TWENTYFIVE

" Not good!" Naruto hissed, eyes shooting to the oblivious lovers laying in the grass. His heart was beating a mile a minute as Sara's shrill cry rang through the night air. Sasuke's body tensed as he drew Naruto behind the tree.

Jordan heard the scream first, eyes going wide. " SHIT!"

" What?" Chris whispered.

" Sara." Jordan growled, throwing Chris his cloths before scrambling up to his feet. He drew on his pants and forgot thier shoes as they raced to the house.

" We need to..." Naruto began but when the first male cry rang out through the air, he winced. Sasuke held him back before he could sprint after them. He knew by instinct that the blonde boy would go to the rescue...but they couldn't interfere.

There job was to return what was lost.

Not to disrupt the past.

Azure eyes became liquid pools as he burried his face further into Sasuke's shirt. The young Uchiha was as tense as the tree they were hiding behind.

It hurt to hear those cries.

" Damn. And there's no way to contact the others..." Sasuke hissed. He hated this. His blonde lover was crying in his arms...while Jordans was being tortured.

He hated being useless.

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" You think they're okay?" Kyuubi whispered, eyes worried as Itachi stroked his hands. Hinata was worse for wear. Kiba was trying to keep her from shaking and Neji felt utterly useless. If he was correct, according to the story...this was the night before Chris had been found under the Miller docks...

Oh God.

" We need to..."

" No." Gaara whispered.

" No?!" Hinata snarled, her shy side thrown to the wind, " Something..."

" We can't interfere with the past." Shikamaru stated firmly, " It'll only make the future change. If we save one of them...one of our elders may dissapear. Or worse..something in our pasts could be erased or changed."

Kiba held Hinata closer and she burried her face in his neck.

" I'm sure Sasuke knows that as well." Itachi muttered, " He would have had to stop Naruto from jumping to help."

" Poor Naruto..." Kyuubi whispered, hugging himself, " He hates pain."

" We all do." Gaara stated, eyes lowered, " but right now, we need to figure out what role Naruto and my demons take in this world."

" Demons have the power to stop time or create it." Kyuubi said, lifting his eyes to look at the people around the room. " She forgot one thing. Demons can't stop a time rip that was created by the ripper"

" Why not?" Kiba asked.

" Because it's only fair. If she wants her last days to stop being replayed...she needs to return what was stolen."

" Wait..." Hinata's head shot up.

" What?" Neji asked.

" Stolen...no..no!" She shot out of her seat, startling them all, " This has nothing to do with Chris and Jordan being lovers!"

" What...your not making sense Hinata." Kyuubi sighed.

" Them being lovers only made the situation worse! Chris wasn't murdered just because they were lovers." She looked around the room, they still looked confused. " Ghost Sara was looking for a demon. She wasn't certian as to which one she was looking for, so she went after both Naruto and Gaara. And knowing that their weak spots are their lovers, she went after Neji and Sasuke. "

" Still not following..." Kiba muttered.

Hinata sent him a glare and he put his hands up. She drew in a deep breath, " We're here to put back what was stolen." Her eyes closed, " Chris was murdered because he had something inside him...a demon."

Kyuubi choked on the water he was drinking. " What?!"

" Once the family found out...they sent Sara to find out what he was doing, tonight he must have done something...so they murdered him. The demon had no body to return to...so it took refuge in the future. In the womb of a young woman, who gave birth to a blonde boy."

" Oh God." Itachi groaned.

" Naruto's demon is the key to stoping this time loop once and for all." Hinata said, eyes watering up, " Sara must have been supportive of the demon, but not of the love, so she ratted them out. And in return..the demon cursed her to repeat death over and over...untill she replaced what was taken from not only her..but from Jordan as well."

" Sasuke and Naruto are reincarnated..." Shikamaru sighed, pulling out a ciggerate and taking a deep drag. " Fucking troublesome."

" But I don't get it..." Neji whispered, " No one knows where Jordan went after his mother and sister were killed. Nor the father..."

" Maybe...we need to find that room." Kyuubi stated.

" How..it's in.." Gaara lifted an eyebrow.

" We need to contact Ino..." Itachi gasped, " Shikamaru! Go to sleep!"

" How the hell..." The last thing Shikamaru remember was a pale fist before he blacked out.

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She was so worried about them. Her heart ached for him to return to her...

A time loop? How could Tsunade and Jiriya do something that dangerous..and with Hinata in tow! The impact could have killed all of them.

Oh man...what if they were all dead right now?!

Her blue eyes slide closed slowly, ears trying to drown out Sakura's loud snoring. For the last couple of days, since they had dissapeared, her dreams had not at all been pleasent. Screams...blood...a cruel horrid snouted face. Dark red eyes...blood red eyes.

A stairway...?

Her face scrunched up slightly, her dreamself not liking the smell. She looked back...an open doorway...and a black-sheeted bed. Now where...

She wanted to head back, but an invisiable hand was leading her further and further into the black abyss below. The cold was not what sent chills up her spine...

It was the dark figure standing on the candl-lite side of the room she entered. A dark-haired boy, chained to a wall, blood driping down his body.

Bones were sticking out of the wrong places...arms and legs cut open. Oh God...she wouldn't dare look between his naked legs. It was too cruel...

Who would commit such an act?

She stiffled a gasp as dark, unseeing eyes looked right to her. Inside her...

" Find me...please..."

Her head shook in a 'no'. His eyes softened.

" Do not be afraid. You're friends are safe...but the demon..."

" Talking to yourself again boy?!" The large man that stepped infront of her helf the tools needed to inflict more of what was already on the boy's body.

This man...

His own father?!

Those unseeing eyes refocused on her, " FIND ME! In my room!"

A blood-curdling scream that echoed through the cold cellar pulled out through her throat. Ino shot up, hands on her sweaty face, eyes wide.

Sakura was by her beside in an instant and Tsunade and Mikoto were called in.

" Honey..." Mikoto placed a hand to her forehead. " You're burning up!"

Ino's hands shot out to grasp Tsunade's shirt. " Where is Jordan's room?!"

Tsunade's brown eyes looked puzzled, " It's Sasuke's new room...why?"

Ino scrambled out of bed, raced down the hall and threw open the door to Sasuke's room. It looked innocent enought...her eyes raced around before turning to the three women behind her. If she didn't explain soon, they'd throw her into a mental house.

" We're looking for a hidden door. " She said in a rush, " Something big is happening in that time loop. And it's about to get realy ugly."

" What...?"

Ino's blue eyes pained, " Sasuke may be in trouble."

To Be Continued...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

I wrote this ALL today. As a gift to my wonderful, loyal fans who should have murdered me weeks ago for not updating sooner.

But think...this is so much better than what I was thinking of last month.

Hope you enjoyed,

Blessed be,

Angel