Disclaimer: I do not own any of the content following this statement. All titles, names, and plots are owned by Masashi Kishomoto even thou he ruined the story for so many of us.
Reflections
Chapter 9
Into the voidThe plan was simple, at least that is how Naruto looked at it. They meet Gaara, cross the great sand sea and then head north into Iwagakure, find the sound base, and free Sakura.
What could be simpler?
Nariko seemed to think differently as she grabbed their go bags she kept next to the apartment door and headed for the main gate of the village. She knew every plan had its flaws and this oh-so-simple plan as Naruto called it was full of them.
"You do know we are running into a trap don't you.", said Nariko as she handed Naruto his travel bag at the bottom of the stairs.
"Sasuke isn't all that bad, just let me talk to him.", said Naruto leading the way to the main gate with a grin on his face and a quicker pace as if he wanted to avoid talking about the plan.
"No my world's Sasuke is not all bad, but your Sasuke is mostly bad. From what you told me he is starving Sakura to death. You know better than most how bad that is.", said Nariko not wanting to stop until she got her point across.
"That isn't Sasuke, it's Orochimaru's doing. You will see.", said Naruto now breaking into a trot as the gate came into view.
Joining him in his little run Nariko ran shoulder to shoulder with Naruto until they stopped in the shadow of the great wall that surrounded the village. Putting her hand on Naruto's shoulder she spun him around so he was facing her as she spotted Ino walking toward them with a travel bag on her back.
"You know I am not going to hesitate Naruto, I am going to kill that bastard as soon as I see him.", said Nariko as Ino walked up behind Naruto and stopped only a few feet away clearly listening to them talk.
Dropping his fake smile Naruto looked deep into Nariko's bright blue eyes before saying, "I know that but you have to give me a chance, just one little chance to try to reach him."
"You mean more to me than all the Uchiha in the world, if he makes one move on you I am not holding back no matter if you hate me for it.", said Nariko not breaking eye contact until she got a nod in agreement from Naruto.
"Now what are you doing here.", said Nariko with a little more fire in her voice than she meant to use.
"I am going with you.", said Ino as if it was all planned from the beginning.
Rubbing the back of his head Naruto looked from one woman to the next before shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't think so Ino, once away from the village we are going to use the Foxes chakra. There is no way you can keep up.", said Naruto getting a grunt from Nariko as she checked the straps on her shoulders and around her waist. The travel bag would have to withstand a lot in the next couple of days.
"But you have to take me, I can't be in this village without you two, I don't feel safe and besides Sakura is my best friend I need to help save her.", said Ino letting out the real truth before trying to cover it up with talk of old school friendships.
"Doesn't matter, you are too slow.", said Nariko now with her bag set she was turning on her mission mindset and Ino could feel Nariko's emotions falling away like her extra hair in the morning.
"You can, you know carry me then.", said Ino not wanting to give up.
"We could give it a try.", said Naruto letting his soft side try to convent himself it was OK for Ino to be on this mission he wasn't sure he would survive.
"OK then, take my hand.", said Nariko as she held out her hand covered in fox chakra. Her control had improved by leaps and bounds after the two foxes had a chance to merge. Her fox had gotten a lot more friendly after that, she expected it was all a trick but she would still use his chakra.
Ino looked at the glowing hand pushed out toward her and gave Naruto a look, all she got was a cold nod from the normally emotional blonde. Wrapping her fingers around Nariko's hand she held on for one then two seconds before she screamed out and pulled away.
"Dammit that isn't fair.", said Ino looking from one to the other but getting no sign they were going to change their plans for her.
"We will bring Sakura back Ino. You just have to make due until we return.", said Naruto not really understanding Ino's fear of the villagers, she had a family after all and a nice home to stay in. Thinking about it he had an idea as he pulled his keys from his pocket.
"Here, you can stay in our apartment if you like.", said Naruto holding out his keys until she slowly pulled them from his fingers and pressed them to her ample chest.
"Thank you Naruto, Nariko, this will help a lot.", said Ino as she stepped back to watch them leave.
"Going to leave without saying goodbye,", yelled out a voice behind them as they turned to face the newcomer they found Choji wheeling up to them in a wheelchair. He was nothing but skin and bones at this point as the jutsu had eaten him from the inside out. It was only his family's superfood that was keeping him alive and slowly recovering.
Looking behind him they could see Shikamaru catching up on his crutches as he was half as slow as Choji's wheelchair.
"I find this useless but I wanted to wish you good luck and good hunting.", said Shikamaru, the first half to Naruto but clearly the second half to Nariko.
Swinging the bag he had on his back to the front Shikamaru opened it and pulled out a rolled-up map and handed it to Nariko, "This is the most detailed map of that part of the world the Nara clan has, use it to find her and bring her back.", said Shikamaru
Taking the map from his hand Nariko put it in her travel bag knowing it was worth more than a bag of gold on this mission.
"We heard that Sakura was in bad shape and I wanted to give you this.", said Choji holding out a small wooden box. Taking it from his hands Naruto opened it and looked into it before showing it to Nariko who pulled out one of a dozen small food bars that seemed to radiate power into the air.
"Wow, these are great, what are they?", asked Naruto closing the box once Nariko put the bar back into its slot.
" Akimichi super food, there is enough calories and chakra to feed a person for a month in just one of those. It's what is keeping Choji alive. Use them wisely as it takes the Akimichi master chef a month to make those.", said Shikamaru
"You sure about this.", said Nariko getting the feeling Choji was giving up something more than they knew.
"Yes I am sure, don't worry about me I have plenty more.", said Choji patting the bag on the side of his chair showing he had more boxes of the food.
Dropping to one knee Nariko took one of Choji's hands in hers and looked him in the eye saying, "May the honor of Clan Akimichi live in you always, you are a warrior now and always."
It was a saying she had heard used by the Akimichi of her world to those that were going on a mission they were not expected to come back from, she hoped she was wrong and would see him on her return.
Smiling Choji did his best to pull her to her feet, "I will see you on your return and we will fest to celebrate your victory."
Giving a short bow to honor the two heirs Nariko walked to Naruto and holding out her hand again Nariko took Naruto's hand in hers and said, "OK, now just like we have been training. Focus on me and me alone.", she said as they both pulled on a little of the fox's chakra and then in a puff of burning leaves they were gone.
"Dam show-off using the Body Flicker Technique like that.", said Ino under her breath as she gave a weak smile to her two teammates before she started walking to the Anbu T&A department, at least she had work to do to take her mind off of the pain of being alone. She only wish she could explain to them that after the fox's merging of their memories she felt like she was only whole when she was around them.
…
Miles from the village the two blondes came to stop as the body Flicker ran out of chakra. Now far from the village they were able to truly call on the full power of the Nine-Tails, Taking a moment to look at the map Nariko pointed southwest and gave their straps one last look over before she lit up like a small sun as a red-orange glow covered her body.
Naruto soon did the same with more red in his cloak than hers and with a mirthless grin, he nodded to show he was ready.
This time the burning leaves were more like twin bond fires as the nearby trees burst into flames as they moved off at a speed no shinobi but the fourth could ever hope to achieve.
They used the technique over and over again not caring that any shinobi within a dozen or more miles could feel them coming and then going as they moved through all of the lands of fire until at the end of the day they stood at the edge of the sand sea.
Looking at Nariko, Naruto could see that she was as tired as he was, maybe even more as she seemed a little unsteady on her feet. Walking up behind her he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his chest. She had tensed up at first and then leaned her head back onto his shoulder and they both looked out on the endless dunes of sand.
Letting out a long-held breath Nariko pulled away as if she had come to some monumental decision.
"We will camp here and continue first thing in the morning.", said Nariko, they had both agreed that she would lead the mission but in truth, they both knew they couldn't continue at this pace anymore. They needed rest and time for the fox to heal them from what they were doing to their bodies.
Pulling sleeping rolls from their bags they didn't even think of putting up a tent as they didn't even have the strength to make even one clone to guard them as they slept.
"Naruto?", said Nariko as she stared at the stars in the cloudless sky overhead.
"Mmm", grunted out Naruto more asleep than not.
"Do you think we can have some alone time when we get back.", said Nariko.
"We are alone.", said Naruto trying his best to stay awake for a couple more minutes.
"No, I mean not on a mission or anything, just you and me.", said Nariko
"That old pervert wanted to take us on a training trip, we could do that. He spends most of his time in bars so we will be alone", said Naruto
Rolling on her side so she could see Naruto's outline in the little light from the stars she gave him one of her rare smiles and said, "That sound nice." as they both fell asleep rolling into each other as if pulled together by some unseen force.
….
The next day they traveled deep into the desert before turning west in hope of avoiding being detected by any enemy shinobi that would be near the border of Sunagakure. The shinobi of Suna had been told that they would be traveling through the area to meet Gaara for some 'Training' and were keeping as far away from them as they could. No one wanted to be near Gaara when he was training and even more so if he was training with another Jinchuurki.
That second night Naruto didn't even remember making camp as the sand was as soft as any bed he had slept in and it seems Nariko thought the same as he woke up with her laying mostly on him as the sun broke over the sand dunes and burned into his eyes.
"Do you know where we are.", asked Naruto as he stretched out his back and tried his best to get all the stiffness out of his bones.
"I think so.", said Nariko looking around at the endless sand dunes.
"We should see some landmarks by noon time if not then we are lost and will need to turn to plan B.", said Nariko.
"Plan B, I don't remember talking about any Plan B.", said Naruto
"We didn't I just came up with it.", said Nariko
"Ok, that's cool what is it.", said Naruto trusting Nariko had a great plan.
"We turn north until we hit the border of Suna and then fight our way to the sound base.", said Nariko.
"Uhmm, that sounds like a plan I would come up with.", said Naruto
"Well it's the only thing I can think of right now so let's get moving.", said Nariko as the Kyuubi's chakra cloak covered her body.
Just as she had predicted as the sun shined down at high noon a ridge of black stone a hundred feet high stood out of the sand forming a line that faded back into the depths of the sand dunes a mile to either side.
"The spine of the sand dragon.", said Nariko quoting the words from the map she had pulled from her pocket.
"Is it really a dragon?", asked Naruto as he had seen a lot of really strange things in his short life and if it was a dragon it still wasn't going to be on the top of his list.
Looking a little closer Nariko shrugged and said, "I don't think so but who knows? Let's go around we should be at the meeting point by the end of the day."
It was near the end of the day when they came across a very large perfectly shaped pyramid all alone in the middle of the desert. As they dropped their chakra cloaks and walk over to the smooth slopped walls Naruto spotted the figure of Gaara standing a the point high overhead.
"Gaara, down here.", yelled out Naruto waving his arms over his head to get Gaara's attention.
Floating down the side of the pyramid on a small cloud of sand Gaara soon joined them. As Gaara grew closer Nariko backed off to put Naruto between her and Gaara. Naruto may trust Gaara but she had to see this for herself.
"Naruto my friend it is good to see you.", said Gaara stepping off the sand platform and walking over to Naruto.
"Gaara it's great to see you too, thanks for coming.", said Naruto now all smiles as he felt Gaara was more of a bother than a friend.
"Is this the girl you told me about.", said Gaara looking past Naruto at Nariko as she tried her best to look non-threatening with her face covered and in black Anbu armor with a dozen visible weapons on different parts of her body.
Naruto walked over and hugged Nariko to his side as he said, "Yes, isn't she great. Nariko this is my best friend Gaara, Gaara this is Nariko, she is my girlfriend."
With only her bright blue eyes visible but her body on clear display in her skin-tight body suit Gaara could only wonder what Naruto finds appealing in this girl.
"It is good to finally meet you, Naruto has told me much about you.", said Gaara looking for any reaction.
Turning her head and pulling back Nariko looked at Naruto's grinning face and said, "When did you have time to tell Gaara anything, you have been with me for the last year?"
"Well you see I would send a clone over to Suna every once in a while to see how Gaara was doing.", said Naruto now rubbing the back of his head.
"Why didn't you tell me?", asked a clearly upset Nariko completely forgetting about Gaara standing not ten feet away.
"It just never came up is all, I didn't think you would care.", said Naruto not understanding why she seemed mad about him staying in touch with one of his best friends.
"Didn't think I care? I care about everything you do especially if it's talking to a foreign Jonin about me!", said Nariko yelling that last part as she got in Naruto's face clearly losing control of her emotions. The last few days had broken down too many of her carefully built mental walls, add to that Ino's and Naruto's memories and she was getting to the breaking point.
"I didn't mean to upset you.", said Gaara trying to calm everybody down.
"Upset me, Upset me!", screamed out Nariko as she walked up to Gaara looking down into Gaara black rimmed bright green eyes. She never noticed before that she was a couple of inches taller than the redheaded Jinchuurki from Suna as she grabbed the front of Gaara's reddish-brownish body suit with long sleeves with an upright collar pulling Gaara up so they were eye to eye.
Nariko froze as she looked into Gaara's face and for the first time noticed the softer lines, high cheekbones, and the set of three earrings in each ear. Placing her hands firmly on Gaara's chest she leaned in closer and said softly.
"Does Naruto know you're a girl?", said Nariko with a rage building deep inside with the thought that Naruto had been spending an unknown amount of time with another girl.
"No, Naruto doesn't notice such things.", said Gaara as the pyramid collapsed at their back and gently pushed Naruto hundred of feet away as the sand grew into a wave around them.
Seeing the sand all around her Nariko backed off and dropped Gaara back down on her feet feeling the moving sand coil around her legs.
"I do not want to hurt someone that Naruto cares about.", said Gaara even as the sand prevented Nariko from moving as it moved up and encased her from the waist down.
"Do not force me to defend myself.", said Gaara now floating up on a cloud of sand so she was looking down at the trapped Nariko. "You are in my world Nariko-san and I am sure Naruto will forgive me eventually."
"I will not let you take Naruto from me.", said Nariko with fire in her eyes as she made plans on how best to get free.
"Take Naruto? I do not own people nor do you, he is free to do as he wishes. I am not some wide-eyed school girl chasing her crush and you need to learn to trust Naruto that he is not chasing after others.", said Gaara
Dropping her defenses Nariko thought about what Gaara had said, she spoke the hard truth as if she was twice her age.
"I have been alone for so long it's hard.", said Nariko more to herself then Gaara as the other girl dropped down to stand before her and with a small wave of her hand sent the sand away.
"We have all felt the same loneliness, it is the one thing that has drawn us all together do not use it as the reason to push us apart.", said Gaara as she walked past Nariko and headed over to Naruto as he tried his best to get a footing on the ever-shifting sand. Gaara didn't want him to hear them talk and had been randomly moving the sand up from under his feet.
"Gaara, Nariko, are you all right? What happened?.", asked Naruto as soon as Gaara came within sight crossing over the sand dune.
"Sorry Naruto, I lost control of the sand pyramid, it was a chakra training tool and I had been holding it for too long.", said Gaara telling the truth about the training but not why she had lost control of the sand pyramid.
Training, was one thing Naruto knew all about and what it was like to push oneself to the breaking point. As Nariko climbed over the dune to join them they all formed a small circle with Naruto grinning at the both of them as if being buried in sand happened all the time.
With the sun setting behind Naruto his blonde hair seemed to glow around his head with natural light to match his smile. Unknown to him both girls' hearts skipped a beat as thoughts of a very adult nature came to mind.
"You have been traveling all day, we will rest for the night before heading north.", said Gaara and with a wave of her hand created a large sand dome with a small entrance. Once everyone was inside it quickly cooled off as the sun set and the desert creatures came out of hiding and started their nightly story of life and death.
Using a small fire jutsu Nariko started a small fire in the center and Naruto pulled out some travel food of dried meats for them all to share. As they all chewed the hard meat in silence thinking about the days to come and the mission they were all on. Naruto was the first to break the silence as he pulled out a water bottle and pasted it around.
"Thanks again for joining us Gaara with your help I am sure we can save Sakura and bring her home.", said Naruto
Hearing a grunt from Nariko, Gaara looked at the other blonde before asking, "Is that the only mission we are on, or is there something else you are planning.", said Gaara handing the water bottom over to Nariko
"Naruto thinks he can talk Sasuke Uchiha into coming back to the village after he ran off to join Orochimaru.", said Nariko before drinking from the bottle and handing it back to Naruto.
"That seems unlikely, my people have told me of some of the things Sasuke has done working for Orochimaru and I do not think he deserves the honor of returning to the village.", said Gaara.
"Oh come on, Sasuke isn't that bad, Orochimaru is controlling him.", said Naruto defending what he thought was his first true friend.
"If Sasuke is being controlled then he is too weak and Orochimaru would kill him.", said Nariko digging around in her backpack to pull out her sleeping roll. The temperature had dropped quickly and she was going to need it tonight.
"He has killed or tortured villagers all in the name of training. He is not the person you remember him to be Naruto but I know you will have to see that for yourself.", said Gaara as she settled into her meditative pose she used to push back the One-Tailed Shukaku to the back of her mind so she can get some type of sleep.
With the other two clearly getting ready to sleep Naruto spread out his sleeping roll next to Nariko and seeing that talking about saving Sasuke from himself was useless at this point joined them in getting some much-needed sleep.
….
Opening one eye Nariko listened to Naruto's breathing as she slept, with her laying half on his chest with her legs tangled in her bed roll. It wasn't his fitful sleep that woke her but the movement across the sand dome as Gaara slowly stood up and leaving her gourd behind walked out into the cold night.
Trust, it was a word that had little meaning for the blonde as everyone she had trusted had turned on her at some point. Everyone that is but Naruto but tonight she learned he too had not been fully truthful with her. Was there something to worry about or was she overthinking it again as Akia sensei said so many times.
Pushing herself up and rolling over to sit on her bedroll she slipped on her sandals and with silent steps followed Gaara out into the night. She needed to know the truth even if it hurt her to the core, she had to know.
It wasn't hard finding Gaara as the smaller girl was standing at the top of a dune looking to the east as the night sky began to give way to the morning light. The colorless sky was being replaced with the glow of red and yellow as the sun started to make its entrance into the day.
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you.", said Gaara to the night air as Nariko made her way up the dune behind Gaara. She had been using all her skills to remain unnoticed but Gaara was part of the desert and moving even a grain of sand was enough to draw her attention.
Giving up her silent steps Nariko quickly walked up to stand next to Gaara looking to the east trying to think of a way to get Gaara to talk without starting a fight.
"I did not know you and Naruto were so close.", said Nariko.
"Naruto is my best friend, no really my only friend in this world.", said Gaara crossing her hands at the base of her back still not looking over to the blonde.
"He is more than a friend for me.", said Nariko squatting down to play with the sand at her feet. She wanted to yell, to scream, and didn't know why or where these feelings were coming from.
"I know, he has told me of your relationship. He cares deeply for you, more than anybody else but he does care for others. You do know that?", said Gaara showing no emotions in her voice.
"Yes I know that, he cares about everybody he meets, that is what worries me.", said Nariko standing up and finally facing Gaara who would not meet her gaze as she was watching the sun eat away the darkness.
"It is that caring that gives him strength, a strength I could not overcome and a strength I feel you are unable to match.", said Gaara giving up on the sunrise to face Nariko.
"I need to know, how do you feel about Naruto.", said Nariko cutting to the end of the conversation and bracing herself for what was to come.
"My feelings are my own but if you must know I do love him, I love him as the one that saved me from myself but you need not worry he only has eyes for you.", pausing in thought Gaara continued, "There is no need to be jealous as every woman that spends time with Naruto will fall in love with him at some point.", said Gaara having had this conversation with her sister on many a long night. Talking about boys and then men, as they grew older, was one of the only things they had in common.
"I know and that is what worries me, I can't think of living without him.", said Nariko, she knew it was strange opening up to someone that she only knew as a cold-blooded killer but the night air and the stillness of the desert seemed to pull it out of her.
"You and I are the same, but I choose to stand to the side and allow Naruto to come to me while you cling to him with all your might.", said Gaara letting her hands drop to her side before crossing them across her chest. That small movement had made Nariko jump back half a step as she waited for the sand to rise up.
"He is all I have in this or any other world.", said Nariko bracing herself.
Giving a half smile Gaara tilted her head and looked at Nariko for a long minute and said, "Then you need more friends in this world and if you are half the person Naruto says you are then I am willing to be your friend."
"What?", said Nariko, "I thought you were going to try to kill me."
Letting out a small laugh that sounded like the young girl she was Gaara said, "Now if I did that Naruto would get mad at me and I can't have that."
"But if you hurt Naruto and he comes running to me, I will not push him away,", said Gaara now sounding like the Kage she would soon become.
Knowing that if Ino was here she would hug the redhead or do some other girly thing Nariko decided to hold out her hand saying, "Then it's a deal, Friends."
As the two containers stood there holding hands Naruto walked over and said, "What did I miss?"
"Nothing.", said the two dropping their hands and stepping back as Naruto walked over to stand between them looking at the sun that had broken away from the horizon splashing colors up into the sky and along the tops of the sand dunes all around.
Smiling one of his truly bright smiles Naruto looked from one to the other before shaking his head and turning back to the sand dome to pack for the day's journey.
"What Ever Nothing was I like it.", he said as he entered the dome.
…..
Traveling on a cloud of sand wasn't as fast as demon-powered Body Flicker but it did have the benefit of not alerting every ninja within ten miles you were heading their way. At least that was what Gaara told them as she stepped onto the floating sand and waited for them to join her.
"How far before we enter Iwagakure?", asked Nariko as she made sure to tie her hair into a bun under her head scarf. Now that the mission was entering enemy territory she pulled in her emotions and was once again the root agent her old village feared the most.
"The sand sea will give way to the lowland hills by mid-afternoon. At that point we will travel on foot to avoid any roaming patrols.", said Gaara having probed the Iwagakure defenses many times over the past couple of months.
Hearing that he was going to be spending the next 4 to 5 hours on this floating sand box Naruto sat down behind the two girls to watch the endless sand go flying by. He felt something was off this morning as Nariko and Gaara refused to talk about what they had been doing so early this morning.
Looking back over her shoulder Nariko could see Naruto was staring blindly off into the distance like he was deep in thought. Having a quiet Naruto was in itself a strange experience one that she could not let go without asking.
"What you thinking about?", ask Nariko as she moved back a step and joined Naruto by sitting on the sand.
"Oh, nothing.", said Naruto
Not taking that as a real answer Nariko said, "Come on, you can tell me."
Turning his head to stare into the eyes of his blonde girlfriend Naruto was at a loss as he had not been thinking about anything but the moving sand beneath them.
"No really, I wasn't thinking about anything.", said Naruto giving her a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Fine, but we are going to talk about this later.", said Nariko getting up to join Gaara once again.
'Females are strange', said Kurama in the back of Naruto's head.
'You're telling me, what is up with her', thought back Naruto.
'I think Nariko figured out Gaara's little game.', said Kurama
'Game, what game is Gaara playing?', asked Naruto looking at the back of Gaara as they seemed to increase their speed.
'You are helpless', said Kurama as he laid down in his cage and covered his eyes with one of his tails.
Knowing he wasn't going to get anything more out of the fox Naruto stared back out into the rolling sand until some time later mountains appeared to spring up out of nowhere. It took another hour before Gaara lowered them to the ground and they walked into the lowland hills.
"Which way is the sound base.", asked Nariko waiting for Naruto to take the lead. He had told her his clone had explored all of the southern hills and mountains of Iwagakure.
Taking his time to look around before jogging up to the top of one of the nearby hills he waved them over and pointed to the northwest.
"It's that way about another day travel if we don't use the body flicker.", said Naruto knowing that wasn't an option but hoping he was wrong.
Without a word, Gaara walked past him and headed toward the mountain he had pointed out. Getting the point he quickly moved ahead to take the lead and they all started the long hike into Iwagakure.
Many hours later with darkness overtaking them, they found themselves in a small valley that would lead them up into the mountains and the sound base.
"This screams trap to me.", said Gaara looking at the very tall cliffs on both sides of the valley and the small river at the base running straight through the valley.
"We know Sakura was bait and this is clearly the trap.", agreed Nariko
"Even I can see this would be the place for a trap and as Kakashi Sensei says we need to look underneath the underneath.", with that said Naruto creates three clones and sends them into the valley to find the trap or at least report back if they found nothing.
Crawling back down from the ridge the three waited behind some trees for the clones to report back.
"We could just walk down there, I am sure the three of us can take whatever is waiting for us.", said Gaara knowing that her defenses were impregnable to all but the most powerful S-rank shinobi.
"Then what, we find Sakura's headless body hanging from the wall with a note from Sasuke on how we are all losers.", said Nariko, they were both surprised when Naruto stood up and just walked away. He was clearly upset at the idea, now was it a dead Sakura or that Sasuke would do such a thing was unclear.
As Nariko started to get up and find out where Naruto went Gaara pulled her back down saying. "Sometimes it's best to just let him think and figure it out on his own."
"You sound like you've seen this before", shot back Nariko getting ready to get up again.
"Yes I have,", said Gaara pinning Nariko down with her words alone.
Seeing Nariko looking at her Gaara said, "We have talked many times about his failure to bring Sasuke back to the valley of the end. He sees it as his greatest failure not as a shinobi but as a friend. I truly think that if it wasn't for you he would have run off after Sasuke as soon as he could."
"He cares that much for that bastard?", asked Nariko shaking her head at the idea. When they had talked about Sasuke she had tried her best to get Naruto to see him for what he had turned into. It was clear she should have been listening to what Naruto thought about Sasuke and why he was so important.
"What is it about that guy that drives Naruto so much.", asked Nariko figuring that someone who talks as little as Gaara would have been the perfect person for Naruto to open up to as he hated silence and would fill the void with his own stories.
Gaara looked into the distance as if trying to find the words in the night sky. At some point, she turned her head away from the stars and looked over at Nariko.
"As Naruto is my savior, Sasuke in many ways is Naruto's. That year they spent together doing all those D-rank missions built a bond between them and then the battle on the bridge where Sasuke saved Naruto's life. It joined them somehow, so when Sasuke ran not just from the village but from Naruto he refused to allow that bond to be broken." said Gaara
Reaching down and picking up a rock Gaara holds it in the palm of her hand and then slowly she reduced it down to sand using only her chakra before dropping the newly made sand in Nariko's lap.
"Just as that rock seemed real so does the bond between those two but as with the rock, it can be broken into pieces. Naruto's fear is that if that is true then all bonds can be broken.", said Gaara looking into the bright blue eyes of the blonde next to her.
"So in Naruto's mind if he can lose Sasuke then he could lose anybody.", said Nariko hoping she had gotten Gaara's point.
Standing up and pulling Nariko to her feet Gaara gave a little half smile before walking off in the direction Naruto had gone, "Losing you would break him but if that happens I will be there to pick up the pieces and hold him whole once again, never forget that.", said Gaara as she quickened her pass feeling a spike in chakra just over the next hill leading to the valley below.
'I will never lose Naruto', thought Nariko as she started to jog to keep up with Gaara. Coming over the hilltop they found Naruto in a taijutsu fight with four sound shinobi, two were already on the ground unmoving and the last two were trying to run away.
Without even a conscious thought Nariko threw a shuriken as hard as she could hitting the running sound shinobi in the back of his head jerking him forward and causing him to drop dead on his next step. Checking for the were-abouts of the other one she found that Gaara had reduced him to pieces just as she had the rock not moments ago.
Watching the sand draw back into the gourd Nariko realized that Gaara was still the merciless killer she remembers. Walking up to Naruto she checked him for any wounds and noticed that the two on the ground were still alive.
"What happen?", asked Nariko but keeping an eye on Gaara more than anyone else.
"I was just, you know walking trying to clear my head when I came around those trees I kind of walked into their camp.", said Naruto
Looking around the two women could see the makings of a shinobi camp with a small fire pit and some bed rolls off to the side. Seems this sound team wasn't expecting visitors as they hadn't set any traps or even a lookout.
Nariko moved to the two remaining sound shinobi and tied them up with their own tent ropes before they had a chance to move. Using a shirt from one of the there travel bags she gagged them and dragged them over to a tree.
"What are you planning on doing?", asked Naruto coming up behind her as Gaara burred the other two sound ninja so they didn't attract any wild animals or worst other sound teams that might be in the area.
"I am going to give them a choice they didn't give Ino.", said Nariko pushing Naruto back with her words as the reality of what she said hit him. The image of Ino's broken and bleeding body flashed before his eyes and he understood what Nariko meant.
Walking away Naruto went looking for Gaara. Finding 'him' at the top of the ridge looking back down into the valley Naruto stood beside his best friend and joined him in silence.
"I don't understand women at all.", said Naruto out of the blue
"What do you mean.", said Gaara with one raised eyebrow but no other outward sign she felt anything.
"You know, half the time I can't figure out what she is thinking and the other half I am wrong.", said Naruto
"I just wish women were as straightforward as us guys is all, at least then I wouldn't have to wonder what was going to happen next.", said Naruto turning to face Gaara as she watched the valley below.
"Have you ever thought it could just be you.", said Gaara still not looking at Naruto
"What do you mean?", asked Naruto waving his hands as if trying to get Gaara to notice how upset he was.
"Nariko is a shinobi, she acts like one, and from what you have told me she is a very skilled one, you my friend are the hard one to understand.", said Gaara finally turning her head slightly toward Naruto before looking back at the valley.
"It's just I don't like killing people for no reason, what is hard to understand about that.", said Naruto raising his voice and forcing Gaara to fully face him.
"You are a ninja, a powerful one at that, I know you have killed before and unless you are going to become a monk you will kill again. Why try to shame Nariko for doing what she is trained to do.", said Gaara now showing more emotion than Naruto had seen in him since there grand fight nearly two years ago.
"Sorry, I didn't know you felt so strongly about this.", said Naruto calming down and lowering his voice
Taking a step closer Gaara looked up at Naruto until she was able to lock eyes with him, once she knew she had his full attention on her, Gaara said, "I have done the same things, maybe many times worst. You tell me you love her but if you feel this way about her, what then do you think of me."
The look of shock on Naruto's face was all the confirmation Gaara needed, Naruto understood finally that he had been judging his close friends to a standard that he himself could not reach.
"I think of you as my best friend, nothing else, I didn't mean to make you mad.", said Naruto
Letting out a grunt Gaara turned and walked away saying, "If I was mad you would be covered in sand."
Figuring he had done enough damage to his relationships with his two closes friends Naruto found a spot near a large bolder to sit and lean back against. Maybe just maybe he should think about a plan for what he wanted to do to bring about peace.
Sometime later as the moon came and went from behind the mountains Nariko came over and sat next to him almost but not quite touching his shoulder. They sat together listening to the nightlife all around them and the forest creatures going about their lives.
"Gaara said you are an idiot, I said most of the time you are.", said Nariko breaking the somber mood with her soft voice.
"Only most of the time, so sometimes I am not an idiot.", joked Naruto
Pushing against his shoulder with hers Nariko said, "Don't push your luck."
Not wanting to find out what she meant by that and done thinking about what he can or can't do about any of this Naruto turned to the one thing he knew they all could agree on, the mission.
"Did you learn anything.", ask Naruto
"They have ten teams in the valley and they dammed up the river, once we attach word will be sent to break the dam flooding the valley.", said Nariko
"They do know we can walk on water don't they.", half-joked Naruto finding it funny
"The fox is a fire nature and Gaara's sand is weak against water. Water is a very good conduit for sound so we will be at a disadvantage.", said Nariko sounding like a cold emotionless root member.
"how do they know Gaara is even here.", asked Naruto
"The Hokage has Ino working in T&A searching for spies for a reason. I figure sound knew we were on our way the second we were at the gate.", said Nariko.
"Do you have a plan?", asked Naruto as he tried to think of a way around the valley
"Going around the valley will take days and they said the other routes have their own traps, if we run along the edge of the valley the water will pull down the sides and we will get pulled along with the landslides.
Going down the middle we spring the trap and will have to take the full force of the wave.", said Nariko outlining her thoughts.
"None of that sounds very good does it.", said Naruto with his trademark smile as he thought of an idea.
Standing up he pulled Nariko to her feet and turned back in the direction Gaara had gone. Finding Gaara and two still-alive sound shinobi Naruto grinned even brighter as he joined Gaara at the small fire she was sitting at.
"Let's get some sleep and then we can move out first thing in the morning before these guys are missed.", said Naruto finding their bed rolls and spreading them out.
"You have a plan.", said Gaara still not willing to look at Naruto
"I think so but let me sleep on it and we can talk about it in the morning.", said Naruto seeing Gaara wasn't moving from the fire and knowing Gaara still doesn't sleep most nights let him stand watcher as the two blondes tried to get at least a few hours of sleep.
….
As the three Jinchūriki walked openly down into the valley and started following the river bed up the middle Gaara looked over at Naruto.
"So this is your plan, you know you're an idiot right,", said Gaara not bothering to even keep his voice down.
"It will work, don't worry about it.", said Naruto hopping from one stone to the other like he was a child playing on the river shore. If it wasn't for the fact that the river had almost no water at its base this would be a nice morning stroll.
Leading from ten steps behind Nariko kicked more of the rocks out of her way and then stepped over them, she couldn't take it anymore and yell out.
"Dam, Gaara is right you are an idiot if you think this is going to work.", yelled out Nariko letting every sound shinobi in the area know they are coming as her voice echoed off the tall valley walls it seemed to grow stronger as if alerting the whole valley of there presence.
After two more miles, they reached the halfway point when four teams of sound shinobi seemed to pop out of the ground and surround them pointing an array of strange deceives that were grafted onto their bodies making them look like half man half machines.
"About time you guys showed up.". said Naruto bracing himself for what was to come.
"I am Shadora leader of the Sound forces, we have trained for years to defeat you. You do not stand a ….", yelled out Shadora as Gaara who had been standing ten steps to the back of Naruto came running up. Using one of the many stones in the nearly dried-out river bed she launched herself up high into the air and with much grace spun around in the air catching all the eyes of the men below.
"Sonic shurikens.", said Gaara sending out four wind chakra-infused shurikens at hyper-sonic speeds at what she assumed were the leaders of the four teams surrounding them.
As Gaara did a three-point landing in-front of Naruto with her left leg sprayed out for show Shadora seemed to blink a couple of times as a small line of blood ran down his face. The shuriken had hit his head in the center of the forehead and exited the back of his head in an explosion of blood and brains.
As all the sound shinobi watched the four squad leaders all fell on their faces each displaying a tell tail hole in the back of there heads. Gaara's aim was perfect and matched the small grime smile on her face.
"Why you bastards, you're going to pay for this.", yelled out one of the sound shinobi as they all raised their strange weapons at the three-leaf ninja. Not waiting to see what was going to happen Naruto pulled out a Kunai with ninja wire attached to the end and threw it as hard as he could off to the side missing the sound ninja on the end by half a dozen feet but causing all of them to duck down before standing back up and laughing at his poor aim.
With all the sound looking at him Naruto grabbed the spool of wire and stopped it from unrolling and pulled it back with all his might. At the same time, Nariko came running at Gaara who cupped her hands down and threw Nariko high into the air.
'I can't believe they are this dumb.', thought Nariko as all the sound looked up at her as the flying Kunai came flying back around trailing the super thin wire that quickly cut the heads off of three more sound shinobi as the Kunai itself embedded into the back of the fourth.
At the apex of her leap, Nariko called on all her chakra and yelled out the jutsu she had been wanting to try for so very long.
"Fire of the Phoenix.", she yelled as her outraised arms became covered in a blue-white flame, and with a swipe of her aims, the flame shot out and consumed the remaining sound ninja reducing them to white ash that blew away in the small breeze.
Now completely drained of chakra Nariko looked over at the other two and said.", Now that is how it's done.", as she dropped to one knee unable to stand anymore.
The sound of a wall of water that looked to be two hundred feet tall could be heard rushing at them faster than any normal ninja could run. Watching it get closer they could see house-sized boulders and full-sized trees all mixing in the water as it seemed to be gaining speed as it rushed down the valley.
Moving to stand next to Naruto, Gaara looked at the water and said, "This worked better than I thought."
"Yeah but it's sure going to hurt.", said Naruto as the flood of water raced down the valley and slammed into them at full speed.
….
"Now that was an impressive show of skill.", said Gaara from atop the valley wall watching the water reach the end of the valley and begin to fill the whole valley floor.
"I told you Naruto's plan would work better if we used my shadow clones not his.", said Nariko as she was rubbing her head as if it was going to explode.
"God I hate using shadow clones, every time they die they give me the worst headache. I don't know how you can take dying so many times.", said Nariko looking over at Naruto who still had a shocked look on his face at how quickly Nariko's clones had killed the sound shinobi. It had to take what he would guess as 20 or 30 seconds.
"I told you before, I never remember any of their deaths.", said Naruto walking over and rubbing Nariko's back and shoulders as she squatted down, he hoped it was helping at least a little.
"So where did you learn that phoenix jutsu, I haven't seen you use that one before.", said Naruto still in awe at that last killer move.
"Kakashi Sensei taught it to me, it was one of his thousand Jutsu's he learned in the last war when he first got his Sharingan, He said he just never had enough chakra to waste on it.", said Nariko as she stood up and joined Gaara at the edge of the valley.
Looking at the wave of water as it hit the end of the valley and run back toward its source they all could see the water was full of trees and stones all rushing back and forth as if looking for someone to crush before settling back on the valley floor.
"Look at that,", said Naruto pointing to the end of the valley where they could see a hundred or more sound shinobi forming a line across the valley and then running onto the water. As they moved down the valley they each took a turn blasting a sound jutsu into the water. As they moved closer they all could see the sound jutsu was reducing the trees and stones into a fine cloudy soap as they were reduced to dust in the water.
"As I said, sound travels through the water much better than air, look at what those idiots are wasting their chakra doing.", said Nariko pointing out that the sound shinobi could do two or three of the sound jutsu before falling back to the end of the line to rest. As they watched one of the sound ninjas fell into the water to be quickly reduced to a red stain in the water as his compatriots didn't stop for a second.
Stepping off the cliff Naruto said, "I guess I need to go down there and tell them to stop wasting their chakra and just give up." but before he could take more than two steps a whip of sand reached out and pulled him back. As Gaara looked up at him and then over to Nariko Gaara said, "I see what you mean, he is hopeless."
With that Gaara dropped the sand from around Naruto and forming a sand cloud jumped on it and floated down to land behind the sound shinobi as they worked there way down the valley still standing on the water.
"Come on let's get moving, Gaara can take care of those guys. We have to go save Sakura remember.", said Nariko pulling Naruto away from the cliff's edge and running towards the sound base. She knew what Gaara was going to do, it was going to be quick but very very bloody and she didn't want Naruto to see Gaara do what she was trained to be, a red-headed killing machine.
At the end of the valley, they found the sound base. Unlike every other base they had found in fire country this base was an old abandoned Iwagakure stronghold that looked more like a mountain carved to look like a castle. With tall spires ending in guard towers and a wall around a central courtyard as if they expected some wagon train to find its way up over mountain passes that no horse could ever hope to walk.
"That is the place, my clone was able to get over the wall during a storm, Sakura is deep underground in some dungeon.", said Naruto as they both lay on their stomachs looking over the fortress. The walls had guards walking back and forth but not as many as they should cover such a great length of the wall. Clearly, they had sent most of their forces down into the valley never to return.
"I don't get it, if Sasuke wants to kill you so badly why send so many of his men to stop us?", said Nariko thinking out loud as she tried to come up with a plan that didn't involve killing Naruto one time friend. It was going to be hard, really hard but she knew he would be very mad if she just cut the Uchiha's head off with a wire.
"Sasuke doesn't want anybody to get in his way is what I think so he sent everybody into the valley.", said Naruto realizing that Sasuke must think he could handle all those sound shinobi by himself.
"That or he wanted you to be so weak from fighting his whole army that you would be an easy kill.", said Nariko in that cold voice of hers he knew that meant she was getting mad, really mad and it was time to get moving.
With Gaara letting loose on the sound down in the valley and all the chakra they had been using to blast anything that moved in the water any chakra sensors they may have had keeping watch were overwhelmed. Reaching the bottom of the wall and climbing up was so easy Naruto joked an academy student could do it.
At the top of the wall, Nariko jumped over first and started looking around when a sleeping Ninja she had stepped over stood up Naruto did the only thing he could think of and pulled the man off the edge of the wall and let him drop. Lucky for them the scream didn't last long before he went splat on the rocks below.
"Nice work.", said Nariko as she slide down behind the retaining wall and started to work her way toward the nearest door. Naruto tried not to think about what just happen and did his best to copy her, keeping low and silent.
The door was unlocked as Nariko pushed it open and slid inside, once Naruto joined her she closed and slide the lock into place. It was best not to let the foolishness of your enemy go to waste.
"Do you remember this tower.", asked Nariko looking down the long spiraling staircase that faded away into darkness far below. Just by the sound of it, it ended way below ground.
"Not this one but there was a stairway like this that I took to the lower levels.", said Naruto joining her to look down into the darkness.
"I used a rope they had hanging in the middle to drop down to the bottom.", said Naruto looking around and finding a coiled-up rope that looked to be about 2 inches around that he quickly hooked to the steel ring in the middle of the ceiling, then letting it drop down it fell into the darkness far below. He knew they used it to pull up supplies so they didn't have to carry them up the stairs having watched the process from the shadows.
Naruto decided to go first leaping onto the rope and sliding down using chakra on his hands to slow down his descent, he was able to count fifteen floors before it was too dark to see. Reaching the end of the rope and hitting the hard floor was a shock as it was totally unexpected.
Naruto decided to stand at the end of the rope so that Nariko would land on him and not the floor but she stopped right as her foot touched his shoulder and she jumped down to stand next to him.
"How did you know.", asked Naruto as she moved over and used a small campfire jutsu to light a touch that was laying on the floor. It didn't burn very well as it was old and used but it was better than nothing as they moved through the only door.
"I felt your chakra.", said Nariko answering Naruto's question as they moved down the hallway seeing a faint light at the end.
At the end of the hall, they found an intersection lit by a scattering of touches, it lead off to three other hallways, more like dark smelly tunnels leading to the worst aspects of humanity.
"Anything look familiar?", asked Nariko looking down each tunnel but not seeing far as each curved off into the distance so she could only see about a hundred feet.
"Not really but I do know this smell.", said Naruto moving down the left-most tunnel and setting off at a jog. Nariko moved up behind him keeping pace as they came around the curve they found a new set of stairs heading deeper into the mountain.
Taking the stairs they moved deeper into the mountain until it ended at another intersection.
"What smell?", said Nariko not wanting to think about it but figuring he could somehow smell Sakura in this hell hole somehow.
"When my clone was down here he found an underground river they use as a sewer and next to that was the prison.", said Naruto not understanding why Nariko let out the breath she had been holding. Girls are strange, even super awesome ninja girls and he didn't want to think about it right now.
Finding the river was easy not just the smell but the noise it was making was deafening as it rushed out of one wall of the cave and down into a black hole on the other side. So loud in fact that they didn't even hear the guard walk up behind them.
"Who the hell are you two.", yelled out the surprised guard pointing his shaking sword at them as he backed up against the wall. It was clear he wasn't expecting anyone down here when he went down to the river to take a piss. Being a prison guard he was more of a coward than most and had spent the last couple of years avoiding any type of real training. He had seen too many of his friends die after having one of those sound devices implanted in their arms. No, he liked the safety of his deep dark hole in the ground, after all, once someone was sent down here they didn't have much fight left in them.
That is but for that pink-haired bitch, she, he avoided as much as possible and let the other guards deal with her crazy shit, he was keeping his head on his shoulders.
Stepping between the freaked-out guard and Nariko, Naruto held up his hands and said, "Hi. There is no need for that, we are just here to find our friend."
Using his index finger Naruto pushed the point of the sword away from his chest and gave the guard a big smile.
"you're here to free one of the prisoners? ", said the guard lowing his sword, he figured if they got this far he was done for anyway.
"They are all down there, good luck", and with that, he ran and jumped into the river knowing that it came out of the mountain not too far away.
Nariko gave Naruto a strange look before shaking her head and walking down the tunnel the guard had pointed at before jumping into the sewer river. They found a room down the way with three guards sitting around the table playing cards, they could see a fourth seat was empty with a hand of cards in front of it.
"Hey Koshinuke you finished pissing yet. ", yelled out one of the guards, "Funuke just finished softening up that pink bitch like the red-eyed boss ordered, I think it's safe even for you to go in and have a turn."
Looking up all the guard could see were blazing blue eyes above a black mask as Nariko rushed in, on hearing the guard's words Naruto ran down the hall kicking down doors and searching for Sakura. This time he really didn't care what happen to the guards.
It was the last door on the left and it was already half open he heard a muffled scream as he pushed the door open to find a guard using a whip on a half-naked Sakura hanging from the ceiling. The gag in her mouth stopped any words but the look in her eyes on seeing Naruto made his heart jump in his chest.
Seeing his first love beaten and bloody Naruto's world turned red as he pulled the whip from the guard's hand and wrapped it around his neck he squeezed the braided leather tighter and tighter, he ignored the guard as he clawed at his hands and face.
Dropping the dead guard to the side Naruto used wind chakra to cut the chains holding Sakura inches off the floor, as the sound of the large counterweight hitting the floor Naruto caught Sakura in his arms and lowered her partly to the floor laying her in his lap and he knelt down.
Breaking the handcuffs off he tried not to look at her nakedness but she was covered in whip marks that were bleeding slowly into his clothes.
"Sakura, Sakura, can you hear me.", said Naruto as the pink-haired girl had yet to even look up at her. Not knowing what else to do he pulled off his jacket and cover Sakura hoping the warmth would at least help a little.
Nariko burst into the room seeing the dead guard the bloody Sakura she said, "They all have to die, you know that now don't you."
Giving Nariko a quick nod Naruto picked Sakura up and held her to his chest.
"I don't know what's wrong, she isn't talking or even trying to move.", said Naruto looking down at Sakura as she lay limp in his arms. Nariko cupped Sakura's cheek and turned her head to look into her eyes fearing the worst. She had seen women who had given up on life but still breathed but what she saw wasn't total defeat in Sakura's eyes.
"She is in a Genutsu,", said Nariko turning to face Naruto, "That bastard Uchiha put her in a Genutsu."
"Can you break her out of it.", said Naruto
Nariko placed her hand on Sakura's head and sent a pulse of chakra into the girl but it didn't seem to do anything. Muddling under he breathe that the Uchiha bastard was going to die for this she placed both hands on either side of Sakura's head and with a sudden rush of chakra and raw power she used enough chakra to disrupt and ultimately shatter the genjutsu.
Sakura took a deep breath and looked at her two saviors before throwing her arms around Naruto's neck.
"I knew you would come for me, I just knew it.", she cried into his shoulder before looking up at him and then over to Nariko. "It's been so long but you haven't changed at all."
"What do you mean Sakura? You have only been gone for a month.", said Naruto
"A month? No NO, its been years, I have been counting the days.", said Sakura
"You have been in an Uchiha Genjutsu, it's only been a month.", said Nariko
"I am going to kill him, I swear I am going to kill him.", said Sakura as she wiggled free of Naruto's arms and tried her best to stand on her own. With Nariko's help, she put on Naruto's jacket to cover herself and holding onto both of them tried to walk to the door.
"Sakura, there is an energy bar Choji gave me in my jacket pocket.", said Naruto
Reaching in and pulling out the paper-wrapped bar Sakura peeled off the wrapping and ate the bar choking on it some as she tried to swallow it without chewing. As the Akimichi special formula flooded her body with energy she shook free of both helping hands and give Naruto a grin.
"My god I feel like I can left up this mountain.", said Sakura, as she seemed to glow with an internal light, then looking down at herself she opened Naruto's jacket not caring who could see her as they all watched the many cuts all sealing up and faded away, then her body seemed to inflate as all the visible bones were hidden behind a layer of muscle and fat as the Akimichi energy bar did its work.
"I guess it has been only a month, they didn't grow at all,", joked Sakura as they all stared at her naked chest before she closed the jacket.
"Sorry.", said a red-faced Naruto expecting a beating from Sakura but the pink-haired girl just grinned some more and turned to walk out of this prison cell for the last time.
Leaving the nightmare behind Sakura walked down the hall only pausing briefly to look at the three dead guards before moving on. Naruto moved ahead to take the lead and they backtracked all the way to the rope hanging at the bottom of the winding staircase at the base of the tower.
"It can't be this easy.", said Sakura expecting or hoping to fight her way to freedom.
Starting up the stairs Nariko said, "We have a long ways to go and I am not so sure how long the Akimichi energy bar will last."
With those words ringing in her ears Sakura ran up the stairs with both of her heroes running to keep up. At the top of the tower, Nariko unlocked the door and slowly opened it to look out seeing it was still daylight with the noonday sun beating down on the sound base.
"I hate this but we can't wait for nightfall to make a run for it. ", said Nariko turning back to the others as they waited for her to come up with a plan.
"I have an idea, why don't we just run down the wall and head into the valley, Gaara should be done with the sound shinobi by now.", said Naruto, thinking he should get both of these girls away from Sasuke before someone gets hurt or worst killed in some useless fight. He would come back later to save his first friend and prove to the world that bonds of friendship are stronger than any feelings of hate.
"You brought Gaara with you?", said Sakura now seeing Naruto in a new light, she had no idea that he cared so much that he would call on that lunatic for help.
"Naruto has some interesting friends,", said Nariko agreeing with Sakura's unspoken statement.
Turning back to the door Nariko said, "Keep low and follow me, once we get to the outer wall we will head down."
Moving slow and low they ran bent over the so they stayed below the inter wall when out of nowhere a hundred-foot long three-foot wide snake burst through the wall and wraps around Sakura lifting her high into the air.
"Now I have you Naruto it's time to DIE!", screamed out Sasuke from the courtyard below, having spotted Naruto's orange jacket moving over the outer wall he was sure he had Naruto this time.
Sakura wigged her head free of one of the snakes coils and with a scream worthy of a demigod released one of her sealless jutsu causing a matrix of chakra strings to form all around her slicing the snake into a thousand pieces before it turned to smoke and returning its dead body to the snake realm.
Landing on her feet in front of Sasuke she glared at him sending more chakra strings flying at him with a wave of her hand.
"Time for you to die you traitor.", yelled out Sakura in her righteous fury
Jumping back Sasuke used his sword to beat back the chakra strings only to find his sword cut to pieces as the Akimichi-fueled Sakura was not to be taken lightly. It quickly turned into a running battle as he did his best to avoid all the chakra strings as she blindly ran at him. Finding the wall at his back he made his clan's signature hand sign.
"Great Fireball!", yelled out Sasuke sending a wall of fire at Sakura as he turned and ran up the wall.
Unable to stop or even dodge the oncoming fire Sakura braced herself when a chakra-covered Naruto appeared next to her and wrapping her in his arms used a kyubbi powered body-flicker to take her back to the top of the ruined wall.
As they turned back to the courtyard they could see Nariko and Sasuke in a taijutsu match on the other side. They seemed evenly matched as Sasuke was using the full power of the Sharingan to avoid or copy her moves as needed.
"Let go dammit, I got to kill him for what he did to me.", said Sakura as she forced her way out of Naruto's arms and started to run around the outer wall to get to Sasuke only to run straight into what was left of the sound forces.
"Oh this isn't good.", said Naruto to himself looking from one to the other girl not sure who needs his help more. When body parts started flying off the wall all around Sakura as she let loose another one of her righteous screams Naruto jumped into the courtyard heading for Sasuke. Sakura could take care of herself it seems, he had to do something before one of his precious people got hurt.
"Sasuke you bastard, I am down here.", yelled out Naruto getting his one-time friend's attention. Using one of his most powerful Genutsu to send Nariko chasing after an imaginary foe Sasuke jumped down to face Naruto man to man.
"It's just you and me now Naruto and I am not holding back.", said Sasuke as he formed a Chidori and started to run at full speed at Naruto aiming for his heart.
Forming a Rasengan Naruto ran at Sasuke saying. "We don't have to do this Sasuke but I am not letting you hurt any more people."
Breaking out of the Genutsu Nariko ran to the edge of the wall to look down just as Sakura reached her side they both could do nothing but watch as the two one-time friends ran headlong at each other with their most powerful jutsu.
"This isn't good.", said Nariko having seen the effect these two jutsu had on the fabric of the universe. 'At least this time Naruto isn't using the power of the Kyuubi, she thought just as Naruto lit up with a red cloak with four red tails behind him.
"No! He is mine.", yelled out Sakura as she sent one lone chakra string shooting down to wrap around Sasuke's leg just as the two jutsu smashed into each other at full force.
At first, it was a blinding light that quickly turned into a growing black ball of nothingness. Sakura had pulled as hard as she could on her chakra string to only be rewarded with Sasuke's leg she had cut off above the knee. Dropping the bloody piece of flesh she went to say something to Nariko but the blond girl seemed to have lost her mind as she jumped on top of the knee wall and covered herself in red Chakra.
"Naruto!", screamed out Nariko as she launched herself off the wall into the heart of the black ball of chakra determined to save Naruto or die trying.
Not willing to leave her teammates to their fate Sakura backs up on the wall and taking a running start jumps off into the void to land on top of the chakra ball to quickly join her team in the black nothingness.
….
At this point, we have one of three options and I need my wonderful readers' feedback on where to take this.
1. they all die, the end ;-)
2. They stay in Naruto's world but somebody crosses over from Nariko's world
3. they end up in Nariko's world and have to find a way back.