Reviewers;

Czar Joseph: I decided that since I had added a God into the fantasy that a prophecy would add more to the thrill of things. I hope this next chapter only helps to serve as more plot thickening for you.

St3rfire: I've heard that from you and my beta reader, so i suppose it is, but it is destined to grow even more, I hope. And I know that this next time was a long while, but I hope you'll continue to read it.

Duh Bomb: Means to an end? Great insight into that, Duh. And with Sakura's dark worries, I suppose we'll see where we can go with such chapters ahead of us. Huh? And glad to have you back to perfection, I need your rhymes, as the eye of the storm is about to pass us by.

AN: Hey everyone, I've been pretty busy with a new game that I found, and it takes a lot of time on being a strategist and such. But I'm back with another chapter and I'm really trying to finish writing this story, though I was disappointed to only getting three reviews, and that was after two weeks away? Well anyways, I hope you actually like my story still, so here it is!

Fire & Ice

Arc 2: Let it Go

Chapter 30: Magic's Worst Enemy

The moon was only half full through the night that held the two travelers close together, as the blizzard slowly subsided as daybreak passed them by. Slowly, the moon was joined by the sun rising along the east and knowing that the moon and sun hated the other, the moon slowly dipped over the west to hide until nightfall as it showed its way around the globe that is yet unknown to man.

The warmth of the sun was energy, and that energy flowed down to the frozen city far below it, and slid into the ice, melting it only slightly as it dug deep into stone until it reached the old playroom of the young Haruno princess. The energy was not warm at all when it reached inside the room, but still the morning had arrived, and so Sakura arose with it and cast her magic glazed eyes upon the sleeping figure underneath the blanket beside her, facing her as she felt his warm breath billowing softly around her face.

"So this is it," Sakura whispered to herself. Today was the day that she told Naruto of who she was, and whether all of this was for nothing. Sakura's heart lounged for him and told her to confess her lie that she knew was so wrong about this situation, but she still had no regret doing this for him, for the boy beside her. For the boy that she would give up everything for, as she hoped that he would give the same for her.

Naruto shifted, and Sakura shivered as he gripped her hip with his hand more tightly and let her body be rolled on top of Naruto's, as he took in her heat because in a room like this, her core temperature was hot compared to the floor. Now though, Sakura's thoughts drifted as Naruto's eyes started to move in his sleep. He was still deep asleep huh? She'd have to wake him up.

"Naruto," Sakura whispered into his ear, bending down to kiss the nape of his neck, and sighed at his lack of attentiveness. Sakura sighed into his shoulder. "I'm not the girl I told you who I was. I…I am Sakura, and I'm sorry I lied to you, and had sex with you under a different name, but it was me who came to see you, me you were with, and I know that my heart belongs to you…Naruto, c-could you ever forgive me?" Sakura whispered, sniffling into his ear.

"Alice?"

"Huh?" Alice's head backed up quickly as Naruto moved them until she was under him, and his member touched her thigh, making Alice moan at his morning pole, rearing to go. But then Naruto's eyes opened to look at her with fondness in his eyes.

"You were mumbling, Alice."

"Oh…was I?"

"Yeah." Naruto smiled and stroked her bare arm but shivered at the warm skin. "Alice, how are you so warm?"

"I grew up in an atmosphere just like this."

"So…what? You're used to it?" Naruto asked, the morning fog in his mind still present.

"Well, my magic keeps me warm I suppose. Besides, it's morning."

Naruto sighed and laid back down. "How can you tell that? There are no windows in this room."

"Oh! Um, Just because I always wake up with the sun, you know? I can feel my magic…change for the day." Alice sweated internally, really wanting this over now. But Alice eeped as Naruto grabbed her and held her close. Alice squeaked as Naruto tightened his grip and sighed happily.

"Alright, but let me warm up a bit. My body is freezing."

"H-Hai." Alice whispered, her voice hollow as her body contorted itself to Naruto's body. Sakura sighed into him. She couldn't wait for today to be over.

"Naruto…you ready?" Alice spoke after a few minutes of silence. There they stood, once again at the hills that looked over Port Haruno. Naruto had stopped suddenly as they were making their way back to the canyon and then he turned and stared. At first Alice just watched him look on in remembrance of the city, before she did too.

She looked to the castle, where she grew up, the docks where she played by the water as her guards yelled at her to walk along the slipping stones. She looked to the farmlands and the marketplace where Naruto and she as younger kids ran off with other child servants and clan royals and played tag under her parents' watchful eye.

Alice looked down and saw the farmlands as frozen as it was and shivered. That's right. There were still explosive barrels inside the fields, still waiting for the Uchiha's initial invasion to destroy them. She saw the two broken wharfs where the ships had crashed into during the invasion. Alice looked to the main town square, one of four, but the biggest, and there it was. The platform frozen in time, with the frayed and frozen rope still swinging in the morning breeze.

That's why she wanted to leave. Now. "Naruto, come on."

"It's not going to be the same."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, after I see Sakura again, everything will change. I won't remember these times in sadness, because I'll know how I truly feel for her. I will know…how she feels for me. Even ice melts, given enough time." Naruto muttered wisely.

"Naruto…after you meet her, everything will change. You'll know why she did the things she did, and I hope that you can understand why she did those things."

"Ha." Naruto chuckled. "It doesn't matter. I could never stay mad at her. She holds my heart in her delicate hands...Come on." Naruto hurried, pulling Alice forward as she twirled around to join him as they walked through the small forest. "We should get going."

"Eh- r-right."

"So…why are we heading down this particular canyon, Alice?" Naruto asked after they had exited the small forest and were now heading into one of the five entrances to the canyons within Port Haruno.

"Because Naruto. As I explained, Queen Sakura's new castle is located near the highest mountain, and this canyon is the fastest way there."

"But couldn't we use the other canyons?"

"We could I suppose, but I think they all pass by the areas where those volunteer soldiers would be, so that rules them out."

"Okay, and then we- What?" Naruto began before Alice pulled on his collar, pulling him down a rather small rocky outcropping before it rose up ten feet above the main part of the canyon. "Why are we heading up?"

"The lower canyon is for the caravans and armies." Alice spoke before scowling at Naruto. "I thought you would have learned all this from living here?"

Naruto's ears blushed red. "Well…I was never good at listening to directions. I'm more of a…self help person?"

"You're pathetic." Alice sighed. "I don't know why I-…Lady Sakura puts up with you."

"Because…ah heck. I don't know either." Naruto smiled and Alice and he shared a small giggle as they moved up the canyon wall through the path that zigged and zagged up the rocky barrier until they reached a leveled plain that lay above part of the canyon before small mountains formed more barriers for this place above the ground.

The two began to move forward, moving through the flat top of the land, jumping over small fissures in the snowy ground where small liquid rivers of glacier water slipped by them. Naruto looked to Alice who, being the expert on the cold weather, admitted that some of the ice melted and moved off to the ocean.

The two continued to move forward, pushing themselves up boulders as Naruto pushed Alice up to a rock before using his magic to run up it, before he slipped on a wet patch of snow and face planted, making Alice giggle in between her fingers. Naruto moved on and Alice ran to catch up when they paused at the clearing before them.

"Come on!" Alice spoke excitedly, pulling Naruto in the clearing. Naruto's ear perked at the lack of sound in the area, but smiled at Alice's actions. "We're maybe an hour away, but we just have to cross this clearing and then-"

Suddenly, the sound of bending metal sounded across the clearing and before Naruto realized what was happening, metallic wires with small metal bearings balls on the ends zipped around Alice's legs and Naruto turned to see two men pull on the wire, and Alice's feet pulled out from under her.

"Ahhh!" Alice squealed all of a sudden as she fell into the snow before she heard a metallic pull on metal, and suddenly, her feet stopped being pulled backwards, and Alice turned to see that Naruto had pulled out his sword, and had cut what appeared to be the wire still wrapped around her feet.

The movement of snow alerted them to the place around them as eight hills of snow moved to the sky and fell away, to show men covered in black cloth, their lower faces covered in red fabric, as their eyes smiled at their prey.

"Damn." Naruto cursed under his breath as they had surrounded them, and this was a huge trap. "But if these were the volunteers for Sakura, then-"

"N-Naruto, th-they're….Uchiha soldiers." Alice whimpered and Naruto nodded.

"Get behind me." Naruto spoke in a commanding tone as she prodded Alice behind him, making her feel terrible that he was fighting for her, and she couldn't use her powers to fight back…or could she?

"No. I can fight." Alice spoke back and backed into Naruto's back, as her green magic shined along her fingers, forming a sharp edge. Sakura hadn't tried to make a weapon out of her green magic, but she smiled as two daggers, with their blades like light emeralds formed in her hands.

Naruto smiled. "Alright. Let's do this."

"Do what?!" A man shouted as his men smiled inside their masks. "Come here you witch. If you surrender, maybe we'll be nicer when we use your body tonight."

"In your dreams, monsters!" Alice yelled and Naruto smirked.

"I'm not letting you get close to her at all."

"Of yeah? Well, then you don't know who we are...Do you, really?"

"I know you're about to die!" Alice yelled and twisted her body to lunge forward, and threw her dagger straight at the man's chest, where he wore no armor. Once the leader was dead, these men would scatter. that was a great plan...only he didn't die.

The leader raised his hand, and the dagger slowed and stopped in place, hovering for a second before the man closed his fist and the dagger broke back into gaseous magic. Alice looked at her dagger break as a chill went down her spine.

"And now for you witch!" The men yelled and four men raised their hands as Alice dropped her other dagger, and grasped at her throat, her knees falling to the ground as she gasped for air. Nothing was coming up her lungs, and Sakura felt what seemed like her own magic forming hands along her throat to choke the life out of her.

"Y-you…what are you doing to me?" Alice managed to croak out.

"Stop it!" Naruto yelled and flashed in a golden color before he reappeared at the leader's side, his sword an inch from his gut….but the sword did not move forward, and neither did Naruto's hand, or arm, or body. He stayed stuck in place, frozen as three other men rose their hands as if to hold him. "W-what?" Naruto breathed as sweat began to pour down his face as he tried in vain to move.

The leader walked forward, his stride confident as he moved closer to the witch and as his gloved hand graced Alice's cheek, she thrashed out, making Naruto love her a little more as she bit at it, before grimacing as her teeth met metal on the back of his gloves and she was forced to whimper in more pain. "Quite feisty you are…but then again, you are a most powerful witch."

"Let her go!" Naruto howled, the men moving closer as he fell to his knees.

"Relax, boy. Her powers may flow through you, but we will help remove it from you."

"Ha! She isn't the one that gave me this power! Another friend did!"

The man chuckled and stared into Alice's eyes as they shook in worry and unkempt despair. :Oh? You didn't tell him? Well then!" The man smiled at Naruto and got behind Alice, his hands ghosted along her skin and private areas, making her glow a bit in blended light. "Allow me to show you who this really is, and release the magic clouding your eyesight."

The man's hands moved up and down Alice's body, as her skin turned a little whiter, and then moved to pull through her blond hair as his other hand rubbed into her eyes themselves. Naruto's eyes widened as blond slowly turned lighter and lighter, before shining and then dulling into a shade of red…no...the shade of pink. Naruto's breathing stilled as he shook his head. S-She couldn't be, but then the ice blue eyes that he had seen for the last two weeks melted down her cheeks, and there in front of him, was the royal emerald he had seen and looked into to the point that he would recognize them anywhere.

"S-S-Saku…-Chan?" Naruto's voice was a whisper on the wind, and Sakura looked at him in fear and embarrassment, as more wire wrapped around their legs and their arms were tied behind them before they were thrown on the ground in the center of the clearing, side by side, as the men grinned and slapped each other on the back, praising their catch.

The day began to pass, and soon, the darkness was once again upon them, and the Ungifted placed tents in the snow and went to bed. Sakura and Naruto laid side by side that entire rest of the afternoon and night in silence, while Naruto chattered his teeth as he sat up in the cold, looking away from Sakura.

"N-Naruto?..." Sakura called out for the tenth time that day, but Naruto continued to chatter his teeth. "Naruto…" Sakura scooted forward and her feet touched Naruto's chest, warming him up with what magic she could move. Naruto sighed into the warmth before gasping and looking away, moving away from her until he couldn't thanks to a large rock next to them.

"N-Naruto, please. I'm sorry, okay?"

"...Why?"

"What?"

"WHY?!" Naruto seethed and yelled as he turned to face his once love, showing the anger in his eyes, making Sakura begin to sniffle in doing so. "Y-you tricked me, Sakura! I-I was falling for Alice, and then you rip her mask away!"

"I-I just...wanted to know for sure how you...you felt about me." Naruto turned away again and Sakura scooted closer. "I needed to see you again."

"W-We did it, Sakura." Naruto sniffled back.

"…I know…"

"…I felt like I was betraying your memory…god, I'm such a-"

"No! No, it's my fault! I-I just…Naruto, could you ever forgive me?" Sakura pleaded, looking down at the snow. This was not how she expected him to react.

"….yes." Naruto's voice whispered around the small blizzard blowing around the clearing.

"What?" Sakura brought her head up, and soon, she was leaning on Naruto's neck, warming him with her entire body, as he turned to face her.

"Sakura, my heart belongs to you. I could never stay mad at you. Ever."

"...Y-You forgive me? After all I've done to you? After playing with your heart?"

"Yes."

"G-Geez, Naru. I-I…" Sakura sniffled and cried, and Naruto nudged her, and she knew that if they weren't tied up, he'd be hugging her. "What have I done to you that you can't forgive?" Surely there was something he still hated about her. Surely he-

"I forgive you for everything."

"No! Please, Naru. P-Punish me. Tell me I'm terrible. Tell me that I'm a monster, a witch! I-I exiled you…I played with your heart…"

"All to save me."

Sakura sniffled and looked to him.

"That night we had sex…that's what you've been afraid of."

"…Yes."

"It didn't look dangerous."

"Says you after I was clawing your back out and there was blood on the sheets." Sakura whimpered before Naruto chuckled and rubbed her forehead with the bottom of his chin. Sakura moved herself to face him and they leaned their heads in towards the other, Sakura looking to him. "D-Do you remember everything?"

"Which ones? The blazing heat on my back when I forcefully kissed you, or the armored claw that pierced my stomach?" Sakura whimpered and Naruto smiled. "I survived."

"Those memories were before I started to get it under control, but I'm still fighting it, even after having no one around me to hurt with it." Sakura sighed and Naruto say the blackness forming under her eyes. "I'm tired Naruto. I-I don't want to live without you anymore. I feel so lonely."

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

Sakura sniffled and their eyes closed as Sakura placed her head on Naruto's stomach as he leaned into her body.

"I'm sorry…..Please forgive me….I'm sorry." Sakura repeated over and over as the night wore on.

The morning sun rose, and Naruto's eyes opened to the wonderful sight of hair that was no longer blond, but pink…the royal pink that was his favorite color among females, and held by now only one person in the world.

"Sakura-Chan," Naruto whispered as Sakura stirred and as her eyes opened, they starred at the other, the memories coming back to them as they smiled, and cried lightly. Sadly though. that was to end as the men around them had already taken down their tents and had begun to surround them.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to wiggle away, witch." The leader spoke before grabbing Sakura by her bound arms and pulled her to her knees before Naruto. A knife soon appeared in his hand and he smiled as Naruto glared at him.

"You are useless, boy. Your magic is nothing to us who are born to suppress and reject magic. We cannot use it, but we can prevent those born and given this unnatural gift from using it as well as holding their bodies still."

"N-Naruto…" Sakura smiled sadly, and Naruto looked at her as she winked at him. "It'll be okay."

"H-Hai." Naruto whimpered as the leader put the knife to Sakura's throat.

"Now, let's see what happens when you die a second time." The leader smiled as his muscles tensed.

"Wait, sir! You said we could play around with her." One of the group said, followed by nods from others.

"She is dangerous boys. You all saw what happened when Sasuke-Sama tried that."

"Not to us. We could shame her…as Sasuke-Sama did. Or we could consummate with her bound body as she is."

"Yeah, what he said! We can force her to dance for us!" Another mentioned as he rubbed his hands, hoping to use her magic to make her strip off her own clothes in the dancing process.

"Enough!" The leader shouted and the men quieted. "None of that. We have been fighting two years for this. We will have women and wine for the rest of our lives and be known as heroes when we bring her head!"

The leader raised the knife again and a slice of blood fell down Sakura's neck. "And what I let my men do to your body will be a different story." The man smiled as Sakura continued to stare at Naruto, mouthing the words… 'It will be okay.'

And then…there was a chorus of objects flying in the air, and ten arrows embedded themselves into the backs and chests of the Ungifted brothers in arms, each piercing the heart, as each man fell to the snow and their blood began to trail along the top, creating an ice of red in their paths.

Naruto looked around at the white surroundings around him before he heard a soft leathery crunch on the snow around him and slowly, men, or rather soldiers in light ice blue armor, blending into the snow itself, walked slowly forward, kicking and checking the dead enemy and their eyes looking to the area around them as a girl with brown hair in a ponytail raced forward, with three others, and began to unwrap and cut off the ropes that bound the two of them.

Naruto moved to stand as soon as soon as he was free of his bindings but he dared not move as two soldiers in leather armor stood at his sides, in a more protective manner than guarding him as an enemy, and watched as Sakura's bindings came down to the ground and she laughed and hugged the girl who hugged her back.

"Thank you."

"You said that you'd be taking this path yesterday, so I knew something was wrong."

"Good memory as always, Layla. Oh!" Sakura looked to Naruto and smiled widely as Naruto looked at her, with questions waiting to fly out of his mouth. "Naruto, I know you have so many questions, and I will answer them all, but first allow me to introduce my new people. These are my new family…and my best friend…Layla."

"Pleasure to finally meet you, Naruto-San." Layla smiled. "We've been waiting a long time for your awaited arrival."

"P-pleasure to meet you too!" Naruto said as his voice spoke in a higher octave. "Sakura? What is going on?"

"Naruto…welcome to the new world….My New World." Sakura smiled with her eyes wide, and Naruto shivered, and this time…he didn't think it was because of the cold.

AN: Well now...he knows! Happy now~!