Their car spun towards the edge of the cliff.

Ino shouldered open her door, Shikamaru did the same. The centrifugal momentum created by the car flung them in opposite directions, both of them skidding hard into the snow. Ino felt the icy cold snow sting her cheek, and heard the sudden silence-the car had gone off the edge, flying out into the night.

Ino pressed her palm into the ice and pushed up, getting shakily to her feet. Through the blizzard, she could see the lights of Jugo's car driving up. She turned, searching the snow for Shikamaru.

There! He was crouched down, bent over.

"Shikamaru!" she shouted, but her voice was torn away by the wind.

Car doors opening and closing. Shapes formed in the gale, moving closer.

Shikamaru still hadn't gotten to his feet. Was he hurt? Ino moved forward, and paused. The wind was to her back, throwing snow almost horizontally past her. She stepped back, retreating backwards slowly, towards the side of the cliff.

Then she crouched, low.

The shadows pulled away, and Jugo appeared, grinning wildly. Behind him, Deidara and Sasori followed, looking unsure.

Jugo stood in front of Shikamaru and looked about, eyes watching the cliff. He then turned, looking in Ino's direction, blinking away the snow. Then back at Shikamaru. Ino's hunch was right: he couldn't see her through the snow.

"Did your girlfriend go over the side?" Jugo shouted at Shikamaru. "Did she go smashy-smashy on the rocks?"

Shikamaru, crouched into the snow, didn't say anything.

"C'mon, Shikamaru!" Jugo shouted. "No banter? This is what we do, isn't it? The back and forth!"

Deidara said something and Ino read his lips: Maybe he's hurt.

"That wouldn't be fair, would it?" Jugo shouted. "If everything-all of it-just lead up to this? If all I had to do was just reach down and slit his throat? That wouldn't be fair, Shikamaru!"

He kicked Shikamaru hard in the side, and Shikamaru sprawled over onto his back. "Fight me!" Jugo screamed.

Shikamaru lay still, a silhouette in the blizzard.

Green light shimmered, and emerald electricity fluttered down Jugo's blade. He turned away, his face contorted with rage. He danced forward and kicked the snow, hard, sending up flurries of ice.

Sasori said something: You okay, Jugo?

"I'm gonna kill him!" Jugo screamed at Shikamaru's prone form. "Naruto! I'm going to find him and I'm gonna slit his throat, Shikamaru! You just watch me!"

The howling of the wind, roaring past.

"Don't you have anything to say about that?" Jugo shouted. But Shikamaru said nothing, snow beginning to collect on his face.

Ino's heart was pounding, and she watched Shikamaru's silent form. Maybe he broke his neck in the fall, she thought; maybe he has a concussion.

Jugo sounded as heartbroken as she felt: "Then it's over," he said. "It's all over."

Deidara: Jugo, man-it's getting cold.

Jugo passed his arm across his eyes, wiped away tears. He stood there silently, watching Shikamaru, tossing his knife up and down in his hands. "Okay," he said, finally.

He stepped forward, dagger up. Ino tensed, preparing to spring forward.

Shikamaru blurred, splashing snow up into Jugo's face. Jugo roared in surprised, stepping back-Shikamaru flew into the air, his glittering red sword splicing the atmosphere-an explosion of sparks as their blades connected.

Ino was already running, but she pivoted on her feet when she saw Deidara and Sasori start to move. She barrelled towards them, and leapt into the air-

WINTER

PART THREE OF THREE

FINAL MIX

The Shadows.

Haku saw them all now, as if they were a stained glass painting: Mizuki, Zabuza and Haku-the Shadows, reaching down with their claws towards Naruto, towards that demon child. And split, further from them, was Pain.

Like the Shadows, Pain was not a real creature. He (they) was a simulacrum, or series of simulacrum, copies of copies, moving with the semblance of a single consciousness.

Why had he (they) come to this town? Had Mizuki arranged this? Haku wanted time to think, but there was no time, not any more.

It made sense, now, why they'd found him where he was. Pain had created the Machine himself, but it was huge, unwieldly, and would have required a secret place to stay. He would have built it here, beneath the earth, where he could hide it, and wait for the Shadows to contact him.

Haku realized he had wanted to continue kissing Naruto, to go on being his friend, maybe even press against him in his bed, but he knew that that would only be tasting life, living through Naruto vicariously. He saw those fantasies ahead of him, and he saw them crumbling. Cold, hard reality asserted itself, and he realized that he would have to follow through, if he ever hoped of becoming alive.

To Naruto, Haku said, "I didn't want this."

Naruto, standing beneath the cave ceiling, turned to stare at him. Konan, the woman, took a step back, and from the shadows, Pain's zombies crept forwards, hands reaching out of the dark.

"What's going on, Haku?" Naruto asked, looking about.

Haku sighed. He reached down and removed his gloves, taking time to examine his long, graceful hands, the smooth pale skin. He was beautiful, he knew, but it was just a shell, containing nothing. He looked up at Pain, who watched him with a dozen sets of eyes.

"I take it the Machine is here," he said softly.

A dozen voices speaking in unison: "It is beneath this place."

"Haku-" Naruto said, backing away.

"Urgh," Haku said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then he turned, slowly, watching Naruto, the brightness of his eyes, the flushness of his cheeks. He remembered how warm Naruto was against him, the thud thud thud of his heartbeat. "You have to believe me, Naruto," he said. "I didn't want it to be like this."

"You're a Shadow," Naruto said, the colour draining out of his face.

Haku felt his face start to set, felt something that must have been-? Regret? Sorrow? "Yes," he said.

Naruto turned, already moving, but Pain fell on him, the zombies grabbing at his arms and legs, twisting him up and planting him hard against the dirt.

"Don't hurt him," Haku said. "Take him down gently."

Naruto struggled, crying out, but Pain was too strong. Transform, he thought. He needed to make the fox appear, but he couldn't-it wasn't coming. He couldn't believe this: he'd survived Mizuki, he'd survived Zabuza, he'd survived Atkatsuki, had even survived Orochimaru, Itachi and Sasuke's demon-form. And to finally meet the end from Haku?

"No," he cried into the darkness.

The surroundings changed, and he had the sense that Pain was carrying him downwards, farther beneath the earth. "Haku!" he shouted.

Haku's voice, quiet and emotionless: "I'm here, Naruto."

And then a great vastness: Naruto twisted and saw the enormous chamber, the sight taking his breath away. There were great sloping crystals, enormous and shimmering, glowing from some inner light, emerging from the walls and floor. A low, luminescent mist hung along the ground, lapping about an enormous platform whereupon a huge bizarre apparatus sat. Above, the ceiling glittered with crystals made of deep blue and reds.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" Naruto said.

"I'm afraid so," Haku replied.

Again, Naruto struggled, but he had never quite encountered anything like Pain, who had an iron grip and the literal strength of twelve men. Soon he was upright, his arms and legs bound by chitenous claws that extended out from the metal apparatus, suspended on a dais above the crystalline spikes. Soft wires looped his arms, needles pricking into his skin. Pain's zombies surrounded him, attaching needles, wrapping wires around his limbs.

"The Machine is ingenious," Pain said, the zombies speaking in unison. "It will extract the fox spirit from you cleanly, and will keep it trapped within this crystals, ready for our Master Shadow to use."

"Please don't do this," Naruto said, his voice shaking.

Haku's voice, echoing around the crystal chamber: "Please leave us for a moment, Pain."

Pain watched Naruto for a long second, and then his zombies turned, moving farther down the chamber and vanishing, swallowed by the glowing mist. Naruto pulled at the wires, feeling the needles bite deeper. He struggled, wrenching, and then collapsed, heart pounding.

From behind the apparatus, Haku appeared, standing next to him, staring out at the deep blues and crimsons.

"Haku-" Naruto said.

"It's like-" Haku turned, facing him. "It's like when I look at you, I see all this wonderful life inside you."

Haku's fingers, touching his face. "The electrical signals, the cells blossoming and changing, the blood rushing through your arteries. I love watching it. It's like a painting."

"Haku-please don't."

Haku reached forward, reached inside Naruto's shirt and ran his cold hands up his flat stomach. He leaned forward, and Naruto could feel his breath against his neck.

"If I don't do this-" Haku breathed. "-I die."

"Haku-"

Haku pressed forward, his lips almost touching Naruto's, so close that Haku felt the heat from Naruto's face. "What would you do?" he said.

"I don't want to die," Naruto said.

Ino's crushed her foot against Sasori's face with the force of a speeding truck. As he crumpled back, she bounced off him, turning, watching Deidara toss up a clay bird from his palm. She spun, knocking it out of the air and back into him, the explosion throwing him from her sight.

"Agh!" Sasori shouted, his fingers flickering. "I forgot how scary you were-"

She ducked his razor-sharp thread and dashed forward, laying ten blows into his chest, quick and fast, caving in one of his ribs. He fell over, huffing and puffing, shouting, "Uncle! Uncle!"

She turned, watching Shikamaru and Jugo.

Shikamaru was hurt-she knew he was faster than this, and Jugo was starting to gain speed.

"Give it up, Jugo!" Shikamaru said, blades flashing through the snow. "You can't beat me!"

"You're a broken record, Shikamaru!" Jugo shouted, pressing forward. "That's all I ever hear from you! You can't beat me, you can't beat me!"

"Sorry if the truth hurts!"

"Oh, I'll show you what hurts, all right!"

The air between them began to heat up, the space thickening with energy. But Shikamaru knew he couldn't keep it up forever. His side ached, and his left arm was sprained from striking the ground. He pivoted backwards, giving ground to Jugo's blurring onslaught. He was keeping up, barely, but he was running out of room. Behind him, the edge of the cliff yawned, and beneath it, the long drop.

Jugo cut a long arc through the air, the kind of vicious, careless move Shikamaru had been waiting for. Shikamaru ducked it and stabbed forward-but he was moving too slow, and Jugo had already twisted, parrying it in a burst of fire and light. The green blade flashed forward, and Shikamaru almost fell backward. He skidded and he hit the edge. One false move and he'd be going over.

Jugo pressed hard, the two blades smoking and bursting upwards with crashing sparks. "How're you gonna save the world when yer dead, huh?!" he shouted.

"I guess I'll just have to come back and haunt you," Shikamaru hissed.

"That'd be great!" Jugo laughed, his grin nearly splitting his face. "What a party trick! You can watch helplessly from the afterlife while I murder your girlfriend!"

Jugo cut to the side, faster than Shikamaru was prepared for, knocking the red blade away. Another cut and Shikamaru twisted, falling. He felt something tear in his side, and as he hit the snow, hot warmth stained his chest. He cried out in pain.

"Awesome!" Jugo shouted, turning. "Now watch: First I'm gonna cut your legs off!" He raised the green knife. "Then your arms!"

Shikamaru clutched the wound on his side, trying to staunch the blood. His eyes widened.

Jugo seemed to be glowing. He was lit up, bursting with light, with yellow fire, the murderous passion in his eyes making them shimmer. His knife was in the air, ready to cut down, with more force than Shikamaru would be able to stop. And he was getting brighter and brighter-

Shikamaru realized the light was from a pair of highbeams.

The 88' Cavalier clipped Jugo at about seventy kilometres an hour, ripping him almost in two and carrying him over the edge and out of sight. Ino had bailed out seconds before, rolling into the snow.

With a horrifying tearing noise, the car dashed apart on the rocks and the street below. Shikamaru heard screeching, cars coming to a stop. Breathing hard, he lay back, watching the snow fall down from the sky. "Holy crap," he said.

Ino staggered into view, looking down at him. "You need new friends," she said.

"He left the keys in the car," he gasped.

Ino nodded. "He left the keys in the car."

Pain lurked in the blissful contentment of the Hivemind. He knew, from the eyes and ears of one of his zombies, that the apparatus was turning on, cycling up, a noise filling the crystal chamber with a high-pitched whine. Naruto was struggling, fighting against the claws and wires that held him.

He knew also, that Konan was busy in the corridors above, sweeping out the loose dirt that gathered in the ancient tunnels they called home. All in all, things seemed calm in Chez Pain.

Except: above, close to the surface, one of his patrolling zombies was hearing bizarre noises, deep crunching sounds. He took a turn down on the tunnels, walking briskly to investigate.

He approached, watching the ceiling, where roots and earth were packed tightly. Faintly, he could hear a girl say, "Here. He's beneath here."

The ceiling broke through and a young man appeared, leaping down.

Sasuke landed on his feet, and stood, fists balling up. He regarded the zombie staring at him from the end of the corridor. "Where's Naruto?" he growled.

"Oh my," Pain said. "I suppose I'll have to kill you-"

But Sasuke had already closed the distance between the zombie and him and was in the air. A flash of movement, and Pain lost contact with the zombie.

No, he thought.

Sasuke hit the ground, and half a second later, the zombie did as well. "I thought as much," he said. "We've got to start locking Naruto up."

Behind him, Sai, Sakura and Hinata had clambered down. Hinata stepped forward, concentrating on one of Naruto's socks held in her hand.

"He's definitely here," Hinata said. "But below. Farther down."

"Okay, zombies in tombs?" Sai said. "This is kind of a creepy development."

"Tell me about it," Sakura said. "Why can't Naruto just have normal problems?"

Sasuke looked away, his heart pounding. If he lost Naruto-

"Let's go," he said.

Electricity coursed over Naruto's skin, feeding down the wires and snapping into him through the needles. He was having difficulty thinking, his eyes rolling back into his head.

Haku moved closer to him, fascinated-he had always been fascinated by Naruto.

He heard Zabuza's voice, echoing from the shadows: About time, Haku. Took you long enough.

Mizuki: We shall finally live, Haku. You realize that, don't you?

Haku pressed himself against Naruto, feeling the electricity pass between them. The machine cycled into another phase again, and Naruto collapsed forwards, breathing heavily against Haku.

Haku took Naruto's hand and squeezed. "I'm here," he said. "Don't worry."

"What-" Naruto breathed. "What are you doing?"

"The Machine has to work slow, to extract the spirit from you fully. If it went too strong, you would likely berserk and took into the fox."

"What a shame that'd be."

Haku bit down on his lip, and touched Naruto's face. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I really liked you. I did."

Naruto looked away. Haku was about to say something, but heard a gathering roar. At first he thought it was the Machine cycling back up, but when he looked back, he saw the glowing mist begin to freeze and swarm upward, creating a blizzard rolling about the ceiling.

Haku let out all his breath at once. Of course, he thought. "One moment, Naruto."

Haku stepped out on the platform and looking up at the spires that hung from the ceiling. There-! He could see him: Gaara, standing on one of the outstretched crystals.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Haku said. "Even in school, you were always a bully."

From above, Gaara shouted, "Oh, I'm so scared."

"What do you want, Gaara?"

Gaara glared at him for a long moment, the blizzarding ice crystals fluttering about him.

Finally, he said, "You're going to kill Naruto, are you?"

"I'm afraid so."

Gaara shook his head slowly. "Can't let you do that, Haku. He's mine."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

Gaara's features contorted, rage passing over his face. "No, I'm sorry you have to get your ass kicked!"

The blizzard became sharp stabbing knives. Ice shredded down at Haku. He waved his hand lazily, and the ice storm twisted, flying to the side and back up, smashing into the crystal spire where Gaara stood, collapsing it.

"Poor, poor Gaara," Haku said, watching the crystals fall in a torrent of smoke and breaking shards.

Behind him, Naruto watched this, and began to struggle, gathering his strength, as much as he could.

I can't die here, he thought; not yet. It'll hurt too many people-Iruka, and Sakura, and Sai- and Hinata- and-

And Sasuke. Dark-eyed Sasuke, intense troubled Sasuke, brilliant, exuberant Sasuke-

"You know it's not so bad," a voice said, "once you get used to it."

Naruto twisted. It was Orochimaru. The thin ghost leaned against the Machine's appratus and grinned at him.

"What is?" Naruto asked. "What's not so bad?"

"Being dead."

"I don't want to be dead," he said. "Not yet. There's too many things I have to do."

"You know, I'm proud of you," Orochimaru said. "I couldn't have asked for a better kid to thwart all my plans. And I know you've been going through some shit. You're young, you're stupid; Sasuke's young, he's stupid. Young people are dumb. Like, really dumb. Dumb as shit. And they say stupid things to each other. Like-" He looked into the distance. "I'm trying to think of an example for how dumb you kids are, and I can't really think of one."

"Thanks, I guess."

"But you'll get less dumb. And you've already won half the battle."

"How do you mean? I'm about to die."

"Friendship, man." He stared off at the cascading, crashing shards of crystals. "You really affect people, you know? You really kind of brought people together. That's sort of your special power, really."

Naruto blinked. He didn't really know what to say to that. He heard the machine starting to wind up.

"I don't think you're going to die just yet," Orochimaru said. "Too many people are counting on you living."

He looked up and gestured. "Even the ones who hate you."

Gaara had burst up from the collapsed shards. He gathered blizzarding ice around him, bloodied, hurt, but moving with an intensity that seemed to animate him. Haku had raised his hands, ready to fight.

He knocked away the next blast of ice. He knocked away the next, and let the other blast fly over his head. Haku had to laugh. "You weren't even aiming with that one, were you?"

Gaara grinned through bloody teeth, and sent another scorching cloud of razor-sharp ice. Haku gestured, let it sail around him, and then he stabbed out, letting the ice cut Gaara down.

Slowly, Gaara leaned up onto one elbow. "Bastard-" he said, when he managed to speak. He fell back, unable to see through one eye.

"You're a mess, Gaara," Haku said, sadly.

"You were always a jerk, Haku," Gaara hissed. He winced, and sat back, blood soaking his clothes. "But at least I fucked you over."

"How do you mean?"

"You weren't even looking at where I was shooting, were you?"

Haku blinked, and then turned. Gaara hadn't missed at all. He sent the ice flying up to the machine, blowing apart the restraints that held Naruto. Naruto had worked quickly, yanking the needles out of his skin, and had turned, grabbing hold of the metal apparatus, clambering up.

"No," Haku said.

Get him! Zabuza shouted in his head.

Catch him! Mizuki screamed.

Life, vibrant and pulsating, was moving away from him, faster and faster. He had to move fast, but he became aware of a great darkness rising up towards him, moving fast, the counterpart to Naruto's blinding light.

Haku turned to face it.

Two of Pain's zombie flew out into the chamber, landing hard onto the ground. Sasake flew through the air, landing in a crouch in the center of the chamber. He looked up, seeming to darken the room with his presence. "Get away from my boyfriend," he said.

Haku lifted his hands and gathered the razor-ice around him, a storm of white death circling his form. Sasuke didn't even budge, just watched Haku with his overwhelming intensity, ready to move at any instant.

Naruto's getting away! Zabuza shouted.

What are you doing? Mizuki screamed.

"Sasuke!"

The voice cut through the crystal chamber, echoed over the shimmering surface. Naruto had cried out, and in that cry was: relief, turmoil, surprise, concern.

Haku turned, looking up at him.

But Naruto wasn't looking back. He was perched on one of the crystals, staring at Sasuke, staring at him with shining eyes. The reality of it cut Haku in two. This was the truth: Naruto was in love with Sasuke, and Sasuke was in love with Naruto, and Haku had only been fooling himself thinking otherwise. Haku didn't even exist. The fierce reality of their love cast a blinding light, banishing shadows and doubts: even Haku harvested the spirit of a thousand Narutos, he would never be as real as what they had.

Stark, diminished, he staggered backwards.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, running across the chamber. Naruto leapt down to the floor, getting up, watching Sasuke with bright eyes.

"Jesus, are you all right?" Sasuke asked.

The words were like spears, piercing Haku.

"I think I'm okay," Naruto said.

He's right there, Haku! Zabuza was screaming. Cut him down.

Haku stumbled backwards, reeling. The cloud of ice soaked the air around him, deadly. He stared at Naruto for a long time, seconds bleeding out into seconds. And then, with a low sigh, he let his arms drop. The cloud of ice shuddered inwards, piercing his body.

It didn't hurt-how could it hurt? He wasn't even anything, wasn't real. And you couldn't hurt anything that wasn't real, because it didn't exist.

Haku vanished, becoming shadows.

"Sasuke," Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded, his dark eyes flashing with relief. "Naruto," he said.

NEXT: EPILOGUE