I didn't want anything else. I couldn't really fight in the condition I was in now. I would just bring down my team.

I watch as Masaru-sensei squares off with Etsuko before turning to the ice dome. I hear Naruto and Sasuke scream out in pain as the senbon slice all over their bodies.

What is that jutsu?

"Where is he!?" Naruto yells, frusterated. A thin line of blood trickles down his cheek. "Where's the needle attack coming at us from? Are they clones?"

I look at all of the Haku's in the ice. He does an impressive job in distributing his chakra evenly. So much so that I can't actually tell where he is. But I do knwo that there is only one of him.

"Naruto!" I yell, catching his and Sasuke's attention from inside the dome. "There's only one of him! The ice must be reflective his image or something! They're no clones!"

Their eyes widen. "Takara! You're okay!?" Naruto cries, looking me over for any type of serious injury.

I grit my teeth. "Naruto! Pay attention! You guys are in danger now! I'm fine!"

"She's right, you idiot," Sasuke groans, getting to his feet. "Takara! You be our eyes on the outside!"

I nod and Naruto and Sasuke go back to the matter at hand.

"We've gotta find the real one," Naruto stands up too. "But which one is it?!"

"Look into every mirror as hard as you like. You will never learn the secret," Haku tells him.

Naruto grits his teeth. "Oh ya!? Shadow Clone Jutsu!" My eyes widen.

"No! Don't!" Sasuke yells, but it's too late.

About three dozen clones of Naruto jump up, one for each mirror. What the heck? When did he learn this jutsu?

But as fast as Naruto made them, they disappear in a poof of smoke. My eyes narrow. Haku. He's fast. At least three times faster than Etsuko.

"You guys need to get out of there!" I yell, realizing the danger they're actually in.

"You don't think we're trying!" Sasuke growls back.

"These mirrors only reflect my image, allowing me to transport myself with light speed. Through my eyes, you appear to be moving in slow motion," Haku tells them, almost taunting.

Kakashi-sensei gasp, causing my attention to turn to him. "I knew it!" He exclaims, "It's a bloodline trait, a kekkei genkai. Like with Etsuko earlier."

Zabuza chuckles.

"Kekkei genkai?" Sakura questions, "What is it?"

I resist the urge to facepalm. Really, Sakura? Zabuza just explained it not even ten minutes ago when he had that guy try to kill me.

"It's like my sharingan," Kakashi-sensei explains, "You can't learn it. If has to be in your blood; in your genetic code, passed down from generation to generation within a single clan."

"But that mean..." she trails off.

"Yes, even I can't copy that jutsu. There's no way to destroy it and no way to stop him."

I switch my gaze back to Naruto and Sasuke. They both clench their jaws and Naruto looks down. No, they can't give up. Come on you two! You can do it! You have to do it!

"I couldn't break through," Naruto says, catching Sasuke's attention. "So what!? He's not gonna stop me! I'm not giving up and I'm not going to lose here. Cuz I have a dream and no one's gonna take it away from me. Some day I'm going to be respected in my village. That's my dream! To be the greatest Hokage!"

I smile. That's the Naruto I know and love.

"Dreams..." Haku mutters. "It was not my desire to be a shinobi. It's painful. I don't want to kill you, but if you advance, I will have no choice. And I will kill the kindness in my own heart and fully embrace the shinobi way. And there will be no mercy, no turning back. This bridge will be the battlefield where our dreams collide. Now I must fight for my dream. Just as you fight for yours. Please, do not blame me. I fight for someone who is precious to me. I live for him and I face death for him, so that his dream may become reality. That is my dream. And for the sake of that dream, if I must, I will act as a shinobi and take your lives."

Naruto seems unfazed by his threat and grins and Sasuke smirks. I expected nothing less that a determined goof and a cocky Uchiha.

Let the battle begin.

"Sasuke, Naruto! Take this guy out! You can do it!" Sakura yells encouragingly.

"Don't, Sakura. Don't push them," Kakashi-sensei tells her.

"Huh?"

"Even if they somehow found a way to overcome the mirror jutsu, they still couldn't defeat this ninja."

Wow, way to have faith in your students.

"Uh, how can you be so sure?" Sakura asks.

Zabuza laughs as Kakashi-sensei answers. "They have the desire to win, but they don't have the instinct to kill. That boy's a whole 'nother breed. He lives for pain, he thrives on it."

"Exactly," Zabuza says, "Your village has become complacent. Your trainees never learn the most important lesson of all: to kill the feelings in their own hearts, to crush an opponet mercilessly, to destroy with no emotion or regret."

"Uh..but then," Sakura starts, "Sensei, what are we gonna do? Please tell us!"

Kakashi-sensei stands there, pondering on what to do. He seems to finally come to his decision and he raises his hand to lift up his Hidden Leaf headband.

He's gonna use his Sharingan, I realize, my eyes widening. He's going to fight Zabuza.

Zabuza laughs, "Sharingan? You're no fun Kakashi, using the same old trick."

Zabuza suddenly charges, much to Kakashi-sensei's surprise, and pulls out a kunai. He dodges it, but Sakura still cries out.

"If it's just an old trick, why did you just stop me"

"Let your opponant see your jutsu too many times and he'll find a way to use it against you," Zabuza laughs.

"Then count yourself lucky. You're the only man alive who's seen my Sharingan twice," Kakashi-sensei says. "Shows over. There won't be a third time."

"Even if you did defeat me, you'd have no chance against Haku."

I turn back to Haku. Is he inferring that Haku is even more powerful than him? If he is, and Kakashi-sensei is having a hard time beating Zabuza, then Naruto and Sasuke's battle is going to be way more intense.

"When I found him, he was just a street kid," Zabuza continues to explain, "But I trained him in the most advanced ninja techniques. I taught him everything I know. Plus, he had special abilities that he refined on his own. The boy developed quickly. Soon, he could face the most powerful enemy, outnumbered, in total darkness. It didn't matter. He could strike with perfect accuracy. He cared nothing for his own life or the lives of others. He'd become an unique fighting machine: a shinobi. In the end, his powers surpassed even mine. His bloodline trait, the kekkei genkai, cannot be defeated by anyone. I've created a tool that can destroy anything that stands in my way. Unlike the useless punks that follow you around."

I turn to Haku in sympathy. He's was lost, an orphan. Like Naruto. He was just picked up by the wrong personl. Zabuza raised him, become important to him. Now, Haku is doing all of this for Zabuza because he puts Zabuza in front of everyone else, even himself.

"I didn't get to him! Then I'll try it again! As many times as it takes!" Naruto shouts, making a handsign again. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Naruto! Don't!" Sasuke shouts again. And once again, all of his clones disappear within seconds.

Didn't Naruto learn his lesson from the last time he attacked? Haku isn't just getting lucky, he's beating them at everything.

"How is he doing that!?" Naruto yells.

"Takara! Anything!?" Sasuke shouts.

"No!" I yell back, grinding my teeth. I'm completely useless to them! We've already established there's only one Haku. And I'm guessing he's jumping from mirror to mirror in order to attack from everywhere. The problem is tracking him though. He's too fast! Think, Takara! Think!

I take a deep breathe and close my eyes, clearing my head of anything besides Haku's chakra. I remember my father's words.

"You have to relax and clear your head. Don't focus on anything but your objective. Think about finding them, seeing them, beating them. Our clan is very special. We're not only sensory ninjas, but we have something else that helps us fight: our eyes."

My eyes snap open and everything seems so clear... and new. I'm noticing everything now. All these new colors and details...all these new chakras.

A sharp pain pulses in my forehead. "Ahhhh!" I exclaim and back up, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them up, my new vision seems to be gone. Everything is back to normal again; plain.

I turn back to the ice dome and see Sasuke looking at me, his eyes wide and confused. He quickly turns back to Naruto.

"One more time!" Naruto says, standing back up. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Sasuke runs up to a puddle of water and kicks up some water into the air. My eyes widen when I realize what his plan is. What do you know? The Uchiha actually does have a good sized brain.

"Don't you see that it's useless?" Haku says before attacking. I grin. Sasuke's got him now.

They both fall to the ground after taking a heavy beating. Get up, I urge them, Get back to your feet.

I look back over to the others to see that most of them have their hands tied too. Sakura is still guarding Tazuna. Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza have finally started their battle. And Masaru-sensei, Ichirou, and Daichi are still fighting Etsuko. But I'm guessing their wrapping their battle up due to the amount of injuries Etsuko has. They've done a good job of keeping themselves out of his reach now that they know what his kekkei genkai can do.

I clench my jaw. I hate not doing anything! Everyone is doing their part but me! But I feel like I can't do anything right now without getting in anyone's way. Zabuza was right, I'm no where close to being a real ninja.

I look back towards the other, but don't see a thing. The mist. Zabuza made the mist thicker. Now I can barely see three feet ahead of me. The others, they're fighting blind. Wandering off into his mist would be suicide for some, but I actually have a chance since I'm a sensory ninja. If only I could track one of my teammates chakra signatures...but can I leave Naruto and Sasuke? What if they need me and I'm not here?

I turn back to the dome to see that Naruto and his shadow clones are at it again.

Sasuke preforms handsigns and says, "Fire Styles: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

Instead of hitting Haku with water, he's gonna do it with fire.

I watch as time after time again, Naruto gets pushed down and as Sasuke catches on to Haku's movements.

I stop short when I suddenly hear someone cry out in pain. It wasn't Sasuke or Naruto, it was Masaru-sensei.

I'm moving through the fog before I can even comprehend what's happened. I'm already focused on his chakra and am getting closer. All I can think is: not our sensei, not our sensei. Please let him be okay. Please.

I appear in front of Ichirou, my heartbeat echoing in my ears. Ichirou turns swiftly, kunai in his hand and a deadly expression across his face. But when he sees that it's me, he lets out a sigh or relief.

"Takara..."

"What's Daichi? Where's Masaru-sensei?" I ask.

He steps out of the way and I see Daichi kneeling next to our sensei. Daichi and Ichirou look fine. I see the panicked expression on Daichi's face directed to our sensei. I freeze when I see the shallow cut on our sensei's stomach. Even though the cut isn't life threatening, it's still dangerous.

"I'm so sorry!" Daichi says. He's shaking, "I got in the way again and- dangit! This is all my fault! Now that guy has your blood and he's going to do that same thing to you he did to Takara!"

Masaru-sensei laughs and places a hand on Daichi's head, ruffling his hair. "You're fine. I must say, I'm a little embarrassed about that scream that I let slip. He caught me by surprise."

"Sensei..." I begin, coming out from behind Ichirou. He eyes flicker to mine and his smile turns sheepish.

"Takara...hi.."

I grit my teeth and resist the urge to hit my sensei. "What did I tell you!? You knew what his kekkei genkai was! I wasn't expecting you to be this reckless!"

Ichirou and Daichi's eyes widen at me scolding our sensei and back up.

"Sorry," Masaru-sensei gives me a sweet smile and I roll my eyes.

"If that guy does have his blood, why hasn't he started?" Daichi asks.

Good question. I turn in a circle, searching for his chakra. When I find him, it turns out that he's down aways from us. About thirty yards or so.

I surpress a laugh and turn back to Team 4 with a goofy smile on my face.

"What?" Ichirou asks.

"The fog," I begin to explain, "It's not just affecting us, but him too. I'm guessing you guys beat him up enough, causing his chalra levels to be extremely low. That's why he can't sense our whereabouts now."

"So, he's just wandering around blind?" Masaru-sensei sums up.

This time, I'm not able to hold in my laugh. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Daichi falls back in relief at finding out that he didn't really end his sensei's life. "So lets go get him."

Ichirou nods. "Since he's chakra levels are so low, we should take him out now while we have the advantage." He motions to me.

"Right. Since I'm a sensory ninja, I'll lead us to him. Daichi and Ichirou will have to attack alone. I don't know what the time range is for his jutsu, but I don't want to go through that again. And Masaru-sensei is going to stay here. Got it?" I ask the three.

Ichirou and Daichi nod. Masaru-sensei laughs. "Who would've thought I would have been taking orders from my students on their first mission."

I smile. "Take care of yourself," I tell him before grabbing Daichi and Ichirou's hand and leading them through the log torwards Etsuko.

"Attack at the same time. It shouldn't be too hard to take him down. He's exhausted." I stop and point forward. "He's twently feet ahead."

They nod and disappear into the fog ahead of me. In a few moments, I heard a gasp and then a strangled cry followed by a few punches.

When I no longer detected the enemy's chakra, I walked up and found Daichi and Ichirou. They stood over Etsuko's body, a bloody kunai in both of their hands.

I looked down at the enemy ninja sadly and bent down to close his eyes. "I'm sorry," I tell him.

"What are you sorry for!? A hour ago, he almost killed you?" Ichirou asked.

I shrugged, "He didn't want to kill me. He was just following orders. Just like Zabuza is following orders. No one can kill people without a reason and no feel regret."

I take Daichi and Ichirou back to Masaru-sensei. Our sensei is now standing, but I tell him to sit back down as I apply bandanges over his wound. Even though it's not fatal, it still needs to be tended.

"So you guys did it, huh?" He asks the three on us.

I nod, "Ya. He's not a problem anymore." I stand up when I finish and our sensei pushes himself up too.

"It seems like Kakashi-sensei is still busy with Zabuza and Naruto and Sasuke are still caught up?" Masaru-sensei suspects and I freeze, feeling slightly guilty for forgeting about Naruto and Sasuke.

An ear-splitting scream is suddenly let out and we all know who it is immediately.

Our sensei turns to me "Takara, take us to Sakura."

I nod and quickly grab Daichi's hand as he grabs Ichirou's and Ichirou grabs our sensei. Sakura...please be okay.

When Sakura and Tazuna comes into view, I stop short and my eyes widen when I realize they're not alone.

"What? What is it?" Masaru-sensei asks urgently.

"Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei..." I say and run forward. The others follow. Sure enought, when we get in range we see Kakashi-sensei in front of Tazuna and Sakura.

He's protecting them. I see his hand holding his side. Zabuza cut him with his sword. Incredible. But Kakashi-sensei is using his Sharigan!

"Kakashi!" Our sensei yells, coming up to stand next to him.

"Masaru...get out of here," Kakashi-sensei says.

"So you four are here," Zabuza says in distaste, "I take it you defeated Etsuko. He was useless if he could be taken down by the likes of you four."

My eyes widen and I take a step forward. "How dare you! Etsuko was on your side! He faught for you!"

Zabuza laughed, "Ahh, look at this one. He was a tool, nothing more."

I grind my teeth and am about to take another step, but Masaru-sensei stops me. "Takara, take Ichirou, Daichi, Sakura, and Tazuna somewhere safe. Stay with them. Kakashi and I will take care of Zabuza."

I growl under my breath. As much as I want to pound Zabuza's face in, 1) my sensei gave me an order and I need to fulfill it, and 2) I doubt I could even lay a finger on Zabuza, so I lead them away.

"That's right. Run away..." Zabuza's taunting voice says as I disappear through the crowd.

I stop whenever we're a good sixty or so yards away from Zabuza and the others.

I turn to Ichirou. "Stay here. I'll be right back. I just have to go check on something."

I make a move to leave, but Ichirou grabs my wrist and narrows his eyes at me. "Masaru-sensei told you to stay with us."

"Sasuke and Naruto are in trouble. I need to help them."

Sakura gasps. Daichi steps forward. "Takara, you should listen to..." he begins, but I'm already twisting my way out of Ichirou's grip.

"Don't worry. I'll be back in a flash!" I yell as I disappear into the fog and make my way to the ice dome.

I focus on their chakras and increase my speed when I realize that they're both extremely weak. This can't be good. No, no, no. Hang in there guys. I'm coming.

I don't even bother to stop running when I see the familar ice dome show up in front of me. I run straight into the ice, placing my hands on two ice panels and look in in the crack between them.

My heart stops at what I see. Naruto is on the ground, dozens of needles lodged into his body. My heart skips a beat. No, no... he's ont dead...right?

I try to sense his chakra, but everything seems blurry. Really, my body chooses now to get tired? All of my fighting today has finally caught up with me. Just like Etsuko, my chakra levels are low, causing my judgement to cloud. Which alos meant that I couldn't sense chakra presence right now because my own was so low.

At this point I didn't even care that I was probably comitting suicide by entering the ice dome. All I couldd think about was the possibility on my best friend being dead.

I ran up to Naruto and dropped down beside him, pulling his head on to my lap.

"Takara...?" I heard a familar voice grunt. But it wasn't Naruto.

I look to find Sasuke in front of us. My eyes widen. I didn't notice him earlier, I was too busy thinking about Naruto. My eyes flicker to Haku, who has fallen infront of Sasuke. Is he dead? I look back to Sasuke to find him in even worse condition than Naruto.

"Sasuke...?" I whisper, tears automatically welling in my eyes.

Naruto stirs in my lap and opens his eyes. Sasuke switches his attention to Naruto.

"You always...g-get in the way, N-naruto," he grunts out, "It-t never fails."

"Ah! You beat him Sasuke!" Naruto exclaims, getting the wrong idea. He sits up straight.

"Naruto...no.." I whisper, biting my lip.

The smile falls off Naruto's face when he realizes what's happening and his eyes grow wide.

"Ugh, you should see the l-look on your face.." Sasuke turns.

My mouth turns up in a sad smile. Even now, Sasuke has to mock Naruto.

"You-you look like a total loser."

"Why...why did you...uh save me?" Naruto asks, his cerulean eyes wavering. "Why did you do it?"

"I-I don't know w-why. I just did."

I stare at him, at all the needles covering hiss body. Sasuke Uchiha...is dying. A week ago I would've thought he would rather kiss Naruto again than protect his own teammates. I never would've thought he would die this young. Whenever I thought of Sasuke Uchiha, sure, I thought of a cocky, arrogant, annoying, depressing, rude, snooty kid. But I also thought of the smart, talented, reasonable, strong, brave kunoichi. He's not suppose to die now. He's only tweleve. He still has all of his life to live and dreams to complete. But he won't be able to, because he's dying. And what did I do? I came in too late, like I always do. I think back to the week I've spent here. I thought of all the fights Naruto and Sasuke use to get in and all the fights they still do get in. I thought of all those times Sasuke had to outrun his fangirls on the way home so they wouldn't force themselves into his house. I thought of all the times he preformed at the academy, either enchanting the girls or annoying the guys. I thought of the fight we had to the hallway the second night we were here, which reminds me, he still hasn't accepted that apology.

I squueze my eyes shut, letting a few tears trail down my cheeks. "Sasuke I'm so sor-"

"Save it, Takara," He says not unkindly. He smirks at me from over his shoulder, "Heh, who would've guessed, you're actually crying over me."

I wanted to hit him so bad right now, but I laughed. I laughed because this was Sasuke. "Shut up, Uchiha."

He turns back to Naruto, a smirk still covering his face. "You...I always...hate y-you."

Naruto jumps up and clenches his fists. "Then why? It doesn't make any sense! Why did you...protect me? I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for you to save me!"

"I don't know. My body...just m-moved. There wa-was no time to...think... Loser..." Sasuke groans before falling backwards. I quickly move forward, catching him in my arm before he hit the ground.

"Sasuke!" I cry out, squeezing my eyes shut again. Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying, stop crying.

Naruto kneels down beside me. My tears flow down my cheeks and fall from my face and on to Sasuke.

"Takara...stop crying..."

"I don't take c-comands form Uchih-has," I say through clenched teeth.

Sasuke turns back to Naruto. "He's-he's still out there...My brother..."

My eyes widen at this. His brother? I thought Sasuke was the last Uchiha?

"I..promised myself...I'd...stay alive...until...I...killed him.." Sasuke groaned out. I found this surprising too, but I could care less about his brother. All I care about is saving the dark haired boy in my lap.

"Sasuke. Shhhhh. Just...s-shut up, okay? Y-you're not going to die. Kakashi-sensei and Masaru-sensei will be over here any minute now and they'll get you help."

"No..I'm d-dying Takara. I don't want t-to...but..but I am," he says in a voice that makes him sound strangely vunerable.

"Shut up! You don't get to d-decide that! You can't just make friends and leave like this! You st-"

"Takara," Naruto says sadly, placing a hand on my shoudler.

Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying, stop crying.

"If this is what h-happens to people who choose...the path of the n-ninja, then I...then I want nothing to do with it!"

"Don't be...an i-idiot," Sasuke says, coughing up blood.

This is it. He's really leaving. I suddenly feel like I need to get everything out. "I'm so sorry for what I said in the hallway that one night. I had no right to say that stuff! Especially when I barely knew you. You're nothing like that and I-"

"T-Takara...shut..up," he cracks a smile. "Don't...give up..o-on becoming...a n-ninja."

He looks over at Naruto and raises his hand. He's shaking. "Naruto...don't...don't let...your dream die."

And then just like that, his hand fell. It seemed to go in slow motion. I watched as it grew limp and then as it gave into gravity. My hand shot out and I grabbed his hand. It was cold.

"Sasuke" I mumer, tears clouding my vision. "Sasuke!" I say louder. And of course, I get no repsonse. I grit my teeth and shake my head. I wonder if this is what it's like for everyone? For Etsuko? Of course it is. They all have their own people who care about them. So more than others. And then those people just...die.

Sasuke may not have been my best friend, or even a friend. He may not have been on my team or he may not have been my crush or whatever, but he was a comrade. We grew up together, even if we hardly bumped into one another or got annoyed with each other. We were born in the same year and went through the academy and trained together for six years. And now he's gone.

Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying, stop crying.

I look up at Naruto, barely able to make out his face through the tears. He must be even worse that I am. Sasuke was on Naruto's team. Sasuke was Naruto comrade, rival, and friend.

"Naruto...?" I croak. His eyes were wide and he seemed to be staring at nothing in particular. He gave me no response. He didn't even blink.

"Naruto?" Nothing. His cerulean eyes just stared, traumatized.

"Naruto!? Say something!" I yell. Nothing. Out of the corner of my eye I see Haku stand up. Him. He did this.

"He found...he found a strength he didn't realize he had. Why? Because of a certain person who was precious to him. To save that person, he rushed in, knowing it was a trap. He was a true ninja. Worthy of honor. Is this the first time you've seen a friend die in battle? This is part of what it means to be a ninja," Haku says, going back into one of the mirrors.

"Shut up!" Naruto growls. I look up at him. His eyes are squeezed shut, his jaw clenched, and his fists tightened. He's shaking. "I...I hated you too Sasuke. And yet..."

I feel the hairs on my arms stand up as something in the atsmosphere changes. A circle of smoke seems to form around us. Something is...off. It's not right, something wrong. It's Naruto.

"...you'll pay for this."

I pull Sasuke closer, hugging him to my chest. The whole dome begins to fill with smoke.

"N-Naruto, what are you d-doing?" I ask, looking around, ready for anything. I get no response.

Suddenly, an whirl of inferno surrounds Naruto, blowing my hair back. That when I realize it isn't fire, it's...it's chakra. I may not have enough energy to sense chakra anymore, but I can definately tell, this is bad. I can't sense it, but I can feel it. This chakra...is out of this world. What could exsist that has this high of chakra levels. It's terrifying. And what's scaring me the most is who it's coming from: Naruto.

The inferno thins out and I finally see Naruto. I gasp at what I see. That's Naruto?

His features are sharper. The whisker-like marks on his cheeks are thicker down. His normally messy blonde hair is standing straight up, almost in spikes. His incisors have grown longer, almost making it appear as if he has fangs. And his eyes...His once beautiful cerulean eyes have turn to a blood red.

"I'm going to kill you!" He snarls out.

Naruto...I stare in shock, my mouth open and eyes wide, what's happened to you?

Ya! I finished another chapter and uploaded it. I liked this chapter a lot more than the last one. It was really action-packed and emotional though. And no, Takara doesn't love Sasuke. That wasn't why she was so upset. You have to remember she's just a naturally senstitive girl and cares about everyone. But anyways, you better love me. This is the second chapter today. You probaby won't be getting the next one until next weekend. Review, read, and favorite! Let me know how you feel!