AN: Alright, the second arc has begun, I'll tell you the name of it in the next chapter, because you find out why it has that name in this one, so…
x-X-x
Chapter 8: The Three Back Together
"Sasuke… is that really you?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, it's me, stay there, I'll handle Roken," he said before running at Roken.
The two fought like samurai, one on one, and as if their only weapon was the katana in their hands. Sakura was watching the fight, still mesmerized by Sasuke coming back when she heard something behind her, "Sa-ku-ra…"
"Naruto!" she exclaimed turning around.
Naruto's eyes were open slightly, his face was pale and he was looking at her, there was blood trickling down his cheek from the side of his mouth.
"Oh, Naruto I though you were dead," Sakura said putting a hand on his chest.
Naruto grinned weakly, "not quite yet," he said, then the gin faded, "he came back, huh."
"Yeah, Sasuke came back to us. You kept your promise, your way of the ninja," Sakura said with a weak smile.
"Yeah, all it took was for me to die," Naruto said.
"Naruto! That's not funny! You're alive, you're not going to die!" she yelled, trying to convince herself as much as him.
"He's laughing now. He said he finally figured a way out, so he's not helping," Naruto said.
"Who? Kyuubi? He's not…" then Sakura looked at the wound, it wasn't healing. "Oh god, Naruto!" she screamed putting her hands over the wound and trying to heal, but she didn't have any chakra left to heal him with.
"It's okay, at least you got Sasuke back, plus, Kyuubi said he's blocking the pain, so it doesn't hurt," Naruto said.
"Oh, Naruto, I'm so sorry, I, I should have waited to see if you would get hurt, I used too much chakra on myself," Sakura said crying.
"Hey, I told you to, remember? I told you I could heal myself; I wanted you to heal all your wounds. Don't be mad at yourself, I'm not," Naruto said weakly.
"Naruto…" Sakura said through her tears.
"Hey, Sakura, could you straighten my legs out?" Naruto asked.
Sakura looked at his legs, and started to audibly sob," N-Naruto, your legs a-are straight," she said in between sobs.
Naruto grinned weakly, "my mistake."
x-X-x
As Roken and Sasuke exchanged blows they also threw words at each other, they both charged and their katana locked.
"Is this Sakura's gift, forcing her to watch a friend die?" Sasuke asked.
"No, but her gift is here, you returned," Roken said back.
They jumped back from each other Roken grinning, Sasuke scowling.
"They were talking about you and Orochimaru, apparently the world is unaware of his death, and the Sound's fall," said Roken.
"I'll let them know," said Sasuke charging back at Roken, who followed in suit.
"Where are the two that went with you?" Roken asked as he swung at Sasuke's head.
Sasuke ducked, "Itachi killed one when I woke him up," he swung at Roken's stomach, "and the other when we tracked him down."
Roken blocked the swing and aimed a kick at Sasuke's knee, "so you finally killed him, you're avenging is done," Roken said.
Sasuke jumped back to avoid the kick, "how do you know so much about me and the others, I know Kabuto wasn't a spy," Sasuke said.
"No, he wasn't. but I had several other spies in the Sound; none were there when we destroyed it though. And I also had spies in all the other villages, but most have been found now. In fact, the Rock and Cloud are the only villages that haven found all my spies," Roken said.
"At least the Leaf is rid of you," Sasuke said charging again, Roken did the same.
Sasuke swung down and Roken blocked it, but Sasuke's sword broke Roken's and cut into his shoulder. Roken jumped back, tossed his broken katana aside and grabbed his wound, "it appears you win, for now, I bid you ado," Roken said before vanishing.
Sasuke wiped the blood from his katana and sheathed it. He then ran over to Sakura and Naruto. "How much longer until he can stand?" Sasuke asked at he got closer. He didn't need Sakura to answer; he saw the wound was the same as before. "Why isn't he healing?"
"Kyuubi said he found a way out, so he's letting Naruto die so he can be free," Sakura said crying, she was stroking his hair.
"Hey, Sasuke… take care of her… make her happy… or I'll find a way back… and hurt you just as bad," Naruto said, his face was paper white, and his eyes were glazed over.
"Yeah, I will," said Sasuke as he dropped to his knees next to Sakura.
"Sakura, Sakura…." Naruto started, but his face went slack.
"Naruto? Naruto! No please Naruto!" Sakura said putting her head on his chest and crying into his shirt.
"I'm, sorry Sakura," Naruto said, a tear falling from his eye.
"Naruto, I… I think I…" 'love you,' Sakura would have kept crying into Naruto's body but Sasuke pulled her away. He let her cry on his shoulder for a few minutes before talking.
"I'll be right back, when I get back we can go back to the Konoha, okay. Just make sure animals don't get to his body," Sasuke said.
Sakura nodded and Sasuke vanished. He returned a few minutes later with the bag Itachi's body had been in and put Naruto in it. He hoisted him onto his shoulder and started back to Konoha, Sakura at his side.
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"Where am I, is this Heaven?" Naruto asked, he was back to normal and was surrounded by darkness, but he could see fine, and see that there was nothing else there.
"No, dear boy, this is not Heaven, though, you are still dead," said a deep male voice behind him.
Naruto turned around to see who spoke and saw a man draped in black sitting in a large metal throne. He had metal spiked armor on his knees, shoulders, feet and hands. His face seemed older than time and his white beard reached his chest while his whit hair reached his waist. He had a black cape which draped over the back of the throne. He looked like an old warrior, but had no battle scars and his face was emotionless.
"Are you Shinigami?" Naruto asked.
"No, I am not," the man said.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked.
"The god of chaos, following not the path of good, like Kami, or bad, such as Shinigami but wander around, seeking my own means, where they land me, in good or bad, I don't care," he said.
"Where am I?" Naruto asked.
"Stuck, between the paradise of Heaven and pit of Hell. Welcome to the Void," he said.
"You never told me your name," Naruto said.
"Knowing the name of something implies power over it, I will not tell you my name, but call me what you want, I don't care," he said.
"Okay, you're the god of chaos, so I guess Chaos is a good name," Naruto said and the god didn't show any reaction to the name. "Alright Chaos, why am I here?"
"You are here because it has yet to be determined where you go," said Chaos.
"What, I might go to Hell? This sucks!" Naruto yelled.
"You are nothing like the others I have seen here, though some were like you in life, they all seemed to change with death, you remain the same," Chaos leaned back, "very interesting."
"There are others here?" Naruto asked.
"There were, some like you, because they weren't placed yet, others I took because they could fit into my plan," Chaos said.
"Did you send them back to life?" Naruto asked.
"No, some refused to help, so I sent them to their place, others agreed, and helped me, I then granted them a wish in return," said Chaos.
"Do you know where other dead people are, if they're in Heaven or Hell?" Naruto asked.
"Most, whom do you ask for?" Chaos asked.
"My parents, I never met them, I don't even know their names," Naruto said looking downcast.
Chaos leaned forward, "Your father stood before me, I had a place for him in my plans. He refused so I sent him to his final place."
"Where, where is he?" Naruto asked.
Chaos sighed, 'to tell him, would it interfere? If death didn't mellow him, the news of his father may make him more irrational,' "he is in the belly of Shinigami, the result of a forbidden jutsu he used."
"The one the Third Hokage used?" Naruto asked, a confused look on his face.
"Yes, the Fourth used it as well, all four Hokage's are there," Chaos said.
"At least he's got company, what about my mom?" Naruto asked.
Chaos leaned back again, "I don't who where she went," he said.
Naruto sat on the ground sighing, "what do I do while I wait?" he asked.
In response what looked like a mirror appeared before them. But it didn't reflect their images on it; rather it showed an overhead view of Sasuke and Sakura walking back to Konoha. Naruto's eyes widened.
"I can watch my friends from here," he said leaning forward towards the mirror.
"I wouldn't recommend constantly watching someone though, everyone deserves their privacy," Chaos said.
Naruto turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, "you don't seem all that chaotic," he said.
"You just met me," Chaos said, "you can set the mirror to watch a person or place constantly, and you can place an alert on it, so when the person feels a certain emotion, any emotion, the mirror will immediately inform you and show you what's going on."
"Are these mirrors in Heaven and Hell too?" Naruto asked, his eyes back on the mirror, an eager look on his face.
"Not Hell, no, possible in Heaven, I never asked," Chaos said.
x-X-x
It took Sasuke and Sakura three days to get back to Konoha. The instant the guards caught sight of Sasuke they called for ANBU, two of whom arrived at the gate almost the exact same time he did.
"Stop there. why are you returning now? What is you're purpose here?" demanded the ANBU in a dog mask.
"Please, he's back here with me, he saved my life," Sakura said, she was fighting back the tears, and had been for nearly the entire trip back.
"Why does he return? And what is in the bag?" asked the hawk masked ANBU.
"We need to see the Hokage," Sasuke said.
"Why are you here and what is in the bag?" demanded the dog masked ANBU.
"I wish to return home, I have information for the Hokage about a possibly dangerous organization and I watched my best friend die two days ago, now let me in so I can see the Hokage," Sasuke said, anger coursing through him.
"Sakura, where is Naruto?" the hawk ANBU asked.
Sakura didn't trust herself to speak, she just pointed to the bag, fighting as hard as ever against the tears. The two ANBU looked at each other before the dog spoke again, "we'll escort you there," he said and Sasuke and Sakura nodded and followed the two.