Disclaimer: I do not own any of the content following this statement. All titles, names, and plots are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's Note: As this is an AU the age of graduation from the Academy is now 14 and the age of our heroes at this point are all over 18.
Reflections
Chapter 10
...
The land of the lost
...
'Why is it so cold?', thought Nariko as she did her best to swim in this blackness without time or space. She just knew Naruto was in here somewhere in the center of all this blackness and she wasn't going to stop until she found him.
The shock of a body landing on her back was soon replaced by surprise as she felt arms and legs wrap around her.
"I found you, now where is he?" Sakura asked into Nariko's ear as she held on tight to the only thing she could find in this void.
"I don't know, I can't see a thing," said Nariko. "How did you find me?"
Seeing a hand in front of her face and then a mass of what she assumed was chakra strings shooting out in every direction she looked over her shoulder to see Sakura's face inches from her own.
"It's the only thing I was able to teach myself to do in that hell hole." Said Sakura, waving her hand around and sending her chakra into the void.
"Can you find him?" Asked Nariko, not caring how or why Sakura learned this Jutsu out of all the ones she could have focused her attention on.
Using her legs wrapped around Nariko's waist as an anchor Sakura sat up and using both hands sent out a spider web of chakra searching for her target. Yes, she wanted to find Naruto but after living for years in a Genjutsu and being tortured every day. If she found Sasuke first it would make her feel a lot better knowing he was dead.
"I think I found them, I am not sure, it doesn't feel right." Said Sakura, as her chakra strings sent waves of foreign chakra back to her with only one of them she knew for sure was Naruto's.
"I don't care what you're feeling, can you pull them to us." Yelled Nariko, letting her worry overrule her commend sense. She was ready to let the Kyubbi loose if it would save Naruto.
"OK, OK, just give me a second," Sakura yelled back. Coiling her chakra stings around whatever it was she found out there in the black void.
"Got them," yelled Sakura. "Now what?"
"We PULL.", yelled back Nariko as she used as much of the Kyubbi's chakra as he would allow. Being covered in a cloak of red chakra she seemed to give some light to the darkness as Sakura was pushed back from the red cloak but still connected by her web of chakra. With four long tails of red chakra flowing behind her looking more like the tails of some oversized goldfish than a fox's, Nariko willed herself back to the world she just left.
Seconds felt like hours, hours moved like days, and still, nothing happen until somehow Nariko felt Kyubbi's other half join her in her fight against the void. Letting out a mindless scream Nariko strained against an unfair world that would take all her happiness and joy from her life.
"Nooo….", she told the universe. This was not the end but her new beginning and it started NOW.
Landing on the burning ground of the courtyard having fallen a good twenty feet knocking all the wind out of not only her but Sakura as she bounced off and rolled to the side ending up against one of the far walls. Completely drained of chakra, both hers and the Kyubbi she contained, she could only push herself to a sitting position to hopefully see Naruto nearby.
"No, no no no, this can't be happening.", said Nariko as she spotted Naruto ten feet from her holding hands with a Sasuke Uchiha that still had two functional legs and dressed in what looked like a black Anbu body armor. Not two feet from them was another Uchiha, this one was clearly bleeding out and going into shock as his life was quickly coming to an end.
Of all the things that upset her the most was the other three shinobi that rolled back from the center of the blast and stood up looking around. The leader of the team with small thin eyes looked around and stopped and mapped the placement of everyone in a split second. The shadow master of fear had a plan in a blink of an eye and said, "Choji, get up and finish the mission."
The Power bar fueled rage monster that was the future leader of the Akimichi rolled to his feet. Standing eight feet tall and carrying a trunk of a tree he called Sally, he lifted up the steel-studded club that was longer than most men over his head and with bloodshot eyes looked for his target.
Focusing in on the two Sasuke he swung his mighty club Sally down at their prone forms to smash them into bloody meat as he had done to so many of his enemies before.
"No," yelled out Naruto, jerking his body and pulling the unconscious Sasuke away from the death blow. With years of practice and over a hundred kills to his credit Choji didn't pause for a moment and smashed the remaining Sasuke into the ground, pulling Sally back over his head he swung again and then again until there was nothing anyone would ever call human left in the crater he had made.
"Well look what we have here, my old playmate.", said Ino as she spotted Nariko still unable to move from her landing spot.
Sending out a dozen threads of shadows towards them, Naruto and Nariko found themselves pinned to the ground as Shikamaru said, "Choji finish them all."
With a roar, he raised his arms, and he seemed to grow even larger as he turned to Nariko.
"Not her, let me have a little fun first." Said Ino as she made a hand sign Nariko had seen hundreds of times before. As her mind exploded she could feel only pain, pain so great even the Kyubbi in his weakened state screamed out. The shock was so great she even broke free of the shadows holding her down as her body racked in convulsions as she screamed her voice raw. All the while, the laughter of Ino could be heard by everyone as she was clearly enjoying Nariko's pain.
Having no feeling at all for the blonde screaming on the ground Choji turned to his other targets to find Naruto up on his knees now covered in a red cloak of chakra and making hand signs in front of his chest as he fought against the shadows trying to hold him still.
"Void of the Tornado," yelled Naruto. With the backing of the kyubbi, he sent a blast of spinning wind squarely into Choji's chest. The rage monster stopped with one foot still in the air as he had been walking straight at Naruto.
Akimichi's chakra and the red and blue chakra from Naruto's Jutsu seem to be equal for a second and then as Choji's foot landed and he came closer it looked like he would win this battle like he had won all others when he looked down at his chest and said, "I… oh, this doesn't feel right."
With those words, he came off the ground, and as his chest caved in he went spinning high into the air to slam into the far stone wall moving at a hundred miles an hour his broken body fell to the ground and he started to shrink down to his normal size and lay unmoving at the base of the wall.
"Choji!", screamed Ino as she dropped her Jutsu in shock to look at her teammate's dead body far behind her. Nariko fell to the ground unable to move and finding it hard to breathe. This time it was clear Ino had wanted to kill her and it was only Naruto's killer move that had stopped her.
"That wasn't in the plan." Said Shikamaru looking over his shoulder and then back to the two blondes still in his Jutsu. "I guess I will have to do this myself," he said. With one of the most unnerving grins, Naruto had ever seen as the shadows turned ever stronger wrapping around his body and neck and stopping him from breathing. Naruto could clearly see Nariko was in even worse condition as she had turned blue and lay unmoving on the ground.
His grin grew larger. Shikamaru was enjoying watching the killer of his teammate slowly die as Ino ran over to check that Choji was truly dead. He loved it so much when his prey suffered that he even loosened the shadows to give them a gulp of air before starting all over again. This was too much fun for it to end so quickly.
As he walked closer to look into Naruto's eyes, he wanted to see the lights go out and the last breath of his victim up close and in person.
"I want you to know who it was that killed you in the afterlife." Said Shikamaru, now only inches from Naruto's face when a shocked look appeared on his face and he stood up to look to his side seeing Sakura in the shadows under the nearby wall as his head fell off his shoulders and rolled around on the ground, soon joined by great spurts of blood shooting out of his neck.
"They call you the smartest man in the fire country?", asked Sakura. Calling back her chakra stings she had used to cut Shikamaru's head clean off. Walking out of the shadows of some fallen building she approached the center of the blackened ground to look down into the crater Choji had made in his rampage.
"Oh, will you look at that?" Said Sakura, as she spotted the wide-eyed head of her one-time love lying in a pool of his own guts. She skipped down trying her best not to step in anything that wouldn't wash out and picked up Sasuke's head by the hair.
"I told you I would kill you now didn't I," said Sakura to the head swinging from her hand. Something in her had snapped when she fell out of the void and she felt so free, it was incredible.
Staring into the bright red eyes an idea popped into her head, Kakashi had one of these little red jewels in his head why can't she have two? With that she used her chakra to carefully remove the two eyes and placed them in Naruto's jacket pocket she was still wearing. Now with her one and only goal complete, she remembered her two teammates she left laying on the ground.
Climbing out she looked around and saw them crawling toward each other as she marched over to see what help she could provide when she felt a pressure on the back of her head. Spinning around she looked into the eyes of her best friend Ino, trying to use her body swap jutsu on her.
"You know that doesn't work on me." Said Sakura, as her not-so-little inner personality fought Ino's jutsu to a standstill and pushed Ino out of her mind.
"That isn't possible, father said only schizophrenic psychopaths could resist that Jutsu,'' said Dark Ino.
Hearing those words Sakura waved at Ino as if she was a school friend on the other side of the play yard before she pulled out an Akimichi power bar from Naruto's jacket she had felt when she dropped the eyes in and slowly unwrapping the bar, she bit off a piece and stared at Ino as if to dare her to do something.
"You're not my friend Ino are you? I guess you're going to have to die too." Said Sakura, putting the half-eaten power bar back in her pocket now fully recharged she ran over to her teammates as if to stand between them and any attack Ino would make. They had come to save her and she would let nothing in this world, or any other, harm them.
They all froze as if waiting for someone to make the first move. Another part of the building collapsed outward as if being pushed from inside and out walked Gaara, with a wave of red sand full of human bones slowly flowing out around her looking as if she was on a morning walk but for the look in her eyes that told a different story.
She had felt Naruto leave this world and had assumed he was dead, with her one and only love now gone she had made it her mission to kill everything at the sound base before moving on to the next and the next until she found Orochimaru himself. Her vengeance was going to be legendary.
"Fuck this, I am out of here." Said Dark Ino as she threw out a dozen smoke bombs and vanished.
"Naruto!" yelled Gaara. Showing more emotions in that one word than she has shown in a lifetime as she ran to his side and picked him up into a full-on hug with a cloud of sand hiding them from view for a full minute.
Watching this Sakura bent down and helped Nariko to her feet as she looked the worst off of all of them. Having used all of her chakra to pull them back and then being attacked by the mind burner she had to lean all her weight on Sakura to stand.
As the sand cloud cleared they could see Naruto holding onto Gaara for balance as much as anything else Naruto had wrapped her up in a bear hug but was trying to pull back with a puzzled look as he wiped his arm over his lips, giving Gaara a closer look he reached down to squeeze her left butt cheek.
"Gaara? Are you a girl?" Asked Naruto in that, 'I am not sure what is going on', look he has when the world isn't lining up to what he thought it should be, and having just been kissed by his best friend he was extra confused.
"Yes, you just noticed?" asked Gaara, knowing he really didn't know but wanting to make him suffer for it. She was a girl after all and making men suffer was part of the job.
Just as Gaara started to lean in to give Naruto another kiss Nariko pushed her way between them and glared at Gaara.
"OK, that is enough of that. He is still my boyfriend." She said with as much force as she could without falling on the ground. That mind burner needs to die and as soon as she gets her strength back she is going to make it her mission. Naruto looked at her with one of his wide-eyed smiles and hugged Nariko close.
"I am your boyfriend?", he asked as if he hadn't thought of them in that way.
"How stupid are you, you are living together after all," said Sakura. With her hands behind her back and rolling back on her heels as if she had some great secret, she didn't want to share. She could see that both of her blonde teammates were unsteady on their feet having, both, burned more chakra in the last five minutes than all of fire country's Jonins combined, she had an idea.
Hearing the jacket zipper being pulled down everyone turned to look as Sakura let the front fall open as she fished around one of the inner pockets where Naruto had stuffed most of the Akimichi power bars before pulling out three and handing them over.
Nariko cleared her throat and pointed at Sakura to get her to look down hoping she would notice she was on full display without losing her temper and attacking everyone. To her great surprise, Sakura just gave them all a strange grin and slowly zipped the jacket up to her neck and then pulled it down halfway so she could get some air. Who knew Naruto's jacket was so damned warm.
"I think she is broken," said Gaara giving Sakura a sideways look as Sakura wandered off kicking a couple of the skulls Gaara had let fall to the ground.
With her head on Naruto's shoulder, Nariko looked at Gaara and said in a low voice, "Look who's talking", as she pulled up her mask to bite the paper wrapping off the power bar and pointed at the hundred of shiny white bones that littered the ground. It seems Gaara had taken the time to polish them as she moved along.
Before Naruto had a chance to comment on his one-time crash giving him a view he would have killed for years before they all heard a groan behind them spinning around to see Sasuke slowly getting up from the ground on his hands and knees as soon as he was able he looked around and noticed his own eyeless head laying on the ground were 'Sakura has dropped it. The sight of it was too much for him and he emptied the contents of his stomach all over the ground.
Naruto was torn, here was his best and first friend dead on the ground, and still here he was getting sick all over himself at the same time. Deciding that action was better than feeling sorry for himself Naruto walked over to Sasuke to help him stand up and walk away from his own remains. Getting back to the girls he didn't understand why they all had different levels of the same look of contempt for the Uchiha he was holding up.
"If I see your eyes turn red I am pulling them out." Said Sakura, having suffered years of torment because of those cursed eyes. She knew logically it had only been weeks but it still felt like years.
"And if I see any sparks on those fingers I will cut them off," said Nariko. Remembering the last time she fought with this particular Uchiha.
Sasuke was in a daze and still didn't know what had happened at the end of his fight with team ten, all he remembers was a flash of light, a dark void, and then some blonde guy holding him as Choji attacked. 'Blonde guy', he thought, looking over to Naruto who was still holding him up. 'God I hope he isn't gay', thought Sasuke. Finding some strength to pull away and standing up straight to look around.
The blonde bitch he recognized from her mask but she clearly wasn't in any shape to do anything, it was Gaara he focused on, that lunatic had killed way too many of his men and he had orders to flee on sight. What worried him the most was this Gaara seemed to act more rationally than the Gaara he knew, a Gaara that was not just an emotional wreck was far more dangerous.
"You know you really shouldn't stare," said Sakura from behind him. Getting Sasuke to start spinning around and then stop as he didn't want to turn his back to Gaara and that damn blonde.
"Who are you?" Asked Sasuke, not having seen any pink-haired shinobi in his village or any other.
"I am Sakura." Said Sakura with a little smile thinking that maybe this Sasuke wasn't so bad after all.
"Sakura?! Like the pink flowers," said Sasuke with a grunt. "That figures, your mother didn't have much of an imagination did she."
"Why you little…", yelled out Sakura as she pulled back her fist to punch that bastard in the face. Naruto not wanting this to get out of hand stepped forward and grabbed Sakura's wrist and held her arm back surprised at the amount of strength she had, he was almost pulled off balance when she tried to pull free.
"We don't have time to play right now, we have to get you back to the village and complete the mission," said Naruto. He wanted to get away from this place where his best friend died and he had to see some of his cherished friends die by his own hands even if they were trying to kill him.
"Ok, then take me back to lady Tsunade," spit out Sakura. Shaking Naruto's hand off her and walking over to join Gaara and Nariko who had moved away to look around the fortress walls looking for any sign of Dark Ino.
"You follow Master Tsunade?", asked Sasuke. Feeling a little better now that he was with fellow believers in the cause to wash the world clean with the blood of all the sinners. Peace, true peace could only be found at the end of the shinobi way of life. Shinobi that didn't follow the Master, she of course needed her people to be the strongest in the world.
Not thinking much of it, Naruto nodded his head and said. "Yes, she sent us to save Sakura from you or the other you. It is all too confusing right now. Let's go."
Joining the girls at the back side of the ruined gate he watched as Gaara with the help of Sakura's strange use of chakra pulled down the barricade so they could all walk down the rampart down into the still-flooded valley below.
The water was still and unmoving much like the whole valley. There was so much death in the air even the night creatures had decided to stay underground or move to the next valley. Lucky for Naruto it was dark and he didn't have to see the floating bodies or the dismembered arms and legs floating just below the surface all in the name of saving Sakura from the hands of his best friend.
"How far are we from the Master," asked Sasuke.
"At normal shinobi speed I would say one or even two weeks if we have to fight any Iwagakure nins," said Nariko. Having found herself running nearest the one-time avenger.
Getting a nod from Sasuke she could tell he was struggling to keep up as they exited the new lake and started up the steep mountainside heading south. Nariko knew how draining traveling between worlds was and Sakura hadn't shared a power bar with him.
"I think we should find a place to rest for the night," said Nariko to the group.
"Why? I can go all night." Said Naruto, slowing down and returning to Nariko's side.
Stopping at the top of the hill and looking a the mountains that they would have to cross next Nariko waited for everyone to gather around, "I have seen how these power bars work in my world, you will crash in a couple of hours, and be as weak as a baby unless you eat more of them. But …" she said, holding her hand up to Naruto. Stopping him from saying anything.
"I know so we eat more," she said looking at Naruto as if reading his mind. "But you saw Choji back there, it's a trap, once you start down that path of using them all the time, at one point you lose your mind and you can't stop as you will die from withdrawals."
"But what about our Choji, he eats them all the time." Said Naruto, now worried about his friend.
"I am sure it's a choice between that or dying," said Nariko, not wanting to waste her time thinking about clan business.
"Why can't life be fair just once," said Sakura. She then put the power bar she was unwrapping back into the pocket of Naruto's jacket. The rush of energy she had felt was so good she wanted to keep eating these things all the time but she knew from all the medical texts she read that Nariko was right, there was never a shortcut in life.
Looking at the moon and the stars Gaara guessed it was close to midnight as she walked into the group and stood next to Naruto getting a burning-eyed stare from Nariko that she bluntly ignored.
"We should make camp on the next ridge, it would be more defensible." Said Gaara, pointing with a nod of her head in what direction she was talking about.
Not hearing a better idea from the others, Naruto gave one of his grins and started walking, soon hearing everyone following as they made no attempt to keep quiet. If there were any sound shinobi around, now would be the best time to confront them.
…
In their exhausted state, it took them three days to reach the sand sea. Only Gaara seemed unaffected by the events at the sound hideout. She stayed close to Naruto every night after what he said at the campfire that first night. Thinking back on it she smiled at least that is what she felt but for anyone looking she only showed a small upturn to her lips.
That first night as she sat at the campfire with everyone else sound asleep around her, Gaara fed the fire with small logs to keep it going giving a soft glow to the bodies around her. Hearing sounds to her left she turned to watch Sakura roll over and sit up in her blankets and with sleep-filled eyes look around.
Not one to speak first, Gaara sat silently as Sakura stood up and walked over to where Sasuke was laying. If she wanted to end the Uchiha's life Gaara would be happy to make the body disappear. Shaking her head as if the clear it Sakura stopped and looked over at Gaara before walking over and joining her at the fire.
"He looks like Sasuke but it isn't him, right?" asked Sakura, poking at the fire with a stick causing a dance of sparks to fly up into the night sky.
"He is an Uchiha, a member of the cursed clan, that is all I need to know." Said Gaara, expressing in as few words as possible how she felt about all Uchiha.
Overheating next to the fire Sakura unzipped the oversized orange jacket she was wearing before asking. "So, you got a thing for Naruto? I always thought there was something about you that didn't fit, now that I know you're a girl everything is coming together."
Gaara looked at Sakura until the pink-haired girl was getting worried she may have talked a little too freely, Gaara wasn't known for opening up to people and talking about her feelings.
"Why do you not have clothes?", asked Gaara. Thinking she would never in a million years allow herself to be exposed like this.
Opening the jacket fully Sakura grinned at Gaara not only showing her that she was naked from the waist up but that she had tied her ripped top about her waist as a belt to keep the lower half of her dress on. The amount of dried blood soaked into the cloth caught Gaara's eye as she looked over the fire.
"I was tortured by that bastard's men, they ripped off most of my clothes but for this. I love my team but they didn't think to bring a change of clothes for me." Said Sakura letting the jacket fall closed once again.
"It's funny how hanging from a ceiling bleeding to death removes any inhibitions you may have, if it wasn't for those power bars Naruto gave me I would be nothing but a bloody mess." Said Sakura, giving Gaara a very strange smile.
Looking over at Sasuke Gaara said, "I can make him disappear if you want. We can tell them he ran off."
Letting out a very girly giggle Sakura moved over and tried to hug Gaara but was stopped by a tentacle of sand.
Giving up Sakura moved back to her seat and said. "Thank you for asking but I will let the Hokage decide on what to do."
As Gaara's raccoon-like eyes bore into her the sand flowed out of her gourd and surrounded them making Sakura feel like she really shouldn't have tried to hug a Jinchūriki when out of the gourd popped a small bag that floated over to her.
"I have some spare clothes, we seem to be the same size so they should fit." Said Gaara, not taking her eyes off of Sakura as if daring her to say no to her offer.
Digging around in the bag Sakura found a pair of skin-tight black pants and a matching top that had sleeves down to her fingertips and went up around her neck leaving little if any skin showing. Stripping in front of Gaara and putting on her clothes was a surreal moment in Sakura's life but once she was done she looked down at herself as she dropped Naruto's jacket to the side. She had sealed the eyes into a scroll she found in Naruto's pocket that she would have to remember to take it from him before he opened it.
"How do I look?" Asked Sakura, knowing that only her face and hands remained uncovered. In the darkness of the night, she would only need one of Nariko's masks to be invisible.
"You looked covered." Said Gaara, now maybe Naruto would stop looking at Sakura so much. Nariko, she understood why people stared, and looked at her but now that Sakura is covered maybe he would look at her at least once.
The next morning as everyone was getting ready for the next day's travel Sakura came walking into camp with some wild game she had killed for the day's meals. Naruto did a double take as she walked over in her skin-tight clothes leaving little to the imagination.
"Nariko, look at Sakura, doesn't she look really good." Said Naruto, oblivious to everyone's reaction as Sakura did her best to do a catwalk around the camp.
"Yes she does look good," said Nariko. Knowing that Naruto didn't mean anything by it. Sakura was not ever going to get between them, it was Gaara she had her eyes on.
Now a few days later Gaara was thinking she should rethink her wardrobe as Naruto had made more than a couple of more comments on how Sakura looked.
"Tell me again why we are going this way," said Sasuke as he brushed some sand off his pants. He has found this group of idiots almost intolerable with their constant talking about useless things. How the Master allowed them to be so unfocused was beyond him. Only Gaara seemed to be a real shinobi and once he learned it was a she, not a he, he wondered about his world's Gaara.
"We are taking the sand route so we don't have to fight our way through Iwagakure." Said Nariko, for what felt like the hundredth time since reaching the sand sea.
"And why not, it would give us a chance to kill some non-believers and show the master how dedicated we are to the cause.", said Sasuke trying his best to stare her down but Nariko didn't break eye contact for a second.
Having heard this more than a couple of times over the last couple of days Naruto said. "The Hokage orders were to take the southern route, do you want to be the one that disobeyed her orders?"
Sasuke turned a little more pale than usual at the thought of disobeying the Master and backed down by turning south and walking into the desert. Gaara thought about making a sand barge to ride on but seeing the stiff back of the Uchiha as he walked she decided it would be better to let everyone cook in the heat.
With the sun at its highest, beating down on them like some relentless god of pain Sakura stumbled and almost fell as she lagged behind.
"Sorry, I... I can't keep going, can we rest for a little bit." Said Sakura, with her hair soaked and clinging to her face with her hands on her knees trying to not fall over she looked like she needed more than a couple of minutes to rest.
"It's Ok Sakura, I can carry you," said Naruto.
"NO, I mean I will carry her." Said Nariko, walking over to Sakura and offering her back to ride on. At this point, Sakura didn't care who was offering as long as they didn't leave her behind. With her face pressed into the loose blonde hair, she looked over at Sasuke to see signs of the curse mark around his neck and going down one of his arms.
'SO that is how the bastard is keeping up', she thought, holding onto Nariko's neck.
….
It was a couple of days in the sand sea before they reached any known landmark. Gaara had offered many times to let them travel on her sand but Nariko would pull her aside and tell her they 'HAD' to walk/run it themselves as she stared at the Uchiha. Gaara didn't understand the hate she seemed to have for the raven-haired boy but she went along with it. It was fun after all, watching Naruto talk Nariko into letting him carry Sakura after the first day.
Once they spotted the spine of the dragon they all moved into the shadows of the great stone spires to rest. Naruto joked that they were halfway home getting everyone to groan aloud and Sakura to kick some sand at him. They were down to their last rations but for the power bars.
"Why didn't you pack more food you damn idiot," said Sasuke as he drained the last of the water.
"Wasn't expecting to drag your ass back to the village for one.", said Naruto, having some fun with him, now that Sasuke was back on the team. Nariko found it was a waste of time trying to convince him this wasn't his Sasuke. Naruto had a way of ignoring the things that he didn't want to be real and forcing into reality those things he wanted.
Moving over to sit next to Naruto in the shade Sakura stopped right in front of him and waited for him to look up at her as she just stood there with her hand on her hip and a strange little smile. With her new outfit came a new persona, playing the crazy sex kitten didn't come naturally to her but she sure gave it her best shot just to see Nariko glare at her every time.
Not getting the reaction she was looking for, Sakura sat down and hit Naruto in the leg to get his attention, "You do know that isn't the Sasuke we grew up with, right?", she asked quietly so only Naruto could hear.
"I know, I know, but maybe we can do better this time.", said Naruto looking at her sideways. With her skin-tight clothes and bright emerald eyes always looking at him, he no longer looked right at her. Women confused him so much lately and with Gaara kissing him when he wasn't even sure she was a she or a he, he just wanted to go back to the village and let Nariko tell him what to do for a while.
Naruto moved away from Sakura he said to himself that he wasn't running away, no he just wanted to be close to Nariko as she was talking to Gaara about the best route to take to the fire country. Standing by them in the sun he once again wondered if Gaara knew a trick she wasn't sharing to stay cool.
As a shadow fell over them Nariko gave Naruto a smile she could see in her eyes, "You don't have to do that I don't mind the sun.", she said.
"Do what, it's not me.", said Naruto as he was in the shade next to her, looking down he could see a shadow in the shape of a half-moon had fallen on them.
"Hi little sister, I see you found what you were looking for.", said Temari as she held her battle fan wide open casting them all in its shadow.
"Temari, what are you doing here.", said Gaara showing a little emotion in her voice.
When they all looked up at the tall blonde with the overly large fan over her head they all saw the air next to her shimmer and Kakashi was now standing with her.
"Yo, the Hokage was worried about you after the sensor teams felt the fox and the one tail's chakra going crazy.", said Kakashi, scanning the group below them as a hundred other shinobi from the two allied villages all showed themselves.
Jumping down next to them Temari said in a whisper, "I was worried about you little sister." Moving close to Gaara but not daring to give her the hug she wanted to give.
Kakashi locked eyes with Sasuke who was still in the shade of the rock outcropping and as he squinted his one visible eye Sasuke stood up yelling, "Murderer!", sending a fire jutsu that Kakashi simply sidestepped and then ran out into the desert.
"What is wrong with him.", asked Kakashi as the dust from Sasuke's mad dash was fading in the distance.
"You are known as the clan slayer, the oath-breaker in my world, it was you and Itachi that killed his whole clan.", said Nariko hoping that Sasuke would run himself to death for all she cared. Naruto was acting way too strange with him around and she didn't like it at all.
As Tamera waved her hand a dozen teams of sand shinobi all ran off into the desert to follow Sasuke until he stopped or passed out from the heat.
With a shrug Kakashi turned away from Sasuke's retreating form, "I see you found my cute little student alive.", said Kakashi as he looked at Sakura in her black outfit and what he recognized as the smile of a person that was broken, deep inside, and was doing her best to hide it. He was happy they saved Sakura but at what cost to the poor girl's soul?
"I see you didn't bring back the right Sasuke.", Jokes Kakashi as he watched the sand shinobi bring back Sasuke, he still had his eyes wide open with a look of terror on his face but his body had given out and even the curse seal was only able to keep him alive at this point. He was just now learning that without the flow of chakra from his master he was weak and useless.
The shinobi all gathered around, some telling crude jokes about Sasuke while others stared at Nariko but all giving Gaara plenty of space. It wasn't long before Ino came running out of the crowd to hug Sakura causing Nariko to jump back behind Naruto, pulling out a Kunai she even hissed at the blonde like some caged animal.
"This is the good Ino don't worry I will protect you." Jokes Sakura, getting a strange look from Ino as she pulls away from their hug to try to get a look at Nariko who was clearly hiding behind Naruto's larger frame.
"What is this about?" asked Kakashi, locking eyes with Nariko. Any sign of humor was now gone from his questioning.
A lifetime of training kicks in and Nariko jumps out from behind Naruto and stands at attention saying, "Captain Kakashi," she said using his Anbu title, "I need to report that Ino, the Mind Burner, from my world, is here, I must also report that we were unable to capture her."
"Oh, that is fun," whispered Ino to Sakura, as they stood to the side. "Is that why she is jumpy around me?"
"Yes, that evil Ino, little miss pain, and suffering tried to kill her this time." Said Sakura, holding Ino's arm in hers and pulling her close. "You looked identical, it was freaky.", she added, looking closer at Ino's face, as if checking to see if she was who she said she was.
"Identical huh, I know how to fix that," said Ino as she walked up to Nariko and reaches back behind her head to grab her long ponytail, using a blade she pulled from her waists Ino cut off her ponytail and handed it to Nariko who looked dumbfounded as she wrapped the golden strands around her hand.
Now standing face to face, Ino looked Nariko in the eye, and using the same knife Ino cuts her palm before holding her hands together in a seal Nariko had never seen before.
Ino said, "I swear as the future head of the Yamanaka clan and on the honor of my clan that I will safeguard you, and give refuge to you and your family now and until the end of my days."
Then a flare of blue chakra surrounded Ino which grew bright until with a flash a booming voice said, "Let it be written in the scrolls of time." Looking around they could feel but not see a powerful presence all around them.
Looking down at her hands Nariko watched as the long hairs coiled around her wrist formed into a golden bracelet around her right arm.
Almost falling to the ground Ino was caught by Nariko and as the two girls looked at each other Ino said, "We are now bonded one to the other and neither gods nor shinobi can break us apart."
"Wow that is so cool Ino, I didn't know you could do that." Said Naruto, looking at his left arm as a golden bracelet appeared to match Nariko's.
Taking a step back Ino looked at one and then the other before saying in a low voice only they could hear, "You left me, you left me all alone," she almost cried. "So, I broke into the clan's Scroll of Forbidden Techniques, it's called the Fusion of Souls." Looking at Naruto's arm along with Nariko. "I guess you guys really are two halves of one soul," and with that. She hugged them both getting a whistle from some and a call to get a room from some others.
"Why do I feel like I missed something while I was in that shit hole." Said Sakura, getting Ino to pull her into the group huge.
"Ok, OK, enough of that, unless you want to be the next subject of an Icha Icha book." Said Kakashi, as he stood there with a little orange book in front of his face.
"We will travel to Sunagakure to rest and then you can be on your way." Said Gaara looking at Naruto, not giving them a choice as she created a great sand platform to carry the five of them, leaving Sasuke to his fate with Kakashi.
Tamera was a little upset at first that Gaara didn't take her along but then thinking about it, did she really want to be around three emotionally unstable Jinchuriki that she just knew, were in some type of love triangle now that she watched that blonde use some forbidden jutsu on two of them.
Turning to Kakashi she said. "So, you're going to join us at Sunagakure?"
"I think it would be best if I take our new friend here to see the Hokage." Said Kakashi, waving his book in the general direction of Sasuke who had passed out on the ground.
….
The trip to Sunagakure was quick and uneventful as Gaara seemed to be in a hurry to get home. With the wind blasting them in the face, it was all they could do to hang on as Gaara pushed herself harder and harder to go faster. It was useless to try to talk and they all ended up laying flat on the sand sheet using their chakra to stop from sliding off.
Reaching the village's mighty walls, Gaara floated them up and over the top. Pausing for a few minutes to allow them to stand and enjoy a view few had seen before. Sunagakure spread out before them like a toy city made by bees but using sand to form great circular buildings rising out of the valley floor. The wind and the sand had carved intricate designs into the thick walls of the buildings giving them an organic feel.
"Wow, your village is incredible." Said Naruto, never having seen it from this height before as he leaned over the edge all the while holding hands with Nariko who clearly thought he would fall off.
As the sun was setting many of the buildings were colored in orange and red light with darker shadows playing across their base. It looked more like an alien world than a hidden village.
"There is the Kazekage estate, my family has lived there for three generations.", said Gaara pointing out a large building near the center of the village with the flags of Sunagakure flying at the tallest peak.
Before anyone could say anything more Gaara dropped them down into the village taking them directly to the upper palisade of the Kazekage home. As soon as everyone stepped off, the sand they had spent the last couple of hours on, burst into a cloud that quickly flowed into the gourd on Gaara's back.
Soon a door opened and a dozen servants with a Jonin or two came walking over, still keeping at a safe distance, facing Gaara before giving her a bow.
"It is good to see you home." Said the oldest matron as she looked around Gaara at her companions.
"Will your sister be joining us?" Asked the matron thinking the worst.
"They are following behind us." Said Gaara, walking past them all into the building. Not knowing what else to do Naruto and company walked behind into what they soon learned was a palace hiding behind walls of sand.
"Nice place, I didn't expect so much marble and granite." Said Ino, as she looked at the floor of polished marble with lines of blue and white veins running in a field of black. Looking closely you could see specks of gold like little stars beneath their feet, the granite walls giving the feeling that this building would last the ages.
"All buildings in the village are built to last." Said Gaara, ignoring the comment knowing that many of them had been reinforced to protect the villagers from her.
Reaching the ground floor they came face to face with the matron from before.
"My guests will be staying with us for a while, please prepare rooms and an early dinner." Said Gaara, walking past the matron and entering what looked like a large recreation room with games and targets on the walls used for practice with shurikens and Kunai. She and her siblings had spent a lot of time in this room as of late. Now that she had better control over her tailed breast, it was one of the only times she felt she could relax around people.
"Hey look at that, come on Nariko, let's play this." Yelled out Naruto, pulling her over to a table with little white balls on it.
"He never grows up does he?" Said Ino to Sakura, as they found a nice soft sofa to sit on next to a fire as the desert nights were very cold even in the middle of the village.
…
The game was fast and required more skill than they first thought as you needed a gentle but fast hand to bounce the white balls into the one lone red one in the hope of getting it to fall into the hole in the middle of the table. Gaara spent some time showing the two overactive blondes how the game was played and then stood back as they went crazy sending the balls flying off the table only to chase after the little white ball to continue the game.
"The best strategy is waiting for the balls to stop moving," said Gaara once again. Trying her best not to cover the table with sand and walk away.
"But you said there is no rule against it." Said Naruto, sending three balls moving down the table as Nariko did the same with four. All the balls missed their target as they crashed into each other.
"There doesn't have to be a rule to force you to do the right thing." Said Gaara, putting her hand on Naruto's arm forcing him to wait until the balls stopped moving. The rules said Nariko couldn't throw until he did.
"Now aim and hit the red ball, and wait." Said Gaara as Naruto rolled the ball at the red one hitting it toward the hole only to be stopped by Nariko's throw.
"THEY DID WHAT TO YOU!", screamed Sakura as she stood up knocking over the sofa as she looked at the scar on Ino's neck before hugging her tight. Then dropping the taller blonde a pink ball of fury came marching over to Naruto to pick him up by the front of his jacket and shaking him like a rag doll.
"Tell me you killed them Naruto, tell me you killed them ALL." Yelled Sakura with her face as pink as her hair, even turning a shade redder as she thought about what had been done to Ino.
With his head bouncing around like a bobblehead Naruto couldn't say a word until Nariko came over and forced Sakura to put him down.
"The Nara killed them Sakura. He killed them slowly and painfully, and we...", said Nariko looking at Naruto who gave a quick shake of the head to stop her from telling more as he tried to stop his head from spinning.
"Then where were you?" Asked Sakura, now almost in tears at the thought of what Ino had gone through.
"The whole sound army was after you and we fought them all. Even Kakashi Sensei was badly hurt in the fight. You saw them coming out of the grass didn't you.", said Naruto not wanting to admit that he allowed three of his precious friends to get hurt so badly.
"Yes, yes I did, there were thousands of them," said Sakura. Now recalling that long ago day when hundreds of monsters came out of the grass all heading straight at her.
"So you lost then?" She said, more to herself than those around her as she fell into a dark place with the memories of that cell closing in around her.
"No, they fought, they fought hard and killed them all, it was like one of the stories from the first shinobi world war. When the tailed breast ruled the battlefield but when it was over you were gone and Naruto has been searching for you ever since." Said Ino, coming up from behind Sakura and putting her hands on her shoulders to turn her around.
"We never forgot about you Sakura, and we never will. No matter what happened to you in there, we will not leave you." Said Ino, recalling how she first felt returning to the village. It took many many hours of therapy before she could feel remotely safe in her own home.
"Is that why you've been acting so strange around me? You think they raped me like they did Ino." Shouted Sakura staring Naruto in the face, as if he was the only one in the room. Ino moved back a step and crossed her arms looking to the floor, she never wanted to hear that word again or feel what she was now feeling.
"Well let me tell you right now, they tried. At least a couple of them did but their bodies are in the trash just like the rest of the garbage, you got that." She finished by poking Naruto in the chest with a sharp finger until he looked her in the eye.
"Yes Sakura-chan, I got it." Said Naruto, not knowing what else to say but to only look over at Nariko for help.
"Dinner is served." Called out one of the servants at the door, getting all of them to turn toward him.
"Thank god, let's go eat," said Ino. Glad for any reason to stop talking about this subject. She had talked enough to a string of Yamanaka therapists and was done feeling sorry for herself.
Dinner was good but strange for the leaf shinobi as they were introduced to many of the Kaze no Kuni's more exotic dishes. All Naruto could think was it would all be better if they put it in a bowl of Ramen.
Gaara, pushing herself away from the dinner table, said, "It has been a long day for all of us. Let me show you to your rooms and in the morning I can show you around Sunagakure no Sato,"
After she showed Ino and Sakura their private rooms next to each other, Gaara walked to the end of the long hall and started down a flight of stairs into a floor deep below. It was a short walk from there to a wide and thick wooden door that she pushed open with her sand. Walking in they found a large bedroom that looked like it had a private bath but with no windows and only a single heavy door.
"This was my room when I was a child and had less control over my tailed beast, the walls are lined with chakra suppression seals so you will be able to relax your control and nobody will feel your tailed beast."
"I don't want to take your room away from you, we can sleep anywhere." Said Naruto as Nariko was checking out the large king-sized bed with its silk sheets, giving him the eye for wanting to give this up. She still allowed him to try if he wanted.
Laughing, at least what Gaara was capable of she said, "I no longer use this room. I will spend some time overlooking the village and then go to my own room. You don't have to worry." Naruto's concern for her gave Gaara a warm feeling inside. It made it hard for her to leave but she knew, deep down, that it was best.
"Thank you for the gift of this room Gaara," said Nariko. Giving a formal bow she used her hip to push Naruto away before he started to argue about staying.
Letting a small smile move the corner of her lips up on one side, Gaara bowed back and turned to walk back up the stairs leaving them alone. She would not be sleeping this night or any other night for a long time. She only hoped that some fool would attack the village tonight, so she could get these feelings out of her system.
Once the door closed Nariko walked over and grabbed the handle, pulling it open and closing it a couple of times to make sure they were not being locked in before turning around to say. "I am taking a shower first," before leaving Naruto to stand in the middle of the room as he listened to the water running.
Kicking his sandals off and moving to the bed, he had to admit it was big and soft and the sheet was smooth to the touch, having never in his life thought about using silk for sheets. Looking around the room he could see some small items. Mostly toys that a child would have in her room, it all looked so normal until he spotted the large chains anchored to the wall behind the bed. Not wanting to think about why they needed to be there he was happy to hear the sound of the shower stop.
It didn't take that long for Nariko to exit the bath wrapped in a towel, drying her long blonde hair with another as she said. "OK, it's your turn." As she sat on the edge of the bed to start combing the tangles out of her hair.
When Naruto came out of the shower, a short time later, wearing only a pair of boxers. He found Nariko in bed braiding her hair so that it fell across her chest in one long rope. She had put on one of his spare white undershirts and gave him one of her rare smiles as he climbed into bed next to her.
Nariko's heart was beating a mile a minute as she looked over at Naruto. This would be the night, she just knew that if she didn't make her move now, one of the others would. She could not let that happen. Naruto was a wonderful, loving, and caring man, that had a heart of gold but he just didn't see how people looked at him. Even when Gaara smothered him in that damn kiss, it didn't wake him up to what was happening.
Without a sound, she rolled over and placed her head on his chest, like she had done many times before but this time was going to be different. As she listened to the thundering sound of his heartbeat she thought that just maybe, he was thinking the same.
Counting in her head to the beat of his heart, once she reached a hundred, she pushed herself up on one arm and wrapped the other around his neck to stare into his now very wide-open eyes. It was a look of shock mixed with hope as she leaned up and with a little smile, one only he had ever seen, kissed him on the lips. He froze at first and then relaxed into her kiss, wrapping his arms around her to pull her closer. He had wanted to do this for so very long but his love and respect for her wishes had held him back.
As she pressed herself against him playing a game of tongue tag, she slid her hand down his perfect six-pack of abs and into his shorts getting him to jump and pull back. Only to have her move forward more aggressively, so she could continue their kiss until he seemed to adjust to this new feeling he had never felt before.
Breaking apart for some much-needed air. Her hand continued to work his member with little skill but with a lot of enthusiasm, he asked, "Are you sure about this? You said you wanted to wait."
Giving him a quick kiss on the lips, she released him and sat up on her knees looking down at his hard member and then at him. He looked disappointed, like the time she told him they had run out of Ramen. As she reached down and pulled off the shirt she was wearing, his eyes lit up to quickly be joined by his smile that added a level of light to the room.
Looking at her perfect figure that he had seen before but never, ever dared think about. His member got so hard it hurt as she tossed her braid over her shoulder giving him a view of her breast before she fell back on top of him to smother him in kisses.
"I want this, I want this more than anything in the world," he could hear her say as she kissed his chest and worked her way lower. Naruto was an innocent man in the ways of love, having never read or even looked at the books of his mentor but Nariko had spent many hours pouring over each book she could find. One of them had to know what to do and she had decided long ago, it was going to be her job to teach him.
Hitting the barrier of his waistband she pulled off his shorts from his kicking legs and moved forward to claim her prize.
"OH my god," he said as a feeling he had never expected overwhelmed his senses. He instinctively put his hands on her head to stop her from moving away. She had no intention of stopping and as he, unknowingly, pushed her down, she did her best to relax and swallow him whole.
Naruto didn't know if he should cry, sing or shout out in joy but the one thing he did know was he was never going to say no to her ever again. Looking to his side his fizzy brain took a second to realize he was looking at the most perfect backside of any woman in the village, maybe the world. If she could do this to him then what little logic he was capable of using said he should do the same to her.
She offered no resistance as he lifted her up and over him to encase his head between her smooth thighs. Not knowing what to do he decided to do everything and as she increased her attack on him it must be working.
Ino sat up in bed suddenly, fully awake as she pressed her hands between her legs with her eyes wide open before she fell onto her side with a long moan. The scroll had said something about shared feelings but she had no idea it meant this. Pressing her face into the pillow to let out a scream, joining Nariko in her first release of the night.
Nariko rolled off of Naruto, her shaking body not allowing her to do much more than breath.
"That… That was incredible," she said between deep breaths as she wiped the side of her face with some of the sheets. Rolling back to her knees she quickly moved to kiss him again as she straddled him. Then reaching between them, she guided him to both their ultimate goal of the night.
"Naruto, you are mine, I am yours for now and forever," she said. Looking into his eyes as she lowered herself onto him until they were one.
"Forever," he said as she built a rhythm they both enjoyed to the fullest. Instinct was a wonderful thing as Naruto grabbed her hips and moved with her. As she kissed him and moaned into his mouth, he rolled them both over, and with the feeling of her legs wrapping around him, he lost himself.
Poor Ino hugged the pillow to her chest as she rolled back and forth on the bed lost in her own body. It quivered in pleasure she had thought she would never experience. It seemed to last forever but ended way too soon as the feelings of release rocked her body once again but this time it was doubled as her mind opened up to both sides of the intimacy she was linked to. As tears of joy ran down her face to soak into her defenseless pillow she passed out in total exhaustion.
Nariko held Naruto's head to her chest as they both tried to recover from their first taste of love. Now she knew why so many people talked about it all the time in the women's hot springs.
Pulling himself up onto his arms to look down on her, his hair now wet with sweat and still breathing a little faster than normal but with the biggest smile she had ever seen he said, "You want to do it again?"
Feeling him still as hard as ever deep within her, she let out a giggle he had never imagined her using, she said, "I can go as long as you can." Once again wrapping her legs around him.
The fox within them howled out into the night, it was whole once again and many of the seals around the room lit up brightly before they burned out.
….
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