Author's Note- Oh my gosh! I cannot believe it's been a year since my last update! I feel like a jerk for making all of you wait so long. I truly apologize for making you all wait! Like I've said countless times I don't plan on giving this story up but I hope you'll understand that life is tough. I can't seem to find much time to do any writing because when I do get a break I just want to rest so I'm a little rusty. Many of you have waited for far too long as it is and I am grateful for your patience. Your motivation is what drives me and knowing you guys still read this story is what helps me get back on track. This year's resolution is to write more chapters!

I hope that you will continue to enjoy reading this story as much as I have thoroughly enjoyed writing it.

Talking "Yo!"

Thoughts 'Yo!'

Inner/Demons "Yo!"

~Sakura's ability information~

'People's thoughts'

"Communicating telepathically"

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto just my OCs and plot.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Sakura's POV

Even with my eyes closed and guarded behind my arm I could tell when the light of the grenade dimmed just enough that they were gone. I wasted no time in checking for potential differences as soon as my eyes refocused. The first thing I noticed - besides their absence was the fact that all the other villagers were still here. There was no other hostage taken as I seem to remember. However, I guess the last thing I should do is take everything to heart. Who knows what else I'll forget within a certain time period from now.

"Damn it, he's taken Gramps!" Naruto cursed and I turned my attention away from Emina and the children. He was obviously angry but I could see he was also quite disappointed. Somewhere between this time, he must have seen what I've seen in Temujin. A person in need of help.

"Sakura do you think you can track him down?" Shikamaru asked as he pulled his arm away from rubbing at his eyes. I smiled reassuringly, turning my gaze towards the entrance and shrugged in response. It was no problem tracking him, but for the plot I allowed it to follow along relatively close.

"Sure I can Shikamaru but I think there's an easier way to track him without so much hassle." I replied, pointing my finger at the frantic ferret scurrying towards the caves entrance. There was no doubt he would come in handy once we entered the mines, so keeping him close was for the best.

"Right! We can just follow the cat!" Naruto exclaimed, rushing after the ferret. I turned my gaze away from Naruto's retreating back to look at Shikamaru when I noticed he didn't immediately follow after him.

"You alright? You seem to be taking this fairly well." He asked and while I raised an eyebrow curiously, I nodded in affirmation. He was certainly more observant of me than I'd like for my case. Although, that nature of his would be helpful in the long run, also, it was nice to know he cared. I just needed to be more careful with how I handle certain situations.

"I'm just as worried as you both with the turn of events. I just have a knack for not showing it as much." I stated, trying to cover up my slip up.

He slowly nodded in agreement, "Yeah, something that's equally worrisome." he said, with a pointed look my way. I grinned sheepishly with a shrug. He shook his head and sighed but this time he did go running after Naruto. With a dejected sigh at how the conversation ended, I turned towards Emina to make sure we were on the same page before following after the others.

"We're going after Temujin, but I want all of you to stay here where it's safe." I instructed, looking at each one to see if they understood the severity of the situation. After a nod or two I turned back to Emina.

"Please look after my father Sakura-chan! We'll be waiting for your safe return." She said, gently hugging me with her trembling arms.

"Of course. We'll all come back for you when this is all over." I reassured her as I pulled away. I gave her a confident smile before stepping away and using shunshin to follow the others.

~*oOo*~

"Even without the ferret we could have easily tracked him down." Inner stated as we continued to run the trail Nerugui was following. I rolled my eyes as we rushed across the mountainous terrain.

'Right, you mean you could have easily tracked him. Not all of us are as gifted as you.' I responded, to which she in turn just rolled her eyes.

"You know what I meant! Who wouldn't know his location with that massive beacon?" Inner exclaimed her inquiry. I had to hand it to her, she was right of course. While it was just for an instant, the signal his sword was casting to the battle ship was so bright and out of place that anyone with enough sense could have noticed.

We were lucky enough to have made good time and all we had to do was scale the mountain side that barricaded him to the other side. Wherever the entrance to the Gelel mines were it had to be on the other side of that perilous looking mountain peak. A waterfall cascaded down one side but Nerugui guided us to a different spot on the mountain.

"Be on your guards guys. I don't feel right about all of this." Shikamaru instructed as he gave the area a wide and thorough glance. Naruto and I nodded our heads in confirmation as we used our chakra to silently and efficiently stick to the mountain.

Climbing the mountain wasn't the tricky part and neither was finding a way in. The whole top was basically the entrance to the temple-like structure located in the middle. No, the hard part was tracking down Temujin from inside the mines. The hallways were like a labyrinth and while chakra worked to pinpoint a person it wasn't a clear guide as to which path to take. Because of this, the ferret was our only option and that was not as encouraging as you would expect from an animal. Not to mention the Gelel's power, although sealed, was still causing interferences.

Running through the dark cold halls after a ferret was a little discomforting. The only good thing was that I knew we were going in the right direction from the faint feel of their energy.

"Damn it! Where exactly are we going?!" Naruto exclaimed. I had to agree, for when we took a sharp left I couldn't avoid scraping my bare shoulder. My haori had been left behind with the caravan girl so I was more aware of the coldness inside the mines.

The air was starting to pick up from the spacious room up ahead and the chakra signatures were closer now. When we made it past the door-less exit to the hallway we were currently running through, I slid to a hard stop. Naruto wasn't so lucky as he didn't notice the drop off and slipped off the edge. He had no time to recover his balance but had a fast enough reaction time to hold onto the ledge. Hearing fast approaching footsteps I managed to catch Shikamaru by the back of his shirt before he fell. I might have almost choked him, but I did save him from a nasty fall.

"...Thanks Sakura, here Naruto give me your hand." Shikamaru said, kneeling down and reaching over for Naruto's free hand. While I waited for them to get back up I took a look around. The inside to this temple-like mine was ancient but still pretty spacious.

The structure itself was really old but you could still make out that it was meant to be used for quite some time and for quite a number of people. There was a multitude of hallways and entrances and it wasn't just one level. The amount of time and effort that must have gone into this was incredible. The mines must have been impeccable when created.

"Whoa look guys!" Naruto stated just above a whisper. We turned to look at what he was referring to and noticed the backs of Temujin and Kahiko down two levels below us.

"It's Kahiko and Temujin. Let's go guys!" Shikamaru instructed, running up ahead to a doorway that Nerugui was waiting for us at. We were almost there. I just hoped we would make it there on time.

"I'm sure you two are aware of the situation but we're fast approaching them and I'm sure a fight will inevitably break out. Be on your guard and whatever happens protect Kahiko." Shikamaru said, glancing back in our direction. We nodded our heads without a verbal response, focusing our attention to the front. It was a few feet away but I could now see the end of this hallway. Temujin's chakra was strong on the other side and I knew the finale was fast approaching. The sooner we ended this the better.

Rushing out of the doorway we entered a new chamber. The room was spacious with a center comprised of three circular pillars. From our location we could see Temujin and Kahiko walking towards the center.

"Hey wait! Let gramps go!" Naruto shouted out, effectively gaining their attention and ruining our silent approach. I made eye contact with Kahiko and sent him a reassuring smile. I just silently hoped he knew what he was doing. He didn't regard us with looks of thanks but instead kept his face solemn with determination.

"Let's go, I don't feel good leaving Kahiko on his own." I stated, jumping down the ledge and landing on the platform they were on. The other two followed right behind me, landing not even five feet away.

"Don't interfere!" Temujin shouted, immediately going into a fighting stance.

Before we had any chance at closing the gap of distance between us, a rumbling noise that was so out of place but not unfamiliar was heard. It did't take long before the cause of the racket was in the same room as us. To think they would actually crash right into the mountain to reach us. He seriously had no shame in destroying historical and important structures.

"The hell is their problem?!" Inner shouted in annoyance. I had to agree with her, all the flying debris that I was dodging had me worried that the mountain would cave in at this rate. The only reason it hasn't is probably because they built it so well.

"Oh no it's that guy..." Naruto whispered, giving me the impression that his meeting with Haido didn't go as similarly to what I remembered. The hatch to his outrageous battle ship opened to reveal the wolf woman we fought earlier today, another woman and Haido himself.

He was even creepier looking than I remember. Shuddering at the man when he stared and gave us each a once over, I did my best to remain as steady as possible. I didn't want to tip off the others of my discomfort. Not that they were particularly hiding their dislike of the man.

"Master Haido, the mines are down below." Temujin supplied like any loyal soldier would. His heart was in the right place but his actions and his faith in Haido were unsettling.

"Sakura, whatever happens stay with Kahiko." Shikamaru decided, stealthily moving when Haido looked away from us. I had to agree that my place was better suited for protecting and minimal support. The battle area wasn't what I would call suitable for a heavy fighter such as myself.

"Thank you Temujin I am in your debt. Because of your sacrifices our utopia is at hand." Haido spoke up through the distance. Even his voice sounded full of lies and just plain creepy.

"Well everyone, let's get going." Haido spoke with such eagerness. He had basically disregarded us as any threat or maybe he was baiting us? Either of the two options seemed plausible.

"Yes my lord." all his minions replied in unison. They had all started to move when Haido suddenly froze in his spot.

"Hold on." Shikamaru commanded, stopping Haido in his tracks with his shadow capturing jutsu.

"Sorry, but I have some things I want to ask you." he followed up, and I took this moment to get closer to Naruto. Seemingly hyper aware, his eyes flickered to mine for a moment before finding their way back to Haido.

"Naruto, I'm sure you can guess, but watch yourself around him. While Temujin seems like trouble, our main threat is his master." I said, speaking softly so only he could hear me. A beat of a second passed before Naruto's serious demeanor returned to his usual self. I guess Haido's creepiness made Naruto on edge, not that I could blame him. The guy was anything but pure intentions.

"I know Sakura-chan." he responded, grinning confidently. I smiled and nodded, turning my attention to Haido who spoke up.

"Hmm...how troublesome. Is this rude person one of the friends you spoke of Naruto?" Haido questioned, looking at Naruto as best that he could in his locked position.

When Naruto didn't speak up, Haido continued on without a problem in his condescending tone.

"What are you trying to do Naruto? Didn't we make a promise? That we would both try our best to make a better world." He wasn't fooling anyone with that lie.

Naruto on the other hand was starting to lose his cool. His clenched fists were making his knuckles turn white and begin to shake from his tight grip.

"I'm the one who wants to know what you're doing?" Naruto retorted, and I was impressed he hadn't gone off and attacked anyone yet.

"What do you plan to do once you get the stone of Gelel?" Shikamaru questioned once Haido continued to remain silent.

"What will I do? I'm going to create a Utopia. A world without wars where the weak aren't oppressed." Haido answered easily, the same lie he's been sprouting to Temujin.

"I wonder. You look like you're doing the complete opposite of that." Shikamaru countered, eyes narrowing. He must be struggling to keep the jutsu up. We haven't had a break to rest at all.

"It is all in the name of true justice and we've had many noble sacrifices for a world without wars." Haido continued, putting on a fake solemn face.

"Right, "noble sacrifices" are what you call it?" I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Do you sum them up as "noble sacrifices" even if it's your friends who have fallen?" Naruto asked, his voice rising in volume.

"That's what it means to accomplish something." Haido spoke, not even breaking a sweat at the implications.

"...You too? Are you okay with your friends being treated like that?" Naruto turned to ask Temujin. He was only a few feet away from us and yet it felt like we could never really reach him.

"...That's what everyone has decided, including me." Temujin's words were hard to take in. He was unsure, the hesitation and the unclear answer was proof enough. I wish he would just speak his mind instead of letting Haido control him whether intentional or not. Naruto on the other hand was beginning to lose his self control. Any second longer of hearing them sprout nonsense and he would no doubt snap.

"It can't be helped. As friends we chase the dream of a peaceful Utopia." Haido interrupted. Naruto having had enough took a solid step forward.

"You're no friend! A real friend is someone you should cherish more!" Naruto exclaimed, the feelings poured into his words brought a smile to my face. His words enough gave me enough hope for a better future. I just needed to make sure he stayed alive to see the future he would create.

"There was a time in my life when I was always alone...but, I made friends and everything changed. I didn't know how it felt to be cared for until Sakura-chan came around."

My eyes widened from his sudden emotional speech as I looked over to him. His chakra swirled around inside of him. A haze of sorrow tightly wrapped around his being. Even his posture was so reminiscent of his younger years when he had no confidence.

"Being around Sakura-chan taught me how to cherish everyone and everything. That is why I want to be Hokage! To protect them!" I smiled in return when he faced away from Haido to look at me with such a tender expression. If I've accomplished nothing else by being here then to teach him about truly cherishing his loved ones, then I'd be content. At least my actions caused him some insight to what was truly important.

The moment was short as his expression fell for a moment. No doubt he was thinking of all the unfortunate events that have transpired, mostly pertaining to Sasuke. But within a moment, his expression shifted from crestfallen to angry as he returned to glare at Haido's back. I swear, the boy was bipolar, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Who is your Utopia supposed to be for?!" Naruto asked, turning back to him with such force as he continued his assault, "Any dream that doesn't cherish friends is good for nothing!"

With a dramatic ending to his monologue, the room rumbled and vibrated.

"What the heck is happening?!" Inner shouted, looking around for anything suspicious.

'Kahiko was the source that much I am sure about, however, after this I don't quite remember what happens.' I responded, steadying myself from the quake as one of the circular pillars broke apart and moved further out.

'I know for sure a fight breaks out with each of the members present. I'll need you to create a shadow clone to fight off one of the beast women. I'll stay with Kahiko and make sure he stays safe.' I instructed, moving off to the edge of the closest circular pillar still attached to the platform.

"You got it! Just be careful with the blonde and the creep." Inner stated, effectively ending the conversation as she created a solid clone and moved further away from Naruto.

"What are you doing?!" Temujin demanded, looking about ready to tackle the old man.

"That stone should be eliminated from this world along with us!" Kahiko's words rung clear with intent and I quickly gathered the right amount of chakra that would blast me off and land me right beside them. I gasped in surprise as the pillar they were on - activated by Kahiko no doubt - lowered down multiple floors at an astounding speed. I faintly made out Naruto's shout for them to wait as I took notice of Haido. He used a flash bomb to disrupt Shikamaru's jutsu, automatically dispelling the shadow. Haido dropped down to the platform we stood at and the bad feeling inside me increased.

"Let's go Naruto!" I shouted as I finished gathering chakra. Using the chakra that was stored in my feet to propel me forwards, I landed right beside the place the pillar used to be. Where an opening should have been, it was now replaced by a slab of earth which probably slid in place when the pillar went down as a defense mechanism.

When I didn't hear or sense Naruto behind me as I'd expected him to be, I turned back to where I came from and noticed with worry that Haido had appeared between us.

I didn't like Haido anywhere near the others. Something from within him besides his creepiness just screamed to me as untrustworthy. Not even a minute passed before Naruto charged forwards intent on fighting him. Haido, however, only raised a hand and slapped him away as if batting away a meager fly.

"Naruto!" I shouted, being every bit intent on going to his side as he crashed against the left wall.

"Just go Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out as he partially lifted himself off the rubble. I gritted my teeth and decided it was time to act. The only silver lining was that Naruto had the Kyūbi so if all else failed he had a backup plan. I should really worry more about the rest of us and our meager healing abilities.

With that thought in mind, I turned around and smashed my fist against the earth. The slab quickly faltered under my strength and crumbled down into the abyss below. Without looking back I jumped down into the whole with the sole thought of quickly getting back out. The inside was just as bad as it looked from the outside. It was dark, cold and never ending.

It was so dark I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. Using chakra on my hands and feet so I could stick to the wall, I used the momentum I had to slide down but even that had my heart pounding. I had no idea what to expect at the bottom and so I gathered chakra and finely coated my body to be able to take the impact in case the exit was a rough smash through another wall.

The speed in which I was going was so fast even with my chakra I could feel my hair and top fluttering violently from the speed. I was relieved when I caught a glint of light further below. That meant there was an opening and I didn't need chakra to necessarily create one. I just needed to make the landing go as smoothly as possible and hopefully not break anything.

When I thought it was a good distance away to safely land, I pushed off when the room came into view. I was still much higher than I anticipated, so using a pillar in-front of me as another good push off, I landed on it—accidentally creating cracks on it from the speed and pressure—and pushed off to roll on the floor from a much closer distance.

"hm, I guess that could have been a lot worse..." I said to no one in particular when chunks of the pillar fell quite close to where I had once stood.

"What are you doing here? Where's Master Haido?" Temujin asked and I noticed him and Kahiko standing to the far left of me. They stood next to a black wall and I assumed like the rest of the walls it actually depicted something of the clan's history.

"Don't fret, he's probably on his way down unfortunately." I responded, only for him to glare at me.

I rolled my eyes at his misplaced loyalty and made my way towards Kahiko. As I walked towards them I looked around and noticed this was probably the most well kept room in the whole mine.

"This place is really well structured. While there's a few halls and rooms with lying debris, everything's mostly intact." I observed, finally reaching the two other occupants of the room.

"Yes, as I was telling Temujin moments ago, this is the Chamber of Sealing. I've never been here but it is all just as the legends say." Kahiko informed, and I moved closer to the dark wall.

"What about this?" Temujin asked, pointing towards the dark painting.

"All these carvings were written by our ancestors when they sealed away this place. It tells of the terrible power of the Gelel Stones. What you are pointing to is a depiction of despair." Kahiko said and turned to the wall. Well, it was definitely depressing.

"The empire was probably obliterated, just like in the picture." Kahiko said, a saddening tone could be heard in his voice.

"How promising! It would have been meaningless if we had come this far only to find out that the power of Gelel wasn't what we expected." Temujin said, speaking as if the results of all his troubles would finally be here.

"Don't you think this is terrifying?! That stone can only breed destruction!" Kahiko asked, spluttering in disbelief.

"People will fight with or without the power of Gelel. We will just have to use it in the right way." Temujin insisted, smiling in a way that didn't put me at ease.

"No Temujin, you shouldn't use the stone in such a way. If you want peace you have to work for it yourself." I said, looking over towards him with a pleading look. He needed to understand before he ended up doing something he would regret. He frowned at my words but it wasn't with hate, more like confusion. He stared me down and I knew that if only we had more time he would understand. However that moment was short lived.

"The Stone of Gelel is further down but our journey ends here!"

When Kahiko's words registered in both of our minds, he was already charging forwards towards Temujin with a dagger in hand. I gasped in surprise when the dagger managed to cut a part of Temujin's cheek. However, the surprise was gone the instant the sharp dagger made contact with his skin. Temujin was quick to act and wasted no time creating distance by kicking out his right leg and slamming it to Kahiko's chest.

Before he could tumble down onto the ground and potentially hurt himself from such a distance, I shunshined over towards him. Catching him before he could make contact with anything, I was surprised with just how much strength Temujin placed in that kick. He could have seriously broke something of Kahiko's.

"Did you really think that would work on me?" Temujin asked, and I narrowed my eyes.

"I wouldn't be sure, considering he managed to wound you." I said, helping Kahiko to sit up comfortably. I wasn't pleased with his rough and rude actions.

"No. However, I achieved my goal..." Kahiko said as he used my hand to help him stand up.

"Do you know what the design on this floor is?" Kahiko asked, while pointing at the floor with the bloody dagger he held tightly. I raised an eyebrow as I stood close to the elderly man.

Now that he mentioned it, at first glance it looked like an intricate floor design made purposely for the aesthetic appeal. However, anyone who knows anything of Fuinjutsu can tell it's not there just to look pretty.

"It's an ancient summoning formula." Kahiko explained, when Temujin stayed quiet, not that the boy probably knew what it was. Kahiko calmly walked the rest of the way towards the center of the seal. All the while I was beginning to become apprehensive about the way things were going.

"What are you planning old man?" Temujin asked, taking one step closer. Kahiko ignored him and turned towards me with a dejected look.

"I'm sorry to involve you Sakura, but we must destroy this power!" He shouted, gripping the dagger in two hands and holding it up high. He had every intention to bring it down on the seal, but a blast of energy came crashing through the recently sealed entry way and forcefully slammed into Kahiko. The dagger clattered down to the floor but I quickly grabbed a hold of Kahiko before he could get injured any further.

"Well, I hope the others are having an easier time with Haido." I said mostly to myself, gently putting Kahiko back onto the ground. Hearing the earth rumble up front, I turned my attention to the source and groaned.

"I spoke too soon." I grumbled, shooting Haido a look of disdain as he appeared from the hole in the wall.

~*oOo*~

Normal POV

"Geeze I guess there's no other way. Do you think you can handle one of them while still being a clone? Just until I finish the other one." Shikamaru asked, rubbing the back of his head as he took in the mess of the situation.

"No problem!" Inner exclaimed, mock saluting before sprinting after the woman that had attacked the caravan. She wanted to finish this fight for Kazumi. Considering she had her hands full with the creep, Inner didn't think she had the hard end of this job.

'Oh the things I do for you Kazumi.' Inner thought as she had effectively garnered the attention of the werewoman.

'Sheesh all I did was approach the woman.' Inner grumbled.

The woman's low growl was enough of an indication that she remembered their previous encounter and Inner wasted no time hightailing it out of there. Jumping up to the level they came from, Inner used a small burst of chakra to run through the intricate hallways. The woman not hesitating wasted no time chasing right after her. By this point she wasn't even ten feet away from her.

Inner remembered from the limited memories they shared that the woman was lured into a room with large cylindrical chimes that rendered her immobile and crushed under the debris. She wasn't so sure if she could accomplish the same thing what with a lot of missing factors.

"Damn it! You sure are persistent." Inner shouted when once again she slid towards an unintended corridor to avoid the woman's sharp claws from in front of her path. Not only were the mines like a maze but the limited visibility also hindered her and added more work for her to split her focus on. Not to mention the woman's energy wasn't like chakra so she couldn't sense her that well. That made the woman harder to track and to notice when she would slip past her defenses.

'No way can this chakra signature be his of all people...What could Gaara possibly be doing in here?' Inner thought, masking her relief at the assistance of a good old friend. There wasn't much she could do here without having some serious repercussions. Her strength dealt with some massive land damage and she wasn't so confident that she wouldn't cave everyone in. Having Gaara here meant he could deal with a stealthy attack.

'That is if he actually helps me...' Inner depressingly thought, thinking back on the fact that Gaara was weary of their existence.

"You brought this upon yourself little girl! You should have just gotten out of my way!" The woman shouted, blasting off her howl in Inner's direction. She narrowly escaped the blow by throwing herself off the top of the cave. Using chakra to help land, she rolled off and took off again far away from the woman and the falling chunks of earth. Noticing faintly as she ran through the expansive room that dirt was falling off her person more than it should have.

"No. Not dirt, but sand.' Inner thought with a faint smile.

When the howl died down, Inner chanced a look behind her and noticed the woman building up energy in her core again. This time it was going to be a much bigger explosion and Inner wasn't taking any chances.

Doing her best to stay away from her expected blast zone, Inner stopped in her tracks and promptly went into a series of hand-signs.

Waiting patiently, Inner noticed the woman had already decreased the distance she had created by half. Right until she was just at the intended distance, Inner activated the jutsu and out appeared the muddy dragon.

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!" Inner exclaimed, making sure the timing of her chakra insertion and the amount were just as instructed. Watching in silence, she held her breath as the woman continued to gain energy and speed.

The earth balls that were spat out by the dragon soared through the dry air and created huge impacts where they landed.

Some even managed to hit the woman but that wasn't the intention. No, Inner just wanted to distract her long enough for her to get trapped. Just as she hoped, Gaara used his sand to grab a hold of the woman in his infamous Sand Coffin technique which ultimately followed with the Sand Burial. The move was quickly executed as the poor woman couldn't even react fast enough after being pelleted with the mud balls.

The cries, thank goodness, had been muffled by the sand. Inner wasn't so keen on having those follow into her dreams so she was content with the ending. Turning her attention to the ground, she noticed that the sand by her feet had begun to levitate and move about in an almost erratic pattern.

It was a good thing she had decided to trust him after she noticed sand had earlier tried to break her fall. Not that she didn't have a back up plan in case he didn't intervene. Inner really just had high hopes that he would help.

"Thanks Gaara, I appreciate the help." Inner spoke up, knowing where Gaara was but not sure if he was comfortable being anywhere near her. She didn't want to overstep any boundaries with him. She felt there was already a fine line between him and Kazumi. The last thing she wanted was to screw everything up even more.

'Geeze, it should be Kazumi here having this interaction with Gaara...As one sided as it seemed to be...' Inner thought, brushing off her arms of actual dirt that clung to her from rolling on the ground.

Her mental debate was cut short when his chakra signature suddenly moved. Now she was face to face with him. He stood a few feet away, keeping his distance as she expected. He was taller and looked a little less stressed than she had last seen of him. Although there were still signs of internal stress from his chakra pattern.

When she decided it was time for a real conversation, she turned her whole body towards him. She smiled at him with an expression she hoped conveyed her friendliness. However, her smile and friendly demeanor fell when an explosion caused the cave-like area they were in to shake and rumble.

She held herself steady and as she turned away from the direction of the explosion to face Gaara, he was already facing her.

"You should go. Your clone body won't last long."

All she could do was nod, her mind already deep in her thoughts.

'Damn it Kazumi, you better be okay.'

~*oOo*~

Sakura's POV

Haido, along with his armored soldiers, stepped through the mess they caused and into the chamber. It was a bit disconcerting having him so close with only Kahiko as a real ally.

"Seems like I made it just in time." Haido spoke, giving all of us a quick scan. I grit my teeth and stood up from my spot next to the injured Kahiko on the floor. Even though I healed his dislocated wrist, Kahiko was looking much more worried about Haido being here then of his remaining injuries.

"Haido-sama that just now..." Temujin's unfinished question was easily understood.

"Oh that? It was thanks to this." Haido responded, pulling off the glove on his right hand. It revealed another finger-less glove underneath, with the exception of a big Gelel stone on the back. The collective gasps from the others told me that the size of it wasn't commonly found laying around.

"That's...a stone of Gelel." Temujin said, speaking as if in disbelief. It must have been something he gathered on the down low. Haido took their surprise in stride, laughing and holding his hand out to better observe the stone.

"It's amazing! Just like the legends say! I can blow things away without touching them!" he said and promptly blew away a piece of the ceiling to show off his power.

"Do you mean you have read the Book of Gelel?! Where did you get it?!" Kahiko demanded, shakily standing back up.

"It's not what you think. I bought it from a wandering salesman." he answered. I frowned in distrust and had to take a few steps to follow after Kahiko before he did anything reckless.

"That's impossible...I thought something was strange. It was you who destroyed Temujin's village and stole the Book!" Kahiko accused and suddenly memories flew into my mind. I could see a green-eyed boy hiding in the dark and a destroyed village.

Shaking my head of the images, I turned my attention towards Temujin. The guy was still lost in thought and I couldn't tell if he was starting to connect the dots.

"You doubt me? My goal is a world without wars." Haido said and Kahiko shook his head vehemently.

"Those who truly want peace wouldn't want the power of Gelel!"

"I need power to change the world, so I need the stone. Now where is that key." Haido said, looking around the room.

"You're rotten to the core and you'll never change!" Kahiko exclaimed as Haido continued to walk around the room in search of the key.

"Oh? What's this?" he said, and we saw a weird artifact appear from the floor. It must have appeared after sensing similar power from the stone in Haido's hand.

'What the hell! Why was that so easy for him to activate?!' I thought, as I grabbed for some kunai.

"Oh no! That's not for you!" Kahiko shouted with fright. he turned to me and his eyes were pleading and clearly he was in need of help. Stepping in front of Kahiko, I sighed in resignation. There would be no more stalling for time, I needed to fight him now with or without Naruto.

Using chakra to finely coat the kunai, I zeroed in on Haido and released the weapon. Piercing through the air, the kunai didn't even manage to touch Haido as a barrier around him deflected it, causing it to swerve to the left. A crater thrice the kunai's size broke a part of the entryway.

"My, what an interesting power...You do not carry the stone with you so that is quite impressive." Haido said, turning away from the key and looking me dead in the eye. I narrowed my eyes defiantly and tightly gathered chakra in my fist. Out of the corner of my peripherals I noticed a blur rush at Haido.

It happened to be Nerugui and as it rushed him my chest tightened at the predictable results of his attack. As expected, the barrier around Haido was too strong for the ferret and it was also deflected. The poor thing was thrown back a good feet only to land roughly on the ground. A green pebble fell from his mouth as he lay limp on his side.

"Nerugui!" Kahiko shouted, running towards his fallen friend.

"Oh...Nerugui..." Kahiko sadly cried, gently scooping the ferret into his arms.

"The poor thing, even with a pebble inside him...Another noble sacrifice has been made." Haido said, shaking his head and sighing.

"Honestly, those who stand on top must make such difficult decisions." he said and I clenched my fist in anger at his words.

"I've had enough of your empty words!" Kahiko said, voice cracking from his hurt feelings but loud enough to get his point across.

"Oh, how troublesome. There's going to be another noble sacrifice..."

Even as he spoke, I pushed chakra into the soles of my feet to get me to Kahiko on time. Using chakra stored in the weights on my wrist for fast access, I coated my arms to take the blunt of the attack. All I received as a warning was the gem brightening before an invisible force hit me.

"Sakura!" Kahiko exclaimed, but I focused on the man in front of me.

I grounded my feet with chakra as I pushed against the stones power. It was odd, different from chakra and it took an unbelievable amount of chakra simply to counter a small amount of his. I heard him snort in amusement and before I knew it my feet were sliding from their hold.

'He's increasing the amount!' I thought when a powerful gust blasted me away without so much as an effort.

The pressure was so intense it threw me back into the wall. The impact was rough and the damage was dully noted as my body hit the ground. Small debris fell around me from the cracked wall and I could barely hear Kahiko as he rushed to my side. My ears rang and my body throbbed as I found strength to lift myself up. I was already healing myself but the amount of injury in one move was unbelievable. Maybe taking his blast head on wasn't the best of decisions.

"Hmm, so I guess that much is needed to blast you away huh? Pretty impressive, well, that's fine." I heard Haido say over the ringing in my ears. I shifted my gaze off the ground when a powerful surge of energy was felt in his direction. On instinct I pulled Kahiko by the arm and maneuvered him behind me. Lifting my chakra laced arm to shield me of the incoming attack. Some defense was better than none.

A loud screeching noise was made when the energy attack hit Temujin's sword and dispersed as he stood between us. Even though the Gelel energy didn't hit me, I could still feel the pressure upon impact with his sword.

My eyes widened when I looked away from his sword and over to him. He stared at me in silence, worry and shock on his face as he turned from me to Haido. The look on Haido's face was not only of surprise but of anger at Temujin stepping in-between me and the attack.

Honestly, I was pretty surprised he even helped me at all. And by the looks of it, Temujin was pretty surprised by his own action.

"What are you doing Temujin?" Haido asked, and Temujin immediately snapped out of his shock. He put away his sword and kneeled down beside me.

"I'm very sorry, but the mine of Gelel is already ours. We can just ignore them." Temujin responded, not looking up at Haido as he spoke. I on the other hand wasn't so trusting of that man. My whole focus was on him.

"That is not what I am asking. Do not stand in front of my target." Haido said and I glanced over at Temujin when he stiffened. I took note of his troubled expression, something Haido said must have triggered some sort of realization.

"...Master...Haido?" Even though he spoke words of respect towards the man, Temujin's dazed expression made me worried.

"You're in the way." Haido said cruelly, raising a hand with the glowing stone.

I narrowed my eyes in resolve at the incoming energy blast. Before it could hit, I pushed Temujin out of the way and scooped up Kahiko in my arms rushing out of the way. The attack hit the wall behind us with a loud tremor. I looked back to Temujin, hopeful that my expression and actions conveyed the fact that I wanted to help him.

"What are you bastards doing?!" Naruto shouted, using the soldiers heads to push off and land near us.

"Sakura-chan are you guys okay?" Naruto asked when he reached us, ready to fight. He stood with his back to us, a worried expression as he faced Haido. I smiled at him even though he wouldn't see.

"We're fine Naruto. Just glad you're finally here." I said, and looked around him to see that Temujin was getting up from the floor. I must have pushed him farther than I thought.

"Aren't you persistent." Haido said, commanding the gem to glow again. We gasped in realization and shared a look before nodding in agreement.

We split as soon as the energy felt the strongest and seconds later a crater appeared with smoke rising from our previous spots. He was throwing out more shots than he previously had. I didn't know what his limitations were, considering we were right underneath the mines but it was best to end this sooner rather than later.

"Looks like I got here just in time!" Inner stated, the feel of her returning was encouraging. However, the fact that it took me a longer time to register the difference was frightening. How fast could we actually be merging?!

'Yeah, you could say we've only just begun.' I responded, as I continued to jump around with Kahiko still in my arms. I was trying to avoid Haido's radar so that I could assure Kahiko's safety. With Naruto here, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Geeze I leave for just a moment and you're already beat up. What will you do without me?" Inner asked, presumably as she scanned our body. Her presence would assure a faster recovery and hopefully a swifter end to this fight.

'Hey, it's not that bad. I've been through worse and you know it.' I reassured and she simply rolled her eyes and sighed. Kahiko yelped as a blast that hit a little too close pushed us forward from the shock wave.

"Temujin! What are you standing there for? Kill them!" Haido commanded, still shooting us with his insane supply of energy.

"Is this really...a noble sacrifice?" Temujin asked, still in a daze as he kept his head down.

"Take care of them like you always do!" Haido shouted. His incessant demands were beginning to irritate me.

"That's enough isn't it? I..." Temujin cut himself off as another attack hit way too close for comfort. My clothes were starting to sear from the heat.

"What happened to him? He's not even remotely the same as when we met." Inner said, pointing out the obvious change with Temujin. He was definitely less confident in his decisions now. He just needed one last push into the right direction.

"Temujin, I'm disappointed in you. Then again, you're also an inferior person like your parents." Haido spoke up, taking things too far by bringing up his parents that he no doubt killed.

Temujin quietly gasped as he finally snapped out his thoughts. He looked up to Haido as the man grinned maniacally. He burst out laughing at the look of realization Temujin had.

"What a pitiful kid. You didn't even know I was the one to kill your parents and yet you became so attached to me." Haido cruelly revealed. He was such a despicable man. He made me want to hit something or more preferably someone.

"Now that I know where the mine is, I no longer need you." he said, walking closer to the frozen Temujin.

"Gross! He looks more like a creep now!" Inner exclaimed as he began to morph into a much darker and evil-like appearance.

Temujin didn't even struggle when Haido roughly took a hold of him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. I gently laid Kahiko down on the ground, preparing myself to fight. The old man was still clutching onto Nerugui but his focus was solely on the scene before us.

"...Haido-sama..." Temujin muttered without strength to which Haido simply grinned, squeezing even harder.

"Die you good for nothing!" Haido said, raising his other hand with the intent to finish him.

"No you mustn't!" Kahiko shouted, taking a step forward and worriedly watching on. His plead was in vain as Haido had no intention of stopping. His hand moved and it pierced right into his chest. In the same place that we had previously seen the glow appear on his armor. My heart started pounding so loud from anxiety that it was starting to hurt.

"That's enough bastard!" Naruto shouted and we all looked in horror as he ripped his hand back out. In his hand a rather large Gelel stone came from out of Temujin's body. All we could do was stare as the gem was crushed and rendered useless.

"Now the world shall be mine!" Haido exclaimed, raising Temujin further and with a flick of a wrist sent him flying in the other direction.

"Temujin!" Naruto, Kahiko and I shouted as we saw him hit the floor and skid to a stop much further away from everyone. My worry skyrocketed as I noticed that Temujin became completely unresponsive; but as soon as I tried to move, a painful sensation coursed through my body, beginning from my chest.

"Damn it! Not right now!" I groaned to myself, my knee hitting the ground as I tried to stabilize myself. I gripped a hand on my chest, one specific spot burning and demanding more attention than the rest.

"What's wrong?! Did he do something to you?!" Inner asked, panic clearly heard in the tone of her voice. She tried to scan the area, but it was of no use. Haido wasn't the cause. I lifted my head to look at Naruto, his bright blue eyes were clouding over with a color far too familiar now and as he looked at me, it became increasingly harder not to notice how much he cared.

'Don't worry Inner...It must be the side effects of having the Kyūbi chakra circulating inside. Not too mention it activates with any strong emotions.' I answered, gritting my teeth as I went into some hand signs to activate the seal Tsunade placed on me.

"...Sakura-chan I'm sorry..." Naruto spoke, voice more aware than usual. I raised a hand in his direction when I sensed him hesitate to move. I continued to coax the contaminated chakra into the seal. It felt completely foreign, not to mention it was dense and was much too raw for my filtered chakra.

"Take care of Haido...I've got Temujin and Kahiko." I directed, summoning an immense strength of will to stand back up. I looked at Naruto with a shaky smile on my face while he looked about ready to argue.

"Let's end Temujin's suffering." I said with more power behind my voice than I actually felt. Naruto nodded in resolve, fist clenched and eyes determined. I turned towards Kahiko who was looking so confused and worried.

"Let's go Kahiko." I said, not waiting for his response or clearing up any confusion about what just transpired. I lifted him up and when I was sure I wasn't going to trip with the added weight, I moved towards Temujin's side.

"Ridiculous, you plan on helping the enemy?" Haido said, as he looked at us approach the fallen soldier. Somehow, he either didn't care that I had a temporary relapse or didn't feel the need to point it out.

"No matter, I shall end all of your pathetic lives." Haido said, raising his hand in our direction. I quickly placed Kahiko on his feet beside Temujin before guarding over them. Even though the Kyūbi chakra was still fluctuating, I couldn't afford to let them get hurt.

"Hey! I'm your opponent!" Naruto exclaimed. Haido shifted his eyes over towards him and smirked.

"Everywhere I look there's trash." Haido muttered before vanishing. He reappeared in a flash in front of Naruto and I gasped in shock as he punched him in the stomach. With a sick look of satisfaction, he quickly shifted again and sent Naruto across the room with a punch to the face. It seems neither Inner nor myself had the ability to keep up with him.

As he fought with Naruto I turned back around to face Temujin. He was looking worse by the second as his resolve shattered.

'Inner, I want you to step outside and guard us from Haido. I want to heal Temujin and i'm not confident enough to do both.' I said, looking down at the semi-conscious state the boy was in.

"I won't let him get in your way! But don't push yourself." Inner replied, appearing right behind me. With her physically by my side I felt ten times better.

Turning my attention towards Temujin, I released a shaky breath to clear away my nerves. My body wasn't as reactive to the contaminated chakra as it was earlier, so using it would't bring much difficulty. I just hopped that I wouldn't experience any of the dreaded chakra burns.

Activating the familiar healing chakra, I gently placed my green glowing hands over Temujin's back. For just a moment, I closed everything out as I focused on the injured boy. His beautiful ruby red eyes had dulled and the life just seemed to have been sucked out of him like the Gelel stone.

It's a good thing the stone wasn't buried deep within him. While it was definitely an injury that required a lot of chakra, it wasn't fatal, so all I needed to do was stop the bleeding and stitch a few things up. I knew not to worry because it was Temujin that had gotten this injury. He was compatible to the Gelel's power and later he would be able to use it to heal himself at a faster rate. Now if only he could get the strength to fight back.

"Temujin, I know this isn't going how you wished for it to." I spoke down to him, careful of what I said. His eyes blinked ever so slowly and turned to regard me with a remorseful comprehension.

"While I knew you were in the wrong, I didn't necessarily want you to find out this way. Please believe me now when I say you can help right everything." I encouraged, smiling down at him when his eyes started to lose their fogginess.

"I have wronged many. And most times, I knew I had, but for the sake of a Utopia...I continued." He groaned passed his dry lips. His eyes flickered between mine and seeing images from his past.

"So have I. No one here is pure...but some of us rather get hurt trying over and over again than misplacing our faith." I said, smiling down to him ruefully. He looked so vulnerable, so lost that I couldn't just sugar coat things for him only to get hurt again.

"How do you know whom to trust?" He asked, finally seeing that it wasn't his views that were in the bad, just the people who didn't want the same thing. He clenched his eyes closed as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked at me with a beseeching stare, needing to hear some answer. My expression, I hope one of patience and guidance would help ease his pain. Kindly, I lifted a soothing green hand up to his wounded cheek.

"When you and them can differentiate between unnecessary killing and noble sacrifices, I believe that is when you form bond that will help you build a utopia." I stated, watching him take it all in. Like usual, he broke the stare first by closing his eyes. Leaning into the healing touch of my palm, I finished up his healing and softly pulled away.

When he had finally mustered enough courage to open his eyes, I could see the resolution to right his wrong doings. And with the most profound smile he had shown, he stood and offered his hand to me. I returned the smile and lifted my hand to meet his half way but before I could a blur of orange shot passed us and crashed into the wall behind. The after affect was astonishing. The whole room shook as the impact cratered the wall and broke off a good bit of it.

We turned at the same time to find Naruto land on the cold ground. He coughed and grunted in pain as we all tried to process what was going on.

"Naruto!" I called out when he attempted to get back up. I stood without taking Temujin's hand but only got one knee raised when I was forcefully pushed down.

"Get down!" Inner shouted as she adjusted her form just in time to meet Haido head on. Unfortunately the Gelel stone's power proved to be too overwhelming as his hand went straight through Inner's clone body. My eyes widened as the image cycled and processed within my mind. The scene before me burned in my mind as realism struck me hard.

'Move!'

Before any precious seconds of her efforts could be wasted, I acted as soon as my bearings returned. With a steady footing I braced myself to attack and took the opportunity that he was so close. The five strikes to his body were executed perfectly when using the powerful and precise offensive attacks attributed by the Earth and lightning styles. It also helped that I used the chakra from the wrist weights for a faster assault. I didn't want to use my normal chakra in case the Kyūbi's decided to act up again.

After each hit the impact was greater and his first and only attempt at blocking was proven too slow. Once I struck the last point at his solar plexus the amount of chakra I poured out sent him crashing to the wall furthest away in a shock wave of power. I was not however expecting a beam of his power to burst forth in a dazzling display of blinding light. Taking a quick look around, I noticed that the power was being manipulated from what was on top of the floor. It must have been the vein of Gelel. A piece of the structure had given way and I could feel the power radiating from the other side.

"You foolish brats! I will end it!" His voice roared with hate as the light increased, making it impossible to make anything out. I could feel the impending blast but still couldn't sense the power of Gelel. Without having much of a choice I shunshined over to Kahiko.

'I'll just have to trust that the others can withstand it by themselves.' I thought in panic, shielding myself with a thick coat of chakra.

"Sakura!" Kahiko shouted, scooting closer to me while still clutching onto Nerugui. Before I could respond the blast he was concentrating on flew out across the expanse of the room. Midway the beam split and made its way towards each of us.

"Shit!" Inner cussed, focusing her attention on stabilizing both of our chakras.

'Hold on!' I thought, taking on a heavy stance and pushing all the strength and chakra I could afford to lose on this one time effort. The power of Gelel was truly frightening. This single hit was causing my arms and legs to go numb from the two powers colliding. My hands were already starting to convulse and admittedly I was starting to get pushed back. But I refused to go down now, not when I was so close to potentially finding a lead for how I traveled here. If there was any way to go back, I would find it!

With a new found resolve, I took one step back and braced myself. Concentrating my chakra in a solid point at my hands, I pushed out an incredible amount of chakra from the tenketsu point on my palms. The sudden addition of concentrated power burst out and disrupted the stalemate of powers.

I immediately fell to one knee, not feeling my temporarily paralyzed hands and arms lower to my side. I panted out in exertion and looked around once the smoke of debris dispersed. Kahiko was calling out to me, but I paid him little attention once I looked past my disheveled bangs to give him a quick once over. He was fine, but what about the others?

Still in a daze from the sudden depletion of a good bit of my chakra, I narrowed my eyes in concentration. I gasped audibly when I looked at Naruto and Temujin being protected by the ladder's former comrades. The indication of a direct hit was as plain as day as steam rose from the backs of their scorched armor.

Temujin looked as horrified as I felt I would be the moment I attempted to move. The armored soldiers stood between them and Haido, having taken on the attack meant for them. Not long after the armor gave one final creak before it fell to the ground. The sound of metal hitting cold ground was deafening and through the steam erupting from their heated armor, so did the evanescent bodies of the children inside. Nothing was said as the realization struck hard.

"...What have I...done?..." Temujin stated, as he continued to look at his fallen friends.

"Hmph, no matter. They were useless to me now anyway." Haido informed, continuing on as if nothing had happened.

"I'm getting tired of you all getting in my way. It's time I finished this." He said, raising an arm so his hand containing the stone would gather more power from the mines.

"Temujin get up! We have to do something now!" Naruto ordered. He looked between the crushed boy and his former friends. With a clench of his teeth he turned back to our enemy. No matter if I wanted to help, there wasn't much I could actually do.

I looked down to my shaking hands, even with such movements I could just barely feel them. No, my time in this fight was over.

A familiar battle cry brought me out of my observations. Turning my attention back to the front I saw that Naruto had already called out for one of his shadow clones to start his rasengan. Temujin too had stood back up. His cape along with everyone's clothes and hair started whipping around as the air current became turbulent. Two strong currents ripped through the room and it was becoming increasingly harder to stay down without chakra.

"Let's go Temujin!" Naruto exclaimed, running forward straight for Haido. It was now or never, and we couldn't afford to waste more time.

His advance was slow, but Temujin too gathered his remaining strength to push himself further. As he ran after Naruto, finally catching some speed, he picked something up off the ground but was too far away for me to distinguish. Whatever it was I hoped would help him and Naruto defeat Haido.

"It's time for you to join your ancestors!" Haido shouted, bringing down his arm and showcasing the power he held back.

"Augh!" I clutched my chest with shaking hands as the burning sensation came back with a vengeance. I couldn't lift myself up to see but I was pretty sure Naruto had tapped into the Kyūbi's chakra.

"Sakura are you alright?!" Kahiko questioned, kneeling down beside me with a hand on my back.

"I'll be alright..." I managed to say, raising my head just enough to see the grand finale. I wasn't too surprised to see Naruto with a sinister red power orb in one hand, but the other hand held a blue rasengan different than his usual. It was different, as it was a fusion that combined to very different powers but two very similar mindsets.

The striking colors that it displayed wasn't anything less to the rainbow rasengan he pulled off in Spring country but it was much more powerful. And as I continued to stare, the amazing scene before me awoke the pieces of memories I was still missing. It wasn't much but the remaining few that returned made me feel content, safe that while not everything was similar, not much was out of place. I didn't even need to look to know how the fight would ultimately end.

With this new information on the ending, I sighed in content and smiled at the scene ahead of me.

With the combined efforts of the two boys, Haido was sent crashing back from the direct hit of Naruto's Gelel powered rasengan. Watching him fail to stand back up brought a wave of relief to wash over me.

"Finally, it's over." I said, turning to look at Kahiko. He looked ten times older as his wide eyes fought to regain their normalcy. With a determined sigh, I braced my hands on my knee and the floor. Using my supports, I pushed off and stood on shaky legs. Kahiko followed right after, using one hand to steady me and the other to hold Nerugui.

Our relief was short lived however, as soon a massive quake erupted from the barely contained mines. The vein of Gelel was becoming unstable and the place looked ready to fall into ruin.

"What's happening old man?!" Naruto asked, jogging along side Temujin to come up beside us. Taking a worried look at the hand that supported me Naruto turned to regard me. I gave him a quick smile before shaking my head, there was no need to worry him over everything. Besides, now was definitely not the time to chat.

"It's because the key to the mine was destroyed! The seal that was containing all that power is broken!" Kahiko chaotically answered. All three of us shared a quick glance before returning our eyes at the top where all the power surged.

"So what does that all mean?" Temujin asked, looking away from the destruction happening all around us. He turned to Kahiko expectantly but the old man just looked on in fear. I couldn't blame him as the worry was starting to seep back into me. The place looked so much different and it had only just been a few seconds since Haido was stopped. What little could be seen of the mine earlier was now so out in the open I was afraid of being directly under it for so much longer.

"It means the mines are spiraling out of control!"

"So what do we do?" Naruto shouted out everyone's worry. Kahiko shook his head and the hand holding onto my elbow for my support was beginning to shake. I was starting to think he was still holding on more for his own sake now than mine.

"I don't know! But considering the size of the empire that was lost, I wouldn't be surprised if it took out half of the continent." Kahiko stated, giving me and everyone else a bleak answer. If I hadn't known this would happen, I'd probably be really worried right now.

"You're kidding me!" Naruto exclaimed, gripping his head desperately.

"Is there really no way of stopping it?" I asked, trying to push him into the right direction, plus I wanted to know if the lead was anything I should really be focusing on. If there was a way to open a doorway to another world maybe he knew what I was looking for.

"Yes there is...and he knows exactly how! What were you trying to do earlier?! That summoning circle, what is it for?!" Temujin asked, coming up to grip Kahiko by the collar. I staggered slightly from the suddenness and held myself steady when I gathered my bearings.

"There's just no way of bringing it under control again. However, there is a way to destroy the mines..." Kahiko said, and his lack of urgency was really starting to piss me off. Didn't the guy see we could be dead in a matter of moments?! If the falling structure didn't get us, then the power erupting from on top of us surely would.

"Then tell me how!" Temujin insisted. He also seemed to start loosing his patience with the old man.

"You must place your hand on the circle. It's an ancient form of summoning found by the royal blood of our clan. And now I know that you do in fact come from the royal line. If any one can stop this, it's you." Kahiko explained.

I raised an eyebrow at that. I still couldn't wrap my head around it. Why was something like this here? Did anyone else but their clan know of these kinds of jutsus? No, because I remember there was a couple Shinobi whom could use space/time jutsus, but the jutsus wouldn't open inter-dimensionally like this one right? The common ones were just in this space not of other worlds.

"What does it summon?" Naruto asked, curious to hear the rest.

"A space/time rift. It's a boundless void that will engulf anything around it, but it will spawn from the point which it has been summoned at. The person who performs the ritual will be sacrificed, never to return." His grave instructions shut everyone up and I took a moment to look at Temujin. He was still the same poker-face guy I remember; however, he carried himself like a man who had to shoulder everyone's burdens. My eyes downcasted at the idea of pressuring him into this.

"I understand." He said, opening his eyes in acceptance to his fate. We met eyes, holding the stare for a few seconds as was the usual before he broke it just the same.

"There's no way I'd ever let any-!" Naruto's defiant exclaim was cut short as Temujin efficiently knocked him out. My eyes widened and I stepped out to hold onto Naruto before he could hit the ground.

"Naruto!" Kahiko said, coming over to kneel beside us.

"This is how I will atone for what I've done. I've been doing everything wrong and I'm sorry that I kept rejecting your help." Temujin said, looking down to us with sadness and regret in his eyes.

"No...It's not too late." I stated, having too much to say but not enough time to say it. My chest was still tight, and the eruptions and pressure all around us was making it hard not to feel worried.

Temujin held my stare and his piercing eyes seem to gather up all of the unsaid things. He smiled and held his hand out. Taking a moment to shake the odd feelings welling up inside, I blinked the dread away. Raising my hand to meet his half way once again. I held my palm up, not really understanding what he wanted to give me but determined to see it through this time. Still with a beautiful glimmer, a small piece of the Gelel stone fell into my open palm. And it was my turn to break eye contact.

"Thank you for being here. For trying to make me see a utopia I am sure you two are destined to make real."

"Take care of everyone."

The small nail-size stone seemed to weigh an incredible amount in my frail shaky hand. My throat constricted at his genuine goodbye and it was hard to look back up to him.

It was ridiculous how this made me feel when I knew what would happen. The anxiety was just amplified in the last few words and I was having a hard time feeling confident about my knowledge of a happy ending.

Temujin didn't stop and neither did he look back one last time.

As the rumbling continued and the air pressure rose I snapped out of it and looked down to Naruto. If there was any chance of the plot staying the same, it was all up to Naruto. He was the only one besides Temujin who could withstand the stones power.

"Naruto wake up!" I tried, lightly slapping his cheeks and shaking him to wake up. If that didn't work then I'd have to stimulate him awake with a small shock of Medical Ninjutsu.

"This is bad Kazumi!" Inner said, clenching her hands together in worry.

I turned away for a second and dreaded the decision. I had never seen so much concentrated power in its raw state as right now. Before our very eyes, the vein seemed to give way and all the power came descending towards the pull of a similar power activating on contact. Temujin must have started the ritual.

The Gelel power was dense like water but moved like air and all of it was converging to swirl around the center of the room where the summoning circle was. Panic began to rise and I turned back to Naruto. With one quick apology I shot some small dosage of electrical current through him and he soon began to stir.

"Naruto get up! You're the only one who can help Temujin!" I said, raising my voice so as to be heard over the chaotic winds. He groaned in pain and raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. Blinking his eyes open he sat up and instantly tensed from the pressure in the air. He turned his eyes immediately over to mine.

"Quickly!" I insisted, tilting my head in Temujin's direction.

Bolting from my side, he ran through the stream of power. He looked to be progressing slowly but at least he wasn't burning because of so much raw power encasing him. Taking in a shaky breath I stood up with what little strength I had left.

"Kahiko-san, how do you know so much about the royal blood? Even if they're from the same clan, such secrets shouldn't be available to just anyone." I questioned, looking at him with a raised brow. Kahiko looked on with a very far away look.

"Desperate times." Was all he said, regarding me with a knowing look. I frowned and rubbed my neck where a nerve was knotting up.

"Fine, I don't particularly want to know. However, I would like to know everything you can tell me about the space/time jutsu's that your clan knows of." I said, making sure my eyes conveyed the seriousness of my demand.

"I suppose it doesn't matter now and besides, you seem to really want to know. So I hope my answer will suffice." He spoke up over the wind.

"The royal blood of our clan has always been the only ones to be able to use such techniques. I don't know everything about the summoning jutsus but what I do know is that they open up voids in different spaces. In every attempt to return, no one has ever succeeded."

"So the jutsus would only open to voids? What if it was actually another dimension? or world?" I asked, gripping my hands in suspense. He looked at me with a question in his eyes but he shook his head.

"Sakura, I don't know what it is you wish to find out, but opening up a portal to another world? It's impossible...or at least to us regular folk. I know that what our people did is not typical of shinobi, however there's just no way the summoning techniques the royal line used could ever open gates to other spaces besides voids. Only a god could do that."

My eyes widened in thought. If only a god could do it, then which god would possibly send me here? Also, why would I be brought here? It wasn't such a far fetched idea to believe gods were involved, considering which universe this was. Although, it still seemed impossible to consider having anything to do with something so grand.

"Even if someone could accomplish such a feat, it would require tremendous amounts of power, and something of equal value given up in exchange. One way or another it cannot be avoided." Kahiko informed, giving me a solemn look before turning his attention back into the storm of power swirling around chaotically.

If all my leads pointed to gods, how in the world was I supposed to find them? And which one was it?

For just a moment, the image of a woman standing in a field of flowers flashed to the forefront of my mind. But just as fast, a sharp pain flooded my whole being and I gasped and fell to my knees.

"Sakura?!"

"Kazumi!"

A pain so great and discernibly different to any other pains I've received. Besides the physical aspect of the attack, I felt vulnerable in other regards like my mind and soul were being burned. I clenched my eyes shut and gripped the precious stone Temujin gave me to regain some form of realism.

'Where did this pain come from? And why now?' I thought in agony. From the faint words I could discern, I didn't think Inner could feel the same pain and Kahiko was a worried mess beside me.

"...Just give me a second..." I pleaded, answering both and needing the space to clear my head first.

My mind was so full of questions and many things didn't add up, but before I could voice out anything else or try to comprehend the situation, the surge of power vanished.

I turned my head in shock at the sudden stillness in the area. Momentarily forgetting my own discomfort when a new dread surfaced up. My heartache became my sole focus, not because of pain, but of the 'what if's' that plagued me. I hoped they were okay.

"Where the hell did all that power go?" Inner asked, closing her eyes and focusing on sensing anything other than us. She looked as frazzled as I imagined myself to look. Her eyes were darkened and tight around the edges and hair messily tied back. It was so odd to feel all that energy rush away in an instant. While I could only assume that the summoning technique had been gradually reducing it, to be able to disappear like this was hard to comprehend.

"Something's wrong." I said, searching the area for anyone else. Where were they?

With alarms going off in my head, my unsteadiness grew when I caught a hold of Naruto's chakra. It was faint, but it was there. And while I typically couldn't sense Temujin that well before, I definitely couldn't now.

'I need to go look.' I thought and gently swept up Kahiko into my arms. Everything was sore and my chakra was low, but none of that would stop me now. Without having to say anything to Kahiko we steadily jumped across broken debris to where the center of power had been.

"Oh no..."

Kahiko's voice was like a far away sound. The soundless area was simply dead but a high tension was still in the air. I stopped a few feet away from Naruto, the ominous blinking of the summoning circle underneath him made me weary to continue further.

Even as I stared ahead, the fact that I could only see Naruto unconscious on the ground had my head and heart aching with a painful awareness of the situation.

"...How could this have happened?..." I whispered, not really realizing I had spoken out loud. It wasn't supposed to end like this. The memory clearly pictured them together, laying side by side in the end.

With my mind a mess, I silently released Kahiko and walked the remaining steps before the circle's border.

"Sakura don't go any further!" Kahiko pleaded, grabbing a hold of my wrist. My eyes continued to stare unwaveringly at the body of my teammate.

"...How...How could this have happened?..." Ignoring his warnings, I easily slid out of his grip and walked the last few blurry steps towards Naruto. The loud beating of my heart earlier had simmered down to a dulling rhythm. Like drowning, sounds and sight were obscured and warped to the point that I needed Inner's guidance to reach Naruto safely. My body, which had suffered a great deal of discomfort, was numb to the sharp edges of the ground as I dropped myself beside him and breathing became unbearably difficult to do.

Even while I kneeled there along side Naruto, I felt so alone. And only the hot trails stinging my cheeks awoke me from my depression only to spiral me into a frenzy of despair. I gripped the stone in my shaky hands and clutched it tight to my chest, lowering my tear stained face to the crumbling world around me.

I cried.

I cried for the lose of a dead end to a hopeful lead.

I cried for the cruel reality that I would still leave everything behind to return home and I hated myself for admitting it.

But most of all, I shed my tears for the lose of a friend and gripped onto the last memento he left me behind. A memory to remember this failure, my flaws, and the knowledge of unavoidable change.

Sakura/Kazumi just can't get a break, but we're finally done with this movie! It took a while to get out but after this it should be going a bit more smoothly. I wanted to put this in so you guys could see where it would start breaking off from Canon. Some things will still happen, such as Sai coming into the picture. However things won't be the same any more. Sakura/Kazumi has been adding up a lot of changes in the plot and it's just a matter of time before that falls apart. I do believe changes happen whether good or bad when a timeline is tampered with, it's just a matter of when.

Were you guys expecting me to finish it off the same as the movie? Poor Temujin, I did like him, but changes must happen and I wouldn't get comfortable with other characters either! No one's particularly safe here.

But don't worry, most of the main cast is still safe...for now! Anyways, review if you liked it and again I'm sorry for taking so long!