Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Talking: “…”

Thinking: ‘…’

Kyuubi: blablabla

&&&&&&&&&&

Chapter 18: Death

Sakura’s strength was now completely back as she clenched her fists. “This is not good...” She whispered to herself. She still remembered the time he used the same power in the ‘Forest of Death’. She also knew that Naruto had seen it before as well.

“Have faith in Naruto, Sakura.” She heard Jiraiya saying, like he read her mind. She saw Jiraiya looking at her with gentle eyes. “He isn’t called the most unexpected ninja for nothing.”

Sakura smiled a bit, “I know, Jiraiya-sama.” Sakura continued to look at Sasuke, while his purple chakra was now surging around him. She then looked at Naruto, who was still breathing hard, slowly getting his strength back.

She had the violent urge to run over to him and heal him, getting his complete strength back, removing his cuts and bruises. But she knew that, if she did, she would either stopped by Tsunade and Jiraiya or be killed by Orochimaru and Kabuto.

She began to shake, both of anger and because she was scared.

“Sakura, contain yourself.” She heard Tsunade saying. “I know what you want to do, but please, don’t make dumb moves that could kill you.”

Sakura was fed up with all of this, the waiting, the watching. “How can you say that, master?!” Sakura almost screamed, calling Tsunade by her new name of respect. “I can’t stand it anymore! Naruto... Sasuke... This is not worth it!”

“You are right, Sakura, it is not worth it.” Jiraiya said, putting himself in the conversation. “But to these two boys, it’s very important. It’s a never ending fight.”

“But what if they kill each other!?” Sakura continued to ask more, not getting any of this.

“They won’t,” Jiraiya replied. “they have their own ninja way. Besides, if Sasuke really wanted to kill Naruto, wouldn’t he have done so when they fought when Sasuke left the village to join Orochimaru?”

Sakura stayed quiet, thinking about what Jiraiya just said. She knew he was right, but Sakura believed that they could hurt each other so bad, that thát would resolve in death.

“Naruto...” She heard Sasuke say, and looked his way. “You leave me no choice but to use this.” Sasuke grinned at the power he gained from his seal.

“Orochimaru-sama...” Kabuto said, as he saw that Sasuke’s body was covered with the seal.

He continued, “Sasuke-kun has not yet fully learned how to control the seal. You know what could happen if he uses it too much, right?”

Orochimaru let out a laugh, “We’ll just see how strong Sasuke-kun is, won’t we Kabuto?”

Kabuto only nodded as he turned his attention back to the fight; Sasuke was ready to attack again.

‘Shit,’ Naruto cursed in his thoughts. He regained his strength a little, but it was not enough to stop the cursed seal.

But he refused to give up, he had to do this. It was also his wish to fight Sasuke again, but he also wanted to bring him back home, together with Sakura.

He gave a quick side glance towards Sakura, who was looking at him with a worried face. Though he doesn’t wanted he to look sad or worried, this gave him strength.

‘Sakura... I won’t lose. Just watch me, as long as you are by my side, I won’t ever lose!’ Naruto thought as he looked back towards Sasuke, who shifted his foot back, really to attack him.

Naruto also regained his position, as he waited until Sasuke attacked.

‘I don’t need Kyuubi,’ Naruto told himself. ‘even if Sasuke is using his cursed seal, I will be stronger!’

“Ha!” Naruto screamed as his blue chakra swirled around him.

“Oh? You still had some chakra left, huh?” Sasuke said. He was somehwat surprised, but paid no further attention to it.

Naruto grinned, “I’ll never lose to you, Sasuke!” With that, Naruto made the first move and dashed towards Sasuke.

Sasuke grinned as well, “We’ll see about that!” Sasuke said as he dashed off as well, towards Naruto.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Naruto yelled before he collided with Sasuke. Sasuke held his fist back and hit Naruto in the stomach.

It was a clone.

“What?!” Sasuke said, actually surprised that he missed. The clone disappeared, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Naruto attacked again, missing just an inch from Sasuke’s face, who quickly turned his face away to avoid Naruto’s attack. But that didn’t stop Naruto to quickly turn his body to kick Sasuke in the face.

Sasuke didn’t saw that coming.

Naruto foot connected with Sasuke’s face, as Sasuke flew away because of the force the kick was taking with him, and connected to a nearby wall, just a few meters away from Kabuto and Orochimaru.

“Looks like the seal has not yet grown enough, wouldn’t you say Kabuto?” Orochimaru said, grinning. He seemed to enjoy the show.

“Yes, Orochimaru-sama.” Kabuto replied, seeming to worry a little bit.

Sasuke stood up, slowly with some grunts. He wiped the blood away that was dripping down his mouth, surprised that the hit came so hard.

But Naruto wasn’t done yet; now that Sasuke was occupied with his current situation, he prepared to do his ultimate attack for the second time.

It seemed like Sasuke didn’t noticed him. Naruto took this chance to dash over to him and to attack.

“Rasengan!” Naruto yelled as he held his arm with the Rasengan forward, towards Sasuke’s stomach.

It was a direct hit. Sasuke was drilled into the wall creating a bigger hole then before.

But there was something strange going on; even though nobody could see what exactly happened because of the strong light and the dust the Rasengan was creating, they all saw something very disturbing.

Sasuke was smirking.

Naruto screamed and was thrown away with full force. Blood was seen in the air, coming from Naruto.

“Chidori...” Sasuke whispered as Naruto landed hard on the ground; he had a hole in his stomach, just like the first time they fought like this.

Tsunade, Jiraiya and Sakura gasped, as they saw Naruto lying on the ground, not moving, his eyes half open.

Kabuto and Orochimaru only grinned, first looking at Naruto, and then at Sasuke; it seemed like Sasuke was also pretty bad injured. His cursed seal was disappearing, he was breathing hard, trying hard to stay conscious. He sat on the ground, his hand on his chest, trying to stop the heavy bleeding.

‘It seemed like... he got me pretty good.’ Sasuke thought as he looked at Naruto, who was still motionless lying on the ground.

“It’s over.” Orochimaru stated simply as he looked from Naruto to Sasuke. He nodded at Kabuto, who understood completely and walked towards Sasuke, ready to heal him.

“I-it can’t be...” Jiraiya said, not believing what he was seeing.

“Dammit!” Tsunade said as he punched the closest wall, creating a hole in it.

“No...” Sakura whispered as tears started to form in her eyes. “Naruto... no...” The tears were now falling down.

“Master!” Sakura screamed as she looked at Tsunade, who held her eyes closed, her fist still on the wall.

Sakura’s heart skipped a beat as she slowly looked at Jiraiya, who had the same expression on his face.

“Naruto!” She screamed as she ran towards him.

“Sakura! Come back!” Tsunade ordered, but Sakura didn’t listen; she just kept running.

When she arrived at the body, she kneeled down and green light emitted from her hands, placing them on his chest.

“Naruto... please, please, please.” Sakura whispered over and over again.

“Foolish girl,” She heard Orochimaru say, but did not look at him, she continued to try and put more of her power in her healing.

Orochimaru continued; “You are not strong enough to heal him and even if you were...” He paused and grinned, “it would be too late. He is already dead.”

Sakura’s eyes went wide as the green light from her hands disappeared.

She shook her head wildly. “No, he’s not! I refuse to believe he is! He-he promised me! We would go home together, with Sasuke, with everyone!” New tears feel down on Naruto’s vest as Sakura looked at his face.

He looked so pale, she didn’t dare to touch him. “Naruto..” She whispered while she quietly lied her head on his chest. “I’m so sorry... please, please come back...”

“Where am I?” Naruto asked as he walked in a white room. “Wasn’t I fighting Sasuke?” He looked around; there was no one.

You should have used my power, partner, then you wouldn’t have died...

“Died...?” Naruto said as his eyes went wide, looking down. “I’m dead?”

Yes, the Uchiha kid killed you. Such a pity, partner... you could have won with my power...

“I told you, I don’t need your power! I’m going back! I’m going back to Sakura-chan! I’m going home together with her and Sasuke!” Naruto yelled as he looked above him, not knowing where Kyuubi was.

I can revive you with my power, partner... Just surrender to my power, like you always do, like when you anger gets the best of you...

“Wait, you need me to survive, right? So, if I’m dead, then you are dead as well.” Naruto didn’t heard any reply, but he knew he was right.

He continued, “So, you can’t survive if I’m dead.” Naruto smirked, he had him there.

You will never see your girlfriend again... Kyuubi continued.

Naruto didn’t stopped grinning, “I’ll get out her myself, and I don’t need your help.” He started walking again, not knowing where he was going, but his spirit was strong, and he didn’t give up.

He walked for a while, and then he saw a figure standing there, with it’s back towards Naruto.

When he came closer, he saw that the person had long, red hair and wore a baby blue dress. He figured it was a woman. It seemed like she didn’t noticed him.

“Uh, excuse me?” Naruto asked, but the woman didn’t respond. He continued, “Uhm, can I ask you something?”

The woman finally started to turned around, and her hair moved along with her turn, flowing gracefully around her. She had a gentle smile on her face as she looked at Naruto.

Naruto blushed; she was very pretty in his eyes. But who was she?

“I’ve waited for you, Naruto.” The woman spoke, her voice soft.

“Are you an angel?” Naruto asked while looking at her.

The woman smiled; “Something like that.” She held her hand up and walked towards him. When she was standing before him, she placed her hand on his head, softly stroking his hair.

“Where am I? How do you know my name?” Naruto said, as he didn’t look away when she touched him.

The woman smiled again, “This is the in-between world. It’s not heaven, it’s not hell. It’s nothing actually.” She continued to stroke his hair.

“So, I’m not dead?” Naruto asked hopefully.

The woman shook her head. “Somebody wants you to return to her very badly; she can’t let you go just yet. And it’s just not your time yet.”

“Somebody...?” Naruto thought for a while. “Sakura-chan!”

The woman laughed softly; “That’s right, Sakura-chan.”

Naruto as happy, but there was still something bugging him; “How do you know my name?”

“I’ve been watching you for a very long time. I know how you live, know what you have been trough and the many friends you made.” The woman replied, her hand now at her side.

“What?” Naruto asked, confused. Who was this woman?

She laughed softly, with hr eyes closed. “It’s not important, Naruto... Just remember that you always have a guardian angel watching over you.”

“My guardian angel?”

“It’s time to claim my price..” Orochimaru said as he walked towards Naruto, while Kabuto was still healing Sasuke.

Sasuke saw everything, “What is he going to do?”

“He is going to steal the Kyuubi from Naruto’s body.” Kabuto simply said as he concentrated his healing on Sasuke’s wounds.

“What?!” Sasuke said as he immediately received stabbing pain in his chest. “This was my fight, how dare he interfere!” Sasuke wanted to stand up, but he was still weak.

“Calm down, Sasuke-kun, your wounds are not yet healed. Please, let me do my job.” Kabuto said as his eyes were hidden by the reflection of his glasses.

Sakura was still crying on Naruto’s chest as Orochimaru came closer. She looked up as she heard his footsteps come closer. She looked scared at him, clutching his vest tight.

“Stay away!” Sakura yelled, but you could hear she was scared.

“Not yet, Naruto has something that I want...” Orochimaru said coming closer and closer.

He smirked, “And I’m going to claim it as my own right now!”

To Be Continued