Ok, ok… sorry for the very late update, life has been really hectic lately! But I will finish this story, that's a promise to all my loyal readers out there… please just bear with me for a bit!
On with it…
N
Chapter 36 – The Price to Pay
三十六- 代价
Sakura stood there, staring into the darkness for a long moment, fingers brushing the spot where his lips had touched her skin, not even aware of the warm tears that dulled her eyes and dampened her crimson cheeks.
Naruto tugged at her arm gently. "Sakura-chan? Let's go," his voice was soothing, but his muscles were tensed, she could feel them. Sakura knew that it hurt him just as much as it did her, to watch their friends, Sasuke, Hinata, all proceeding to the front lines to protect them.
Would she ever forgive herself, Sakura wondered, if any of her friends died out there while she stayed here, away from the danger?
No. She would never. Not in this life, and probably not even in the next.
But one glance at her mentor made her steel herself. Tsunade, too, was staring in the direction Sasuke and Tenten had left, her expression pained, her arms wrapped around herself, as if she was trying to hold herself back from sprinting after them.
Forcing down her own tumult of emotions, Sakura quietly walked up to Tsunade, taking her arm, her brow creased ever so slightly as much as she tried to hide it.
"Let's go, shishou."
N
"They're about ten miles from Konoha, according to our watch bases," Shikamaru traced the enemy's route with a finger on the map laid out. "They really aren't trying to hide the fact that they're coming."
All troop leaders were assembled just within the outermost walls of Konoha's newest defense systems, laying out their final plans. Around them, the rest of Konoha's shinobis were arriving in droves, grim-faced and silent. Morino Ibiki took it upon himself to keep track of the arrivals.
"The final two jinchuuriki to be added to their collection – they think they've got us cornered anyway," Neji said darkly as he looked over at them, arms crossed. He was outfitted in full ANBU garb, speaking to Hinata and Hanabi some distance away from them.
Shikamaru shared his sentiments, but returned to the more pressing matter at hand. "We should be engaging the enemy within an hour. Asuma, Kurenai…?"
"Traps all set and functioning. The perimeter is secure, and Iruka sends word that evacuation is proceeding smoothly and should be complete in another ten minutes," Kurenai confirmed.
"Good," Shikamaru nodded. "And-"
"I just sent word to my brother. We'll have reinforcements soon, the Sand has several Jounin teams camped quite near," Temari walked out of the shadows, interrupting Shikamaru.
"Thanks," the Nara genius acknowledged her.
"Where are our shinobis to go?" Temari asked.
"Front lines or…"
"Front lines," the blonde girl said without a moment's hesitation. The sand shinobis nodded firmly in silent agreement. "We'll be of the most use there."
"As you want it, then," Shikamaru said quietly. "You will join the troops under Kakashi – since you know him, it should be easier to receive orders from him. Is that okay?" he looked to both parties in mention for comment.
"Yes,"
"All right. Temari, fuse your team with Kakashi's and get him to tell you his plans. The rest of you, rest up and make sure you know what you have to do. I'll report to Tsu-" Shikamaru was cut off once again, as two dark figures landed quietly from the rooftops, right next to him.
"It's possible that the Sound nins are coming, too. As part of the enemy," Sasuke said directly, onyx eyes piercing. It took a few moments for the information to register.
"Is that just a hunch or a confirmed fact?" Neji questioned.
"A hunch, but a strong one. I know Orochimaru, it would be just like him to take advantage of this situation. And it isn't like the rest of the world doesn't know Akatsuki is attacking Konoha," the Uchiha replied.
"Oh, great," someone muttered in the crowd.
"Troublesome asses," Shikamaru sighed. "Sasuke, your troops are reassigned to battle Otogakure, since you should know them best. Brief your group about their weaknesses. And choose an additional troop."
"Anko," Sasuke spoke without further thought. Shikamaru glanced towards her for agreement.
"Gladly," the Jounin grinned. "Time to kick some snake butt." She motioned for the Uchiha to join her. "C'mon, Uchiha. We'd better give Oro-jii a thrashing he'll never forget."
"Is everyone here yet?" Neji's calm voice rose above the tensed atmosphere as he spoke to the gathered shinobis, opaque eyes bright in the semi-darkness.
"They've all reported to me," Morino Ibiki answered the question. "Except for those otherwise assigned. The Hokage will join us in awhile."
"Weaponry?" Neji glanced at Tenten.
"All dealt with, they're over there," she pointed to the left, a formidable array of weapons were laid neatly. Trust her to always have weapons in top condition, whatever the situation. "There will be enough for everyone, but use them wisely. And don't waste shots," she looked towards the gathered shinobis with narrowed eyes – warning enough. Everyone knew how this weapons mistress despised shinobis who didn't take care of their weapons well.
No one had anything else to say, and a sudden silence descended over them.
N
Tsunade left them at the safehouses.
The entrance was cleverly hidden, its door resembled exactly the cliff face it was embedded into. The last of the villagers, Genins and children had been ushered in, Iruka was waiting for the final two while Kotetsu supervised the stash of supplies going in.
"Iruka-sensei…" Sakura and Naruto acknowledged him, but their tones were low, their faces downcast. Sakura kept glancing towards Konoha's gates; Naruto's fists were clenched in the effort not to look there.
"Come on, you two," the scarred man said quietly, knowing that words offered no comfort now. Not when they were not where they wanted to be.
"Even Konohamaru's out there," Naruto whispered bitterly. "And I'm here." He sank to the ground right next to the door, looking as if he wished to melt through the wall, escape from the safehouse, however ironic it sounded.
The safehouse was a series of large chambers carved out of rock, with the first being a common area and the following connected chambers serving as sleeping quarters, with double-decker bunk beds. It was a village complete in itself, with a formidable pantry, adequate kitchen and proper washing areas. Sakura herself had spent a long while making the plans, supervising the building – never once imagining that she herself would be a prisoner within this safehouse.
Many of the villagers were gathered desolately in the common area, the atmosphere was heavy and quiet. There were several children crying, mothers huddled together. Almost everyone had a son, daughter, brother, sister, father or mother out there.
Sakura bit her lip. Everyone suffered for a war, regardless of where they stayed – at the front lines or away from danger. When you loved, you suffered. But that sort of love made life worth living, right? Could someone really feel this way, like one's heart was being grasped and crumpled until breaking point?
She couldn't stand sitting around. Glancing to her left, where she heard soft sobbing, Sakura saw a small girl, alone against the wall, her knees drawn up to her chest. Her knees were badly scraped – she probably fell while running with everyone else. The cherry blossom quickly strode over, kneeling down next to the raven-haired girl.
Sakura's hand glowed with green aura as she healed the wound. Perhaps she was trying to forget, for a moment, what lay outside, but that was painfully impossible when she was the tears in the girl's wide, onyx eyes – eyes that reminded her so much of a certain Uchiha.
"Nee-san," the girl grasped her arm, her voice a bare whisper through her sobbing. "Nee-san, tou-san and ka-san and nii-chan will come back, won't they?"
A whole family of shinobis out there. One little girl left here. Sakura couldn't say anything, she just hugged the girl tight – waiting for her own tears to come, as they did so easily nowadays.
But they would not betray her this time. She glanced up instinctively, feeling the eyes looking in her direction.
A fresh surge of determination suddenly filled her as emerald eyes locked with electric blue ones across the room. What would they do?
Beneath all their doubts, both shinobis knew that in their hearts, the decision had been made all along.
N
"Are you afraid?"
Kakashi's voice broke the silence. The Jounin was outfitted in ANBU uniform, hitai-ate gone but face mask in place. He sat atop a wall, lounging, gazing at those beneath him. His eyes were unassuming, calm.
"Are you afraid?" he repeated quietly. The question was directed at the youngest shinobis present.
None of them answered. Instead, it was Tenten who raised her voice, her face pale in the dim light.
"I am," she admitted, her voice clear. Many glanced at her in surprise. Did she have no pride, to admit such a thing? But she continued. "I'm afraid that I'll lose people I love. I'm afraid that I'll lose my home. And I'm afraid that I won't live to see tomorrow. And you know what? I feel that fear every day. But that's what keeps me going, to get stronger, to live, to protect."
"There. Easy. Fear – who said it was something to be ashamed of? So… who's afraid?" Kakashi drawled.
Slowly, hands were raised. Many hands. Even seasoned shinobis were among them.
"Shinobis should be fearless, right?" the silver-haired Jounin continued, looking up at the sky. "But suppressing fears only multiplies them. So change that fear."
"When you think 'I'm afraid to lose the people I love', change it to 'I won't let the people I love get hurt'," Tsunade stepped out of the darkness, so suddenly that a few people started. She spoke in a low but clear voice, carrying over in the chilly night breeze. "If it's 'I'm afraid I'll lose my home', then think 'I'll protect my home'. If you're thinking 'I'm afraid I'll die', then make it 'I won't die'!"
Her voice resounded in the night air, building in a crescendo. All eyes were on her now, silent.
"Remember who you are and what you fight for. Konoha's blood runs in each and every one of you… I left two reluctant Chunins back there-" she gestured towards the cliffs, "-all of you know who they are. They, and the villagers, are counting on you," Tsunade's voice lowered, and her hazel eyes stared into the crowd. Eyes that stared into each and every heart, that gave them her strength and spirit.
The Hokage stood proud and tall, her voice echoing with the voices of all Konoha's leaders before her.
"Can I count on you?"
The deafening reply she received roared through the village, embedding its promise deep into the hearts of those they protected.
N
Akatsuki was made up of shinobis who preferred their own company and were seldom seen together – but when ranged as a group, they made a formidable sight. With Pein and Konan at the point, they moved in a spearhead formation, leading the Amegakure warriors towards Konoha.
"Knowing those brats, they'll have set up all their useless defences already – it'll be such a pain in the ass," Seijin grumbled audibly. "Great lot of help that old man Danzou was, too, landing himself in prison."
"That won't make a difference," Konan spoke quietly, her cold, indifferent voice chilling the air. Even though she spoke, their subordinates knew that her voice served as Pein's, too. There was no difference between the two, Konan and Pein were inextricably connected by a bond so deep, to speak of one was to speak of the other. Their opinions and thoughts never differed.
"Oh, we won't be the only ones barging in, it seems," Deidara drawled delightedly from atop his clay bird hovering just behind Itachi in the air. "Seems like Oro-jii hit upon the same idea as us," he pointed northeast. "Sound nins moving in on Konoha. And it looks like our spies are back, too."
Just as he spoke, three figures emerged quickly from the darkness ahead, skidding to a halt on their knees before their master.
"Pein-sama," they chorused reverently, though quietly, heads bowed.
"Rise," Pein's voice did not change. "Where are the jinchuuriki?"
Sayuri answered quickly. "They have been hidden, Pein-sama. We don't know where, but definitely in Konoha itself."
Shiroi didn't know why, but he felt the sudden urge to shut Sayuri up so that she wouldn't reveal the whereabouts of a certain pink-haired kunoichi. Although it wasn't as if Sayuri actually knew where she was.
He knew, though. He'd seen her enter, but for some reason, he had lied to his team about it. Why? He seemed to shy away from anything that spelt immediate danger for the girl.
Why, why? The question kept ringing in his mind, like the endless chime of echoing bells that would not leave him be.
Shiroi steeled himself as he slipped into the ranks of shinobi behind the Akatsuki members. Emotions in a battle were dangerous weapons – against oneself.
N
Sakura dangled the clear glass vial between two fingers before her face as she wrapped her other arm around her knees drawn to her chest. She sat forlornly in one corner of the female sleeping quarters, away from everyone else – the tension in the common room was crushing.
Her emerald eyes were lost in pools of misty white, her mind far away. 'Oji-san… what do you mean by giving me this? What am I supposed to do?'
Sakura tried to remember her grandfather. Haruno Seian… a weapons shop owner. She had loved him, being his first granddaughter. But why did the good people always have to die? Seian's body had been brought back after he left for a trip out of Konoha. The story was that he had been attacked by robbers, but Sakura didn't believe that, even as a child. Not really. When the Nanabi had explained, she finally understood. Her grandfather had died for a cause.
She would willingly go, if that meant that everyone else would be safe. She had to finish what her clan had started, regardless –
Sakura suddenly sat bolt upright, glass vial clutched tightly in her hand, eyes wide. That memory –
Seian was dragged along as the little pink-haired bundle of energy skipped enthusiastically down the street, humming.
"Ah. Haruno," a deep, gravelly voice Seian recognized all too well halted the man in his tracks, and Seian straightened, pulling Sakura to his side protectively.
"Good morning, Danzou," he spoke stiffly.
Sakura looked up at the other man curiously. This 'Danzou' was a strange man, bandaged all over. He looked like a mummy with a tuft of hair.
The strange man nodded coldly, and walked off. Shocked at his atrocious manners, Sakura stuck a small pink tongue out at his back, glaring as fiercely as she could.
"Who's that, ji-chan?" she whined.
Seian smiled serenely, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Just an old friend, Saku-chan…"
Sakura wasn't sure if she'd imagined the next part, but as the breeze blew past, she thought she heard her grandfather's undertone.
"My best friend."
Sakura bolted to her feet, her fist tightening around the vial. The glass must've been reinforced – surely her strength should have broken it by now?
There was somewhere she needed to go, now. She looked around – the entrance was well-guarded by ANBU – how was she going to get out without alerting others?
If Shikamaru and Neji had made one mistake, it was to allow Sakura to help in the design and construction of the safehouses, purportedly so that she could protect the villagers by knowing where to lead them in a worst-case scenario of being discovered by the enemy. Perhaps it was also deliberate? After all, she knew every possible exit. Perhaps –
Her friends had left a path open for her, if ever she should make the choice. For that, she was greatly thankful.
Quietly composing herself as not to draw attention, the cherry blossom checked her weapons stock and stowed the vial in her weapons' pouch carefully. She was already in full combat gear. Slipping out of the other end of the sleeping chamber, she sneaked past the kitchen area into the wash area, careful to avoid direct contact with anyone.
There was an emergency exit in the form of a hatch, embedded in the darkest corner of the wash area. Lifting the heavy cover easily, Sakura swung her feet over the edge, cast a quick backward glance and dropped through the hatch, pulling the cover back into place.
Outside, the battle had begun.
N
As was expected, Pein sent in the pawns first. The rest of the invading force stayed at the edge of Konoha's forest perimeter, waiting for the first sounds of battle.
They heard nothing.
It was Konoha's home ground after all. Shinobis lay within the shadows, pressed against the trees, stealthier than the invaders. The lowly intruders, with obviously little skill and only burning loyalty to Pein, didn't stand a chance.
Neji watched them fall, detached. It was the easiest way to face death. But he couldn't help wondering: what did these people see in Pein? What created such unwavering loyalty, even in the face of his atrocious deeds with Akatsuki? Did they even know?
But what disturbed him most was that Pein felt nothing for them. Unlike Tsunade, whose face paled every time news of Konoha's casualties reached her, Pein felt nothing. He saw nothing of the loyalty and reverence his subordinates had for him. Nothing.
"Neji, heads up," Tenten's familiar voice was a near silent whisper, breathing into his ear. She could always tell when he wasn't focused; even the Hyuuga Neji wasn't infallible. "They're coming."
He squeezed her arm gratefully, with a look that only she understood, before pivoting out from behind the tree, dodging beneath a shaky blade and taking out two opponents with quick hits to vital points. Tenten caught another three, kunais lodged at the bases of their necks. The point was to kill them silently, and not to alert the rest of Pein's army.
Around them, another two hundred enemy shinobi crumpled. Shadows emerged from behind the trees, Neji could see the familiar glint of bloodstained weapons. Just then, a shrill, piercing eagle's call shattered the cold silence, its message perfectly clear: retreat.
Brown and opaque eyes widened and met for a fleeting moment – before the Konoha shinobis sped away, back towards the outermost perimeter wall. As they approached, a chakra dome rapidly expanded to encase them all, just before a shockwave of energy combined with a huge explosion shook the earth.
The protective dome itself seemed to falter for a moment.
On instinct, Neji hugged Tenten tightly and dived down, using himself as a shield for her. Both winced, waiting for the impact, but there was nothing. Slowly, they looked up. Clouds of dust and soot billowed just beyond the thin, shimmering layer of chakra surrounding them.
"Dammit," Shikamaru swore audibly as Shizune's chakra dome retracted to protect the inner walls. If Shizune had just been a fraction of a second too late in reacting, half of those shinobi outside Konoha's walls would have been obliterated. As it was, there were already a few casualties. Quickly and silently, several people moved the dead within the protection of the first wall.
Tenten stared at the scene before them disbelievingly. A great expanse of destroyed forest lay, about one kilometer across, with sliced leaves scattered in heaps, trunks ripped apart, charred by the flames of the explosion. The intruding army stood beyond that - Deidara hovered at the forefront of the army, grinning, with more clay bombs at hand. Seijin stood below him, his chakra wings unfurled to their full length, dazzling yet deadly. The combined force of two Akatsuki members alone could have destroyed half of Konoha's forces.
The Konoha shinobis stared in silent mortification, even though it wasn't shown on their faces. But beneath all that, another emotion raged, raring to break to the surface. Tenten found her fists clenching round her drawn Fuuma Shuriken, so tight her knuckles were white. There was only a little more before breaking point.
"Hand over the jinchuuriki," Pein's blunt statement echoed eerily across the silent field. Even though his tone was flat, there was no mistaking the threat behind it. Perhaps it was the aura of unmistakable authority that radiated off him. "Hand them over, and this bloodshed will not be necessary."
From the corner of her eye, Tenten could tell that several of the shinobi were visibly shaken, but stood their ground. Only silence met his words.
"Aww, look at those pathetic little kids defending their friends…" Seijin drawled, his grin mocking. "What are they to you, why bother? They'll die any-"
"Shut the hell up," Sasuke's and Tenten's voices rang out simultaneously, both defending their best friends. Their expressions were deadly, livid, their voices came in snarls.
The brown-haired kunoichi felt it. This was the snapping point. The overwhelming anger burst forth from within her, making her slender frame shake, her chocolate eyes burn. "We'll hand them to you – when hell freezes over!"
The blades of her weapon glinted dangerously, her eyes were filled with absolute hatred.
A moment of silence, as if time were waiting for a different answer to be given.
"That is it?" Pein said tonelessly. A statement, not question. He raised his right hand slowly above his head, beckoning in a simple, forward motion. "Then we begin."
As the first light of day broke across the horizon, both parties charged forward with a loud battle cry, and the chaos began.
N
The dark tunnel was lit, at sparse intervals, by fire torches hung on brackets along the wall. The air smelt damp and musty – stale, even, as if no one had breathed the air inside for a long time.
Sakura made her way along the tunnel carefully, a plan half-formed in her mind.
She would enter the battle, there was no doubt about that. But not yet. First, she needed a few answers.
A heavy bolt-door closed the end of the tunnel. Pausing before it, the cherry blossom took a deep breath and reached into her consciousness, probing and searching for that presence.
"Nanabi?"
The phoenix stirred, awakened. "Ah… little one." Sakura could somehow sense the beast yawning and stretching within her – a queer feeling, as if her brain was giving her instructions without her body following. "How are things?"
"You tell me," Sakura retorted, flooding her mind with images, memories of events through which the Nanabi had not awakened and witnessed. "We are waging war."
"Very close, then." The phoenix sounded thoughtful. "What are you doing now? I see you've been forbidden to enter the fray, you and the other jinchuuriki. Your heart says otherwise, though."
"We will fight," Sakura said stubbornly. The Nanabi seemed to find this amusing, stubbornness seemed to be a bloodline trait of the Harunos. "But I need to do something first. All you've been doing is sleeping, isn't it?" Sakura accused, a little disgruntled.
"Not sleeping, my dear. Meditating," the Nanabi sighed at her ignorance.
"Meditating? Whatever for?"
"I have to prepare for the resealing ceremony," the phoenix elaborated, with the maddening air of an adult speaking to a child. Sakura contemplated that – while this tailed beast was rather kind, she did have a streak of smugness and self-assurance. It was driving her crazy. "Subduing eight of my brothers is no small feat, as you may imagine. I need to conserve energy," it added dryly.
"Well, you could at least have helped the two times I nearly died," Sakura grumbled.
"Like I said, I was busy. And you didn't ask, anyway."
Sakura had the feeling that the Nanabi was preening. But then, what did it matter to save this life of hers, if in the end, she would die anyway? The Nanabi only needed her alive for the sealing. Pushing morbid thoughts from her mind, Sakura sighed and faced the door squarely, her shoulders tensed. Raising a hand, she placed it against the door.
"Stay with me now," she told the Nanabi.
"Of course."
Sakura channeled a burst of chakra into her palm and shoved the door open lightly, breaking the bolt on the other side easily. The door creaked open rather noisily, Grimacing at the grating sounds, Sakura slipped through, forming a complex handseal to disrupt the second layer of kekkai protection just beyond the door.
She was in the prison.
Konoha's prison didn't cater for only common thieves. Shinobis were kept there, too – which meant that the cells had to be strongly reinforced against taijutsu, kijutsu, and the guards equipped with genjutsu nullifiers. All that was in addition to the chakra draining devices attached to the prisoners themselves.
After the claustrophobic tunnels, even the small prison corridors seemed wide. Sakura walked soundlessly, passing the deepest cells, meant for those truly dangerous criminals.
These cells were mostly empty. Sakura proceeded on to the third-ranked cells, moving through the maze with ease - she'd been in here once before with Tsunade on an inspection round. The five-deep cells unnerved her even now; the cold, dark, forbidding place was terrifying. It felt like the walls were going to close in on her any given moment.
Sakura steeled herself. She was here for a reason, and she needed to find out what she wanted to know.
She turned a corner, and entered the fourth-level section. This place was more occupied, several inmates spared her a cursory glance while lying on the floor or slumped in a dark corner. They didn't often get visitors, and this one certainly looked pretty, but most of them had been in here for so long they were delirious. Nobody paid her any attention. There were no wardens – every shinobi who could fight were in battle. Sakura quickened her steps, the low ceiling gave her the feeling of being trapped.
'There!' a voice in her mind shouted triumphantly as she finally spotted the metal plate next to the cell door, bearing the black numbers, 4-05. Cautiously, she looked in.
She could see the stooped figure sitting on the edge of a bare, solitary bunk at the far end of the small cell, and her fists clenched involuntarily in pent-up rage.
Channeling a quick burst of chakra into her hands, the pink-haired kunoichi grasped two steel bars and broke them, bending them outwards and creating an adequately-sized opening for her to climb through fairly easily.
Danzou glanced up quickly as he became aware of the fresh presence in his cell, a hint of surprise flitting across his face. Sakura's crimson uniform was vibrant in the darkness, a sudden burst of blood-colour. She strode forward quickly, feeling her anger build rapidly as she stared at his lined, aged face.
Honestly, Danzou infuriated her. That smooth face, the straight back, the regality in which he conducted himself. How could he betray Konoha, his home, her beloved village; time and again for the sake of his own twisted ideologies?
"Good day, Haruno-chan," the man said quietly, inclining his head in acknowledgement. The time he served in prison had not driven him mad, like most. He retained that formality, that calm, that had seemed to settle in after he realized that he was completely alone in this, with no comrades and no supporters.
Sakura strode forward quickly, and grabbed Danzou by the collar, shaking him hard. Never mind the fact that he was probably sixty years her senior, this wasn't time to be subtle with the cryptic man. She didn't respect him – not that he deserved any.
"Good day?" the furious kunoichi hissed, livid. "There's a war going on out there, one that you probably helped bring about!"
Her angry voice roused several other inmates, who turned to look with blank faces, unmoving from their slouched positions in the dark cells. Danzou remained unmoved, but his voice when he spoke, was colder.
"Assume what you will, girl. I believe you are not here simply to scream at me, are you?"
Sakura forced herself to breathe, calm down. This man - !
"You were close friends with my grandfather, weren't you? Tell me about him."
Danzou seemed to relax slightly. "Only in childhood," the man said serenely, as if they were simply having a leisurely cup of tea together. "We had the same ideals then."
Sakura could hear the ammunition going off in the distance. She hoped that Konoha was the one doing all the blasting and not Deidara.
Same ideals? Sakura stayed silent. She couldn't imagine her grandfather, who had always taught her to love and to fight for those whom she loved, could possibly have been Danzou's associate, or as he was implying, his partner in crime.
"You look surprised," Danzou seemed to find this amusing. "Perhaps you, like everyone else, thought Seian to be a good man?"
"He was a good man." Sakura said defensively. She had come here to see if she could glean any information about the substance in the vial, not to hear Danzou insult her grandfather. But how, and what, to ask?
"Perhaps," the man tilted his head slightly to one side, a mild gesture of incredulity. Sakura wanted to punch him. "We were kids, then. Understood nothing about politics," Danzou saved himself by speaking. "We always thought that withdrawing troops and signing peace treaties were simply acts of cowardice… and we spent our childhood years making grand plans to overthrow the Nidaime and establish ourselves as the leaders of Konoha."
The plan was so childishly foolish and outrageous. Sakura opened her mouth to say so, but was cut off by Danzou's next sentence.
"Seian… he was even toying with the idea of immortality, being quite the genius inventor."
Sakura was stunned. Immortality…?
Was that the answer?
"Don't look so stricken. It was just a grand idea. Seian never achieved it," Danzou seemed rather smug. Then, his face fell at a different memory.
"I left for a long mission to Iwagakure. Two years. When I came back, still fired up about our plans, Seian had changed." Danzou snorted derisively. "Great friends with the next Hokage candidate. I was excited, I thought that that was part of the plan to overthrow our leaders, but when I cornered him, Seian told me to 'grow up',"
It struck Sakura that this was probably why Danzou had despised Sarutobi so much, because of the switch in his friend's loyalties. But why was Danzou telling her all this? Was this his repentance, his way of apologizing – by explaining his situation? But she had no time to sympathize.
"The immortality issue?" she pressed urgently.
"Are you trying to make everyone on the battlefield immortal?" Danzou chuckled bitterly. "Like I said, there were no results. Seian only went as far as potions. It was impossible, and forbidden, anyway."
Sakura hardly heard him, a million possibilities running through hermind. Had oji-san eventually found a way? Perhaps –
A sudden, searing pain ripped through her heart, pain so intense that the cherry blossom clutched at her chest and doubled over, gasping in agony.
She somehow knew that she'd lost someone.
"We must go," the Nanabi's voice rang urgently in her mind. "Akatsuki will want to end this quickly, and my brothers are excited."
Sakura could barely find her strength to agree, the horrible, despairing feeling still churning within her, clutching her. Just who…?
Danzou was bent over her awkwardly, as if unsure if he ought to help her – or if she even wanted his help at all.
The cherry blossom forced herself upright, brushing away the tears of pain that clouded her vision. She needed to get out there. Right now.
Stumbling towards the opening in the bars, she clambered out, clumsy with fear and worry. As she placed her hands on the bars to bend them back, she halted, and looked squarely at Danzou through eyes brimming with salty tears, trying to compose herself. Why was she doing this? Did she really want to give him a chance, a shot at redeeming himself? After what she had seen and heard from him now, could she really just continue hating him? She could only provide the way. He had to make the choice.
Her voice was shaking. "Make your decision, Danzou. Fight or betray. I'll leave this path open for you."
With that, she fled.
N
Battle was never pleasant, or easy.
Neji dodged the bloody corpse vaulting towards him, taking down another Rain ninja with unerring accuracy – a quick strike to the jugular vein and they would be out for the count. It was less messy this way, Neji disliked seeing blood everywhere. At least this end would be quick, and painless. A quick swipe with his Chakra Enjintou to the heart took out another six of the enemy. And he observed Tenten for a moment, swelling with quiet pride. This kunoichi – she belonged to him.
She was juggling three weapons at once, two Fuuma Shuriken and a pair of tonfas. She could decapitate at least twenty men at one go, flinging the large, powerful shurikens out in a wide arc in opposite directions, leaving them to carve their path of destruction while she tackled those closest to her with the tonfas. Then she'd catch the Fuuma Shuriken spinning back towards her on the tips of her tonfas before sending them out again. It was a brutal and effective cycle created using simple movements – her stance and speed changed ever so frequently, making her dangerously unpredictable.
But the casualties on Konoha's part were heavy. Akatsuki themselves had not yet made a move, merely observing the fervent battle taking place. That worried him. Konoha fought well, but were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the enemy. Everywhere he turned, he could see his comrades falling, but he couldn't help them now.
'The Sound army…' the Hyuuga prodigy mused, his Byakugan cast towards the eastern façade of Konoha's walls. The Uchiha and Mitarashi Anko led the group facing them, a subtle formation already in place, loosely surrounding the Sound army charging in blindly.
Neji's attention was diverted by a rather burly Sound nin flinging daggers at him.
"Kaiten!" He spun into his ultimate defense, maintaining it for only a few seconds to conserve precious energy, Before even halting, he entered smoothly into offensive mode. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"
Small, powerful fireballs incinerated the weapons held by the enemy within range, scalding their hands. They were disposed of easily. The Hyuuga glanced distastefully at the blood spattered everywhere, it disgusted him. This war –
"NOOOO!!!" A piercing, terrible scream sliced through the air, the pain in it clearly felt even over the distance. The fighting paused momentarily, frozen. Neji glanced quickly over at Tenten, just to check that she was alright – only to find her horror-stricken eyes meeting his. He didn't need his Byakugan to know who the scream belonged to. But he zoomed in, just in case, past the accumulating bodies, past the tired, bloodied fighters facing off their enemies, past the walls; and there he saw her, a solitary figure hunched on the ground as her body racked with sobs.
At that moment, a soothing wave of coolness washed over him.
N
Sasuke sprinted wildly back towards Konoha's gates, disposing of anyone, anyone at all who dared cross his path. His onyx eyes narrowed in absolute concentration, his slender fingers gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as he pivoted past people fighting their own battles. He sprinted away from the approaching Sound army, away from Anko's voice calling him.
Too many of Konoha's shinobis had fallen, lying in agony, or in death, in the two short hours since the battle had begun. But none of them mattered to him. The single most important thing was the source of the scream, nothing else.
A chillingly familiar presence made Sasuke slow down, ever so slightly, a low growl ripping from his throat. "My, my, Sasuke-kun… you're running a little too fast, aren't you?" that maddening voice hissed close to his ear as a figure landed before him.
Orochimaru's pale face was the same, perhaps a little more clammy, a little more sickly. The snake-like slit eyes, the hissing, low voice – that was the same. Sasuke had nothing to say to him, and let his sword speak his hatred as it clashed with Orochimaru's own.
N
What else could she do but scream?
The first thing she saw when she burst out of the prison gates, into the blinding sun, was the scene unfolding atop the Hokage Tower.
She watched as Tsunade fell. Crumple, with a short wakizashi blade thrust into her heart. She saw the black cloak, the red clouds, the orange spiral mask, the man standing over her mentor. Why couldn't her feet move faster, dammit, dammit, dammit!!!
The Akatsuki member vanished. Was this their real objective? Occupy everyone out there, and while Tsunade focused on healing those who required it, to assassinate her? Sakura's feet pounded up the stairs of the Hokage Tower, four at a time, never losing tempo, matching the frantic pace of her beating heart, past the levels of reception rooms and offices until she burst onto the roof and skidded to a halt on her knees, next to the limp form of the once resplendent Godaime.
What to do? Why wouldn't her body obey when her mind screamed 'heal!'? She was vaguely aware of the fact that she was trembling uncontrollably, her hands shook in her lap. She dared not touch Tsunade – the once powerful lady looked so fragile.
The cherry blossom's heart stilled as she heard the whisper of words from Tsunade's pale lips. Her right hand weakly formed a single, foreign handseal, and Sakura felt the wave of soothing coolness wash over her.
Tsunade turned her head towards Sakura and slowly rested her hand on Sakura's fist, unable to speak any further. The deep crimson blood spread quickly across her chest, staining the white top and her Hokage cloak, painting a picture of pain and despair. But her hazel eyes smiled, smiled one last time for her student before they slowly slid shut, and she slipped away forever.
And the cherry blossom could only scream.
N
Haha…. There! Finally, the 36th chapter done!
I'm so sorry that Tsunade had to die. But she had to. And there will be more casualties.
I'm afraid the next update will also be slow, so I apologize beforehand…
Hope you liked this chapter! Please tell me what you think! And please don't flame me for killing off a character…
You guys rock for being so patient with me!
Thanks!
-Rave-chan-