Caranril: I think I've mentioned that I have every intention to finish this fic, and I truly do, but I also intend to graduate this spring, which means loads of studying in order to get the credits needed to do so. A BA in Drama is not so easy as it might sound. Oi. But, ah, I'm almost done here, so squoot for me. And another squoot for those of you waiting. I applaud you. I hope this story meets your expectations...

disCLAIMER: While I do not own Naruto nor any affiliated subjects therein, Kishimoto-sama does and therefore he owns my soul.

Chapter 14: Too Many Have Fallen

A brilliant white Chakra spear extended from Sasuke's hand, a harsh chirping following the blade as it raced for Orochimaru. The Sannin ducked and hopped back several times.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice, Sasuke-kun."

"Fine." Sasuke slammed his hands together, causing the brightness to become blinding. Several spears shot in multiple directions, piercing the walls and destroying the technique Orochimaru had created. The lovely lights and structure vanished, and the stone walls of the cave appeared. As one blade grazed Orochimaru's cheek, he could barely manage a grin of satisfaction that he had avoided all the spears, when Sakura's fist slammed into his stomach. When had she gotten so fast? Orochimaru disappeared in a mess of writhing snakes, which squirmed away quickly.

"Some sort of clone," Sakura said, stomping on the head of one unlucky snake. "What a weird way to make a clone."

"The man himself is a snake, why shouldn't he be able to produce a snake?" Sasuke killed a few more with kunai.

"So where's the real Orochimaru?"

The cave walls shuddered violently. Rocks and dirt fell in small clouds from the ceiling. Then a shiver-inducing cry reverberated through the vast space overhead. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances.

"That was Naruto," Sakura said hoarsely. She jumped as an explosion came through the entrance Orochimaru's clone used. Debris and dust flew about, followed by a staggering figure bearing another limp figure on its shoulders. Dust covered Naruto head to foot, which would have been comical if it wasn't for the fact that he was gently laying Kakashi on the ground. Sakura kneeled beside him.

"Don't even bother Sakura-chan. He's dead."

Naruto didn't need to tell her that. She could already see that Hatake Kakashi was dead. But inside she screamed to confirm it. Touch him. Try a technique or two. He couldn't be...couldn't be...

"What's wrong?" Kaori limped closer to join them. Kakashi's normal eye was closed, while his Sharingan eye stared lifelessly up at them. Her breath caught in her throat, and she forgot to continue breathing. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's collar and shook him hard.

"It's a trick! A Genjutsu! You're not really Naruto!"

Naruto just glared back, his face red from exertion. There were gaping holes in his clothing and bleeding cuts on his hands. They looked like snake bites. His piercing blue eyes stared right back into Sasuke's Sharingan. Sasuke let go.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did you like him alive?" the cackle sent shivers down their spines. "I found him quite annoying. I tend to eliminate annoying things."

Naruto sank to his knees, the stench of his kitsune Chakra boiling up with the red cloak. Sasuke was blind to all but the grinning Sannin. Sakura continued administering techniques in hopes of reviving their sensei. No one noticed the hot tears on Kaori's cheeks evaporating as her yellow Chakra engulfed her. As her eyes bulged and reddened and her human formed disappeared, for the first time Juubi and Kaori united for one purpose. The fearsome Chakra grew, and the rest of the team became aware of the unsettling feeling it gave them. Kaori stood on all fours, hissing dreadfully. She charged, a blur of yellow Chakra that stung Sasuke slightly as she blew past. Her web-like hands grabbed Orochimaru's tunic. Even as the Chakra burned his pale flesh, her grinned excitedly.

"To think I'd actually live to see Juubi. This is certainly a once in a lifetime experience."

"It'll be your last experience."

"Even a bijuu couldn't possibly def..." Orochimaru choked as Juubi greedily gobbled up his Chakra. "Wha..."

"You were saying?" The more it absorbed, the less human Kaori looked. Five tails sprouted. Instead of repressing Juubi's Chakra, Orochimaru's Chakra suppressed Kaori's. A sixth tail emerged before she finally let go of the trembling man. His disguise fell away to reveal a handsome young man who had fallen victim to Orochimaru's body-swapping technique. Instead of finishing him off, Juubi whipped around and crowed.

"She's gone. Gone! I finally have control! And the first thing I'm going to do..." Juubi darted towards Naruto, who was prepared. Although Kyuubi wanted free in order to fight another bijuu, the pain in Naruto's heart was desperate enough to keep in under control.

"Kaori-chan you must get a hold of yourself!" Naruto met Juubi blow for blow.

"Gone, gone, all gone! You're just talking to yourself!" The grating voice damaged Naruto's calm. He started losing focus.

"Get a grip Uzumaki!" he muttered to himself, running a finger along a sharp canine. The slight pain in his finger and the tang of blood in his mouth kept him Naruto. Sakura barely managed to move herself and Kakashi away from the rampaging bijuu. Even though Naruto held his own against it, the cave wasn't so strong. Groaning rock shifted and fell, a particularly large piece striking Orochimaru from behind. Sasuke took the opportunity to charge. Despite being very drained of his Chakra, the older man moved quickly. Sasuke gritted his teeth. He'd defeated Orochimaru before, yet now he was having so much difficulty? So much trouble when he was even more powerful than those three years ago? It didn't help that he had to make sure he didn't get crushed by Juubi or Naruto.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke fired an enormous fireball in Orochimaru's direction. It struck and caused an enormous explosion of rock and heat. That would be a bad moved on a normal Shinobi's part, but a normal Shinobi didn't possess the Sharingan. He could sense Orochimaru in the earth, some part of him moving quickly in his direction. Sasuke tensed his muscles and with all his might sprung for the ceiling just as Orochimaru's head erupted from the rubble. His battered face dodged the Chakra spear Sasuke aimed at it, grinning despite his injuries. Sasuke's cold expression refused to grin back, yet his eyes were triumphant as the spear that Orochimaru thought he'd avoided struck the base of his long snakey neck, severing it from the body. That pasty face didn't even get a chance to look surprised as it fell short of biting Sasuke. Sasuke summoned two large snakes, one to consume Orochimaru's head, another the body. He'd ensure that the evil Sannin wouldn't return.

Naruto ducked a webbed fist. "Kaori-chan look! Orochimaru's dead! Sasuke killed him!" He pointed out fruitlessly. His heart sank slightly, knowing he hadn't been the one to destroy the most man he hated most. The name Orochimaru caused another fluctuation of Chakra and a seventh tailed emerged. At this point it no longer resembled a human and had in fact grown enormous. As Naruto stared into the red eyes, he froze as he noted tears. The tears barely escaped the eyes before evaporating, but it was enough to prove that Kaori was still in there somewhere. Somewhere...

Naruto bowed his head. In his hand he gathered, compressed, and spun Chakra, forming his technique, Oodama Rasengan. The air around him spiked with the friction, and his hair stood on end.

"If you're not going to let her go, I'll take her away instead."

"What, by killing me? You realize you'll just be killing her too! Then where would that leave you?"

"Yes, I'd be killing you both. But Kaori-chan once told me," Naruto looked up menacingly, his eyes red with unshed tears, "she was willing to die for her friends."

"What?" Juubi staggered back to escape the charging Jounin, only to discover that he'd lured it into a corner, where escape without injury would be impossible. Trapped, it whirled about and snapped at Naruto with its seven tails. All seven hit with the force of a tidal wave. Juubi grinned. So much for Kyuubi...

Naruto disappeared with a poof. Juubi bristled. If that wasn't Naruto, then where was he?

The earth beneath Juubi erupted as Naruto shot out with Oodama Rasengan in the lead. The spiral ball connected with Juubi's chest, and Chakra whirled about them as the bijuu reacted to each other. Sakura and Sasuke lost sight of the battle as dust and smoke filled the cave. The horrible feeling of the Chakra was gone.

Naruto caught Kaori as she fell. She'd died instantly, but there was the slightest smile on her face. Light filtered into the cave from the broken walls, a pale beam alighting her forehead. With her white hair and serene expression, she looked like an ethereal being. Naruto gathered her naked form in his arms and walked towards Sasuke and Sakura. As he emerged from the thickly clouded corner, he looked very much like he had when he brought Kakashi back. He tenderly lay her beside her sensei. There was a brief moment of silence before Sasuke let out a heart-wrenching cry and shoved Naruto out of the way. He grabbed Kaori's shouders and shook her limp body.

"You idiot! Get up! You can't give up yet! You still have a long way to go!" He let go, her body falling heavily.

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke clenched his fists, then turned and punched Naruto. Naruto staggered back from the force of the blow. "How could you kill her? How could you kill your friend? You couldn't even kill me! So how could you..." Sasuke bent over, heaving as his chest tightened. She was gone. Really gone. And he felt like he'd witnessed his entire clan being murdered...again.

"Sasuke." Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke didn't even bother to shrug it off. He was too shocked to even notice Sakura talking to him.

"He's not listening Sakura-chan."

"Punch him or something. This is important." Sakura busied herself with covering Kaori's body.

"What is it?"

Sakura formed several seals and held her hands over Kaori's Chakra centre. "I can't explain now. I need to do this before it's too late." Although she didn't move, sweat trickled down her brow as she put an incredible amount of effort into her technique. Naruto could only watch her and Sasuke, helpless to rectify the situation he'd put them in. He clenched his fists. Damn it.

Kaori gasped as air rushed into her lungs. Naruto's heart lifted and he squatted beside Sakura.

"Is she alive?"

Sakura fell back, exhausted. She nodded. "We won't know if she's okay until she wakes up."

"What did you do?"

"When you killed Juubi, it was Kaori in bijuu form, so it was really her Chakra that was damaged. She was dead like you would be if all your Chakra was removed. Kind of like what Akatsuki did to those other bijuu, but since the bijuu wasn't removed I was able to revive Kaori-san without using a technique like Chiyo-'baasan. I kind of jump-started her Chakra system."

"Sakura-chan." Naruto's tears finally spilled. "You're amazing." His dirty fingers stroked Kaori's cheeks, the flesh reddening as blood returned to them.

"If I was truly amazing, I'd be able to save Kakashi-sensei as well." Her own tears fell as she rested her hand on the forehead of her teacher and friend. She jumped as Kakashi's normal eye opened. He heaved himself up and stretched. He froze mid-yawn when he saw Sakura and Naruto clutching each other, eyes wide and completely flabbergasted.

"Oh. Sorry I'm late. Still haven't quite got the hang of that technique yet."

"Ehhhh? What technique? The technique to be dead?" Naruto yelled accusingly, trying to steady his pounding heart.

"Exactly right."

"W-when? How?" Sakura stuttered, too shocked to even be happy that he wasn't really dead.

"Well, I figured I knew plenty of offensive techniques, but not so many great defensive ones. I had an idea and I spoke to Hokage-sama, and she helped me out with developing it. It's kind of a medical technique, where I shut down my body just enough so that a medical ninja couldn't detect an active Chakra field. Of course this also simulates death to non-medic nins, so as long as I have an ally who can take care of my "dead" body, I can use this. No problem."

"No problem?!" Naruto and Sakura yelled in unison.

"We really thought you were dead!" Sakura cried, choking up.

"I killed Kaori because she thought you were dead!" Naruto added, his emotions too confused to make heads or tails of the situation.

Kakashi's eye-smile faded. "You what?"

Sakura explained the situation to Kakashi, who nodded slowly, watching Kaori's shallow breathing. She needed a hospital. Kakashi couldn't stand very well due to his legs being "dead" for nearly an hour. With Naruto as a support, he stood by Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun. Get up. It's time to go."

Sasuke stared blankly ahead, lost somewhere inside.

"Hey Uchiha."

Sasuke looked up, half expecting to see Kaori ready to punch him for some idiotic reason. Naruto glared down at him, hands on his hips. Sasuke growled and got up to stalk away.

"Calm down, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said sternly. As sternly as his weakened body could manage. "Kaori-san is alive, but she needs medical attention. We need to return to Konoha immediately. Can you carry her?"

Sasuke carefully tore his eyes from Kakashi's to look at her still body. Slowly, he nodded. Staggering towards her, there's wasn't any obvious sign to indicate that she was alive. Daring to cling to hope, he didn't trust himself to speak as he lifted her in his arms. He could feel her breath against his neck, and that sensation nearly cause him to cry. His smidgen of hope exploded, and his heart felt heavy with relief. Sakura warned them that Kaori wasn't free from harm yet, for only with proper treatment would she have a chance.

The team made frequent stops, for none of them were in terrific shape for the journey. Every break Sakura and Kakashi dozed to recover their strength, while Naruto kept watch and Sasuke stayed by Kaori. He refused to leave her side, just in case she woke up. With the amount of stops made, it took nearly two days to return to Konoha. Immediately upon their return, Kaori was rushed to the hospital and Kakashi taken in for examination. Tsunade told him he shouldn't use the technique yet because of all the risks, but it was likely she just wanted to lecture him rather than check his vitals. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were debriefed, and another team prepared to journey to the Land of Dragons to continue the diplomatic efforts.

Naruto and Sakura took turns by Kaori's side, but Sasuke remained the entire time. When he fell asleep against his will, he curled up in the chair next to her bed. Naruto and Sakura lifted him and laid him on the bed nearby. He'd be cranky if he woke up stiff in that chair. The doctor allowed only two visitors at a time, besides Sasuke, who only left the room to relieve himself. Hinata had whispered to Naruto how ripe Sasuke was getting, a comment that, much to her embarrassment, Naruto repeated really loudly. Sasuke finally left when Tsunade quite literally threw him out of the hospital, ordering him to bath because she wouldn't have something so filthy around healing patients. She pretended not to see the finger Sasuke held up to her back as she shut the window she'd tossed him out of. Kaori seemed physically healthy, but her mind was lost somewhere, an condition that would worsen with time. If only she could see all the people who cared about her, taking time out of their busy lives to see her, then perhaps she'd have the confidence to come out.

Sasuke followed his orders like any Shinobi would. He showered, tried to eat, and tried to sleep, but he felt uncomfortable in his own bed. He couldn't sleep knowing Kaori was in that hospital, alive but notalive. He wasn't sure if he liked that any better than her being dead. No. It's good that she's alive. She still has a chance. But knowing Kaori, she was withdrawing from life with her silly notions that she was a monster that needed to be excluded from everyone. Stupid Akumako. It's decided. He was going back to the hospital. This time of night he'd be able to sneak in through the window and give Kaori a good talking to without any interruptions.

Tsunade hadn't even fastened the window after she closed it. Not that it mattered; he could have gotten in anyway. He approached the bed and touched her hand, startled by the chill it gave off. Grumbling to himself, he gathered sheets from other beds to lay on top of her. He sat in the chair and crossed his arms.

"You're so stupid, Akumako." His voice sounded strange in the silent room, talking to someone who wouldn't respond. That didn't mean she wouldn't hear...

"Stupid, stupid, stuuuupid." He felt like an idiot. "Why are you staying away? People here are worried about you. You haven't given us any hope for a while now, and the longer you're away, the more worried they get. You gotta stop being so selfish and think of others for once." He leaned in, his voice softening to a whisper. "You gotta think about what they want. They want what's best for you. We want you to be happy. Iwant...I want..." What do I want? Sasuke's heart sped up. "You. Akumako Kaori, I want you. But I want all of you, so you gotta wake up. So I can tell you that for real." He sat back, laughing at himself. "You once called me a chicken. I guess I am, because I'd never say that to your face." He stood up to leave. "I'll be back in the morning. You think about what I said."

As Sasuke closed the window behind him, Tsunade peered into the room, a smirk on her face. He'd spent all his time sitting there, but now that he'd given Kaori a lecture, she was sure to wake up. Giving orders wouldn't work. Tried that already. Perhaps Uchiha Sasuke was the only one who would tell her off and not get away with it. If his words didn't stir something in her, she may never wake up.

"Well, Kaori-san," she said, patting the warm hand that had moments ago been cold, "it's up to you now."