Okay, I apologize for taking so long to update. You all already know that I've pretty much lost interest in this story, right? There was going to be another chapter, but somewhere along the line I just said screw it and decided to end it all with this chapter. Luckily enough for someone (since I'm not entirely sure if it's lucky for me or for you guys), the next chapter would have been the last, so I just slammed them both together and made one big chapter.

Looking back… I have to say this story sucked. (Sorry to those out there who think this was the best thing since color television.) I don't even think a major rewrite of the chapters would be able to save my opinion of it. I had a bloopers chapter planned, but I decided to scrap it since I'm trying to at least appear sane.

Now, this is my first time writing a fight scene, so please tell me how I do. I rather like how animalistic it turned out.

There will be some spoilers for Twilight Princess near the end, so I warn the very few people out there who haven't finished the game.

In any case, sit back and enjoy the final chapter of Twilit Konoha. Standard disclaimers apply.

"Forest of Death?..." Midna trailed off with a thoughtful look before something seemed to click. "Hey! They got that from Death Mountain! We oughtta sue them!"

"Midna, we don't own Death Mountain, so how would we be able to sue?" Link pointed out.

"Uh, we could… we could… bring the Gorons here and have them sue!" Link rolled his eyes at this.

"Anyway, you sound like you've been here before." He said casually to Naruto as he approached the fence.

"Yeah, this is where the second part of the Chuunin Exams were held." Naruto answered.

"What type of test can you take in a forest anyway?" Midna asked lazily from her seat. She had decided before to not ask about any traditions this place had, which she filed whatever the "Chuunin Exams" were under. Goddesses know her home has some weird customs.

"A survival test."

"Just in the forest?" She asked, surprised. "Must've been really easy to pass."

"No way!" Naruto shouted. "There's tons of animals in there that are huge! I would bet that tons of people died in there."

"So basically it's a graveyard with trees and stuff that tries to kill you." Link paused his search to smile ruefully. "Just like home."

"A little too much like home, if you ask me."

"But no one did, Midna."

"Puppy."

"Imp."

Naruto just stared at the two as they argued back and forth with hardly any emphasis and no raised voices, wondering if that could even be called arguing. "Anyway, Link, what are you looking for?"

"Hm? Oh, with huge fences like this, there's usually a soft spot in the earth where you can dig under them." Link explained before pawing and sniffing a place where part of the fence got pulled up.

Naruto stared dumbfounded and tried to think of a way to break to the swordsman-turned-wolf that there was a flaw in his theory that such a highly forbidden area was supposed to have such an obvious fault in its defensive barrier. Except he thought it… you know… without using smart words.

"Found it!" Midna cried happily as she jumped off Link's back and floated in the air. He quickly dug underneath the fence and squeezed to the other side while Midna showed off by disintegrating, flying through the holes in the fence, recombining herself on the other side and dropping back onto Link's back like she never left in the first place. She impatiently turned to Naruto. "Well, are you just gonna sit there gaping all day?"

After he picked his jaw off the ground and pulled himself under the fence, Naruto turned to Midna in awe. "How… how did you do that?"

She smirked. "I have my ways."

"In any case," Link said seriously, "from what Naruto told us, we'll have to get to the spring quickly. It's possible that the animals in here got turned into Twili monsters rather than spirits, and I don't think we want to have to fight everything that lives in here."

"So what are we waiting for, mutts? My sixtieth birthday?" Midna jabbed her small feet into Link's side. "Let's get going already!" Link rolled his eyes before sprinting off into the forest, Naruto at his heels.

And Naruto thought the forest was creepy at night. Most of the "path" they were following had turned an interesting shade of yellow while the odd light cast irregular shadows everywhere. The visible shrubbery had pink light spots on its leaves which contrasted with the usual dark green color. The tree trunks were turned gold in the pseudo sunset while the part hidden in shade remained the usual brown color. If it weren't for the light halos surrounding everything that wasn't colored normally and made the eyes smart, it would look like something a kid would think of. Or a clown.

"Midna!" Link called, interrupting the silence. "Are you sure you're going to be able to point us in the right direction?"

"Don't worry," she assured, "the spring runoff turns into a river, so we can just follow that to its source!"

((A/N: Just for the record, I know the Forest of Death doesn't hold the start of the river that runs through it. But, for the purpose of this fic, it does. Live with it.))

Naruto opened his mouth to comment, but changed his mind about what to say when he noticed a familiar landmark. "Stop!"

Link obliged a little too quickly, causing the smaller of the two to crash into him. Midna, who had gone airborne to avoid rolling with the canines, snarled. "Why!?"

"I just saw the tower!" Naruto replied as soon as he untangled himself from Link. "We had to go there to pass the test, and I remember seeing some water flow under it."

It looked like someone flipped a switch when Midna's irritation turned to triumph. "That's right! I saw the river flow under that tower when I flew over the forest earlier. So, to the tower!" She then pointed to the right dramatically.

"Hey, Miss Lack of Direction," Link drawled, pointing in the opposite direction, "the tower's this way."

Midna made a small 'urk' before turning around and floating back onto Link's back, blushing all the way. When she noticed the cunning look both boys were giving her, she glared. "Not. A. Word."

They made it to the tower through strained silence and followed the river with no interruptions. All was well… okay, maybe not. All three were in varying states of unease at how peaceful their run through enemy territory has been. One very over-used line comes to mind, and who better to say it than—

"It's quiet," Midna commented slyly, "Tooooo quiet."

"Someone shoot me now," Link groaned.

Naruto chose wisely (for once) not to comment. Midna's comment had helped to ease the tension surrounding the trio. They continued their run on the pebbled riverbank until a large tree loomed before them. The river seemed to flow out of its base.

"That's where we're headed, boys," Midna claimed smugly. "See, this was easier than I thought it would be."

A thunderous crash shook the ground, and a large monster leapt out of the forest. It sailed clear across the river and landed right in front of them. It resembled an overgrown black tiger, but it was missing its head. Instead, a red something that looked like an eye glared at them from within the throat. The fur had been replaced with taut skin not unlike leather, and its skeleton was clearly visible. The twilit tiger gave an earsplitting roar and crouched, readying itself to pounce.

"Famous last words," Link muttered. Midna glared at him.

"Shut up and fight."

The mutated tiger sprung forward, and Link and Naruto took off in opposite directions. When it landed, Naruto jumped and used his claws to cling to its side. The big cat growled and twisted around to face the fox when he bit hard into its flesh. It lifted one of its large paws to swipe at him, but Link, who had darted around the beast, swiftly grabbed onto the foreleg. The tiger swung the leg with the wolf attached to it forcefully to the other side, and Link felt the momentum try to pry him off the leg. He crunched harder in response as the cat's bony tail whapped Naruto upside the head. Dazed, the red fox dropped off the feline.

The tiger, noticing less weight on its flank, tried a new tactic to deal with the wolf and pounced again. Link, realizing it wouldn't be fun to slam into the ground, hastily let go and twisted midair in an attempt to land on his feet. Naruto had shaken the cobwebs out of his head and was getting up when eighty-five pounds of wolf fell on top of him. As the monster spun around to face its prey, the two canines had righted themselves, drooling in an attempt to get the monster blood out of their mouths.

"All right," Midna, who was still miraculously perched on Link's back and cracking her knuckles, said. "Round two."

The dogs shot forward, and the abomination ran forward to meet them. This time, Midna sent a quick magic charge to it. The monster was caught off guard and tripped, diving into the ground with its belly exposed. Both blue-eyed beasts jumped onto the red-eyed beast and started tearing into it. Leather skin was ripped off, and Link began pulling out muscles, causing the tiger to roar in pain. Before Naruto could decide if that was overkill or not, the tiger surged onto its feet, and the canines were sent rolling on the pebbles, much to Midna's chagrin.

The tiger started circling them, hate practically emanating off it in waves. Naruto was briefly reminded of his first run in with Zabuza and felt partially frozen by the familiar bloodlust. Link, however, just carefully watched the bleeding predator. He knew, on some primal level, that the tiger wouldn't be able to fight much longer.

The wolf took the initiative and bounded towards the tiger, startling the other two animals present. Midna, who had felt his muscles tensing, was prepared and waited for when the tiger started to move. Her scarf twisted into the shape of a hand and pointed at the monster, who froze again when an almost visible orange current ran through it. Naruto started after Link, even though he had a feeling it wouldn't be too necessary. The wolf leapt and sank his jaws into the throat while the fox went after the side that hadn't been pulled apart. Link spilt the throat open and began chewing on the various tendons and chords inside it, while Naruto practically climbed into the monster through a hole he had made and started mutilating various things in there. Midna hovered a little away from the battle, more than slightly disgusted at the scene.

Link felt more than heard the tiger's moan and released the neck. The monster collapsed onto its mutilated-but-foxless side, and Naruto backed/jumped out of the side he was digging into. Both Naruto and Link warily watched the monster until its form collapsed into dust. They looked at each other, but before the boys could say anything they were scooped up by a large orange hand and thrown into the river.

"Bath time, dog boys!" Midna shouted from a safe distance. "There's no way we're going in there covered with monster blood!"

Link blinked at the sudden shift of priorities and couldn't help but laugh at the change. Naruto stared at him and couldn't help thinking the wolf had a few screws loose as well as hoping he himself wouldn't end up that way.

Five minutes and a very angry, very wet Midna later, they were standing in front of the tree again

"The Light Spring is right in there," the Twili pointed to the huge tree where the water was flowing from. Both boys walked towards the opening as Midna commented, "Let's hope our cat friend didn't have any buddies."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Meanwhile, beyond Konoha's gates in the twilight covered forest that surrounds it, there was one bubble that hadn't been touched by the vile magic. A figure stood inside it but, seeing as it was naturally still nighttime, the "light" area was dark and obscured the person inside. The figure was moving slowly towards the village, but was breathing heavily as if it had run a marathon nonstop.

"Hurry up, Link," it said, voice betraying its fatigue and femininity, "I can't hold this barrier for much longer."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"You want me to what!?" Link's shocked cry echoed throughout the hollow area under the tree.

As expected, the source of the river flowed from under the old tree and over time had carved out a cave-like area. Some dirt between the mighty roots had fallen away, making windows for which sunlight could enter and provide energy for the reeds that were growing along the banks of the small lake. The Twilight, of course, gave the spring a surreal feeling to it.

Midna, however, just glared defensively. "I want you to make a Light Spirit!"

"Are you even listening to what you're saying!?" Link roared, and his being a wolf made it a little more intimidating than usual. "The Goddesses are the ones who make Light Spirits, not young men running around in tights with a person from another world in their shadow!"

"Yeah, but you have a part of the Triforce—an object that has the power of the Goddesses themselves! It makes perfect sense!"

Naruto, who had been silent the whole time watching them argue back and forth like a tennis match, spoke up. "Actually, it does make some sense in very, very twisted way." Link's outraged gaze swept to the young fox, and Naruto suddenly remembered that wolves tend to prey on foxes. He shoved the thought out of his mind and continued. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try, and if it doesn't work, we'll have to figure something else out."

Link's massive wolf head swung back and forth between the two, feeling outnumbered. Finally, he huffed. "Fine, I'll try it. But when this doesn't work we're heading straight for Plan B."

The imp nodded idly as he made his way to the bank. Naruto turned quizzically to Midna. "What's Plan B?"

"Don't have one." She answered cheerfully. "So let's pray I'm right."

Link, on the other hand, had his left paw in the water and was feeling increasingly foolish. He wasn't a regular magic user, so how exactly would he know what to do? Plus, the sheer stupidity of the plan had pretty much doomed it from the start. But in any case, he imagined the power of his Triforce spreading into the water. He tried to mentally push it out.

The wolf continued to try this, and just when he was about to complain about it not working he felt something shift and the energy actually started leeching into the water. He opened his mouth to tell the others it was working, but he started feeling drained as more and more energy entered the spring, certain it was too much.

Meanwhile, both Midna and Naruto were gaping as the water started glowing gold. Even Midna was a little surprised it had worked and felt like celebrating, but then Link's legs seemed to stop working. Naruto was slightly horrified when he noticed the water was still getting brighter despite the wolf's collapse. He bounded the few steps to where the swordsman-turned-wolf was laying and, despite Midna's warning shriek, jumped into the water. The seal on his stomach, which had been hidden by the fur, glowed an angry red.

Here's an easy question: what happens when holy and demonic energies mix?

A silent explosion happened where the ninja-turned-fox was in the water, and the shockwave blew both animals out of the spring and swept across the entire village. The Twilight quickly dispersed when hit by the light energy filled shockwave, leaving behind the darkness of the night. The figure out in the woods suddenly straightened and took off towards the epicenter of the blast.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Link forced his eyes to open when he heard someone calling his name. A red and brown blur above him seemed oddly familiar and he forced his languid mind to come up with a name.

"Good, you're awake. Somewhat." The blur spoke as it became crisper with more defined edges. The swordsman was able to make out golden eyes when it clicked. He tried to say the blur's name, but it seemed like too much of an effort at the moment. The Hylian just settled with mouthing it, and the figure bobbed its head in approval. "You remembered little ol' Kakara? I'm flattered.

"But let's skip the pleasantries. It looks like you were wandering through the Lost Woods and moved through what is called a Lost Door. In the past, two of them served as shortcuts to Goron City and the opening to Zora's Domain. I'm not entirely sure where all the others lead or how many 'others' there are, but it looks like you stumbled through one that leads to this world, because as you can probably guess, this sure as hell isn't our world. When we get back, I'm going to have to close it to make sure some kid doesn't wander through it.

"And don't worry, that massive whatever-you-did seems to have healed all your injuries." The Gerudo paused and cocked her head to the side. "What did you do anyway?"

"Made a Light Spirit." His voice sounded hoarse and the statement came out more like a moan. Kakara's eyebrows shot up.

"Okay, that's a new one on me." She conceded before turning her head and motioning with it. "It does, however, explain that."

Blinking groggily, Link rolled his head to the side and felt the last vestiges of sleep surprised out of him. Hovering above the clear water was a pulsing ball of golden light, lighting up the entire spring like a miniature sun. He did feel a little concerned when he noticed there was no guardian spirit around.

"It's still in a raw energy state because the guardian hasn't been made yet." Kakara seemed to read his mind, and he wouldn't be too surprised if she could. "The spirit will form over time, but this was enough to banish the Twilight. Let me guess: tall, dark, and pointy strikes again?"

Link managed to answer in the affirmative. The girl stood up and offered a gloved hand which he took and continued to pull Link to his feet. "I'm pretty sure His Creepiness has already gone back to Hyrule. Your underdeveloped Light Spirit is radiating enough energy to send him running with his tail between his legs. How's the shadow?"

"Fine until you asked!" A familiar voice snapped from somewhere.

The swordswoman just nodded and took it all in stride. She jerked a thumb behind her. "So, who's the kid?"

Link mentally kicked himself as he pushed a surprised redhead out of the way. "Naruto!"

Sure enough, the blond ninja was laying a few feet away in clothing that looked suspiciously like pajamas. In three long strides the Hylian was kneeling beside him and checking his pulse. "Relax," Kakara's voice came from behind him accompanied by her footsteps, "I had Lanyrr check him for injuries. That wave thing healed him too."

Link was busy feeling the heartbeats and didn't catch most of what she said, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he couldn't find anything wrong with it. He looked up and noticed, for the first time, the small kitten sitting nearby that was watching him with bright blue eyes.

"He probably isn't used to running around all hours of the night," Link jumped when Kakara's voice came from beside him, "so you should probably let him sleep."

Link nodded his agreement before he turned his head to the Gerudo. "Since you're here, you must've figured out how we got here, right? And to take us back?"

Kakara nodded to both questions, and Link sighed. "Alright, just let me take him back to his house and—"

"No." She interrupted, her hair flying as she shook her head. "Lanyrr can take him back. You're needed in our world."

At her words, the brown kitten jumped onto the boy's chest. Link was back on his feet, though, and the redhead straightened as well. "Wait, can I be there when he wakes up so I can say goodbye?"

"No." Kakara's eyes narrowed dangerously into golden slits. "You need to get back to Hyrule ASAP and finish what you set out to do."

"Well, can I at least leave something with him then? Just so that he won't wake up and think tonight was just a dream?" Link pinched the bridge of his nose. Arguing with the Gerudo almost always gave him a headache.

When she didn't immediately respond, he opened his eyes and was a little surprised that her head was bowed; she seemed to be thinking it over. The kitten was still sitting patiently on Naruto's chest, watching them with intelligent blue eyes. Eventually Kakara raised her head and locked eyes with the swordsman. "Do you anything you can afford to leave with him?" He belatedly realized he didn't and averted his eyes, embarrassed.

She, however, sounded faintly amused. "Well then, what about this?"

Link looked back at the small ceramic item in her gloved palm and frowned. He recognized it, but it wasn't of any particular value to him. "I don't get it."

"Of course you don't." Kakara was smiling and he could tell she was holding back laughter. "It was before your time."

Before Link could respond, she tossed the tan item so it landed on Naruto's chest right beside Lanyrr. As if that was a signal, there was a brief gust of wind and all three vanished. Link silently said his goodbye as he watched some of the stirred up leaves follow the general direction of the gust.

He was brought back to himself when something grabbed his arm and tugged in another direction. Kakara looked a little irritated, and she leaned in closer as the wind started to whip around them. "Barf on me again and Hyrule will have to find another hero."

Link just grinned awkwardly, remembering the last time he got pulled on the whirlwind ride. He opened his mouth to try to joke about it, but the wind stole his words.

Soon enough, the only thing left under the tree was a tiny dust devil and the glowing light above the spring. The light sank underwater and went out, leaving the darkness of the night undisturbed once again.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The first thing he registered was that he was warm and cozy. The next was a chilly breeze brushing his face. Naruto shuddered slightly and cracked an eye open, waiting for the world to dim enough so he could see.

An open window eventually came into sight, and the blond frowned. Hadn't he closed it when he went to bed last night? And he remembered locking it too; it was a pain to open with his paws.

A sluggish moment passed while his tired mind rethought that sentence and tried to find out what was wrong with it.

Click.

Naruto shot out of bed with a yell as he remembered everything that went down last night. He looked down at himself, and instead of seeing white belly fur was met with his light blue pajamas. His eyes darted over to the window again to reaffirm that yes, that was sunlight and not freaky half-light spilling through the glass panes. He couldn't help the large grin that spread across his face as he came to the only probable conclusion.

"It worked!" His bare feet barely touched the ground before he was running into the adjacent room. "It worked! Link, it—Link?"

The cot Link was told to use as a bed was made and didn't appear slept in. Naruto shrugged and dashed into the kitchen, figuring he was just eating breakfast already. But the kitchen was empty as well, and there was no lingering smell of ramen in his apartment either. The bathroom door was open and vacant. A quick check showed he wasn't for whatever reason in the closet.

"Link?" Naruto wasn't entirely sure what to make of all this. It was apparent the swordsman wasn't in his house anymore, but he just didn't know why. A thought occurred to him, and he started looking more closely for a note or something.

Half an hour later Naruto sat down in defeat. There was no note, no message, and everything was the same. Everything, he thought as he gazed sadly at the object in his hand, other than a small ceramic ocarina.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Kakara smiled as she walked through the crowded streets of Castle Town. It had been a few months since the final showdown with Ganon and things seemed to be finally getting back to normal: people were returning to Castle Town, she was back to guarding the princess (for the time being, anyway), the castle was in its first stages of being rebuilt, and all of said structures debris had been removed. All of Hyrule seemed to have recovered already: Death Mountain wasn't set to erupt again, the last of the Zoras thawed out, most of the monsters had been cleared from the major roads and now seem to be hiding out in secluded pockets, and the desert… well, okay, it was still as lonely as ever. But she was getting used to that.

Following Midna's departure, Link had, for all intents and purposes, dropped off the face of the earth. There were a few scattered reports of travelers getting saved from monsters out on the roads by a lad in green, so she could at least be sure he wasn't dead. Zelda was concerned, but all her attention was forced onto helping the kingdom getting back onto its feet. Kakara herself had debated whether or not to look for him, but she thought he just needed some time alone, just like last time when his guide left him. The only difference was, she thought ruefully, he wouldn't be able to journey out of Hyrule to find her.

The last Gerudo sighed quietly to herself as she dodged some kids running through the market. That's how things always seemed to go, following a set pattern some sadistic puppeteer could have come up with. An evil shows up and rips apart life as they know it; a hero steps in, sets everything straight, takes out the evil and fades back into obscurity, his name lost to all but time itself (she tried her best not to snort at the irony of that statement; really, she did).

As she walked up to the gate of the castle, the redhead couldn't help but think she had forgotten something. Kakara frowned and pawed through the contents of her basket. She mentally went off the list of what the cook needed, and when she found she had everything she checked again, just to make sure. Oregano, thyme, basil, ginseng, paprika—looks like she didn't forget anything, but she still had that nagging feeling she forgot to do something.

The Gerudo shrugged off the feeling and continued up the steps. Whatever it was, it must not've been too important.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Silence reigned in the forest glade, far from any human settlements. Grass covered the ground like a living, green carpet, and trees stretched into the sky and tickled the clouds. Some soft, pastel colored flowers dotted the ground, some illuminated by the light that filtered through the tree branches. The only thing seemingly out of the ordinary was a large log resting on its side in the clearing.

A small, white butterfly flitted from flower to flower, drinking their nectar and unwittingly pollinating the flowers. It landed on a particularly sweet blossom, and its insect eyes spied the same type of flower on the other side of the clearing. Gently flapping its wings, the butterfly drifted towards the flower, unconcerned about having to fly through the large log to get there. Its small mind wasn't frightened when the air around it distorted, unable to comprehend the feeling of unsteady balance.

When space straightened out again, the little insect was nowhere to be found. No one was around to witness the vanishing act or to understand its significance.

The Door remained open.

Apologies for having to slip one of my OCs in there. I couldn't think of a better way to end it.

There is no sequel planned, I just hate endings. If someone else wants to write a sequel, I say go for it and to just give me a heads-up about it. I'd rather Kakara and Lanyrr weren't included in a sequel, but if someone wants to add them, they'll have to consult me on anything they say/do if only because I'm freaky protective of my characters. Typical case of Mama Bear syndrome.

(Actually, Kakara isn't supposed to be able to fend off the twilight, so I have no idea where she got that power.)

This chapter totaled 9 pages and 5,348 words, including the author's notes.

That said, review if you like. I'm going to go work on something that I can be proud of.