Playlist: Sleep (My Chemical Romance), and Hear Me Now (Framing Hanley).


Eien No Kessoku

Run


Naruto could see the cage bars. He was on the inside looking out.

The Kyuubi's clawed hands were curled around him the ball of pure white energy that was around Naruto where he dangled in air.

Inside this black Naruto could fell waves of cold run over him. They came by ripples made in air. These glowing waves were pulses of memory that hit him, taking him into the Kyuubi's past.

He saw a shrine. It was an innocent, calm shrine with burgundy wood and gold broidering. There were people standing all around, giving tribute and praying to it for protection. The people almost worshiped it.

Naruto was hit with another wave. The point of view was altered and Naruto looked out from the shrine at the people. He looked through the crowds and when his eyes passed over a certain man his vision blur red. The one man in a cloak.

His face couldn't be seen due to his hood and the long shadow cast by the sun. His aura was large, much larger than the people around him, and it was dark. He took a step forward and to Naruto's surprise, a vine crawled out from under the cloak. It crept along the coble stone courtyard and branched, spreading like water. Naruto's eyes flashed when another wave hit and he saw the vines speed up. They wrapped around the legs of all the praying people. Many fell to the ground in agony.

Why can't you move? Why can't you do something!? Naruto urged the Kyuubi. Cut those vines, free these people.

But the Kyuubi couldn't move. He was forced to watch.

All the people were dead. Only the man was left alive.

The pulses pounded Naruto's back and distorted the images. Naruto struggled against them.

What is he!? What happens!? Naruto's eyes were about to be forced away when he saw something under the man's hood.

There was a toothed smile and bright red eyes. The pupils were slits, just like a snake's.

He was pulled back into the black of Kyuubi's cage.

The pulses were growing too strong to resist and Naruto was again thrown into another memory.

The battlefield he found himself on was undistinguishable. Had this been a forest? Or perhaps a mountain range…? The ground was singed, some of it still burning. There were deep gashes in the earth matching giant claws. The dead were everywhere. Their eyes were red with thin lines of black. All of them, bodies decayed. But the fight seemed so young? How long had they been dead?

Suddenly a cackle shook the land. Naruto's eyes turned to its source.

Before him was a beast so large that it could cover mountains. Tails whipped behind it, overturning the surface and bringing deep violet waves of energy from below.

There were eight. Eight tails whirled in the air but were nothing compared to the eight fanged faces that stared at him with deep red eyes.

It was the Hachibi, a snake, a wingless dragon, a monster.

It hissed another laugh and stared Naruto in the muzzle. Red fur bristled. Claws dug into the earth, scaring it even more.

The Kyuubi's battle cry burst Naruto's ears as he charged.

The snake pulled back one of its monstrous head and a bulge in his throat caught the jinchuuriki's attention.

It appeared as a ripe opportunity to strike the Hachibi's jugular but smelt strongly of bad news.

It was the latter.

With a hacking sound, a giant sword, enveloped in purple, fiery chakra, shot out of its mouth.

The Hachibi caught the sword and swung it in the air.

The heads shouted in unison. "I am the King of Bijuu!" It slashed at its enemy.

The Kyuubi caught the strike in his claws and threw the demon to the side.

With a deep breath in the demon fox gathered chakra in the pit of it's stomach. The Kyuubi expanded and his jaws began to glow. Then it shot out a small ball of compressed energy.

The ball impacted the ground just before the other Bijuu and it was launched by the blast that rocked the earth.

The snake had blocked the bulk of the attack with the sword and it's cackle rung out in the open air.

"You can't touch me!"

The Kyuubi charged and, without stopping, snarled back at the Hachibi. "I can't touch you, ne!?" Balls of fire sprouted off of the red fur and bombarded the snake in crossfire.

In his race toward his enemy the Kyuubi inhaled again and a chakra sea gathered inside him for the last and strongest strike.

The flaming balls hit, the snake kept them at bay with the chakra coated sword.

The Kyuubi slammed into the snake as the sword was raised and grabbed hold of two heads. The others bit onto the clawed demon, trying to wrap around him. The Kyuubi was getting bigger, his mouth exerting a beam of light, the energy was about to explode out of him. He placed his face right next to the demon and opened his mouth.

White chakra shot out and both disappeared in a mushroom cloud of dust. A great crack pierced the jinchuuriki's ears.

Naruto watched as the smoke cleared and was shocked to see both were alive. But the snake was terribly wounded, bleeding from everywhere. Its sword was standing in the ground. There was a fractured hole in it. The demon must have pulled the sword in the way before the Kyuubi fired.

Naruto watched as the snake demon chuckled. The sound shook the earth with a low rumble. The Kyuubi looked on as the snake's image began to dissipate before him.

Naruto roared at the memory as the defeated enemy escaped with his life in a fog of purple chakra.

The ripple of recollection passed and Naruto was left in darkness.

"Yamata no Orochi…"

Naruto's black skin shivered as the images disappeared. He was crouching on a rocky ledge, his clawed hands gripped and the stone groaned, wanting to rift.

The jinchuuriki looked around in the sunless sky. How long he had been out of control? Had it only been a few minutes? Or was it days instead? The last memory he had was of a night sky like this, sleeping on the ground when that cursed dream crept onto him.

Night was hiding him now.

But it wasn't hiding him well enough. There were shinobi headed his way.

Their fast heart beats and slowing movements revealed that they had been following him for a while. These nin must have found him crossing the border into Earth, that was the only explanation there was.

He crawled on all fours and felt the stretching hand of Kyuubi over him. He was loosing his head again.

The kusanagi… It was still unclear to him what it was but he could be sure that if the Kyuubi trapped him inside the gates again he would find out. He knew that that snake Kyuubi had been fighting had to be Yamata no Orochi and the Kusanagi no Tsurugi was its weapon.

The Kyuubi took a step forward on the ledge and sniffed in the air.

Someone with the Hachibi's dark energy was coming closer to the border of Earth.

Naruto's own eyes became sightless and the Kyuubi took over. It bounded into the mountains. The miniature fox demon danced across the mountainsides and soon the Hachibi's chakra was clear.

It was a human.

Naruto's consciousness broke out from Kyuubi's grasp, even if it was only for a moment.

It was Sasuke.


Kakashi knelt at the base of a thick tree. His hand held his head in it, covering his face and allowing his silver hair to fall into his face. In the other hand was a scroll.

His eyes were tightly shut in thought and dither. Get a hold of yourself, Kakashi… He gripped the paper. His anger was seeping out.

Kakashi's body began to shake.

"We're moving out." He muttered through tight lips.

The shinobi lifted his head and looked up to his team. Kiba was staring down at his resting K-9 partner. Akamaru's paws were crossed in front of him and his large white head rested there. Hinata was not too far from him, looking disrupt. She held her hands in front of her, gripping her fists and staring right at Kakashi with her large lavender eyes. They held some combination of sympathy and determination.

The last two of his team were standing some distance away, talking.

There was one man, twiddling with a kunai. "Shino and Neji won't take long to find them. But, that's not what I'm worried about." Shikamaru was leaning against the trunk of a tree. "I have a feeling that Sakura isn't dead yet."

The other man, Chouji, looked grimly at his teammate. "I don't know, Shikamaru… I don't think Oto nin would spare anybody. They're not made like that."

"It just seems to perfect." The man continued. "Why would Hebi face Genma's team head on? What would they have to gain from it?" His gaze went up into the trees.

A third party spoke from behind. "What are you thinking, Shik." Kakashi approached, holding onto a low branch and slipping under it into view. His arm remained up as if to hold him steady.

"I don't think Sakura is dead yet. The ends don't match up, as I see it. If they were trying to loose a couple of tracking nin, why didn't they just bolt when Sakura's team was in the border city? The only explanation I can figure is that Team Hebi needs them. That or Sasuke has a soft spot for Konoha because no one from Konoha was killed."

Kakashi was shocked by his blind remark. "You're forgetting Hidaka Akane. She was dead before Genma escaped."

Shik shook his head. "That's not entirely true. I peeked at her file when I was working inside the ANBU before all of this started." He pushed off the tree and took a lax stance. "She has quite a record in Rice Country."

Kakashi stiffened. "Did she plan this with Sasuke?"

"No. Even if her personal anecdote says differently, it wouldn't be in her true character to do something like that. That woman had a lot of troubles in her life. Her history isn't pretty but she came completely clean after ANBU jogged her brain for a few months." He shook his head. "It was sick, what they did to her. She definitely wasn't treated well, coming from Oto." He scuffed his shoe in the snow. "Then again, she deserved it for all of the things she did. If I were Sasuke I wouldn't let an opportunity to kill someone like that pass."

Chouji cut in. "How do you know he was informed about her past?"

"I don't. I'm guessing."

Kakashi turned away and started to walk. "We're leaving." Shik and Chou nodded.

Kakashi had to think on this. Had Sasuke known who Akane was? But he couldn't take this talk. He was close to shutting up Shikamaru if the nin hadn't stopped on his own. There was no way Sasuke would be so picky about who he killed.

Sakura… He felt like another piece of him was lost. He barely had anything left. Sakura, Naruto, and… Sasuke.

If she was dead, Sasuke was going to pay.

"Who's at the border of Rain? That's where Genma said Akane would be." Kiba and Akamaru were in the front. Their sense of smell would be more useful that way.

"If anyone is there, Ino will give them medical attention. Then Kurenai will send news. They should be reaching the site in a few days so it won't take. Neji and Shino are there too. If there's trouble…" Shik stopped. The look in his eyes beseeched the enemies in Rain not to attack Kurenai and Ino. It was out of his hands what happened there. "Hopefully they will be enough to retrieve who ever is still there."

"If they're still alive." Kakashi spat. He regretted it as soon as it slipped out of his mouth. Then he sighed and rubbed his temples. He couldn't think about what was at hand at this moment. He wasn't in any rational state of mind and if he pushed his anger any closer to the edge he would be running after Sasuke on his own. "What are you doing, Shik? You're letting Kurenai out of Konoha with a kid waiting for her back home?"

Shikamaru chuckled uncomfortably. Then looked away. He couldn't think about what he would do if anything happened to his sensei's lover.

Hinata spoke for him. "K-Kurenai-sensei wanted to help. She cares a-about Sakura too…"

Kiba laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure if Kurenai didn't go Tsunade-sama was going to track Sakura down herself." Akamaru barked in a low pitch, agreeing with the notion.

"Tsunade-sama, Shizune-dono…" Chouji listed on his fingers. "Half the village would be after Sakura if they could come!" The large man laughed a little too.

The mood was becoming much lighter.

"Sakura won't know what to do with so many people coming to save her…" Kiba continued. They were feeding off each other. One could assume it was for support.

Kakashi knew, however, how much it hurt to hope like this.

He understood how they were digging their own pit of fruitless dreams. He knew how hard it was to crawl out when their fantasies fell through. Kakashi's eyebrows met and his eyes glared angrily ahead. He had to be the strong one. He had to be the one to keep their hopes on a leash. He couldn't hope. He couldn't wish for Sakura to be alive. Kakashi wasn't allowed to feel like that. That was his rule, his code: don't hope when you can't see the end.

But that was already another rule, on the stack of many others, which he had broken.


Sasuke ran alone. He recalled how his cheek stung, the mark of her hand had turned purple. The energy she had pumped into that emotional strike hadn't intended to leave so easily. His lip had bled inside his mouth. The salty taste was still stuck with him, as was its rusty smell. It stayed with him, coming in again when his jaw ached, refreshing his anger every time.

Sasuke could feel his team very far behind him. He had no intention of falling back. His rage towards a certain woman would not allow him to get near her. The wish to turn around and beat her until she regretted striking him was very strong.

Sasuke's self control was a lot weaker than she could comprehend.

She had stepped very far out of line. Hadn't he decided to kill her if she ever did that again?

It didn't matter, anyway. All he could think of were the accusations he had presented her. She had no place in judging him. He did what he had to do. He had no regrets.

Her words played over and over again. He listened to every hidden intention of her words. And the look on her face was trapped in his head. Her jade eyes, such an abnormal color, were not clear, not easy to read and filled with tears.

They were far behind him. She was behind him. Sakura was unable to focus on that fact. What can one expect of a woman in such a situation? Two of the people she cared for were to face such a bleak end…

Suigetsu held her forearm up to prepare for another possible collapse.

She was weak. She knew she was weak.

Her indecision would be her downfall. She was rash, she was reckless. It was true. She knew that it was a mistake to let Genma run. He ended up dead no matter what she did to save him. She might have gotten home. She might have seen Kakashi again. She might have saved Naruto…

No, she wouldn't have known about Sasuke's plans, the Akatsuki's plans, if she hadn't stayed.

Things were fated to be… She was meant to meet Sasuke again, right at the end of all things.

Her love for them, for her brothers, was strong. But, that wasn't entirely true. They were more than her brothers. Kakashi was not a teacher, a father, or a sibling. His leadership and soothing looks meant more to her than that. And Naruto… The love she had for him was so powerful. Even the thought of him lifted her spirits. His generous smile was so familiar to her. What had she done to deserve such a smile? And Sasuke… Did she still care about him? She wasn't sure anymore.

She felt as if her heart was being ripped apart.

Could she still care for someone like Sasuke? Could she care for a man that killed Akane and Genma? He was going to betray them again…

Could she care for his pale face, his sharp voice, his intimidating presence, or his deep, thoughtful eyes? Could she still care for someone that saved her life more than once, without a second thought? Could she care for someone that knew so little about her? He seemed to be excommunicated, more now than ever. His crimes against the only family he had, she imagined so (Had he ever cared about them all?), were very serious. They couldn't be overlooked any longer.

Sasuke hardly knew them now. They were strangers. She had changed so much. Sakura had shed blood, sweat, and tears for her country, just as so many before her. She couldn't hold onto the past. Sasuke was not who she had expected. Yet he had, at one point, accepted her character even as a stranger to him.

He was no different from Orochimaru now. He had an objective. If people had to die for him to get what he wanted he wouldn't even bother to think on it.

She had to get to Naruto. If she could find him before Sasuke did, before time ran out, they could get away.

"Sasuke-kun!" Karin's voice broke her thoughts. It sounded fearful as she shouted.

Sasuke looked behind him at the sound of his name and was forced to drop back. He fell beside Karin and waited.

She seemed unsure, but shaken all the same. "There's a huge amount of chakra hovering around the border." The kunoichi shook her head. "It's like it's waiting for us…"

Sasuke peered into the darkening woods as a smirk pulled at his lips.

Sakura understood and a wave of hollow hope covered her. "Naruto…"

Sasuke looked to his team. "Speed up, prepare to attack. Don't hold back." His eyes turned red. "This won't be easy."

In a few minutes the terrifying chakra was visible.

The mass suddenly broke into a run at them and Sakura's stomach clenched.

Naruto… He was possessed. Where would his smile be? Where were those uplifting feelings she had imagined earlier. Would he even recognize her? What could she do for him without revealing who she was?

No, it didn't matter anymore. If Sasuke found out, so be it. Sakura wasn't going to hold back, just as Sasuke commanded. Naruto was far more important to her than her anything she could think up.

"We're crossing over the border." Sasuke pulled out his kusanagi and leapt up, landing on the open ground. His sword grazed the snow, leaving a white trail in the air.

The leafless trees had thinned in this spot and a large craggy field of stone began.

A cliff loomed over them and Sasuke looked up. The starry sky observed them as the giant chakra settled.

A black claw gripped the edge of the cliff. Karin flinched. Then a head appeared. White eyes stared at them, shifting from one person to the other.

Sakura's heart leapt at the sight of him and she ached for him. His tails were the next thing in sight. They whipped around in a tussle, moving energetically.

Then his white eyes fell on Sakura. The look changed in them, as if something was trying to break out.

Sakura reached for him. "Naruto…" She had the urge to go to her blond friend. Maybe if she could just touch him…

"Sa… Sa…" His clawed hand mimicked hers. Sakura smiled weakly.

Sasuke smirked at the demon, not reacting to Sakura's gesture. The jinchuuriki had indeed surprised him. "Naruto." The monster's attention was drawn away as the shinobi took a step forward.

His white eyes saw Sasuke. They saw the dark chakra within him. The demon boy threw his head from side to side. He tried to shove back the Kyuubi. "Sa…" Sakura begged silently. Please… say my name… I'm here, right here! She vacillated his way. Then, without warning, his back arched and his eyes shut. He was loosing the struggle. "Sa…" The black energy overcame him. "Sasuke!" Wide eyes looked at the sword in his hand. "The Hachibi…" The jinchuuriki watched both Sakura and Sasuke recognize the name. The Uchiha's glance flashed to his sword.

The fox held him back. "He doesn't have it!" The demon inside Naruto shouted.

This realization stopped him. He moved in jerky motions as if his joints were stiff.

The jinchuuriki gave an elongated shutter and he growled painfully before shooting off into the air, vanishing again.

Sakura was frozen.

He's not here.

Naruto's rage...His loss of control had shaken her.

He's not here anymore.

Sasuke smiled at such a thing… it was so wrong. Had they grown so far apart that they only have malice toward each other?

They've left you.

Why couldn't she do anything for them? It was like watching a scene with thick glass between them. She could only watch as their battles developed and changed, growing more vicious.

They don't see you.

Sakura couldn't do anything. She was a waste of life. She was incapable to protect those she loved.

They've left you behind again.

"Sasuke! There are Earth nin headed this way!" Had Karin been so distracted not to notice?

Sasuke looked in the direction she pointed to and could immediately see them. They must have been following Naruto up until they met.

Sasuke looked to Suigetsu, who had remained silent. The white haired man nodded and lifted his already drawn sword onto his shoulder.

Sakura didn't notice that she was shaking. She stood still as the three shinobi around her got ready for battle.

Naruto is going to Grass… I can catch him if I go now. Her body was suddenly antsy. It tingled with the want to escape.

"They're here." Karin choked out.

The earth erupted beneath them.

Rocks flew every where, from above and from below. They were suddenly trapped in a vortex of stones.

Sakura looked around her. There were at least a dozen men.

Karin was holding off two nin at once and Suigetsu was surrounded by five. Sakura dodged a charging shinobi that thought he could surprise her and slit under his arm as he passed. It was the major artery and with just a few surges of blood he would be dead. She heard multiple cries and looked to see Suigetsu slicing through all of the men that had encircled him. Sasuke was outside the whirlwind, flashing among the groups of hidden nin that controlled the blustering rocks.

The wall of boulders abruptly dropped and Sakura's legs moved on her own.

She ran.

Naruto… She fled along the edge of the ridge, dodging trees and rocks that appeared from the darkness ahead of her.

Uchiha Sasuke looked up, away from his battle with three more shinobi, to see her disappear into the woods. He killed them quickly and stormed in her direction.

Her chakra trail dissipated and he could no longer sense her.

As he stopped on the ledge the others finished their work.

"Shimata… She got away." Suigetsu wiped the blood from his brow. "Are we going after her?"

Sasuke's crimson eyes remained on the forest. "Which way did Naruto go?"

Karin jumped at the fierceness of his voice. "East. He's almost into Fire country already… How did he…?" She had a far off look in her eye for a moment, in awe at the jinchuuriki's speed. She snapped back to focus and added on, "Akane is going a little further south, possibly into Grass."

Sasuke rumbled. "Go to the old hideout in the mountains. Don't leave until I order it." Sasuke started to walk east.

"Are you going after them alone?"

Sasuke ignored Suigetsu's scoffing question. "Naruto's going into Oto." He called back, almost out of earshot. "I know what he wants."


This took forever to get right! I can't pull out all of the chapters so quickly. I don't have the stamina or the time. I have rehearsals every night (excluding weekends) for the play I'm in this spring and forced piano practices as well (it's not that I don't want to. I love playing. It's just that I never bring myself to actually sit down and read the music)… Not to mention homework. (I'm complaining… I'm so good at it.)

I don't know when I wrote what's above, but it's very sad... I've cut out a lot of my little comments, but this one I have to keep. Anyway, enjoy Eien no Kessoku

Next Chapter – Choices

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