I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"
'thinking'

Chapter 49: Darkness X of the X Heart

Killua placed Gon on one of the beds. There were three beds in the room. He sat next to the sleeping boy while Hanzo and Naruto sat down across from him. "You guys are very close," Naruto said.

Killua shrugged. "We're best friends."

Naruto felt a slight tug at his heart. "How long have you known each other?"

"We met at the Hunter's Exam about four years ago," Killua said.

"Weren't you like instant friends?" Hanzo asked.

Killua nodded. "I think it was because we were the same age. Before I knew it, we were friends."

"Gon has a strange effect on people," Hanzo said. "He got me to forfeit, allowing him to win his license."

"Only because he's crazy," Killua said. "He was willing to lose an arm just to win it. Though, his logic is still out there."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"He wanted to find a way for us to fight fairly, without causing the other harm and without giving up," Hanzo said. "There was no way for that to happen. I had to knock him out to get him to stop trying to get me to take back my withdrawal. Didn't really matter though. I won my next fight."

"I can't blame him," Naruto said with a smile. "My goal is to become Hokage, the leader of my village. I'm willing to do anything for it."

"Even lose an arm?" Hanzo asked.

"Of course!" Naruto said without any hesitation.

"Sasuke doesn't seem to think you're capable of achieving your dream," Hanzo said.

Naruto's smiled faulted. "Well, he has his own goals."

"Like what?" Gon asked. The others turned to him. He scratched the back of his neck. "Guess I fell asleep, huh?"

"You didn't eat a lot," Killua said.

"Well, it was good," Gon said. He turned back to Naruto. "So? What does Sasuke want to do?"

Naruto remained silent. These people were strangers, ones he'd never see again after a couple of days. It wasn't their business to know about Sasuke. He was about to stay this when he looked into Gon's eyes. Gon's eyes reflected the sadness in Naruto's. Suddenly, the words spilled from his mouth. "He wants to destroy the village."

"Eh?" Gon asked.

Naruto looked down. "It's a long story."

"We have time," Gon said. And so, Naruto began to tell the tale of Sasuke Uchiha.

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"Just be careful. You might not know it, but you have something very precious."

Kana's words kept playing over and over in his head. After this statement, Kana had walked off to talk to Satotz and Biscuit. Sasuke just moved to a bench sitting in front of a window. He took a seat and looked out the window. They were high enough that Sasuke couldn't see the ground. It was also dark, the moon and stars the only light outside. Sasuke hadn't realized that so much time had gone by since Biscuit had shown up. But he didn't really care. The more time went by, the faster they could leave this world.

Sasuke stood up. He wanted to be alone. Walking past Kana, her words hit Sasuke again, making him quicken his speed. He soon came to room that was nearly empty except for one bed. He sat down, pulling his journal from his back pack. During their stay in Light's world, he had caught up on almost everything that had happened in his life. The only part that wasn't written down was what happened during his stay with Orochimaru and before he left Konoha. For some reason, he wasn't ready to write about it. Was he ashamed about his past? He didn't know.

Grabbing a pen, Sasuke began to write down what had happened in the last few days. When he was done, he put the journal away, a seal on it to prevent any snoopers from reading it. He laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Instead of Kana, Watanuki popped into Sasuke's head. Sasuke still hadn't told Naruto about Yuko. He knew the blond would take the news hard. Thinking about this lead Sasuke back to what Watanuki had said about him paying too much. He knew he had only given up some of his chakra, but that wasn't enough to get them back home, so how was it enough to move them to the next world, without them being together? Another thought hit him. If there were several worlds similar to his own, did that mean there was more than one of Watanuki's worlds? If so, then it is possible that a different Yuko had sent a different Sasuke on a journey similar to his own and that that Sasuke had somehow paid enough for his own and Sasuke's wish.

Sasuke's mind spun. All of this was making him dizzy. He could solve this by just asking Watanuki, but the man had given off the vibe that he wouldn't give Sasuke the answer. It seemed that whatever agreement Watanuki had with the other wishes, couldn't be told to outsiders, at least not by Watanuki. This just made Sasuke even more confused about the way Watanuki and the wishes worked.

Sasuke shook his head. Thinking about it was giving him a headache. In all honesty, he had no idea why he cared so much. Sasuke sigh. May be getting some sleep would make him feel better. He closed his eyes.

The door to the room opened, causing Sasuke to open his eyes. Kana nodded at him. "I see. I should have known someone was inside." She stepped back, about to close the door, but Sasuke grabbed it.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked. "You seem to want to say something to me. Just say it."

Kana sighed. She stepped past Sasuke and into the room. "Lock the door." Sasuke raised an eyebrow before doing what she asked. Sasuke turned to see her taking off her cloak.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

"Just be quiet," Kana said. She tossed her cloak onto the bed before turning to face Sasuke. She was left wearing a long-sleeve black shirt and pants. She reached up and removed the bandages covering her face. Sasuke's eyes widened. The revealed skin was black. But Kana didn't stop there. She kicked off her boots then pulled offer her pants.

"What the hell!" Sasuke yelled, turning away and closing his eyes.

The sound of clothes rustling stopped. "Look at me," Kana ordered.

"Put your clothes on," Sasuke said, not looking.

"Sasuke Uchiha, look at me," Kana said. "Now!"

Something in her voice caused Sasuke to turn around and open his eyes. Kana had an arm in front of her, holding onto the elbow of her other arm. Black underwear covered her lover half. Normally, he would have blushed, but what he saw made him want to throw up. Almost her entire body was black, as if she was wearing a skin tight bodysuit. "It started when I was six... just a finger. I lost all feeling in that finger. Then it spread to another finger and then another. By the time I was eight, my left arm was covered in this discoloration. But it didn't stop there. It took another six years until both arms and legs were useless." She looked into Sasuke's eyes. "You asked me what my wish was. I can't tell you exactly what it was, but I will tell you that I'm only here now because of my wish."

"Why?" Sasuke asked. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you need to understand," Kana said. "That you aren't the only one that was handed a bad life. My parents, when they found out about my illness, they tried to find a way to cure me. They even went as far as to threaten a team of scientists into studying me. I was held in a lab for over two years. The most painful part wasn't what they did, it was knowing what my condition was doing to my family. One day, I saw my mother crying and I realized it needed to stop. I took a knife and began to cut at the blackened flesh. I count myself lucky. My little brother came into the room, show the knife in my hands and screamed. My parents ran into the room. My father tried to take the knife away from me, but I fought back, yelling." She turned away slightly. "I ended up cutting my own face. The shock allowed my father to grab the knife. I was lucky to not lose my eye."

"You're better now," Sasuke said.

Kana nodded. "I found a way to contact Watanuki and made my wish."

"And your price?" Sasuke asked.

"The price of the wish must be equally to the wish itself," Kana said.

Sasuke thought about that. What could equal saving Kana's life and giving her the ability to move again? Sasuke thought about everything he learned. Naruto and Sasuke had given up some chakra (and his purple bow). Fai had given up his power, Kurogane gave up his sword, and Syaoran... Sasuke's eyes widened. To get back Sakura's memories, Syaoran gave up his past with Sakura. Sakura would never remember Syaoran, making it seem as if they were strangers. But Syaoran would have those precious memories and have to live with knowing the one he cared for most, couldn't have them. So Kana's price for her wish must be... "You said you weren't human."

Kana smiled. "Nor will I ever be."

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"Wow," Gon said. "I mean... wow."

"He's an idiot," Killua said.

"Killua?" Gon asked.

"Even if they had gone through with the coup, it didn't mean they'd have won," Killua said. "And if they had lost, any survivors would have been executed. And from what you've said about your village, I doubt they'd have spared any women or children, especially that Danzo person. Honestly, the massacre saved more than just the lives of villagers and the shinobi one. That Itachi guy and Sasuke wouldn't have lived."

Naruto was surprised at Killua's words. There was one time that he had thought the same thing. When he thought his, he had gone to Kakashi and his sensei had agreed that if what Itachi said was true, the odds were against the Uchiha Clan. Despite them having the sharingan, there were a few shinobi that would have been able to take the clan down. Even if some had the mangekyo like Itachi or Sasuke, the Third would have just used the same jutsu he had used against Orochimaru to stop them. Kakashi even said that if the council ordered it, the execution of any surviving Uchiha wouldn't be far behind. The only way an Uchiha would have made it through the execution, would have been if they were young enough to be taken in as a member of Root. Sai popped in his head as Naruto remembered this. If Sasuke had turned out like Sai... Naruto shivered. No, that just couldn't have happened.

"I don't know," Gon said, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts. "May be they would have just punished them by removing their status of the police of Konoha and may be seal their powers. I don't think they would have killed them."

"No," Naruto said. He knew the village had its dark side. "Killua's right. The council would have had them either executed or turned into robotic killing machines for the sake of the village." It was what Danzo wanted to do to Naruto. It had only been because of the Third that this didn't happen to him. It was because of Itachi that Sasuke also missed that fate.

"Then why would you want to go back to that village?" Gon asked.

Naruto smiled sadly. "Someone had to change it." He stood up, wanting to leave the room, to go see Sasuke. "No matter the consequences." He closed the door softly behind him. Gon, Hanzo and Killua looked at each other. It was clear that Naruto was hiding something.

Naruto walked down the hall a bit and stopped when he turned the corner. He slid to the floor, arms pulling his legs against his chest. He tried to calm himself down. Gon had brought up a valid point. Naruto glanced down at his bracelet. The jewel was still red. In all honesty, part of him didn't want to go back to the village. That part of him wanted to continue this journey with Sasuke, despite missing his friends. This thought made him wonder if it was his fault that they hadn't returned to their world yet.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto opened his eyes. He had drifted off enough for his Sage Mode to activate. Locating Sasuke was easy. Standing up, Naruto headed for Sasuke's chakra signature. He felt another presence with Sasuke, but passed it off as either Satotz or Biscuit, forgetting about Kana. Not caring about what was happening beyond the door, Naruto opened it.

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Sasuke and Kana froze when the door opened. Sasuke frowned. He swore he had locked the door. His eyes found Naruto's hand on the doorknob. He rolled his eyed at the broken knob. Naruto hadn't controlled his strength when trying to open the door. When he had turned the knob, it had broken the lock. Sasuke was so focus on Naruto's hand that he didn't see the expression on Naruto's face.

Naruto took in the two before him. Sasuke's eyes didn't meet his, causing the blond to believe that what he was thinking was true. It didn't help that Kana was standing in only her underwear. His mind was so trapped on the fact that a nearly naked woman was standing in front of Sasuke, that he didn't even notice the full state of Kana's body.

Kana's eyes widened at the look of anger and sadness on Naruto's face. It was clear that whatever was going through Naruto's head was bad. She blinked a few times, before grabbing her cloak and covering herself. This motioned caused Sasuke to turned back towards her and a mask of indifference to take over Naruto's face.

"Sorry," Naruto said. "I didn't know you were..." His words dropped into a whisper that no one was able to hear. He turned around and swiftly left the room.

Sasuke only raised an eyebrow at the blonde's departure. Kana on the other hand was having a panic attack. She hadn't planned on this happening. She grabbed Sasuke's arm. "Go after him!" Sasuke just looked at her. "He thinks we were... being intimate."

Sasuke stood straighter. He looked up and down at Kana before realizing what Naruto must have thought. He frowned and sighed. "Dobe." He turned quickly, and walked out the door, only to pause hesitantly for a second, before continuing.

Kana sat down on the bed. "That went well," she said sarcastically to herself.

"It could have been worse," a voice said behind her. Kana turned to see a girl with dark green hair and light blue eyes.

"He thinks we were... Kana began, but the girl held up a hand.

"I know," the girl said. "I was watching."

Kana nodded. "So it's down?"

"Yes," the girl said. "You have fulfilled your end of the bargain. Your wish is now complete."

Kana stood up, dropping her cloak. She watched as her blackened skin returned to a more normal skin color. "I'm curious. Why did you ask me to do this?"

"You already know the answer," the girl said before disappearing.

An image of Sasuke and Naruto popped into Kana's head. She smiled. "I do."

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"Hey!" Sasuke called after Naruto, who was walking very fast. "Hey Dobe! Dammit slow down!" He waved a few signed before appearing in front of Naruto, causing them to collide and fall to the floor. Naruto tried to move off of Sasuke, but he grabbed his arm. "Will you stop for a second and listen to me?" Naruto stopped. "Kana and I weren't doing anything." Naruto began to opened his mouth but Sasuke continued. "She was showing me proof that she had a wish with Watanuki."

"She was naked Sasuke," Naruto said.

"Not fully," Sasuke said. "But that's besides that point. Did you not see her body?" Again Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Sasuke stopped him. "Her body is decaying. She's not human Naruto."

Naruto blinked. Yes, he had seen Kana's darkened skin, but it didn't surprise him. Orochimaru's hands had tuned that color when the Third sealed them. "Why? Naruto asked. "Why did she have to strip in order to proof she knew Watanuki?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Sasuke said. "She said that I needed to understand that I'm not the only one that's suffered. I'm not stupid you know. I know that others have been handed a shitty life. Look at those kids from that vampire town and that titan shifter. We've been to plenty of worlds to know that what we've been though can't be compared to what they have."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at this. Sasuke was changing. "So what do she teach you then?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Just that sometimes life sucks."

Naruto laughed. "I think you knew that already."

"Yeah," Sasuke said. He ran a hand through his hair. "Now, I think we should go get some sleep." He stood up, holding out a hand. Naruto grinned, allowing the hand to pull him to his feet. The two walked in silent to the room next to the one Killua, Gon, and Hanzo were in. There were two beds in the room, but Sasuke and Naruto got into one. Neither knew why, but they just wanted to be close with the other.

So, anyone want to guess what anime Kana is an OC from? Let me know in a review.

Naruto and Sasuke are beginning to realize their true feelings about each other and how life really works. Sometimes we are delt a bad hand, but like in poker, we can discard the bad stuff and accept the good things in life.

This is the last chapter of the Hunter X Hunter world. I'm going to end it here. The next world will take place a couple of days after this one.