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Chapter 50: The Door (Finally!)
Hiraku glared with his yellow and purple eyes as he ran towards the enemy, who couldn't see him. 'How did these sleazebags find us?' He stopped just inside the barrier, his hands flying at an astonishing pace. Some of the Grass ninja screamed as knife like hands shot up out of the ground, cutting their legs from under them.
There was pandemonium as hundreds of metal things pulled themselves from the earth. They were about the size of an average human female; however these things were in no way human. They had six hands of knives attached to overly long arms which, in turn, were attached to a stub of a body with no head. Sharp feet, and long, blade-like legs with spikes on the knees finished the terrifying sight…or so it appeared.
Hiraku smirked, 'Look at how they run…it's almost funny. And they haven't even seen the face of their enemy yet…so why be so terrified?' He watched as his creations tore into the enemy ninja, lowering their numbers every second, 'Oh, yeah, that's why.' If the scene hadn't been so bloody, he may have laughed. Instead, he mentally taunted them, 'You're all acting like babies! They're not that scary…unless you're arachnophobic…but that doesn't count! Shesh, you're all so weak. Even Tobi could beat one of them…though I admit…that must have been a miracle on his part.' This time he really did laugh.
Hiraku was about to continue taunting them mentally when something caught his attention. There were still stupid imbeciles that were trying to destroy the barrier rock. His temper flared, 'How dare you nincompoops try to destroy my wonderful creation! It may look like a rock, but I assure you, it ain't. Hey! Stop hitting it already! Do you know how long it took me to perfect that? That's it! Time for you to meet the head of this family!'
His hands flew together, beginning the hand signs, but then he stopped himself as a thought hit him, 'Wait, the little lady's probably watching…and it wouldn't be good for her to see that. I don't care about these guys, since they're all going to die anyways, but the little lady will surely have nightmares if she sees…I guess I'd better not unearth that just yet.' Hiraku sighed, 'I guess I'll have to settle for option B instead…not as fun, but it'll have to do.'
Sakura watched in horrified amazement as the lethal metal anomalies popped up out of the ground, cutting down their enemy as if they were made of paper. Sakura couldn't help herself; she activated her Eyes, focusing on one of the metal monsters. There was a dab of Chakra at the base of one leg, however, despite her expectations, there was nothing connecting the monsters to Hiraku. "How'd he do that? How does he control them?"
When the answer came, it was dull, "He doesn't." Sakura looked at the green haired Michi. Michi shrugged, but explained anyway, "He made them, then buried them in the ground. They're kind of like our back up protection forces. Other than them, there's only one other thing…and I hope he doesn't use it. Even I can't stand that thing…don't even ask, Miss Sakura…you really don't want to know."
Michi shook her head as if to dislodge a disturbing picture, then continued speaking, watching the screen, "As I was saying, he doesn't control them. All his Jutsu does is wake them up. They're already programmed on who not to kill…other than that…they kill pretty much everything else." She paused, then added, "It's probably a good thing the idiot left you with me. I bet that lazy brother of mine forgot to update the list." Sakura shivered, and decided not to ask anymore.
They watched in silence as the metal monsters sliced up their enemies. It wasn't until they heard a deafening crack that they turned their attention back to what was happening around the rock. There were about twenty metal monsters trying to guard the rock from the threatening bombs, however, one had just gotten past, and now there was an evident crack on the rock, though it was still in one piece.
Michi grimaced, "Sorry, Miss Sakura, but you'd best leave now. It may not be completely broken, but even so, it's already getting harder to hold the barrier…and now that they've hurt my brother's 'precious creation', I'm sure he'll lose his temper and bring out that…and believe me, you're better off not seeing that." she shivered, then continued, "Remember, stay in the room until someone comes to get you. Now, close your eyes…"
When Sakura opened her eyes, she was back in the room Hiraku had brought her to, Michi sitting beside her in a trance. She stood up and stretched, wishing she could have seen more, but she knew that the strain on Michi must have been getting to her and that Michi would have an easier time without her there. "I wonder what's happening out there."
An hour went by, and the sound of bombs slowly disappeared. Other than that, Sakura had no idea of how things were going. She had thought about leaving, but then she remembered that she didn't know where she was and decided to stay put. Sakura turned to look at Michi once more. She was sweating, and her face showed that she was working hard on holding the barrier.
Sakura sighed and was about to do another sit up when rapid knocking sounded on the door. She stood up and walked to the door, halfway expecting Michi to say something, but she didn't. 'Maybe it's all over and Hiraku has come back.' The moment Sakura opened the door, Ayaka practically fell in. She was out of breath, her face was flushed, and she looked like she was flustered. "What's wrong Ayaka?"
Ayaka grabbed her arm, trying to regain her breath and speak at the same time, "Lady…you were…right…I found out why…they didn't want you to…find out…but, I think…that what they did…was stupid."
Sakura felt dread building up in her gut as she asked, "Just calm down, Ayaka. What are you talking about?"
Her heart sped up as Ayaka took a few breaths before answering, "The door," Sakura's heart skipped a beat, "I looked into it and…you have to hurry!" She started tugging on Sakura weakly, trying to pull her out of the room, "I don't know why master Konan made such a decision…" Ayaka was rambling, and it made Sakura feel even more worried than before, "…even I could tell that the problem would require someone of your skills, not Tobi's. I mean, I understand why master wouldn't want you to find out…it makes perfect sense, seeing as it's him, but…"
Sakura's ears roared and the blood drained out of her face as everything clicked into place. She didn't waste another moment. Sakura ran out of the room, remembering too late that she didn't even know where she was. She skid to a sudden halt at the end of the hallway as two things happened. The first was that she saw Hiraku hurrying up one hallway, and the second was that she recognized where she was, despite the fact that she'd never been here before.
It was the same as her dream…this was the place her dream had always started. Sakura glanced at Hiraku, who was quickening his pace, having seen her. She didn't have time to waste on explaining things to him…if her intuition was correct, and she had a bad feeling it was, then she had no time to waste at all. If by him Ayaka had meant him, then…Sakura ran the other way, not even caring if Hiraku or Ayaka followed her. The only thing running through her mind was 'Please don't let me be right!' and 'Please don't let me be too late!'
Sakura ran the same path as her dream self had countless times. It was so familiar, and now she knew why she'd always been in such a hurry in those dreams…and speaking of dreams, now that she thought about it, other dreams seemed to be pointing her in the same direction…a direction she really had rather they hadn't. She sincerely wanted to be wrong on this one…but all the facts and her thundering heart told her that she probably wasn't.
Sakura flew down the stairwells and halls, going as quickly as she could until she hit a wall…well, almost hit a wall. She stopped inches from the wall that hadn't been in her dreams, and for the first time, she heard the sound of footsteps pounding after her. She heard rather than saw Hiraku fling himself around the corner, trying not to lose her. He mustn't have noticed where she had been heading, because he took one step too many, and the wall instantly vanished.
Sakura zipped past, not waiting for Hiraku to jump back to reapply the wall. Behind her, Sakura heard Hiraku cuss, but she ignored it as she ran at the door that didn't want her to look at it. Hiraku would be coming after her in another moment, and she refused to let him stop her. She was just about to reach the door, her hand outstretched, when she hit another wall, this one invisible. A glance over her shoulder told her that it was Hiraku's doing. It made sense that he could make barriers just like his sister could…but this was not a time for him to be hindering her.
Sakura pushed against the shield, thinking desperately, 'I've got to get through…I can't let him stop me here! It's important…I can't let him die because of me not getting to him…so what if a lot of people have already died because of me, I can't change that, but I can live with it, I must…but I can't live with him dying because of me! I will not…Let…Him…DIE!' Sakura didn't know why or how, but she felt power well up from within her, flowing through her body to her hand.
There was a moment of pressure as the barrier tried to refuse her entry…and then it shattered under her power. Her hand flew to the door handle, she absentmindedly noticed signs of the door being opened without a key, but she didn't care for more than a second. Her hand pressed down on the handle…a moment of resistance…and then it turned. She pressed all her weight against the door, about to force it open; and then a hand landed on her shoulder.
Sakura threw the arm off her, instantly raising her hand to do something she hadn't previously thought to do. She froze Hiraku in his place, leaving him only enough room to breath and nothing more. She then returned her attention back to the door. She placed her weight against the door once more and pushed. This time the door really opened, and unlike in her dreams, she saw what laid beyond it…and it broke her heart.
Ayaka ran, huffing and puffing, after Sakura and Hiraku, hoping that Sakura would be able to beat Hiraku there. If she didn't, she may never get to see her friend again, after all, despite Tobi's efforts, he was dying. Ayaka rounded a corner and was surprised to see that the wall wasn't there. She ran past the missing wall, cursing how the use of her Kekkei Genkai left her so tired.
It was then that she got her second shock of the minute. Hiraku was standing just outside the door, by all appearances, unable to move. Ayaka dashed past, him to the open door, thinking, 'He shouldn't have tried to stop her.' She stopped just inside the doorway, trying to catch her breath as she took in the scene. Sakura was standing before the blond boy who was lying on the semi-bed (semi, for the mattress being only about an inch thick), her hands hovering over the gigantic hole in his stomach; the one with profuse puss and dead tissue…not to mention a stench strong enough to make her glad she hadn't eaten any lunch.
A closer look at Sakura showed that her face was tear streaked and her hands were shaking. However, those details only momentarily caught her interest, because her attention was immediately drawn to Sakura's eyes. They were as she had never seen them before, on Sakura or on anybody else. Ayaka shook her head, forcing herself to look away. She didn't have time to worry about that. She hurried over to Sakura's side, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Sakura's eyes never wavered from the boy as she said in an almost whisper, "Get my cousins…and that book on wounds I was reading." Ayaka didn't waste a moment, she took off at a run, ignoring how her body wanted to collapse.
Sasuke was in his room once more, thinking about what he'd just seen in the annoying orb. Like normal, he still hadn't been able to see Sakura, but this time he wasn't just seeing an empty clearing either. Surrounding the whole clearing had been a sea of Grass ninja. Near one end, the Grass ninja had been trying to blow up a rock for no apparent reason. It was then that the metal beasts had dug themselves out of the earth and chopped down the enemy as fast as they could.
As he'd watched, the ninja had continued to try to blow up the rock while also trying not to get killed, with poor results…but there were results. After a successful hit, the rock cracked, and for an instant, whatever it was that had been blocking his sight vanished, revealing a building at the center. In the blink of an eye the building was gone, but it was then that Sasuke understood why they had been so keen on attacking the rock.
By that time, the Grass ninja's numbers had already dwindled, but the cracking of the rock must have set something off, because less than a second after the dust settled, a giant monstrosity sprang out of the ground, instantly killing those unfortunate enough to have been standing above its earthen home. As if drawn by a magnet, the smaller metal beasts swarmed the giant, attaching on like overly sharp and flexible appendages.
As he'd watched the last of the Grass ninja be annihilated, he'd been glad he'd listened to his instinct…and that he'd remembered Sakura's warning in time to decide not to act too soon. This must have been why she'd said what she had. Having waited, he now knew about their defenses, and knowing about them meant that he could figure a way around them.
Yes, knowing what he faced was useful, but there was another tidbit he'd found out that could be just as useful. After all the ninja were dead, he'd seen a green haired man appear out of thin air from the direction of the clearing. The man had been muttering to himself, something about how it would take him months to rewire and bury all of them.
Sasuke smirked…yes, waiting had paid off indeed. Now, if only they'd go after the next tailed beast soon so that he could get in before their last line of defense was back up and running.
There, it may be slightly shorter than normal, but, hey, the door has FINALLY been opened! Did any of you guess that that was what would await Sakura's arrival. And maybe now parts of the light dream are starting to make more sense…maybe…
Now, I need to warn you. I have finals this week, so I may not have time to write, but I will try.
Reviews, constructive criticisms and people going to my forum/DeviantART page get a treat…flamers would just melt them, so I won't waste any on them. Now, on to the pretty (SMALL) list!
Thanks to: Silent Sinner Abella, SnowWolfSpirit, ozeki, xokatherine229, aznkitty180, Mitsuki Sakura Uchiha, Lady Mikomi, icinnamonx3, ItaDeiPei, krazykoreangurl, A Hidden Saint and Sinner, .assassinator, & A Hidden Saint and Sinner for reviewing!
