Tenchi Bridge and Pegasus

Konoha

Hinata dashed through the crowd, apologizing quickly to the people she had to push aside.

With her thoughts on the dream and Naruto, everything standing in Hinata's way was soon pushing away, not caring where its new distinction would be.

It was by the time she reached the gate, Hinata was almost out of breath. Her heart was thumping very quickly. However, all thoughts were put aside when she saw Naruto and what looked like Sakura and two other males, one of them she instantly recognized as the unknown male in her dream.

'So, it was not just a dream then,' Hinata thought as she walked towards the gates.

Sakura was the first one to notice her friend walking towards them. At first, she thought it was Hinata wanting to say goodbye to them and wish them luck on their mission, but as Hinata came closer to them, Sakura could see the relief, and… was it worry on her face?

"Hinata, is something wrong?" Sakura asked, as Hinata finally managed to reach the team. Naruto stopped his glaring match with Sai and turned his full attention to the new arrival.

"Yeah Hinata. Are you ok?"

Hinata stood up straight and said something that made Naruto and Sakura look at her in shock.

"What did you say?"

"I said, I would like to come with you on your mission."

It took some time for Yamato to gain permission from Tsunade to allow Hinata to come with the team, but it was all worth it as Hinata was now walking beside her team on their journey. She was quickly filled in on the mission and the fact that Sasuke was involved made Hinata more confident that she had made the right choice to tag along with Team Yamato.

However, she did not expect the new teammate Sai to be a bit of a jerk. He was saying negative stuff about Naruto and Sasuke, much to Sakura and Hinata's displeasure.

In the end, Sakura had enough and punched Sai, although he acted like the punch was nothing but a light form of disagreement and made a note to look for Sakura's fake smile next time.

Hinata kept her distance, however, there were times she wished she could just tell Sai to be quiet, especially with Naruto's reactions to what he was saying about Sasuke.

By the time they reached a rest stop, Hinata was happy enough to be away from Sai and to spend some time with Sakura at the hot springs. However, it would have been better if Naruto did not argue with Sai so loudly, especially the embarrassing parts that Hinata would not care to think about as she knew she would faint with the thought of what Naruto had said.

An unknown location

The first thing Mana thought of when she woke up was how comfortable the bed was until she realized, she did not collapse on a bed and quickly sat straight up.

Bad idea, as the pain, shot through Mana like little pins stabbing her sides. With a groan, Mana lied back down and began to look around. The room had a cream wall colour and it also had a wooden floor. There was a red carpet on the left side of the bed, which was placed directly next to a large window.

Before Mana could look around more, the door opened, and out came someone she knew instantly.

"Master Mahad!"

Mahad smiled at his apprentice, as she quickly jumped out of bed and ran into her mentor's arms.

Then pain shot up her legs and Mahad, knowing that she was still injured, guided his friend back to the bed.

Normally master and student would not show affection like this, but Mana was his friend and with the pharaoh gone, she would likely be the only true friend he ever has left.

It was here that the door opened and out came a man wearing a bright red suit, with long silver hair covering his right eye. He smiled and sat at the edge of the bed of the confused magicians.

"Welcome to my lovely home. I trust you have found everything to your comfort?"

Mana nodded awkwardly. Mahad quickly remembers his manners. They were guests and this man seems to be their main host.

"We have Mr-"

"Maximillion Pegasus. But all my close friends call me Pegasus. That is if I had close friends, but still, Pegasus will be fine."

"Okay," Mana said slowly in an awkward tone. Luckily for her Pegasus happily did not notice, but a jab in the gut from Mahad's shoulder proved otherwise.

"How rude of me," Pegasus said in a happy tone. "Here I am talking away while I do not know who you are."

"My name is Mahad and this young girl is my friend and student Mana."

Mana waved with a fake smile, as she did not want another jab by her annoying and polite master.

"Nice to meet you Mahad."

With that Pegasus began to leave but quickly said, "When you are ready, I will be more than happy to give my lovely guests the grand tour of my home."

"That would be great."

With that, Pegasus left and Mahad turned to give Mana a disapproving glare.

"Mana this man let us, strangers, into his home and cared for us. The least you can do is show him some respect."

Mana huffed in annoyance. After all this time, Mahad still treats her like a kid.

"Can you blame me, Master? He looks a bit-"

"Weird. Well everyone's weird Mana, that's what makes us unique. However, from what I see Mr. Pegasus seems like a humble, kind, and most importantly a trustworthy man."

"I know, but-"

"No buts Mana."

The tone of Mahad's voice let her know he had won the battle today and it would not be discussed again.

Knowing this all too well, Mahad nodded in approval at Mana having the common sense to stop and began to leave the room. Before he left Mahad quickly said, "Get washed and dressed. It would be rude of us to keep Mr. Pegasus waiting."

A few minutes later Mana left the room, but instead of her outfit from Egypt, she is wearing strange clothes. She had a black top on and a dark green skirt that reached down to her knees. It was compatible, but Mana would have preferred her own outfit. Especially considering it didn't have the words, 'Toons Rule' on her top. She had a feeling Pegasus was the one to pick this top for her and she had to admit the man was being a kind host.

It took a few minutes to find the location of Pegasus's living room, however, Mana luckily found an older gentleman called Kenji, who directed her on where to go.

"Miss Mana is here sir."

"Thank you, Kenji."

The old man bowed and then closed the doors behind her.

"Welcome Mana," Pegasus said, as he sat calmly and happily in his armchair by the warm fireplace.

Mahad was standing at the far-left corner of the living room, looking at one of the painting. Like the hallways, this enormous room was full of paintings.

"Would you like a drink Mana?" Pegasus asked, but Mana shock her head.

"Very well. I assume you both are here because of a certain Yugi-boy?"

This got Mahad and Mana confused.

Yugi?! Who is this guy talking about?

"No Mr. Pegasus," Mahad said as Pegasus found himself disappointed at the answer. "We do not know who this Yugi person is."

It was at this moment Pegasus sighed and tapped on his wine glass, but he looked at the two with confusion written on his face.

"I was quite sure the man told me you were here because of a certain boy and his puzzle."

"Puzzle?"

"The Millennium Puzzle of course."

That quickly drew Mahad's and Mana's attention. Was this Yugi the Pharaoh, using a different name to hide from enemies that would cause him harm or was he the chosen one that the Pharaoh mentioned to them.

"A Millennium Item?!"

"Yes, it is in the shape of a pyramid."

"That's the Pharaoh's Millennium Item!"

It was then that Pegasus's face lit up and he jumped to his feet and held Man's hands as if she were a goddess. The way he knelt as if she was royalty, with hope igniting in his eyes made Mana uneasy.

"Oh, I knew it. You both were friends of the Pharaoh before he became one with the puzzle. He has told me you all would come and help him save the world. It is an honour to be in the presence of people before my time and with the knowledge that exceeds my own in the games of monsters and shadows."

'Seriously?!' Mana thought, feeling her face heat up. If this is how the citizens of Egypt treat the Pharaoh, she would not blame him in hoping the day would set soon.

To Mana's horror, Mahad looked like he was either thinking the same thing or trying not to laugh his head off with the situation and the reaction of his apprentice.

Tenchi Bridge

Naruto, Sakura, Hinata and Sai made sure to stay as quiet as possible as they watched Yamato in his disguise walk towards the meeting spot of Sasori's spy.

Sakura could sense that Hinata was nervous as the girl played nervously with her hands. Sakura knew she could not move from her position so all she could do was give Hinata a reassuring smile and began to focus her mind back on the mission.

Everything was starting off great, until the spy revealed his face. It was Kabuto, and soon Orochimaru came out of his hiding place. To make matters worse, Kabuto attacked Yamato and it ended up with the gang coming out of their hiding places.

Sakura came up with several curse words in her head to describe the situation at hand, she glanced at her teammates to see Sai looking as calm as ever, while Hinata looked nervous but determined. When her attention turned to Naruto, her heart stopped. Naruto was beyond pissed. To see her good friend, turn into someone who wants nothing more than to kill a person was terrifying. Not that she blamed Naruto, as she was angry herself, but the look of his eyes is what caught her off guard.

They were red, not blue.

What happened to him?

She turned to Hinata to see that she was just as shocked and terrified as Sakura was. Soon all hell broke loss when Orochimaru began to speak and unfortunately the topic on his mind was a certain Uchiha.

Pegasus home

The tour around Pegasus's home was what led Mana to a grudging respect for the man.

The portraits displayed around the halls and rooms showed her that the man put his head and soul in his paintings. His illusions of duel monsters displayed not only realist detail but the beauty of the creatures he was presenting.

Soon he began to show them his art studio, where Mana happily looked around. She could see that there were freshly painted portraits, with one displaying a fox. Unlike most foxes Mana had seen, this one had gold fur and it was sitting in a position of meditation.

"Where did you get your inspiration from?"

"Egyptian tablets I found during my trip to the country. However, since my last tournament, I decided to go back to painting. An old friend of mine has been a big help in my new creation. The fox painting you are looking at is one of them."

Soon more questions were asked, and Pegasus happily answered them all in depth. He made sure each answer sounded like something you would find in a story. Mana had to admit that the man sure knew how to pronounce his word and even though he could be weird at times, especially with his toons, the man started to grow on Mana as a good friend.

Mahad left the tour early to explore the building himself, although Mana thought this was just his way for her to get to know Pegasus more and to trust him.

The two soon arrived in a room where only one painting stood in the centre. Unlike the other painting of the duel monsters, this one portrayed a beautiful human woman and her frame had more detail to it than the plain duel monster frames in Pegasus's house. The blonde hair looked like shining sand that Mana would see on the beautiful seaside of Egypt, while her eyes had the colour of the bright blue sky.

Judging by Pegasus's sad expression and forced smile, Mana could tell that the painting meant a lot to him or rather, the person it depicted did.

Not wanting to question it, Mana followed Pegasus to his desk where handfuls of notes and pictures were placed. In one of the pictures Mana saw a tablet of a duel monster.

"Here is a picture of the carvings I was telling you about. They are the origins of the game I created," Pegasus stated as he picked up a picture to show Mana. Mana could not help but gasp.

It was a stone carving of her master in his duel monster form, The Dark Magician.

"This carving became known as the duel monster, Dark Magician."

He gave Mana another picture, this time displaying a young boy who was holding the Dark Magician card. The carving of the Dark Magician was one thing, but this picture nearly made Mana's heart stop. The young boy's appearance was like looking at a younger version of the Pharaoh.

"That young man is Yugi Muto and the Dark Magician is his most treasured card."

"Yugi Muto," Mana said slowly, as she wanted to make sure the memory of the name burned into her mind. He looked a lot like the Pharaoh in the days when he was Crown-Prince, and the fact that his favourite card was her master when he is the Dark Magician brought a smile to her face.

"He looks a lot like him."

Mana turned around to see Mahad facing her and the photo. His eyes looked sad from what Mana could see and she did not blame him.

It was at that time Pegasus broke the silence.

"I hate to be the party pooper, but our guest will be arriving soon. So, if you could follow me."

Mana and Mahad followed Pegasus without any complaints on where he was taking them. From what they could gather, they knew that they could trust the man. He was their best lead to the pharaoh after all.

Soon they entered into a large dining hall with a man sitting on the far side of the room. Mana and Mahad could tell he was from Egypt and the man gave a small smile at them as they took their seats. However, what got Mana's and Mahad attention was the item around his neck and the item placed on the table. It was the Millennium Key and the Millennium Scale.

"Mana, this is the old friend I was talking to you about."

"It's a pleasure to meet you..." Mahad stated waiting for the man to name himself to them.

"Shadi"

Tenchi Bridge

Hinata could not believe the extent of Naruto's power, but this feeling of awe needed to be put in check as she helped Yamato lift the unconscious Sakura from the bridge, that was now broken. It also didn't help that Sai left Sakura to die. Did that mean he'd betrayed them?

"Hinata, help me put her down."

Gently, Hinata and Yamato placed Sakura on the ground and then they both looked at the forest opposite them. The one Naruto went in to go after Orochimaru.

"W-what happened to him?" Hinata whimpered at tears ran down her cheeks. "Wh-what happened to Naruto?"

Yamato gave the young girl a sorrowful look before looking back into the direction of the forest.

"I'll tell you all you need to know, but right now, you need to tend to Sakura."

Hinata did not know whether she should argue or agree, however, Yamato was her best shot in finding out what was going on and it would not help her much if Sakura ended up having a concussion from the hit.

Using the basic healing techniques, she placed her hands above Sakura's head and a soft green light emerged from her fingertips. Although she was not as gifted in medical ninjutsu as Sakura, she did know the basic arts of first aid.

Sensing that Sakura would be just fine, Hinata sighed in relief and stopped the healing process.

"Hinata, use your Byukagan to locate Naruto," Yamato asked.

"Right."

Hinata could feel her Byukagan powers take form, but as soon as she was ready, she nearly regretted it. Hinata could see the wisps of blue energy wrapping around Yamato as he performed a jutsu to create another support beam for the collapsing bridge. However, when she looked at the forest, instead of blue, she could see strands of red chakra and the raw power made her dizzy.

She remembered hearing about Naruto's red chakra from her father. It happened during the fight between Naruto and Neji. With this type of power Hinata wondered whether Neji felt as terrified as her. Hinata would have to ask him another time. Right now, she needed to find the pinpoint of the red chakra.

"A few yards straight ahead. The journey should take about five to six minutes if you take the tree route above," Hinata said.

Yamato nodded at her directions. He knew now would be the best time to create a clone.

Soon Hinata heard something besides her. It was Sakura and she was waking up.

"Sakura, are you ok?" Hinata asked as she helped her friend sit up.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

The two girls then jumped when a loud crash sounded in the distance. Yamato glanced in the direction of where the sound was coming from and his look of concern worried the young Hyuga.

Slowly black smoke raised up among the trees, but unlike the smoke of a normal campfire, this one felt dark and Hinata had a cold feeling in her stomach. Sakura was worried too as she could sense evil coming from that direction.

Pegasus home

"I must thank you for doing your duty to the pharaoh." Mahad said as Shadi finished explaining his role.

"It was my pleasure and it is an honour to finally meet that Pharaoh's trusted friends. If possible, could I speak to only you Mahad. It is of great importance?"

Mahad nodded and Mana took that as her cue to leave. Soon she was exploring the mansion's rooms and corridors. It helped to know one's location.

Soon she entered in what appears to be Pegasus's bedroom.

Mana quickly went to the desk and opened the drawers to see contracts to game companies and a neatly pilled deck of cards.

Mana placed the deck on the desk and picked one of the cards up. The picture of the card resembled one of the cartoonish monsters in the corridor.

"Ah, I see you have found my deck."

Mana quickly faced a smiling Pegasus who did not seem to be displeased on her being in his room. Did he want her to be here and if so why?

"The cards you are holding are played in a game called Duel Monsters, which is very popular in this age of the world."

Mana looked at the cards again, trying to understand what was so special about them, but all she saw were plain pieces of paper.

Pegasus frowned slightly as if reading her mind. He took the card Mana was holding and with a slight smile said, "Come with me. I'll show you the wonders of Duel Monsters."

The walk through the corridor was awkward to Mana but she did not voice it out loud to the man. Soon she was standing by a large set of doors and Pegasus gently slid them open, as if he was trying to create a dramatic entrance.

"Welcome to the duel arena."

Mana gasped.

In front of her were two large columns with what looked like a board in the centre.

'What is this place?' Mana thought.

Pegasus chuckled at her reaction which caused the young magician to glare at him. He looked at the card in Mana's hand and with a slight smirk he calmly said, "Do you want to play?"

Tenchi Bridge

While Sakura and Yamato were talking about Naruto's strange condition, Hinata took the chance to reactivate her Byukagan to observe the events unfolding in the distance. She in an instant could feel a chakra overcoming her sense and the amount of power it beheld did shake the Hyuga. However, with Naruto's life on the line, Hinata steadied her nerves and began to focus on the main force at hand. She soon pinpointed Orochimaru's chakra along with a chakra that could have belonged to a wild animal. Hinata sadly acknowledged the fact that the chakra which scared her before was coming from the man she admired. Shaking her head, she could tell the two opponents were halfway done with their battle, as huge amounts of chakra from Orochimaru began to slowly decrease. However, Naruto's was still strong and powerful. His chakra seems to have increased then decreased and that scared her.

"Hinata, what do you see?" Sakura asked, finally noticing the silent Hyuga in the background.

"Naruto and Orochimaru are in battle. The amount of chakra the two are using suggests they are both using incredibly powerful Justu."

Sakura did not know whether to be relieved about Naruto's success in battle or worried about the amount of power the two were using and the destruction it caused. The thought of that red chakra made Sakura's skin crawl.

Then a shuffle sounded off in the distance. The trio turned to see Kabuto walking confidently towards them. Sakura was not surprised to see his injured has healed.

He was a skilled medical ninja that even matched her mentor.

Hinata quickly moved into a fighting position. If it was a fight he wants, she would fight, but Yamato shook his head.

"Stand down Hinata," he said, making the Hyuga relax her stance. She still kept her guard up, but she could tell that Yamato wanted to avoid any more battles.

"Wise choice," Kabuto said, causing the three shinobi to glare at him. "I must say I'm surprised to see you again Hinata Hyuga. Last time we saw each other was the Chunin Exams. Ah yes, fun times."

"For someone supposed to be loyal to Sasori, you don't seem so concerned about where he is," Hinata stated, remembering that he was Sasori's spy. She would have thought he would show some concern over the Akatsuki member.

"That's because I am no longer loyal to the man," He answered. The trio looked shocked at his answer.

"In all honesty we came here to kill him. I take it this means he's either dead or captured, seeing as you showed up instead."

"He's deceased and it was me who killed him."

Kabuto for the first time looked at Sakura in surprise and then he laughed. Hinata could see Sakura was not impressed with his reaction.

"You? The weak one."

Sakura was about to attack, but Hinata held her friend down, while Kabuto carried on insulting the pink shinobi.

"Yeah, you'll be joining him soon too, you arrogant, narcissist-"

"Sakura, please calm down."

After a small struggle, Sakura clenched her fists and stopped her struggles. Hinata soon let her go.

"Still want to punch him." Sakura grumbled for only Hinata to hear.

"You will."

Pegasus home

"And that is checkmate my dear."

Mana's mouth hung open as her monster shattered into a million pieces after Pegasus's last attack. She lost, and to a gang of funny looking toons as well. This was humiliating.

"You shouldn't feel bad." Pegasus calmly stated as the monsters from his side disappeared.

"But I lost."

She knew sulking wasn't befitting of a high-class magician, but the lost hurt her pride. However, the man won fair and square and from the looks of it he was an expert of the art of this monster summoning game.

"Yes, however losing is also a great lesson in becoming a duellist. I lost in the past and it changed me for the better."

Mana looked at the man in confusion and wanted to ask why, but her question was cut short when Mahad entered the room. He looked at the machine in awe and Mana knew her master would like nothing more than to inspect the machine closely.

"Ah, Mahad. You just missed quite an entertaining event. Is everything ok?" Pegasus questioned, snapping the magician out of his awed state.

"Yes, Shadi mentioned that you were one of the Millennium Item holders, is that correct?"

Pegasus grimaced at the thought but soon nodded.

"The Millennium Eye was my item. The power to read minds and turn paintings into reality. Let's just say Mahad, that the item is no longer mine, and I do not miss it."

Mahad looked at the man in pity but understood his statement. A Millennium Item was powerful, but the darkness of that power could lead anyone to despair.

With no statement from either of the magicians, Pegasus took his cue to leave the room.

Tenchi Bridge

Hinata was still in shock as she watched Sakura heal the injured and badly burnt Naruto.

As she sat there, flashes of the events flooded her mind. Kabuto, Orochimaru and of course Naruto. When Naruto came crashing in their location, thanks to Orochimaru, Hinata remembered her heart breaking at the sight before her.

The man she loved, who was king, gentle and positive, was not the same man that crashed near them. In fact, he was no a man at all.

Naruto had that horrible chakra encasing his entire body. It looked like a hybrid shape of a human fox.

She wanted to run to him. To help him, but she stood still as if his power was holding her captive.

Suddenly Sakura flinched at her injured arm which was caused by one of Naruto's chakra tails. Hinata insisted on healing the wound, like Kabuto did before he disappeared, but Sakura refused.

"You need all the chakra you have to help us locate Sai and Orochimaru." Sakura said.

Soon the burns on Naruto began to quickly fade away and Sakura happily slumped back in exhaustion as Hinata decided to begin healing her friend.

"Hinata you don't have to waste your chakra on me like this."

Hinata ignored her and began to heal her friend's arm.

"We cannot have our medic hurt. Besides you are my friend and I know Naruto would not like to see you hurt like this."

Sakura smiled gently at her and decided to sit back and let Hinata heal the wound.

Soon Yamato began to reconnect his contact with his clone. It seemed that Sai was with Orochimaru and Kabuto and they were on the move.

It was then that Naruto slowly began to gain consciousness and Hinata instantly went to his side.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Hinata asked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head as the headache slowly began to fade. He grinned at his Hyuga teammate to reassure her that he was fine.

Sakura happily watched the pair before Yamato cleared his throat. When Naruto finally noticed the absence of Sai, Yamato calmly explained of the pale ninja's betrayal.

"Why that sneaky no good-"

"Now is not the time Naruto!" Sakura snapped. "We can rant about it all day but right now we need to focus on the task at hand."

Naruto not wanting to anger the pink haired kunoichi, nodded, and soon the four took off to the direction of Sai, Orochimaru and Kabuto.

Unknown to them, a cloaked figure watched the four in the shadows. He looked at his watch and then to the sky.

"Soon, I know." He said and then in a puff of smoke he disappeared.