Sometime Around Midnight – Installment III: Never Say Never

(Naruto's POV)

It was dark; really dark. How long had I been out? All I remember is that I was poisoned, and I went out cold. So, how long was I out?

I sat up, seeing that there was a dimly lit campfire. It was odd, because the fire was blue instead of orange. Reluctantly, I got up and walked towards the fire. Why was it blue? It was extremely hot, I could tell without even being close to it. As I approached, the blue flames grew brighter and bigger.

This gave me caution, and I backed up. Something was up. Something wasn't right. Suddenly, the flame exploded with sounds of screams, metal hitting metal, and blood splatter. My ears couldn't handle the loudness of the sounds, and I covered them before everything went dark again.

I reopened my eyes to see Sakura shaking me. "Wake up! Wake up Naruto!" I heard.

(Third POV)

Naruto looked around, and could tell that he was covered in sweat. His blond locks were slightly matted due to the position he was in, and he swallowed.

"What happened?"

Sakura sighed, "The kunai you got hit with was poisoned. Luckily, I got it out before it could spread." Naruto nodded slowly, putting his right hand to his forehead, "Damn," he closed his blue orbs, "I have a headache."

"That could be a side-effect. Don't worry about it. Now get up! We're almost to Iwa." The pink haired kunoichi spoke, and Naruto rose an eyebrow, obviously confused. "How did we get here so fast?"

Kiba walked up, and that's when Naruto heard a bark. "Akamaru was close behind with Neji," he said, "good thing too. You are way too heavy to be carried by any of us." He joked, and Naruto rolled his eyes, "Better question is, how long was I out?"

"Three days. The poison took a real toll on you." Neji answered, crossing his arms. Naruto stood up, and dusted off his clothes, glaring up at the sun that beamed down upon them. He sighed, and cracked his neck and knuckles, "Okay let's move out…how far exactly are we away from Iwa?"

Shikamaru yawned, "About thirty minutes. We should arrive right when night falls. The lair is supposedly right outside the gates of Iwa, except hidden in the forest." Naruto' eyes widened, remembering the Miakegata…

'Merriyah!' He thought, and he started bolting towards the direction of Iwa. This took everyone by surprise, and Sakura ran after him, "Naruto! Slow down!" She yelled, but he was oblivious; he was too concerned on getting to the Miakegata's lair and saving Merriyah.

Everyone started chasing after the two shinobi, and that's when they made their way to Iwagakure.

Deep in the Iwagakure Forest

Tegome walked swiftly across the decrepit hallways of the Miakegata lair as he abruptly opened a steel, latched door. He smirked, "Well, well, well. Are they on their way?" A girl's voice echoed throughout the room, "Yes, Tegome-sama. The Iwa ninja I sent put them even more on the right track."

The Miakegata Leader smiled, pleased, "Good work. Now get some rest. They'll be here soon." And with that, he closed the door with a slam. The room went dark, and only a pair of brightly lit blue eyes.

Outside Iwagakure's Gates

Naruto paused at the gates, seeing guards at the ready for any intruders; especially if they were Konoha ninja. The blond ninja hid in the bushes a distance away from the gates, and Sakura jumped up right next to him. "We made it faster than I thought we would." She said, and Naruto nodded, seeing Neji, Shikamaru, and Kiba hide in the shrubs across from them; Ino joining their hiding spot.

He notioned Kiba, Shikamaru, and Neji to move forward, into the forest, and they rushed across. They made it undetected. Next, Ino and Sakura went, Naruto following suit. Right as they disappeared into the forest, a couple of Iwa Jounnin opened the gates looking around.

The six shinobi traveled cautiously towards the exact place of the hideout. When they arrived, the now knew that the hideout wasn't only a hideout, but a fucking mansion! The place was so huge! In the front, was a classic Japanese style set up, but the back was about a three story tower with two more by its side. It was painted forest green and black, which did well with camoflauge.

"How is this a secret hideout? It's as big as two apartment complexes!" Ino exclaimed, and Naruto smirked, "I doubt this is all. I believe the hideout has to be hidden somewhere either underneath it or behind it." He paused.

Something was off, and that's when Naruto's eyes widened. Ahead, he could see Sakura being stabbed many times in the stomach by a cloaked man. Blood splattered everywhere on the walls of the porch, and the man turned towards him. He lifted his head slightly, and showed his bright yellow eyes.

"Sakura!" He yelled, about to run towards her, until he heard her voice behind him. He turned to see her standing there, with everyone else, looking at him like he was crazy.

Naruto was confused to say the least, "S-Sakura…I thought…you," he looked back at the porch to see nothing but a clean, sturdy porch.

"Are you okay?" Kiba asked, a little freaked out by his blond friend's sudden outburst. Naruto hesitated to answer, but nodded, "Y-Yeah…Let's just move on." What was going on?

"Kiba, Neji, Ino, and Shikamaru go investigate the front to find an entrance. Be careful though. Sakura, come with me to investigate the back." He ordered, and they all nodded, heading to their told positions.

Naruto took Sakura to the back, and she stopped him, "What the hell happened back there?" Naruto knew that he was being confronted, and there was no sense in lying.

"I-I saw you getting brutally…murdered on the front porch." He stuttered, feeling his heart race with fear. Sakura's eyes widened, "You saw that? But how?" She asked, and the ninja shook his head, "I have no idea! It just suddenly appeared!"

Sakura nodded, interested to find out how this all was happening, then it came to her. "The poison! It must've had…some sort of hallucinogenic in it. I have a sample of the poison, I can test it to see for sure." Naruto nodded, and smiled, "Thanks…Now let's get inside." He said, looking around for an entrance.

The ninja all knew that what had started out as a reconnaissance mission, turned into a deadly SS rank mission. Naruto couldn't seem to find a door, so he looked at Sakura, and she smirked. With an adjustment of her glove, Sakura landed an amazingly strong punch into the stone wall of the building, making a gigantic hole in it. Naruto patted her on the shoulder, "Nice. Let's go!" He said to her, and she smiled, following her headstrong teammate.

Down Underneath the Miakegata Household

Mayonaka looked up, and growled, closing his eyes. He quickly teleported to the exact position of Tegome, and had a serious look on his face.

"Tegome-sama, the Konoha ninja are here! What do we do?" He asked, and Tegome rose an eyebrow. There was an awkward silence. "Kill them." He said, simply standing. "Bring everyone else with you," he spoke, walking around his desk, "this could be fun."

In the Foyer

Kiba walked in slowly with Akamaru, Neji, Shikamaru, and Ino at his side. The foyer was dusted, like no one had been there for a while; which gave off a creepy feeling. Shikamaru looked around at the different paintings and statues.

Ino rubbed her arms slightly, getting goosebumps and different cold shivers, "This place is creepy. Doesn't really seem that much of a base where criminals have been." Neji nodded, activating his Byakkugan.

"Naruto was right," he said, looking down, "the hideout is beneath this place. There has to be some entrance." Kiba smirked, "Akamaru and I will handle that!" He said, but Shikamaru stopped him, "Don't rush in. Let's split up into different sections." He spoke.

"Ino, you take the left hallway. I'm guessing that leads to the main dining hall." Ino nodded, and rushed off towards said direction. Shikamaru then looked at Neji, "Go through to the right hall." Neji left without another word, and that's when Akamaru and Kiba took off straight ahead. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Jumping the gun…troublesome." He whispered to himself, as he ran upstairs.

Meanwhile, Naruto walked, Sakura close behind him, through the garden courtyard. It was gigantic, easy to get lost. It was exactly like a hedge labyrinth except it was filled with ancient statues and different forms of poisonous plants.

As Naruto was about to walk forward, Sakura quickly pulled him back. "Naruto, watch out. Some of these plants are very poisonous." She said, recognizing some of them in a medical treatment journal of Tsunade's a while back.

Naruto nodded, cautiously continuing to walk forward with Sakura close at his side. When they progressed, a light sound of, what sounded like, a ukulele played in their ears. Naruto turned to Sakura, "Do you hear that?"

Sakura nodded, "It's coming from that direction." She said, pointing to the passage ahead. The hedge's walls were covered with poison ivy and many different flowers that were deemed to be dangerous. Suddenly, eight vines quickly came out from the hedges, and wrapped around Naruto and Sakura's arms and legs.

As this happened, Naruto quickly pumped chakra into his left hand, which cut the vine with ease, and released himself from the vines. Unfortunately, Sakura was being pulled in through the hedges. She reached out to grab his hand, but failed as she was almost completely consumed by the plant.

"Naruto!" She yelled, and the blond quickly pulled at the hedges to get through, but he was forced back by another vine. He fell to the ground, and rushed back at the plant. But it was too late; Sakura had been taken in.

"Sakura!" He yelled, pulling at the plant some more. Alas, there was no way to get through. When he thought it was over, Sakura's voice chimed in the hedges. "Naruto! I'm okay!"

He quickly got to his feet, and listened, "Where are you!? I'll come get you!"

"Well, that could be a problem," she said, "this is a real labyrinth. Which means it'll take forever to find me. Let's just try to meet up somewhere." Naruto hesitated, "Okay…as long as your okay. I'll send out a signal in the air when I've found an exit." He said, and Sakura nodded, "Okay!"

With those last words, Naruto ran down a hall of the plant maze, and came to a fork in the road. "Fuck…which way?" He asked himself, but then heard the music again. He turned his head to the left, where it was coming from, and he could then see what looked like pink hair. It was Sakura!

"Sakura! Wait!" He yelled, rushing towards the way she had gone.

Meanwhile, Ino walked down a narrow hallway; the walls were covered in what looked like moss and dried blood. She shivered at the sight, and continued walking. Kunai at hand, Ino came across a single steel door at the end of the hallway. Slowly opening it, the blond kunoichi could tell she had found something crucial.

Inside the room, there was a single pedestal with a single iris in a pot on it. Around the stand was dead grass and other irises. Ino carefully walked in, and looked up at the ceiling. What she saw made her gasp.

At the other end of the house, Neji had his Byakkugan activated, looking for any leads of entrance ways. Alas, he found none. As he was about to turn around, after a thorough search of the wing, something caught the Hyuuga's attention. Down a certain hallway, which wasn't there before, a door was lit brightly. Neji took out a kunai, and slowly walked down the hallway, ready to fight at any time. As he reached the door, a loud screeching sound could be heard inside. Like the sound of someone sharpening a blade, and Neji swiftly opened the door to see nothing but a stalactite of purple crystals; amethysts most likely. He stepped inside, and the door shut immediately behind him, which made him turn and hold up his kunai.

When nothing was there, he turned back around to see that the crystals started emitting the sound again. As it got louder, it was like a dog whistle, and Neji covered his ears as he fell to his knees. The sound was excruciating! As Neji opened his eyes, and looked up, what he saw shocked him more than anything he'd imagine.

The wind direction and speed changed as Sakura progressed through the labyrinth; she avoided touching the poisonous flowers and plants, and searched desperately for an exit.

'What the hell! This place is confusing; no wonder it's a labyrinth…Wait a second…'She thought, then noticing something different. Looking down two hallways, they were the exact same as the hallway her and Naruto had gotten split apart. An idea popped in her head, and this possibly would make it easier for her to find the exit. Sakura, finding the flaw, pumped chakra into her hands, and touched the ground. Taking a glance at both hallways, she could see a small chakra string that went down the left one. "That's the way!" She said, rushing down the hallway, and following the string that had been revealed.

Meanwhile, Naruto ran in the direction of the girl he had seen, and made a quick left. It was a dead end, and as he turned around, the girl stood there. It looked like a perfect carbon copy of Sakura, and Naruto rose an eyebrow, "Sakura? How did you find me?" He asked, a little curious. She didn't answer, but looked up. Naruto's eyes widened, "Y-You're not Sakura!" He yelled, as his eyebrows furrowed and he had an angry look on his face. The Sakura he was seeing had the pink hair and same body, but her eyes were tangerine orange.

As Naruto reached for his kunai pouch, the girl quickly teleported in front of Naruto, and it all happened so fast. Suddenly, Naruto was punched through about eight hedges behind him, and he hit a stone wall. The very powerful girl walked slowly, but ominously towards the blond haired ninja; an evil smile plastered on her face. Naruto swiftly scurried to his feet, and pulled out an explosive tag kunai. Throwing it at her feet, the clone stopped at it, and smirked. "Won't work, Uzumaki Naruto." She said, her voice sounding almost robotic. The tag exploded, and smoke covered the area. Naruto smirked, 'That's what you think…' He thought, then he formed a Rasengan and rushed into the dust.

Akamaru whimpered as Kiba and himself walked down the armor filled hallway. It was dark, and spiders crawled on everything. Kiba gulped, and had a kunai at the ready. The giant white dog cried again, and Kiba looked at him, "Don't worry, buddy. It's just a dark hallway…with spiders…" He said, sweating a bit as he saw a black widow crawl on one of the armor statues. It wasn't very common to see black widows in the shinobi nations, as they were pretty much extinct; so seeing them now, made Kiba know that something was going on.

As they reached the end of the hallway, Kiba opened a door that had a weird looking object in the center with a symbol that resembled a figure 8 with heart, engraved on the stone. On the floor, were various red and black triangles that stretched to the centerpiece. Akamaru whimpered again, and Kiba held up a finger and made a 'shh' noise. Suddenly, the room started spinning, and with that Kiba knew what they were on. It was a roulette table! Kiba put up his kunai, to block an oncoming attacks, and Akamaru started to growl. There was about to be a battle.

Ino almost fell on the ground as she noticed that the ceiling had a mirror. What the mirror showed her was that the floor was covered in dead bodies. But in her vision, there were irises. That's when she quickly got up to notice that the irises faded and bodies of dead shinobi, fresh dead shinobi, appeared. Ino let out a scream that could be heard by Shikamaru, who was upstairs in some of the bedrooms. "Ino!" He yelled, as he ran towards one of the bedroom doors. As he was about to exit, it slammed shut and locked. Shikamaru halted, and slammed on the door, "Fuck!"

That's when the girl with infra red hair and red eyes appeared. She smirked, her skin pale and her height was to laugh at. She looked a little skinny, but other than that was well fed. Ino growled, "Who are you?!" She asked, and the girl laughed.

"The only thing you need to know is that I'm the one who will add you to my collection of dead bodies on the ground." When she said that, Ino felt her heart jump with fear, but she didn't stand down. Ino rushed forward and did some handseals, "Airisu Katana no Jutsu!" She said, as her kunai she had in her hand transformed into a large katana. She swung it at the girl, but she just merely jumped back. As she landed, the girl did handseals of her own, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She said, before cupping her hands around her mouth and blowing out a monstrous fireball.

Ino backed up, and stabbed her Katana into the wall, which made her a platform to stand on. The fireball dissipated, and the girl leaped towards Ino. "Katon: Kasai Baindo no Jutsu!" With that, fire erupted out of her mouth, and bound Ino to the wall, slowly burning her skin. Ino screamed in pain, and her Katana disappeared. The fiery haired girl landed directly in front of her, floating as it seemed, and smirked. "There's nothing you could do to stop me now, bitch."

Meanwhile, Neji glanced into the crystal to see a man tied down. He had many scratches on his body, clothes torn and hair dry and frizzed. Another kunai slice made him jump, as the man screamed in pain. He then saw Neji, "Help me!" He yelled, and Neji looked around; how could he see him? Neji tried stabbing the crystal with his kunai, but it just merely snapped. The Hyuuga couldn't believe that a simple crystal had broken his kunai, and that's when laughter sounded behind him. Quickly, Neji threw another one of his kunai towards the voice, and he merely caught it between his fingers.

"Heh, you thought a puny kunai," he said, looking at it then crushing it into dust, "could stop me?"

Neji's eyes widened; he had never seen such strength, even with Tsunade or Sakura combined. "Who are you…are you with the Miakegata?!" Neji demanded, and the man nodded, "Of course, of course." He said, blowing the kunai dust which caused a black cloud to form in front of Neji. As it disappeared, the ninja was gone. Neji kept his Byakkugan on, and looked around for the deadly ninja. Laughter echoed in the room, and the Hyuuga tried to find his chakra source.

'Damn…He must have a Kekkei Genkai guard…' He thought, and the ninja he had been looking for leaped in front of him, punching him through a wall. Neji landed square in the middle of what seemed like glue, and he couldn't move. The ninja walked towards him, moving his yellow hair out of his eyes. He crouched down, and smiled, "You thought YOU could stop me," he looked him over, "puny, pathetic, worthless Hyuuga." That's what made Neji snap. With quick succession, he performed a rotation that only didn't free him, but knocked the ninja backwards into the crystal. As he impacted, the crystal cracked slowly. Neji walked towards the ninja, and then glanced at the crystal. The man that was being tortured yelled at him, "Hit him in the neck! It's his weak spot!" That's when he got cut again, across the chest. He screamed, and Neji nodded.

Sakura continued traveling and traveling, as she finally reached an exit. With that, she shot a chakra enhanced signal flare in the air, and waited for Naruto to find her. Meanwhile with Naruto, the Rasengan had seemed to have connected, but when it did, the girl disappeared. Naruto's eyes widened, as she appeared behind him, and kicked him, sending him straight up in the air. Really high up, that Naruto could see the whole labyrinth, the girl appeared in front of him. "Now, you die!" She screamed, until the flare hit her eyes. Her eyes widened, then she went blind, quickly covering them.

This was his chance. Naruto smirked, and did an in-air front flip, kicking out his leg as it was brought down on top of her head. The force was so strong, that she went flying downwards. She screamed again, and made contact with the ground. A big crater was beneath her, and her face was smashed into the ground; she didn't move. Naruto started falling himself, and he quickly did handsigns. "Fuuton: Kaze Suihou no Jutsu!" He said, as the wind circled around him, creating a solid bubble of wind around him. He made contact with the floor, landing right next to Sakura, and the bubble popped, making him fall to the ground.

Sakura gasped, and moved out of the way as he rolled onto his back. "Ow…" He said, and Sakura rolled her eyes, "What happened to you?"

"I just fought one of the Miakeagata," he said, getting up and rubbing his head, "what a bitch." Sakura laughed, but regained her seriousness, "So, is she dead?" Naruto nodded, "At least I think so. I don't intend to find out yet though. If she attacked me, that means they definitely know we're here, and that also means they are attacking the others. Come on!" He said, running into the house's back entrance, Sakura following him. Kiba guarded all oncoming kunai and senbon flying towards him, hitting the metal roulette table with a clank. A girl with violent orange hair and jade coloured eyes appeared on the centerpiece of the roulette table. She smirked, and Akamaru growled, jumping in to attack her. Kiba's eyes widened, "Akamaru! No!" He yelled, but it was too late.

The girl laughed and held her hand out. Out of her sleeve, crawled out five black widow spiders, and they leaped on Akamaru. The dog whined and fell on the roulette table as the spiders bit him and crawled back her arm. Kiba growled, "You whore! I'll kill you!" He screamed, as he launched his kunai at her. She easily blocked it, and jumped down for close combat.

Naruto and Sakura arrived at the foyer, and it was brightly lit. They looked up and what they saw surprised them to say the least. A giant spiderweb that was as big as Kusagakure(A/N: Kusagakure, or the Grass Village, is small, but still a village. Imagine that.) itself; on it were many varieties of spiders and remains of ninjas were entangled in the cobwebs. Sakura almost screamed, until a voice sounded from behind them. They turned to see Tegome, his midnight blue hair and yellow eyes. His hands were behind his back and he smirked, "Beautiful isn't it," he said, his eyes closed, "how spiders collect their prey." Naruto growled, pushing Sakura behind him, and holding up a kunai. Tegome stopped where he was, "Miakegata…Green dawn," he paused, "it means green dawn…"

Naruto didn't move, "We don't give a shit about what it means…why are you killing innocent ninja!?" He yelled, and Tegome raised his hands, "No need to yell," he opened his eyes, and smirked, "Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened, "How do you know my name…" He asked, and Tegome rolled his eyes, "Who doesn't!? The fantastic ninja who caused all hell to break loose! The savior of villages and destroyed of Akatsuki!" Tegome paused, and slowly, a spiderweb leaked from his sleeve, "The insolent bastard who pushed us into bat country," he spoke, "it's shinobi like you; the strong, determined, fucking loyal, shinobi that piss me off. You give us a bad name." He said, walking towards.

Sakura grabbed out her own kunai, and stood next to Naruto. "Back up." She spoke, and Tegome kept walking. Naruto spoke, "Like you already didn't have a bad name…And we are here to stop you before you spread anymore chaos."

Tegome scoffed, "Like you could do that. Miakegata isn't like Akatsuki; we don't care about the Bijuu and showing people how pain really works or some bullshit like that," the spiderweb then released a brown recluse, that's what made them back up more, "we have a greater cause."

"What would that be?" Naruto questioned, and Tegome closed his eyes, "Simple."

They waited; the silence of the room was broken as his voice echoed.

"The sixth element."

A/N: The chapters are getting a bit longer each time. Hope you liked this one, and the update will come everyday hopefully. So it seems that they have found Miakegata, but things aren't going as according to plan. They are in trouble, and what is this "sixth element" Tegome talks about? Find out next chapter!