Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or Naruto characters

Uh…it's been a year…wow…since I've updated. So sorry about that. T-T

I'll be better now…I shall update cuz I have extra incentive (aka, all my friends on DA will destroy my face if I don't complete the story for them)

………………………………

Shadow gave an immense sigh of relief as the electric prison flared up then died away. Sasuke hid a smile of satisfaction and pocketed the chaos emerald discreetly.

Shadow stood up and stretched, relieved to get out of the cramped position he suffered from for the past twenty minutes or so. His eyes never left the emerald in Sasuke's possession. He coolly outstretched an arm towards Sasuke and stared fixedly at him. "I'll have that back now…"

Sasuke sighed. "No, I think I'd rather keep it."

Shadow cracked his knuckles as a low growl trickled from his throat. "Not a wise choice…"

"Uh, guys…?" Naruto said.

"Not now, Naruto!" Both hedgehog and shinobi exclaimed at the same time. Their eyes were locked in a heated look of hatred.

"Guys!" Naruto persisted.

"SHUT UP!" Neither seemed surprised about their simultaneous outbursts.

Naruto sighed, "stupid Sasuke…" He glanced back at Sorat who was just beginning to glide back into the area. He shuddered at the twisted look of loathing sprawled across his face and redoubled his efforts to get the pair's attention. Finally he gave up and charged up a Rasengan, hoping that the impact of the chakra would snap the two out of their little face off.

As the ball of hot Chakra raced towards him, Sorat held out a hand and neatly caught it then closed his fingers around it, extinguishing it. He raised his unscathed hand at Naruto and sent a blast of dark energy hurling at him.

Shadow's ear twitched at the sound of a nearby building crashing into dust. He chanced a glance backwards then spun around to see Sorat. Before jumping back into the fight, he poked a harsh finger at Sasuke and snarled, "we'll settle this later, human."

Sorat was prepared for Shadow. The two chaos emeralds shone brightly, little sparks of power dancing through its well-polished sheen and across Sorat's fingers. "You have one chance to beg for mercy, hedgehog, and I may forgive you."

"Never." was Shadow's quick reply, "there's no turning back now…you abused the power of the emeralds."

"You speak as if you had a choice…" Sorat chuckled.

Sasuke and Naruto watched the pair with bated breaths; neither dared to interfere.

………………………………...

Sonic endured a long, winded explanation from the girl in red. Afterward, all he remembered was that he was somehow in a village called Konoha.

"Konoha, huh?" Sonic mused. "and it's full of humans…" he sighed. A wave of dizzying hunger swirled around in his stomach like a maelstrom in search of something to devour. He sighed, "Do you people have chili dogs?

"what?" Sakura asked. "chili…dogs?" The people around her gasped in horror. Sakura paused, unable to use the awkward silence to her advantage. "Your people…eat dogs?"

Sonic cocked an eyebrow to one side. "Who said that?" The meaning of the conversation took a few minutes to sink in. "Ooh, no, wait, it's just what they're called! It's a hotdog…which isn't made of dog…it's made of--" he paused abruptly and scratched his head. "er…what is a hotdog made of anyway?" he murmured to himself.

"This is awkward…" Sakura mumbled.

"Anyway…if you don't mind, I would like to go and find something to eat. All this adventure has me screaming for food."

"You could try ramen?" Sakura suggested. "It can be my treat…because, I want to learn about your world."

"So you'll trade food for answers?" Sonic asked with a small shrug. "Sounds like a deal to me." he paused, "none of you seem daunted that I can talk."

"A lot of our animals talk." Sakura explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

………………………………...

Sorat was the first to make a move. He seemed to meld into the very sunlight as he charged towards the unprepared hedgehog. Shadow's eyes widened as Sorat emerged into the visible spectrum, just in front of him, and impaled his narrow, black chest with a small, worn dagger. The ruby encrusted hilt stuck from his chest, the red gems complimenting the crimson blood which freely flowed around them. Shadow staggered forward a step, his hands reaching for the comfort of the emeralds. He toppled to his knees then to his side as the pain lanced from the dagger point deep within his body.

Sorat smirked. "First time for everything? I think not."

Sasuke wasted no time feeling sorry for the hedgehog. Instead, he kept his attention on the two chaos emeralds. "A replacement jutsu…" he thought briefly to himself, "may do the trick…"

He underestimated Sorat's ability to read minds and attempted his trick. The Chakra he used merely drifted around the emeralds before settling into the glow, its effects abated.

"Pathetic…" Sorat muttered. "I'll be back for your emerald later, boy, you best be prepared." He stepped into an abyss of dark light and was gone.

"That didn't quite go as planned." Sasuke admitted. His eyes wandered to Shadow and he sighed. "Why couldn't it have been Naruto instead…" he thought.

Naruto's train of thought was nothing short of different. "He's…he's dead…" he thought. An amalgam of emotions spun in his mind as memories both good and bad swirled together into one picture. "Is this my fault?" he wondered.

"He's not dead." Sasuke realized. He had finally walked over the hedgehog to check his pulse. "Looks like two people will be after this strange emerald soon." He sighed. "Naruto. Get Sakura and tell her to get her butt over here."

"You can't tell me what to do! Not after you allowed that guy to kill this poor creature!" Naruto snarled. It seemed only logical to place the blame on Sasuke now that he had finished thinking about it. This was what he always did.

"Idiot. If you want this pathetic thing to live, I suggest you get moving." He turned and walked away.

………………………………...

Although at first, Sonic had stared dubiously at the swirling mass of noodles, he realized that it was packed full of unique and yet delicious flavor. Now he could hardly stop himself from slurping it down in huge torrents. "Why don't they have this stuff on my planet?" he complained between mouthfuls.

"What do they have on your planet?" Sakura asked. She averted her eyes from the eating hedgehog and his terrible manners. "Ugh…almost as bad as Naruto." she thought.

"The usual. Lots of different people, houses, flowers, grass, mountains. Lots of space to roam around." Sonic set the bowl down, sighing with content happiness.

"And those emeralds you had in her hands earlier? Are they how you got here?

Sonic nodded. "I suppose so. Though, it's odd, two shouldn't have been enough to get me to a whole new dimension."

"Will it be enough to get you back?" Sakura asked. She could see the dilemma Sonic was facing.

Sonic shrugged. "It's worth a try…."

"And if it doesn't?" Sakura pressed.

"Then, I guess I'll be stuck here. But don't sweat it. Just new terrain to explore…I'm usually fine on my own."

"But don't you have frie--"

She spun around in her chair as Naruto came barging into the small ramen shop. "Sakura! We need your help!"

"What?! With what?!" She frantically dug through her purse and threw the money down on the counter and raced after Naruto.

Sonic sighed. "Tails will be fine without me. He's a smart little guy…and…I'm sure he'll protect Mobius just fine…" He tried reassuring himself with those small, worthless words of condolence. Guilt rumbled around in his chest, impeding his heart beat. "I sure will miss them all…"

………………………………...

Tails watched Sonic's door swing open and closed with the wind. "He must have left in a hurry again." he thought. He gently stepped inside the abode. Of course, it was a mess, which came to no surprise to the twin tailed fox. Sonic was never huge on cleanliness. He preferred the great outdoors to his own house anyway.

"So much for a chat." Tails thought, sitting down on a sofa and examining several pictures. Most of them were pictures from their youth, Sonic's confident smile serving as a foil to Tails' quick embarrassed chuckles. Tails smiled with pride. He knew he had the best friend in the whole world. "Well, it's worth the wait. I'll talk to him when he gets back." He opened the book he had taken along with him and began to read. For hours.