The Next Gate
Grandma spent the next day unlocking the next gate for everyone.
First up...Naruto
"The Gate of Flexibility, powered by pleasure, weakened through guilt. Tell me child, what do you feel guilty for?"
Though his eyes were closed, he strained them in despair. "I couldn't save him."
"Do not worry child, you will not succeed at everything you do. Learn to accept a failed attempt, and learn from what you lacked so you know what you need to improve for next time."
Naruto's body suddenly jerked.
"Hey...I feel, a bit loose..."
"Yes, this gate is the quickest one."
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Next...Sakura.
"The Gate of Flexibility, powered by pleasure, weakened through guilt. Tell me child, what do you feel guilty for?"
"I couldn't stop him from leaving the village."
"He is a person, a being with different values and personality from others, just like you. Learn that everyone has a different method of being convinced. Just because you didn't know, doesn't mean you have to feel as though you did."
"Yeah. That does make sense-"
She froze. "I feel...different, almost...ropey..."
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Sasuke
"The Gate of Flexibility, powered by pleasure, weakened through guilt. Tell me child, what do you feel guilty for?"
"I wasn't able to save them..."
"I know we've had this conversation before, but I will still explain it. You were young, oblivious to what would happen next because you wanted and hoped for everything to work out well; nothing wrong with that. Though he did what he did, do not blame yourself for their expire; I know and you know they wouldn't want you to continue in that state."
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She finished with everyone else, and by the time she was finished with Bara, the entire ship was aware of Sasuke's and Bara's relationship.
Bara was walking down the hall when Sarah came out of a room and pulled her in.
Sasuke was cornered by the guys in his room.
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"So Bara," Sarah asked with a wide grin, "how long has this been going on between you and sasuke?"
"Oh, um...I don't know...two to three days I guess..."
"How did you two get together?" Hinata asked eargerly.
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"Why didn't you tell us you two were..."Naruto asked holding up a pinky.
"Because I didn't want to."
"Well she's a keeper. Her talents in Bajiquan might just be master level." Neji remarked in admiration.
"Yeah...she is pretty graceful." Sasuke said with a small smile.
"And here I always thought it would've been either Sakura or Ino. More the former than than the latter." Shikamaru said.
"So...how did this relationship between you start?" Lee said.
Sasuke saw no escape to it, so reluctantly he said, "I guess it started in the hospital."
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"Yeah...I was healing him, then we got into an argument about something." she said thinking hard.
"I remember he said something bad to me, so I started to cry. I remember kissing him before running out the room."
"Why'd you kiss him?" Ino asked.
"I don't know...despite what he said I was just, you know, expressing my feelings for him...didn't expect him to corner me and return it."
"He did whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Sarah asked excitedly.
She hopped up and ran to the door to go lock it.
She came back, eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Tell us everything! Don't leave nothing out."
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"So...you cornered her after you did that, and what?" Kiba asked with disbelief.
"I...kissed...her..."Sasuke said, not believing himself.
"Hard to believe that little scene with you in it." Shikamaru joked.
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"What kind of kiss was it?" Ino asked.
"Was it deep and passionate?" Hinata asked.
"Was it light and breath-taking?" Sakura asked.
"Um...He kinda had me against a wall...so I'll have to go with deep and passionate." she replied.
"Awwwwwwwww!" was all that escaped the girls' mouths.
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"What was going through your mind while you were doing this?" Naruto asked.
"Just...thoughts."
"Was that the only time you kissed her like that?" Neji asked.
"No. Her Grandma came the next day and..." he smiled, " 'convinced' me to give it a try with her."
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"The next time he kissed me like that was the night I was in the field looking at the flowers blooming in the moonlight." She said almost dreamily.
The other five girls were all on the edge of their seats, trying to picture the scene she described.
"I don't know what got into him...but I remember seeing walk up, shirtless (this earned a gasp from Ino), and...just kissed me. Like there was no tomorrow. I've never had anyone kiss me the way he has. It's like the warmth of the sun, without the glare. The next time was when he was soaked from the rain."
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"What made you run to house in a downpour like that?" Naruto asked.
"Found out something that I wish I didn't know." he said bitterly.
"And that was..." Kiba asked rotating his hand for him to continue.
He thought about telling them. If I tell them, they might be able to keep that from happening.
"Her grandma told me...that...in order to kill that thing...she has to die."
"WHAT!?" They all yelled in unison.
"Does she know?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah...she knows. She trusts in her grandma, who said that she had ways to bring her back if she did it."
"If?" Shikamaru asked.
"Yeah. She told me, and I guess she told her, that if we view our relationship as more important, then she doesn't have to sacrifice herself."
"Did you talk it over with her?" Choji asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "Not yet."
"So what did you do?" Neji asked.
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"The next time, he came to my apartment number, soaking wet because of the rain." Bara continued.
"What made him run through rain?" Tenten asked.
"He found out what I have to do to kill Him."
"What's that?"
Bara looked down in guilt.
"She has to sacrifice herself when it's weak enough." Sarah answered, looking guilty as well.
Poor Sasuke. Sakura thought sadly.
"Well...how do you feel about it?" Sakura asked.
"At first, I know I would've done it in a heartbeat. Now though, because I know the effect it'll cause on him, I'm starting to second guess it."
"Well you can't just kill yourself!" Ino said.
"Yeah, there has to be another way?" Sakura agreed.
"We're not sure if there is yet." Sarah said sadly.
"I know Grandmama has been busy looking for another route since we got together. I think she's frightened for both of us." Bara said.
"Well that explains why we haven't been seeing her around that often." Tenten said.
Bara rose to and headed to the door.
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.
"Up top. It's a beautiful night and I feel like star-gazing. Helps clear my head."
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"Maybe you should go talk to her about it?" Neji said.
"Maybe not," Shikamaru replied.
"What? Why not?" Naruto asked.
"Look, this thing...whatever it is, managed to get the three sannin and I bet any other ninja with alot of power. However," he said closing his eyes, "it'd be selfish to let her do it, as well as to not let her do it. It's basically our need against the rest of the world."
"What if there was another way?" Kiba asked.
"If there is...then there would be no point in her to sacrifice herself." Neji answered.
Sasuke headed for the door.
"Hey!" Naruto said.
"I'm going to go talk to her." Sasuke said stepping out.
They waited for a minute, then followed him, keeping out of sight.
It was a star-filled sky that night.
The water reflected the sky so it looked like they were sailing through space.
Sasuke reached the deck, and saw Bara standing at the front of the ship, her head on her hand, gazing at the stars.
As Sasuke made his way to her, everyone else quietly spied on them.
"I can't here what there saying!" Ino hissed.
"I you're quiet maybe we could hear something." Sakura hissed back.
They couldn't hear them, but tried to make out the situation based on their movements.
They were facing each other, both with a serious expression on their face.
Sasuke said something, and Bara looked down, the then she rose her head and said something.
Sasuke snapped he head to the side, his eyes were angry.
Everyone ducked down lower, thinking he had saw them.
They saw him turn his head back as she spoke.
This continued for a while before they saw that she began to cry, a smile on her face.
She held her hands in front of her as she spoke.
Sasuke went up to her, and gave her a deep kiss.
"Awwwww." The girls whispered.
"Way to go Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.
They both stopped kissing and looked their way.
Sakura hit Naruto on the head. "Naruto you knucklehead!" she said angrily.
"Were you guys spying on us?" Bara asked.
"NO! No...we just came up here for some fresh air." Sarah said thinking quickly.
"All together?" Sasuke asked disbelievingly.
"Yeah. You know how stuffy it gets down there." Shawn answered.
"Bara...what's wrong?" Sakura asked.
Everyone looked at Bara, she seemed to be thinking hard about something.
"Have you guys noticed that the boat isn't rocking at all?"