I think on it again, death doesn't frighten me. But what truly frightens me is the fact that I may never be able to touch you again. That truly scares me…

Sasuke glanced at his arm, watching the fingers twitch as they healed over again, leaving no scar behind. He should not have doubted the ability of the blonde ninja. This brought his attention to the young woman asleep beside him, she had come to him voluntarily and this time he did not turn away. But she had betrayed Naruto to be sleeping beside him. Something had happened to them all and he could barely remember when they had all been friends. Now it was a relationship of necessity. He needed her… she wanted him.

"What are you thinking of?" Her voice had changed much since he had last truly seen her. It had matured, aged and saddened.

"Of you…"

Sakura sat up slowly, wrapping her arms around his waist, her head pressed against his back, "I'm here…I'll be here forever."

"I know… I know."

"Why won't you come back with us!" Naruto was screaming at him, hysterical, his hands clenched tightly, "Stop being an idiot Sasuke and come home."

Sasuke chuckled, threw his head back and laughed at him, "You can't be serious, you did not come all this way to find me just to say those petty words again. It's been what… three years Naruto? I thought perhaps you had grown up and lost all that silly hoping of yours." He turned his attention to the young woman beside him, "Sakura… it's nice to see you too."

Sakura flinched, but her heart soared at the same time, he had not forgotten her…

"Would you still be with me if I asked you Sakura?"

"Sasuke…."

"Don't listen to him Sakura, he's still got a few nuts lose in his head. I'm going to beat some sense into him then we can take him back."

They had spent the last three years tracking Sasuke down, only to have found that he had personally taken care of Orochimaru, attained immense power and faced them now, no remorse in his eyes.

"I told my brother once you know…. That I would attain power without murdering my best friend… I murdered my brother instead; it left room for no compassion and even more room for power."

"If you've become so much more powerful…then why won't you just come home, didn't you accomplish what you wanted to? Didn't you defeat Itachi, isn't' that enough for you?"

"Still you talk Naruto, it isn't about that anymore… It's about becoming more powerful... the most powerful shinobi alive… and that means I have to defeat all others…including you."

Naruto awoke in a cold sweat. Sakura had betrayed him at that point. She had turned on him and chosen Sasuke… It had never been about her choosing him over Sasuke…. It had been about their friendship and she had thrown that away. He shook his head, glanced down at the scar on his arm; she had given him that…he had been forced to kill both of them…

"Naruto." He didn't turn to face Kakashi. Knowing he had been in the room all along.

"I think about it Kakashi… I think about what I could have said differently, what I could have done differently to change his mind… but I can't think of anything… I can't see it any other way…"

"The people you love can be your greatest strength or your greatest weakness… it is up to you to make that decision…"

Naruto grinned wryly, his eyes closing in thought, "Why are you here Kakashi-sensei… it can't possibly be to comfort me."

The copy ninja shrugged, walked over and held out a scroll, "It's a mission…You and Neji are to meet at the stadium, your mission will be there… Don't hesitate to kill, but be sure to observe first."

"Tell me what you see."

The com system clicked on in her ear and Yumi turned to where she knew the Hokage was sitting.

"I can see where you are sitting… Not exactly where you are sitting but I can see you, chakra against a black background."

"What color is fear to you?"

"I don't know how to say it…it's not so much seeing it as feeling it. It bursts in front of me… and tells me what it is going to do and what I can do to stop it." She stopped, turned back to face the large doors, "Who is coming and why am I here?"

"I have to know how you do what you do…it will be a test of your abilities. Do not hold back. These two can handle themselves. They will be out to kill you. I want you to treat it the same way as you did with Keno."

"A Chakra of control and strength, a Chakra of resilience and one of anger… if there are two people why are there three chakras?"

"You will see."

She nodded simply, braced herself as the doors opened.

"She's blind."

"What?" Naruto turned to face the other boy, "She's blind?"

"That's what I said Naruto…she's blind as a bat…"

"Then it will be too easy…"

"I would not underestimate her though."

"Neji." The Hokage clicked on in their ear, her voice scratchy, "I want you to watch her carefully… Naruto, I want you to fight her."

"You want me to fight a blind girl?"

"Do as I say."

Naruto shrugged, removed his ear piece and tossed it aside, "I won't fight her."

"Don't be an idiot Naruto, it's an order, you're suppose to follow orders."

Naruto did not hear him, he was running toward the girl, his arms waving in the air, "Hey, I'm not going to fight you."

But as he reached her he felt the contact of a fist, it pushed him back several feet and he found she had hit him squarely in the chest. She changed stances again, charged him and he barely dodged as her foot grazed the surface of his nose. Such speed that he could barely catch her leg as it came back for a second hit.

For a second he hesitated again and this time her foot met his leg and flipped him over. She was serious and intended on hurting him. Neji had been incorrect, she could see, how else was she doing what she did.

Yumi flinched as she flipped him over; it was one person, two chakras. One was angry and red and swelled inside the other. She did not know which one to believe, one wanted to befriend her, the other wanted to rip her throat out. It was too complicated an emotion and she only knew she could not let him too close. That other chakra could kill her, she could sense its power, and it overwhelmed her and frightened her. She tightened her fist as he got to his feet. Heard him charge her.

Neji had seen it first. The wave of chakra she released every time she charged. As though she followed its lead. What was more frightening though was that every time she struck Naruto she absorbed his energy, sucked it right up. Perhaps not in so large an amount that Naruto would miss it but enough that she could recharge, so that she could release that wave. And every time that wave hit Naruto it seemed to calculate his movement, she seemed to always know what to do. That was of course until Naruto used Kage No Bunshin. She could pick out the real one but could not sense the others until they were close enough for her to hear.

"I found her weakness Hokage." Neji turned toward the Hokage, "her Chakra wave locates Naruto but his clones can reach her, she can't see them right until they reach her, that's when she can hear them, her timing reaction is fast enough to stop a few but if Naruto keeps it up, he'll beat her easily."

Something was not right. She could feel it, he was no where near her and yet it seemed there were a thousand phantoms attacking her. She could not sense them until they were upon her. This boy was different…He could beat her if she was not careful…he could kill her if she did not learn to read him.