Airi packed her things as Lori stared out of the window. It had only been a few hours since Lori had dropped the bomb about her alternative plan if Naruto had failed to remember The Gate. The Hokage had informed the others of Lori's "punishment." She had remained unaffected by the news saying she had expected as much. This wasn't a surprise since her grandfather had previous experience with the Guardians. Riyu, however, had been furious demanding why she had chosen to keep the information to herself. Airi frowned. His reaction was exactly the reason Lori had kept it to herself. It was also the reason Airi hadn't revealed her knowledge of it long ago. They both were being punished enough without having to drag the others into it. She had watched in horror through her counterpart Ali's eyes as Victoria bled her out to get to this universe in the first place. The Gate's solution was a cruel and simple punishment. The universe was demanding the Keeper of the Gate of Darkness kill the Keeper of the Gate of Light in every dimension until there was nothing of her left, and Victoria was the last loose end. The visions and havoc and destruction she and her other counterparts were reaping was just an added bonus. Truth's subtle way of telling them they were taking too long. She remembered Lori's face when she had told her about the first dream. She's looked so haunted and ashamed. Airi knew Lori blamed herself for everything.

Speaking of her friend, she craned her neck trying to see where Lori was looking so intently. As she narrowed her eyes she could just barely make out the ruins of the Uchiha compound over the trees. "Have you been yet?" Lori shook her head no. She scooted over and Airi settled beside her friend watching the sun set in the distance. They sat in silence for a long time. "Sometimes I wonder how different everything would be if I had stayed away that night like Itachi told me too." Airi blinked at Lori's statement. "You never told me Itachi tried to send you away." Lori smiled. "I was always running away when I was little. I always thought my dad was stupid for trying to make me and Sasuke just like Itachi, so I'd get fed up with it all and go sleep in the park or something." (1) Airi chuckled remembering the snarky girl she had met in the slave camp. "Our feisty Fae. All sass and all bite." She teased. Lori pouted. "Hey, anyone I beat up in there deserved it." She said. "No argument there." Airi replied.

Lori sighed. "I'd had a fight with Sasuke that day. I thought Itachi was just being a good brother and telling me to stay away so he could cool off. I didn't want to leave it like that though. Next thing I know, I'm face down on the ground with a hole through my stomach and my vision going black." "How'd you get away?" Airi asked. "Tallah took over my body, healed me, and ran me away from there as fast as she could. I don't think she even knew where she was going." Airi poked the gem that had caused so much trouble laying on Lori's desk thinking about where they had all come from. She had been an orphan in the Land of Mists scavenging food because no one in her family wanted her. No one could afford to take in another mouth to feed under Gato's thumb. Lori broke the silence. "Maybe Yore wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't have to kill Victoria." She said making Airi blink in surprise. Lori leaned into her side sighing. "Airi?" she said.

"Hmmm?"

"Why am I so bad at listening?"

Airi snickered. She turned around so their backs were pressed against each other. "Because you're a stubborn poop head."

Lori was silent. "Huh." She said after a minute.

"What?" Airi sweat dropped hoping she hadn't overstepped some kind of boundary.

"I haven't heard Tallah laugh that much in a while." She said with a hint of a smile on her face.

Airi barked out a laugh. "That's cause she knows I'm right." Lori snickered staring back out the window again.

Airi let her have a moment before she became serious again. "There's no decision Lori." She said. "Either you kill her to set everything right or she kills you and throws everything into chaos. She has to die." Lori whipped around and stood up making Airi loose her balance and whack her head on the bench. Airi rubbed her head in annoyance. "Geez!" she said. "And you wonder why Riyu was gonna abandon you if we got caught." Lori glared at her frustrated. "How can you say that so easily?" she demanded.

"What? That you deserve to get your butt thrown in jail?" Airi said frustrated.

Lori balled her hands in fists. "Yore!" She practically yelled. "You can just sit there and condemn her like it's the simplest thing in the world."

Airi glared at Lori. "Because everyone else seems to understand the one thing you still can't get through your thick head. Yore is DEAD. YOU killed her. Victoria is nothing more than an echo from another dimension fighting the inevitable. You don't get to say you're sorry for killing her and make up. She doesn't exist anymore." Lori looked at her like she had just slapped her in the face. Airi sighed. "I know you feel guilty Lori, but you can't keep running away." She sighed exasperated as she watched her words sink into the raven-haired girl. "No matter what you want to believe, not every story has a happy ending." Airi left her friend in silence. There was no running out of time any more. They were already out of it.

Naruto woke up that morning feeling well rested. He frowned. As strange as it sounded he actually missed having Tallah in his head. "WOULD YOU HURRY UP YOU BAKA! YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE US LATE AGAIN!" Naruto winced at the sheer volume of the Kyuubi's voice. It was like he was making up for not being able to yell at him for a whole month. At this point he would've gladly taken Tallah's mind numbing maze back. "DON'T YOU EVEN MENTION THAT ****ING DRAGON! I'LL BURN HER ALIVE NEXT TIME I SEE HER! I'LL…" "SHUT UP FUR BALL!" Naruto yelled interrupting the beast's rant. "Geez! I thought the dragon Bijuu was the tailed beast's bodyguard or something." He said rubbing his head in annoyance. "Why do you have such a problem with her? I thought you'd at least like the other Bijuu." The fox scoffed. "I don't like anyone." He deadpanned. Naruto rolled his eyes and headed to the Hokage's office. Everyone was already there making him the late one again.

For the first time Naruto really looked at the people around him. Airi, who had carried Sakura to safety, surveyed everyone from her corner with worry. Ryu, who Naruto had yet to figure out, was being lectured by Sakura for not being able to read a map. Tia, who had threatened to kill him less than two weeks ago, twirled one of her blades around anxiously. Riyu, who seemed to be more at peace than he had since Naruto had met him, was propped up against the wall standing guard. Al, who had opened up to him, was making small talk with the Hokage. Finally Lori, the girl he had forgotten and remembered again, was quiet on the floor preparing to kill a copy of someone she had once cherished. They all looked different, but…he took in the homey atmosphere crowding the room. He looked at Lori who gave him a small smile. He waved and smiled. "You know they won't stay." Kyuubi told him. Naruto ignored him fighting the wave of sadness he suddenly felt. He became aware again when Sakura decided to give him a lecture about being punctual.

Shikamaru lazily led everyone from the room except him, Lori, and Airi. Naruto blinked glancing at Lori out of the corner of his eye. He had killed one or two people for the village before, but he was worried about how Lori seemed to be handling the task. "Alright!" Tsunade yelled grabbing his attention. "Move out, and you better all come back in one piece or I'll hunt every last one of you down myself!" she threatened. All three of them sweat dropped and did as she said. Naruto moved closer to Lori and Airi. "So what's the plan?" he asked. Lori looked ahead while she explained. "Once we enter Truth's realm you'll have to help me hold her down long enough for me to detach her guardian mark from her." Naruto furrowed his brows in confusion. "That'll kill her?" he asked. She nodded. "Think of it as a permanent brand that burns you away from the inside out if you remove it." Naruto shuddered. "That sounds horrible." He said. Lori nodded. "That's why the mark can only be removed by another guardian." Airi said solemnly.

Naruto was lost in thought for a moment. He could just hit Victoria with his Rasen-Shiriken, but if they needed to remove the mark to repair the threads this was going to be a lot harder. They couldn't remove her energy if she was already dead, and from what he had seen so far Victoria was going to be a hard person to hold down. "So how are we attacking her?" Airi answered that part of his question. "The plan is for me to hold the gate open so you two and Victoria can get inside Truth's realm." Naruto was confused. "I thought only me and Lori could open the gate." He said. Airi nodded. "Yes, but Lori's the Keeper of the Gate of Darkness. She can only hold it open long enough to get you inside. That's a one way trip without paying another price. As the Bridge Builder I can hold it open as long as you need. I just can't be the one who opened it in the first place."

Naruto shook his poor rattling brain. Their jobs were more confusing by the minute. Lori laughed at his disgruntled expression before getting serious again. "Getting Victoria inside the portal is the easy part." She said continuing where Airi left off. "She won't want to go inside because she's looking for an easy kill outside of the portal, but it won't be too hard for Airi to drive her in there. The hard part begins once we're inside Truth's realm. The Gate isn't picky. It'll take either one of us as a price. Whoever looses their mark first is fair game. Basic tag team tactics will be to our advantage since she just uses her scythe as a main weapon. Try to aim any attacks you can at her back. She'll be wide open there depending on what attack she ends up using." Naruto nodded. It sounded simple enough. "Don't underestimate her though." said Airi. "If I've analyzed Ali's memories correctly Victoria has a military background in her world, so she's just as good at hand to hand combat." (2)Naruto let out a frustrated breath. This was gonna be a pain if she was good at long and short range attacks. He looked at Lori and noticed her thoughtful expression. "You gonna be ok?" he asked her.

Lori smirked at him. "I'm an Uchiha. I'm always ok."

Naruto stared at her. "Liar." He said making her laugh.

"Have you even killed before? Aside from Yore I mean."

Lori blinked in surprise. "I've killed shadows before," she said. "But this is the first time we've been ordered to kill a person."

"What's a shadow?" Naruto questioned curiously.

Lori furrowed her brow thinking. "They're hard to describe." She said. "They're like ripples from the gate. They appear when an event takes place that isn't supposed to. It mostly happens around here when people try harnessing forbidden jutsu techniques." Naruto grinned. "Guess Orochimaru gave you guys one heck of a work order." She smirked at the joke. Airi didn't look amused. "Sometimes shadows can come from other universes too. Those are usually because of some big event that makes them bleed into other doors. They can even possess things if they're big enough. That's what happened to the Bijuu." Naruto recalled the story Airi had told him about how the Sage of Six Paths had bargained with Truth for the ability to separate and seal away the beasts. Speaking of Airi, he was surprised to see her moving ahead. He took the opportunity to question his friend.

Naruto studied Lori's face. "So when are you gonna stop lying about how you are?" he said after a minute. Lori smiled wryly. "You want to hear a story? All the village kids love it." she said. Naruto frowned. This wasn't really the time for stories. Before he could answer though, she had started her tale. "Once upon a time a dark wizard kidnapped a princess and locked her away in an underground prison never to see the light of day again. Instead of taking action like she should've, the princess remembered all the horrible things that happened to her kingdom and thought it better to stay where she was. She thought if she ran away long enough the prince, her one and only best friend, would eventually come find her." Naruto's face flushed at that. Lori smirked and continued.

"So the princess waited. Over time, without realizing it, she made friends with many knights that were imprisoned with her. Then, something horrible happened to her most trusted knight, something that was her fault. So, her trusted knight became her fallen knight and she ran away ashamed of her actions. Though she and the rest of the knights were free from the prison, she left them all to run to her kingdom and seek shelter with her friend the prince hoping he would save her from her despair. When she found him she was happy, and for a moment the prince had indeed saved her." Lori smiled. "This is where I usually end it for the kids, but I'll tell you the rest." she said making Naruto narrow his eyes at her. "The princess's fairytale ending wasn't meant to last." Lori continued completely engrossed in her tale. "For you see, a witch seeking revenge for the fallen knight stole the prince's mind for her kingdom's evil counsel leaving the princess alone again save the dragon knight who never left her side. Having no choice, she and the dragon knight returned to the others. The princess traveled with the knights and sought a master who could help her get stronger so she could correct the mistakes she had made. When she was strong enough she set out to collect a treasure that would help her and the prince defeat the witch."

"However, the treasure came with the price of death without the prince's mind to lend her aid. So the dragon knight, having known about the treasure beforehand, arranged a way to retrieve the prince's lost mind. Knowing the alternate price, the princess led the rest of the knights through the shadows hoping to fix her mistakes without involving them. However, in leaving them in the dark she had separated herself from the knights once more. In despair the princess realized her act of what she thought was kindness had only broken more things instead of fixing them. She sank into sadness wishing for things that couldn't be, and openly sought the price that came with using the treasure alone." Naruto frowned at his friend trying to motion for her to stop. She didn't have to tell him this. Lori smiled at his gesture, but contined.

"When the dragon knight succeeded in helping the prince recover his mind, the princess was overjoyed. She realized that she had never really wanted to use the treasure alone, and was happy that her prince would be able to save her once more. However, as the day she would face the witch got closer she sank into severe despair once more. For you see, the witch was a replica of her knight that had fallen so long ago, and she had no wish to kill her. She wished for the prince to save her again, but after reflecting on her own selfishness the princess realized all the time she had spent pursuing the treasure she had only been running away. That's when she realized the Truth. By leaving the dark wizard's prison all those years ago the princess had only succeeded in making another by her own hand." She looked at Naruto cocking her head and smiling. "And no one can save me from myself now can they?" (3)

Naruto looked down not able to meet the girl's eyes. Before he could respond a voice boomed from behind them. "Still telling pointless stories girl?"Airi had doubled back and glared at the source of the voice. Naruto and Lori turned around putting themselves into battle mode. Victoria was perched on the tree behind then laughing. "C'mon now Lori! We all know this story ends with death" she crowed. "And believe me I aim to survive!" she yelled slamming her scythe downward. Lori jumped backwards and Airi locked her kunai with the girl making sparks fly. Victoria chuckled managing to hold her own. "Now now." She said. "Don't worry. I'll finish the story for her properly after she's dead!" Looking around she dodged Naruto who had tried to drive his regular Rasengan through her back. Meanwhile Lori fished around in her bag for the Gem of Aatos. "Naruto!" she yelled once she pulled it out. Victoria whipped her head around. She began to run at Lori, but was stopped again by Airi who had somehow managed to skid between the girl's legs and stab her in the thigh. Victoria turned on her trying to swipe her torso.

Naruto ran over to Lori. "What do we do?" he asked frantically. Lori pointed to the tree that was close to them. "We're going to stab it into this tree trunk then I'm going to feed my chakra into so it'll activate. When that's done you'll pool your chakra together with mine and reach out to the gate." Naruto paled a little. "How will I know what to look for?" "You don't have to worry about that. Since you have your memories back your mind will know automatically!" Naruto was uneasy, but he trusted her. Lori raised the gem over her head, and drove it into the tree trunk. He watched her as she pulled her chakra into the gem and it flashed violently. "Naruto now!" she yelled at him. As Naruto pooled his chakra into the gem with her he could see what she mean. It was like the information was literally attached to him and he had never even known it. With that knowledge he realized something else as well. Something the Kyuubi had been hiding from him. Something that had been left out of the story Airi had told him. "I never needed my memories did I?" he asked the Kyuubi. "No. They've all been fools since the very beginning. Pawns for Truths lesson." He answered simply. Naruto absorbed this new information as he reached with his chakra for the Gate. Lori was right again. He knew automatically when he had hit the point he needed to. "Now what?!" he yelled over the roar of the Gate. "Rip it open!" Lori yelled back. "Don't let up!" He didn't. He grabbed the point and stretched it open with all his might. The next thing he knew a hole had appeared in front of them almost like a rift in time. There was a sudden bright flash and when he blinked they were in Truth's realm staring at his creepy grin.

Victoria growled in frustration trying to attack the blonde before he could help Lori. The Bridge Builder got in her way though. That leg shot had hurt. She tried to hack the girl in half, but she was too quick. They jumped and dodged around each other like that for awhile. She gripped her scythe angrily. She couldn't let them open the gate, but she couldn't get past Ali either! Wait not Ali! Airi! Blood pooled her vision again. She blinked in surprise when she saw blood drenching the Airi's neck. What the…? She shook her head at the image. When she looked back up she barely had time to dodge the girl's shuriken before it cut off her arm. "What's the matter?" The girl in front of her taunted. There was no longer any blood on her neck. Victoria growled in frustration. This girl wasn't Ali. She had no reason to regard her that way. She had shed he remorse! She did not feel guilty! "Move out of my way!" she roared at the girl aiming for her head. She faltered when another image came over her. She saw Ali reaching toward her. "Vicky please! You don't have to do this!" She tried unsuccessfully to shake off the image again and Airi landed a solid kick in her abdomen launching her into a tree.

Her eyes widened in rage when she looked up and realized Lori and Naruto had ripped open the door to Truth's realm. She cursed. She got up grabbing her scythe prepared to run, but before she realized what was happening Airi grabbed her by her left arm and threw her into the open portal. She could see the girl rush behind her so she could keep it open. Victoria closed her eyes to shield them from the bright flash of the portal. She landed roughly on her back, and opened her eyes stunned. She was stuck in Truth's realm with the brats. "Well ****." She said out loud.

(1) I took a lot of liberties with this chapter since the story is coming to a close. I originally explained Lori's p.o.v. of the Uchiha massacre in a side fic called How Did We Meet Again? that I deleted. I thought some of the details were important to Lori's overall perspective of self at this point so I went ahead and added the scene with her and Airi.

(2) In the spin off story "It All Falls Apart" that I had originally planned to write for this Victoria's backstory was that she was a part of a military regiment alongside Cornel Mustang's sister, an OC I had planned to be Lori's counterpart in the FMAB universe, that was falsely killed and used for experiments with the philosophers stones. The aim was to make them that world's equivalent of super soldiers. Since I scrapped that story because it would end up being another long one, I decided I didn't need to include that part of her past here because the super strength and speed would not stand out in the Naruto verse to begin with.

(3) This whole mini-story was inspired by the character Fred from Joss Whedon's series Angel. The character had been lost in a hell dimension for several years and regarded Angel as her knight in shining armor. After struggling for weeks to get herself used to being on Earth again, she tells Angel a fairytale version of her story and explains through it that though she regarded him as her white knight, she realizes she can't depend on him to save her from reality. I liked their relationship in the show because even though she did have a tiny thing for him at first, the relationship became one that was completely platonic. This is how I intended the relationship between Lori and Naruto to be. They both love and think highly of each other, but in a completely platonic way.