• I don't own Naruto. Only Niao, Haku Natsuhiboshi, Mina, and some others that I can't remember at this time. Please PM me if you have any questions.

    It was midsummer in Konohagakure and a battle with some rouge ninjas had been drawing on for about three years now. Niao was at Kiba’s side as usual. But today, she felt as if something horrible was going to happen. Suddenly Sasuke jumped in front of Niao.
    “UCHIHA! GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!” Niao yelled. But it had been too late. Blood flowed onto the battlefront. Niao grabbed Sasuke before he hit the ground. Sakura was already tending to his wounds.
    “Niao! Go get Naruto! HURRY!” Sakura said.
    Niao nodded and darted to the village. She was so scared. Behind the door of the Hokage’s office, she could hear Tsunade arguing with the newest Hokage, Naruto. Niao burst into the office.
    “Naruto! Come to the battlefield! Sasuke’s hurt badly!” Niao cried sadly.
    As they returned to the field, Sakura was crying. The other ninjas were hurt. Sakura saw Niao and shook her head.
    “SASUKE!!! NOOOOOOO!!!! Please don’t die.” Niao said. She started to cry. Sasuke touched Niao’s hand.
    “Don’t… ung … don’t cry for… mng… me Niao. It doesn’t hurt that much.” Sasuke said smiling with pain.
    “Sasuke… You saved my life today.” Niao said, tears forming. I… I’m crying… for the man I despised, and… never trusted. “Sasuke… please stay with me! DON’T DIE ON ME YOU FOOL! I never loved you or trusted you! Don’t… you… dare… close… your…eyes!” Niao cried.
    Sasuke knew he was going to die. The wounds he had received had been too great.
    “Sasuke! Don’t you dare die on me you fool!” Niao sobbed.
    To him, her voice sounded like a badly tuned radio. Like it was coming from a great distance away.
    “N… Niao… kack… I… want… you… to… kiss me.” he said.
    Niao looked at Kiba who nodded. She leaned in towards Sasuke and their lips locked in a kiss. Niao winced in anger. Niao held him very close. Sasuke looked up into Niao’s big blue eyes and smiled for the last time. Then Sasuke went limp.
    “Sasuke! Sasuke! NO! Please! Not Sasuke!” Niao screamed.
    The tailed beast inside of Niao got loose. She stood up and growled as if she was a wild animal.
    “I’ll murder the monster that killed Sasuke.” Niao growled as her eyes turned a vivid violet.
    She then blasted on to the field. All the enemy could see was a purple streak blasting across towards them. She tore through the enemy with her katana blade. Kiba joined her.
    “Niao, can I ask you something?” he asked.
    “Kiba, whatever it is, can it wait?” Niao roared.
    “No. Will you marry me?” Kiba asked.
    “This is NOT the time to ask that question! Get back to your position! THAT’S AN ORDER INUZUKA!” Niao ordered.
    “Yes Captain Natsuhiboshi!” Kiba replied racing to help the others.
    Meanwhile, back at the medic tent, Sasuke was waking up. He groaned and tried to move. Sakura had thought him to be dead. As she was making her rounds, she saw his chest move. They had been married for three years already and had twins. Both were boys.
    “Sasuke! Y… You’re alive!” Sakura said as Sasuke got up and retrieved his shirt.
    “I need to get back to Captain Niao. She might have orders for me” Sasuke said as he put his shirt on.
    He then headed out amongst his comrades and hurried to Niao’s side. The sun was right on his back. He stepped right onto a boulder behind Niao. The enemies gasped. There, in the afternoon sunlight, stood the last of the old Uchiha clan. Sasuke smirked as he charged right into the battle.
    “Captain! I’m ready for action! I’ll watch your back.” Sasuke said as he took his place behind Niao.
    Niao gasped in surprise but then she noted that the chakra was indeed Sasuke’s.
    “Alright! Keep an eye out for the one that tried to kill you earlier.” Niao ordered.
    Sasuke watched for that same rouge. Then he thought of something.
    “Niao?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Thanks for the kiss. It was exhilarating.” Sasuke said as he smiled.
    Niao groaned and concentrated on killing the enemies. Sasuke helped as much as he could. Then, suddenly, Niao was hurt! Sasuke felt her warmth melt away from his back.
    “Niao!” Sasuke yelped.
    Niao got back up despite the pain. It hurt but Niao kept on fighting. Her movements were slowing down.
    “Niao! Above you!” Sasuke cried.
    Niao tried to move but it was too late. The ninja slashed down her right shoulder and she faltered. The wounds were extremely deep. The demonic chakura inside of her was slowly healing her. Her blood splattered onto the field.
    “Niao! Stay with me!” Sasuke said as he turned to her.
    Kiba saw what had happened and ran to her side. As he ran, several other leaf ninja joined him.
    “Niao! Stay with me! Haku! Medic treatment over here! Hurry!” Kiba called.
    Niao’s sixteen-year-old brother rushed out to her side. The leaf ninja surrounded them to protect Haku, Niao, and Sasuke.
    “Nai-nai! Stay with me now sis! Stay strong! Don’t die on me yet! DON’T DIE ON ME NOW! NIAO!” Haku screamed as he tried to heal his sister’s wounds. The wounds were healing but her heart was slowing down. Haku knew that there was nothing that he could do to save his sister.
    “Niao, use my chakra.” Sasuke said as he forced his chakura into her. Her heart rate went back to its normal state. She got up and smiled. Sasuke’s eyes were starting to blank.
    “What? I don’t know why you’re all standing here when there’s a BATTLE GOING ON!” Niao cried.
    Several ninja shuddered. Then Sasuke suddenly slumped forward. He had forced all of his chakra into Niao to save her life. Sasuke was dead. Niao had seen him slump forward and she grabbed him. She felt for a pulse, which she found none.
    “He’s dead. Sasuke Uchiha died because of me. He forced all of his chakra into me so that I could live. But in doing that, he forfeit his own life. It was, and is, a noble sacrifice. Sakura, I’m really sorry for your loss.” Niao said.
    Then Naruto finally showed up. All the ninjas bowed in respect to him.
    “Naruto. Sasuke died to save my life. I was dying and he forced his chakra into me but he died because he forced all of his chakra into me to save my life. It’s a noble sacrifice.” Niao said.
    Sakura started to cry. Haku looked at Sasuke’s body.
    “I think that there’s still time to save him.” Haku stated firmly.
    “No Haku! He’d need a resurrection jutsu. You’re still too young to do that. I’m stronger than you.” Niao said.
    “Sasuke! No!” Sakura sobbed as three ANBU held her back.
    Niao turned to Naruto. Her eyes turned the vivid purple of Sparky, who was sealed inside of her. Naruto’s eyes were of the vivid red of Kyuubi the nine tailed fox. Haku’s eyes were the vivid green of Twotone. Naruto nodded. Niao fell to her knees and tried to revive Sasuke. She had to concentrate hard.
    “Soul Restoration Jutsu!” Niao muttered.
    Sasuke’s eyes fluttered open. Then he coughed. He groaned with pain as chakra flooded his body. Niao panted with the effort it took to reanimate a human. The jutsu then was completed. Niao then felt tired. She had used too much chakra and fainted. Sasuke felt his strength return. He wanted to tell her something but he couldn’t find the right words so he kissed her. Then he activated his Sharingan. Three hours later, Niao woke up. She felt warm arms holding her. She opened her eyes to see Sasuke’s Sharingan looking right at her. Then she noticed Kiba and Shino talking about something nearby. She then looked at Sasuke again. And everyone seemed to be around there.
    “You better not be looking through my clothes again Uchiha.” Niao said.
    Sasuke grinned. Kiba then pushed him out of the way to get to Niao.
    “Are you alright Captain?” Kiba said.
    “Yeah, I’m fine now. How’s the battle going?” Niao replied.
    Everyone but Kiba looked away from Niao.
    “Haku, well, he… he charged into the enemies and…” Kiba stammered.
    “No!” Niao cried as they brought Haku’s body in. “HAKU!! BROTHER!! Please wake up! PLEASE! Don’t be dead!”
    Shino put his hand on her shoulder. Naruto looked into her eyes. He didn’t quite get her feelings. She grabbed Naruto in a hug. He held her close. She sobbed loudly. He just held her in his grasp as if they had both lost a comrade. Then Niao spoke.
    “First it was Mina, then Lord Third only moments later. Then Jaraiya-san was taken from Naruto and I in a fight with Pein which I witnessed firsthand. Now it’s Haku. Why is it always people that I’m closest to die?” Niao sobbed angrily.
    “Niao, I… I tried to stop him, but he just wouldn’t listen to any of us. He was really angry when you fainted. He thought that you were dead. Twotone’s yours to command now.” Naruto said.
    Niao stood up and dried her tears. This wasn’t a time to mourn for the death of another. She looked at the ninjas surrounding her. She felt powerful as Twotone’s chakra melded with Sparky’s.
    “Uchiha! You, Shino, and Shikamaru will go to the front lines and retrieve any bodies of our ninjas. Ino, you and Sakura will go to the front lines to gather survivors and heal them! Naruto, I need you to go with Chouji, Lee, and I to find the enemy’s weaknesses.” Niao ordered.
    “But…” Naruto started.
    “You may be the Hokage, Naruto, but I am this army’s captain. You WILL obey.” Niao interrupted.
    “Captain, what’s the use of us splitting up if the enemies are already overpowering us?” Lee asked.
    Niao looked around the room at the troops that had gathered. She sighed and thought it out carefully. She whistled to get their attention and stepped onto a boulder that was behind her. The mass looked upon her.
    “Listen up! All of you! We aren’t Genin anymore! Many of you are Chunin, and even more of us are Jonin. A few of us made it to rank amongst the elite ANBU! It is our duty as shinobi to fight and die for our village and its people! Some people think that the life of a ninja is easy. Well, it damn well isn’t! There are young Genin who’ll look at us and at the memorial stone and say that we died fighting for the protection of the village and its people. Some of you are married and have kids. Do you want them to think of you as cowards or as heroes? As I look around me, I see the kids I hung out with when I was young. Now all of us are battle worn, sweat soaked, blood stained warriors who still act like kids.” Niao said. She heard an angry grumble from many of the troops. “Listen to yourselves talk! Don’t you want to be remembered as a great war hero? Or a coward? If we run now like frightened children, we’ll never be remembered. I sure as hell want to be remembered as a great captain that saved Konoha from danger, not the girl that ran away. WHO’S WITH ME?” Niao yelled.
    A collective shout rose from the troops. Some of them raised up their kunai in support. Niao smiled.
    “Alright! LET’S MOVE OUT!” Niao cried.
    “Hell yeah!” Sasuke yelled as he moved to his team.
    Niao suddenly had a bad feeling about the teams. She felt like she should go alone. She didn’t want anyone else to die tonight. She joined her team. They all sensed that she was tense about something. She left her bell on the ground. All of them looked at her. Naruto was the only one that seemed to understand the situation.
    “Niao! This is suicidal! You can’t do this alone!” Naruto called to her as she left. He grabbed her arm. “Please, don’t throw away your life because of your brother’s death or for any stupid reason.”
    “Let go. Naruto, I don’t want anyone else to die tonight. If anyone’s to die, it’s whoever killed my brother. If I don’t come back alive, please, bury me next to my brother. If that’s not possible, bury me next to Jaraiya. Naruto, I just want to do this alone.” Niao said angrily.
    He let go of her. He had something to say to her. The truth would hurt but he had to tell her and remind her of the times where she had nearly died in fights. It was now or never.
    “Remember the day you nearly drowned on our first mission? I was so scared that you were dead when Kakashi-sensei pulled you out of the water. You were so silent. I held your hand. Sasuke lied to you and said that he did to get on your good side. I remember looking into your eyes and thinking about what you had said about dreams being pointless to accept. Here we are, only 12 years later, my dream came true. Yours didn’t. You told me that your dream was to marry your true love. I wanted to apologize for making fun of you about not being able to swim at all. Every mission that we went on together, I was always frightened for your safety. Every day since you ran off after Sasuke left, I waited for you to come back. When you hadn’t returned, I thought you were really dead. When you were fighting Deidara and Sasori in Suna, I wondered if you would live. Every fight you got into with Sasuke or Neji or whoever it was, I watched you intently. You scared me during the Chunin Exams when you were fighting Gaara. I always thought of you as a hero and a sister. You should be the Hokage, not me. I don’t want to lose you again, like when we were Genin on our first mission. I thought you were going to die when Zabuza caught you. And when you fought Haku in that mirror jutsu, I thought you would die of massive blood loss. I guess to sum it all up, I love you more than a team mate would.” Naruto confessed.
    “Yes Naruto, I remember those days. I may have been blind but I still remember. Those days were the most frightening. I had so many problems back then. But you… you showed me what true bravery was on our first mission when you tried to save Sasuke from the evil Haku. And when we were fighting the Akatsuki, you shielded me so that I could survive. What did I do when you were fighting Pein? I just stood there and DID NOTHING TO HELP YOU! I stood by your side when we fought Madara. It frightened me when you suffered all those injuries that Madara gave you. Especially when things tore the team apart, you and I stuck together. You earned the title of Hokage, Foxboy. I’ve had three years with the Akatsuki and it hardened me. If I don’t come back, I want you to know that it was a pleasure to fight with you as a team mate and under you as the Hokage. Naruto, I’m so sorry. I’ll see you around I guess. Goodbye.” Niao said sorrowfully.
    “Please come back safely Niao. I don’t want to explain to Tsunade, or Sakura for that matter, how you died. Nor do I want to explain to Kiba why you’re not coming back alive ever again.” Naruto said.
    Niao turned to him. For the first time in twelve years, she saw that Naruto was crying. She saw past the scars and saw the Naruto that she’d spent time with. The boy that helped her throughout her depression and sorrows. She kneeled down in respect. Naruto saw through the battered clothes and body to the tomboyish girl he’d known long ago. She still was a stubborn fool. Niao stood back up.
    “Naruto, can you do me a favor if I die?” Niao asked.
    “What is it?” Naruto asked.
    “Give Neji a good beating from me will you?” Niao smiled.
    Naruto smiled and nodded. Niao headed off into the oncoming darkness of night. Naruto followed her. She turned towards his chakra. She growled at him.
    “Sorry Niao. No matter what happens tonight, I’m going to stay by your side until I die. We’re a part of a team. Believe it. I made a promise a long time ago that I would always stand by you and protect you! ‘I won't run away anymore... I won't go back on my word... that is my ninja way! I'm not going to take back my words. That's my way of the ninja!’ I said that so long ago. I also said that I’d protect you no matter what happened!” he said.
    Niao gasped at him in surprise. Was he just messing around as usual or was he telling the truth? She couldn't tell in the dark of the night.Then she stopped. Her eyes glazed over and she fell into a deep trance. Naruto knew exactly what was going on. All he had to do was wait for her verdict. Niao's mouth twitched into a frown.
    “Sorry Naruto. This isn't your fight. Not this time anyways. Sorry, but it’s not a good sign. I saw the raven, the symbol of a friend’s death. This isn’t like the Shion mission. I can’t have you follow me. That’s an order as your captain. But as your friend, I beg you to stay here. I can’t lose you again Naruto. Not like I almost lost you to Madara Uchiha. I won’t let it happen again, not to you, because I promised Jaraiya, before he died, that I’d protect you. I also made a promise to your mother 23 years ago. The crystal around your neck came from my icy prison. It chipped off and became the crystal that you wear next to Tsunade’s necklace. That was a promise I kept when you touched the block that held me prisoner 20 years ago. She was 8 months pregnant with you when she pleaded that I choose you when you were old enough. ‘Please protect my son when he’s old enough to touch the ice block. Please protect him, princess of the ice’ she said. A piece of ice chipped off and became the pure, snow white crystal you still wear around your neck. Naruto, please forgive me. I’ll be back, I promise. Just please stay away from the enemy camp tonight. I want you to promise me. As your captain, I order you to leave. As your friend, however, I want you to make your choice wisely. ANIMAL SUMMONING JUTSU! ART OF THE YIN AND YANG FOXES!” she cried loudly.
    Out of the smoke came two fully grown Kitsune. A male and a female. Naruto knew that she had summoned her two personal foxes named Joey, the male, and Coyote, the female. Joey looked around and “kissed” Niao with his nose. He turned into a fully armored man with a fox tail and fox ears. The three of them turned and started to walk away. Then Naruto sighed.
    “I don’t believe you Niao. I never would’ve gotten close to your icy prison without my crystal that you say was a shard of pure ice. The reason I still wear it is because it helps me remember the day I met you. The way the ice cracked when my hands left it and the noise still rings in my ears. I remember the way you were screaming when your face unfroze. The way you lost consciousness when you stopped screaming in fear and pain. Why did you scream? TELL ME NIAO! YOU ALWAYS CHALLENGED ME WHEN I WAS MAD OR UPSET ABOUT THINGS! NIAO, ANSWER ME DANG IT! I DESERVE ANSWERS NOT ANOTHER DAMMAGING RIDDLE ABOUT MY LIFE! I NEARLY KILLED YOU AND SAKURA AT THE TENSHI BRIDGE! I NEARLY WAS KILLED BY YOU ON THE FULL MOON WHEN WE WERE 17 WHEN SPARKY GOT LOOSE! I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU ATTACKED SAI AND THE REST OF THE TEAM WHEN YOU LOST CONTROL THAT JULY NIGHT WHEN THE MOON ROSE! TELL ME WHY YOU AND I BOTH LOST CONTROL AT THE TENSHI BRIDGE. YA WANNA KNOW SOMETHING ELSE? YOU’RE STARTING TO ACT JUST LIKE SASUKE RIGHT NOW!” Naruto screamed angrily.
    Niao flinched. He had touched a nerve and he knew he had. The Two-toned Spark was getting loose inside of her now, she could feel it. Rage and chakra flooded her body like a river during a flood. Her body started to shake. Then she turned to Naruto. Her eyes were a real deep, dark purple with rage.
    “I am nothing like that stupid Uchiha boy. He hurt me when he left me injured in the Final Valley. I should have let him DIE!” Niao growled.
    Joey grabbed Niao’s arms and held her back. Niao was a big, scary, and really a nasty danger to anyone that tried to grab her in any way.
    “Niao, don’t do it. He isn’t worth it. Save it for the man that has killed Haku. Save it for the human that was responsible for murdering the great Natsuhiboshi’s last hope for restarting the clan, your only brother. Do you really want to waste time and chakra on him?” Joey asked calmly.
    Niao relaxed. She knew that Joey was right. She calmed down. Then she heard someone crying. Naruto was crying. Then Niao did something totally unpredictable. She ran to him and hugged him. He hugged her back in surprise. Niao held him for a moment, then she let him go.