Sasuke (Reaper): Alright Naruto. Time to wrap it up and g-

Naruto (Hellfire): *Appears in a swirl of hellfire* Have you seen an Ashen-gray haired girl?

Sasuke (Reaper): No…Aren't you on vacation?

Naruto (Hellfire): Tch…I have no time for this. *Vanishes in hellfire*

Naruto (Reaper): What was that about?

Naruto (United): I don't know. Some girl with gray hair appeared in my fic and it set Hellfire-Nii off…

*Naruto and Sasuke (Reaper) exchanges glances*

Sasuke and Naruto (Reaper): Weird….Let's start the show!

Reaper's Blood: Final Mix
Chapter Thirty - Two

The trek to the Cat Fortress was an easy one thanks to Tamaki and Denka leading the way. It was on the outskirts of Sora-ku and it was a large building that was created in the likeness of a yellow cat with a red collar on its neck and all around the fortress were Ninneko.

"We're here. Now please be aware, Ninneko do not take kindly to humans so you bunch will need a disguise," Denko said.

"A disguise…?" Sai questioned.

"Yes…Thankfully, I came prepared," Tamaki said as she pulled out five Cat Ear headbands. "Ta-Da!"

"Oh Kami, kill me now," Sasuke muttered as he looked up at the sky.

"Ohhh They so pretty and fuzzy," Sakura cooed.

"How will this help?" Kakashi questioned.

"These cat ears may seem like silly cute headbands but in actuality, these will make us harmless cats to the Ninneko," Tamaki explained cheerfully.

"D-Does that change us into cats?" Sai questioned again, his face taking on an alarmed expression.

Sasuke couldn't help but be amused at the mass confusion Sai was going through at that very moment. "No," Sasuke answered with a chuckle. "They have a powerful Genjutsu that disguises us as cats to the Ninneko."

"Awww, did you have to explain it away so quickly Sasuke-kun?" Tamaki questioned.

"Sai is pretty sharp so I doubt you would have been able to drag him along with the prank for too much longer," Sasuke said as he crossed his arms.

Tamaki pouted which Sasuke couldn't help but admire.

She looked cute with that pout.

Just like she always did.

"Now, now Ningens, hurry and put them on. I shall lead you to the Nekomata," Denko said.

The group placed their headbands on and Denko said "Alright, let's move."

"Wait…How do we know if it worked?" Sai questioned.

"Yeah. I don't feel any different…." Sakura noted.

"Yes, you're looking as flat chested as ever," Sai said with a dry tone only to duck the roundhouse kick Sakura aimed at his head.

"You've gotten faster Billboard-san," Sai said with an impressed tone only to side step a right jab from the angered kunoichi.

Sasuke placed a hand on his face and let out a sigh only to feel an elbow nudge him from the left. He looked to see an amused Tamaki looking at him. "Do they often do this?" The brunette asked curiously as Sakura tried to deliver a kick to the midsection, only for Sai to step back to avoid it.

"Every single time he insults her," Sasuke replied.

"I think he might like her," Tamaki said.

"Really?" Sasuke asked with surprise.

"Yeah," Tamaki replied. "I've been watching you guys interact but his eyes are shining while she attacks him."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and found himself nodding in agreement. Sai kept his emotions pretty close to his vest, similar to Sasuke himself, but Sasuke noticed time and again that Sai seemed to enjoy riling Sakura up more than anyone else.

Maybe Tamaki had a point.

"Trying to play match maker?" Sasuke questioned.

"Maybe," Tamaki drawled out with a playful gleam in her eyes before she noticed that Sasuke still had his headband in his hands. "Sasuke-kun. That's supposed to go on your head."

"I know. I'm just…Don't want to subject myself to the agony of willingly putting this on my head," Sasuke said with a sigh.

"I'll do it for you, you big baby," Tamaki giggled out and took the headband from his hands and stood on her tippy-toes and slide it on top of Sasuke's head but as she did, her eyes locked with his and Sasuke seemed so entranced by them.

Her eyes radiated with playfulness, caring and most of all, security and it made Sasuke wonder if he were to ever stare in the eyes of Kami, would their eyes radiated with this same energy?

But it was then he saw that tears were building in her eyes and seeing that built up a rush of panic.

"Tamaki. Are you okay?" Sasuke asked with concern as he looked at her. Tamaki didn't answer. She instead placed her hands on his cheeks and stared at him deep into the eyes before a watery smile appeared on her face.

"You really are alive…" Tamaki whimpered as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Without warning, Sasuke was taken into a tight hug as she began to weep against his neck. "When I heard the news….I was so scared that I lost you," her muffled voice cried out.

With every sob, Sasuke felt guilt stab into his heart.

"I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. Baa-chan was scared that I was going to wither away," Tamaki continued through her sadness. "Why didn't you write to me? Never tell me that you were okay? Why did you forget me?" Tamaki asked, the hurt tone in her voice echoing through his mind.

"Tamaki…" Sasuke whispered.

"While this is cute, can we get going?" Kakashi's voice ran out from beside them, causing the pair to jump and in unison, launch a jab at Kakashi's head, which the older shinobi caught easily. "Nice reflexes kids."

"Um…" Tamaki whispered with a blush appearing on her face. "Y-You're right. Let's get a move on!" she exclaimed before she walked away, no doubt heading in the direction the fortress.

"Alright Ningens, let's get going!" Denka said as he began to walk away after giving a look to Sasuke, who sighed but followed the ninja cat.

With Denka in the lead, Team Seven was lead through the majority of the Cat Fortress and judging from the faces of Sakura and Sai, they were in disbelief that the cat ears seemed to be working,

Floor to floor, long winding hallway to long winding hallway, Sasuke and his team was led by the Ninneko and during this time, Sasuke got the time to think.

There was so much mystery surrounding both his clan and Naruto's family that it was honestly a little difficult to comprehend.

Naruto's mother and his mother were best friends.

His mother may have been in love with Naruto's mother.

Naruto's parents were said to be dead in the same attack that caused the higher ups in Konoha to fear his clan which caused the Uchiha clan to plan a coup meanwhile, Kushina was alive but was taken for "Project Phoenix" and now there was more….But what?

"Sasuke-kun...?"

Sasuke's head snapped up and turned to look at Tamaki, who had a look of both concern and guilt on her face. "A-About what I said earlier….I'm sorry…I know you went through a lot an-"

"It's okay," Sasuke replied, interrupting Tamaki from the apology she didn't need to give. "Because you're right. I didn't write to you and Nekobaa like I should have. You two were the only pieces of my life I had left and I needed you both but there are so many things that happened that I changed me…"

"Sasuke…" Tamaki said.

"When this mission is over….I-I can tell you," Sasuke said. "If you want…"

"I'd like that," Tamaki said with a faint smile.

Soon, the hallway began to darken until the group came upon a stairwell. "Up there is Nekomata. Are you all prepared?" Denka questioned but Sasuke noticed that Denka's eyes were on him and him alone.

Sasuke nodded.

"Good. Well then le-," Denka was interrupted as a contralto-toned voice rang out from above.

"You've finally arrived, Uchiha Sasuke. Come and face me for our duel…"

"That doesn't bode well," Sai said.

"Sasuke-kun, you're not actually going to fight whatever that is, are you?" Sakura asked with concern.

"I think you already know the answer Billboard-chan," Sai drawled out with his eyes locked on the large beast, only to duck a left hook from the pink haired girl.

"Sasuke…Are you sure this is the right call?" Kakashi questioned.

"When I was younger, Itachi told me that one day, I would battle Nekomata. The minute Nekobaa said the munitions would be in the fortress, I knew what was going to occur. I won't fall here," Sasuke replied, confidence ringing in his voice.

"Very well. If you get injured here, I'll come up and step in," Kakashi told him as he flipped open Icha-Icha Paradise and began to read.

"You're really going to let Sasuke-kun do this?!" Sakura shrieked in alarm.

"I'm sure the Uchiha will do just fine," Sai said as he pulled out a scroll and some ink. "Besides, this will be excellent inspiration for a painting."

"He's right. I have faith Sasuke-kun can do it and you should too Sakura-san," Tamaki added on, which caused Sasuke to look at her and nod his thanks before he began to walk up the stairs. "Sasuke-kun!" Tamaki shouted.

Sasuke paused.

There was so much that she said with that single shout of his name.

Don't die and good luck were the main two that he caught.

"Don't worry. I'll come down these stairs the same way I went up. Alive," Sasuke promised before he walked up the stairs and when he was at the top, he now stood in a chamber which was illuminated by the eerie pale blue flames that lit up in two large barrels in the distance.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as the blue flames beside an empty stage across from them exploded and began to swirl in the empty space until it took the shape of a cat only to exploded, revealing a large white fork-tailed bakeneko with yellow eyes, long whiskers and claws, and several scars all over his body with the fur coming out of his ears being blue in color.

"Nekomata," Sasuke announced as he stepped forward. "I've come for the munitions left by the Uchiha clan along with what is behind your chambers."

"I know you are," The cat said with amusement, its eyes starting to glow red. "The minute you stepped foot in Sora-ku, I knew why you would come. So you understand what you must do now, don't you?"

"Of course," Sasuke replied before he pulled out a kunai and spun it around on his index finger before he tossed it into the air and grabbed it by the hilt.

"I challenge you to a duel Nekomata!" And with those words, Sasuke dashed forward towards the large cat, who chuckled as its eyes glowed a bright ruby red. As Sasuke ran, the world around him shifted.

The floor beneath him morphed into wooden panels, the ceiling above him shrunk down and the shogi screens suddenly appeared beside him from the ground below until they connected to the ceiling.

'Genjutsu…' Sasuke thought as he continued to run where he saw Nekomata last only to see a figure wearing the traditional dress of a miko, which consisted of a red hakama and a white hitoe.

The figure turned around to reveal a beautiful woman with pale skin, long black hair that was often tied into a loose ponytail with a white ribbon, and brown eyes. The woman summoned a bow and arrow with a flourish of pink energy and notched it before firing, causing several glowing pale blue energy arrows to fly towards Sasuke.

Without changing his pace, Sasuke leapt from left to right to avoid the energy arrows and then leapt into the air and launched two kunai at the woman, who spun her bow to deflect the thrown kunai and then fired two more energy arrows.

Sasuke pulled out another kunai and managed to sliced through each arrowed before he landed on the ground and attempted to throw one but the woman appeared before him, her cold brown eyes staring down into his and without hesitation, she lunged her hand, which was now a cat's paw with the claws extended, towards him.

Sasuke's kunai clashed against the claws only for the right hand to come into view to slash at his face. Sasuke pushed himself backwards to avoid the claw and skidded on the balls of his heels while performing a set of familiar seals.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu)!" Sasuke shouted as he took a breath and blew out a large fireball towards the woman. The woman's eyes flashed yellow and her body shifted into the shadowy silhouette of a cat, which leapt over the fireball at great speeds and dashed towards Sasuke before morphing back into the woman kicking him in the face.

Sasuke flew off his feet and crashed against the ground only to use the momentum to flip himself to his feet and avoided two lunges of the woman's claws before kicked the right claw away and attempted to nail the woman in the face with a jumping right knee but she blocked it.

"Your speed is impressive young Uchiha," Nekomata stated with approval.

"Or maybe you're not as fast as you think Nekomata," Sasuke boasted with a grin of his own.

"We shall see how cocky you remain after this…" Nekomata replied before she lunged her claws hands at Sasuke repeatedly.

For what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke blocked each rapid-fire lunge with his kunai, each collision causing sparks to fly from the claws and the steel of his kunai, before he ducked a roundhouse kick and threw a punch at Nekomata's midsection.

Nekomata staggered back after she blocked the blow and lazily swayed back and forth to avoid each lunge of Sasuke's kunai before catching his extended hand, twisting her body and launched Sasuke away from her but Sasuke recovered in midair and landed with a small stumble.

Nekomata flickered into existence before him, the woman's eyes now slit and a toothy grin on her face and with a lunge of her right hand, the ground cracked and shattered like glass, sending Sasuke falling through the dark abyss.

"Oh Sasuke…" Nekomata's voice chided, her voicing echoing all around him. "So easily taken down…"

Sasuke continued his plunge through the abyss until a large mirror shard floated past him and in that shard, it showed Itachi and Nekomata fighting within it. "Your brother was so much stronger at your age…he managed to defeat me….And yet you're struggling…."

Sasuke growled hatefully at the image of Itachi facing down the defeated Nekomata.

"Even your own mother was able to defeat me…It seems genius is passed down to the eldest in the family…" Nekomata taunted as another shard of mirror floated past him to reveal a young Uchiha female, most likely his mother, panting as Nekomata laid defeated.

But it was then Sasuke realized something.

Nekomata was in her original form when his mother and Itachi defeated her. While fighting her human form was helpful to Sasuke, Nekomata had the advantage in fighting in this Genjutsu.

And then an idea began to form.

He knew exactly how to defeat Nekomata…

Yellow eyes shined though the darkness around him before it zipped to appear beside Sasuke's head and with a burst of wind to the chest, Sasuke was sent sailing to the left where he crashed through a black glass barrier and rolled against the ground. He was now outside of a burning building in the middle of the night.

Sasuke shook his head and rose to his feet only to wince and fall to one knee from the intense pain in his chest. Sasuke glanced down and saw a massive claw mark on his chest.

Sasuke lifted his head to see Nekomata notching a chakra arrow in her bow. Sasuke rolled to the left to avoid the arrow then charged forward to engage in another flurry of blows, each one being dodged on blocked by Nekomata until he was punched in the face by the woman, which sent him down to one knee but he quickly retaliated with a sweep of his leg.

Nekomata leapt over the sweep of Sasuke's leg but was caught off guard when Sasuke pushed himself off the ground and attempted to land a dropkick to her chest but Nekomata blocked it with her left forearm.

Regardless, the blow did sent the woman staggering backwards as Sasuke landed on the ground then rolled forward and tried to land two punches to her midsection but she was able to block each one.

Sasuke leapt to his feet and aimed a punch to the woman's face but she grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hard knee to the gut before she pushed him away then tugged him sharply into an elbow to the face which caused Sasuke's vision to blur.

Sasuke then felt himself being pushed again and managed to block the kick aimed at his face with his free arm but was unprepared for her right claw to lash out and strike his forehead which caused sparks to fly from the impact of the claws and metal but now, there were three deep gashes in the metal where the Konoha insignia sat.

Sasuke managed to shake his fist from the woman's grasp but was booted in the chest hard, which sent him flying backwards through the air before he crashed to the ground.

Sasuke coughed heavily and rose to his feet on shaky legs just as Nekomata dashed forward and attempted to stab at his head and chest with her flurry of movements but Sasuke maneuvered against each blow but it was then he felt a searing pain on the left side of his body.

He glanced down to see a white appendage fly behind Nekomata before he was kicked high into the air. Sasuke soared high until he in the midnight blue sky but it was then his body was forced to the left by a sharp blow to his side.

Sasuke twisted around in the dark void only to be struck in his face, sending him higher into the sky but a duel strike to his back sent him sailing down only to be hit to the right.

For what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke was bounced around from each blow that impacted him until finally, Nekomata appeared before him, standing upside down in space and smiled before she twisted her body forward and kicked the back of his head, sending him crashing down onto the floor mat of a dojo, with the walls around him being mirrors, showing his reflection.

Sasuke laid there for a moment, his entire body aching as he heard the feet of Nekomata land across from him. "Itachi said you would put up a fair fight once you became of age but it looks like he lied to me," The woman taunted as she began to walk, each step echoing around Sasuke as she approached. "But that Uchiha spirit does dwell in you to have lasted so long but I think your time is up…."

Sasuke panted heavily, blood dripping from his forehead, his cheek and several areas on his body. No…This couldn't be it for him. He still needed revenge against Itachi…He still…

An image of Tamaki's tearful expression appeared within his head.

That's right…

He couldn't let her down again. Not after leaving in the dark for so long.

He had to survive. He had to kill Itachi and he needed to keep his word to the girl that cared for him.

Sasuke punched the ground and forced himself to rise as best as he could, blood dripping from his various wounds as he struggled to open his eyes to face his opponent.

"I won't lose to here…Not to you…" Sasuke growled out. Sasuke suddenly felt an intense pain in his eyes along with an intense blurriness, which caused him to close them tight and lower his head towards the ground, taking his eyes off the oncoming woman.

But then he remembered.

He felt this pain and saw this blurriness before…

The night Itachi destroyed his clan…

Sasuke's eyes snapped open and the blurriness soon straightened out as he looked up at his opponent. Instead of the female Nekomata's form, he saw the shadowed silhouette of the woman with glowing yellow eyes and the world around him seemed to glow with the same sickly yellow that his opponent's eyes were.

Wait…

It couldn't be…

Had he done it?

Had he finally unlocked his Sharingan after so long?

Sasuke, turned his head and despite the hazy yellow chakra, he could still see his reflection and what he saw was not the familiar Onyx eyes he owned.

No.

His eyes were now red with, with two black tomoe in his right eye and one in his left.

After so long, his Sharingan had been re-activated.

Sasuke smirked and pushed himself to his feet with a victorious smirk on his face.

The silhouette paused and the glowing yellow eyes narrowed. "What has you so confident in the face of death?" Nekomata questioned.

The tomoe in Sasuke's Sharingan-active eyes spun as Sasuke taunted with "Come and find out."

The eyes narrowed and the silhouette dashed forward but now Sasuke could see the movements clearly. Sasuke leaned to the left to avoid the punch then smacked the hand away before he landed a solid blow to the shade's face.

Sasuke dashed forward and landed left hook to the left side of the shade's torso then ducked a swing from the shade then leapt up and landed a solid blow to the neck with his knee.

The shade staggered back and began to throw a flurry of blows towards Sasuke. The moves from the shade were so much slower now than they were before.

It was as if the shade was moving in slow motion but Sasuke was having a time reacting in time to fully avoid the claws but he would take a small nick here and there versus being cleaved.

Sasuke darted forward with his head reared back and when he got close enough, he slammed his forehead against Nekomata's, which made her stumble back only for Sasuke to rear his left fist back and rammed it against Nekomata's stomach.

Nekomata returned the favor and landed a hard blow to the middle of Sasuke's face, which sent him flying through the mirror behind him, where he stumbled into an abandoned village street with several fruit carts before he collided into one of them.

Sasuke dashed out of the remains of the fruit stand and landed a flying knee to his opponent's face just as Nekomata charged at him, sending the silhouette to the ground. Sasuke then landed on his back then flipped up to his feet and leapt into the air to stomp on Nekomata.

Nekomata rolled to the side to avoid the kick and immediately blasted Sasuke in the side with a gust of wind, which forced Sasuke off his feet and crashed through another fruit stand where he rolled against the ground but pulled out a kunai and stabbed it into the ground to halt his movements before he remove the item and launched it as the shadowed figure.

Nekomata smacked the kunai to the ground only to see an exploding tag attached to the handle, which then exploded upon impact of the ground. Sasuke took his chance and dashed towards the plume of smoke, only to see the shade's tail whipping out through the smoke at him.

Sasuke pulled out another kunai and blocked the tail from impaling his head then pushed it aside only for another tail to whip out and attempt to impale his chest.

Sasuke leapt to the right to avoid but more tails continued to fly from the smoke towards, which caused Sasuke to maneuver as fast as possible to avoid each and every one before he tossed another kunai with an exploding tag on the hilt at the smoke but this kunai had a thin wire attached to it that Sasuke held.

Sasuke skidded on the heels as he performed several of his and shouted "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu)!" Sasuke spit out a trail of flames that quickly traveled through the line of wire and when it went through the smoke, a large explosion shook the area, causing a wall of smoke.

Sasuke panted and fell to one knee only to the smoke itself morph into a large version of the shade, who now sported a large, toothy grin. The shade sucked in the large amount of smoke into its mouth then exhaled, causing a large blue fireball to be sent towards Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror and replaced himself with a fruit cart to take the damage then pulled out ten shuriken and launched them at her but the shade seemed to become near invisible as the shuriken flew through its body and high into the air.

Just as the form turned into a darker shade, Sasuke leapt up towards the large head of the shade and delivered a brutal knee, which sent it tilting to the side before it morphed back into the silhouette of a woman.

Sasuke landed on the ground and panted heavily before he rolled to the left to avoid another lunge of the shade's tail that would have pierced his chest before the shade of Nekomata appeared before him and lunged her clawed right hand at his face.

Sasuke managed to punch the claw away with his left hand then slammed his right palm against her forehead and shouted "Release!"

With a flash of light, Sasuke was back in the main chamber and while he was all gashed up and wounded, he was back in the real world…

And Nekomata was back in her original form.

"How impressive…You managed to catch me," Nekomata noted with a hint of pride. "Perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye."

"And it seems I also underestimated you somewhat," Sasuke admitted. "I won't make that mistake again. Now let's finish this duel!"

Nekomata let out a satisfied growl and launched herself as Sasuke, who smirked and charged forward as well but as Nekomata lunged at him, Sasuke launched a kunai at the large cat but it sailed straight past the head of Nekomata and pierced the roof, along with the shuriken that he had thrown before.

Sasuke smirked as he dashed backwards to avoid the pounce of the cat as an exploding tag unfurled from the handle kunai and the shuriken had exploding tags hanging from each one, still attached to the ceiling and said "Checkmate…"

The second he snapped his fingers, the shuriken and the kunai exploded, causing the large pieces of the roof to fall on top of Nekomata, sending her to the ground beneath the rubble. "That was difficult," Sasuke said with an exhausted grin on his face as he sat down in front of the large rubble.

The rubble shifted and fell to reveal the dazed looking Nekomata, who asked "How?"

"I knew that despite how powerful your Genjutsu was, it was still only that. An illusion. The roof was still there…After that, it was just finding a way to break the genjutsu to trigger it," Sasuke said.

Nekomata laughed at this and replied "You Uchiha are very crafty…I am very impressed. I concede. You are the victor…"

Sasuke stood up with some difficulty and gave a bow to Nekomata and said "Thank you for the honoring the duel…You were a very tough opponent. Despite my victory, I feel humbled by it as well…"

Nekomata stared then let out a small chuckle. "It seems you do have something in common with your mother…Thank you for the entertaining duel young Uchiha," Nekomata said before it stood up through the rubble and raised its hand to point at the alter where she appeared, causing a blue flame to burn through it to reveal a large steel door.

"As promised…The Munitions are in there…However, this is something more that you and you alone must see…Until we meet again, Uchiha Sasuke…" Nekomata said.

"Wait!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Before you go, there is…one more thing I request."

Nekomata raised an eyebrow.

"For Nekobaa…Your paw print," Sasuke said. "I have no idea if my mother or Itachi got it all those years ago when they battled you but if not, I'd like it…Please…"

Nekomata chuckled and summoned a large scroll along with a large jar of ink. She placed her right hind paw in the ink while the scroll unfurled and placed her paw on the scroll, revealing the inky paw print. "For the record…Neither of them ever collected my paw print…" Nekomata said with a cheeky tone before she vanished into a plume of blue flames.

Sasuke stood alone in the ruined chamber and glanced at the unfurled scroll and shook his head with a small laugh before he rolled it up and sealed it within a storage scroll. If what Nekomata said was true, this should be the first step in making his absence up to both Tamaki and Nekobaa…

It was then Sasuke heard footsteps and turned around to see his team and Denka rushing up the stairs. "Sasuke!" Tamaki yelled when she spotted him first and ran to him with an excited look and when she got close, she hugged him tightly.

"You're okay! I couldn't hear anything up here until we heard the explosion an-" Tamaki paused to look him over. "Oh Kami, your wounds…."

"I survived and won," Sasuke interrupted with an exhausted smile. "But most of all, I kept my word and that's all the matters."

"Oh Sasuke-kun," Tamaki said as she wrapped her arms around him again in a gentle hug, which he gratefully returned.

"You were able to defeat Nekomata…You Uchiha sure don't disappoint," Denka said with a pleased tone, announcing his arrival with Sasuke's team.

"My, my, you went through quite the ordeal," Sai said.

"but it seems you survived and managed to activate your Sharingan as well…Mighty impressive," Kakashi finished with a chuckle.

"Thank you, sensei," Sasuke replied as he looked to the group.

"You're very hurt Sasuke-kun. Will you be okay?" Sakura asked with concern but Sasuke noticed that her tone was more subdued and was almost sad.

How odd.

"I will be fine. Let's get the Munitions and head back to Nekobaa's," Sasuke replied as he began to walk but without warning, his legs trembled and buckled but before he could call, Tamaki grabbed his arm and placed it over her shoulder.

"I got you," Tamaki told him softly.

"Tamaki…" Sasuke whispered.

"Idiot. Pushing yourself like that…With your injuries…" Tamaki admonished as she helped him walk. "You need to be more careful…"

"I know. I'm sorry…" Sasuke told her as he shook his head. "Did my body always feel so heavy?"

Tamaki laughed at this and replied with "Speaking as someone that has carried you on five different occasions, you do feel heavy."

"You've never carried me before," Sasuke commented.

"Did too. Remember when you broke your ankle?" Tamaki asked. "You cried for five minutes and I offered myself as a walking stick to help you back to Baa-chan's home. You complained the entire time about how an Uchiha should be strong and not be weak and rely on the help of a woman."

Sasuke blushed in embarrassment and muttered "I only remembered when I twisted my ankle. I never broke it…"

"So you do remember the rest," Tamaki stated with a cheeky smile, which caused the pair to chuckle.

As the pair got closer to the room behind the chamber, Sasuke softly said "I haven't felt like this in years…"

"Like what?" Tamaki asked softly.

Sasuke was silent for a moment, almost afraid to put his thoughts into words before he chastised himself mentally. He was able to face down a large cat with some hardcore Genjutsu abilities and yet he couldn't finish his thought to her?

She deserved the know the truth.

"I went through a lot that night," Sasuke told her gently. "I lost my parents, my clan and the image of my older brother the night Itachi slaughtered the Uchiha….I went through physical, mental and spiritual torture to the point that I didn't feel like the Sasuke you knew…"

"Oh Sasuke-kun…" Tamaki repeated sadly.

"So I pushed that part of my life away to focus on revenge on Itachi but…But in light of pushing it away, I grew colder and uncaring of everything and everyone…" Sasuke finished.

"Sasuke…" Tamaki said after what felt like an eternity to Sasuke, which caused his breath to lodge in his throat.

"When I saw you again, I saw the dark sadness that surrounds you but when I looked into your eyes, I saw you. Not this cold and uncaring revenge driven person. I saw the boy that I gave my first kiss to. The boy I carried when he broke his ankle. The boy I mourned over for years and who I missed terribly…The boy I deeply care about," Tamaki told him as she looked at him. "You are Uchiha Sasuke and despite the heaviness you carry, you're still that same boy I knew so long ago so don't tell me otherwise or I'll kick your ass until you see yourself in the same light. Am I understood?"

Sasuke was unable to speak, unable to think. He was so touched at the words his oldest friend had given him that he couldn't find anything to say to her. All he could do was give a genuine smile to her, signifying his answer to her.

And to his joy, she returned his smile with the same genuine joy.

With help from Tamaki, Sasuke finally made it to the back room where the rest of his team stood waiting. "About time Uchi-boy," Sai said with a cross of his arms.

"Sorry for the wait," Sasuke said dryly.

"Alright team, let's seal it all up and get out of here," Kakashi said as he handed the group four storage scrolls. Team Seven then separated and began to store the items but the Uchiha noticed that in the middle of the room where they stood, the Uchiha clan crest was etched into the ground.

It was then he remembered the scroll Nekobaa had given him.

Sasuke pulled out the scroll with some discomfort and observed it.

It looked like a normal scroll but there was a thin glowing white chain wrapped around the scroll and in the middle of it was a padlock but there was no keyhole. Instead, on the silver-white steel plate sat his clan's crest but the top of the fan was etched deep into the metal while the bottom of the fan was painted on the steel latch and colored white.

Sasuke had seen this before and knew exactly what he had to do.

Sasuke placed his right thumb to his mouth and bit it hard enough to break to skin to cause it to bleed. Sasuke placed his bloody thumb above the top half of the fan. The blood from his thumb dripped into the empty socket that was etched into the upper half of his clan's chest until the empty socket was filled and the second it was, the glowing white chain turned red and then shattered while the padlock shattered as well.

Sasuke pulled open the scroll began to read silently.

"Sasuke,

If you are reading this, then Nekobaa kept her promise. In the chamber behind Nekomata's chambers, you will see our clan's crest on the ground. Cut your palm and place your hand directly in the middle of our crest where the top and bottom half separate. It is there where you will discover a heart I could not sacrifice and a piece that Konoha could not take…"

U. Itachi."

"A heart that I could not sacrifice?" Sasuke repeated with confusion.

"What did the scroll say Sasuke-kun?" Tamaki asked.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Sasuke took his eyes off the scroll and gazed at the crest on the ground before he said to Tamaki "Get me in the middle of the crest."

Confused, Tamaki helped Sasuke walk to the middle of the crest and once they stood there, Sasuke shrugged himself away from Tamaki and immediately fell to one knee but it was there saw the shape of a hand embedded between the top and bottom half of the fan, glowing thin white chains stretching out from the middle of the handprint.

Sasuke grabbed a kunai and cut his palm and placed it in the embedded hand on the ground and without warning, the entire floor began to shake. "Sasuke-kun?!" Tamaki exclaimed in alarm as she stumbled.

Sasuke could see Kakashi, Sakura and Sai stumbling from the shaking floor from the corners of his eyes. The upper half of his clan's crest began to separate from the bottom half as the floor began to pull away to the north and as it separate, a glowing green light pierced through the slightly dim room, causing the room to be bathed in the light.

But it was through the light where Sasuke felt his heart stop and his eyes widen.

"Kami…It can't be…" Sasuke heard Kakashi's voice mutter but Sasuke could only stare.

"S-Sasuke…?" Tamaki questioned in disbelief.

Beneath the floor was a large tank and submerged in the tank, in glowing green liquid, was the body of his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, floating in the tank with a breathing mask over her mouth and tubes in her body.

Beside the tank was a heart rate machine and oxygen machine and when Sasuke looked at the heart rate machine, he saw that there was heartbeats.

Sasuke (Reaper): It can't be….

Rain: It is! Uchiha Makito has made her debut in this fic and not in the way many expected! She is alive! But with her life, another piece of Konoha's darkness and Itachi's weakness has appeared. I wonder what will happen next…Only one way to fi-

Naruto (Hellfire): Where is Ciri?!