A/N: I do not own Final Fantasy or Naruto.

BOBOBOBO – So it's been a while….I have forgotten what we were talking about….XD haha

Dragon Naruto – Keep waiting just little while longer. I plan on updating that next (probably after another chapter or two of this story now that the Hobbit is coming out)

Ropeittight06 – Thanks for the review! I hope this chapter isn't a disappointment!

Chapter 12

The sound of rumbling thunder could be heard as they began to reach the exit of the tunnel. When they reached the plains, the ground was grey, the sky and clouds were grey, and the atmosphere was dark and cold. In the distance, the group saw several tall malformed pillars, each lit up after being hit by a bolt of lightning.

"Oh, no, we're here," Rikku whimpered. Her hands and arms were curled up to her chest, her eyes wide and frantic. A bolt of lightning struck the air, followed by a loud clap of thunder.

"Woah!" Naruto cried. Rikku jerked back, giving a loud cry. The lightning bolt had hit one of the pillars.

"How are we supposed to cross that?" Tidus asked.

Lulu pointed to the towers. "See the lightning rod towers? The lightning is drawn to them...hopefully." Had it not been for Lulu's last word, Tidus would have felt confident crossing the plains.

"Hopefully?" Sakura echoed.

Wakka pointed up ahead. "We head north, not too near and not too far from the towers, ya?"

"Meaning we should avoid wide, open areas," Gai said as he put his hands on his hips.

Another bolt of lightning struck, and thunder roared again. Rikku cowered and shrieked. "I think I forgot something in Guadosalam," she said meekly.

"What a drag," Shikamaru groaned, "I don't suppose we'd have to wait for you…"

Auron knew fully well what was wrong with the poor Al Bhed girl. "Nice knowing you," he said nonchalant.

Rikku shot the older guardian a look. "Okay, okay! I'll go!"

Naruto eyed the lightning bolts that struck in the distance. "Well no way am I crossing this thing!" he stated.

"Think of it as more training, Naruto," Kakashi told him, "A step up from those kunai and shuriken." Naruto and Sakura gave the Copy Nin a dry look.

The group slowly began the short, dangerous, traverse across the treacherous Thunder Plains. It wasn't long until Naruto and Lee were challenging each other to see who could dodge the most thunderbolts, with Gai pressing his eternal rival to do the same. As they started walked past a lightning tower, Sakura noticed a woman dressed in green standing.

"Hey, Shelinda!" Sakura called out.

The woman turned around, and upon seeing the group, her eyes brightened. "Ah, good day!" she greeted them, while doing the prayer gesture.

Tidus raised his hand. "Hi there."

Shelinda turned to Sakura. "Is it true? I heard that Maester Seymour and Lady Yuna are to be wed!" she asked, excitement in her voice, "It's such great news! I have to tell everyone!"

Tidus scratched his head, "Where'd you hear that?"

"From the Guado. They were all very excited!"

Tidus gave a small grunt. "I'm afraid you heard a little wrong. Yuna's gonna turn him down," he said confidently.

The happiness from the Yevon Priestess disappeared. "Oh... Really?" She thought for a moment. "I see...that's unfortunate," sighed, "Well I'm sure that people would have rejoiced all over Spira."

She walked away as the group continued along the plains, eventually arriving under one tower. A blinding flash of white light filled the air as two lightning bolts hit the same tower. Rikku shrieked, ducking and covering her head with her hands. Sakura jumped in surprise, and in reflex, latched onto the closest thing next to her, which was Kakashi.

"Now, now, Sakura, a well-trained kounoichi like you should be more than capable of defending yourself against a little lightning, hmmm?" Kakashi teased. The pink-haired medic, realizing who she was hanging onto, immedietly let go. A faint blush was on her cheeks.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, I'll be there to protect you!" Lee cried, a glare fixated at Kakashi.

"Whoa! That was a close one!" Wakka laughed.

Lulu glared at him. "Stop kidding around," she told him sternly.

"Yes, ma'am..."

"Those lightning bolts are about as bad as your lightning blade, eh Kakashi?" Gai said, but the Copy nin made no response, nor acknowledge him.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Gai glowered, and started his rant about his eternal rival's cool hip ways.

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..." Wakka looked over at Rikku who had made the sound. "Hmm? What's wrong?" She had her hands to her chest; her shoulders slumped and curled over. She looked ready for another duck and cover.

"Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh..." she said slowly.

Tidus put a hand on his hip. "Heh heh heh...you're givin' me the creeps!" he said as he glared at the Al Bhed girl. Lightning struck the tower and Rikku gave another shriek as she fell to her knees, covering her ears. She was still for a moment, gasping for breath. Suddenly and frantically, she made a beeline crawl over to Tidus and hugged his leg. Tidus gave a cry of protest, and attempted to shake her off.

"I wanna go home!" she cried, "I hate lightning! I hate thunder! Let's go rest over there!" She turned her gaze to a nearby lodge. It was small, but it proved useful. "Please?"

"This storm never stops. Better to cross quickly," Auron said in a stern tone.

"Wow, this plain never stops raining? Weird," Naruto mused out loud.

Rikku shook her head, and gave the stoic guardian her best puppy-dog look. "I know, but…just for a little while?"

Auron sighed as they all walked towards the lodge. "I'm guessing you want to stop as well," the older guardian asked Kakashi and Gai.

"We go by your orders. If you wish to continue, then we press on," Kakashi explained as Gai nodded in agreement.

"We're used to long journey's, rain, sunshine, snow, even really hot weather. We wouldn't be very good shinobi if we couldn't handle a little rain," Tenten added.

Auron grunted. "I see."

They stopped in front of the doors, but didn't go in. Auron motioned for the group to continue and all but Rikku and Tidus began walking onwards. They stopped as Rikku began speaking.

"Pretty please? Just a few minutes?"

They ignored her and continued walking, pausing once again as they heard her speak again.

"I'm scared of lightning! Let's rest, please? Pretty please?" She was getting desperate.

They kept walked.

"I'm too young to die!"

Their backs kept getting smaller and smaller.

"You're mean...cruel! Your moms would be ashamed of you!"

She heard a couple of snickers and stomped her foot. "Are you having fun doing this to me?" They all quickly ran back to her.

"Fine, we rest," Auron said in a clipped tone, "She's worse than the storm."

They all entered the Al Bhed lodge. When they were all in the lodge, Yuna turned to the group. "I'm...a little tired," she told them, and turned to the clerk. "Do you have a room available?"

The clerk gave a small bow. "Ah, Lady Summoner. Yes, just over that way." She unhooked the rope that led to the rooms. Yuna quietly gave her thanks, and walked down the halls and to her room.

Wakka scratched his head. "Uh, Yuna?"

Shikamaru lazily scratched his chin. "Did I miss something here?" The other shinobi nodded in agreement.

Lulu lifted one hand to grasp the other arm. "It's not like her." She followed the path Yuna took, and went into a different room. Wakka grunted, shaking his head, and went to his own room.

Naruto noticed Auron sitting at a table, and walked over to the older guardian. "Take advantage of this, we may not be able to have such indulgence," Auron wisely told the boy. Naruto mutely nodded. He then walked to the other side of the lobby where the Leaf shinobi and Gaara stood. He could feel a faint touch of heat from the fireplace that was there.

"What do you suppose is wrong with Lady Yuna?" Tenten asked Sakura, who only shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever it is, really shook her up," the medic sighed.

"She seemed conflicted about something," Neji said, "Perhaps Maester Seymour's proposal is troubling her." The shinobi of Rookie 9 hummed in agreement.

"It has to be more than that," Gai interrupted, "I think it's that Jyscal guy that's troubling her."

"Jyscal, Maester Seymour's father…Auron mentioned that his death was 'unclean,' right Gai-sensei?" Lee added. The jounin gave a faint nod. Gaara had one hand over his eye, as if he were in deep thought.

"The question is…who would kill a the leader of the Guado?" Kakashi wondered, "And a maester of Yevon?" Everyone was silent. "Well, in any case, if any of you need sleep, I suggest you do it now," Kakashi said, before walking over to Auron and sitting across from him. He pulled out the orange book.

Neji, Lee, and Sai stayed in the lobby while Sakura, Naruto, and Neji got rooms. Tidus followed Naruto to his room when he stopped at Yuna's. A voice was talking, and it wasn't hers. He stared at the door.

"What's wrong Tidus?" Naruto asked. He had stopped walking and was giving a questioning look to the other blonde. "Hey, isn't that Yuna's room?"

"Do you hear that?" Tidus said as he walked over to the door and placed his ear against it.

"Woah, woah, woah! What're think you're doing?" Naruto whispered, "Hear what?" But Tidus ignored him, pressing his early closer to the door. Naruto kept rambling on how eavesdropping was a bad idea, but Tidus quickly shushed him. He lifted his head up and looked around. No one was coming. Placing a finger to his lips, he placed his ear to the door once again. He placed one hand on the doorknob in an attempt to press his ear harder against the door.

"What do you hear?" Naruto asked as he tried to put his ear against the door as well, knocking into Tidus. The other blonde gave a small cry of protest, and unfortunately for the pair, Yuna's door wasn't closed all the way. They tumbled into her room in a small heap of surprise.

Yuna was sitting on her bed with a sphere. A small hologram of the man Yuna had sent was hovering over the sphere. He seemed to be speaking, but not directly to Yuna. Hearing the crash, she whipped her head to look at the two. "Y-Yes?" she stuttered.

Tidus and Naruto quickly untangled themselves and got up. "I...well... It's nothing, really. I...I just, uh..." Tidus fumbled to find the words as Naruto stared at the hologram. Yuna quickly turned off the sphere, and the hologram disappeared. She looked at the two, equally lost for words.

"I'm sorry...we shouldn't have come in," Tidus finally spoke.

"H-Hey! Wasn't that that Jyscal Guado guy?" Naruto said, pointing to where the hologram had been.

Yuna gave a small nod and looked around the room. "The sphere is his will," she explained, "It says, 'Take care of my son'."

Tidus's eyes widened. "His son...? Seymour?" Yuna nodded and Tidus snorted. "Well, I know one way to take care of him."

Yuna gave a small bow of apology. "I'm sorry," she said, and ran out of the room. Tidus and Naruto exchanged looks of confusion before looking down at the sphere. Tidus picked it up, and suddenly found himself in a headlock. A small "hey!" told him that Naruto had also been caught.

"What do you think you two are up to?" It was Wakka.

"Yuna..." Naruto tried to answer, while trying to escape the choke of death.

"Was acting funny, s-so..." Tidus continued.

"Yeah, yeah!" Wakka cut him off, "She'll tell us when she's ready, so hold your chocobos till then, ya?"

"All right! All right! All right!" the two shouted.

They all went to their respective rooms, needing sleep. With a combination of their exhaustion, and the roaring thunder, they didn't hear the small explosion that had emanated from the lobby, along with some shouts.

When Naruto woke up, he was surprised to see it still storming outside. "Huh, I guess it really doesn't stop raining here, does it?" His thoughts were cut short when Sakura burst into his room, panting. "Sakura-chan!"

"There you are, I thought you'd never wake up," she said as she walked up to him. She grabbed his hand. "C'mon, you need to see this!" She dragged him into the lobby.

"Woah! Slow down, Sakura!"

Everyone was already in the lobby when the pair arrived. Naruto looked at the group, and then at Sakura. "So what's the rush?" he asked, dumbly. His response was a huff.

"Take a closer look, idiot. Not everyone's here," Shikamaru said as he rubbed a hand over his face.

Naruto gazed over everyone's faces. He noticed that Rikku had a small grin on her face. His brow wrinkled in confusion. What was everyone hollering about? His gaze went over the shinobi. Sakura, Sai, Kakashi, Neji, Shikamaru, and Yamato…wait…Yamato?

"Yamato?"

The man raised his hand up in greeting. "Hi there." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked for his red-haired friend. "Where's Wakka?" Sakura sweatdropped. Out of two redheads that he knew, he thought of Wakka.

"He's outside," Lulu explained, "He didn't…take to well to the machina you all brought with you."

"Oh." Naruto looked around for his other red-haired friend. "Gaara?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Gone. Him, Lee, Gai, and Tenten."

Naruto's eyes widened. "But…how?" A strange machine, that looked similar to what Yuna had, was thrust in front of him by Sakura. It was the machine that Gaara had showed them while they were resting at a lodge on the Mi'ihen Highroad, before they had a run-in with the Chocobo Eater.

"While you were off in dream-land, we were trying to figure out how this thing worked," Shikamaru began to explain, pointing to the small machina that Gaara had. "You see…it all started when…"

######

While Naruto, Sakura, and Neji got rooms, Gaara and Gai walked over to Kakashi and sat down next to him. As they sat, Gaara pulled out the sphere-like machine and set it down on the table. "I don't suppose you've figured out a way to get this thing to work," the Kazekage asked the two jounin.

They both shook their heads. "I haven't been able to give it much thought, with all that's happen," Kakashi admitted as he rubbed his masked chin with a finger.

"Nor I," Gai added. Silence filled the air as the three shinobi stared at the piece of machina, as if staring would scare the machine into working again.

"Gaara, I told you that this machina was made by the hands of the Al-Bhed, right?" Auron broke the silence. The redhead gave a small nod. "Why don't you ask Rikku if she'll take a look at it, although with this storm…" he trailed off, looking out the window. Raining like cats and dogs.

"Of course, Rikku's an Al Bhed," Gai murmured.

Auron smirked. "So you knew and hadn't the thought of asking her?" The three shinobi exchanged sheepish looks between them.

"But she's asleep," Gaara said, a frown on his face.

"With this storm, and her fear of lightning, I'm not sure exactly that's true," Auron smirked.

Kakashi hummed. "At any rate, who knows the next time we'll be able to rest like this." Once again, the air was filled with silence. But then, who but the Al Bhed princess herself, came walking in the room, her face miserable.

"Now's your chance," Auron said to the trio, before turning his attention to Rikku. "Leaving so soon?" The blonde-headed girl glowered at him.

"I can't sleep with all this lightning and thunder!" she complained, throwing her hands in the air.

"Isn't that why it's called the Thunder Plains?" Shikamaru asked as he and Lee walked up to the group. Rikku glared at the lazy genius, who only smirked in response. Her eyes narrowed.

"Hey, where's Sai?" she asked them.

"Sai's outside, painting," Tenten spoke as she joined the group.

"In this weather?" she asked as she looked back outside, "He must be crazy!"

"He wants to paint all the places we go to," Shikamaru shrugged.

By this time, Auron had had enough chatter from the girl. He gave a knowing look to Gaara, who quickly caught on to the meaning, before walked to the other side of the lobby. Gaara cleared his throat.

"Rikku." Green eyes with swirled pupils focused on him, startling him for a moment. As odd as the swirled pupils were, there was a certain, exotic, beauty within them. "Um...we were wondering if you knew how to work this," he said as he pushed the machina toward her. Rikku tilted her head as she examined it, her eyes widening after a moment.

"Where did you get this?" Everyone's ears perked up at the tone of her voice.

"I don't know where it came from," Gaara said, "When I appeared in Luca, I found it laying beside me."

"Do you know what it is?" Kakashi asked, his one eye on her.

Rikku nodded. "Yeah. This machina is over a hundred years old, maybe even a thousand." Everyone's eyes widened. "A long time ago, a group of Al Bhed tried building a machina that had the power to take people to different dimensions," she explained, "Of course, the early attempts failed, mostly because the machina was too big. So they decided to make it smaller." She turned the machina in her hands. "But by then, such notions were forbidden in Spira, so they had to conceal the machina somehow. They chose to make the machina look like memory spheres." She looked up at the group.

"Memory spheres?" Gaara repeated repeated.

"People use them to record memories," Auron explained from the far side of the lobby, "Yuna's father, Lord Braska, has made some for her. He knew that Yuna would one day follow in his footsteps as a summoner, so he recorded his journey on these spheres, and left them behind for her."

Rikku returned her focus to the machina. "I don't even know if this will even work, it's so old. And there haven't been any records about the smaller version." She sat the machina down on the table, and took a seat. "But I can try. After all, what kind of Al Bhed would I be if I'm wasn't a grease monkey, hmm?"

She began working on the machina, tweaking here and there. She lightly tapped the surface, and cursed in Al Bhed when there was a slight cracking sound. Everyone, save for the stoic guardian, watched with keen interest. At one point, Rikku sat the machina down with a huff and glared at it. Then she picked it back up, and worked at it again.

Moments later, she sighed and placed the machina down once more on the table. "Alright, that should do it." She craned her neck around the machina. "Now if I can just activate it…ah, here it is." She reached behind the machina and a small click was heard. She sat back.

Nothing.

She flicked the button again.

Still nothing.

She gave the machina a slight tap.

Silence.

The shinobi sighed as they realized that the machina wasn't working. Rikku kept tapping it, each tap harsher than the previous, until finally she growled. "Work, you pathetic piece of trash!" she hit the machina with her fist, startling the shinobi. The machina gave a buzz, and a huge smile lit up Rikku's face. But the smile was short live as it became quiet again. Rikku clenched her fists and stood up, knocking the machina away. It clattered to the floor. "Tysh ed!" (Damn it!)

"Rikku…" She turned to look at Kakashi. "If you don't mind me asking, why are the Al Bhed after summoners?" She gave him a blank look.

"Why are you accusing the Al Bhed?"

"I overheard some of your people in Luca talking about it," he gauged her reaction, "Don't misunderstand me, I'm not an Al Bhed hater, and by no means fluent in your language. But I've picked up a couple of words here and there."

Rikku tore her gaze from him, and looked up at the ceiling for a while. Only the rain and thunder was heard. "You know what happens to summoners when they complete their pilgrimage…don't you?" The blank looks she go served as her answer. Gaara opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "No matter how many times Sin is defeated, it just keeps coming back," she said as she closed her eyes.

The machina gave another start, but no one noticed.

"That's no reason to go kidnapping the only people who can defeat Sin," Gai pointed out.

"I know," Rikku said sadly, "But…summoner's shouldn't have to sacrifice themselves, just so that the rest of us can live happy lives, you know?"

The machina began to give off a small glow.

"But that is their choice," Lee pointed out, "Just like we shinobi choose to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our villages."

"You don't understand," Rikku shook her head.

"I remember hearing that the summoners were 'sacrificing' themselves. I thought the guardians were there to ensure that they didn't die," Kakashi said, his eye narrowing.

The glow was getting brighter as the machine began to shake.

"You…really don't know do you?" Rikku whispered, her eyes wide. Suddenly, the green eyes were filled with anger, and she opened her mouth to speak, but quickly looked down at the machina and gasped.

It was whirling like crazy, as if getting ready to blow up. Rikku took a cautious step back from it. Suddenly, a bright beam shot out from the small machina, towards her.

"Look out!"

A small explosion emitted from the machina and all the shinobi lunged at Rikku to push her out of the way; Gaara, Tenten, Lee, and Gai getting to her first. Everyone else had to cover his or her eyes from the bright light. Rikku puffed as she felt something heavy land on her, knocking her to the ground. The light began to dim.

"Alright, which one of you meanies landed on me," Rikku groaned as she tried to sit up, but whatever was holding her down wasn't moving. She looked down to see an unfamiliar man in her lap. Her emerald green eyes widened as he put a hand on her chest, trying to study himself. A blush quickly rose to her cheeks.

The man in her lap groaned as he put a hand to his head, and the other hand down on something soft and plushy. "What just happened?" he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Um…"

Blinking slowly, he opened his eyes to see a pretty face with green eyes with spirals. He stared at her, and then looked down at his hand, which was more or less groping her chest. With a gasp he quickly snatched his hand up and fell backwards on his butt. "U-um...I'm so sorry, miss," he tried to apologize, a faint blush adorned on his face. Taking her hand, he pulled them both up.

"O-oh, i-its fine. You didn't mean to, so, no worries, ya?" she said shyly.

"Tenzou?" Yamato turned to see Kakashi and everyone else. Yamato's eyes filled with relief. "Ah, senpai, I'm glad to see you're doing well. And I'm guessing everyone else is here, yes?"

"Yamato-taichou…" They turned their heads to the doorway to see Sai standing there, eyes wide. The man sheepishly raised his hand in greeting.

Kakashi shook his head. "Not exactly. So far, Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Shikamaru, Team Gai, and Gaara are here."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but I don't Gai, Tenten, Lee, or Gaara anywhere," Shikamaru said in a serious tone. Everyone looked around to see that the people Shikamaru pointed out weren't around.

"Guess that means the machina works," Auron said as he walked over. Rikku looked down at the machina and picked it up. "So what's the report?" he asked her.

Rikku shrugged. "The good news is, the machina works. I guess that beam of light is what transports people back and forth. The bad news is, I don't know why only those four disappeared."

"I think I have the answer," Shikamaru said, "I agree that the beam is the source of transportation, and it was aimed at you when it decided to work. However, when all of us tried to get to you, Gaara, Tenten, Lee, and Gai were the ones who got to you first." He looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "If my memory serves correctly, Gaara got to you first, and then Tenten was right next to him, then Lee, and then Gai. But all four of them blocked the light from getting to you. Make sense? The rest of us were coming at you diagonally and out of the beam's range."

"That doesn't explain how he got here," Rikku said, pointing to Yamato.

The jounin gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well I think I can explain that. You see, I was on my way to reporting back to Tsunade-sama, when I passed by the tech squad. They were dealing with something that looks identical to what you have there," he explained as he pointed to the machina Rikku was holding, "It began shaking and making weird sounds, and suddenly a bright light flashed and I found myself here."

"You mean you have this machina back in Konoha?" Kakashi asked him, his eye serious.

Yamato gave a small nod. "Machina?" he repeated.

Kakashi gave a sigh of relief. "Then we might just have a chance of getting home." Yamato gave him a confused look.

"Home?"

Shikamaru sighed and turned to Auron. "I think we may need a bit more time to rest. It seems we have a lot of catching up to do."

######

"And that's the gist of it," Shikamaru ended.

"Wow," Naruto breathed, "So…we can go home now?"

"Well…" Rikku said as she put a finger to her lips, "I still have to figure out how this thing works. It didn't work when I flipped the switch." She smiled. "Looks like you're stuck with us for the time being!"

"So there really are other worlds…interesting," Lulu mused.

"Hey, that's what I keep telling you," Tidus told her.

Lulu shook her head. "This is different. You claim to have come from Zanarkand, while they come from an entirely different world."

"Otherwise I'd have to worry about time travel," Rikku joked. A bright flash of lightning followed by a crash of thunder rumbled the room. Rikku cringed. "It's not stopping, is it?"

"Don't tell me you were hoping it would," Auron told her. Another flash of lightning lit the room and Rikku shrieked. Auron sighed. "Fine. Stay here," he said in a frustrated tone before joining Wakka outside the building. Yuna, Kimahri, Sai, Kakashi, and Yamato followed the guardian outside.

"All right, already," Rikku pouted, "But! You didn't have to say it like that, you know! You could be more comforting or something! You know, try to cheer me up? You just don't get me at all, do you? Hey! Are you listening?" Another flash of lightning had her cringing, but she didn't make a sound. "I'm not scared!" she shouted, "I'm not scared, you hear?"

"Hey, Rikku, why are you so scared of lightning?" Sakura asked.

Rikku took a deep breath. "When I was little, a fiend attacked me when I was swimming at the beach. My brother tried to beat it back with a spell." Another flash of lightning and she bit back a yell. "But he missed and hit me instead!" she cried, "It was a thunder spell—bzzzt!"

"Ouch," Tidus commented.

"I've been scared of lightning ever since," Rikku finished.

"But, it can be effective," Lulu pointed out, "Magic is effective against marine fiends."

Rikku nodded. "My brother said that too."

"You should try learning a few spells, too," the black mage suggested. Another bolt of lightning had Rikku cringing. "Hmm…maybe later." She walked out of the building.

"Come on Rikku, we'll all be there right next to you," Sakura tried comforting the girl as she led them all outside.

The group continued the journey across the plains, keeping close to the towers. Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Neji tried answering questions that Yamato had, to the best of their ability. Rikku kept cringing at every lightning bolt, but she kept silent. Soon they could see the blue hues of Macalania woods ahead.

"Kind of reminds me of the Rain Village," Yamato observed.

"I'd say more like the Mist," Kakashi said.

"Nah, it's Konoha on a rainy day!" Naruto interjected. Sakura gave her teammate a dry look.

Yuna suddenly stopped walking. "Everyone...wait." They all turned around to face her.

"What's up?" Wakka asked.

Yuna became hesitant. "I have…something to tell you."

Lulu raised a slender eyebrow. "Here?"

"We're almost out of here! Let's go!" Rikku pointed to where Macalania woods stood.

"I have to say it now!" Yuna said firmly.

Auron looked around, and found a resting spot underneath a shelter of some sort. There were two lightning rods on the roof. "Over there," he gestured towards it. They all huddled underneath the shelter, and looked at Yuna. She took a deep breath.

"I've decided to marry."

"Seriously? You've gotta be kidding me," Naruto shouted, "To that creepy old man-" Kakashi slipped a hand over his ex-student's mouth as Sakura swatted him in the head.

Lulu hummed. "I thought so."

"What made you change your mind?" Kakashi asked.

"For Spira's future...and Yevon's unity," she said with honesty, "I thought it would be the best thing to do."

Auron shook his head. "That's not good enough."

"It's because of Lord Jyscal, isn't it?" Shikamaru sighed. Yuna gasped. Shikamaru turned to face her. "Tidus showed the sphere to us."

Auron walked over to her. "Show me," he gently urged her.

Yuna frantically shook her head. "I can't. I must speak to Maester Seymour first. I truly am sorry, but this is...it is a personal matter."

Wakka shook his head. "You're kidding, ya?"

"As you wish," Auron said as he turned his back on Yuna. "Just one thing."

Yuna nodded. "I won't quit my pilgrimage." Auron seemed satisfied.

"Then it is...fine."

Tidus rushed up to him. "Wait a minute, Auron! You don't care? I mean, you're not going to stop her?"

Auron paused for a moment. "No, I'm not. As long as she is willing to face Sin...all else is her concern. That is a summoner's privilege. As long as she journeys."

Wakka hummed in agreement.

"But that's..." Tidus tried to find the words, but nothing came to him. He growled in frustration.

Naruto broke out of Kakashi's hold. "Well I'm sure not okay with it! I mean, what happened with that Jyscal guy is the guado's problem. Isn't that what you said Wakka?"

"Naruto, shut it," Shikamaru told him in a clipped tone. Naruto was taken aback by the tone. "Now's not the time to go all emotional on us. Yuna's mission is to destroy Sin, and as long as she accomplishes that mission, any sidetracking doesn't matter. As a shinobi of Konoha, you should know that." Naruto stood silent, knowing what his friend said was true.

"Yuna, just one question," Wakka asked, "Can't you just talk to Maester Seymour? You've got to marry him?" He scratched his head.

Yuna gave a helpless shrug. "I don't know. But I think it is the right thing to do."

Rikku approached the summoner. "Yunie..." She put her hands on Yuna's shoulders. Lightning and thunder struck again, and Rikku glared up at the sky. "Quiet!" She turned back to Yuna. "I wish we could help somehow, some way!"

Yuna put her hand on top of Rikku's, and smiled. "It's okay," she reassured the other girl, "I'll be fine."

Auron nodded. "Next, we're going to Macalania Temple," he explained, "Yuna can talk with Seymour there. We guardians will wait until they're done, and plan our next move. Understood?"

Everyone nodded, and headed towards the exit of the Thunder Plains.

######

Everyone reached the forest area. It was quiet. A huge comparison to the thunderous plains. Rikku still had her hands clutched in front of her chest, and when she realized there was no more thunder, she jumped for joy before running ahead. Kakashi, Yamato, and Auron were walking behind everyone.

"You're worried about Yuna," Auron noted to Kakashi who only nodded.

"What is she thinking?" the masked nin murmured.

Auron looked ahead to where Rikku was standing. "The simplest answer would be...in exchange for agreeing to marry him...she hopes to negotiate with Seymour."

Yamato's brow furrowed. "Negotiate what?"

Auron's face was stoic. "I wonder." There was a moment of silence. "She's strong, but Seymour is the better negotiator."

Kakashi nodded. "And there's nothing we can do about it?"

"Yuna wants it this way."

"Does she not trust us?" Yamato asked, "She's got a lot of people wanting to protect her. She's in good hands."

"On the contrary..." Auron replied, "She doesn't want us caught up in whatever it is she's planning."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. But it makes me worry even more," Kakashi nodded. The three watched as Naruto began exploring the woods with Sakura and Shikamaru. Neji was standing with Sai, who was crouched in a sitting position, drawing in his notebook. Yuna was standing in deep thought, Kimahri by her side. Tidus was having a serious conversation with Lulu, and Wakka was by himself.

"It's the way she is," Auron explained, ""She's naive, serious to a fault, and doesn't ask for help. She's easy to read."

"Yeah, she is," Kakashi agreed.

"But hard to guard. Keep a close watch on her," Auron said before meeting up with the group.

They rested for a few moments, before headed on the trail. The shinobi were awe-struck as they traveled on the winding paths and branches of the woods. Everything looked like it was made of crystal and glass. The woods itself was peaceful, calm, and serene. There was a certain ethereal beauty within it. They were about to truck up the branch that had wound itself around a large tree trunk when they ran into a familiar muscular man.

"Who's that?" Yamato pointed out.

"I think his name is Bart…or something like that," Shikamaru yawned, "We met him and his summoner—whatever her name is—at Killika temple."

"Hey!" the man called to them. He stopped in front of them, panting for air. "You, have you seen Dona?"

"Dona?" Sakura rolled her eyes at the memory.

"Can't say I have," Tidus gave an apologetic shrug.

Wakka walked up to him. "What's up?"

"We got separated on the way here," Barthello said, getting more hysterical every second, "Damn it all! I've got to find her!"

"Calm down," Kakashi told the man.

"But, if anything happens to her..."

"Running around in a panic is not going to help. Right now, you have to keep cool, and search," Auron said.

"But-"

"Guard your emotions, then guard your summoner," the older guardian spoke.

Barthello was silent for a while. He sighed. "You're right."

"Shall we search?" Yamato offered as he looked at Auron, but Barthello quickly shook his head.

"No, I've taken up enough of your time," he turned to the legendary guardian, "Thank you, Sir Auron." He did the prayer gesture before running off. Rikku ran a couple steps in his direction, and stopped. She seemed unsure about something.

Wakka cocked his head at her. "What's up?"

Rikku, realizing that he was talking to her, shook her head. "Oh, I just wanted to wish him good luck."

They walked deeper into the woods. When it seemed like they were at the heart of the woods, Auron stopped. "Wait," he said, "It is here...somewhere."

Tidus gave the older man a look. "What's here?"

"Something you should see."

The shinobi exchanged confused looks.

"But, Sir Auron..." Yuna protested but he cut her off.

"It won't take long." Auron began slicing repeatedly into a tree, clearing a path for them to pass through. He went in first, and the others followed. He led them to a lake of some sort, with a large tree in it. The roots were visible underneath. Sai, once again, whipped out his notebook and began sketching.

"This is what spheres are made of," Auron explained. "It absorbs and preserves people's memories."

"This is amazing! Its just water, isn't it?" Sakura asked.

Suddenly, the water began to viciously ripple, and a large blob rose from it.

"What's that?" Wakka cried.

"Fiends are also attracted to these places," Auron said, "This is a Spherimorph." He readied his sword.

"So…this is a fiend?" Yamato asked as he got into a fighting stance.

"One of many," Kakashi answered.

The Spherimorph floated over towards Kakashi, shaping itself into a large cylinder, before crashing down upon him. Kakashi, who had sensed the attack, quickly dodged it. He threw a couple of kunai at it, but it only seemed to scratch the fiend, nothing serious.

"Hmph, this could be a long fight," he called to the others.

Yamato clasped his hands together ready to activate a wood release technique, and was surprised to find a cage of crystal glass appear around the fiend, instead of wood. However, the cage proved to be useless as the fiend easily slid from between the glass bars.

"I guess the trees here don't have brown roots," Kakashi offered lamely.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto cried, and a bunch of clones appeared. They attacked the Spherimorph, but it was like attacking Jell-O. All the physical attacks they did seem to just bounce off. Neji's clan techniques couldn't harm it either.

A glittering light surrounded the fiend, and Yamato suddenly found himself sputtering for air as water suddenly came out of no where and doused him. "What the hell was that?"

"A water spell," Lulu replied, "Hmm…I wonder…" She quickly raised her arm and casted a thunder spell towards the fiend. It made damage. "Opposing elements," she murmured.

"Be careful, it tends to change its elemental weakness," Auron cautioned her. He turned to Yuna. "We need to make this quick. Why don't you call the aeon you received from Djose? We'll buy you some time."

Yuna nodded. "Right." She flung her arms out and the four green orbs appeared and lifted up into the air. Electricity formed at the top of her staff, and four columns of lightning surrounded her. Suddenly, the lightning disappeared and a huge globe of light shone on her staff. She swung it to her right, as if swinging to hit something, and a bolt of lightning came out of her staff. It hit the air, and a glyph-like portal lit up. A horn poked out of the portal, lightning attached from the tip to her staff. Carefully, Yuna pulled her staff away, as if pulling out whatever it was from the portal. The portal shattered as a huge horse jumped out. Sparks lit the ground everytime its hooves touched it. It reared up and gave a cry.

"What in the world?" Yamato's eyes were wide.

"This, s an aeon," Kakashi explained.

Yuna nodded towards the aeon.

"Better stand back now," Kakashi warned.

The aeon jumped back. It reared and light collected upon the tip of its long jagged horn. A small explosion of light was seen and a large white beam shot towards the fiend, trapping it in a purple, electric sphere. The aeon raised its head, making the fiend move up as well. The fiend was suspended in the air, and a huge burst of energy shot towards it from the horn, following the path of the beam. It hit the fiend with a huge explosion.

The fiend dropped to the ground unceremoniously, and melted away in pyreflies.

"Cool, huh?" Naruto grinned at Yamato who looked to be in shock.

"I didn't think such power existed," Yamato said, "You sure it's not some sort of summoning technique?"

"It's summoning all right, but not what you're used too," Kakashi said.

Tidus picked up a sphere that had appeared after the fiend's death. Wakka walked over to him and looked at it. "Whoa, this is old! Don't know if you can play it back."

"Jecht left it here ten years ago," Auron said, "Play it back."

######

There was a man facing them on the screen. He had a gruff appearance, a scar on his face, and a huge tattoo on his shirtless chest. He seemed to be in the same place where they were. The man was sitting indian style.

"Hey," the voice was rough, "If you're sitting there, watching this...it means you're stuck in Spira, like me. You might not know when you'll get back home, but you better not be crying! Although, I guess I'd understand. But you know what? There's a time when you have to stop crying and move on. You'll be fine. Remember, you're my son. And... Well, uh..." The man sighed. "Never mind. I'm not good at these things."

He stood off and walked off screen. The screen went blank.

"I think there's more" Rikku said. The screen lit up again.

They couldn't see the man, but they heard his voice.

"Anyways...I believe in you. Be good. Goodbye."

######

"He sounded almost serious, but it was too late," Tidus commented.

"That…that was your dad?" Naruto asked. Tidus nodded.

"He wasserious," Auron said, "Jecht had already accepted his fate."

"His fate?" Neji repeated.

"Jecht... He..." Auron began, "He was always talking about going home, to Zanarkand. That's why he took all those pictures-to show them to you when he returned. But as he journeyed with us and came to understand Spira, and Braska's resolve...It happened gradually, but Jecht changed. He decided he would join Braska in his fight against Sin."

Tidus nodded. "So then, he gave up going home?"

"That was his decision."

Tidus hung his head. "I guess I understand now. My old man...he knew there was no way back home, back to Zanarkand. He wanted to go home, but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't go on until he accepted it. Besides..." he looked up at everyone, "Even if he had found a way back...I don't think he would've left his friends behind before their journey was complete."

Rikku looked at the shinobi. "That's kind of what you guys are doing, right?" She received confused looks. "You could've bothered me about fixing the machina, but you didn't. You wouldn't just leave us like this, right?"

Kakashi hummed while the rest of the shinobi exchanged smiles.

"You bet we wouldn't!" Naruto grinned, "Even though it's not 'our duty,' or whatever, we've started helping you guys, and we're gonna see it finished. Believe it!"

Tidus nodded with determination. "It's time I accepted my own fate. All right! Let's go, guys!" He started walking away.

"Wait," Auron stopped him. "Jecht loved you."

A chorus of 'awws' filled the air.

Tidus scratched his head. "Oh, come on, please!"

"He just didn't know how to express it, he said."

"Enough about my old man, okay?" Tidus gritted.

Auron was silent before walking away. "I just thought you should know." Everyone else followed, leaving Tidus by himself.

"Thanks."

He followed everyone out, and back onto the path. As they exited the path, they were met with a wide, snowy, open area. Everything was covered in a white, tinted-blue, blanket. There was a crisp wind that kept blowing around. Another small Al Bhed lodge was seen, and there was a sign that said "Macalania Lake."

Naruto automatically rubbed his hands on his arms, but was surprised to find that it wasn't that cold, or at least as cold as it should be. He looked over at his teammates and sensei to see that they were just as confused as he was.

"It's because of the fayth, that the cold is bearable," Lulu explained, "Macalania Woods exists, and the lake is frozen, because of the fayth. With it, the woods would fade, and the lake would melt."

"The fayth does this?" Neji asked.

"The fayth of Macalania temple, yes."

"I still can't believe any of this," Yamato murmured as he ran a hand through his hair.

"It's okay, Yamato-taichou. I read in a book that shock usually wears off after a while," Sai tried to comfort his captain, who only sweat-dropped in response.

They walked towards the Al Bhed lodge, and noticed an older guado man standing next to it. "Lady Yuna, we've been expecting you." It was Tromell. "We were surprised you decided to come so soon. Pleasantly surprised, of course," he smiled before bowing, "Lord Seymour sends his apologies for having left without notice."

Yuna shook her head gently. "It's quite all right." She hesitated. "I have one question, if I may, sir."

"My lady?"

Yuna lifted a dainty hand to her chest, casting her gaze to the ground. "I want to keep journeying, even if I marry." She looked up at Tromell. "Do you think that Maester Seymour would let me?"

"But of course, my lady," Tromell said as he made a gesture," Lord Seymour wishes nothing else, I'm sure." Naruto snorted at his response.

Relief upon her face, Yuna turned to her group, and nodded to them. "Goodbye." She walked up to Tromell, who gave an apologetic look to the group.

"Well...we must follow Guado tradition," he told them, "I'll have to ask you to wait here a little while longer. I'll send someone to escort you." He began to walk away, Yuna in tow, until she stopped.

She hesitated. "I..."

Auron spoke up. "We're all with you," he reassured her, "Do as you will."

Yuna smiled before turning to follow Tromell once more. "Thank you."

Naruto whined, hemmed, and hawed, as they watched Yuna and Tromell walk down the ramp and to the wide frozen lake.

"Naruto, there's nothing we can do," Sakura sighed, "Even though we all don't like it, this is her choice."

"And don't forget that she's going to complete her pilgrimage on top of this," Kakashi added.

"Sorry," Auron spoke up, catching everyone's attention. Tidus realized that the older guardian's gaze was on him. "That was your line." Catching the meaning behind the older man's words, Tidus ran forward.

"Yuna!" He yelled. He stopped and whistled.

Yuna stopped and turned to look at him. "Yes sir!" she said with a smile. She and Tromell began to walk across the lake's surface, when something in the distance caught Rikku's eye.

"Oh, no!" she cried, shaking her hands.

Several people on what appeared to be jumbo-sized skidoo's encircle Yuna and Tromell. They were all wearing goggles.

Wakka's eyes widened. "Al Bhed!"

Everyone quickly ran to the pair, surrounding them in a defensive circle. The Al Bhed men were quick to jump off their ski doo's and quickly retreated before any of the shinobi could get to them.

Auron looked back at Tromell and Yuna. "Stand back," he ordered them.

"Thank you!" Tromell breathed, trying to calm himself down. He gently took Yuna by the arm and began to escort her away, but she ripped her arm out of his grasp and rejoined the group. "Lady Yuna!" he cried.

"I will fight alongside my guardians. Please wait somewhere safe," she told him with no room for argument. Tromell gladly did as he was told.

"Rikku!"

They all looked up to see a man is standing on top of a hill of ice. It appeared to be the Mohawk guy from the Al Bhed ship where Tidus and Naruto met Rikku.

"This guy is behind the kidnappings?! I don't believe it!" Naruto grumbled.

"Brother?" Sakura whispered.

The Al Bhed man pointed at Rikku. "Tuh'd ehdanvana un oui kad drec!" (Don't interfere or you get this!). Beside him, a large machina cannon rolled up. "Ouin bnaleuic magic yht aeonsyna caymat!" (Your precious magic and aeons are sealed!) he cackled.

Rikku clutched her head. "Oh, no!" she cried.

"Translation?" Tidus asked her as he pulled out his sword.

"He's gonna use an anti-magic field on us!"

"Kad dras!" (Get them!) the Al Bhed man cried and the cannon rolled down the hill, and landed in front of the group. A small machina was hovering around it.

"If you want to use magic, we need to destroy that thing first!" Rikku pointed out.

"No problem," Wakka smirked. He threw his blitzball at the flying machina, but kept missing. "Ah, damn it! I can't hit it!" He kept throwing it, only hitting the machina once or twice. It gave a whirl as it was hit.

Kakashi dodged an attack that was made by the bigger machina. "Lulu," he called out to her, "I'd go a safe distance to be until we can destroy the anti-magic field." Sai pulled out his scrolls ink tigers jumped out of the scroll and towards the machina.

"As if that's possible, we're in a wide open area," Shikamaru growled as he dodged a spell the flying machina casted.

Suddenly, a crystal-glass dome covered Lulu. They all turned to see Yamato giving them a thumbs-up. "She'll be safe in there," he assured Yuna, "As long as I'm here, the barrier won't disappear."

Neji deflected a thunder spell with the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. "It's similar to the machina machine we fought back in Luca, when Lady Yuna was first captured," he noted, "That must mean that it's weak against lightning."

"Hey, you're catching on!" Rikku grinned.

"Were you controlling that machina too?" Sai asked with a fox-eyed smile.

Her grin fell.

Kakashi nodded. Lightning, huh? He quickly formed a familiar, electrical ball of chakra in his hands, and rushed forward towards the big machina. "Lightning Blade!" His fist collided into the machina. Parts of it chipped away, but the machina was still standing. Kimahri let out a battle cry, and speared the machina with his lance.

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to beat this big boy," Rikku explained. Her eyes widened as she saw two of three lights blinking at the end of the canon. "Oh, no!"

"What now?" Naruto shouted.

"You see those three lights there? Two of them are blinking. When all of them are blinking, it'll use it's Mana Beam attack. And when it does, we'll be goners!" Rikku cried.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled as she got ready to punch the ground.

"Wait, Sakura!" Yuna called out to her, making her stop.

"Smash the ground, and we'll all go under," Auron explained.

She pouted as a slight blush adorned her cheeks. And then, like a cat with a toy, lunged towards the flying machina and punched it to pieces. It shattered in a tiny explosion. She smirked at Auron who slowly shook his head, smiling.

"The three lights are blinking!" Sai called out.

"Why is it that everytime we're up against machina, we shinobi can't do a damn thing?" Shikamaru scowled, "What a drag." He crouched into a sitting position. "Shadow Possession jutsu!" The big machina froze. "Naruto, see if you can find an off switch!"

The blonde-haired nodded as he ran towards the machina and jumped on it. He scrambled around the cold piece of machinery. "I don't see it!" he yelled.

"What a drag," Shikamaru mumbled as he felt his hold on the machina weaken.

"There is no switch," Rikku shouted, "None that you'd be able to figure out anyway!"

"Not helping," Shikamaru gritted.

They all stopped as they heard a cry from Yuna. Tidus looked to see some Al Bhed trying to drag her with them.

"Yuna!"

He rushed towards her as Kakashi and Neji quickly dispatched the Al Bhed kidnappers, knocking them out. He quickly helped her up. "Are you okay?" She nodded. He smiled and positioned himself in front of her. "Stay close to me. I'm a your guardian, remember?" he said back to her.

The large machina jerked, throwing Naruto off, and gave a rumble. The shadows quickly retreated back to Shikamaru, who went down on his hands and knees, panting. The machina began whirling, and a huge sphere of light gathered at the end of the canon.

"Everyone, look out!" Rikku shouted.

Tidus covered Yuna with his body as everyone else braced themselves for the attack.

POOF!

Naruto felt the ground slightly rumble beneath him. "Huh?" He looked up to find a familiar, huge, red, toad. "Gamabunta!? Then that must mean…" Upon the top of the large toad's head, was a familiar white-haired man with a red stripe coming down vertically from his each eye. "Pervy-sage!" Naruto cried as a huge smile lit his face.

The Legendary Sanin gave a thumbs-up to Naruto before nodding to Gamabunta. The massive toad unsheathed his tantō and sliced the machina in two. Sparks of electricity emitted from the machina, before making a big explosion. Yamato released the barrier around Lulu as parts of the machina fell in a heap before them.

"Pervy-Sage! I can't believe you're really here! Wow, did you appear here, or did you appear somewhere else and just walk here? Do you know what's going on? Or do I get to be 'sensei' this time?" Naruto started firing off questions.

"Jiraiya-sama! You better have a good reason in bringing Gamabunta here!" Sakura stormed over to him.

Jiraiya pouted as he jumped off his companion's head. "This is the thanks I get for saving you guys' lives? Hmph, maybe I'll just watch you guys battle from now on. Don't mind me."

"You do realize that Gamabunta is standing on a frozen lake," Kakashi told the perverted sanin, his lazily eye watching him. Yamato sighed and put a hand to his head.

Jiraiya held a finger up to his chin. "Is that right? Hmm…well Gamabunta, I guess that's your cue to go." The toad just grunted and grumbled about hating snow before disappearing in a big cloud of smoke. Yuna, who was quite awestruck at Gamabunta, quickly ran over to Jiraiya with Tidus on her heels.

"Sir Kakashi," Yuna panted, trying to catch her breath, "Was that…that huge toad…was that done by what you call a 'summoning technique'?" Her eyes were wide with excitement. "It was about as big as an aeon, but I know it wasn't."

Before Kakashi could explain, Jiraiya suddenly cut in. He had a cheesy smile and his cheeks held a red tint to them. "Well now, aren't you quite the beauty!" he gushed, "And what's you're name little lady?"

Tidus scowled. "Her name's Yuna. And she's off limits, buddy," he growled. Jiraiya looked back and forth from Tidus to Yuna. "Are you two lovers?" he started getting excited, "This is great! I'll finally have a new idea for my new book!"

"Jiraiya-sama…" Kakashi began.

"Yuna!" the summoner turned to see the black mage running towards her. "Are you all right?" Lulu looked the young girl over for any injuries. Upon seeing the voluptuous black mage's…um…chest…Jiraiya's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and he wiped his nose (not noticing the red color that now stained his hands). "Uh…buahaha…ahhh…."

"Oh boy…c'mon Pervy-Sage. Can't you act normal for just one minute?" Naruto sighed in frustration.

A stress mark appeared on Jiraiya's forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that!" He crossed his arms. "Besides, is that any way to treat your sensei?"

"Wow, how many more people are you guys looking for?" Rikku popped up, Wakka looking troubled and deep in thought as he stood beside her.

Jiraiya was in heaven. He whipped out his notebook and began planning his next volume of Icha Icha Paradise, only to be smacked in the head by Sakura. "They don't call me a second-Tsunade for nothing," she sniffed.

"My lady!" Tromell called out as he walked from his hiding spot, over to Yuna. She faltered for a moment, before sighing.

"I'm sorry for making you wait, Sir Tromell," Yuna said, "Let us proceed to the Temple of Macalania."

"Of course, my lady. Right this way," Tromell gestured her to follow him, and the two were once again, were off.

Jiraiya looked after them with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Rikku!" They all turned to see the Mohawk guy on the hill again. "E femm damm Vydran!" (I will tell Father!) he called to her.

"E ys dra guardian uv Yuna, oui caa? Yunaec cyva! Fa femm kiynt ran! Cra ec cyva!" (I am the guardian of Yuna, you see? Yuna is safe! We will guard her! She is safe!) Rikku yelled back, trying to get the man to understand.

The man shook his head. "Oui tu drec ymuha, cecdan!" (You do this alone, sister!) and ran off.

Rikku looked after him, and giggled to herself. "I told him I was a guardian," she put a finger to her lips, "Well, guess I had to, really."

Wakka uncrossed his arms and gave Rikku a suspicious look. "How come you speak Al Bhed? Why?"

Everyone was silent, Jiraiya observing the situation with keen interest.

Rikku looked down at the ground, ashamed. "Because I'm Al Bhed. And that...was my brother."

Wakka glared at Tidus and Lulu. "You knew?" They nodded. Wakka's eyes hardened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We knew you'd be upset," Lulu said, her voice was sincere.

Wakka growled and threw his hands up in the air. "This is great. I can't believe I've been travelling with an Al Bhed! A heathen!"

"Now just wait a minute—" Naruto tried to intervene, but a look from Kakashi made him silent.

"You're wrong!" Rikku argued, "We have nothing against Yevon."

"But you Al Bhed use the forbidden machina! You know what that means?" Wakka argued back, "Sin was born because people used machina!"

Rikku took a deep breath, her green eyes flashing with anger. "You got proof? Show me proof!"

Wakka crossed his arms again. "It's in Yevon's teachings!" he looked away from her, "Not that you'd know!"

Rikku shook her head. "That's not good enough!" she replied, "Yevon says this, Yevon says that. Can't you think for yourself?" She tapped her head for emphasis.

Wakka leaned towards her. "Well, then you tell me! Where did Sin come from, huh?" Sai and Shikamaru opened their mouths but a steamy look from Sakura made them wisely choose other options.

Rikku was at a loss for words. "I...I don't know!" she admitted.

"Hmph, you bad mouth Yevon, and that's all you can come up with?"

Rikku shook her head. "But...that doesn't mean you should do whatever they say without thinking!" she threw her arms out. "Nothing will ever change that way!"

"Nothing has to change!"

"You want Sin to keep coming back?" Rikku shouted, "There might be a way to stop it, you know!"

"Sin will be gone once we atone for our past mistakes!"

"When? How?" Rikku demanded.

"If we keep faith in Yevon's techings it will be gone one day!"

Rikku just glared at the Besaid man. "Why do I even bother?"

"One day…yeah right," Shikamaru snorted, "Sitting around doing nothing, and poof…Sin is gone."

"What do you know, hm? Nothing. You're not even from Spira," Wakka said to the lazy genius.

"You know what, Wakka? You're right. We're not from Spira," Naruto said in a calm tone, which made everyone a little uncomfortable. "But you know what? Rikku has stood by our side, stood by Yuna's side each step of the way. She has stuck with us through each battle, even overcame her fear of thunder just so that she'd be there for Yuna. She proved herself as a guardian, and you're just going to throw away your friendship just because she's an Al Bhed?! You're both fighting for the same thing! We all are." He was shouting by now.

Everyone was silent. Wakka just stood with his arms crossed.

"Naruto, why don't you come with me for a bit and fill me in on things?" Jiraiya suggested, trying to diffuse the tension. He gently put a hand on the boy's shoulder a walked a few paces away from the group. Kakashi and Yamato followed, knowing that they could help provide answers.

"As much as an idiot Naruto is, he's got a point," Neji said reasoned quietly, "If you're not willing to let go of the past…how do you expect there to be a future?"

"And if you don't want things to change, how can Sin just all of a sudden decide not to come back? I mean…Rikku's got a point too," Shikamaru added, "You say that things don't have to change, but Sin not coming back is a huge change…if you ask me."

Wakka's eyes softened for a moment.

"Rikku! Will this move?" Auron was standing beside one of the big skidoos the Al Bhed had left behind. She nodded and ran towards it, and began to fix it.

Wakka eyes widened. "We're not using that, are we?" he gave Auron a suspicious look. "Wait...Sir Auron isn't Al Bhed too, is he?"

Tidus sighed in frustration. "Come on, Wakka..."

"What?"

"I mean, getting angry just 'cause you found out Rikku's an Al Bhed..." Tidus began, "You guys got along fine till now, didn't you?"

Wakka just scoffed. "That's different. I mean..."

Tidus crossed his arms. "Well, I don't claim to know that much about Spira. And I probably know even less about the Al Bhed, but..." he looked over at Rikku, "I know Rikku's a good person."

"She's just Rikku!" Sakura added with a nod.

Wakka shook his head and looked at the black mage. "Lu?"

"Just think of this as an opportunity to learn more about the Al Bhed."

"Ha!" Wakka spat and walked away. Tidus made a move to go after him.

"Let him go," Auron said to him, "Give him time to think."

Rikku took a couple steps forward. "I'm sorry," she said. Her voice was sincere.

"You've done nothing to apologize for," Lulu told her.

Tidus shrugged. "All right! Let's ride!" he started walking towards one of the skidoos.

"You sure you know how to drive this?" Rikku asked him. They watched as Kimahri flipped one over that was upside down, sit on it, and drive away.

"Better than Kimahri does!" He sat on one, Rikku sitting behind him, while Auron and Lulu were on the other. Rikku looked around to see that no more vehicles were around. "Um…"

"It's okay Rikku," Sakura reassured the other girl, "We're fine with walking." She looked over where Naruto, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Yamato were. "Besides, I think we have some catching up to do."

"We'll meet you up at the temple," Neji said, "All we have to do is follow the path, right?"

"Yup!"

"Don't you too get cozy, now," Sai said with a smile. There was a pregnant pause, and everyone sweatdropped at his comment. "I read somewhere that girls enjoy riding behind a boy. They love the feeling of wrapping their arms around—"

"O-o-okay Sai, I think we get it, but I don't think that's the case," Sakura shoved a hand over his mouth.

With a nod from Auron, the four drove off, leaving the shinobi behind.

######

In Konoha…

Tsunade had a hand to her forehead, in deep thought. She grasped a small cup that was on her desk, downed its contents—reveling in the burning sensation, and slammed it back down. She eyed the four figures that were currently standing before her.

"Tsunade-sama—" she held up a hand for silence.

"So, tell me again, what the hell just happened?"

######

A/N: That took FOREVER! I must apologize for the slow update, but I've had some unnecessary drama at college. I am no longer a music student, and I am solely studying creative writing. I'm also taking Latin ^_^ Anyway, So what did you all think? I'm REALLY sorry if the battles weren't what you expected, like maybe…too short? If I edit this, I'll definitely extend those fight scenes, but it's hard to write them as a "Naruto battle" and not a "game battle." Anyway, the whole shabang: review/alert/favorite away my lovely readers!

Oh…and one more thing…there's going to be another transportation action. So my question for all you readers: who from the Naruto world, do you want in the world of Spira? Coinciding, who would you exchange? FF characters will obviously stay in the FF world, but Naruto, Sakura, and Sai (and probably Kakashi) are off limits (unless you're very persuasive with your reasoning).