Tsunande leaned back heavily in her chair and sighed, rubbing a hand over her eyes. Jiraiya tossed his pen down and grinned broadly, snapping the old book closed.
"Ah! We've finally got it!" he crowed.
"Are you prepared to perform that jitsu at any moment?" she lifted a blond eyebrow wearily. "We don't exactly know what's going to happen or when they'll get back…"
"All I needed was the reference to the jitsu itself, to find out if it had any side effects," Jiraiya assured, glancing over his notes. "The full seal will most-likely take the users life, but, a mock-up or a replacement shouldn't take more than just their chakra. After I do this, with one or two days of full rest, I'll be perfectly alright."
"And what about the effects to Naruto and Sasuke?" she prodded.
"It won't hurt Naruto, since it's just replacing what's already been there. Sasuke, though…"
Tsunande heard the verbal doubt: "Jiraiya. We can't let anything happen to either of them."
The silver-haired man rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, glancing up at his long-time friend sheepishly. "…if Sasuke doesn't get out of Naruto's body completely before the jitsu is performed, he'll never be whole unless we re-release the seal, which would probably kill Naruto," he explained after a pause.
"So, we run the risk of either a soul-less Sasuke or a dead Naruto."
Jiraiya winced slightly at the hokage's lack of subtlety: "Not looking very good, is it?"
"There's no room for error. What or who else would you possibly need to ensure one hundred percent success?"
"My best bet would be someone who can read chakra wavelengths, so they can make sure Sasuke's completely out of Naruto's body."
Tsunande rose. "I'll go get her, then," she strode out the door.
They ran down the hall, side-by-side. The walls and ceiling vibrated violently with every roar that emanated from the inner chamber that lay ahead.
"So, what's the plan then?" Sasuke glanced over at his partner.
"You know I was never one for plans," Naruto rolled his eyes.
"We can't just fight this thing with our bare hands, you know."
"Well…you can't."
"Oh, thanks."
"Look, for some reason, I can actually harm the Kyuubi! I don't know why!"
"Then shouldn't we use that to our advantage?"
"But…" his eyes grew dark with hopelessness, "I'm running low on chakra. And I have to…" His cheeks suddenly reddened and his eyes flashed; he was back to his bold and annoying self. "Nevermind. I'll do it, all by myself." Sasuke suddenly let out a frustrated cry and stopped running, grabbing Naruto's wrist before the other boy could fly past. The blond yanked to a stop, stumbled, and looked back at his friend angrily. "Hey! What the hell, Sasuke?"
"You're not alone," the black-haired man said harshly, clamping his hand harder on the other's wrist. "Stop talking like no one's ever around to help you!"
"No one is around to--" Sasuke gave him a hard shake. "Ow! Hey!"
"Look at me, Naruto," the Uchiha commanded gruffly, and Naruto grudgingly obliged. Blue eyes met black ones in the torch-lit darkness around them. "I know I wasn't there a lot in the past, but… I want it to be different now. I want to help you. I want to--"
"Protect you," Naruto cut him off quietly and Sasuke slowly released his wrist. "I just want to protect you too, Sasuke. That's all." His blue eyes looked so sad and defenseless. "I don't know what will happen when I--we--contain the Kyuubi again. And I don't want you to get hurt or…" he gulped. "Or worse."
"You already protected me, remember?" Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and gave the other man a scowl. "You got impaled like a dumbass."
"A dumb--"
"I'm not going to die that easily, Naruto," he explained in a softer tone. "I still have something I must do."
"I thought you already killed your brother," the blond looked confused. Sasuke rolled his eyes in exasperation and reached over with one hand, taking Naruto's.
"I still have a job to do," he murmured, looking away from the inquiring blue eyes. "I promised you, that when you became hokage, I would become captain of the Anbu squad so I could…protect you."
"You…were serious?" Naruto gaped and Sasuke felt his face going hot.
"No, I only make promises to shut idiots like you up," he grunted.
"…Hey, Sasuke?"
"Nn?"
"I… Nevermind."
"Oh hell no," Sasuke dropped Naruto's hand and glared at him. "Tell me. Now."
"I'll tell you after we re-seal the Kyuubi," the other man turned back in the direction they were supposed to be going. "Deal?"
Sasuke grunted. "Deal. But don't back out of this one; I'll make you tell me, one way or another."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. I've found I can be very convincing."
"How so?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"…Maybe I would."
Sasuke--not expecting this--groped in silent shock for something to say. Naruto just grinned winningly at him and broke into a run and down the hall once more. Blinking stupidly, Sasuke followed him toward the end: to Kyuubi's den.
Hyuuga Hinata watched the three closely, her eyebrows drawn together in concentration. "It's faint," she said in her quiet voice, "but Sasuke and Naruto's individual chakra auras just activated."
"Does that mean they're fighting?" Jiraiya asked her.
"No; it'll probably be visible to us when they begin fighting the Kyuubi," Tsunande shook her head. "Any other explanation, Hinata?"
The pale, dark-haired woman shook her head. "Perhaps something is invoking emotional responses from them," she suggested. "Chakra acts up when one is experiencing emotions."
"Ah…ha," Tsunande lifted an eyebrow, hiding a grin. Abruptly, like colored flames, a blue light flickered to life around Sasuke's body, and a yellow one rose about Naruto's. Hinata tensed.
"It's starting," she stated simply.
Tsunande looked over at Jiraiya. "I'm counting on you…" she mumbled. Her friend gave her a reassuring wink, his warm smile calming her too-frazzled nerves.
"You know me. I'll make it work."
Hollow echoes of water underfoot tapped maddeningly as thousands of dark-haired shinobi darted across the length of the chamber and dodged the nine flailing, orange tails. A super-sonic roar rumbled the very core of the room--Naruto's inner mind--and sent a few of the Sasuke-bunshin flying backwards. In several poofs of smoke, they were gone, and at least a dozen more replaced them. The Kyuubi Kitsune roared in agitation, swinging its tails wildly. Far below, in the shadow of the hallway, Naruto concentrated and beside him, Sasuke performed various hand-seals. He clasped his hands together in the tiger seal, watched Naruto do the same, and then heard the clap of thousands of other pairs of hands following suit. The plan was working, so far so good. But the shadow-clone technique was exhaustive, and Sasuke couldn't give Naruto anymore without passing out. Their knees were shaking, sweat was rolling down their faces, their arms were trembling, their hands were cramping, but still…
"Almost there," Naruto grunted, his brow creasing even more. Ten more Sasuke-bunshin jumped into the fray beyond. The Kyuubi swatted at them all, spitting fire and making horrible wind storms with it's tails. The ground shook continuously, making it hard to stay steady. All they needed was exactly nine strategically-placed bunshin; all the rest were a distraction.
"Naruto, I don't think I'll be able to perform it…" Sasuke sighed heavily, his hands stumbling in their performance of the next seal. He muttered a curse under his breath.
"Do you think…Sakura could help us…?" the blond winced, as just standing was already a huge task, much less talking.
"I don't--ah!" Sasuke felt his strength returning, and beside him, Naruto gave a surprised gasp.
Hinata turned her gaze to Sakura just moments before a brilliant green aura sprung up around her body. A small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth: "She heard them…"
The two friends looked over at one another.
"I guess she can after all," Sasuke grinned.
"Good!" Naruto grinned back. "Let's end this!"
"Right," Sasuke nodded. His hands flew now: repetitive seals he had seen only twice in his life--and once when he was very young. Back, on his first mission ever, with Naruto. He pushed the memories aside and his eyes snapped shut as his hands clasped together in the final seal, the dragon.
"Now!" Naruto dispelled all his bunshin save for nine which stood in a circle around a confused-looking demon fox.
"Suiryuudan no jitsu!" Sasuke and Naruto and the nine clones screamed out into the darkness. The water on the chamber floor swirled up violently in ten spinning vortexes around the Kyuubi, reared up, and formed into tangible shapes of translucent dragons. The ten jitsus wrapped quickly around each of the nine tails and the largest--the real Sasuke's--gripped the fox's body. Sasuke whirled on Naruto. "Go!"
He didn't need to be prompted. There was already a huge, spiraling mass of blue and yellow and greenish chakra in the palm of his right hand. He ran into the chamber, drawing the hand back, the energy swirling hungrily around him, looking for release. He screamed loudly, almost as loud as the Kyuubi's indignant roars, and leapt up into the air, aiming for the solid chest that lay exposed.
"RASENGAN!"
The water dragons evaporated in the heat that exploded up around Naruto and the Kyuubi. Sasuke stumbled as the nine bunshin disappeared and had to shield his eyes when the Rasengan connected. He briefly remembered when that attack had been turned on him, and involuntarily flinched.
"Naruto!" he called, but the deafening explosion took his words and flung them away, knocking Sasuke into the stone wall. He grunted and tried to steady himself, the explosion turning bright yellow and then dulling abruptly. He could make out Naruto's silhouette, framed by the yellow chakra, as he levitated before the still chest of the Kyuubi. The blond turned in mid-air to face his friend as the large demon fox fell unconscious.
"Sasuke…we did it."
"Yeah…" Sasuke nodded, gesturing. "Now get back down here so we can go home."
"I can't do that."
"What!" The ground began to shake once more. Before him, the Kyuubi's many tails swirled back into motion. "What's going on?"
"I can't go with you, Sasuke," Naruto said sadly, still surrounded by that yellow chakra that somehow kept him suspended above the ground. "I have to stay behind for a little while longer, until you're safe outside m body. I have to hold the Kyuubi in while you escape."
"Then what was all that for!" Sasuke gestured at the fox's body, that still had yet to move, even though the tails swept slowly back and forth. "Was that for nothing?"
"No, it's over, don't worry," Naruto smiled. "But that doesn't mean the Kyuubi still can't use its power to escape."
Sasuke hesitated. "You…will come back… Right?"
"As long as you're there on the other side to welcome me home," Naruto beamed at him affectionately. "I'll always come back." Sasuke, not seeing any other way, nodded and turned to leave (even though he wasn't sure how). "Oh, Sasuke?"
The raven-haired man turned back again. "Yeah?"
"About earlier…what I was going to say…" the yellow glow was fading from around Naruto's body. The fox's eyes were slowly beginning to open. "I wanted to tell you something, that I had been feeling for a very long time."
"You can tell me when you get back, right?" Sasuke turned to go again.
"Maybe…" That tone made him freeze. Sasuke looked back at Naruto, who was smiling again, but this time, something was different. It looked like Naruto was… "I love you, Sasuke." And then, the Kyuubi began to rise, the yellow aura around Naruto faded completely, and Sasuke felt himself falling abruptly into unconsciousness: Naruto, no!
Naruto's body twitched as Sakura lifted her head groggily, looking around. "Tsunande-sama…?" she called sleepily.
"Welcome back," the blond woman smiled in relief. The feeling was quickly shoved aside however when the twitching Naruto let out an angry, blood-chilling roar. Sakura and Hinata both yelped in surprise and Jiraiya jumped, but his hand automatically began forming the appropriate seals.
"Hinata!" he called.
"It's different from before!" she wailed. "This chakra is completely different! It's not Naruto at all!"
Tsunande's eyes snapped over to Sasuke's still-unmoving body: "Dammit. Hinata! Tell me the exact second all his chakra has left Naruto's body, understand?" She whirled on Jiraiya.
"As soon as she says go, it's done," he cut her off before she could bark orders he already knew at him.
"Sakura!" she turned back around. "Get away from--"
"No!" the pink-haired woman yelled over Naruto's angry roars, flinging one arm around his twisting shoulders. "I won't abandon him! Naruto, snap out of it! Come on!" The hand that had been holding his the entire time squeezed tightly, painfully, but she didn't seem to care. Her arm tightened around his shoulders, and as he tried to violently buck her off, Sakura wouldn't budge. She strengthened her grip even more so on him and squeezed her eyes shut: "Sasuke, hurry! Naruto, please calm down!"
"Rrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" the blond snarled and threw all of his weight into trying to fling her off. She held on even tighter.
"Naruto! Sasuke!"
"He's out!" Hinata screamed and Jiraiya leapt forward, just as Sasuke lurched up in his bed and Naruto bucked so wildly that Sakura's shoulder was slammed painfully into the wall and leaving his stomach fully exposed.
"Naruto, no!" Sasuke cried hoarsely as Jiraiya's palm slammed into the tanned stomach and the roaring abruptly ceased. Sasuke looked down at his hand that was intertwined with his friend's and then up into the face that fell from angry to blank, and then slowly filtered to one of slight confusion. Wide blue eyes glanced around at the anxious, worried faces surrounding him, then trailed down the length of each arm, finding first Sakura's eyes and then Sasuke's. They all waited, collective breaths held, to see if he had something to say after what had just taken place.
"…where…am I…?" he whispered, the confused look on his face deepening. "And…who…are all of you…?"