llVoice of Destiny/Inner Sakura

"Normal Talking"

Thoughts/Sound Effects

"Flashback dialogue/Japanese/Emphasis of words"

"Demon speak"

- - - - - - - - - -

Key Through the Heart

A fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters or properties mentioned in this story. The story's mine, the concept is mine, but everything else is not mine. And I'm certainly not writing this for profit.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Darkness. All that there is around him was darkness: Ever hungry, ever constant, ever trying to consume him from within. It was like it was pushing inside of his body and spreading out to begin to cover his skin.

"No…" He snarled. "Stop it… Recede… I don't need your power!"

The voice: The voice came out from within him, without him, all around.

Still light left inside...

The darkness spread over his skin further, burning like fire. He gritted his teeth against the pain, trying to use it to encourage his resistance.

I don't want to be here! I don't want to be here! He thought, anger burning against the pain.

But it can serve as an effective lure…

The pain receded, replaced with a feeling of freefall into the abyss below.

"ENGHH!"

"Sasuke… Sasuke?"

"Hn...nnmm?"

He opened his eyes. A familiar ceiling greets his sight, as do familiar sheets and mattress around him. An equally familiar pair of green eyes came into view.

"… Aerith?" He asked with a dry throat. The green eyes receded, revealing the woman entirely. She gave him a small smile.

"You gave me a bit of a fright last night... Do you remember what happened?"

Sasuke tried, and frowned. Nothing came to mind. Nothing but darkness.

"No…"

"Well... I was doing my rounds last night, when a star winked out, and well... You fell out of the sky, nearly on top of me," Aerith said, reaching out and touching his shoulder. Sasuke flinched, which made Aerith pull her hand back.

"Sorry," she said quietly. Sasuke shook his head, reaching up to grasp the back of his neck.

"You used the Seal, didn't you?"

He turned to look back at her: She stared back, perfectly calm.

"… I had to…" Sasuke quietly said.

I had to… I had to…

Sasuke clenched the back of his neck in irritation.

He had to… Naruto… He hadn't needed to use that other power… Had he?

Naruto… His world…

"That star… It was my world… Wasn't it?" He asked. Aerith nodded.

He buried his face in his palm and let out a long, slow breath. Mindful of his reaction last time, Aerith didn't move to touch him. Not until he'd vented. She could remember her own reactions to her world's conquest by the Heartless.

"Did… Did you find anyone else?"

"One other," Aerith said calmly, but promptly. "He's resting at Squall's home."

A flash of yellow appeared in his mind, and Sasuke felt the oddest sense of relief and exasperation for just a moment. It was a welcome respite from the darkness that just seemed to keep building and building within him.

"It's Naruto… Isn't it?"

"That's what he gave his name as..."

"Blonde, four foot ten, wears orange, incredibly annoying?"

Both Aerith and Sasuke looked at the door. A tall, red-haired man stood there, a black case in one hand. Sasuke blinked and managed a shrug.

"… Yes."

"Great. As for you… Let me guess. That hair is "natural", right?"

Sasuke just stared at him. Aerith sighed.

"Sasuke, this is Dr. Cox. Dr. Cox, Sasuke."

"Yeah, not going to remember that. You'll have to settle for Suzy Q," Cox said, walking over to Sasuke's side.

"Keep your eyes open," he said as he pulled out a small penlight. He shined it over Sasuke's eyes, and then raised his eyebrows.

"What in the...?"

Aerith coughed.

"Sasuke... Sharingan..."

Sasuke blinked. He could feel the chakra drain now. How did I miss this…?

"Hang on, hang on, don't shut that... Whatever the hell it is off yet," Cox said. He frowned and peered closer at Sasuke's eyes.

"Either this is the worst case of conjunctivitis I've ever seen, or you've got kaleidoscopes in your eyes. Dare I ask whose idea it was to plug those things into them? Yours, or was it peer pressure? Or were you just so eager to impress the boy next door you decided to make him get lost in your eyes? Because I can tell you right now, Mary Jane, all it's doing is making me feel dizzy..."

"...It's a hereditary trait...and I didn't know they were on..." Sasuke replied quietly, scowling a little more.

"Hereditary huh?" Cox asked. He watched the tomoe spin within the eyes for a bit longer, until Sasuke, irritated, smacked the penlight away. It smashed against the wall. Cox looked over at the wall, and then looked back at Sasuke.

"Shall I get you some dishes to throw as well, Gertrude? Or a tampon box? After you've used it, of course-"

"Sasuke, calm," Aerith said, placing a hand on the Uchiha survivor's shoulder. Sasuke glowered hatefully at Cox. The green eyed-woman looked at Dr. Cox with a serene expression.

"Dr. Cox, the sooner you are done, the sooner you can get back to your other patients."

"Ah, yes, but you see Aerith, I am blessed with the ability to multitask. So, I can degrade, insult, and otherwise gleefully crush someone's spirit while still treating and healing their body," Cox replied, procuring another penlight and shining it in the increasingly annoyed Sasuke's eyes. Aerith cleared her throat, expression quietly stern. Cox looked her in the eyes, annoyance building.

The two stared each other down for a few moments: Then, Dr. Cox looked away and put the spare penlight back in his case.

"Right, well… Moving on, open wide Fiona, I need to check your tonsils," Cox said in a somewhat lower tone of voice. Sasuke blinked, and looked over at Aerith. The brunette merely gave him a serene smile, that paradoxically made him feel comforted and uneasy.

"I know the feeling," Dr. Cox mumbled to Sasuke.

"Mm? What did you say, Dr. Cox?" Aerith asked.

"Nothing…"

After a few more tests with a minimum of snark, Dr. Cox pulled back.

"Well, you're in surprisingly good shape considering you went through the end of your world," the doctor said wryly. "You just need to rest and you'll be fine."

Sasuke ignored him and threw the covers off his body. Aerith coughed.

"Uh… Sasuke…"

He looked down at his boxers, and blushed a bit under Aerith's gaze.

"Where are my clothes?"

"Glad you don't want to make yourself quite so easy, Cindy Loo. Remember, more is more," Cox said, standing up. "I've got things to do. Tell me if anything changes, I just might care." With that, he turned and walked out, his shoulders tensing a little at Aerith's gaze falling on his back.

"Worse than Carla and Jordan combined," he muttered under his breath, so low that even Sasuke could just barely hear him.

"As for your clothes, they're in the wash," Aerith answered. She stood up and turned around, grabbing a stack of clothing and turning around to hand it over to him.

"These are some of Ed's." She then lowered her voice. "They might be a bit small for you though-"

"Doesn't matter," Sasuke cut her off, wincing a little as he pulled on a white T-shirt first. His shoulders were a little sore still. "Nnngh… I need to talk to Naruto and decide what to do now."

"You could wait," she said with a smile. Sasuke stared at her, and she sighed.

"Though I can't really blame you for not wanting to," she concluded. "You will take it easy though, understand?"

Sasuke nodded shortly as he finished dressing. "Understood."

"Good," Aerith smiled, and handed over his sword, which he quickly strapped onto his back. "Shall we then?"

- - - - - - - - - - -

Naruto found himself slowly waking up, emerging from a deep and (for once) dreamless sleep. He kept his eyes closed though, as he could sense a chakra signature very near him.

I swear, if this is another dog, he thought irritably as he slowly opened his eyes to see what was near him, and where he was. However, all that greeted him was a pair of wide brown eyes and a big smile.

"You're awake!"

"UWAAAH!" Naruto cried in shock, jumping back and hitting his head against the wall.

"D'OW!" He held his head and lost his balance, falling out of a bed in a tangle of sheets onto a hard wooden floor.

"SON OF A-OWW!"

Female giggling filled the air above him, and Naruto groaned, looking up. A slim, attractive kunoichi with short brown hair and dressed in rather skimpy clothing was sticking to the ceiling, laughing at him.

"Hahahaha! Oh, that was great!" She giggled. Naruto scowled up at her.

"What the heck were you doing?!"

"Debating whether or not I was going to kiss you awake," she replied with a flirtatious wink. "You really are so cute it was hard for me to resist!"

Naruto blushed heavily.

"H-Huh?! But-I-!"

"Just kidding," the kunoichi teased.

"Uh, I, er…" Naruto managed to put together some coherent thought, and scowled up at her. He then stood up, letting the blankets fall… And noticed a bit of a draft. He looked down and squeaked.

"Gah! Wh-Where are my pants?! And my shirt?!"

"They were torn up and dirty, so we sent them off to get cleaned and repaired," the kunoichi said. She winked again. "Can't say I'm sorry about it…"

Naruto's blush deepened, and he pulled up the blankets around him. The kunoichi dropped from the ceiling and landed on her feet, giving him a big grin.

"Hey, relax! You're safe here…" She rummaged around in a pack on the floor, and handed him some clothes. "If you really need to get dressed, here are some clothes from a friend of ours… Might be a bit big on you, though."

"Thanks, uh…?"

"My name's Yuffie," the kunoichi introduced herself with another wink and grin. "I'm the best ninja ever!"

Naruto blinked at her, and then smirked.

"Ha! Maybe on your world, but you haven't met me! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage!"

His smirk fell from his lips, and he looked away from her.

"Or… Um…"

… I was…

He didn't want to feel depressed, but his whole world, gone, just like that... It wasn't the kind of thing he could just put a smile over. He wanted, needed to do something... But what...?

He felt a warm hand take his, and he looked at Yuffie. The kunoichi smiled at him.

"Hey… It's okay… Everyone here has been through exactly what you've been through. We're all… Well…"

"Refugees."

Both ninja turned to the door, where a scarred man in a leather-furred jacket with a lion-shaped pendant hanging from his neck stood. Naruto stared at him, and especially stared at the strange sword hanging from his belt.

"Way to spoil the moment, Squall," Yuffie said. Squall's eyes narrowed at her.

"Leon."

"Right, right… Uzumaki Naruto, meet Leon. This is his house."

"Uh, thanks," Naruto said. "Where are-?"

"The others are downstairs, having breakfast," Leon stated. He turned to go. "You're free to join after you're bathed and dressed."

"Oh, no worries about the bathing, Leon! I already took care of that!" Yuffie called back cheerfully. Naruto's whole body burned in a deep blush, as Yuffie turned back and gave him a sweet smile.

"Need any help getting dressed?" She posed innocently. Naruto, flustered, backed away and tripped over his blanket, yelping as he felt back onto the floor. Yuffie giggled again.

"You're just too cute, you know that?"

"Gah…"

That smile should be registered as a deadly weapon, Naruto thought with complete seriousness.

- - - - - - - - - - -

This was no ordinary game. It was a task for the mighty, a task for the most determined. Kisame had faced many challenges over the course of his life. From his intense training to become a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Mists, to being chosen by and mastering Samehada, to ultimately rebelling against his country and slaughtering hundreds of ninja, samurai and daimyo. He was ruthless, powerful...

"Argghhh..."

The claw refused, once more, to deposit the toy he sought into the receptacle. Kisame growled at the machine, watching his prize once again fall into the mass of green, rubber space men.

"You've been at that game for two hours now," Itachi spoke nearby, finishing off another slice of pizza. The S-Rank criminal wiped his lips clean, and nodded. The food was rather greasy, but absolutely delicious, and it's design practically guaranteed social eating. It was a clever idea. It would have probably taken off like a rocket in Konoha, and would have brought the Uchiha back to their roots in a manner of speaking. They had started out as blacksmiths for the Hyuuga Clan, a servant clan, but had branched out into many fields, including police work and cooking.

Uchiha Pizza... It has a ring to it...

"I say it's rigged," Kisame growled, fishing around in his pockets for another coin. Itachi easily resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Of course it's rigged. Otherwise they wouldn't have made any money."

"Then how, praytell, is it rigged?" Kisame growled, looking it over. "I can't figure it out!"

"Why are you so interested in that game anyway?" Itachi asked. Kisame tapped the glass with a shark's grin.

"There is one toy within not like the others..." He turned back and narrowed his eyes. "I believe it is called... A Buzz Lightyear."

Kisame looked up, and raised his brow as Itachi was now standing in front of the machine, digging out another coin.

"Itachi?"

"Scoot over," he ordered. "I'll get it out."

Itachi inserted his coin, and took the controls. With precise movement of the joystick, he brought the claw over the action figure, and slowly reeled it out. With equal precision, he brought it over to the receptacle and released, the toy making a loud thump as it hit the bottom.

"Impressive," Kisame said with a grin. He reached for the toy, only to sense a bit of Itachi's killing intent. He turned his head and looked at his partner.

"I won it. It's mine," Itachi stated flatly. Kisame growled.

"I spent the most munny trying to get it!"

"Trying. I actually got it."

"Only when I pointed it out!"

"It's still mine. There are plenty of other toys inside."

"Not another Buzz Lightyear!"

"That's your problem, not mine."

"Uh... Excuse me, sirs... But is there a problem?"

The two Akatsuki members turned to regard the blonde woman who stood before them. She wore a formal blue military uniform, with a Pizza Planet badge identifying her as the manager. Kisame grinned politely.

"No problem miss... No problem at all."

"Keep it that way," she stated flatly, turning and walking away. Itachi actually blinked as he followed her away. He then slapped Kisame's hand.

"Ow!"

"Pathetic," Itachi stated. Kisame held his hand and sulked as Itachi retrieved the Buzz Lightyear. He sniffed... And then sniffed again.

"Hmmm..." He closed his eyes. "I can sense it..."

Itachi nodded. "As can I... It's moving closer."

"They are moving closer," Kisame corrected. Itachi shrugged.

"One or the other, it does not matter. We can obtain them both easily enough."

"If that's so... Can we at least finish up our lunch?" Kisame asked. Itachi turned back to their table, and to the half-eaten pizza. He nodded.

"Very well..."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry for the long wait. Final exams for school have been rather taxing, especially with graduation coming up. Also, very sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I wanted to keep the story moving somehow. So, look forward to another chapter after May 16th-When I've graduated with my shiny new diploma.

… Okay, so it's just a liberal arts associate's degree, but it'll let me get a real degree thanks to the magic of transfers. And then I'll see what kind of jobs are left after our Glorious New Leader is done with the economy. Until then, enjoy some omakes! As always, please review and remember that even if I don't include your omake in the very next chapter, it will be included somewhere.

And please review.

What happened to Dr Cox? Dr. Cox Meets Mai Valentine (From Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged). By Captain Sarcasm.

*Glass shattering*

"What the-? Breast senses... Tingling!"

"Well hello there." *Looks up.* "And... hello to you too."

"What are you doing in my apartment?"

"I could think of a few things."

"My breasts and I prefer younger men."

"What about other parts of you?"

"They also have their preferences. Now, get out... Unless..."

"Unleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees?"

"You'd like to play a card game with me."

"And by play card games you mean the two of us ditch the pretenses and the

euphemisms, get over to that bed and see if we can't bump this from an E to an M?"

"Nnnnooo. And while we're breaking the fourth wall, aren't you married? Or divorced? However it works for you?"

"It works very well, thank you."

"No thanks. Besides, my breasts are too big for this crossover…"

Somewhere, a blonde Sannin sneezed.

Not in Konoha... By The False One-Winged Angel

Naruto slowely opened his eyes, groaning softly at his aching bones. He quickly sat up as his memories returned from the previous day. "What the hell!?" He shouts, looking franticly around him, while he's still on top of the ramen shack. He looks down to the ground, where he see's midgets dancing and singing near-by a yellow brick road.
"Ding Dong, the Witch is dead! The wicked ol' Witch is dead!" Sung the little munchkins.

Naruto blinks at the Keyblade, and says, "I don't think we're in Konoha anymore..."

Another "What Happened to Dr. Cox?" omake, by RockLeetheAwesome:

The cynical doctor picked himself up from the dusty floor. Brushing himself off, Dr. Cox looked around the room he was in. It looked to be an old attic. There was a rundown grandfather clock off to his right, and what looked to be a bunch of furniture covered in plastic.

He turned back to go out the way he came in only to find that the window that had shut behind him was gone, leaving but an empty wall. He frowned, shaking his head. "Good luck, Newbie. Don't get yourself killed."

He turned back around and began to walk through the rather large attic. "Huh. Where's Jordan when you need something cleaned. Hell, Barbie would be welcome." He said half sarcastically. Being away from those you know, (and dare he think it) love, takes a toll on even him.

He walked around a rather large cabinet and stopped dead. There in front of him was what he was looking for. A door, white in color, with bronze handles. "Now to get out of this decrepit place." He walked briskly toward it, his gloomy attitude starting to disappear.

As he lifted his arm for the handle once he got close enough, the border around the door shined brightly, causing Perry to cover his face. When the light dissipated, he lowered his arms. Looking into the now open doorway, he scratched his head. "Huh, a door that leads to nothingness. Always fun."

He took a step back, unsure of whether to actually go through the seemingly empty doorway. It decided to make the choice for him as it began to suck air wildly into itself. "Ah, hell!" was Dr. Cox' only reply, before he, and pretty much everything else in the attic was sucked into the darkness inside, the doors shutting behind it.

-----

Reliving his own memories was something he didn't like doing. Especially when he had to watch Jordan and the kids get taken right in front of him. As he watched the monkey like heartless take his ex-wife's heart again for the umpteenth time, he bolted upright.

"Well, Perry, it's good to see you're still in one piece." Said a gravelly voice to his right.

Cox turned towards the voice in question, only to find someone he'd never thought he'd be happy to see. "Bobbo? Is...is that..really you?" He asked, wide eyed. Rubbing his eyes, he blinked a couple times, letting his vision clear. When his old boss was still standing next to him, he hopped off the table, and enveloped the man in a strong hug.

Bob Kelso returned said hug warmly. When they broke apart, Perry spoke again. "Bob, I don't know where to start! How, first of all!"

Bob crossed his arms. "I don't know myself. All I know is when the heartless enveloped our world, I ended up here. The Interdimensional Rift."

Perry shook his head. "Interdimensional Rift? What the hell is that?" He looked around. There were two more people in the room. One looked to be a simple teenager, in loose blue pants with a brown belt holding them up, along with a matching blue shirt, and a purple bandana tied around his head. He had a rusted sword looped through his belt.

The other was rather strange. He was wearing a full set of Genji Armor, and had a partisan on his back. That wasn't the strange part. Having six arms was what made him strange.

Said six armed man spoke up. "The Interdimentional Rift is the original connector of all the worlds. Before Gummi travel was invented, people used the rift as a means of travel from world to world. Until Exdeath appeared, that is..." He clenched one of his six fists.

"Okay.....who's Exdeath? He's obviously for the dark side, his name gives that away." Dr. Cox replied. The teen spoke up after a nod from the six armed one.

"Exdeath is an evil spirit that's been trying to help Maleficent and the Heartless gain control of The Void, which has been sealed here in the Rift since the Keyblade wars."

"You're losing me again, Susan. What the hell is The Void?" The good doctor smirked as the teen began to fume.

"My name is Randi, and The Void is literally the power of nothingness. It can wipe entire planets out of existence. If the powers of darkness ever got a hold of it again, we may never win this."

Dr. Cox looked to Bob, who shrugged. "I'm letting them tell the story, I know less than they do. What I do know is we need another good doctor."

Perry grimaced. "Bad enough that I was the only doctor in Traverse Town..."

Randi jumped at the mention of Traverse Town. "You were in Traverse Town?!" He cried, running up to the man. When Dr. Cox nodded, he got even more frantic. "Did you happen to see a blond girl about my age, in a pink dress? Or maybe a sprite child with pink hair in a green tunic? Their names were Purim and Popoie!"

Dr. Cox shook his head. "Sorry Gina, I was so busy with the increasing heartless activity there, I didn't really pay attention to people. The only blond person ringing a bell was this kid named Naruto. He had a really weird key shaped sword."

While Randi was busy being upset about his friends not being found, the six armed man stepped forward. "Did you say that boy had a key shaped sword? Did it look like this?" He reached behind his back, before pulling forth what looked like an exact replica of the kids sword.

"Yeah, it was. Guess it wasn't so special after all. Kid was annoying anyway." The cynical doctor replied.

"This is a fake." The six armed man replied. "I would know, being the master swordsmen and treasure hunter, Gilgamesh." Having put the keyblade replica away, he scratched his head. "Hmm.....A new Keymaster has been chosen. We may have a chance yet...." He began to wander off, musing to himself.

Bob turned to Perry. "I know you may not want to do anything, Perry, but you know you have to do something. Wouldn't you want some measure of vengeance on the creatures that took our families and friends away from us?" The old doctor replied, giving Dr. Cox a hard stare.

The redhead thought hard. It'd be with great reluctance for having to help a bunch of stupid people patch up injuries they're giving themselves. He did want to get back at the Heartless for taking his family from him. He just couldn't stand people.

"Gahh. There's something wrong with me, Bobbo. I hug you not ten minutes ago. An hour or two prior I was helping some random kid around town, before we were attacked, and in the ensuing madness, I ended up here. I think...I think I'm...getting soft, Bobbo..."

The former chief of Medicine just smiled, and put a hand on Dr. Cox's shoulder. "Well, that just tells you you're getting old."

Dr. Cox just laughed slightly. "Well, what the hell. Might as well do what I do best, eh?"

Bob looked appalled for a minute. "Like we need you to be crushing our troops spirits." He said.

Perry smiled wryly. "There's no need to get snarky, Bob."

The above omake is not canon to this story, just so you know. More omakes regarding what happened to Dr. Cox are welcome though.