AN: I will herby type my author notes in bold. Because, as I so accurately state in my legend, bold equals dominating presence. And I am soooo a dominating presence… Well, I can dream. Whateverz, I've held this chapter off for far too long, so here it is.

Warning: You may or may not find this chapter slightly confusing. What with the time zone differences between Hyrule and Konoha and the fact that I suck at description, you may or may not have to read a couple of times. It probably doesn't help that I don't have a beta reader and I don't like to edit my own writing much. Oh well, can't be helped. Don't hurt yourself over the confusing parts, they're not that important.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned the creative rights to Zelda and Naruto.

"Time passes, people move...

Like a river's flow, it never ends...

A childish mind will turn to noble ambition...

Young love will become deep affection...

The clear water's surface reflects growth...

Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself..."

- Sheik

Chapter3: War of the Worlds (Venus vs. Mars)

Marble, onyx, and stone: The past was set, solid as ice, never to be rewritten. Ruby, sapphire, and emerald: The present is ever-changing, fluid as water, no two moments are identical. Gold, silver, and cobalt: The future brings hope, cloudy as vapor, a dream turn reality. The Temple of Time stands as the only tribute to the unstoppable element.

Within stood but one young man, whose dark midnight eyes betrayed no feelings as they sighted gold, silver, and cobalt. He wore a loose, beige kimono that revealed a slight proportion of toned chest and was tucked into baggy, black pants. The outfit seemed to be held together by a thick rope that was tied around his waist and looped at the side. The samurai look was incomplete, however, as he was missing the traditional Japanese weaponry. Perhaps he was seeking to acquire 'gold, silver, and cobalt' to wield as his weapon?

Unfortunately, the legendary Master Sword could only be drawn from the Pedestal of Time by the Hero of Time.

'Yes, he will be necessary.' The young Uchiha Sasuke thought. 'But he won't cooperate, I'm sure of it.'

The ninja prodigy stole a glance at a window, high up the temple's walls. Noting the position of the few stars he could see, he estimated that dawn would soon be approaching.

"Heh, I would expect you to be sleeping this early. Looks like you've finally run low on stamina and decided to take a leaf out of Shikamaru's book. Not that I blame ya, it can be pretty boring in Konoha, ne? Whatever, I should get to the point: Come to Hyrule. Help me with my objective and, in exchange, you'll finally be able to keep that promise you made so long ago. Don't worry, I don't really need your help, I'm just curious to see how strong you've gotten. You better not forget this when you wake up, dobe."

vvv

-Beep!-Beep!-Beep!-

The blaring contraption rang throughout the one-room apartment in an attempt at waking the room's only occupant. A bundle of blankets that lay on the floor began to stir until an arm shot out in search of the offensive contraption. It found, instead, a wire that was apparently attached to the alarm clock.

"Gotcha!" The victorious voice was somewhat muffled by the blankets.

Pulling the wire a little too aggressively, the overzealous limb had succeeded in shutting the alarm's relentless noise, but it wasn't over. The device flew toward the bundle at a surprising speed and connected. The bundled blankets were immediately thrown through the air as they revealed a glaring Naruto in his pajamas, penguin hat and all.

"You win this time, Timex!" The blonde-haired, whisker-faced teen yelled while pointing at the source of his frustration.

"This isn't the time to be arguing with a clock, boy!"

"The clock started it…"

"I don't care who started- wait, IT'S A CLOCK you idiot. Never mind, hurry up, you're gonna be late."

"Oh? You never cared if I was late before. Why's it so important now?"

"The business of a demon does not concern you, mortal."

"Che, one way or another, your big mouth's gonna spill. I just have to be patient." Before the Kyubi could retaliate with some smart comment or another, Naruto focused his inner chakra to tune out the nine-tails.

vvv

"Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala!"

"Do princesses of other countries really act like this?" Shikamaru's voice was easily recognized by the Hyuuga heiress.

"LALALALALALALALALA!"

The princess and the genius slowly came into view and Hinata couldn't help but giggle. Zelda was sticking her fingers in her ears in an attempt at ignoring her escort. Whatever the reason, she was looking very much like a bratty child than a princess at the moment.

"How troublesome."

Hinata was sitting patiently against one side of Konoha's main gate post. She had arrived here, the meeting point, half an hour early. Her true intention was to get some alone time with Naruto under the slight chance that he, too, might have been early. Although, she probably wouldn't have known what to do with the time, had the opportunity arisen. So, fortunately or unfortunately, Shikamaru and Zelda arrived fifteen minutes before the sun officially fell below the horizon (the set time).

"What's up with those two?" It would seem that even Sakura would arrive before Naruto.

Before Hinata could respond, Shikamaru conveniently explained, "She thinks that the energy we use for jutsus is called 'magic'."

"Magic? You told her our energy is commonly accepted by ninjas worldwide as chakra, right?"

Zelda yelled in retaliation, "It is not this 'chalk-ruh' you speak of! Hylians everywhere call it magic and only a select few have the potential to use it! Look, I will show you, Shooting Star!"

Taking her fingers out her ears and holding one hand out, palm up, a red orb suddenly appeared above her hand. Waving her outstretched limb towards Shikamaru the orb flew as if magnetized by the genius ninja. Halfway towards its destination, however, Shikamaru haphazardly flung a shuriken in its direction. Upon contact, the orb was deflected and exploded harmlessly in the air above the group. Zelda looked confused.

"Oi, princess! That won't work on me. I already figured out from last night's teleportation that your chakra is in tune with the light element. Anything with a reflective surface, such as metal, will be enough to deflect your jutsu." Shikamaru's smug expression had 'checkmate' written all over it.

Zelda simply smirked, 'He's more competent than I could imagine. I'll have to be careful with what I say around this one, unless I want my secret out.' Just then Naruto rushed towards the group out of breath. Right before he reached the gate, though, he tripped and landed face first… in Hinata's lap, eliciting a deep blush from the heiress. 'Not so much those two. They seem pretty clueless at times.'

"Ano, excuse me Harkinian-sama. May I speak with you in private for a moment?" Sakura did her best to pronounce Zelda's formal Japanese name, but had little luck.

"Sure, Miss Haruno. But please, just call me Zelda. I'm not used to all the titles and 'Miss Harkinian' sounds too formal."

"Hai- I mean, of course, Zelda. You can call me Sakura, then. Now, as I was saying…" Sakura continued her conversation in a whisper just loud enough for the princess to hear.

Shikamaru decided it was best to listen in on them while the blushing Naruto and Hinata attempted to untangle themselves. He wasn't able to catch what Sakura was saying, but from Zelda's reply's he had a pretty good sense of the exchange.

By the end of their conversation, Zelda and Sakura had matching grins. Shikamaru could only conclude that Zelda was officially in on whatever plan Tsunade and Sakura had come up with earlier.

'Che, girls are troublesome.'

As if on cue, Zelda shouted, in a well-practiced commanding tone, orders to her ninja employees. In order for her to perform her spell/jutsu with as little complications as possible, everyone needed to lie on their backs side by side in a particular order: Sakura, Hinata, Zelda, Shikamaru, and finally Naruto (left to right).

Zelda had explained earlier that her spell would teleport them from Konoha to Hyrule in a matter of seconds. The physical bodies would be transported instantly, but the souls and minds would lag behind through the Earth (Hyrule is to Konoha as the North Pole is to the South Pole). During this process, the ninjas would feel pain, but it was merely a hallucination brought on involuntarily by their own minds. If they lay on their backs, it would be easier to ignore since their experience would feel more of falling rather than diving through the earth. All in all, even if they weren't able to ignore the false pain, there would be no lasting damage.

Zelda warned, "Alright, prepare yourselves. I'm about to cast my spell."

Just as they had planned, Sakura rolled her body on top of Hinata and hugged her. The stuttering girl could not figure, for the life of her, why Sakura would commit such a shameful act. The poor Hyuuga could only blush in shock as Sakura pressed their bodies together and whispered in her ear,

"You owe me one."

Sakura blinked and when her eyes opened royal emerald was replaced with shocking blue.

'Those are not Sakura's eyes.' Thought the Hyuuga heiress.

Naruto was just as clueless as he lay on top of Hinata in an extremely questionable position. He had no idea how his arms got around Hinata, let alone why he was on top of her. He was only sure that she would think him a pervert from now on.

'Although… this feeling is kinda nice.' The Uzumaki thought.

Unfortunately, such thoughts could not be dwelled upon as Sakura's voice rang out, "Now!"

"Farore's Wind!" Zelda's spell began.

A sense of detachment and weightlessness soon followed Zelda's voice. Then, without warning… they fell.

vvv

The sun was just rising over the horizon as its light crept upon an unsuspecting plane. Amid the grassy plane, glitter seemed to be concentrating on a general spot a few meters wide. It snowed to the ground in a wide array of colors that most would describe as feminine. Shortly after the phenomenon began, a soft dreamlike sound drifted along the winds soothing the soul. Not a moment after, the glitter was replaced by a group of adolescents, the majority of which were laying face first in the grass.

Shikamaru and Sakura were the first to recover. Grumbling and holding a hand to his head, Shikamaru shot a glare towards the pink-haired chuunin. She avoided his gaze while focusing on a particular blade of grass.

"Sakura-san, you can't be playing your little matchmaking games when there's potential risk involved." Shikamaru scolded.

She remained shamefully silent. Sakura knew that there was some risk involved with her plan, which is why she had consulted Zelda before the teleportation. She hadn't, however, taken into account the fact that Hinata was more likely to lose concentration as a result of her plan.

Sakura's plan was simple enough: use Kawarimi no Jutsu to force Naruto into an overly comfortable position with Hinata. After the replacement technique was activated she would signal Zelda to teleport the group. That way, the spell and jutsu wouldn't interfere with each other. Unfortunately, the interference wasn't the only risk. Because Hinata lost focus (with Naruto hugging her, who could blame her?), she wasn't able to ignore the false pain. Everyone was able to hear her piercing screams throughout the entire teleportation process.

"Is she going to be okay?" Naruto had woken up.

He was the only member of the group to be lying on his back. He gently lifted Hinata's still form off his body and positioned her so that she could use his lap as a pillow. He, more than any in the group, heard her screams the loudest and he couldn't help but worry.

"Don't fret. No permanent damage will come from this. We have other problems, though." Zelda had finally regained consciousness.

She looked tired. She was shaking, sweating, and breathing heavily as if she just ran a marathon without stopping. She was trying to stand, but Shikamaru forced her back down.

"You shouldn't push yourself. It looks as if you're suffering from chakra depletion. Take a rest an-"

"I AM NOT SUFFERING FROM JOCKERA DEPLETION! I merely used up too much magic. Now help me up so we can be on our way."

With a deadpan stare Shikamaru replied, "No."

"WHY THE HELL NOT!"

'Kuso, women are too troublesome.'

"Are you going to answer me any time today, Pineapple head!?"

Shikamaru's left eye began to twitch. Satisfied she found a nerve, Zelda decided she had won their little battle and remained silent.

"Magic depletion or not, you still need to rest. Besides, we need to wait for Hinata to recover so she can carry her own weight and we can move on at a normal pace. Now, what did you mean by 'other problems.'"

Crossing her arms, Zelda grudgingly admitted, "I missed."

"You missed? What's that supposed to mean."

"I MISSED HYRULE, HAPPY!? One of your ninjas was too heavy and I wasn't able to teleport in a perfectly straight line. We missed Hyrule by a couple of miles, so we need to start walking."

"No, you need to rest. We have a full day ahead of us, so don't worry about that. Now explain a bit more. We're all around the same weight, so how was one particular person 'too heavy'?"

"Physical mass and distance matter little when I cast Farore's Wind. It depends more on how much magic each individual contains. That one seems to have a much higher magic capacity than all of us." Zelda pointed at Naruto where he and Sakura were busy trying to waken Hinata.

"Oh, that would explain it."

"Not only that, he's different. He seems to be housing two types of magic: one strong and steady, the other wild and destructive."

"Hmm…" 'I may have to ask Naruto about this later.'

Just then, Hinata came to.

"Ohayo, Sunshine!" Naruto greeted.

'Is this a dream?' Waking up in Naruto's lap and having him greet her like the way he did was a new experience for Hinata. But she could definitely get used to it. "O-ohayo, Naruto-kun."

"Finally! Alright, let's go now." Zelda exaggerated.

'They were waiting on me? Oh no.' Hinata tried too quickly to stand up, but fell back onto Naruto when she discovered her legs weren't working.

"Whoa, you okay, Hinata-chan?" Naruto was genuinely concerned.

"Argh! I'm not waiting any longer-" An idea struck the princess, "Hey you, Naruto. Carry her while we walk until she can stand on her own two feet."

Zelda and Sakura exchanged a quick mischievous glance. Shikamaru was about to say something, but Zelda beat him to the punch.

"I'm not waiting any longer! So no more resting, let's move out!"

Defeated, Shikamaru sighed and agreed.

vvv

The group had been walking the entire day. Zelda had been explaining her people's past and the general geography of Hyrule (more for Shikamaru's benefit). Hinata was fighting the temptation to faint the entire time in Naruto's arms. In fact, every five minutes she tried to walk again, but it was obvious that the teleportation's mental pain put too much strain on her. It got to the point that Naruto told her to quit trying and to get comfortable, much to Sakura and Zelda's delight.

Nightfall had reached the traveling party, and they began to set up camp.

"This is odd; we should have reached Hyrule hours ago." Zelda stated as she watched Shikamaru set up her tent. Every now and then he would mutter something along the lines of, "troublesome women" and continue his task.

"Maybe your calculations were off by a bit, or we headed in the wrong direction?" Sakura offered. She was setting up her tent next to Zelda's.

"Impossible. I've never been wrong before."

"I highly doubt that." Shikamaru whispered.

"I HEARD THAT, PINEAPPLE HEAD!"

"That's fine by me, brat."

Zelda was infuriated. Never in her whole life could one guy piss her off as much as he did. She began to prepare Shooting Star in her hand again when, without so much as looking up, Shikamaru countered with,

"You've already tried that, princess."

Beyond pissed, Zelda gave up and sat on the ground pouting with her arms crossed.

Naruto was helping Hinata set up her tent on the other side of Zelda's. She had regained her ability to walk, but Naruto was being careful all the same. He looked over and saw Shikamaru and Zelda quarreling for the umpteenth time. This time it seemed Zelda was upset at how quickly Shikamaru finished setting up her tent. Zelda's suspicion was that he took shortcuts, several in fact. She was probably right.

Naruto looked over at Sakura and saw that she had finished as well. She was trying to calm Zelda down by offering to look over the quality of the tent. Shikamaru was now setting up his sleeping bag in front of Zelda's tent, insuring security. Naruto was probably going to have to sleep behind Zelda's tent to complete the guard.

"Ano… Naruto-kun, you didn't have to help me." Hinata's tentative voice was soft, but Naruto caught it.

"I know. I just didn't think you should force yourself too much today." Naruto flashed his confident smile, that same smile she adored so much.

"A-arigatou. H-here, I brought this along for you." Hinata gave Naruto a sleeping bag that she had packed along with her other supplies.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan, but Tsunade said I wasn't allowed-"

"I-I know, but she never said a-anything about a-anyone else packing f-for you." Naruto laughed.

"Haha! Nice catch! Thanks, it's nice to know someone's watching out for me." Hinata could merely blush at his comment.

Sakura spotted the extra sleeping bag.

"NOOOOO!"

With excessively quick reflexes, Sakura launched a kunai attached with an explosive note at the sleeping utensil. The kunai flew fast and true, snatching the bag from Hinata's gentle hands. Upon hitting the floor, the kunai along with its intended target, exploded, leaving behind no evidence that any of it existed (minus the scorch mark amongst the once-perfect plain).

"I know your intentions were probably good, Sakura-san. But don't you think that was a little overkill?" Shikamaru inquired.

"Uh… uh, I saw a poisonous snake in that bag! And… uh… it looked like it was about to bite Naruto! So I grabbed the first kunai I could! Heh heh, hahahahahahahahaha!" Her laugh was out of place.

"Oh, arigatou, Sakura-chan. I wouldn't want Naruto-kun to get hurt because of me. It's a good thing I packed anoth-" Hinata was pulling out yet another sleeping bag.

The second sleeping bag Hinata pulled out suddenly flew from her hands and exploded, much like the first. The entire group looked at Sakura confused.

"Heh heh, 'nother snake."

vvv

"NO, I will not share a tent with anyone!" Zelda and Sakura yelled in unison.

"How troublesome."

Shikamaru was trying to get Naruto a decent place to sleep since someone destroyed his only other option (may Hinata's sleeping bags rest in peace). He had first thought of having Naruto share Zelda's tent. It would be mutually beneficial that way. Zelda would have immediate security, and Naruto would gain a place to sleep. Unfortunately, both Zelda and Sakura had claimed that a man and a woman shouldn't sleep together unless they were in a relationship.

Shikamaru then proposed that Sakura should share Zelda's tent so that Naruto could take hers. Still they resisted, claiming it 'unsanitary' for two people to sleep so close together. Trying to push his point, Shikamaru tried the 'got any better ideas' tactic, which had predictable results. It only worked in their favor that the Hyuuga girl was as nice as she was.

"Fine it's settled, Naruto and Hinata will share a tent. If that's okay with you Hinata-sama." Shikamaru turned his gaze toward the Hyuuga heiress, awaiting her reply.

"H-hai!" The shy girl nearly buckled under the inquisitive stares of her fellow females.

"Alright then, lights out!" Naruto climbed inside Hinata's tent carefree. Too tired from carrying Hinata and her load all day (along with his own) to concern himself with trivial things such as sleeping with semi-royalty.

The same could not be said for the white-eyed Hinata. The whole situation made her uneasy. It was too good to be true, but that's how she knew she would somehow mess it up.

'Calm down Hinata!' She was so nervous she even started referring to herself in the second person in her own thoughts! 'I know you've been dreaming about this moment since the day you met the guy, but have some sense! It's not like you need to do anything. Just go in there, sleep, and everything will be just fine.

'Okay… I can do this. No problem, just go in there and sleep. Simple enough.'

"Um… Hinata-chan, not that it's a big problem or anything, but you're kinda sleeping on me, heh heh." The sound of Naruto voice brought Hinata back to reality like a cold bucket of water. Well, a warm bucket of water (she loved his voice), but water none-the-less.

"G-GOMEN NASAI!" During Hinata's mind-rant, she had not been paying attention to her actions. 'Kuso! I should've known my body would take matters into its own hands! Ano… his body is so warm, though… EEP! Must-not-think-echi! Must-not-think-echi!'

Hinata began the painful process of crawling off her Naruto-kun, slowly and carefully. In her head she told herself it was because she didn't want to make herself look stupid, but in her heart she knew she just wanted to savor his warmth. Once she was completely off of Naruto they both attempted to reach sleep, one finding it easier than the other.

vvv

It was late into the night, and sleep still evaded Hinata. She was studying her Naruto-kun from her corner of the small tent. His breathing was even and he wasn't snoring. Something he had undoubtedly learned to do during his training. He also kept very still. He slept military style, arms at his side and feet shoulder width apart. It seemed very unlike Naruto to be so professional during his sleep, but Hinata had assumed that this sleeping style probably saved his life a couple of times.

She twitched. There was this persistent itch that held no physical spot on her body to scratch. She knew very well that it had nothing to do with a bug bite or anything of the sort. In fact, the more she stared at Naruto the more it grew. Oh, she knew very well what kind of itch this was.

And there was only one way to scratch it.

Ever so slowly she began to inch her way towards the object of her affection. She didn't have to travel far. Careful not to touch him, Hinata supported her body over his with her arms on either side of his face. She stopped.

'W-what am I doing!?'

She swore her body had a mind of its own. She started leaning in, fixating a hungry glare at Naruto's lips. Bit by bit, she leaned closer and closer until they were literally sharing the same air. Then she pulled back.

'I can't do this! Too many things could go wrong! I just need to stick with my original plan.'

Hinata retreated back to her corner of the tent and tried to get some rest. But that ever-growing itch remained. Once again, she found herself inching her way to her clueless loved one. She got close enough that their sides were touching and she leaned toward him, propping her head on her elbow. Raising her free hand, tentatively, she traced the inside of his jacket with nimble fingers until she reached her destination. Once she was satisfied she rested her palm against the target, and concentrated the rest of her thoughts on the beating of his heart. Then, without warning, she fell asleep.

vvv

Naruto was in for a surprise when he woke up. He was trying to sit up, but he soon realized there was a small weight preventing that from happening. He looked down at his chest and noticed Hinata was using him as a pillow. If it were anyone else he probably would've woken them up, but she looked too cute in her sleep to disturb. Instead, Naruto decided to observe his surroundings.

He was in for a second surprise. Everyone's supplies were gone! No one was sleeping in tents or sleeping bags, and everyone's pouches and backpacks were nowhere in sight. Worst part was, they definitely weren't where they left their bodies to rest. Instead, they seemed to be trapped in a stone building that housed several large ice cubes. And that's exactly where they were, trapped inside a hollow ice cube.

It didn't take long for the rest of the group to wake up and for Hinata's sake, Naruto thought he better wake her up to spare her any embarrassment.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan."

She was still embarrassed that Naruto caught her in the act, but it didn't last long when she noticed their situation. That's when Zelda gasped, grabbing everyone's attention. She was staring at the ice cube next to their's and, upon closer inspection, its captive.

He was wearing a green tunic, brown boots, and leather gloves. His cold, sea blue eyes were blank, expressionless, despite his obvious predicament. A girl in nearly all pink slept against the cube appearing as if she had stayed overnight.

"Link!" Zelda shouted.

He didn't even flinch.

Chapter3: War of the Worlds Fin

Quote Note: Slight foreshadowing.

Hmm, what to say, what to say. Um… tada! I told you Link was going to make an appearance (for those of you who read my profile).

Important Note! From now on I plan on replying to reviews via that little handy-dandy reviewer reply button that oh-so-kindly provided. So no one has to read my profile anymore! Unless you want an update on this fic's progress.

Let me see… anything else I'm missing? I'm always missing something! And then that nagging feeling is left behind and I can't ever figure out what it is. Not fair. Oh well, can't be helped. Hope you guys enjoyed. If you have a question, just send me a private message.

I think I just figured out what I was missing! Special thanks to reviewer Zelda Rockbell. Her review made me give in and post this chapter.

- Kuso, How Mendokusē -