Hello, again.

Last time, they dealt with the Zombie Brothers and Harpy Sakura became Blood Blossom. Now we'll be dealing with a bit more of the aftermath, such as Gato. However, that won't necessarily mean the end of Wave, since their liberation is definitely something worth celebrating.

Perspective: Sakura/Sunset

Don't own MLP or Naruto, by the way.

It Has Begun

Wh...where am I?

That was the first thing going through Sakura's head as she woke up to floating darkness. However, it wasn't long before she recognized it. My mindscape? What am I doing here again?

Her questions were cut off as she heard a dark laugh echo through the place, before a spot in front of her started turning blood red. As it grew, her eyes started to widen as she saw vines appear in her view. They were exactly like the ones she unleashed on Konoha that day. Her fear only grew as a figure that was all too recognizable landed on one of the vines nearest her. No, it can't be!

"Oh, but I assure you. I'm as real as they come." she told Sakura. "And whether you like it or not, Blood Blossom is here to stay."

She started laughing again, but her conversation with Sakura would have to wait...

...because that was when the girl woke up with a loud scream, shocking the entire house awake. Sunset in particular, due to being right beside, was affected enough to hit the ceiling then drop down onto the ground from the sudden and loud action.

He groaned as he sat up, but quickly directed his attention to Sakura once he heard her hyperventilating. "Sakura!"

He swept her into a hug as tears of joy started forming in his eyes, unaware of the fear in her eyes nor how his contact slowly drained it away.

"S-s-sunset?" she stuttered out.

Sun pulled back to make eye contact. "Yes, it's me. Everything's okay now."

"But..." she tried to say before Sun cut in with a kiss, calming her down quickly with the new thoughts of love and compassion coming from the lips on her own.

After they split, he told her, "We know about Blood Blossom, but that can wait. Hidan and Kakuzu have been dealt with, and soon it'll be Gato's turn. But first we should get downstairs and tell everyone you good to go again."

Deciding on just following Sun's example, she got up and walked with him to where she found Zabuza, Haku, and surprisingly Sun's brothers there alongside Tsunami and Inari. The youngest of the group was sitting near Dash with a look of hero-worship focused primarily on the rainbow-haired boy.

"Guess who's up?" Sun called out, getting smiles from all around once they noticed the two.

"Welcome back, girl." Zabuza said in greeting. "Tazuna, Kakashi, and Sasuke had to go to the bridge, so they couldn't be here now. They'll certainly be glad to see you're up as well."

"Although I do have to ask," Haku piped up with a curious expression. "Did Blood Blossom give you a boost or something?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow before looking down and yelped as Haku's words were correct. It wasn't much, but it was definitely visible. Sun quickly got in the way and glared at Haku, who had the decency to look sheepish at what just happened.

"Next time, it better be with your own girlfriend. Got it?" he stated, getting a nod in return. "Good."

Just then, Sasuke burst through the door in a hurry. "Gato's at the bridge, and he's brought an army."

They just took one quick look at each other before running out, Sasuke leading the way.

XXXXX

Upon their arrival, they found that for some reason it was little more than a standoff between Gato and his goons and Kakashi, Tazuna, and his workers. They thought Gato would've tried something by then, and they would have to jump into the remains of a fight or something.

So why are they still waiting?

"Sensei!" Sun called out as they joined the silver-haired man in front of the civilians.

"Sun, Sakura, glad to see you with us." Kakashi returned. "As for them, I honestly am wondering just what exactly their playing at myself."

"I thought it'd be more fitting and easier to take you all out together instead of letting some of you escape to bring more and cause more problems." Gato said smugly, thinking that the group he had with him, plus the group waiting in the wings, could take out all of them.

They all, including the workers, sweat-dropped at that. Did he really think thugs stood a chance against two jonin, one more or less chunin, three genin, and five civilians with powers?

Sun shook his head to focus, shouting, "It doesn't matter, because made a big mistake when you thought it was okay to hurt others for your own sick pleasure, let alone an entire country!"

As he said that, he and his brothers started glowing like they did when they fixed the village after Blood Blossom's first appearance. They also all shared an expression of profound determination, with some anger thrown in. But what sparked interest was when each of them started showing traits of their respective abilities/talents, with Rare and Jack getting crystal and wood armor, Shy getting a feral look to him, Pinkie gained an aura that seemed to explode on occasion, while Dash and Sun each were covered in lightning/wind/rain and chakra respectively.

Sun's voice started echoing as he proclaimed, "But now it's about high time your reign of terror comes to an end! We'll be shutting you down for good, right here, right now!"

Next thing anyone knew, the glows suddenly intensified, merged above them, and flew straight towards the now shocked Gato, forming an open hand along the way. It grabbed the small man, lifted him up, and promptly tossed him towards the horizon. However, it wasn't done as it balled up into a fist, and then slammed down on the part of the bridge the thugs were on, unleashing a shockwave of color that launched them all off the bridge and into the water below.

As the construct faded away, the ones left looked towards the six boys, finding them in a position as though they had just slammed their fist down on something as well. And once it was fully gone, they slumped down onto their knees as one, showing fatigue.

"Guys?" Sakura asked in concern, only to be waved off as it turned out to just be strange exhaustion coming from whatever just happened. "But still, just what was that?"

"Ah don't know." Jack spoke up. "But it certainly was sumthin' beyond anything before."

"Not to mention awesome!" Dash cried, lightly pumping his fist.

"Although once we get enough energy back, we should get supplies." Pinkie told them. "Don't want to be late for setting up for the party to celebrate Wave's freedom, now would we?"

They barely had time to admit that he was right before he grabbed Jack, Dash, Rare and Shy and seemingly disappeared back to Konoha. Afterwards, Sasuke turned to Tazuna and his workers and said, "You heard the boy. Let's get crackin'!"

That got their attention quickly enough, eliciting cheers as they got back to work, but with a newly invigorated flair. Their problem is now over, so nothing stands in the way of finishing the bridge and celebrating their newfound freedom.

However, Sasuke had another reason for diverting their attention. He also didn't want to be near his teammates, in case they started being affectionate to each other. In other words, he was starting to become jealous of their relationship, and he didn't quite want to face the truth just yet.

He got hit in the face with a balled up paper as he walked off. Opening it up revealed that it was a note from Pinkie saying,

'Don't worry. You will get someone before the Exams are up.'

He could barely keep the exasperated groan silent as he crumbled it back up and tossed it away while setting fire to it. Pinkie just can't stay out of my business, can he?

'Not really.' was on the note that came right after that thought.

"WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT?"

'Do what?'

"ARGH!"

I know it isn't much, but this is mainly to start bringing up the big connection between the Uzumaki brothers. They are based around the Mane 6/Humane 7 after all. As for the bit with Sasuke at the end, he is going to get a love interest as well, but it's also a bit of fun at his expense.

Until next time. Please let me know what you think.