A/N I love the people who are following/favorite/reviewed and such! This one is for you guys! Also, there will be sci-fi elements from the dimension that Naruto came from but I will show it bit by bit.
Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. It. Except for the OC's.
Warning: Angst, GORE, bashings here and there, OC's, OOC, etc.
"W-what are you talking about?" Sakura asked, crawling meekly on the ground and patting her hand around in the dirt to see where she was going. "Sasuke-kun, is that…?"
"Naruto," Sasuke said; his eyes wide in shock. But, he was supposed to be dead. Just what the hell is going on? And why was he so tall? His voice didn't make it any better although he thought it was a bit sexy. Ahem, no one heard that.
Jin glared at the tall, cloaked figure. "That is not where I belong. It is you who belongs there! I know what you did and you know it."
Naruto chuckled darkly. "Look who's talking, shippai (1)."
Jin flinched at the word yet his gaze hardened quickly. "Go back. This is somewhere you don't belong. You know what will happen, do you?"
"I came knowing what will happen," Naruto said. "I'm willing to risk it. But you're here as well."
"You're an idiot."
"Thank you."
"Um, Naruto," Sakura spoke up quietly, kneeling on the ground. "Aren't you supposed to be…d-dead?"
Naruto looked around, noticing that his other self wasn't here. "Seems so. Anyways, I have business to take care of. Carry on with whatever you're doing. Oh, here."
He snapped his fingers, causing the snake bindings to burn, but not the boys. "Avoid that man. He's a little…different here, it seems. I assure that Jin will take care of you."
"Why aren't you taking me back?" Jin snapped, standing up.
"You want to go back that badly?" Naruto joked. "Sorry but you'll have to wait. My transportation service is cancelled for the day. Besides, I have something else to do. Good-bye."
Jin stood there, stunned but a bit relieved inside. He'll take his time to get his old body back before Naruto will take him back to that hellhole. Time is precious. However, he was confused.
"What do you have to do?" He asked, suspiciously.
"Something," Naruto answered, walking away. "Dare ga gaitō suruto hai no naka kara futatabi jōshō shimasu (2)."
"Y – you - ?"
"Good luck with that traitor of yours," Naruto waved off. "Isn't that why you're here?"
"He's not a traitor!" Jin shouted.
Naruto vanished before Jin could do anything about it. He fell onto his knees and glared holes into the empty space where the blonde stood before.
"What was he talking about?" Sasuke asked, an unknown emotion flaring in his eyes. "Tell me, Endo, before I – "
"Before you what?" Jin interrupted bitterly. "You can't do shit now. Just – let's just go."
He stood up and started speeding through the trees to the direction of the tower. Sasuke slammed his fist into the ground, grimacing at the melted skin from Orochimaru on the ground. He stood up and hoisted Sakura onto his back, following Jin's trail.
(Few hours later)
"C-can you tell him to wait?" Sakura whispered in Sasuke's ear. "Or slow down?"
Sasuke didn't reply as he boosted up his speed. He secretly agreed with the girl though he didn't want to get on Jin's bad side after seeing what he had done so far.
"Oi!" Sasuke shouted despite himself. "Slow down!"
Jin suddenly stopped on a branch, causing Sasuke to collide against his firm, tense back.
"Are you cons – "
"Shh." Jin silenced them, looking around cautiously. "Don't you sense something off?"
Sasuke looked around, trying to sense whatever Jin sensed, but his body already reached its limit and he was too tired to even listen to what Jin said.
"I don't – "
"Sasuke-kun!" Apparently, Sakura's hearing was perfectly fine and she could hear a faint whistling of some sorts coming from the front.
It was a bit too late though when the gust of air pressure hit them full force. Jin tried to cover himself but was soon flung back from the force, hitting his head against a tree thus knocking him unconscious. It was the same for Sasuke who let go of Sakura.
Sakura fell down on the ground and winced when she impacted the dirty ground. She shakily stood up and felt three chakra signatures behind her, three very strange chakra signatures.
"Aw, look at her," a proud voice said. "She's trembling."
"Calm down, Zaku," a baritone voice said. "We're here for one reason only; get Sasuke."
Zaku rolled his eyes and leaped to get Sasuke but thrust his arm down to create another air pressure to blow away the kunai Sakura threw.
"Hn, the little bitch still has some fight in her," Zaku pointed out, attaching his feet to the side of a tree.
"I'll kill her," Dosu said. "Just get Sasuke."
Sakura took out a kunai, her hand trembling and sweating. She feared that the kunai will slip from her hand but that wasn't the problem. If she couldn't see them, how was she going to fight? She'll just have to rely on their chakra presence and her hearing.
She heard the sound of his footsteps getting closer and prepared herself, but was stunned when a sharp pain echoed loudly in her ears. Her body was paralyzed and she doubted that she could do anything. Tears slipped from her blind eyes under the bandages and a few escaped to trickle down her cheeks.
'I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, Jin,' was her last thought. She braced herself for the killing blow but it never came. Instead, she sensed someone else before her.
"How dare you attack a girl like that?" a familiar voice exclaimed. "That is just not right!"
"L-Lee-san?" Sakura stuttered out, surprise and relief filling her worn body. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to save you," Lee replied with a grin. "Remember what I said earlier?"
"B-but, we're still enemies."
"I'll protect you until I die, Sakura-san!" Lee turned with a grin but was replaced by a look of horror. "Sakura-san, what happened to your eyes?"
"Oh, this," Sakura said shyly, raising her hand up to the bandages. "We got ambushed by a Kirigakure team yesterday and this happened."
"Sorry to interrupt your little moment," Dosu said, raising his Melody Arm. "But we're busy."
Lee dashed towards Dosu with intent to beat him but was thrown back by a strong gust of air pressure. He braced himself though, his feet sliding back on the ground. Dosu dashed towards him but Lee stuck his hand in the ground and pulled out a huge root, blocking him from Dosu.
"Your attack has some trick to it, right?" Lee asked. "I won't dodge it normally like others."
Dosu looked quite surprised that this fool figured it out.
"I saw your move before and I won't fall for it."
Sakura had no clue what was going on but only one thought crossed her mind. 'He's strong.'
"But I'll still be at a disadvantage since it's one against three."
Sooner or later, Lee's left ear was somewhat damaged and bleeding due to Zaku's attack; he appeared a few minutes later with Sasuke slung over his shoulder. Sakura flinched but tried to help by throwing a few shurikens at Zaku. They were deflected by Zaku's air pressure attack. She heard the dull sound of Lee's body falling against the ground.
While this was happening, Team Eight was hiding in the bushes, watching the scene.
"Damn, they're at a disadvantage," Shikamaru stated, crouching low to avoid getting spotted. "Sakura lost her sight and Lee's out, which is not good. They're too strong."
Ino trembled at the sight of her former friend. She wanted to help, really, she did, however she was too scared to face the opposing team. They would surely knock her out in a matter of seconds – or possibly kill her.
"This is scary," Chouji whimpered. "Can we leave?"
"No," Ino said with a slight gulp. "Let's wait."
"Wait for what?" Shikamaru asked with exasperation. "Sakura is your friend, Ino, or was anyways. What are you waiting for; her death? Or maybe you wanted your precious Sasuke-kun to come rescue them? From what I see, he's out like a light."
Ino bit her lips from screaming back at her logical teammate for his insult. What he said was true though, she admitted reluctantly. But she stayed still. Maybe she was waiting for the right time to jump in and save the day. Yeah, that was it, wait for the right moment.
Sakura then yelped when Kin appeared behind her and gripped her hair tightly. "Your hair is shinier than mine. Hey! If you have time to worry about your hair, you should practice."
She pulled her up more and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Do I always have to watch over you and your little musketeers, kid?"
Sakura thought she was imagining things but Kin quickly tightened her grip and pulled her away. She felt someone tapping against her skull in short and long presses. Then she figured out what the girl was doing.
Nod once if you understand, the code said.
Sakura weakly complied, nodding slightly while trying not to bring attention to herself.
Once I end my second sentence, raise your kunai and cut your hair from my grip, the code spoke rapidly.
Sakura just nodded slightly, not caring about her hair. She cared about her life right now, thank you very much.
Kin then shook Sakura's head side to side with a cold smile. "Getting all spiced up like a woman…"
Sakura waited while clenching her fists in the ground. Whoever this person was, she had to trust her. And she was pretty good at acting if she came this far.
"Why don't you kill that Sasuke guy right in front of this whore, Zaku?" Kin asked.
"Sounds good," Zaku grinned, forgetting the fact that Sakura was blind.
'Now!' Sakura thought. She pulled out her kunai and raised it to her hair, slicing the pink strands from the girl's grip.
"Sakura-san," Lee choked out, turning his head slightly to look at the poor girl.
Everyone, minus Kin, widened their eyes in shock at the girl's action. Flashbacks seemed to cross Ino's mind and she started to shake.
"Hey, Ino! There's a rumor that Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair!" Sakura smiled.
"…likes girls with long hair…likes girls with long hair…likes girls with long hair…"
Ino gripped the dirt beneath her, not caring if the dirt was seeping into her nails. Hell, Sakura's hair was – no, she shook her head. This wasn't the time for that.
Sakura kneeled there, not knowing what to do.
"Kin, kill her!" Zaku shouted in rage.
"Sorry, but I'm not Kin," Kin smirked, taking out a few senbon needles in between each of her knuckles. "And I don't usually take orders."
"Wha - ?"
Zaku screamed in pain when senbon needles seemed to pinpoint all the vital parts in his arms. Dosu widened his eyes. "What the hell is going on?"
Team Eight watched in shock including Sakura, Lee, and Lee's team who was standing on a tree trunk above them all.
Kin dashed towards Dosu and jumped, forming a side kick to his chest and bending her knee back to land on the ground. The kick was harsh as it blew the boy through some trees. Zaku attempted to use some air pressure to damage his crazy teammate but couldn't due to the senbon needles.
Kin used that moment to throw a punch at his face and a swift back kick to his stomach, sending him sailing through the air against a tree.
"Now, I have a little question for you, punk," Kin snarled dangerously, holding him by the collar. "Do you know a guy named Kisama Daichi? Has your boss ever mentioned him around before?"
Zaku stuttered a few jumbled up words for a few seconds and his eyes widened at the look in Kin's eyes. "I – I don't know! Honestly!"
"Don't you dare lie to me," Kin glared, her eyes bleeding into a crimson color. "Spit it out!"
"I – I heard Orochimaru-sama talking about him," Zaku answered rapidly. "But it was for a few seconds! I heard him say something about the third round of the Chunin Exams and that's when he'll strike or something like that! Please, have mercy!"
Kin sneered. "Mercy is something that shouldn't exist in this world. Consider yourself having a spot in the dirt."
Zaku widened his eyes. "No, no, no! Ple – ahh!"
He screamed in pain as Kin forced her lengthened nails into his chest, ripping out his heart in the process. Everyone watched in horror when Kin threw the body aside together with the unmoving heart. She turned towards them with a crazy smirk on her face.
"Well, I'm done for the day," She said, making a ram seal. "Kai!"
Her form shimmered for a second and she morphed into a tall, cloaked figure. "You did pretty well, Sakura. Sorry about your eyes. Of course, it wasn't me."
He turned to leave but a hand clutched at the end of his cloak and pulled, revealing the person from underneath.
"N-Naruto," Sasuke gasped out, shocked at the handsome teen standing before him.
Everyone gaped at the blonde teen who just stood there, looking back at them indifferently. "That was rude of you, Uchiha."
He looked like the deceased blonde but different. He still had the unruly spiky blonde hair with the exception of having two, chin-length bangs framing his handsome face and the three distinct whisker-like marks on each of his sun-kissed cheek, but the difference were his eyes; the left one was the deep cerulean blue that Sasuke had loved before and the other eye was a deep crimson color with a demonic slit within with a faint scar running over it. He wore a black sleeveless chest armor with gray linings, a pair of shinobi pants with scrolls attached to his slim hips, and a pair of black combat boots. His hands were adorned with black fingerless gloves.
Naruto wordlessly picked up his cloak and turned around. "Forget that you ever saw me."
"Wait!" Sasuke cried out, picking himself up. This got everyone quite a bit taken aback. They had never seen him like this. "Why won't you come with us?"
"Do you realize what you're getting into?" Naruto asked coldly. "Just forget that you ever saw me; that's all I ask."
"But, at least, answer one question," Sasuke pleaded, acting out of character. "Why are you here?"
Naruto stayed quiet for a few minutes. "Haven't you heard what I said before? I'm not repeating myself. Ask Jin if you want to know more. I don't care if you believe in all of the shit he's going to say to you but just stay out of my way."
He fixed the cloak back around his neck and covered his face with the hood. Before he disappeared though, Sakura called out, "Wait, Naruto-san!"
"Be quick," He snapped, his patience dwindling. Do they have to ask so many questions?
"T-thank you for what you did earlier," Sakura said. "If you weren't there, who knew what would've happened to us."
Naruto sighed. "Your welcome. Just don't get in my way."
"Will we see you again?" Sakura asked meekly.
Naruto just vanished. 'Sooner than you might think.'
(The next day)
Jin scowled, rolling his wounded shoulder around. After being treated, he still felt like shit. As the Sandaime was talking about Kami-knows-what, Jin was thinking about the damn Uzumaki.
His words still echoed in his head. "Dare ga gaitō suruto hai no naka kara futatabi jōshō shimasu."
Sudden shouts of anger snapped him out of his muddled thoughts.
"What do you mean preliminary?" Shikamaru shouted.
"Since there's too many of you," Hayate explained, "we've decided to insert a preliminary round before the official third round of the Chunin Exams. Perhaps the first and second tests were too easy for you. According to the rules of the Chunin Exams, a preliminary will be held to reduce the amount of people advancing. As Sandaime-sama said, there will be many guests for the third round of the exams. In other words, we can't have long, pointless matches and our time is limited as well.
"Therefore, if you're not in top physical condition – " Hayate cut his sentence by entering a coughing fit.
'Is he okay?' everyone thought at the same time.
"Excuse me," Hayate spoke after he was done. "Those of you who wish to drop out, please speak up now. The preliminary will begin immediately, so…"
"Immediately?" Kiba exclaimed.
"But we just barely passed the second part of the exam," Ino groaned.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.
"Wait!" Chouji shouted. "What about food? I can't go on without food!"
"I forgot to say this but," Hayate interrupted, "from now on it will be individual matches."
Jin cheered mentally in his head. Yes, no one to drag him down although he expected this.
"It's your decision to drop out or not, so please raise your hand if you choose to do so," Hayate continued.
Sakura looked doubtful. After getting a new change of bandages and news that she will never see again, she clearly felt low of her abilities. How could she go on when her sight has been damaged for life?
She was about to raise her hand until a voice spoke, "Excuse me…I'll quit."
"Kabuto-san?" Sakura whispered, recognizing the voice.
After he walked out, Hayate asked, "Is there anyone else?"
"This young girl right here," a voice spoke.
"Wha - ?"
Kakashi widened his eyes. No, it can't be, it couldn't be. Even the Sandaime and Jin looked shocked.
"If you're just allowing her to go on," Naruto said, "you're all pretty heartless. She's blind."
"N-Naruto-san," Sakura stuttered with a flush. "I can go on, thank you."
"No, you can't," Naruto replied. He bent down to whisper in her ear, "I need you for something else anyways."
"Who are you?" Hayate asked in a defensive stance.
"Who am I?" Naruto mused, pulling his hand up to his hood. "Watashi wa – "
He took off the hood, gaining gasps everywhere.
" – Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto!"
A/N Cliffies are my joy! And, no, it will not be NaruSaku. I see them more in a sibling relationship. The reason he's so nice to her is due to, you guessed it, her relationship with him in his dimension. There are also reasons behind Naruto's actions and such.
Translations:
(1) Shippai – means "mistake" or "a failure" in Japanese
(2) Dare ga gaitō suruto hai no naka kara futatabi jōshō shimasu – it means "Whoever falls will rise once again from the ashes"
I'm not even sure the translations are right. ^_^ll Google translator and such. I'm also sorry if I rushed the fight with Lee and Team Sound. I really wanted it to get to the point where Kin is actually Naruto. I'm not really patient, as you can see. I took some parts from the actual anime during the interaction with Kin and Sakura, including the explanation about the preliminaries with Hayate.
I wanted Naruto to say, "Watashi wa" then saying "I am" 'cause if he says it like that then it would bring a more dramatic effect, speaking in the Japanese language and such. I'm weird, I know.
Also, keep in mind that Naruto will react differently with the people he meets since he's from a different dimension and such. So...expect a whole lot of angst when he meets Kakashi face-to-face. XD
Review, please! Much appreciated!