Thanks go to xXCraveCatalysmXx for betaing this thing. :)
And thank you everyone who reviewed, alerted or favorited. They bring me the greatest happiness I know of! 8D
"Hold your position!" Instructed Tsunade when her fellow shinobi had become alarmed and the chakra flow had become unstable. It was important to stay level and stable for Sakura to have best access of it.
The Hokage couldn't really blame them, though. Sakura had just been consumed by a great bright orange glow, emitted from Naruto's seal. She was splayed on top of him, and could be dead for all Tsunade knew.
This hadn't been expected. Tsunade tried to remember if the scroll had mentioned any of this. But no, there had been nothing.
"We have to trust Sakura right now, and let her trust us by keeping the torrent of chakra steady!"She explained, and they settled down almost completely.
A drop of sweat trickled down the leader's brow, and she ached to swipe it away. But she couldn't interrupt the hand seal. Letting out a deep sigh, Tsunade hoped Sakura was safe and that for everyone's sake she would hurry herself back to her body.
Dumbstruck that not only her mind had been sucked in, but also her soul, she blinked up at the cave-like ceiling. The low growl was still quiet, but its source was closer. Sakura hurled herself off the ground, and looked around furtively.
She was in a large dungeon, water dripping from the ceiling, and her feet were submerged in inch high water. She was in the seal.
Sakura's heart beat rapidly in her ribcage, threatening to break free, as Sakura swiftly slipped closer to the source of the growl. Before her were humongous prison bars, holding the darkness behind it captive with a large paper seal plastered over it.
The Yondaime's seal.
A narrowed pair of eyes glared viciously at her from behind it, and she stopped right in her tracks.
What was she supposed to do? There had said nothing about this in the Sage of Six Paths' scroll. Was she to confront the Kyuubi head on? Use her chakra directly on it?
"Kunoichi." The beast's rumbling growl came through its teeth, baring sharp fangs at her. "What are you doing here?"
Through fear and dread Sakura contemplated her actions. The demon's eyes were cunning, almost as if they knew everything Sakura was thinking and feeling, and laughing at her. Somehow those eyes that could only fit a murderer filled her with disgust, burning hate. Swallowing, she hardened her eyes as she looked up at it, deciding it best to be honest. "I'm here to rid Naruto of you," She explained.
"You don't faze me, little girl. I can smell your fear. I can hear your frantic heartbeats. You don't have the guts to kill me."
Emerald orbs narrowing immediately, she snapped. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm not here to kill you." And it wasn't the only thing that frightened her. There was that cutting worry of failing, of not being able to save Naruto.
"Ah," Its eyes widened a fraction in realization. "Do you plan to suppress me then?" It scoffed. "There's no way you can do that alone."
"Who said I'm alone?" Sakura questioned, and realized with relief that the Kyokugaisha had taken over, and her fear and anxiety were steadily seeping out of her. "I will not fail at this, and you will be successfully sealed into me." No hesitation could be heard in her voice.
Another fierce growl rumbled through the dungeon at this, the whole ground trembling under its force.
"You sound sure of yourself, but I won't go so low as to make you my Jinchuuriki."
She gave him an empty stare. "I do not care about your pathetic feelings. Nor do I want to have you. I only care about Naruto." Slowly, firmly she channeled chakra to her clenched fists. "And thus I shall remove you from him."
An incorruptible force was starting to tug her backwards, and she nearly stumbled. "I will leave you for now," slipped out of her.
And then she was yanked backwards, away from the pits of darkness where the Kyuubi reigned.
Opening her eyes, she noticed her upper body was sprawled over Naruto, and quickly, but carefully, she sat up straight, sure to keep her hands in place over the tattoo.
She noticed the relieved and surprised looks on her comrades' faces, and shot them a faint smile before once again shutting her eyes and entering her own world of concentration, leaving all sense of time and space, tracing the tunnel the opened seal had revealed with her chakra, and found the Kyuubi relatively easily. She then removed one of her hands from Naruto's abdomen, and put it on her own, palm flat against bellybutton.
She forced her chakra into herself, and slowly formed a pit of chakra into the same area as Naruto's. She winced at the pain, it was a kind of pain she hadn't felt before, nagging at her insides. It was torturous; she was carving a hole into herself, so slowly she had to fight the urge to speed the process. But she couldn't do that. If she accidentally made a mistake, she was doomed. It took a painstakingly long time, but she finished it.
Now she needed to channel the Kyuubi.
She sighed thankfully; her own chakra would have been gone by now, and she gathered the chakra donated to her and connected hers and Naruto's seal with a green, glowing bubble of chakra, impenetrable from both the inside and outside.
The Kyuubi was furious. It was tearing, clawing and biting at her chakra, but in its still slightly sealed form and with Sakura's control, Sakura knew there was nothing it could do to break her grasp on him. Especially now with the immense chakra supply she had.
Even so, it was a struggling battle, and Sakura couldn't afford to let her guard down. If she did, he would break free and lash out at her, and then put the rest of her village and its inhabitants in ruin.
Bit by bit, at a frustratingly slow pace, Sakura channeled the beast from Naruto to her, and it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate. The Kyuubi was still thrashing wildly in her hold, and now he was doing it inside of her body, too. Sakura felt as if a piece of her was being taken, and she was starting to feel oddly numb.
Despite this, Sakura shoved the disturbing and awkward feeling aside, not willing to let anything break her strong concentration. The Kyokugaisha was helping her, and Sakura was suddenly so sure of herself that she was afraid of getting too cocky, and end up clumsily doing something wrong. But Kyokugaisha blocked these thoughts, and filled her with the confidence and assurance she needed.
Another long time passed, as she had entirely drawn the Kyuubi out of Naruto, and the beast was now residing within her. A foreign warmth spread through her body, and for a split second she felt remarkably at peace. But the calming warmth was interrupted by cold dread, as she, to her anguish and worry, felt a few traces of a different type of energy emitting out of Naruto.
A gasp of panic escaped her lips.
His life force!
Ah, geez. I'm really sorry this took so long time. The only explanation I have is that... uh, stuff happened. Yeah.
I promise to try to get the next chapter up faster for you guys.
