Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto. Sad, isn't it?

A/N: I'm going to begin this one with an apology for any butchery I might do here of some Japanese mythology and language. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information when I received it, and it will be twisted to my use. That being said, please enjoy another chapter, even if it is a little short.

Chapter Seven

Heaven Opposing Everything

Even her breath sounded loud in this place Sakura reflected. From far behind her, she could still hear the spirits trapped in the outer darkness screaming, but it had become like wind through the leaves. Again, the strangeness of the situation caused bile to rise in her throat, threatening to choke her. "Orochimaru, how much time has passed on the outside?" she asked the snake who lay docilely beneath here.

With a reflective shift of his massive white body, a clear set of eyelids blinked over the fathomless golden pools. "So you have noticed. While for you here, no more than a few days have passed, you feel as if you have been here a long time. Your body and mind have become accustomed to the sensations you feel. That is because you have been in a coma for nearly a month. That is why your body has reached such a state of collapse. Soon our body will become resistant to the treatments and the negative force your chakra is exerting will destroy us."

"Don't talk as if you are a part of me!" Sakura hissed down at him.

"Oh, but I am, Sakura-chan. And I always will be now that you have entered this realm." The pools turned into pits lined with sharp spikes, impossible to climb out of. Sakura's gaze was locked on his. "Remember, Sakura-chan, that this is your mind, your creation. It is you who has made me a part of you, just as once you created Inner Sakura."

"If that was true, then I could destroy you as well." Sakura was all but spitting through her teeth in fury, forgetting for a moment that the sheer mass of the serpent she stood on alone could crush her.

"There is a difference between sacrifice and pointless destruction. Haven't you learned anything from the game Sakura-chan? Besides, you cannot destroy me as easily as you seem to think." With another shift of his great body, Sakura was forced to her knees in order not to fall. "We will have such fun when you are on the outside again." He hissed teasingly at her.

Clasping her hands so tightly that she dug bloody half-moons, Sakura scanned the area surrounding her again. How has it come to this? All I wanted was to be stronger. Strong enough to protect my friends. Strong enough to prove that I deserve to be a ninja. But now… Her thoughts drifted off, until with a sudden jerk Sakura's eyelids shot up from where she had closed them to be alone with her thoughts. Something I can't even do within my own mind it seems, she reflected wryly, before she returned to her revelation. That's why I can't give up now. Not when I've come this far. Think of everything Naruto has done, think of every time he pulled together the last of his strength and won. Think of Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei, and Gai-sensei. Besides, Ino would never forgive me if I lost now. I can't lose. But, as an apparition wreathed liberally in black flames appeared before her, she wondered if it would be enough.

It was something of a woman and something of a bird, and wholly demon. The very air seemed to crackle with malicious energy and suppressed rage. The black flames, which had earlier died into little more than glowing coalfields, came alive with a roar like a victorious beast. There was the eerie, terrible beauty of the supernatural to the woman, with a beastlike muzzle filled with viscous gnashing fangs, elongated ears peeking out from the mass of long black hair, and eyes that burned with dark fire. But the appendages that caught Sakura's eye the most were the tattered wings that seemed to stretch out forever into the darkness. But then there was no more time for examining the woman as she folded her hands into the dark sleeves of a kimono that had perhaps once been white, but was now a rusty crimson.

"Why have you brought me to this place?" Though the question was asked levelly, it felt as if a thousand tongues of fire hand lashed into Sakura's ears. She brought her hands to her ears gingerly, as sure enough her trembling fingers came away stained with blood.

"Who…what is your name?" Sakura asked, slipping numbly down Orochimaru's side, ignoring the way loose scales caught at her flesh and left bloody streaks down his white sides.

"You, human, are unworthy to pronounce my name. Tell me your purpose in bringing me here before my limited patience runs dry." The voice was still terrible, like a thousand thunder storms had moved into Sakura's head. She was suddenly struck with doubt, but pushed it aside. There was no room for uncertainty here.

Her voice barely trembled as she began, and by the second sentence she managed to keep her voice level, if not confident. She didn't even try to meet the burning eyes. "I tried to copy a jutsu produced by a kekkai genkai. I only managed to trap myself in this place. On the outside, my chakra is trying to destroy my body."

"And so you require a demon's power. And what would you have to offer me in return? Tell me, it was the Sharingan you tried to copy, was it not?"

"Yes, it was the Mangekyo Sharingan. And…" her eyes traced the sea of bones on which she stood, "I…have nothing to offer you."

"A poor answer and a foolish action. Neither would normally interest me. However, there is a way that I would be willing to save you."

"What is it?" It was only because everything had fallen utterly silent that Sakura's words could be heard.

"You will become my host. I tire of the darkness within the scroll case. Tell me, do you agree?"

The words were on the tip of her tongue, the agreement that would save her life, but then Sakura suddenly saw Gaara again, totally at the mercy of the creature that dwelled within him. Am I that afraid of death that I would turn myself into a monster to avoid it? Never! "No!" she shouted at the abomination in front of her. "I won't become a puppet!"

"You are more clever than many of your kind. But you have failed to realize the implications of what you have done. By the spirit you sent, the binding seals which once held me in the scroll case have been transferred to you. Even now they burn themselves deeper into your flesh. Soon they will be graven deep enough that they will appear in the sky of this world. So you have already set your own trap. Soon enough the jaws will close and I will seize control of this world."

Fury suddenly was racing through Sakura's veins, with a kind of reckless courage following along behind. "Who are you to demand anything here? This is my mind. My world. I am the master here. Now tell me your name!" Chains made of kanji so tiny as to be incomprehensible burst through the surface in a shower of bone, wrapping themselves into a tight cocoon around the woman's body. Others fell from the skies, twining themselves around the great wings. A ring of seven columns appeared, more chains anchoring themselves around the demon, pulling themselves through her flesh and curling around her bones.

A terrible scream of rage and pain seemed to rip at the very fabric of the genjutsu. The sky rippled and for a moment Sakura remembered how Itachi's Tsukiyomi had shattered. Pain seemed to become her new reality, as fresh as when she had first been thrust into the deep recesses of her mind. Sakura felt a wet sensation on her face and when she raised a quivering hand to investigate she found her nose had begun to bleed. At the same time a coppery taste filled her mouth. She didn't need a hand to know she had begun to bleed internally at this point. Soon her body, even in this world would no longer be able to take the strain. Summoning the demon must have accelerated her chakra burn, destroying her ever more quickly. As her strength failed her resolve strengthened. "I will not die. I will not be defeated. I will win." Sakura bit out, feeling the warm wash of blood slowly drip to the ground from her quivering lips.

There was a look of burning fury in the eyes of the demon, but also a subtle respect. "Very well. Perhaps you are not such the fool that I took you for, human. I am Amanozako, master. Now release me. I have given you power over me and the outer bindings are now in place. I can do no harm to you without causing my own destruction." Cautiously, Sakura let the fury flow from her and as she did, the chains fell into dust at the feet of the demon. The columns slowly crumbled back into the ground until there was nothing left but the sea of bones and skeletons of trees long dead.

Again she could only stare at the monster that loomed on the sky of her mind. True to the words spoken moments before, already the skies were filling with illuminated symbols, row upon row, forming countless chains of binding.

Amanozako. Heaven opposing everything. What kind of creature is this? What kind of deal have I made? Amanzako's terrible smile widened, as if she could read the thoughts that rushed furiously in her mind. "Now little human mistress, sleep a true sleep. I will do what I can to restore our body, though I cannot make us wake. Know only that when we wake, you will see the world through different eyes and with a body that is whole once again."

As she again drifted into the darkness, Sakura shouted into the void, "What have I done?" Haunting laughter followed her into the darkness.

A/N: Well, what do you think? Reviews are always appreciated.