Guardian Bay
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sakura's aquamarine eyes narrowed at the group of boys standing around her. She let go of Gaara and wrapped a hand around her long pink strands. "I just got this cut!" Her head shook disdainfully as the silk seemed to slip through her cold fingers.
"You're a Guardian?" Sasuke hissed.
She looked up at him, eyebrow raised, "Do I look like I have a Master to you?"
"That's not the point!" Deidara gaped, pointing at her expressively, "You just went from animal to human! HOW?"
"Inbreeding?" Kakashi suggested helpfully. His light humor caused a slight chuckle among the group of stressed teens. The laughter stopped when Gaara grabbed her arm roughly and examined her upturned wrist.
Emerald eyes narrowed dangerously. "He injected something into your bloodstream."
"Figures." Sakura muttered darkly, pouting slightly. "Would have been nice to know I was at least equal with you."
"You are equal, if not greater." Itachi whispered, stepping forward and extending a hand to her. "We would not have let you follow us to this point, if we had not thought so."
She eyed him gratefully, glancing around at the men around her, missing only two now. She closed her eyes slowly, picturing Naruto's smiling face. Her hand shot out and latched onto Itachi's wrist. "Bring him back to us."
He blinked as she used him to lift herself to her feet, before walking over to where Kakashi had a struggling Juugo pinned. "I'll watch him. It is not my destiny to defeat Orochimaru. It is Sasuke's and it is Naruto's." She turned back to them slowly, "Kakashi and I will hold off Akatsuki. Find him and bring him back. Alive."
Sasuke stepped passed his brother and pulled the shorter girl into his arms. She shut her eyes tightly against the onslaught of tears, hugging her best friend as tightly as she could. "Come back safe." Was her last whisper as he pulled away and started for the edge of the cliffs. Deidara, Itachi, and Gaara followed soon after, staring down their fate as they began to climb down the Cliff.
Kakashi looked up at the pink-haired woman and sighed, "You don't want them here for it, do you?"
She turned to him then, her eyes glowing against the moonlight behind her. Her smile was sad and fathomless in the darkness.
The cave entrance was harder to find than they had anticipated. It was a treacherous journey around the sides of the cliff, its plunge below death defying. Sasuke swallowed thickly and glanced down, watching as the waves crashed angrily into the sides of the towering rock. He glanced back to make sure his companions were hanging on tight. Gaara had reverted into his Guardian form, claiming it was far easier to scale the cliffs as a rodent.
A roar broke distracted them from their windy climb, turning heads towards the top of the mirrored cliff. The roar shook the cliff they hung from, causing rocks to begin crumbling down.
"Shit." Itachi growled, latching a hand onto Deidara, whose footing slipped on a loose rock. "Where the fuck is that cave?"
"It's connected underground, isn't it?" Gaara whispered, appeared above Sasuke's head. The younger Uchiha's eyes narrowed and he peered up at the second cliff.
"There's something..."
"Holy...SHIT." Deidara whispered in awe as they took in the sight.
Standing on the edge of other towering cliff, red eyes glowing in the darkness of night stood a fifteen-foot orange fox. Its eyes were narrowed down at them; teeth bared and drool dripping from its jowls. It let out another earth-shaking roar, tilting its head to the sky and causing Sasuke's hand to slip.
He faintly heard his brother scream his name and felt his arms begin to claw at the rock before him, searching for purchase. The creature above them let out another roar and shocked them all when he leaped from the cliff after Sasuke. It bounded from one to the other, large claws digging into the rock and catching the younger Uchiha thousands of feet above the thrashing water.
Itachi let out a sigh of relief when the large monster leapt to his cliff and began to climb up. Sasuke turned back to his brother and companions. "Find a way over here."
The large fox, stopped mid-way, staring down at the human clutched in its paw. Its head swiveled around to see the two other humans and a raccoon hanging off the cliff. It grunted, lifted its paw and set the boy onto the grassy surface of the cliff before leaping to the other side.
Itachi held on for dear life as the cliff shuddered under the weight of the creature. It pressed into the cliff, staring at them expectantly.
"Do you think Naruto's conscious?" Deidara whispered, sliding along the rocks and grabbing onto the thick fur. They lifted themselves onto the large back.
"Or Orochimaru wants us alive when he disembowels us." Gaara muttered darkly, earning a glare from the elder Uchiha.
Itachi stared down at the water below as the fox turned and leapt from their cliff. His hands tightened on the fur and he instinctively turned to make sure his other two friends were on board as well. The creature lifted its large body onto the top of the cliff and bent low to the ground as its passengers began to climb off.
Sasuke had never hugged his brother the way he did when the taller man stumbled on the ground.
"Maybe we should have asked Juugo where the cave was, before just jumping down the side of the cliff." He muttered.
"Wonderful Idea, little brother. Shall we hop across and ask?"
Sasuke glared and turned to the large fox, towering above them. It sat down on its haunches and pressed its large nose against the Uchiha's cheek.
"Naruto?"
Those red eyes saddened and its nose retreated. Sasuke felt his heart clench. "Not Naruto."
The creature whimpered sadly, tossed its head back, and let out a howl into the night sky. Sasuke took a step back and turned to his brother.
"Kyuubi."
Deidara stepped forward, resting a hand on Itachi's shoulder and squeezing. Gaara bowed his head slowly, resting on a knee as the great beast tipped its head down in respect.
"Shukaku." The deep, rumbling voice shook the ground beneath them. "It has been a long time, old friend." He lifted his head slowly and stared down at the four men below him. His eyes roamed over them all, memorizing features.
"The last Uchiha's."
Itachi and Sasuke both jerked at that, "Yes." Sasuke whispered.
"The last of a powerful race." Kyuubi shook his head, "And a race of fools."
"Creating the Guardian's did not make US the fools." Itachi snarled, throwing a hand out. "It makes your Master the fool for thinking that creating a new species would come without a cost."
"Drunk on power. Drunk on knowing life was in his hands."
"The Masters were the ones who created us." Deidara replied defiantly, "Madara had no part but to give up a wish."
"The last of our kinds." Kyuubi lifted his head proudly, "Each of us, both the light and the dark, are the last of our kind. Orochimaru's madness infected the easily manipulated." He lifted his entire body to stand at full height, "We are but shadows in this existence. When the Masters are taken from this world-" His sentence was cut from his throat as something sank into his hind leg.
He let out a huff of air, "Go. NOW!"
The boys took a cautious step back just as the great beast's eyes dilated into nothing and his teeth elongated.
"Well, well, well." A slimy voice emerged from behind the large fox's hind legs, "What a pleasant surprise. You just took the trouble out of locating you."
Mhercy watched in decreasing amusement as Konan and Kisame tried to cut through the water barrier. She turned back to the motionless body lying out on her dock. In the distance, she watched as citizens of her tiny bay town began to move to the only exit.
She shook her head in shame, turning back to Konan and meeting the glare head on. "You have taken the life of a Royal." Her hand tightened the prison, finding glee in the fear growing in the young water Guardian's eyes. "Your own blood." She felt a tightening in the pit of her throat, "He had love. And hope."
She had watched as Kakashi courted her young dolphin. Watched as Iruka's entire miserable childhood washed away with a quick grin and perverted speech. Then blond-haired boy that Iruka looked at, the same way she looked at her creations every day since their birth.
"He had a family!" She snarled, pulling her hand into a fist and reveling in the shriek of terror that came right before blood tainted her blue water.
"Was that wise?" Savihor whispered, appearing before her and staring down sadly as red stained the tiny section of water.
"The murderer of a Royal does not deserve second chances." Mhercy whispered harshly, turning away from him and facing the two cliffs and the battles on each side. She felt her other stand at her side and they both watched as the towering creature standing on the cliffs began its terror.
Her hands lifted and with them, so did the water.
"And so, the War begins."
To Be Continued...
Did you miss me?
Been quite a while, hasn't it. Don't get me wrong, I haven't forgotten about this story. Quite the contrary, I've been doodling and jotting down notes every day since the last chapter was posted. I've been working like a madwoman trying to get my life up and set.
But forget this story?
NEVER.
My apologies for the shortness of the chapter, but the battle is just beginning. I want to capture it in all its glory. I'm afraid it's a bit, rough, this chapter. After a long drought of not writing anything but short snippets and poems, my skills have dissolved.
I've been trying to pull back, but I have two much needed vacations coming soon. I shall be taking a pen and notebook and will write until my fingers fall off.
So I hope you enjoyed! Hopefully it won't take such a long time to get the next chapter up!
Until We Meet Again,
Angel
