Fire: Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 2 of Wait for Me: Crystalline Mirage!

Sasuke: Hi.

Fire: (stares at Sasuke) …

Sasuke: (annoyed) Nani? If you have nothing to say, don't stare at me.

Fire: (turns quickly away from Sasuke) Nothing!

Sasuke: There better be more of me in this chapter.

Fire: Uh…okay.

Sasuke: Arrgh! There isn't more of me, is there!

Kakashi: (smiles) I'm in it.

Sasuke: I don't care! This is supposed to be a SasuNaru, a SasuNaru! You can't have a SasuNaru without the SASU!

Fire: (smile) Yes I can. Just watch me.

Sasuke: …

Kakashi: (taking a window out of the Big Bag of Reviews) We have a review.

Fire: Yay! (grabs the window) A review! (reads the window)

Sasuke: …I'm not going to be in the story?

Fire: Yes. This is an unusual story…but I try to make my stories unique. I know that there are a lot of other stories out there, and I'm not saying that they aren't unique because every story is unique, but I make unusual storylines. I've been writing for a very, very long time, and I've run out of plots that I haven't used already.

Sasuke: (annoyed) Fire's ancient.

Fire: I'm not!

Sasuke: Just put up the story and get to the good part about me!

Fire: Just for that, I'm going to leave you out of the story altogether!

Sasuke: What!

Kakashi: (in sensei mode) It's just an idle threat. Don't take it seriously, Sasuke.

Fire: Enjoy the second chapter, and review! I want to hear what you think, even if it's horrible and might give me a heart attack.

---------------------------

Addition to the first disclaimer: No changes except that I own the verb "to shunshin" and all subsequent conjugations (ie. I shunshin, you shunshin, he/she shunshins…etc, and shunshin-ed and shunshin-ing) and I own the Big Bag of Reviews…or at least Kakashi's holding it for me for now. That bag is seriously heavy, even when it's completely empty!

---------------------------

Chapter 2: Facets of White

Naruto had walked around for a long time before the cold got the better of him. For some reason, he didn't want to go home, or to the training area, or to the park, or back to Ichiraku Ramen. In fact, he didn't really want to go anywhere. He was afraid that he would run into Sasuke.

His irrational mind wouldn't allow the blond to think any other way. He had said such a horrible thing to the apparition...and he had thought such a horrible thing in his mind. And he knew that Sasuke could read his mind.

Sasuke knew that he didn't really want him around.

But he did. Naruto really did want him around. Naruto didn't know what he would do if Sasuke left him again.

In the middle of the miraculously empty main street that ran through Konoha, the blond chuunin stopped long enough to stare at the sky. The snow was still falling, and the cold that shivered through his body reminded him why there were so few people around. They were waiting for the snow to stop. It seemed that only he was crazy and stupid enough to walk around in the middle of such a...physically...numbing day.

Or it might just be him.

As the world suddenly spun around him, the blond clutched one of the walls of Anko's favourite dango shop. He felt like he was going to vomit, and his eyes weren't working properly. Everything was blurring into a swirl of strange shapes and colours...and for some reason, there was Sasuke's voice shouting in his ear.

"Naruto! Naruto, something's wrong! Can you hear me? It's a–"

'Tsunade-obaachan...' Naruto's own thoughts rewrote over whatever the apparition had to say. 'Ero sennin...' His mind was rambling for someone to help him. 'Kakashi-sensei...' Even as he pushed past the dark-haired boy who shouted at him with invisible words, his mind just couldn't get around the fact that Sasuke couldn't help him, not as he was at the moment. 'Sakura-chan...'

And he managed to drag his feet through the still impossibly white slush toward the familiar tower in the distance, where he knew someone might be able to help him.

Tsunade looked out at the white blanketed village. It was beautiful outside like a single crystal in a hall of light. However, it was anything but innocent, like a crystal of gaseous poison. She knew that it must be up to something. She didn't trust snow. It reminded her too much of her youth...and for some reason, she had actually managed to get through a solitary game of solitaire. That wasn't the only thing that she had won at lately...but she didn't need all this eerie good luck to tell her that something bad was going to happen. The weather was saying enough. It was only snowing in Konoha. Beyond the gates, there was only the same green forest.

This was an attack on the village.

"And as Hokage, I have to watch over everyone, and make sure that as many people survive this as possible." She wasn't too confident that they might all survive this ordeal, but she had to be optimistic...even when faced with another unlucky win on her desk.

"Have a bad feeling about the snow?" Tsunade looked at Raidou who was holding onto a new stack of books that she knew she would have to go through. She wasn't going to have time for another round of solitaire for a long time.

"Yes," she said before taking the top book with a sigh. She should have known that it would be hard to keep it from this assistant. Raidou was uncannily observant, even for a ninja. "The snow's not lifting."

Raidou looked out the window at the thickly piled snow, and nodded. He was a little worried about it too. And in more ways than one. His initial worry was covered up by layers upon layers of warm clothing but the other... "Do you think the village will be okay?"

Tsunade sighed before looking down at the pile of documents on her desk. "It'll be fine," she said before taking a quick glance out the window again. She didn't really believe it, but she wasn't going to worry everyone unnecessarily. She had to be optimistic. Optimistic! As Hokage, she had to be optimistic. "I'm sure of it."

For a moment, even Tsunade believed her own words, but it still wasn't enough to dispel all the worry in her chest...and she had quite an ample chest.

"Tsunade-obaachan..." Naruto's voice had come from the door, and when Tsunade turned from the work on her desk to look at him, she saw him leaning heavily on the doorframe. He looked at her through half-lidded frozen blue eyes, as if even his eyelids were too heavy to uphold. "What's... I feel–" He finally felt all his strength shiver from his body, and for a moment, the room spun uncontrollably...then darkness rose in sharp precision around him, encompassing him completely.

"Naruto!" Tsunade rose concernedly from her seat, but she was too far away to catch him. "Catch him!"

And for once, Tsunade was glad that she had so many assistants. She had never really thought about them before–in fact, they had been such nuisances whenever she wanted a nap that she wanted to dismiss the lot of them–but such relief came over her as she saw Genma catch Naruto before he could hit the ground that she couldn't help but be thankful that they were around.

Tsunade allowed herself a sigh of relief as she pushed herself away from her chair. "Put him in the chair," she said, but Genma was already laying the boy in the soft cushiony chair that Tsunade usually sat in. She didn't have to say it, but it made her feel as if she was doing something by just saying something. She wasn't just supposed to stand at the side as if nothing was happening. Naruto had come to her, not Raidou, or Genma. He had come to her!

The blond woman's worried hand hovered over Naruto's body, the green light of her shosen jutsu allowing her to check over his vitals. In all, he seemed okay except... 'What's this strange chakra...?'

She tapped into the strange chakra that flowed through the chakra channels. She didn't have any idea what it could be...except...

She examined the chakra again, and sure enough, it was disrupting the chakra flow to the brain. It was a genjutsu! But...she had never seen so much chakra in someone affected by genjutsu before. 'This is a genjutsu?' It was unusual. The energy felt...strange, not quite right...

"Hokage-sama?" Raidou had seen that something was wrong. The blond woman was tilting. The blond woman was wobbling. "Daijoubu?" The blond woman was shaking.

"Nani?" She snapped to attention at Raidou's concerned voice. Her mind was a little foggy, but that was...

"Hokage-sama!"

...the genjutsu. As Tsunade fell forward, her mind was only on one thing. 'The genjutsu is this strong...?' With her eyes trailed on Naruto, a whiteness came up to surround her.

"Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade didn't hear Raidou's voice, didn't feel his hands shaking her as she allowed her eyes to close.

"Hokage-sama!"

Shizune ran into the room, her hand resting on Raidou's shoulder as she came to Tsunade's side. She doubted that anyone had noticed Genma running out of the room to get her, but she was glad that he did. Tsunade and Naruto needed a medic-nin at the moment.

"Tsunade-sama!" The dark-haired woman shouted at the Hokage, but there was no response. She was about to check and see what it was that was wrong with her, but as her glowing green hand neared, she could see that Tsunade's hand was still on Naruto's body.

Shizune snapped her hand back as she realized what must have happened. For some reason, her mind wouldn't allow her to deny this. It was real. It was really happening. She had only thought that it was theory, but it was all happening.

"Raidou-san," she said slowly as an intense chill ran through her body. "Tsu–Tsunade-sama..." She couldn't even bring herself to say it. Such a powerful genjutsu user... "...what was she doing right before she collapsed?" ...couldn't possibly exist. To affect someone from a distance, through a victim to get to another person...that just wasn't possible!

"Naruto had just wandered into the room and collapsed. She was checking to see what was wrong with–" Raidou froze at the dark worried expression on Shizune's face. He couldn't bring himself to go on. All the blood had drained from her face. "Shizune-san, nan des-ka?"

As Raidou turned to look at the other assistants in the room, he could see similar expressions on all their faces, although he couldn't say as much for Genma. Nothing ever seemed to faze him.

"No one touch Tsunade-sama," Shizune said slowly after a moment, her voice croaking a little from shock. "It's a genjutsu..."

"But...we should just undo it then!" Izumo shouted from the side, losing his cool as usual. Kotetsu stood by his side, a more solid barrier against reality.

"It's a very, very powerful genjutsu." Shizune wasn't too sure if she wanted to try breaking it. 'Was that what you were trying to do when you were taken over, Tsunade-sama?' At least, she shouldn't try breaking it until she knew more about it.

Kisame was startled for a moment as he saw Itachi stagger. He never thought that it was possible for someone like him to stagger because of a jutsu. This man who had come to them when only a boy...a genius...a prodigy of Konoha...had staggered. Kisame's mind had refused to accept it.

But, sure enough, his red eyes had flickered momentarily to black before intensifying into shuriken-filled red mangekyou sharingan. For once, a cold sweat broke out on Itachi's brow, numbing Kisame's mind even more. He knew that the boy had never tried such a prolonged genjutsu before. It must be such a strain on–

"Someone's trying to break the genjutsu."

The startling sentence wouldn't have been so startling if Kisame hadn't heard it, if he hadn't realized that the words, which usually contained some form of malice, were just regular words. And the sentence was so rare, the length so long that Kisame stumbled for a moment in his half-frozen jittery state.

Itachi was trying to distract himself from the amount of chakra he was using. This attack, which usually used so little chakra, was suddenly taking up a lot more. Itachi was trying to brace himself for the drain on his body, on his stamina.

"Itachi-san!" Kisame saw Itachi falter for a moment, his entire body failing on him. The snow outside had stopped.

Itachi held up a tired hand before straightening himself. He didn't need Kisame's pitiful help. "..." Itachi dusted himself off before wandering away. He was taking a break...for now.

Kisame looked after Itachi for a moment before sitting down with a slight sigh. Itachi was a pretty dominant partner compared to others he had had before Itachi came to this organization. He had initially thought that the boy would be more submissive, but that had proved to be untrue.

He wondered if Itachi would mind if he went out to satisfy Samehada's nagging hunger.

The snow had stopped. Shizune noticed it right away, as soon as she stepped out of the Hokage tower. The sky was still grey overhead, white to reflect the white below it. But even with the village covered in unexpected, unseasonable snow–since it was unseasonable to snow in any season in Hi no Kuni–the woman could only wonder at what was happening within the tower. Tsunade and Naruto... Both were under some kind of genjutsu.

The dark-haired woman took one step forward before disorientation attacked her unexpectedly. For a moment, she couldn't distinguish up from down, and she stumbled on the slush beneath her feet.

"Shizune-senpai!" There was a blur of pink and red coming toward her.

Through her blurred vision, Shizune could faintly make out the other person's outline, but she didn't need eyes to know who it was. She had heard her voice. "Sakura...chan..." She had no idea what was wrong with her. She couldn't understand what was happening. Someone couldn't be attacking her as well, could they?

"Shizune-senpai, daijoubu?"

Shizune blinked...then blinked some more. White had filled her vision. "Sakura-chan..." Her hands roamed over the cold snow before coming to Sakura's warm hand. "Are you..." Using Sakura's hand as an anchor, her hand stretched up to Sakura's face, her fingertips pressing cautiously against the younger kunoichi's features. "...right in front of me?"

Sakura blinked for a moment before waving a hand in front of Shizune's face. "Senpai...?" But, she could see no reaction from the ANBU taisho's lightless eyes. "Can you see?"

Yes. Sakura was right in front of her!

Shizune tried very hard to make something out in this whiteness that had surrounded her, but... "No. I can't." The words came out so much calmer than she had intended. It almost sounded like she didn't care.

It took a moment before Shizune's simple words finally sank in. Sakura placed her hand on the dark-haired medic-nin's arm for a moment before Shizune suddenly grabbed hold of her. "...!" For a moment, Sakura thought that it was something she had done.

"No!" Shizune called out as she felt the pink-haired girl's chakra begin to gather around her palms. "Don't! You'll be affected too!" The genjutsu... The genjutsu! "It's a genjutsu!" This had to be because of the genjutsu. It couldn't just be a coincidence. First Tsunade-sama, then her...

Sakura quickly pulled her hand away as she realized what was going on. The huge brain behind her wide brow had clicked onto it immediately. A genjutsu... Don't touch Shizune-senpai...

Genjutsu, which worked through imposing the jutsu user's chakra on the victim's chakra system in order to disrupt the flow of chakra to the brain, wasn't something that usually worked like this. If she couldn't break the illusion simply by breaking off all chakra currents in Shizune's body by sending her own chakra through to jumpstart everything again–a simple technique which worked on most genjutsu–this must be an advance technique.

And there was nothing that Sakura could do to stop it.

Naruto blinked for a moment before looking around. The darkness that had come to greet him initially was gone. There was only intense light all around him. But he could still just make out what was there, if he squinted his eyes. This place...looked just like...

"Naruto." A familiar voice. "You're here?"

The dark head that filled the blond shinobi's vision startled Naruto for a moment, sending all the strength from his legs and landing him on the hard ground. The jinchuuriki had to stare at him. "S–Sasuke!" He couldn't believe his eyes. This wasn't just some phantom. This wasn't a figment of his imagination. This was real! Sasuke was solid! If he stared at him, he wasn't going to see right through him.

For a moment, the blond thought about throwing his arms around the Uchiha. He was so happy to see him...but he couldn't allow himself to do that. He was in such a poor state that he couldn't bring himself to rely on him. He had grown stronger, much stronger lately, but he couldn't help but feel some inadequacy. He still hadn't brought Sasuke back. That was the problem. Sasuke...

"What are you doing here?"

...was supposed to be with Orochimaru.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" Sasuke scowled at Naruto. "The question is...what are you doing sitting on this hill alone?" He held out a hand to Naruto and pulled him up. "If we don't hurry, we won't get home in time for supper."

Home? Supper? Naruto could hear the intense rambling of his heart as he took Sasuke's hand. For a moment, it didn't make any sense. What did Sasuke mean by that? They were standing here together in the middle of a Konoha summer, and that was all he had to say? What about hello? What about hi Naruto, I'm back?

Then, all his memory flooded into his mind. Sasuke and he were living together...in Sasuke's house on the Uchiha estate, the house that he had abandoned after the massacre. He had decided that it wasn't too painful to live there, as long as Naruto was there with him. And it was cheaper than living in that apartment he has been living in for almost four years.

Sasuke had just made supper...and he had come out to get him from his place atop his new hill...as usual. He did that every day since Naruto found this place. Even as Naruto looked around, he could see that this wasn't the same hill on which he used to sit. This was a different place...closer to his new home.

"Yeah," Naruto said with a faint smile at Sasuke before following him back to his house. But, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should be remembering something. "I'm coming." Something important...

But he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind and walked after Sasuke before he could lose sight of him.

End Chapter 2

---------------------------

Fire's English tidbits for those who care:

This might get a little confusing, but try to follow. I'm attempting to explain something very important for the aspiring writers. I realized that one of the problems that a lot of people out there have is that they can't find anything to write for their stories. It's not that they have no ideas, it's just that they can't describe it, and sometimes I have that problem too. I actually play a lot of games on my computer to clear my head and that's why I listen to a lot of music on my computer too. But in the end, the answer is to just write down and describe everything in your mind. You have five senses, and so does your character. If Naruto smells something unusual, describe the smell. If Naruto hears something unusual, describe the sound. I know that it's very tempting to just say that it's an unusual thing that Naruto smelled or heard, but your character should be aware of his world the same way you're aware of yours. That should fill up a few pages in your story. Remember that your character is a real, living, breathing person. All you're doing is chronicling his life. Sorry if I sound a little schizophrenic. A writer has to be a little schizophrenic in order to write a good story.

Fire's babbling:

Sasuke: Arrgh! I can't believe you actually did that!

Fire: (smiling) Did what?

Sasuke: (smoldering anger) You know what you did.

Fire: (with head shaking back and forth) Uh…no I don't.

Sasuke: (shouting) Itachi's in this more than I am! Again!

Itachi: (annoyed) Didn't we go through his last chapter?

Fire: We're just giving the people what they want.

Sasuke: They want me and Naruto! They don't want such an ugly bastard!

Itachi: Ugly…? (sharingan flickers momentarily to mangekyou sharingan before settling to regular sharingan again)

Naruto: Waah! What's going on? I'm unconscious!

Sasuke: Yes, now let's go home for some "dinner."

Naruto: What's with those quotation marks?

Sasuke: What quotation marks?

Naruto: (pointing frantically) Those quotation marks!

Itachi: …I'm leaving. (turns around and shunshins away)

Fire: Review! Tell me what you think. See you next chapter!

---------------------------