A/N- Hey guys! Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Unlock by force

They said that it would be a bit chilly today, specially at night. But it wasn't as cold as it looked. It was perhaps the light from the moon which created an amethyst shadow among the flowers surrounding a river that Sasuke happened to walk past. Konoha was holding their yearly festival. It wasn't much of an interest to him, his brother has urged him to attend but he found a way out of all the ruckus. Yeah, it was a complete ruckus in his eyes. A clan, he can't remember which, was going to present this traditional dance.

Sigh.

He heard ruffled leaves and hoped that it wasn't his brother, let alone anybody he knew. He didn't have the energy to listen and, or explain himself. The figure was around his height, he quickly took note of the flowery design on her mauve kimono. She struggled to free her leg which was captured in between the roots. He was surprised that she managed to squeeze herself through the branches when the path was clearly blocked.

When she freed herself, their eyes met instantly. She had seen him before, but she can't remember where. "A-ano, p-please don't t-tell a-a-anyone about th-this," she lowered her head. Seeing from her dirtied dress, then it couldn't be more obvious.

"Your dress is pretty obvious."

"M-my d-d-dress." She lifted her kimono to find the ends too scratched to be unnoticeable. Sasuke sharpened his attention as he saw red liquid dripping from her knee. She must have fallen.

"I wouldn't worry about your dress if I were you," he walked over to her and knelt down, "here, you are wounded." He luckily had his little bag in case he got hungry or had to clean some dirt off of him so Itachi wouldn't tell dad about his little trip through the forest. He pulled a napkin and watered it. He gently patted her knee. She flinched a bit which made her back away. He looked at her with slight annoyance in his eyes.

"Gomen..." He had applied a tiny patch on her knee. "T-Thank y-you, erm.."

"How about I ask you first, I mean, I did treat your wound." She gave him a few blank blinks before turning her expression into a hesitated one.

"I-I-I'm not a-allowed to tell my name to people I d-don't fully k-k-know." Sasuke once again squeezed his eyebrows in frustration. "G-Gomenasai.."

"Stop apologizing. Well, I'll call you Mitsu then." Her heart skipped a faster beat by the nick name. It didn't sound like one nor was she convinced that he actually meant it. It was too... special. Something she wasn't...

"M-Mitsu?"

"Nn! Your eyes reminds of what I see when I wake up from a nightmare, light." Her cheeks had definitely taken a velvet display. He hopefully didn't see it.

"A-a-a-arigato, a-ano. What is your name?"

"Who knows? I'm not allowed to tell my name to people I d-don't fully k-k-know." A shy chuckle escaped her tiny lips from that sweet yet teasing imitation.

"I will call you K-Kurai-kun."

"Dark? I'm not dark." She giggled this time. "It's not funny, Mitsu."

"Your hair is dark."

"That's only my hair."

"Your shirt."

"That's only my shirt."

"Your shoes." Sasuke groaned from her suddenly persistent attitude.

"You got nothing left." She knew that there was one thing left. "And what is that?"

"Your eyes."

Onyx eyes welcomed the sun's wake-up call. Mitsu. Sasuke gave himself a few minutes before sitting up and glancing at the azure gem stone, it's aura was intense. He reached out for it, only to feel a tiny burn on his index finger. He tried again, this time suppressing the heat it sent through his clenched palm. After the power had subdued, the master lay it back on the shelf. He knew this gem-thing was going to be a hindrance from reaching his main goal; Itachi. A shower was the first thing he needed to refresh himself from the whole guardian stuff.

This is pathetic.

The young heiress tied her forehead protector around her neck and gave herself a smile of satisfactory. This looks way better.

Her sensei had ordered her team to meet up at the training ground that followed a stream through the forest, she said it was a field of it's own so they had all the space they needed. The only limit they had were the trees that would lead to the other training grounds were other teams were going to meet with their team leader.

She met Kiba and Shino on her way and greeted them. "So, you guys ready for our first guardian lesson? Do you think we have a name besides Team 8, like Team 8 of Konoha's 12 Guardians!"

"Likely not, nazenara the name is an embarrassment in itself but hearing it from your mouth, it makes sense."

"What did you say?!" Hinata chuckled. "What are you laughing at, Hinata?!"

"Kiba-kun is very funny," Kiba groaned from the sweet comment, but he still felt ridiculed from Shino's comment. They were nearing the red bridge where Hinata could see an orange figures' energetic movements, it didn't take long to hear Naruto's voice from afar. Her face formed a red shade across her cheeks. Kiba let out a heavy exhalation.

"Why don't you talk to him?" Hinata's red cheeks just took a deeper shade.

"I-I-I-I can't d-do that!"

"Hinata is right, nazenara she is likely to faint and the blame will be on you, Kiba."

"You're starting to get on my nerves, you."

Naruto's voice became clearer, "why would such a beauty like you love a guy like him, Sakura-chan?"

"Ne Sakura-chan! I know I'm better than the teme. And I'm the one who loves you, not him!" The smile on the timid Hyuga was slowly turning upside down.

"Shut it, Naruto! My heart belongs to Sasuke-kun and Sasuke-kun only." Naruto sneered Sasuke who had his attention on the river stream.

"Teme! Fight me and I'll show Sakura-chan who the real love in her life is!" Kiba noticed the steps of his female member slowing, he looked behind his shoulder and saw her face down with her hands fiddling. Crap.

"H-Hey, Shino! Don't you think the weather is better than yesterday?" Shino was for once on his side and agreed, adding to the fact that it's warmer with 1 degree. The attempt on distracting Hinata from her crush failed.

"Teme!"

Hinata sped up surprising Kiba, maybe his plan did work. That was until he saw a tear drop fall from her cheek and onto the grass. He sighed once again, this time feeling for her and cursing at Naruto in his mind.

As they arrived, Kurenai excitingly waited for them to settle down. "I hope you brought your crystals with you" They showcased their gems as proof, she nodded to herself.

"Let's begin, then!"

"So what are we going to do? Are you going to teach us how to use the crystals?! Or are you going to teach us how to walk on a tree? Or, or, or-" Naruto brought his emerald shaped jewel out. Kakashi shook his head.

"I'm going to introduce you to the crystals. Bring them out"

"It warms up at random times, when we hold it, put it on the shelf, or simply stare at it. Why does it do that?"

"It's connecting with your Will of Fire, or it's trying to. You see, the gems aren't made just to be given away to any genin. They are given to the chosen genins, consisting of 12, whose Will of Fire is extraordinary. But the gems may not approve of its' owners ninja way, which will block the users access to the gems' chakra."

"What meaning does that have to us?" Sasuke asked.

"It means that, that crystal becomes a mere decor for you. Let the crystal be a way of an extra boost to your chakra capacity, without that unlocking the full essence of your chakra mass will be a lifelong struggle which can lead to a quicker death."

"D-death?!" Kakashi nodded and continued by pulling his rectangular jewelry out. The brightness which it illuminated was sharp. He held it in front of them.

"Unlock!" A silvery flash blinded the young genins. As the light weakened, Naruto wowed by the newly geared Kakashi before them. His flak jacket was gone and was replaced by a sleeveless shirt and arm protectors. His pants turned grey and seemed tighter, he had foot protectors as well. He was particularly fond of his clan symbol implanted at his right chest and that his hair had taken a lighter shade.

"H-How did you do that?!"

"It wasn't me. It was this little guy," he displayed his crystal once again, this time it beamed from Kakashi's reply. "You have to have in mind that the crystal becomes another friend of yours who's there to guide you through the hardships you'll encounter in the ninja world."

"Where did the cloth come from?" Sakura asked, she already had the next question ready after he would answer.

"This is my armor."

"What's the difference between that and what you were wearing before?"

"Armor is used to disguise your identities. Your Guardian identities are not to be revealed, not at any moment. At least not when you are on missions." Sasuke could still not believe this game whatsoever, the ANBU wore masks all the time, what was the difference?

"Why is it different to the ANBU?"

"What happens if your crystal is suddenly torn off?" Sasuke grunted from that quick answer, as if he saw it coming and he saw it coming from his mouth.

"Let's begin," he brought two bells before them. "I call this a 'Survival Training'. It's very simple, you just have to retrieve a bell. The loser who is left with no bell will have no lunch. Let's see if your gems will lend you its power. Begin!"

The hours had seemed to fly since they were given their first instruction in activating their gem stones. They were told to place the gem on the ground in front of them and sit with their legs crossed. Kurenai advised them to think of the gem stone as the one person you would always turn to when things got dark.

Kurenai was surprised by the reddish aura that surrounded Kiba's figure, already. She would at times see a flash of the Inuzuka armor embrace him. Shino seemed to have difficulties with imagining the person that would bring him out of the darkness. The crystal can stir different emotions in its master, so that faces of loved ones would dwell back and forth, making it hard to choose who the most reliable could be. But aside from the two, Hinata was the one who hadn't shown any sign of unison between her and her gem.

Hinata could only see Naruto as her only savior, so why wouldn't the gem let her take the next step? Who else beside Naruto-kun could wake me from my demons?... She squeezed her eyebrows together in frustration from the obscure messages her gem was giving her. This only exhausted her, making her breathing heavier.

"Hinata, you're focusing too much. You need to relax and let the crystal give you a picture of the person you can lean a shoulder on. It's not trying to reject your feelings, it's trying to help," Kurenai saw the crystal beaming uncontrollably from Hinata's failed attempts on forcing her crush in front of the crystal. Hinata took a deep breath and waited for her mind to clear off. A picture of Kurai popped up in no time. K-Kurai-kun? W-Why do you think it's K-Kurai-kun? H-H-He left me after all with nothing other than that glare...

She will never forget that night at the river, that night was the last time she ever saw Kurai again. He never came back and she gave up on trying. It can't be Kurai-kun. He doesn't remember me after all... Not anymore.

Naruto was all drenched from that unexpected but yet painful jutsu performed by Kakashi. He was told to fight without any use of weapon, that included his gem stone. But if this was in a real battle situation, you wouldn't hesitate to pull a kunai. Naruto decided on countering Kakashi with a shadow clone jutsu, something he and his teammates didn't know of.

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

"Here I come!" The seven Naruto clones charged at Kakashi, and to Naruto's expectations his sensei was quick at dodging the numerous strikes. Kakashi managed to poof the most of them.

"Gotcha!" Sakura and Sasuke were surprised as they hadn't noticed a dizzy Naruto skip unevenly from a bush and appear behind of their sensei. He brought his crystal out. With the remaining chakra left inside of him, Naruto forced the gems chakra onto him feeling drained by the massive power which he couldn't quite seem to control. He saw a minor crack on the gem quickly followed by another one. What the?!

Sasuke kept a sharp eye on how the tiny strings of chakra was streaming through Naruto's fist. He couldn't get a better view of his face expression. Did he do it?

The Copy Ninja looked behind his shoulder and was shocked to find the intensity of the stone, almost seeing a red dot growing in the center. Not good!

"Naruto don't-"

"UNLOCK!" Bluish strings grew immensely, breaking Naruto's grip on the jewelry. The monstrous force stuck Naruto's insides like daggers. The Uzumaki let out a painful howl. Kakashi was forced to back away as large tentacles were breaking loose.

"W-What's happening?!" Sakura wasn't sure on whether she should give up on her hiding spot or let Kakashi handle the situation if he even saw this coming. Where's Sasuke-kun? She spotted her love hoping down a tree branch as a tentacle slashed the tree down.

What is that dobe doing?! The situation distracted him from a lash by another chakra limb, slamming him against a tree.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Kakashi skipped in between the furious arms as they were wrecking the whole training ground. He brought his gem stone before him and performed the 'Seal' hand signs. His jewelry glowed before connecting itself with Naruto's through a chakra line.

Kai!

The gem unleashed a final burst of chakra before letting itself back into Naruto's stone. The yellow-haired boy fell to the ground with a light thumb.

"Naruto!" Sakura hurried over to her fallen teammate with Sasuke cleaning the dirt off his back. Sakura and Sasuke helped Naruto over to a log where he could sit up against.

"And this my friends is what happens when you force the chakra upon you." Kakashi brought Naruto's cracked gem stone in sight. It had lost it's orange cover, making it appear as an obsidian stone that was found in the remaining of a volcano eruption.

"Is Naruto going to be okay?" Kakashi nodded, though it could have ended the other way around.

"Had his stone shattered, then he would've died. Losing control of your crystal is vital and can cause you your death if you are reckless. That's why you have to let the gem accept you as its' master first of all. And then we can talk about unlock," he noticed Sakura's trembling legs, "but don't worry, we'll have all the time to practice this."

Naruto was slowly starting to gain his conscious. Despite their failed attempt on teamwork which was the main point of the survival training, then they all passed the test.

"What was that just before?" Kurenai knew that the eruption could've only been caused from a guardian losing its' control of its gem.

"I can tell you this for now, we are going to work our butts out so that won't happen to any of you." Kurenai had dismissed her genins but Hinata decided to stay. She wasn't satisfied with her work or the fact that Kurai had to be the one who she would reach out for.

"Hinata, give it a rest. You won't only exhaust yourself, but your gem is starting to doubt your worth as its master." Hinata opened her eyes, only to let them sink onto the ground.

"Why won't it let me?.."

"Is it, it that won't let you, or is it you who won't let it?" Hinata shot her head up. Kurenai gave her look, a look that told her to rest and take it easy. With that, Kurenai vanished with a puff.

Kurai-kun...

"Are you sure we can make it out of here? It's getting really dark," Hinata said. The clouds were slowly gathering around the moon. The moonlight was slowly fading, making it hard to see the path further ahead.

"Mitsu is always worrying. Don't worry, I got perfect eyes in the dark." Kurai knew the forest, and he knew the shortcuts that were hidden... somewhere. Mitsu was scared of the dark despite sneaking out every night just to have a look at the moon's reflection in the river outside of Konoha.

They had wandered around the area for quite some time, even Kurai was starting to question whether they would make it out before sunrise. He took a deep breath to stay focused on the way. He could maybe follow Mitsu back to the compound and from there hope that she could find her way back. She would probably make a ruckus, if I let her go on her own. Kurai sighed.

The path was slowly fading from their sight. Kurai could feel Mitsu clinging onto the hem of his shirt, "I'm scared, Kurai-kun," she whispered. Kurai could feel her tears on his shirt, he hugged her close and promised her that everything was going to be okay.

Kurai beamed from a shortcut that came to mind. He took Mitsu's hand after drying her tears off. "Don't worry, I'll get us home. Just don't let go of my hand."

"H-Hai..."

Lavender eyes shot open from the memory which she knew she had forgotten. The misty aura surrounding her crystal quickly took her attention. "C-could it have been you?" The only reply was a soundless beep. She lay down again, cleaning the sweat off of her forehead.

Kurai-kun...

I know I'm horrible and a liar. And that I probably don't deserve another chance, but I didn't expect such a busy schedule ahead of me. And I'm really sorry for taking this long for a new chapter. I know I've lost readers but I hope that I will/can satisfy the new readers. Hope you liked this chapter and I hope that I'll be quicker with the next one. I don't think I'll be able to post daily as I thought I would, but I'll try my hardest.

Gomenasai 3: