Chapter 13: Hope Burns Bright

"Gaara?"

The rain's kiss on his cheeks slowly dissipated at the sound of the wind calling his name. Gaara opened his eyes and took in the sight of the fertile farmland he was in. The air gently washed among the vast, eternal wheat fields that surrounded him, the smell reminding him of breakfast bread. He closed his eyes again.

"Gaara?"

At hearing his name again, Gaara glanced around, except now, he was alone in an infinity of white. He looked to his side, then behind, and in front again. Where there was nothing at first, he now made out a figure in the distance.

"Who's there?" he called out. The blurry form approached him.

"Gaara? Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Gaara once again opened his eyes, and this time found himself in his bed. He groaned groggily, turned to his side and covered himself completely with his blanket.

"Lemme lone…" he mumbled.

"It's half-past ten!" Gaara felt a strong set of hands yank his blanket from over him, soon followed by a glaring beam of sunlight hitting him right on his face. He moaned once again, this time covering his face with his hands. "Stop your bellyaching and get up, Gaara! You're the Kazekage, and you have a lot of work to do today before the meeting with the Konoha envoy!"

Gaara sat up on his bed with some effort. He held his head and hair for a second while he woke up fully. "Fine, Temari. I'm up."

"Good. Get dressed. Matsuri will have arranged a meal for you once you get to your office," his sister said. She left the room with that. Gaara blinked a few times, yawned, tossed his blankets over himself, and laid down again. Temari immediately yelled from outside: "And no bonus snoozing!" Gaara groaned one last time, threw his blankets back from over him, and got out of bed with a big stretch.

Once in the sink, Gaara splashed some water on his face to deal with the remaining grogginess. This was all still so new, he thought to himself. After Shukaku's removal, one welcome consequence was that he no longer had the recurring nightmares that prevented him from sleeping. He had discovered that he loved it, perhaps a little too much, he admitted to himself. Every day since his resurrection, Temari had to wake him up, even after he'd slept more than twelve hours straight. "I don't care if you have years of sleep debt to make up on," she would remind him often. "You're still the Kazekage. Act like it!" Gaara let her castigate him without reply. After all the years he'd treated his siblings like trash and even threaten to kill them, it was the least he could do. He then quickly splashed one more handful of water on his face before his wandering mind made his fall asleep right where he stood.

Once he was ready, Gaara glanced to the last task of his new morning routine. He exited to his room and reached his hand out to his large sand gourd. The container wobbled somewhat, and a faint trail of sand grains floated towards him. "It appears I am close to recovering fully," he whispered. An unwelcome consequence of Shukaku's removal was the temporary loss of his sand mastery, but thankfully a period of rest and subsequent daily training was quickly restoring his abilities to what they once were. After one last glance at the bed and starting a mental countdown of when he'd get the chance to sleep again, he headed out to begin his day.

A few minutes later, when he finally reached his office and sat down at his desk, he found a few warm pieces of toast on a plate over the stack of correspondence received during the night. Soon after, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." The door opened quickly, and Matsuri entered the room holding another plate and two steaming cups of coffee. "Thank you," he said, taking one cup from her hand and drinking a few gulps quickly.

"Overslept again, Kazekage-sama?" Gaara just nodded as he finished the entire cup. He winced as the hot liquid burned his throat. "I suppose that's a yes," she said, suppressing a small laugh.

"Not that it matters," Gaara replied. "This will keep me awake for my duties."

"That's good to hear," she said. "But just in case, I took this liberty," she added, placing the second cup on the desk.

"Very thoughtful. What is on the agenda for today?" he asked back while bringing his brunch plate closer.

"Let me see," Matsuri said, taking out a small notebook from her pocket. "You have a meeting with a Konoha representative in a few minutes, followed by lunch with the village elders, and in late afternoon attend an Academy training session." Upon hearing the last activity, Gaara glanced up from his meal.

"The student training is today?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama," Matsuri answered. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, no," he said, though he admitted internally that he was not so sure of his answer. His voice must have betrayed his thoughts, he realized, when he heard Matsuri's response.

"Um, very well. If that is all?"

"Yes, thank you," he said. He leaned back on his chair as his assistant turned to leave. Before he could let his thoughts drift, he noticed she had stopped just shy of the door. "Matsuri?"

"May I speak freely, Kazekage-sama?" she said, her shoulders visibly tense. For a moment, Gaara recalled his past behavior once more. Would he have killed her on the spot if he were the same person as before?

"Of course," he answered before he let any more time pass. Matsuri turned around towards him while still staring at the floor.

"If this is about your recent kidnapping and the loss of your abilities, the stu…"

"Why do you think it's about that?" Gaara interrupted her, taken aback not just by her frankness but also by what he had to admit was her accurate diagnosis.

"I'm so sorry, Kazekage-sama!" Matsuri quickly bowed and apologized profusely. "I accidentally overhead your brother discussing this earlier this week!" Gaara scowled at the thought. Kankuro was definitely capable of that sort of slip of the tongue. Once again, he thought of the old him for a moment, who probably would have threatened to kill him for such disrespect.

"It's alright," he said, both to Matsuri and to himself.

"But the truth is, sir, um..," she muttered on, "the students don't just need demonstrations of your power. They just want to see you and know you are well. To reinforce what you have taught them, that you must be willing to fight to protect those you care about more than just for your own sake or to flaunt strength. To believe in you, as… well, as I do."

At this, Gaara was at a loss for words. He blinked once, then twice. He spoke the first thoughts that coherently formed in his mind: "I… the children believe in me?"

"Gaara-sama… you are an inspiration to us all," was her reply.

Surprise and relief washed over him. Despite the reticence of the older generations of the village, his newfound attitude was resonating with the youngest ones. He sighed as a renewed vigor crept through his mind. His hard work was starting to pay off.

"Matsuri, thank…" a sudden knock on his door stopped him. His brother Kankuro stepped inside the office.

"Pardon the interruption, Kazekage-sama, but the Konoha delegate is here." No matter how many times it happened since Gaara assumed the leadership of Sunagakure, it still surprised him to hear his older brother's formal tone.

"Thank you, Kankuro," he told him. Turning his gaze back at Matsuri, he told her: "And you as well, Matsuri. That will be all for now."

"Yes, Kazekage-sama," she replied with a bow and, Gaara could swear he saw, a flash of a slight contented smile. Once again composed when she stood upright, Matsuri turned and left the office, briefly saluting Kankuro as she did so. As she disappeared past the door, the Konoha representative walked in.

"Welcome to Sunagakure, Shikamaru," Gaara told the Konoha representative, easily recognizing him. "It is good Konoha was able to spare your time so quickly."

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama," Shikamaru said.

"Please, sit," Gaara asked him, which he did. "You must be wondering why I asked for an envoy so quickly. I must admit, it is agreeable that you were chosen."

"The Hokage-sama said it was urgent," Shikamaru replied. "Given how much Temari-san has been traveling between our two villages I can surmise she felt it easiest to send me."

"There was a sense of urgency, yes. Nothing diplomatically threatening, rather I would prefer a more first-hand account of some world news that caught my interest." Gaara took his second coffee cup and was about to drink when he caught himself. "Apologies. Sometimes it is still a challenge to remember the basic points of etiquette. May I offer you something?"

"I appreciate the gesture, Kazekage-sama. I had something on the way here."

"Very well," Gaara said, taking a quick drink of refreshing coffee. "Tell me, Shikamaru, is the talk in both official channels and visitor gossip regarding some new sort of… hero of Konoha, accurate?"

Shikamaru shifted somewhat in his seat, which did not go unnoticed by the Kazekage. Gaara knew this ninja had a keen intellect, so he guessed that he immediately knew where the conversation was leading to. "There's… someone new, yes."

"A flying man, clothed in green and able to create almost anything out of thin air?"

"Yes."

"People call him a Green Lantern?"

"No offense, Kazekage-sama, but I think we both know what you're really going to ask me."

"Very astute, just as I expected from you," Gaara nodded. "When people described him as loud and blonde, I immediately knew. It's Uzumaki Naruto, isn't it?"

Shikamaru's silence was enough to convince Gaara he was right. The two stared at each other quietly for some time, Shikamaru neither confirming nor denying the question, and Gaara giving him the appropriate time diplomacy required. "Kazeka…"

"Before you continue, let me say this. I understand the limits of sharing certain intelligence between allied villages. So if we may dispense with the formality, let me ask about Naruto not as the Kazekage of Sunagakure, but as simply Gaara." Gaara stood up and walked to look out the window of his office. "I consider Uzumaki Naruto my friend. More than that, he is my savior. He saved me from the person I used to be, and the path of destruction you well know I walked. Just a few weeks ago, he helped bring me back from death itself. I owe him my life twice over, and that is a debt I may never be able to repay." He glanced towards Shikamaru again, who while still looking back silently, appeared somewhat less tense. "I understand if you cannot confirm my suspicion, but you do not have to. I presume, I hope correctly, that he considers you a friend as well. I suppose, I simply wanted to acknowledge his continued growth, and for him to know that he has my personal support."

Shikamaru let the silence in the room stay for a while longer. In the end, he was the one to break it with a quiet grin. "He can be so troublesome sometimes, can't he?"

"Indeed," Gaara agreed as he sat back down. "Is he adjusting well to his new role?"

"He's a quick study, no doubt," Shikamaru agreed. There was no sense in playing coy anymore. "The villagers are fawning at their new hero, and Naruto must surely be enjoying the attention."

"Is the adulation unanimous?"

"He has Hokage-sama's support, if that's what you're asking," Shikamaru answered. "Unanimous…" he equivocated, letting the pause speak for itself.

"Some do not approve?"

"Let's just say some question the value of an unpredictable Genin having so much power, especially an unstudied and unpredictable power."

"I see," Gaara answered. He decided not to probe Shikamaru further. His comments essentially confirmed the secret intelligence he already had of a supposed mutiny in some of Konoha's black ops division, and the internal strife this caused the Hokage.

"I have to ask, Kazek… Gaara-san, if you were so convinced Naruto was the Green Lantern, why ask for someone from Konoha to confirm this?"

"Astute observation," Gaara said. He opened his drawer and retrieved a sealed scroll. "This was the reason for the urgency of my request. Have you heard about an attack on the dilapidated city of Sora-ku a few days ago?"

Shikamaru raised one eyebrow. He recalled some unconfirmed intelligence of the city having an Uchiha clan supply station, but beyond that not much else. "None that I was made aware of, though I wouldn't discount someone else in Konoha having been briefed."

"Some refugees from the city reached Suna yesterday," Gaara explained. He used a tiny amount of his chakra to unseal the scroll. "Our security captured a known black market trader trying to pass off as a civilian. When questioned, he spoke about an attack from a flying man wrapped in a yellow aura and using solid light as a weapon. He…" Gaara stopped himself when he saw Shikamaru's calm demeanor had shifted to a tense expression. Gaara had seen enough of those faces in his own past to know fear when he looked at it. "You know who I'm speaking about," he said, opening the scroll and passing it to Shikamaru.

"We faced him, yes," Shikamaru replied as he took the scroll and quickly scanned it over. "He was viciously efficient with his power. From what we know, he got his ring shortly after Naruto, and…"

"His… ring?"

"That's the source of these Lantern powers."

"The trader did mention that the light seemed to come from a single point on his fist," Gaara wondered out loud. "So these rings, what are they?"

"We don't know for certain," Shikamaru answered. "As far as we can tell, they're incredibly advanced pieces of technology that choose who best can wield them. The rings are semi-sentient, and they each have their own agenda. As crazy as it sounds, they work by harnessing pure emotion and converting it into solid light constructs. Green is willpower, indigo is compassion, and violet is love. This Yellow Lantern is fueled by fear."

"Are they really that powerful?"

"It's really troublesome. From what I saw, and I do not say this lightly, an experienced wielder would be enough to single-handedly take on even you Kages."

"The scroll is yours," Gaara offered. "I have a copy of the report. Please let your Hokage know that Suna stands ready to assist with any support or intelligence we can offer regarding this Yellow Lantern. We hope she can reciprocate, and that if we were to need Naru… the Green Lantern's help…"

"I will pass the message along, and while I cannot speak for Hokage-sama, she should have no objection," Shikamaru acknowledged. He rolled up Gaara's scroll and tucked it into a pouch on his vest. "If you will excuse me, then, I will be on my way back."

"You have only just arrived," Gaara mentioned quizzically as Shikamaru stood up. "You would be welcome to stay in one of our guest houses, if you wish."

"I appreciate the offer, but it's important I deliver this information to my superiors a soon as possible. They must be informed that the Yellow Lantern is still active and a continued threat."

"I understand," Gaara accepted. He stood up and greeted Shikamaru farewell. "Well, then, Suna and I appreciate your haste, Shikamaru. Safe journey home."

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama." He turned to leave.

"If you see Naruto…" Gaara started.

"I'll tell him you said hi," Shikamaru said as he opened the office door. "Who knows, he might drop in to visit when you least expect it." With one last respectful nod, he left, leaving Gaara to the rest of his busy day.

Nightfall arrived, and by then Gaara completed his duties for the day. The children eagerly observed his lesson and Gaara could tell they took it to heart. He was encouraged by their reaction, and wished that the older villagers would also be receptive. That question would be for the longer term. For the moment, Gaara completed his nightly routine and at last reached his daily goal of getting to bed. It only took him a few minutes to let sleep take him over.

"Gaara?"

The rain's kiss on his cheeks slowly dissipated at the sound of the wind calling his name. Once again, Gaara opened his eyes and took in the sight of the lush rainforest he was in. The air gently washed among the cracks between the trees that surrounded him, the smell coated with pleasant humidity completely absent in the desert he and his village lived in. He closed his eyes again.

"Gaara?"

At hearing his name again, Gaara glanced around, except now, for the second night in a row, he was alone in an infinity of white. Despite knowing this was a dream, somehow he knew some of his conscious mind was aware of what was happening. He looked to his side, then behind, and in front again. Where there was nothing at first, he now made out a figure in the distance.

"Who's there?" he called out. The blurry form approached him. "Show yourself." Just as he recognized a short, dwarfish humanoid shape clothed in white robes, the scene and the form dissipated, and he woke up with a start. Gaara sat up on his bed with sweat dripping down his face. "What was that? The same dream, twice?" He rubbed his hands over his eyes and lay back down. Still consumed by thoughts of what he had seen, he slowly drifted back to blissful, dreamless sleep.

My name is Hyuuga Hinata. Um, I am a Star Sapphire, and current half-host of the Entity of Love. I follow my… um… that is… my Green Lantern comrade Uzumaki Naruto in searching for the blue ring of hope. But hope… my ring fuels me and fills me with love, but I am starting to lose hope. Our search so far has been fruitless, and Sakura-san's departure affected Naruto-kun.

It is discouraging to see Naruto-kun sulking like this. The moment we woke up, and Naruto-kun found out Sakura-san had left to find Sasuke, he has gone almost completely quiet. I… I don't know what to say to him. My ring edges me on, numbing the ache in my heart…

"Hinata, watch out!" Naruto yelled out suddenly.

"Wh… ah!" Hinata snapped out of her thoughts just in time to see her flying head-first into a solitary hill among the plains they were traveling over. Before she could correct herself, she hit the slope directly. Her speed and her ring's force field carved through the soil and underlying rock, tossing debris aside that Naruto had to quickly block with a hastily-drawn construct.

"You OK?" Naruto asked her as he floated down to her position. Hinata massaged her head while avoiding all eye contact with him.

"I… I'm fine."

"You sure? You must've been pretty distracted back there," he said as he offered his hand.

"I… um… that is…" she stammered, looking at his outstretched hand and feeling her cheeks grow warmer from the thought of taking it. Whether due to the Predator's dreams, the ring's influence, or some unprecedented surge of courage on her own part, she reached out and accepted it. She stood up with a little help from Naruto. "Naruto-kun, are you distracted too?"

"Huh?"

"You… you've been quiet all morning," she added, slightly avoiding his puzzling glance. Naruto opened his mouth for a second, but stopped short of saying anything. He glanced away from Hinata out into the distance.

"I, yeah, I guess I am," he said.

"Sakura-chan?" Whether from just the nearly-imperceptible strength of his sudden blink, or another of her ring's abilities, Hinata felt the same pang of hurt Naruto just did at the mention of the other Sapphire's name.

"It's just… I dunno. I guess I should've known Sakura would try something like this. I was going to myself soon. With this power it should've been easy to drag Sasuke back to Konoha, and to Sakura-chan."

Hinata said nothing. Naruto took a few steps towards the top of the hill, with Hinata following a few feet behind. He reached the top and gazed out at the bright horizon. After another short moment of silence, he continued: "Why would she leave just like that? She knows I promised her to bring him back!"

"Are you… afraid she'll get hurt?" Hinata asked, taking a few steps closer to Naruto.

"Sakura-chan, hurt? Nah!" Naruto joked. "If she finds Sasuke she'll probably knock him over his head with that strength of hers. She won't need the ring for that." He sighed once, then continued: "I just can't help wondering if I won't be able to keep my promise." Hinata took one more step towards him, just as Naruto clutched his chest. "Knowing that, thinking that… it feels…"

Naruto stopped short when, to his surprise, he felt Hinata's arms wrap themselves around him from behind. He grew tense from the sudden hug, wondering what brought it on and, strangely, how shy and strange Hinata suddenly had the courage to act so intimately. Hinata, for her part, echoed the same doubts, her whole body trembling enough for Naruto to feel it as well.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. "Your pain… how do you bear this much pain and still hide it so deeply from everyone?" Naruto looked down at her encircling arms, and saw how despite her shaking, the light around her ring was thick and bright.

"Is this your ring telling you?" His question came off a bit bitter, he thought, but before he could correct himself, Hinata slowly let go of him. He turned and looked at her directly. At first she avoided his gaze, but then she faced him too. "Sorry, that didn't…"

"It's alright," she assured him. "My ring… it does seem to relay feelings of loss in others. But, Naruto-kun…" she hesitated again, but she could feel renewing strength from deep within her encouraging her on. Quickly thanking the dreaming Predator's gentle nudges she continued: "I… even without the ring, I could tell. You have… so much pain, for years now. When Sasuke-kun left… If Kiba-kun or Shino-kun defected… I doubt I could carry on as you have. And Sakura…" Even with the ring and Predator's strength, Hinata could not continue beyond that. It took all her will combined with theirs to suppress the tears in her eyes and the gnaw in her own heart, deepened by Naruto's pull towards Sakura and Sasuke.

"Can you find them?" he asked her. "Can you find her?" he emphasized. This time Hinata hid her sudden shake with a deep breath. Though the hole in her heart ached with each beat, she let the Star Sapphire fill the growing void. If she could at least help alleviate Naruto's own pain, she would be alright in the end.

Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her mind centered itself exclusively on the ring, which in turn bore deep into her own heart. She reached out her ringed hand and gently placed it in Naruto's chest. He closed his eyes as well as a gentle warmth enveloped his heart, lessening the hurt he had been feeling since the morning. For a moment, Hinata marveled at how the feeling of his heartbeat on her palm synchronized perfectly with her own. Not letting wishful thinking sidetrack her concentration, she reached out with her ring's senses. In her mind, she recalled her feelings when she was able to track Naruto into Root's hideout a few days ago, and used that to attempt to find Sakura or Sasuke, using Naruto's own feelings as the tether. For a moment, she felt as if the ring were creating the same tether she used to rescue him. In her mind's eye, she saw a string of violet light emerge from nothingness. The string twisted and turned all around, as if scanning to find the two missing ninjas. Time passed, and to Hinata's surprise, the tether failed to connect. After a few moments, it disappeared. Both of them opened their eyes once more, both noticing the other's downcast expression.

"I'm sorry. I can't feel her presence or Sasuke's," Hinata immediately apologized. Her chest twisted itself into a knot at the thought that she could not help Naruto. Her stomach churned at the sudden realization she felt a little relieved she did not find Sakura.

"I should've known…" Naruto whispered. The words stabbed Hinata deep, and her face contorted with pain at hearing him recognize her failure. Naruto noticed too, and he quickly waved his arms and added: "No no no, I didn't mean you! Sorry!"

"But… if not me, then…"

"I, ah…" Naruto stammered. He blushed. "Jeez, this is kinda embarrassing to admit…" he added as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm not stupid. I guess… I've known for a while that Sakura's a lost cause for me. Sure, we're very good friends, and it's obvious we both care a lot about each other." Naruto shifted uncomfortably but continued to face Hinata. "But, these last few missions of ours before the rings, it's been about Sasuke. When we found him, he was her focus. He's always the one where her heart is. When I see her lamenting about Sasuke, she looks just like I would if I couldn't hide my own pain. And now with her ring… if it's leading her to Sasuke, there's no doubt anymore, is there?"

Hinata was not sure what to say to answer his question. From the look on his face, though, she deduced he wasn't expecting an answer. "Doesn't matter either way, though," Naruto continued, this time his visage steeled with resolve. "I made her the promise of a lifetime, and I intend to keep it one way or the other. If he can't find him, I'll do it for her. If she can find him herself, I'll help them both with bringing Itachi to justice. I've never gone back on my word, and I don't intend to break my ninja way now. That, plus that would make me a pretty crappy Green Lantern, wouldn't it?" he finished with his characteristic grin.

Hinata smiled back, his words immediately lifting her own mood. His positive attitude truly was infectious. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"For what?"

"For trusting me enough to tell me such personal thoughts," she added with a gentle smile.

"I dunno why," he said with a shrug. "It could be your ring or something, but I guess… somehow, it's as if it's just easy to talk to you now."

Hinata looked at her ring once more. "A Star Sapphire does not ignore what lies in the heart…" she echoed. When Naruto cocked his head quizzically, she said: "Something the ring told me when it first picked me." At that moment, for some reason she could not understand or fathom where it came from, Hinata was suddenly possessed with an overwhelming carefree and, dare she admit it, prankish attitude. Was Naruto's own personality rubbing off on her, she thought, or maybe was this the Predator's personality asserting itself slightly. Regardless, and in what she felt was completely unlike her, Hinata suddenly blurted out: "Naruto-kun, you were so honest with your emotions just now… perhaps… you would… make a good Star Sapphire?" she finished with a blush and a weak smile.

"You!? Teasing!? That ring's really working on your personality, Hinata!" Naruto gawked jokingly. "Thanks, but I'll pass, I don't think pink is my color," he smirked. In yet another moment of utter defiance to her old self, a deep-red blushing Hinata quickly conjured an image of Naruto in a Star Sapphire outfit. Naruto snorted at seeing his copy dressed in a scantily-clad body suit and in an alluring pose, and then burst out laughing and cackling like a possessed madman. "Stop that! You're killing me here!" he yelled between laughs and deep breaths. Soon enough Hinata found herself laughing out loud alongside him, the image disappearing at her loss of concentration. The two continued to laugh until they were short on breath.

"There's the happy Naruto I lo…" Hinata immediately stopped herself before she accidentally said something she was not yet prepared to admit to him.

"Huh? What did you say?" Naruto asked as the last fits of humor left him.

"Er… nothing!" she said, turning sideways quickly to hide her growing blush.

"I gotta admit, this helped," he said. "Thanks, Hinata." His companion nodded assertively with a more cheerful attitude. "Ok, then, back to business. Ring, power check."

"Power levels 42%."

"That'll have to do for now." Naruto rose from the ground just above Hinata. "Let's go find that blue ring!"

"Naruto-kun, we've been searching all morning without success," was Hinata's reply.

"Do you need a break?"

"Not that," Hinata said. "Seeing you fly just now and talking to the ring made me think. We've been searching like ninjas, tracking and searching terrain methodically but at just above ground level."

"Yeah, it's a pain, isn't it?" he nodded. "But the rings haven't been much help either. I mean, the first thing we did yesterday was ask 'Find the blue ring!' and both our rings went into those weird errors."

"Yes, but it just occurred to me," she added. "We're not just ninjas or Lanterns. We're both."

"You mean like, combine powers?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Like you did when you and I, or rather the Predator, fought." Naruto crossed his arms and shook his head.

"That wouldn't work for long," he said. "My clones would just search like ninjas, and I can't share the ring's energy so much without draining it quickly."

"I was thinking about me," Hinata said. "What if I combine my Byakugan with the ring's own scan? My ring has a permanent charge, and Byakugan does not need so much chakra."

"That's a nice idea!" Naruto agreed. "How far do you think you'll be able to see?"

"I… I'm not sure," Hinata admitted. "I just thought of this." Naruto descended and placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder, which caused her to tense yet again.

"You can do it. I know you can!"

"O… Ok!" she agreed. Naruto took a step back and let Hinata concentrate. She turned her ringed hand into a fist, placed it in front of her face, and said: "Byakugan!" Her silvery pupils dilated and the veins next to her eyes throbbed as she activated her family's bloodline ability.

Naruto observed her companion deep in concentration. He could not image how her ability made her see things, and even less how that would be changed by her ring's power. "Um, you ok?" he asked when after a while she kept still. He waved his hand over her direct line of sight, not really expecting a response. Soon after, her eyes returned to normal. "Did it work?"

"I'm not sure," Hinata said. "I was able to see farther than I normally can, and the few people and animals I saw had a faint violet hue to their chakra, but not much else. Although…" she then pointed at Naruto. "When I saw you, your chakra had a greenish tint to it."

"That's a start," Naruto nodded. "So if we fly around while you use your ability…"

"I'm not sure that would work, Naruto-kun," she interrupted. "I had to concentrate deeply to combine my Byakugan with the violet light."

"So we move to the edge of your vision, then you scan again?"

"That would work, but which direction?"

"Hmm…" Naruto wondered. He looked all around the hill. The sun was nearing its noon height, and from what they had seen during the morning's search there were enough inhabited areas all around them to send them in a wild goose chase is they chose the wrong direction. "Wait, I got it."

"What are you thinking, Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata, how bright did I look to you?" Naruto asked her.

"Um… Normal, I suppose?"

"Do you think that green tint would be enough to make me out from other people, even if you were far away?" he elaborated.

"I… perhaps?" she asked, uncertain about his train of thought. Naruto grinned and rose again into the sky.

"Follow me, I have a plan!" he called out to her as his distance increased. Hinata flew up in pursuit as Naruto continued to rise. Hinata quickly guessed Naruto's idea when they both kept going straight up. As both their speeds increased, the bright noon sky quickly gave way to the blackness of space. After a minute of flying in the vacuum, Naruto and Hinata stopped and turned around.

"Hello there, beautiful," Naruto said to himself when he saw the full Earth again. After a moment where the two Lanterns let themselves marvel at their home planet, their minds quickly shifted back to the mission at hand. "Does this work for you?"

"Let's hope so," Hinata said. Once again bringing her ringed first to her face, Hinata gathered her chakra and said: "Byakugan!"

"You can do this, Hinata," Naruto encouraged her. He let her concentrate and scan the Earth for as long as she needed to. Minutes passed, and still she searched. Despite the nervous itch creeping up on him, Naruto waited patiently for Hinata to finish. After what seemed like hours, she finally reacted, except not in the way either of them expected. She gasped in surprise, and immediately after her eyes returned to normal.

"Hinata! Are you alright?" Naruto said, approaching Hinata's side.

"I'm alright," she said. "I was just startled."

"What happened?" Naruto asked. "Did you find a trace of the blue light?"

"No," she shook her head. "It was difficult, but I did find a light." She then glanced towards Naruto, and the worry on her face was evident. "It was orange."

"Orange?" Naruto repeated. "That was…"

"What Sai-kun said," Hinata finished for him. "The orange light of greed. Once I found it, it was so bright. Naruto-kun, it was burning in its intensity!"

"The Orange Lantern must be really active… That can't be good," Naruto said just as worried as Hinata was. "Where was it?"

In response, Hinata conjured a labeled map of the various countries and the hidden villages, then overlaid it over the circumference of the planet. Naruto took a moment to appreciate how tiny the map of the countries near Konoha was compared to the rest of the world. "It was here," she said, pointing at a spot west of the Land of Fire. To emphasize, Hinata conjured a bright violet dot on the location. "Naruto-kun, there…" Hinata pointed. "Isn't that…"

"That's right on top of the Sand Village!" Naruto realized. "Gaara!" Without saying another word, Naruto dove back to Earth, leaving a trail of green light and fire from the atmospheric reentry.

"Naruto-kun! Wait!" Hinata exclaimed as she followed close behind.

*********Thirty Minutes Ago**********

As the noon sun reached its peak, the guards at the border of Sunagakure stood on watch throughout the encircling cliffs. The concentration of Chunin and more experienced Genin near the entrance pass was especially thick despite the searing heat of the desert sun.

"Water replenishment unit reporting, sir!" a young Genin saluted to her superior on one of the higher levels. Her commander remained unflinching. "Water rations have been distributed among the guards successfully and ahead of schedule sir!"

"Noted, Aishi," the commanding Chunin responded. "Continue with your duties."

"Sir!" Genin Aishi acknowledged. She crouched in preparation to jump down to the next lower level.

"A moment," the commander said all of a sudden, turning towards her. Aishi lost her balance for an instant but quickly regained it and stood at attention again.

"Yes, sir?" she saluted once more.

"At ease," the commander said. Aishi dropped her salute but continued to stand straight with her attention exclusively at her superior officer. "Is this your first day?"

"Yes, sir. My first upper-D-rank mission," Aishi quickly answered.

"One small piece of advice, kid: don't push yourself so hard. You need to conserve your stamina throughout the rest of the day. Heat exhaustion can hit you when you least expect it if you're not careful."

"I understand sir," she nodded. "It's just that I…"

"Are you contradicting me, Genin?" the commander interrupted.

"No sir!" Aishi quickly corrected herself. "Permission to speak freely?"

This caught the commander's attention. His steely expression broke when he raised one eyebrow up. "Go ahead."

Aishi took a deep breath and began: "Sir, after the Akatsuki attack, everyone is working harder for the safety of our village. I've seen the guards in my rounds today. They're vigilant and determined. They're all protecting us! So I'm going to work just as hard for them too!"

The commander pondered on the young ninja's words for a moment. She was not wrong that the guards were working overtime and hyper-attentive to any possible threats outside their borders. The recent attack was a sobering reminder of the recent displays of weakness of their village, having lost the Fourth Kazekage only three years before and the near-death of the Fifth Kazekage, to say nothing of the countless Suna-nin killed or maimed in the failed Konoha invasion and Akatsuki's attack.

He smiled at the realization that unlike after the first attack, where the country suffered near-crippling morale-losses and budget cuts, the recent attack seemed to steel the village's resolve and redouble their determination. The only difference between the two was the Kazekage in command at the time.

"Gaara-sama's having quite an effect on you kids," he commented.

"Sir?"

"I presume you heard the Kazekage's lecture yesterday?" When Aishi nodded in the affirmative, he added: "Most of us old guard have found the recent changes somewhat… unorthodox, but the positive impact is undeniable. We have much to be thankful for. Gaara-sama remains with us and watches over us, just as we must watch over him from now on. Keep up the good work and do your best."

"Yes, sir!" Aishi beamed with pride.

"Dismissed," the commander said. Aishi turned once more to depart. She crouched to jump down to the lower level.

A sudden tremor rocked the walls of the cliffs. Most of the ninjas kept their ground, but a few, including Aishi, lost their footing. The rumbling stopped for a moment, only to return together with a loud crashing sound.

"An earthquake?" Aishi wondered as she struggled to keep her balance.

"It's too rhythmic… what…" the commander stopped when the noise intensified to his right. He and Aishi saw how thick clouds of dust exploded from the ground, lit from behind by what appeared to be some sort of light source. The bursts continued to draw closer to them, until a crack formed just beneath the young Genin. "LOOK OUT!" the commander yelled. In one sudden motion, he dashed and pushed Aishi back beyond the breaking ground.

Just before Aishi hit solid ground, the spot where she was just standing broke up, and a bright orange figure erupted swiftly and swallowed the commander whole. Aishi gasped in shock as the figure slowed and arched to stare at her. The menacing orange serpent hissed hungrily.

"Consumption complete," she heard coming from inside the snake. "Identity stolen. Replicating." The snake opened its maws, and out fell a ghastly-looking orange version of the man who had just saved her life.

"Co… commander?" Aishi stuttered.

"Ikoma Kane of Sector 2814. You belong to Orochimaru." The orange apparition, identical to what the Genin was growing more convinced used to be her now-dead commander except for his snarling jagged teeth and skin-tight uniform, reached out with its clawed hands and pounced on the defenseless Genin.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" A torrent of slicing winds, aimed so accurately that Aishi did not feel any of it, tore apart the Kane apparition and sliced off the large snake's tongue. A second volley of wind hit the snake, but this time the air passed harmlessly through it. Two ninjas landed in front of the wounded snake, one of them just to Aishi's side.

"Tch!" the older of the two scowled. "That worked at first!"

"Are you alright?" the younger of the two saviors asked her. The youngest ninja recognized her as an upperclassman from her days in the ninja Academy.

"Y… yes, Matsuri-sempai," she answered somewhat bewildered.

The snake lunged at the older ninja, who sidestepped and launched another volley of wind from her massive fan just as the serpent's head struck the ground. This time the furious torrent sliced deep into the animal's body and severed its head clean off. The headless body flailed wildly and dissipated shortly after.

"Why did it work this time?" she wondered out loud. She turned towards Matsuri and Aishi and quickly asked: "You there, Genin, what happened here?"

"That thing… it… it ate Commander Kane, and then spit out some twisted orange copy of him!" Aishi replied despite the shock of the tense situation. Before she could add anything else, more screams and loud cracks drowned out her thoughts in a cacophony of chaos. To their sides, ninjas frantically battled more snakes and ghostly human copies. Out in the distance, a mass of orange light figures rapidly approached their position.

"Matsuri, get her out of the battle and sound the alarm!" the older ninja said. "We need everyone ready to defend the village!"

"Yes, Temari-san!" Matsuri helped Aishi up and held her by the waist. Both ninjas leapt up to safety over the cliffs just as Temari opened her fan to its widest position.

"Where are we going?"

"Getting you to safety," she answered. Aishi did not respond. As they moved and the sounds of battle grew fainter, in her mind she replayed the scene of Commander Kane's gruesome death. Matsuri felt Aishi's grip on her shoulder tighten. In return, Matsuri gently shook Aishi's waist with her supporting arm. "Hey, it's alright. You're safe with me. What's your name?"

Aishi hesitated for a bit. Matsuri's words were enough of the distraction she needed to calm down slightly and answer back: "Aishi."

"Nice to meet you, Aishi," Matsuri answered. They both landed on one of the outermost roofs of the village. "I need you to do me a favor, even if it's a little difficult." Matsuri placed both her hands on Aishi's shoulders. "Tell me more about that snake. Anything at all, even the smallest detail. I'll relay the info to the squads."

"It's just like I said. That orange snake ate Commander Kane and spat out that clone."

"So the commander is dead?" Aishi grimaced at the thought as it replayed itself in her mind. All she could do was nod. "I'm sorry to hear that. It must have happened very quickly. But that clone… that couldn't have been a normal jutsu," she added as much to herself as to Aishi.

"I heard something, just before that clone came out," Aishi recalled. "I heard a voice."

"A voice? From the snake?"

"No," Aishi shook her head. "And not from the clone either. It said something about stealing the commander's identity. And then another name…" Aishi struggled to recall the other name for a moment. "It was… Oro-something? Ended in -aru?"

"Orochimaru!?" Matsuri said. When Aishi nodded, Matsuri tapped something on her ear that Aishi just noticed was some sort of earpiece. "Base, I have intel! We're under attack by Orochimaru! I repeat!" Matsuri was cut off by a loud cacophony of multiple ninjas attempting to communicate at once.

"Matsuri-sempai?"

"I can't get through. Too many people talking at once." Matsuri glanced back to the cliffs. The sounds of the battle were starting to grow louder and coming closer. "Listen to me, Aishi," she said, looking at the younger Genin directly and holding her shoulders firm. "I have to ask you another favor, and it means you have to be brave, ok?" Aishi took a deep breath and nodded. "Good. I'm going to the nearest intel station to let them know what you've told me about Orochimaru and what we know about those orange things. Have you been trained on civilian support yet?"

"Yes."

"Then I need you to head to your designated evacuation route and help the villagers get to their bunker. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes!"

"Good." The sounds of the battle grew closer again. Just over the top of the cliffs, both girls saw groups of orange snakes and people flying over a slowly retreating cadre of Suna ninjas. "Go, now! You can do this!" Without saying another word, both ninjas leapt out in different directions to carry out their mission.

It was not long before Aishi found herself rallying villagers from their homes and workplaces, warning them of the invasion and directing them to the nearest shelter. At first the people glanced quizzically at her, and ignored or even scoffed at her at best. But once the sound of the battle grew louder and closer, no one ignored her anymore. Villagers that were at first running haphazardly or confused quickly followed her clear and concise instructions. Aishi kept focused on her task and on her Academy instruction, anything to distract her from the current situation. She was no tactics expert, but on the occasions where she saw an orange ghost overhead, it reinforced the thought that these things were relentless and unstoppable. It grew worse when she would see a combat ninja rush by her towards the battle, only to see moments later an orange version of the same ninja flying above her. She shook out those thoughts with some effort and kept with the task of helping with the evacuation.

"This way!" she yelled to a young man escorting an old lady. The woman was running as fast as her tired legs could carry her, which was not much compared to her healthier companion. An explosion above knocked some gravel from the roofs off and threatened to hit the woman. Aishi quickly leapt above them and accurately hit the rock away from them. "Keep going, the shelter will be to your right!" she told the two, who gave her a gentle appreciative nod and continued running towards safety.

"Hee hee hee!" Aishi turned around and found herself face to face with an impish, troll-like creature that hovered just above her. "Mine!"

"Aaah!" Aishi quickly reached for her kunai just as the orange thing lunged. For a second, her kunai struck solid flesh, and she quickly tossed herself back and threw the imp behind her. She regained her stance and threw a hastily-drawn shuriken, which now passed harmlessly through the imp. "Not again!" The imp pounced once more.

A strange clacking sound roared past Aishi's ears and crashed against the orange imp. The figure, a wooden puppet, engulfed the creature, and immediately after what looked like bladed appendages slammed into faint openings in the puppet. Aishi heard some sort of garbled yell and saw a faint orange mist dissipate out of the wooden tool.

"Looks like I was fast enough this time," she heard from behind her. Aishi turned and recognized her savior as one of the Sand Three, Gaara's older brother Kankuro.

"Kankuro-san!"

"Yeah, that's me," Kankuro said. He twitched his fingers, and the limbs in the wooden puppet floated away and joined into a second puppet. "You did good distracting that thing for me. Hitting them is all luck." Aishi nodded, allowing herself a little pride along with the relief of surviving another orange attacker. "You were pretty lucky too. Those things are relentless and deadly."

"I know," Aishi answered. "I saw them kill my commander. They… they made a copy of him…"

"So I heard," Kankuro replied. "You must be the Genin who got us the intel." Kankuro kneeled and faced Aishi. "You saved a lot of lives today, kid. Thanks to you we know it's best to engage them at a distance. The puppet division is on the front lines fighting these things."

"Are they winning?" Aishi asked. Kankuro's delay in answering was not hopeful.

"You focus on your own mission with the civilians. We'll handle these things." Kankuro stood back up and commanded his two puppets to his side. "Be careful out there. I know you Academy students want to follow the Kazekage's example, but you have to live long enough to have the skills to do it." With that, Kankuro leapt up to the rooftops and disappeared from view.

Aishi methodically completed her evacuation route one last time, rounding up the last few civilians who were either struggling to reach the shelter or had hidden in their less-safe homes or stores. She turned towards the bunker after she confirmed the last block was all clear. Once her mission was officially completed and it was her turn to evacuate, though, the lingering doubts about repelling the invasion came back with a force. The ghosts' ability to avoid all damage at the blink of an eye, their way to copy those they killed, and their sheer growing numbers made them feel unstoppable. Aishi trembled at once again remembering Commander Kane's death and the grotesque nature of the orange phantasms.

"Will we make it?" she wondered out loud. "Can the others stop this?" She stopped short just outside of the doors to the bunker.

"Hey! Come on! Get inside!" an older Genin yelled at her from just inside the entrance.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Aishi muttered. Ignoring the other ninja's plea, she jumped to a nearby banister and inside an apartment. She immediately recognized her baby brother's room, and him on his crib, crying. She mentally scorned herself that in the chaos she had not bothered to check first that her family was safe.

"My baby's in there!" she heard a young woman cry out. "Help me, please!" Aishi instantly recognized the voice as her mother's.

"Mom, it's me!" Aishi said to her. "You go ahead to safety! I'll get us to the shelter!" She hurriedly took her crying baby brother from his crib and held him close. "Shh… it'll be alright," she said, rocking him gently. Aishi did not wait for the child to stop crying and quickly left the apartment. She jumped and landed on the street.

"And who might you be, little child?" she heard just behind her. The raspy, sinister voice shook her to her core. She turned around. Hovering just above her, with arms crossed, was one more orange creature, this one more resembling a normal person, except for its snake-like features on its face. Unlike the rest of the orange invaders, this one sported what looked to be a completely solid orange ring on its hand. "Are you lost? Nowhere to go home to?" The man eyed the increasing devastation around them. "My Orange Lanterns are a raucous lot, yes. They are perfect for taking back what used to be mine. After all, I was the Kazekage for some time."

Aishi knew the stories of the Fourth's death, and how a man had usurped the position to launch a failed invasion of another village. Suna had recovered since that time. To see the man she now realized come back to raze their village again, this time with an otherworldly unstoppable army, was more than she could take.

"O… Orochimaru…" she whispered as despairing dread filled her. The baby in her arms cried out even louder. Aishi held him away from Orochimaru but she knew there was little else she could do.

"You know of me," Orochimaru said, circling around Aishi until he was in front of her. "Good. But don't you worry, little one. I promise to take good care of you." He landed a few steps away and knelt, and sickeningly licked his lips with a larger than normal tongue. "After all, I take good care of what is mine," he finished, this time with a sinister smile. Aishi closed her eyes and braced for death just as Orochimaru unnaturally extended his neck out towards her.

Aishi heard a faint rustle followed by an intense feeling of upward motion, just as she heard a loud snap below her. Jostled by the movement, she opened her eyes and looked down. Orochimaru lay far below her, and she found herself sitting on a small sheet of dense sand. "Sand?" Surprise and relief kindled in her again, only to swell with hope when she saw to her side as the Fifth Kazekage stood on another layer of floating sand, arms crossed and eyeing Orochimaru intently.

"Gaara-sama!" she exclaimed joyfully.

"Are you alright?" Gaara asked her.

"I am now!" she beamed. In a way it surprised her how just the sight of the Kazekage was enough to calm her nerves. The baby in her arms continued to cry. "Shh shh shh, it's ok, we're safe now," she tried to calm him.

"Not for long," Orochimaru scowled. He raised his right arm and aimed his fist at Gaara. Four snakes emerged from the orange ring that raced towards the two floating ninjas.

"Look out!" Aishi warned. Gaara remained unflinching and let the snakes close in. At the last second, the sand beneath him churned and expanded, forming dense planks that smashed together and crushed the snake constructs in between. The construct disappeared harmlessly as Orochimaru scowled.

"The reports were right. With precise timing, they can be stopped," Gaara mused, to which Aishi felt immense relief and just a bit of pride just hearing the words. The Kazekage glanced at her. "Get to safety," he said. "I'll handle this."

"Good luck, Gaara-sama!" she nodded to him. Gaara quickly moved the sand platform she was on near the entrance to the shelter. She glanced up one last time as she saw Orochimaru float up to meet Gaara's height, but she was no longer worried. This was Gaara, their Kazekage, their strongest ninja. He knew how to stop the Orange Lanterns. "It's going to be alright," she said to herself and to her brother just before running inside the shelter and the doors shut behind her.

Up above, Gaara and the Orochimaru Orange Lantern measured each other wordlessly in contrast to the cacophony and chaos of the battle around them. "That's the second time you take something from me," Orochimaru said to Gaara, finally breaking the silence. "When you lost the fight during the Konoha invasion, you lost me that village. After today, you and all of this wasteland of a village will be mine."

"You assault my village again, kill my comrades again, steal their forms, and then dare accuse me of this being my fault?" Gaara countered.

"My, my, aren't you the cranky one?" Orochimaru taunted back. "You are outclassed, Kazekage. As an Orange Lantern, I am invincible," he added as he brandished the orange ring.

"I've been warned about you Lanterns already," Gaara said. "That just one of you could stand against a Kage."

"And I brought an entire Corps," Orochimaru interrupted, casting his arms wide out towards the rest of the Orange Lanterns still attacking the village.

"I don't care." Sand began to pour out of the gourd on Gaara's back and orbited around him, ready to answer his command in an instant. "I swear to you, neither you nor any of your monsters will harm anyone else under my protection, ever again."

"Yesssss…" Orochimaru hissed. "Resist, just like your people. In the end, you will see that it's futile. You, and everything that is, in the end, will be MINE!"

Orochimaru lunged at Gaara ring-first. More snakes manifested from the orange ring and rushed to encircle Gaara. Gaara let their heads pass in between his sand clusters, only to then have the sand harden and slam the snakes away. He moved his platform sideways to avoid Orochimaru, then condensed pockets of sand that launched themselves towards the Orange Lantern. The sand passed through harmlessly, except for one bullet that bounced off the orange ring. Gaara narrowed his pupils in observation. Orochimaru aimed the ring again, this time forming a hail of mixed shuriken and kunai. Gaara's sand shield deftly blocked most of the attacks. With interest, he noticed how some projectiles phased right through the outermost shield, only to then crash against his inner armor of sand. Gaara retaliated by sending a wave of his gourd sand towards Orochimaru. Imbued with his chakra, he felt how the sand passed through the Orange Lantern as if were through thin air, except once again touching the solid ring.

"Hmm…" Gaara mused. Orochimaru this time performed a set of hand seals and took a deep breath.

"Futon, Daidai Iro Kouhantoppa!" A massive gust of hurricane-force winds erupted out of Orochimaru's mouth. Gaara's sand shield immediately enveloped him completely in a hastily built spheroid. The force of the blast struck the shield directly, blasting off any imperfections in the construct. Below the two fighters, roofs flew off damaged buildings and knocked several far away ninjas off their feet. Though parts of Gaara's sand defenses broke, he packed denser sand into his protection, which in the end diverted enough of the gusts and held on enough until the winds died out.

"Sabaku Kyu!" From behind Orochimaru, specks of sand twisted through his intangible form and surrounded the orange ring tightly.

"What?!" yelled an enraged Orochimaru. "You dare sully the ring!? How…"

"A ninja uses all the tools at his disposal," Gaara said as the sand shield dissolved around him and his outstretched hand, allowing him to face Orochimaru once again. "Here, in our home, sand is ubiquitous."

"So is light! So is avarice! And mine is infinite!"

"Sabaku Sousuou!" Gaara closed his hand into a tight fist. The sand around the ring crushed in tightly on itself.

"MINE!" Bright orange beams of light emerged from the minuscule cracks in the sand prison around the ring. The shell cracked and strained until the force of the ring's power exploded out and broke Gaara's jutsu. Gaara recoiled slightly from the luminous flare. "You want the ring? Have a closer look!" Orochimaru conjured an orange version of the Kusanagi sword and rushed Gaara directly. Gaara recovered just in time as Orochimaru thrust the blade forward and the sand shield automatically began to cover him.

"Tch…" Gaara scowled. At the last instant he had needed to move his head sideways, a rarity he was not accustomed to. The sword nicked his sand armor and gave him a shallow cut on his shoulder, and only the portions of armor next to it held it firmly in place from digging further into his skin. The blade itself broke through the back of the sand shield, its guard came to a stop on his arm with its hilt connected to the ring and Orochimaru's hand. Yet from what Gaara could feel from his sand shield, the Orange Lantern's hand and arms were phasing right through.

Orochimaru dissolved the constructed sword and flew back from Gaara. As the sand shield dissolved again, Gaara immediately noticed him performing some hand seals.

"I must be quick!" he whispered to himself upon recognizing the seals. He clasped his hands together in another seal just as Orochimaru finished his and took another deep breath.

"Futon, Daidai Iro Ka..." A massive boulder of dense sand struck Orochimaru before the jutsu could complete. The attack sent Orochimaru crashing to a small plaza below with a loud rumble. As Gaara descended and stepped on firm ground, Orochimaru's form phased through the rock, with the ring blasting through an opening through which it escaped. "I'm going to enjoy killing you and making you my eternal slave," Orochimaru hissed.

"You have failed before, and you will fail again," Gaara countered.

"Die!" This time, Orochimaru did not bother with any theatrics. Thrusting his ringed fist forward, he let loose with a blast of pure orange energy. Despite Gaara's quick defense, the beam tore through the sand shield and the sand armor with little effort. The raw power of the Lantern ring tossed a badly burnt Gaara back like a rag doll into the soil. Orochimaru immediately pounced, conjured his Kusanagi sword again, and stabbed Gaara through his stomach.

"Ngh!" Gaara grunted. He conjured what sand he could to hold the blade in place and prevent it from moving further.

"Yes… fight it. I like it when my victims struggle…" Orochimaru drawled. He licked his lips as orange drool began to form in his mouth. "How does it feel, Kazekage? Knowing you're about to die? Knowing you failed your village again?"

"I… I…" a weakened Gaara squirmed. Orochimaru planted his foot on Gaara's chest and drove it deep, forcing Gaara to gasp for air. The Lantern bent down to eye Gaara directly.

"What hurts you the most? Tell me, and I just may kill you quickly," Orochimaru offered.

"Hurts… you…"

"Yes… what did I do?" He pressed both the blade and his foot down deeper, fully expecting to savor more of his pain.

Except now Gaara smiled.

"You woke me up from my nap." Orochimaru turned his head around in time to see another Gaara, dripping sand, stand up from a hole in the ground. The wounded Gaara burst into a wave of sand that swiftly enveloped Orochimaru whole and then crushed itself around the Orange Lantern. To Gaara's mixture of pleasure and distaste, a surprisingly satisfying crunch accompanied the sound of compacting sand. The real Kazekage hopped back in readiness in case Orochimaru had survived the sand clone's attack, but after a few seconds nothing happened. He turned his attention to the sounds of the battle around the village, which while fainter were still present.

"Time to finish this," he said, and packed more sand into a platform. As he took one step onto it, the sand coffin around the Orange Lantern ring shifted, then shook, until it burst open. Orochimaru limped out, battered and mauled, but still very much alive.

"BOY," he hissed. "You actually hurt me. You now have my complete attention." The ring glowed, and Orochimaru reformed himself back to health instantly. He then flew upwards and raised his ringed fist high. At once, the sounds of battle ceased completely. Gaara swiftly jumped on his floating sand platform and flew up to Orochimaru's height, only to see that every Orange Lantern had gathered around them. Some were snakes of various sizes, and the rest were regular humans and ninjas, some of whom he painfully recognized. "I wanted to watch your despair over the loss of your precious village. But now, what I want is for everyone else to suffer watching you die, torn to shreds by my Orange Lanterns, and then for you to kill them all yourself!"

Gaara did not answer. The overwhelming legion around him snarled and hissed hungrily, all awaiting their leader's command to strike. Down below, the many surviving ninjas of the Corps' attack all watched with dread as the entirety of the opposing army concentrated on their Kazekage.

"Gaara…" Temari muttered through grit teeth at the top of the cliffs.

"Brother…" Kankuro said at the top of a far-off roof.

"Gaara-sama!" Matsuri said, rushing through the streets to close in on the battle.

"You can do this, Gaara-sama…" Aishi prayed as she watched through a small window in her shelter.

Gaara steeled himself and prepared his move. He reached out with his senses and his chakra far beyond the village. He hoped Orochimaru and his Orange Lanterns would give him the chance to finish his preparation.

"Oh? One last desperate action?" Orochimaru noted humorously. "Fool. You can't harm us if we see the attack coming." Gaara ignored the taunt and continued preparing his attack. He brought his hands together once he had collected enough chakra.

"Ryusa Bakuryu!" Far behind him and outside the village walls, a sea of sand rose from the desert and roared into the skies above the village. The tidal wave of earth and dirt covered the sun and darkened the view as far as the eye could see. Orochimaru and his Lanterns watched with curiosity as Gaara thrust his arms forward and the sand roared towards the orange army. The tsunami tore through every Lantern and through Orochimaru, only parting ways to spare Gaara of its wrath. For a full two minutes the jutsu rushed through the battlefield, taxing Gaara's control to its limits. Once the wave passed, he knelt on his floating platform.

To the shock of the people watching below, the Orange Lantern army was completely unfazed.

"Was that all the mighty Kazekage could do?" Orochimaru taunted. Gaara could not answer. He took deep restful breaths even as he kept his arms outstretched. The waves of sand collapsed back to the desert outside the village.

"No! Gaara!" Temari yelled. She, Kankuro and Matsuri raced closer to the battle site.

"Lanterns. Finish this. Make him one of us," Orochimaru commanded.

"One of us! One of us!" the humanoid Lanterns chanted. All at once, the entire Orange Lantern Corps descended upon the prone Kazekage. Gaara took a final breath and closed his eyes.

"KAZEKAGE-SAMA!" he heard a chorus of ninja voices yell out.

He felt the first Orange Lantern barely touch him with its finger.

Explosions echoed all around, as spheres of sand violently expanded from inside every last Orange Lantern, tearing them all apart from the inside out. "WHAT?!" Orochimaru gaped as his whole army evaporated into nothingness. He looked down at inside himself and found another spiked sphere of sand protruding out of his body. Gaara stood back up and crossed his arms into his usual battle stance, while far below the villagers swelled with relief and hope.

"He did it!"

"He saved us!"

"Gaara-sama, you're awesome!" were some of the cries.

"You… you tricked me?!" Orochimaru growled as he floated away from the sand that used to be inside him.

"I knew you and your army would not be harmed by the jutsu directly," Gaara answered. "So I left ultra-compacted sand inside of each of you, so that the instant your ghosts became solid I could finish them all in one attack." Gaara approached Orochimaru once more and collected more sand around him. "You have lost, Orochimaru. Surrender."

"Me? Surrender?" Orochimaru's rage gave way to a mad grin. "You are weakening," he said, pointing at the drops of sweat forming on Gaara's brow, "while I still have more than enough power to kill you by myself."

"I promised you, I would not let you harm anyone else ever again," Gaara retorted. "No matter how much you come at me, I will persist, and I will stop you."

"You sorely underestimate the power of a true Lantern, boy!" The leader of the Orange Corps snapped his fingers. To Gaara and the Suna-nin's horror, every Orange Lantern that Gaara had just destroyed popped back into existence. Gaara immediately attempted to mold more chakra, but his reserves were low enough that he could not do so as quickly.

"I won't give…" A mass of Orange Lantern serpents tore through his floating sand platform and phased through his automatic sand shield. Once fully inside, Gaara felt the snakes bite through his armor and into his skin, sending waves of Lantern energy through his body that stopped his ability to mold more chakra. Another set of Lanterns ripped off his shield piece by piece, while the ongoing energy surge from the snake constructs caused his sand armor to collapse and rain down to the ground below. Orochimaru floated close to his defenseless form.

"And now, we finish this game. The predator has conquered his prey." Orochimaru took Gaara by his chin and grinned. "Finally, dear Gaara, you will be mine." There was nothing Gaara could do.

"It… can't end… like this…" Gaara whispered in disbelief. The Lanterns around him hissed.

Orochimaru opened his maws wide and prepared to devour Gaara whole.

"Midori Rasengan!" A swirling sphere of green energy slammed into Orochimaru, sending him crashing down to an abandoned building below that collapsed around him. At the same time, thick daggers of violet light impaled every Orange Lantern and tore them in two. The constructs around Gaara dissolved, but before he could fall he felt a strange, warm yet gentle shell of green and violet light surround him and keep him afloat. "Are you alright, Gaara?" Gaara looked to his side, and found a very familiar friend dressed in a familiar yet green-tinted uniform.

"Naruto?" Gaara instantly recognized his friend, then took note of his companion, who was dressed in a more unfamiliar violet-hued skin-tight uniform. He did not know her, but he did take note her eyes. "And, you're of the Hyuuga clan?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama," Hinata answered him.

"Looks like we made it just in time," Naruto said, the relief clear in his voice. "Those things, they were Orange Lanterns?"

"They are," Gaara confirmed.

"They brought the whole Corps this time," Naruto cursed.

"I don't believe so," Gaara corrected. "Orochimaru is the only one with a ring like yours," he said as he pointed to Naruto's own green ring. "The rest… He collects them. Any being he kills becomes a separate entity able to act on its own, but slightly weaker. He can summon them at will."

As if on cue, the Orange Lanterns reappeared around them, followed by Orochimaru ascending to where the three ninjas hovered. "The Kyuubi brat… Green Lantern… I've also wanted to meet you," Orochimaru said. "And you were nice enough to bring me the Star Sapphire ring as well."

"Orochimaru," Naruto growled. While Hinata kept her ring focused on Gaara, Naruto aimed his at Orochimaru.

"Be careful," Gaara warned the two. "He and his constructs can become intangible at will. You can only harm them the moment they're about to attack you. Only the ring is always solid."

"Thanks," Naruto told him. "We'll take it from here." Hinata understood Naruto's unsaid request and escorted Gaara down to where his siblings were waiting.

"Gaara, are you alright?" Temari asked as she and Kankuro helped Gaara down.

"I will recover, yes," Gaara told her. "Thank you, for coming to our aid," he then told Hinata.

"Leave this to us, Kazekage-sama," Hinata said, then flew back up to join Naruto.

"You're gonna pay for what you did here, Orochimaru!" Naruto threatened the enemy Lantern. "Then I'm gonna make you take me to Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-kun is mine already, and always will be," Orochimaru said back. "Though I have to say, you may not like what he's become…" he suggested with a coy grin. Naruto shot a beam from his ring that passed right through Orochimaru, only making a slight ripple in his energy form.

"Bastard! What have you done to him?" Naruto said.

"Me? That's the best part! I didn't do anything! He is truly a marvelous sight to behold now. I might just keep him as he is now instead of turning him into an Orange Lantern."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're going down!"

"A Kage couldn't defeat us," Orochimaru said, and the Orange Lanterns either hissed or growled in agreement. "Do you truly think you will do better?"

"We are ninjas and Lanterns," Hinata said defiantly. "We will stop you."

"Try, and fail," Orochimaru said. "Then I will make you my eternal thralls, and take your rings as well. I want them all, and I will have them all!"

Four Orange Lanterns rushed Naruto and Hinata, who each shot back with their rings. Naruto's attack did little, yet Hinata's own distorted her two. The moment Naruto's opponents closed in, he somersaulted in the air, aimed again, and constructed a massive kunai that cleaved the two apparitions in half. On her part, Hinata stood her ground. "Byakugan!" At the last moment, she sidestepped the attacking Lanterns and tapped them with her palms. The combination of chakra and Sapphire energy found its mark and shattered the two constructs.

"Clever toys," Orochimaru mused. "You'll make good items in my collection." Next, eight Lanterns rushed forward.

"Naruto-kun, use chakra and ring energy together," Hinata said.

"Easier said than done," he said as he avoided more Orange Lanterns and counterattacked unsuccessfully. "Midori Rasengan takes a decent chunk of ring power," he added as he ducked another Lantern and this time was able to kick it back. Two more Lanterns rushed him. He twisted around and was able to slam the first one with an impromptu fly swatter, but the second phased through the attack. Just as he was almost hit, Hinata intercepted it.

"Juken!" The Gentle Fist style attack ripped through the orange construct and dispersed it. "Naruto-kun, I will keep the Orange Lantern Corps at bay. You go and defeat Orochimaru."

"You sure?" he asked. "There's a lot of them."

"I will hold on," she answered. "I must."

"I'm counting on you!" Naruto surrounded himself in a spiked chain ball and rushed through the Orange Lanterns straight at Orochimaru.

"Wasting energy?" Orochimaru quipped as Naruto passed through hordes of intangible Orange Lanterns. "My Lanterns won't fall to such dumb tricks!"

"Who said I was aiming at them?" Naruto closed the distance to Orochimaru and dove through him. While Orochimaru himself was unharmed, the size of Naruto's spiked force field allowed it to strike the orange ring. Green and orange sparks flared as the emerald construct dug into its apricot target.

"LEAVE IT ALONE!" Orochimaru roared. He pulled the ring back but left serpent constructs to eat through Naruto's spiked ball. Naruto stopped and turned toward his opponent just as he broke open his shell and made the pieces wrap around the orange snakes to crush them. He thrust his own ring towards Orochimaru and summoned a massive bull that charged the Sannin.

"Sanju Rashomon!" Orochimaru conjured three immense gates that met the green bull's attack. The first gate collapsed from the force, but the bull crashed against the second gate and stopped after leaving a great dent. Naruto countered swiftly, dissolving the bull into two dogs that went around the gates and advanced towards Orochimaru. The latter reacted immediately, conjuring a massive python that swallowed the canines.

"Tch!" Naruto cursed when he felt his constructs vanish. Suddenly the two remaining Rashomon gates burst open, and an orange bull identical to Naruto's previous attack crashed onto the Green Lantern. The strike knocked Naruto's wind out of him, and the bull continued to charge until the blonde finally constructed a drill that tore through the orange construct. "What's with you? You stole my idea!"

"Taking what I want is what I do best, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said. "I liked your construct, so I took it. Just as I will soon take your ring, and your life." With that, Orochimaru rushed at Naruto once again.

"Juken!" Some distance away, Hinata countered again and again, striking each Orange Lantern that got too close. The legion of stolen identities continued to mindlessly rush the Star Sapphire, only to meet their end when her strikes of precisely calibrated energy rendered their phasing abilities useless. Construct after construct met their end against her attacks. A group of nine ghosts rushed her back. Hinata swung her left arm back and swiped them all in a single motion, destroying them.

"Naruto-kun is counting on me," she said as she struck another orange construct. "I won't give up!" All of a sudden, every remaining Orange Lantern rushed her at once. Instinctively, she conjured a crystal shield wrapped as close around her as she could. The Lanterns clawed and bit viciously at her shield. She created more crystals to cover any gaps as she could, but the constructs were slowly taking their toll.

"What should I do? What should I do?" she repeated to herself. "What would Naruto-kun do? What would Kiba-kun or Shino-kun do?" Her mind raced to find a solution. She continued to replenish her shield as best she could as she rushed through her lessons of the past. "Neji-niisan, what would you do?"

An image formed in her mind of his spiral defense. "Such an advanced technique… I'm not… I can't…"

"Live… for your love," she heard in her mind. Hinata recognized the presence of the love entity bonded to her soul, and in that moment, she sensed their joined thoughts of her increased abilities during their fight with Naruto.

"You're right," she said. "I can do this. For Naruto-kun!" Her ring and her crystal form glowed brighter just as the Orange Lanterns carved through it.

"Love conquers all! Murasaki Kaiten!" Hinata spun around as fast as she could while pouring chakra out of her whole body. The chakra melded with the ring's energy, and both erupted together into a spinning sphere of chakra and violet light that decimated tore through entire Orange Lantern Corps. Ghost after ghost popped out of existence as the improvised jutsu expanded out all around the Star Sapphire, until all of Orochimaru's thralls disintegrated into nothingness. Hinata ceased her attack and panted as sweat dripped down her cheeks.

"I… I did it," she said. "Naruto-kun, wait for me." She flew straight towards the clashing rays of green and orange light.

"You can't win, Kyuubi brat!" Orochimaru taunted Naruto as he released another massive wind jutsu towards the Genin. Naruto defended the attack by funneling the wind though a hastily built conical shield that partly dispersed the winds, though some of it cut into his clothes and skin. "Did you really think you could defeat a Sannin by yourself, let alone one with a Lantern ring?" Naruto dismissed his construct and eyed Orochimaru warily. When he saw behind the other Lantern, he smiled.

"That's just the thing," he said. "I'm not alone."

"What?"

"Juken!" Hinata slammed her open palm past Orochimaru and onto the orange ring. Orochimaru flickered in and out of existence for an instant, letting Hinata fly past him and regroup with Naruto.

"You dare!" Orochimaru hissed when his form stabilized.

"If you harm Naruto-kun, I won't forgive you!" Hinata threatened.

"My Orange Lanterns," Orochimaru growled. "Impossible! You defeated them all?"

"That's why you will always lose, Orochimaru," Naruto told him. "Unlike you, I believe in my friends, and they believe in me! That's how I know I'll save Sasuke from you! And that's why we'll beat you!"

"I haven't lost yet!" Orochimaru snapped his fingers again, and all the Orange Lanterns materialized once more behind him. "My army is eternal! No matter how much you fight, they will never stop until you are dead!" The Sannin flew back while the Orange Lanterns advanced.

"Coward! Get back here and fight!" Naruto yelled out.

"Naruto-kun, ready yourself!"

A cadre of Orange Lanterns rushed at Naruto and Hinata. Naruto flew up, while Hinata dove down. They then quickly turned and fired off their rings towards their attackers, Naruto creating a massive frog and Hinata a bed of crystal spikes. The Orange Lanterns phased through the frog and into its belly, but when the violet needles pierced through Naruto's construct they managed to harm and destroy the Orange Lanterns as well.

"Did you see that?" Naruto exclaimed. "If we combine our powers, they can't take it!"

"Yes!" Hinata agreed. "If we work together, we can win!" The two Lanterns regrouped below the mass of orange constructs. Combining their rings' energies, they formed a large, interlinked spiked net and cast it wide through the amassed Orange Lanterns.

"No…" Orochimaru mouthed from the side of the cliffs as he saw his army vaporized once again. Soon after, green and violet streaks of light raced to his location. "You will not steal victory from me. Not while my army can return from beyond death again and again!" The Orange Lantern Corps once again materialized and charged at Naruto and Hinata. When the two formed their next creations, a swarm of dual-colored hawks, Orochimaru placed his hands on the rocks near him. "I will devour your hopes and dreams and make you mine! Doton, Urahara Sando no jutsu!" A thin yet dense column of rock erupted from beneath the ground Naruto and Hinata were flying under, and upon reaching them it split into two walls that pushed the two away from each other. While the two regrouped, the Orange Lantern army divided itself to attack them separately.

"You won't get us that easy!" Naruto yelled. "Hinata!"

"I'm still here!" she replied. Despite their distance, the two shot beams from their rings at each other. When the lasers met, they created a gigantic green-violet whale that opened its jaws wide and swallowed both the Orange Lantern Corps and themselves. The whale then disappeared, leaving only Naruto and Hinata intact. The two regrouped once again, yet this time somewhat their flight as somewhat sluggish.

"So this is the power of the Lanterns…" Gaara said. Far below the aerial battlefield, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Matsuri, and some more guard ninjas coalesced in a central plaza to observe the fight. Across the village, the rest of Sunagakure's army watched the Lanterns battle back and fourth, their hopes ebbing and flowing each time the Orange Lanterns were destroyed and came back.

"Such power… this is beyond the world of Shinobi," Matsuri marveled.

"There's no way we'd have stood a chance against Orochimaru if those two hadn't arrived," Kankuro stated.

"But they can't keep this up much longer," Gaara said. "Orochimaru… he can resummon his army at anytime. Naruto and his Hyuuga clan companion are beginning to tire. It's only a matter of time until they falter."

"Then we should help them!" Temari said, unseating her fan.

"I plan to," Gaara said. Above the group, a tiny floating eye came down towards him. He held out his palm and collected his returned Eye of Sand technique. "I've been observing the battle closely. That is not Orochimaru as we know him. The only real presence is that thing's ring. It is the source of his power, but also his weakness. If it can be disabled, Orochimaru and his beasts will be gone."

"What do you want us to do, Kazekage-sama?" Matsuri immediately asked.

"None of you can stand against such power," Gaara shook his head. "But I have a plan."

"Gaara, are you sure?" Kankuro asked him. "You still haven't recovered from the fight. If you're still somewhat weakened after that whole Akatsuki attack…"

"My normal attacks won't work on him, true" Gaara agreed. "But I have just enough strength and chakra left for one more technique."

"Gaara! You don't mean…" Temari asked.

"Get ready, everyone," he told the group. "If I fail, evacuate the village immediately."

"You won't fail, Kazekage-sama," one Chuunin encouraged him. Others swiftly followed his example and cheered him. "You can do this!"

"You're the strongest ninja of the Sand!"

"The pride of Sunagakure goes with you, Kazekage-sama!"

Gaara looked at everyone around him, and allowed himself a moment to feel their belief and trust in him. The thought once again creeped up on him how barely three years ago none of them would show this amount of exuberance towards him, only their fear and disdain. With one appreciative nod, Gaara summoned a small platform and floated up towards the battlefield.

Naruto and Hinata breathed heavily after repelling yet another assault from the Orange Lanterns. Orochimaru floated completely still a few meters away.

"He's gotta be running low after all this," Naruto panted. "Ring, power check!"

"Power levels 17%," the green ring reported.

"That's good to know," Orochimaru grinned. "I want to try that too. Ring, power check!"

"Power levels 5831%," the orange ring reported.

"What?" Naruto and Hinata both gawked.

"Now you see why your cause is hopeless?" Orochimaru said with a sinister sneer as he once again summoned the Orange Lantern Corps. "No matter how much you try, you failure is ensured. Submit to me, and join my corps!" Naruto and Hinata steeled themselves once more as the Orange Lanterns attacked again.

Before the Green and Sapphire Lanterns could react, the Orange Lanterns froze in place. They, along with Orochimaru himself, began to warp and twist, their forms ravaged suddenly with what appeared to be electronic static.

"What is this!?" Orochimaru raged. He glanced at his ring and found it covered in grey, metallic sand. "The sand brat?! HOW?!"

"Jiton, Satetsu Kesshu!" Naruto and Hinata glanced below them to find a quickly approaching Gaara with both his hands out and gritting his teeth.

"Kazekage-sama! Are you alright?"

"Gaara! What's that jutsu?"

"Magnet Release," Gaara quickly answered just as he reached the two Lanterns. "It is a secret technique that few outside of the Kazekages are able to use."

"Warning. Magnetic energy interfering with constructs. Compensating," the orange ring diagnosed.

"I'll… kill you… all!" Orochimaru's garbled, electric-sounding voice echoed. The Orange Lanterns began to fade completely but their leader started to regain his form.

"You must hurry!" Gaara implored his allies. The strain of holding the jutsu on the ring made him kneel on one leg for support. "I can't hold him much longer!"

"We're on it!" Naruto swiftly made his most common hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" A clone of Naruto appeared and placed his hands on top of the real one's open right hand. "Hinata, can you…" He did not need to ask. Hinata immediately rushed the Orange Lantern leader, one arm forward and one back.

"Th… that stance!" Orochimaru said as he struggled to move against the iron sand.

"Juken-ho. Murasaki Hakke, Rokujuyon Sho!" Spurred by the opening Gaara had given them, Hinata let loose with her strongest attack. She formed two small violet daggers of energy and scalpel-precision chakra and thrust them into Orochimaru's already twisted form. "Hakke ni sho!"

"Agh!" For the first time since the battle began, Orochimaru grunted in pain.

This only emboldened Hinata, who struck him four more times, "Yon sho!" then eight more, "Hachi sho!"

"Hang in there, Hinata! Just a few more seconds!" Naruto encouraged her while he and his clone formed a spinning green sphere on his palm.

"Juroku sho!" Hinata yelled as her sixteenth strike hit. "Naruto-kun is counting on me. I won't let him down!" But as she continued towards the thirty-second strike, doubt crept on her mind and disrupted her concentration. "This technique, this is as far as I've taken it. I don't know if I…" "Sanjuni sho!" The final hit landed, and for an instant she faltered.

"YOU!" Orochimaru yelled.

"HINATA! LET'S FINISH THIS!" Naruto called out. His clone disappeared, his work complete as Naruto flew straight towards Orochimaru.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata thought. Her heart jumped and gave her renewed strength, just as her mind recalled Sakura's words to her.

"Mastering the violet light," she'd said. "Let your love for him shine brighter than the brightest star." Hinata's ring emitted a radiant brilliance, and at once she regained her footing. She struck Orochimaru again, and again, and again. Naruto closed in behind her.

"Gyah!" Orochimaru grunted once more as the assault continued. The Orange Lanterns all disappeared when the attack proved too much for the ring. His face twisted in horror as Naruto approached as well.

"End it now!" Gaara said.

"Error. Error," the orange ring intoned. Hinata spun around and saw Naruto right next to her, his arm reared back and moving forwards with his final attack just as she readied hers.

"Midori…"

"Rokuju…"

"RASENGAN!" "YON SHO!"

Naruto's attack landed just at the moment Hinata struck with her final hit. The torrent of mixed chakra plus the lights of willpower and love wreaked havoc with the orange ring's power, warping and ripping through Orochimaru. "AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" he screamed with an agonizing howl with mixed static. Orochimaru's construct body ultimately shattered, and the orange ring, still surrounded by Gaara's Iron Sand, fell harmlessly down and clattered on a damaged rooftop. Soon after, both remaining Lanterns projected a dual force field around Gaara's own power ring prison, which soon dissolved into an inert puddle of sand at the bottom of the shield construct.

"They did it!" the ninjas below yelled in jubilation.

"Gaara-sama saved us!" others added.

"Aren't you mister popular now, Gaara," Naruto joked at the Kazekage.

"None of us would be alive without your help," Gaara countered. "Once again, Sunagakure is in your debt, Naruto." The Kazekage then faced Hinata. "And you as well, you of the Hyuuga clan."

"We were happy to help, Kazekage-sama," Hinata courteously answered.

"So now, what do we do with the orange ring?" Naruto asked. "Hinata and I can't hold it forever, but we can't just let it run loose and pick another egomaniac to copy."

"Our science division may fashion some proper containment for it," Gaara offered. "Hopefully they were not so damaged in Orochimaru's attack."

"We will assist however we…"

"Compensation complete," the orange ring's voice interrupted Hinata. "Restarting."

"Warning. Emotional detonation imminent," both the green and violet rings cautioned.

"What the…" before Naruto could finish, he and Hinata's shield around the orange ring shattered in a violent orange explosion of brilliant light. The three covered their eyes protectively, when both Lanterns felt focused beams of orange energy strike their chests and send them flying far back. Gaara opened his eyes just in time to see Orochimaru reformed and lunge at him.

"You die first!" he said. Before Gaara could react, Orochimaru summoned his Kusanagi sword and thrust. The blade of orange energy pierced through both of Gaara's sand defenses and slid through his abdomen with ease.

"Ghuagh!" Gaara coughed thick blood that splashed the orange sword and the restored Orange Lantern. Orochimaru licked it off with his abnormal tongue and drank it disgustingly.

"You will never steal from me ever again," he sneered at his wounded victim. "Watch as your people's last hopes fade, then join me in making them all mine!" Orochimaru pulled back the blade out of Gaara, whose wound now bled profusely, then kicked him on the chest with enough power to knock him down the building.

"GAAAARAAA!" Naruto yelled in despair, having recovered just in time to watch the horrible sight. He dove after the wounded Kazekage, only to stop when Orochimaru summoned the Orange Lantern Corps once again in front of him.

"And as for you two," Orochimaru hissed, "you've made me very angry! When I kill you, I will take your identities, and kill them again and again for eternity!" Naruto and Hinata could do little except watch helplessly as Gaara landed hard on the ground close to his ninja companions.

"Gaara! No!" Kankuro was the first to arrive, followed closely by his sister. The two of them held Gaara's head up just as four medical ninjas gathered their chakra and poured it onto their dying leader.

"This is bad," one of them said. "I don't know if…"

"Don't tell us what you can't do," Temari shot back at him. "This is the Kazekage. We are NOT losing him again!"

"I…" Gaara mumbled through the numbing pain and the pool of blood gathering in his throat. "I'm… sorry. For… everything."

"Don't talk like that, Kazekage-sama," Matsuri told him. "You'll make it. You have to!" Gaara grunted and blinked hard. It took him everything to reopen his eyes.

"Hey, hey, stay with us, brother!" Kankuro warned him with a gentle slap to his cheek.

"Temari… you… new…" he mumbled again.

"Don't you dare!" Temari told him.

"I…" Gaara could speak no more, and he succumbed to the rapidly growing blackness that enveloped him.

"No! Gaara!" Matsuri yelled.

"Gaara! Gaara! Gaara!" a mixture of voices echoed distantly in his ear. His breathing grew more erratic. His thoughts grew weary, something he recognized from before. "Gaara! Gaara…" he heard even more distantly. Knowing what awaited him in a few seconds, Gaara exhaled for what he felt would be his last time.

"Gaara…" he heard in his mind, this time more clearly than just before. "Gaara," he heard again, this time very close. Even with his eyes shut, he saw a dim point of light emerge among the blackness that surrounded him.

"Who…" he barely said.

"Gaara of the planet Earth," the voice said once again, this time very clear, and almost encouraging in its tone. This experience he did not recall from when he died before. "What do you hope for?"

"Wha…?"

"Gaara of the planet Earth. What do you hope for?" the voice repeated.

In between ragged breaths, Gaara mumbled his answer: "I hope… for forgiveness… for my past…" If death was to claim him at last, at least he would go in peace.

The voice once again echoed in his mind: "Elaborate."

"So much…" Gaara stammered. "Death. The people… I killed. Butchered. And I… I enjoyed… their screams… their faces… the life draining out of them…" He coughed a few more times, and even amongst the nothingness around him he felt the drops of blood stain his clothes. The feeling of his own life once again an instant from fading away did not escape him.

"Your people have already forgiven you,"the gentle voice answered."Your former enemies forgive you. Your Green Lantern ally forgives you. Whom do you seek forgiveness from?"

With a tear escaping his eyes, the weakened Kazekage answered: "Myself."

"Sincerity registered." In that moment, the dim light shone on his abdomen and on his wound. Gaara felt his flesh join together once again, and when the blood on his throat vanished he drew a loud, strong gasp."Gaara of the planet Earth. You have the ability to instill great hope." With these last words, the azure light moved to Gaara's right hand, and he felt warm metal slide itself onto his ring finger. The blackness retreated, and in that moment he found himself staring as if into a blue-hued mirror. In the vision, he saw himself, now an adult, and a younger boy next to him.

"We'll meet again soon, father," the child said.

"My… son?" The image brew brighter, and the boy smiled at him one more time until Gaara was enveloped in joyful radiance. "The light… this gift… thank you." he said, a faint smile now creeping on his relieved profile upon feeling his strength and spirit renewed. On that moment, he knew what the light really was, and his belief was confirmed when he saw the blue ring now adorning his hand.

"Welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps."

Above the villagers, Naruto and Hinata continued to struggle against Orochimaru, who continued to attack together with his corps undeterred from before. The battle had taken them higher and farther from where it had resumed. The sky was now filled with Orange Lanterns, all focused on Naruto and Hinata.

"We can't keep this up much longer," Hinata warned Naruto.

"We have to! We just have to!" Naruto persisted. "We can't let Gaara…"

"Gaara's sacrifice was in vain!" Orochimaru taunted the two. "I will let him have the honor of killing you if it makes you feel better!" The Orange Lanterns finally managed to overwhelm Naruto, with five of them holding on to his head, arms and legs. "Speaking of which, he should be here very soon."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata rushed to help him but was held back by more Orange Lanterns.

"AGH!" Naruto strained as the five Orange Lanterns pulled hard. He felt his muscles and bones beginning to strain.

Five spears of azure-hued sand pierced the five creatures holding Naruto, who were ripped asunder and disappeared.

"What!?" Orochimaru once again hissed. Naruto regained his composure and Hinata managed to reach him.

"Power levels 167%," the green ring suddenly said. Naruto felt an enormous surge of power come from it.

"My ring," Naruto said. "What's going on?"

"Naruto-kun, look!" she said, pointing to where Gaara had fallen before. Rising from the ruins, a brilliant flash of pleasantly warm azure light rose from the village and into the sky, then moved forward to join the battlefield. As the light closed in, Naruto and Hinata made out a black and blue uniform inside the sphere of light. "Is that… the Blue Lantern? He found us?"

"No, look!" Naruto said. Once the new Lantern was close enough to see his face, Naruto beamed with joy and relief at recognizing his friend, and the new ring that adorned his right ring finger. "It's Gaara! He's alive! Gaara… the blue ring has chosen him!" he exclaimed with a sudden jubilation that burst from him.

"Gaara-sama!" Hinata also marveled.

Gaara stopped just shy of the perimeter of Orange Lanterns. He wore a white sash holding his customary sand gourd, which now poured copious amounts of sand illuminated with blue light. His Lantern sigil was almost the opposite of Itachi's, its arms jutting from its upper area and circling down. Just the sight of Naruto's friend, dressed in a black and blue uniform somewhat similar to his own and glowing in a brilliant azure light, was enough for them to know without a shadow of a doubt. "We got this!" Naruto declared.

"I GOT THIS!" Orochimaru yelled back. "I GOT EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING IS MINE! AND I WANT THAT BLUE RING!" At once, every orange construct raced towards Gaara, ready to divest him of his newfound power. Naruto and Hinata raced to help, but the newest Lantern was unfazed.

"Despair no longer," Gaara said, both to his new Lantern comrades and to the whole of the Sand. He moved his right arm to his left shoulder. "All will be well."

Swiftly, Gaara swiped his arm in an arc from left to right. Waves of cascading blue light swept the skies of Sunagakure, putting out the fires, healing the gravest injuries of the wounded, and evaporating the entire army of orange constructs. Orochimaru himself found his figure similarly distorted, and was only able to maintain his shape due to controlling the orange ring.

"I will not be defeated!" he declared and snapped his fingers. But this time, the Orange Lantern Corps failed to heed his call. "Impossible!"

"Warning: power corrupted. Drain in progress. 517%. 85%."

"No. No! How?"

"Hope is the most powerful of all the lights," Gaara explained. "Your evil filth cannot bear to stand in its presence. You will harm my people, and my friends, no longer." Orochimaru found himself covered in shadows. He looked up to see a mass of blue sand hover over him, then promptly envelop him entirely. He tried to phase through, but the moment he touched the blue wall trapping him he recoiled in pain. "My hope, and the hopes of all of Suna, stand against your avarice, Orochimaru. And our hopes will endure beyond even your petty desires!" The walls closed in around Orochimaru. He blasted at it with orange energy, but it simply fizzled out.

"No! Stop! Leave me alone!" he yelled to no avail as the walls crushed in around him. Naruto and Hinata heard his fearful yells die out into muffled wails, and watched in awe as Gaara singlehandedly and effortlessly contained their enemy that just moments before had nearly defeated them all. Expanding his arms out, the new Blue Lantern felt his power surge, his recharged chakra melding with the invigorating light of hope, and his lips voiced the words that instinctively rose from the depths of the ring and his own heart.

"In fearful day,
in raging night,
with strong heart full my soul ignites!
When all seems lost in the War of Light,
look to the sands,
FOR HOPE BURNS BRIGHT!"

Gaara clasped his hands together tightly, and the modified Desert Coffin jutsu finally overcame the last of the Orange Lantern's energy. The sphere of blue sand collapsed in on itself, crushing the solid body of Orochimaru and dissipating his form into nothingness.

"And just like that, he's gone?" Naruto gawked.

"Orochimaru is now truly gone," Gaara comforted Naruto. "My sand, imbued with the power of the Blue Lantern, will hold him at bay for good."

"Gaara-sama," Hinata marveled, "your power is truly magnificent!"

Gaara floated towards his now fellow Lanterns and told them: "My friends, I could not have done this without you. This victory is your as well, and on behalf of Sunagakure, you have our eternal gratitude."

"No sweat! All in a day's work!" Naruto grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

Gaara held up his hands to chest height and examined his new clothing and the blue ring. "I can't say I fully understand everything that I've just done," he told the other two Lanterns. "This power… to feel the hopes and dreams of those around you, and be able to channel that, it is beyond description."

"Welcome to the club," Naruto clapped Gaara's back. "And speaking of hopes and dreams, looks like you've got a huge fanbase." The three Lanterns looked down and found the villagers out en masse, cheering Gaara's name in joy, relief, and excitement.

"Please join me," he told the two Konoha ninjas. "You too deserve their happiness." The three Lanterns descended to the main plaza, where an overjoyed crowd granted them enough space to land. The moment their feet touched the ground the crowd approached, starting with Gaara's siblings.

"Gaara! You're alright!" Kankuro gripped his shoulders rather uncharacteristically.

"Yes, I'm fine," Gaara nodded at his older brother. The rest of the ninjas, along with many villagers that were now starting to spill out of the shelters, continued to pour into the plaza to celebrate their saviors. They all in their own words echoed words of marvel, exultation, appreciation, and even adulation towards the Kazekage, with some occasional inclusion of the other two Lanterns. One particular girl caught Gaara's attention the most.

"Gaara-sama!" Aishi called out from among the growing crowd.

"That girl?" he mused. Next to him, Naruto seemed to anticipate his thoughts, and he used his ring to float Aishi up to in front of Gaara.

"Gaara-sama! You were awesome!" she told him. She still held her little baby brother in her arms. "Thank you for saving me and Shinki!"

"As Kazekage, I was simply doing my du…" the moment his eyesight shifted slightly towards the baby, he felt a tingle from the blue ring. The vision from when he received it replayed in his mind again.

"Gaara-sama?" Aishi asked.

Gaara blinked once and refocused. He smiled gently at Aishi. "It's alright. Thank you for believing in me. Please take care of yourself and your brother, and become great Suna ninja."

"We will!" she told him. Gaara saw the rest of the villagers continued to cheer for him.

Behind him, Hinata glanced at Naruto and saw his smile at his friend. But that was the smile she used to see in him when there was something else bothering him, something he wanted to hide. She leaned towards him and whispered: "Naruto-kun, are you alright?"

Naruto leaned in and replied: "Maybe just a tiny bit jealous, but he is the Kazekage after all. And he did save all of us in the end." He smiled at Hinata. "I'll be alright. I'll just keep hoping and working to being Hokage."

"For what it may be worth, you did very good, Naruto-kun," Hinata tried cheering him.

"Thanks!" he said. "And hey, so did you! You were awesome out there! We make a great team, you and I." Hinata smiled at his thumbs up but quickly turned her head away from him. She did not want him to see her beet red blush. In front of them, Gaara suddenly floated up a few meters so everyone could see him.

"We just survived yet another attack on our village, thanks in large part to these two brave heroes," Gaara said gesturing to Naruto and Hinata, who both floated up to a height slightly lower than him. "We are hurt, and some of us have been lost. But we are the Village of the Hidden Sand, and our pride has no equal. We will mourn, we will rebuild, and we will grow stronger. All will be well." The gathered villagers roared in proud approval at their Kazekage, now the newest bearer of the blue light of hope.

Even after the attack, the job had only begun. Gaara, along with Naruto and Hinata, quickly did their best to repair as much of the damage as they could before nightfall. Gaara's newfound abilities proved profoundly helpful with the wounded. He found the blue light was able to heal even the greatest of injuries, from as little as cuts and scrapes to even losses of limbs. The people he healed talked about visions of lost loved ones encouraging them to go on, or of insightful visions that bristled with hope. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata shuttled relief supplies, food, water, and medicine to all corners of the village. All three were met with deep gratitude and awe, but none more so than Gaara.

Before the end of the day, Gaara felt compelled to pass by the morgue. The thought that some of the dead had been corrupted by Orochimaru's orange light troubled him deeply. One by one, he went through the hundred or so dead, and offered what felt like some sort of prayer the ring gently compelled him to speak: "Ikoma Kane, proud Chuunin of Sunagakure. I condemn the desecration of your spirit, but I condone the elevation of your spirit and hope you embrace the light as it embraces you. Your subordinate, Aishi, is as brave a Suna-nin as I have encountered. She mourns your passing but honors your memory as well, as do your comrades. You knew the path of the ninja is dangerous, and yet you readily sacrificed your life to protect those you cared about. There is no higher calling. You will see them again, someday. All will be well."

By the time he finished, it was very late. Naruto and Hinata worked late as well with rebuilding enough to allow everyone to have a comfortable place to rest for the night. Gaara offered them the guest rooms normally available to VIP diplomats, and while Hinata was almost apologetic at accepting his offer, Naruto did not seem to mind at all. When it was his turn to retire, he fast-tracked his normal nightly routine and promptly went to bed. He only had the chance to glance at his new ring once before he passed out from the day's exhaustion.

"Gaara?"

The rain's kiss on his cheeks slowly dissipated at the sound of the wind calling his name. Gaara opened his eyes and took in the sight of the wide verdant valley he was in. The air gently washed among the tall grass surrounded him, the smell coated with the scents of abundant life. He closed his eyes again.

"Gaara?"

At hearing his name again, Gaara glanced around, except now, for the third night in a row, he was alone in an infinity of white. Despite knowing this was a dream, this time he knew he was fully and consciously aware of what was happening. He looked to his side, then behind, and in front again. Where there was nothing at first, he now made out a figure in the distance.

"Who's there?" he called out. The blurry form approached him. "Show yourself." He recognized the short, dwarfish humanoid shape clothed in white robes from the night before. When the figure finally arrived in front of him, he noted with interest that her skin was the same blue color as the blue sigil on her chest, the same sigil his ring bore.

"Gaara," the figure said with a clearly feminine voice. "Your name, it is Gaara, correct?"

"Yes," he answered. "I've seen you before, in my dreams. Who are you?" he asked her. "And your sigil… do you know of the Blue Lanterns?"

The short woman, who bore no ring of her own but had the same aura as him and was floating of her own power, nodded in assent. "My name is Sayd," she introduced herself. "I was one of the founders of both the Green and Blue Lantern Corps. And it is very nice to meet you, Gaara."

Author's Blurb: Avarice (n): excessive or insatiable selfish desire for wealth or gain of material possessions or otherwise.

Hope (v): to cherish a desire with anticipation, to expect with confidence

I told you I'd be back! I'm not done yet by a long shot. Here at last, the blue light of hope so many have been expecting is finally revealed. That's all the seven lights gathered. But just as day turns to night, after the gathering of the lights, beware the oncoming darkness.