Quietus

by Seraphina Scribes

When first he laid eyes upon her, he thought her the very personification of spring. He watches, from the depths of shadow; waiting to steal her away from the land of the living. Waiting to make her Queen of the Dead. Hades/Persephone retold. SasuSaku/AU.

69. Chapter 68

Chapter LXVIII

---

A calamity falls upon them at this hour,
Scattered and lost, bereft of full power,
Friends snatched away by the Enemy's hand,
Makes anger rise and hope disband,
A Serpent, so vile, without a heart,
Seeks to sever and amass spare body parts,
But within the shadows, none can hide,
From the cold gaze of Death's own eyes.

---

"Sakura-chan…?"

Sakura blinked groggily up at the ceiling as she slowly regained consciousness. It took her sluggish mind a few hazy seconds to recognise where she was: in her bedroom, tucked snugly under the covers – with an anxious looking face leaning over her.

She frowned in confusion as familiar features came into focus. "Naruto…?" she whispered.

And then – with terrible, devastating suddenness – brutal memory caught up with her, chasing the heavy cobwebs out of her brain.

"Ino!" she gasped, eyes widening - and bolted upright in bed so abruptly, that Naruto had to jerk sharply backwards to avoid their heads colliding.

"Wh-whoa! Sakura-chan, take it easy!" he started, holding up his hands in an attempt to soothe her.

But Sakura's heart was immediately pounding as adrenaline flooded through her. A small, foolish part of her hoped that somehow none of it had truly happened. Even when she knew, in her bones, that it all had. They'd been attacked on their way back from the Spring Festival. What had otherwise been a pleasant day had turned into a horrific nightmare.

Neji and Hinata had been dragged into a portal and stolen from them. Ino's throat had been slit in front of their very eyes – before the masked monster had stabbed her straight through the chest, and kidnapped her in turn. The traumatising vision of her best friend choking on her own blood was one Sakura knew would be permanently ingrained inside her skull.

Then her right hand flew to her abdomen as she remembered that she had been impaled by steel, too. She recalled that the pain had been paralysing. That she'd done her very best to heal herself, but the bleeding had been too heavy. She lifted the hem of the loose pyjama top she figured her mother had changed her into while she'd been out cold – to find that the skin on her stomach had mended.

But there was an angry scar at the wound site. And at the outer edges of the scar were faint, delicate, black veins that gradually blended into her otherwise flawless skin.

"It's alright, Sakura-chan," Naruto's blue eyes were darker than usual in shade, betraying the inner turmoil of his own emotions. "Granny Tsunade and the seeds healed you."

Sakura traced over the scar with an index finger. She blinked at Naruto, stunned, not sure she had heard him correctly. "The… seeds…?" she repeated stupidly.

"I mean," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "That's what we're guessing happened. You were bleeding really badly. These black, uh, shadowy things started to close your injury. They vanished as soon as you healed up… but they left those small marks."

Sakura continued to gape at him. She looked back down at her scar, as if it could offer a further explanation.

The seeds had healed her? How? How was it even possible for them to do that? They were only seeds – weren't they?

"I could've died," she got out. "I should've…" her voice trailed. Suddenly her entire body felt oddly cold, as she processed what the interference had to mean.

The seeds themselves were surely not capable of healing – unless…

Unless the person they answered to had somehow commanded it.

Seeing the look on her face, Naruto said quietly, "I told you, Sakura-chan. I told you that Sasuke agreed to help keep you alive."

She released a quiet breath of astonishment. Sasuke had somehow sensed that she was in danger – and remotely assisted her by way of the Forbidden Fruit seeds she had consumed? Was this the mysterious connection the seeds afforded between them?

But I betrayed him. He hates me… she thought dazedly. Doesn't he? Why would he even agree to…?

The delicate tendrils beneath her flesh were a stark reminder of the binding contract enforced between herself and the Underworld's ruler. A mark of shadows, permanently inked into her skin. She swallowed, and pushed the thought out of her mind as she let her top fall back over her stomach. They had more pressing issues to worry about. Like that of their missing friends.

"We have to get them back!" she exclaimed.

Naruto gave her a solemn look, so at odds with his characteristically cheerful demeanour. She could see the anger blazing in his eyes. "We're going to, dattebayo! Old Hermit Jiraiya is working to track their locations right now. We'll get them back, and next time, I'll make sure I beat that masked bastard's ass into the ground for taking Ino, Neji and Hinata!" he vowed.

Sakura shook her head, a chill running up her spine as she recalled just how blindingly fast and powerful their unexpected adversary had been. "Who was he?"

Naruto's expression grew troubled. "I don't know, Sakura-chan. But he had the Sharingan. Kakashi-sensei says he saw it. The portal that son-of-a-bitch summoned – only a Sharingan can pull off that technique."

"What are you saying?" Sakura gripped the duvet between her hands tightly, alarmed. "I thought apart from Kakashi-sensei, only the Uchiha have the Sharingan."

"Yeah, that's true," Naruto answered.

Sakura stared at him. Bewildered, she managed, "Are you saying an Uchiha attacked us? But they're all dead - aren't they? Only Sasuke and Madara are left!"

"That's what we all thought, too," Naruto replied sullenly. "But this asshole made loads of portals appear without having to save up on chakra like Kakashi-sensei does when he uses Kamui. So he's gotta be a real Uchiha. Kakashi-sensei says there's no other explanation."

Sakura was stunned by this revelation. Did Sasuke know, she wondered? That someone else from his clan was potentially still alive? And how was that even possible? Sasuke had been made King of the Underworld. If another Uchiha had really survived, why had they not taken over the throne, instead?

She mentally shook all thoughts of the Uchiha out of her head. If she had learned anything about the clan, it was that they were anything but a normal, boring, drama-free family.

"Ino," she turned her attention back to her best friend, tears stinging her eyes. Despair clogged her throat. Not knowing whether the blonde was fine or not made Sakura feel like she was being clawed to pieces from the inside. "She was hurt. Will she be alright?" The questions rolled off the tip of her tongue in a senseless rush. "What if she wakes up locked up somewhere? What if nobody heals her? What if she loses too much blood and she- she-?" she gulped as warm liquid blurred her vision. Biting her lower lip, she tried hard to keep it together and not break down.

But the tears were falling before she could stop them.

Naruto was silent, sharing in her internal anguish. Seeing Sakura cry had always hurt him acutely. He swallowed, feeling furious, feeling wretched, as he always did when those he loved most were hurting. Then he reached out, placing a hand over her arm. Sakura hadn't even realised that she had started shaking.

"Ino's still a goddess, Sakura-chan," he reassured her gently. "She's lost her active powers – but she won't go down so easy. And neither will Neji and Hinata. Believe it."

Sakura lifted a hand to her face forlornly, releasing a quiet sob. She needed to believe that. She needed to, because the alternative was simply too awful to even contemplate, and she couldn't afford to lose focus, even though she could feel hysteria dancing around her fragile composure.

The door to her bedroom was pushed open and Tsunade stepped in.

"Naruto," she addressed the sun deity. "Jiraiya wants you downstairs. He could use some help searching with Sage Mode."

"Got it," he replied, hopping up to swiftly exit the room.

"Sakura," Tsunade greeted her daughter, joining her on the bedside that Naruto had just vacated. "How are you feeling?"

Sakura sniffled, wiping hastily at her eyes. "I'm fine."

"You were seriously wounded," Tsunade informed her. "The injury left a deep scar. Whoever attacked you carried no ordinary weapons. That blade was poisoned."

Sakura's eyes widened. So that had been why her body had shut down so fast.

"Mother…" she said thickly. "I don't understand. I've been training so hard. But it took that man just a second… just one to slit Ino's throat. To stab me. I…" her head bowed, and she clenched her teeth as a wave of frustration and desolation washed over her. "I just feel so helpless. I couldn't help her! If anything happens to her, to Hinata and Neji, I…" she broke off emotionally.

Tsunade took her left hand in hers. "Listen to me, Sakura. Our damned seals are what weaken our abilities. Even I…" she hesitated, before disclosing, "…even I couldn't heal you quickly enough alone. Those… seeds you swallowed," she added stiffly, "they assisted me in closing the wound and removing the poison from your body."

Sakura lifted her other hand, placing it over her stomach again. Then she glanced at her mother. "Naruto said... he helped," she said quietly, referring to Sasuke.

Tsunade met her gaze for a moment – before her hazel eyes slipped away. "In any case," she hastily evaded all talk of the death deity. "After this attack, the High Council will know we can waste no more time. We need to have our abilities unsealed to stand any chance at all of defending ourselves and humans. If the enemy is kidnapping our own, all terms and agreements of peace have now been breached."

"But that won't work for me," Sakura pointed out miserably. "Your seals aren't the same as mine. If I'm hit by anything, I bleed. I tried to heal myself, mother. But my body was losing too much blood. I'm just- I'm not strong enough!"

"Yes, you are," Tsunade insisted, squeezing her hand. "You were all caught by surprise. We don't know who this masked man is. But now we know he uses Kamui, and has the Sharingan, we'll be better prepared next time."

"How?" Sakura asked. "The only way we were able to escape was because Kakashi-sensei was with us."

"He can't cast Kamui unless he has a chance to do it, from what Kakashi has told me."

"He was so fast," Sakura recalled. "He moved just like an unsealed deity."

"You can use the chakra-crystals to defend yourself," Tsunade reminded her. "They aren't just offensive magic. The wind orb. The earth crystal. Mould their chakra around your body, and you'll have physical barriers at your disposal. The cloaking orb can conceal you from enemy eyes. That was your first experience of using the crystals in battle. Next time, get smarter."

Sakura blinked as her mother's words slowly sunk in.

"As medics, it's best for us to hold back on the battle field," her mother advised. "Because our allies might require our support and healing. We can't afford to just rush into danger. You saw Ino hurt, and you jumped in, am I correct?"

Sakura swallowed and nodded.

"You see? That ended up with you also getting hurt. Had you held back and called a barrier, you could have protected yourself better and used long range attacks to try and hit the target."

"I panicked," Sakura admitted in a near-whisper. "He slit her throat, and he stabbed her."

Tsunade lifted her hands to grip onto her daughter's shoulders. "And that is understandable. Again, this man is nobody we've ever encountered before, and your feelings for Ino caused you to act in desperation. But, Sakura…" her honey-hued eyes met her daughter's sternly. "From this point out, you need to learn to temper your emotions. Any weaknesses in battle can get you and your allies hurt – or worse. And there's nobody better than Cronus at exploiting emotional weaknesses. Do you understand? You must read battles. Know when it's right to attack. And know when it's correct to hold back. For now, there's nothing else we can do except wait for Jiraiya and the High Council to try to track them down as quickly as they can."

Sakura felt fresh tears welling in her eyes. "If anything happens to her…" she struggled to express. "If anything happens to her or Hinata, I don't know if I would- I don't think that I could-" she squeezed her eyes shut. "After Tenten, I..."

Hands smoothed back her rose hair, as Tsunade added firmly, "You can. When you fail, you pick yourself right back up and you try again. That's my daughter – and she is anything but a quitter, or weak."

Sakura exhaled. The uplifting words resonated deeply within her, helping to ward back the panic that threatened to eat away at her composure. They helped to strengthen and renew her resolve. Despairing, she knew, would help nobody. She had to remember to hold onto the anger she felt inside – to use it to fuel her onwards. Just as she had vowed she would do before.

As Tsunade pulled her into a comforting embrace, Sakura whispered against her shoulder, grateful for the anchor of support and stability she offered, "Mother… thank you."

"When we are unsealed, I'll make him regret everything," Tsunade promised, holding her daughter close. "For every time he's hurt us all, hurt me, and you. I won't stop, until I shatter every damn bone in his body."

Sakura had no doubts her fierce mother would make good on her word.

---

They alighted on the branches of the neighbouring trees, gazing down at the burning flames below. Another of Orochimaru's hideouts had been successfully destroyed - but it had been the most difficult one to infiltrate yet.

And it had cost them.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into displeased slits as he watched dense smoke cloak the forest ground beneath them. Beside him, both Suigetsu and Jugo were bent over, catching their breaths. The death deity was breathing heavily, too. After they'd finally taken out the vicious Gorgon harpies, three clones of creatures Sasuke had never thought he'd ever set sights on again had materialised; Nemean lions. Their fur was incapable of being penetrated by any ordinary weapons and hence they were notoriously difficult to defeat, as well as ferociously savage in their attacks. Eventually, however, the trio had managed to wear them down enough – using a combination of Samehada's chakra absorbing abilities and Amaterasu – before Sasuke had set fire to the entire lair with a huge Katon blast.

The fights had taken their toll on all their chakra reserves. Sasuke knew they needed to recover before they could push onward and retrieve Karin.

"Well, this is just great," Suigetsu scowled moodily, from his position crouched down by the edge of the branch behind Sasuke. "How are we gonna find the last base, now, huh?"

"Master," Jugo queried. "Will our next course of action be to save Karin?"

"Save Karin?" Suigetsu echoed incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding me? That stupid bitch was dumb enough to get herself turned to stone and captured. That freak can keep her, for all I care."

Jugo blinked and stared quietly at him, visibly appalled by his lack of empathy.

"What?" The ocean deity raised his eyebrows. "What's with that look? I signed up for hideout raids. Not to save ugly, useless bitches in distress."

"Suigetsu," Sasuke intoned, glancing down at him in turn.

"What?!" he demanded. "Why would I waste my energy? The fuck did that annoying bitch even contribute, huh? Besides giving me a constant headache and thirsting obsessively over you before she got her annoying ass kidnapped?" He gestured rudely at the death deity. "The fuck girl's even see in you beats the hell outta me."

Sasuke stared blankly back at him, finding his little rant to be completely irrelevant to the situation at hand.

"She... is a tracker. We need her to find the last base," Jugo pointed out, feeling somewhat awkward and impolite for speaking the obvious to a king.

"We don't need her for shit," Suigetsu pushed himself up back up to his feet. "Besides, we wouldn't have even been in this situation to begin with if someone hadn't royally fucked up and lost her to begin with." He angled a scalding look at Sasuke. "I still don't get how you didn't get to her in time. You chose a shitty moment to slow down to everyone else's pace."

Sasuke didn't respond to the criticism. He recalled the unsettling sensation that had washed over him as he'd remotely sensed Sakura's grievous injuries. He had activated the seeds she carried within her to heal her wounds and could now sense that she had stabilised and was fully mended. Still, it made him wonder just what had happened to her and where the other useless surface gods had been at the time. Could it be that they had been attacked by monsters again?

He couldn't think about her now, he told himself. His priority had been to stabilise her – and she was safe and well. Now he needed to focus on the next priority. Getting Karin back before Orochimaru experimented on her – or did worse.

"We're going to retrieve Karin," he stated. His tone left little room for argument over the matter.

"Stop ordering me around," Suigetsu scoffed. "I agreed to help you trash bases. She's not part of any deal I made."

"She is part of this team," Sasuke deadpanned. "And this team is part of our agreement. The same way," he added icily, "Samehada was."

To his surprise, Suigetsu offered no smart-assed response. He simply raised his eyebrows, and meeting the death god's impassive dark gaze, remarked, "This team, huh…? That what we are, now…? Your team-mates and allies? All cosy and comfy together?"

Sasuke blinked at him and then looked nonchalantly away. He didn't have time for Suigetsu's pointless word games. With his mind, he reached out, seeking the location of Karin's soul, glad for the spirit tracking-abilities his own powers afforded him. When he couldn't immediately locate her, however, he inwardly cursed. It had to mean that she was still encased in stone, which made it decidedly more difficult to track her.

It also frustratingly meant that they needed to wait until she was released from her frozen state before they could make any ground on rescuing her. A great inconvenience, Sasuke thought sourly to himself – but reluctantly reasoned that they could use the time to rest and recover chakra ahead of their next move.

"Heh…" Suigetsu huffed, having another of his mercurial switches in mood. "Okay. Fine. I'll help you save that stupid bitch. Just to spend the rest of eternity rubbing it in her face that she owes me one. Besides," he added brazenly. "Not like your sorry, slow ass can do it without me. Fucking Snail-suke. Losing your touch. You'll just screw up again without me."

Jugo's eyes widened in disbelief at what he was hearing. How could Suigetsu dare to be so discourteous to such a great, just ruler? Anxiously, he glanced at Sasuke, to see how he would react to the insult. But Sasuke's face remained a perfectly unreadable slate. He merely blinked at Suigetsu, clearly bored by his childish name-calling – and turned dismissively away - before either Suigetsu or Jugo could spot him rolling his eyes up to the sky in silent exasperation.

Once their brief alliance was over, the death deity vowed to himself, he would be glad to never see or have to listen to the idiotic, irritating ocean king ever again.

---

"Well…?" Madara tilted his head back, staring aloofly down at the masked individual from his seat atop Olympus's throne. "Tell me you have some good news for me, at last?"

"Two of the surface deities are in my possession," came the echoing response. "And one guardian seraph."

Madara blinked, and raised a dark brow. "Indeed? I take it that one of these deities is who I specifically requested to be brought to me?"

The masked man shook his head. "Regrettably, he escaped. Kakashi was able to use Kamui to take the others to safety."

"Kakashi…" Madara repeated. Then he remarked, "So. You have encountered your old friend again, at last."

His dark eyes observed the masked man with the intensity of a hawk. The words were a deliberate test; he wanted to ensure that there was nothing left but the shell of the Uchiha whose body he had saved from certain annihilation so long ago. A body that had been buried under heavy rubble and on the verge of passing on, because its owner had given up on the will to live.

Obito Uchiha, the masked man's original, true name was. As a deity, mortals had named him Moros, and he was a god of impending doom whose role was to inflict feelings of hopelessness, depression and panic upon humans, driving them to meet unpleasant demises and fates. Obito had been a strong soldier who had served in the battle-strategy ranks of the clan – but had never been a deity who had ever openly approved of harming surface dwellers without just reason.

Realising this, Madara had taken necessary action to sway his stance.

Back then, he had used Obito's impressive ocular gifts to assist him in extracting and seizing control of the Nine-tailed demon fox Kyuubi – only for Obito to later become overridden with guilt over the role he'd partaken in facilitating a war which he had never been sympathetic toward in the first place - despite his Uchiha lineage. So deeply plagued by guilt, in fact, that Madara had discovered him half-buried under rock, barely alive – and had come to angrily learn that Obito had gifted his own Sharingan to an enemy of the clan – the Olympian god Kakashi Hatake, who had been a student of none other than Zeus himself.

Madara had invoked Shisui's powers of persuasion to influence Obito into doing his bidding with the Kyuubi. But when it became apparent that Obito's consciousness had only been temporarily - rather than permanently - altered, to the point that he was able to feel remorse over his actions - it was then that Madara had first started to silently suspect Shisui's allegiances, also.

And with good reason. The gifted, highly intelligent God of Sleep, he would only later on confirm, had been just as partial to averting war as Obito had been initially.

Enraged that the deity of doom had chosen to bestow the Uchiha birthright of the Sharingan upon an unworthy outsider - a precious gift which Madara's own bloodline had passed down to him - the God of Chaos had sought to punish Obito. Restoring his body just before he could pass over, he had then ensured that the god had been present to witness the death of a human villager girl he had so foolishly come to love from the shadows – and the one who had been responsible for it. Kakashi, his supposed best friend.

Obito had gone mad from the sight. Betrayed, with hatred stirred anew in his heart, and his psyche deeply unstable from being forced back from the brink of fading to discover that his noble sacrifice had been for naught, Madara had then arranged a further punishment for his treachery, a further cruel manipulation; for Ares to possess Obito's consciousness, to ensure that the God of War's spirit lived on in the event that the Olympians tried to seal him away.

Then, he had locked Obito's body, unconscious, within an undisclosed space-time vacuum before the war, set to release only if Madara himself and his powers were ever compromised. And when he was released, his mind would be controlled by Ares' consciousness. He would have no emotions. No other purpose but to obey. He would hold onto only the memory of Kakashi and the death he'd allowed to befall the human girl Obito had loved. He would hold onto only that feeling of betrayal – and the revenge he wished to enact upon the one who had wronged him.

It had been a brilliant, fool-proof, back-up contingency plan that Madara had cunningly put into place to ensure he had one final pawn to manipulate at all times; a powerful Uchiha servant at his disposal, with an evolved Mangekyō Sharingan that was his to command, fully operational on the surface, unsealed and unrestricted in movement.

Obito had awoken minutes after Cronus had been sealed, and after Sasuke had been dragged to the Underworld to become its new king. On that same day, Ares, who had the unique ability to switch forms and possess bodies, had transferred his spirit to the newly awakened Uchiha. Keeping to the shadows, he had eventually made his way back to the pinnacle and reunited with Cronus.

Now, Obito was a mere machine who answered to Madara's orders, and his alone. A vessel for Ares's spirit to continue to exist and act – while his physical form was locked away within Tartarus.

Ares's war strategy know-how was a vital part of Madara's plans. He was the mastermind behind all the attacks that had been arranged against the surface gods so far. Since Madara was so limited by what he could do and influence in his sealed state, it was Ares, acting through possession of Obito's body, who was responsible for coordinating their moves in tandem with Orochimaru.

When Obito spoke, it was not his voice - unless Ares allowed it.

The masked man was silent. Then he answered coldly, "He is no friend of mine."

Madara smirked. Then he waved a hand. "It is unfortunate that Naruto has not been acquired. Tell me, who have you, then, for me?"

Obito lifted a gloved hand. A portal materialised beside him, and from it fell two bodies. A second portal appeared, depositing another unconscious form.

Madara rose from his throne, and walked slowly down the steps to look upon the figures.

Selene, he recognised, the moon goddess. Her guardian seraph, who also shared her Hyuuga blood. And the third…

He blinked in recognition, and then chuckled derisively. He had seen this woman before - mostly at festivals he'd been forced to endure on the surface, before he had elected his successor to be his ambassador, and stopped attending the silly functions altogether.

"The goddess of 'love' herself," he sneered, acid dripping from his voice at the mention of an emotion he thoroughly scorned. "How sentimental."

He noted that the blonde was severely wounded. "Hn. It seems you made quite the spectacle of her. She is bleeding all over the floor."

"She appears to be close to Tsunade's mortal child," Obito answered. "I hurt her with the intention of drawing the human girl into Kamui. However, Kakashi was able to get to her first. Perhaps this goddess could shed more light about her."

Madara nodded. "Excellent. Stem the bleeding enough to allow her to regain consciousness and tie her up. I have no use for the other two." He gestured to Hinata and Neji. "They will not speak. The Hyuuga have never been the type to squeal, even when upon the verge of death. I have slaughtered enough of them before to know this."

"What do you wish to be done with them?" Obito questioned.

Madara regarded them contemptuously. "They possess the Byakugan, do they not? The eye is inferior to ours, but it still affords its advantages. Perhaps you wish to take one to replace that which you lost. Do as you see fit. Give their remains to the serpent. Once he finishes mutilating them, let them be returned to their friends." He smiled, cruel and vicious. "An example to the High Council, who still seem to believe that I answer to their laws. I am sure this will anger Zeus's son enough to elicit a reckless response. And next time, we will be ready to capitalize."

---

"Have you found them yet?" Naruto asked impatiently, as he joined Jiraiya, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Sai in Tsunade's living room.

Jiraiya shook his head. "They are not on the surface that I can sense."

Naruto inhaled sharply, blue eyes widening. "What are you saying? That… that the masked bastard has taken them up there?"

"It's highly likely they're on Olympus," Kakashi sighed wearily.

"Damn it!" Naruto's hands curled into furious fists. "Damn it, we have to get them back! We don't know what Madara will do to them!"

"There isn't much he can do, in his current state," Shikamaru commented. "That masked man, though…"

Kakashi was silent. He couldn't shake off the troubling thoughts that had been crashing around in his head ever since he'd witnessed the stranger cast Kamui.

Obito was dead, he told himself. He had seen his best friend give up on his life before his eyes. He had been out cold when Rin had transplanted his Sharingan into Kakashi's eye. When the masked man had spoken, his voice had echoed, and had not seemed familiar at all.

The only other possibility, Kakashi thought, was that someone had found Obito's body and stolen the Sharingan that had been left behind. But that seemed so unlikely, too. Not only because the stranger had used Kamui in succession. Surely the impact of the boulders and rubble had destroyed the other eye beyond use?

There could not be another Uchiha left, his mind insisted. If there had been, then Sasuke, as youngest, would surely not have been chosen as successor to the shades. He'd been claimed by the shadows because he had been the last Uchiha left alive.

Then who was the masked man?

He had no answers. The only way to truly know, was to unmask the stranger they'd encountered. Since he'd used no other special attack besides Kamui, it was difficult to discern what other abilities he was capable of summoning. And Kakashi certainly was in no hurry to encounter the dangerous individual again.

"Can the High Council not get them back?" Naruto exclaimed desperately. "I can't just sit here and- and wait, knowing Neji and Ino, and Hinata… knowing Hinata is in danger-!"

"Naruto, calm down," Jiraiya censured. "If you want to help, sit with me and activate Sage Mode. I can't sustain this without rest. We'll take it in turns to try to track their signatures – until we pick something up. The moment they're back on the surface, we'll know."

"It makes no sense for Madara to keep them up there," Shikamaru added. "If he wanted to lure us to him, he'd choose to do it on the surface, where all his servants are."

"What if he interrogates them?" Naruto demanded. "What if he uses them to find out things… about me? About Sakura-chan?!"

"We can't go up to Olympus," Tsunade said, as she entered the room with Shizune close behind her. "That would be as good as walking to our demises."

"But if we all went together-!" Naruto protested.

Jiraiya reached out and gripped his wrist, yanking him down beside him to where he sat cross-legged on the floor.

"We don't know what this masked man can do," Kakashi warned. "And we don't know who else Madara might have up there. I don't know how the masked man can be a true Uchiha, but he certainly possesses the Sharingan and clearly isn't sealed like we are. That's not a risk we can afford to take, Naruto. You of all people, can't go anywhere near there."

"Besides," Sai reminded them helpfully. "It is forbidden."

Naruto swallowed. His heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't get the memory of Hinata's frightened face out of his mind. Or the way Neji had leapt in to protect him. If anything happened to either of them, he would never forgive himself.

Hinata had told him that she believed in him. But once again, he had failed. And it was crushing him inside, knowing that she and Neji and Ino were likely prisoners on the pinnacle of Olympus – and there was absolutely nothing he could do to retrieve them from there. Guilt gnawed away at him, as he shouldered the blame on himself once again. If he had only been stronger. Faster. If he was only able to use the Kyuubi's chakra offensively. Now, more than ever, he felt the urgent need to draw on it.

"So what?!" he exploded. "We just wait?! How do we know he won't harm them? Or get the masked asshole to? We need to go to the High Council. We need to do something!"

"I have already informed the Council of this," Jiraiya answered firmly. "They are trying to make contact with Madara as we speak, and Danzo is also actively tracing chakra signatures with us. In the meanwhile, we keep Sage Mode activated, in case they are returned to the surface. I need you to focus with me, Naruto! This is no time to lose your head!"

As a sullen Naruto lifted his hands to do as he was bid, Kakashi turned to Tsunade.

"How is Sakura?"

Tsunade shrugged. "She is awake, and fully healed. But she's anxious and angry. I suggested for her to rest for the night, but I wouldn't be surprised if she goes straight down to the basement to train instead."

"Understandable," Kakashi nodded. "Ino and Hinata are very close to her."

"Why would the enemy choose to attack us specifically, and not humans this time?" The harvest goddess pondered. "That isn't exactly Cronus's style."

"You're right," Kakashi agreed. "And with the appearance of this masked man, it seems there's a lot we don't know about the plans he's making."

"You really have no idea who he might be?" Tsunade questioned, frowning.

Kakashi sighed. "The only other person capable of using Kamui successively was Obito. And he died in front of me. I am certain of it."

"Then that means another Uchiha must have survived?" Tsunade's frown deepened. "Damn it. What other surprises does that damned bastard have up his sleeve?" she spat out bitterly. "I don't understand the High Council's delay in beginning this quest. We have the map. We should just set out ourselves!"

"Ah…" Kakashi recalled Chiyo's words – that only those whose elements were specifically mentioned within the prophecy could access the relic sites. "I am sure they have reasons."

"Whatever they are, they're null and void. If we remain sitting like we have been, we're just open targets," Tsunade responded angrily. "Chiyo has asked to see me now. I'm taking Shizune with me. Keep an eye on Sakura. If anything happens while I'm gone, she's the first you protect and get out safely."

"Of course," Kakashi assured her.

Tsunade nodded, then turned to depart with her friend.

---

Ino's skull felt like it had been struck by a sledgehammer. The throbbing pain in her head was the first thing that she became aware of as her heavy eyelids slowly lifted. Then came the dull agony at the base of her neck and within the centre of her chest.

She jerked reflexively, becoming gradually conscious of the fact that her arms seemed to be restricted. The sound of clinking chains filled her ears, and she blinked rapidly against the bleariness in her vision, fighting to restore clarity to her senses.

When she finally became fully aware, she immediately regretted it. She found herself shackled between two sturdy stone pillars, wrists and ankles chained and drawn away from her body, making any form of movement impossible. Panic bubbled within her chest as she recalled, with rapidly mounting horror, what had befallen them all on their way back from the Spring Festival.

One moment Ino had been on the battle field, watching as Hinata and Neji had been snatched away from them. The next, a hand had ferociously grabbed the back of her hair, and a blade had been slashed across her throat, followed by a debilitating stab wound to her chest. She remembered choking on her own blood, being unable to breathe. And then, an immense sensation of dragging air-pressure behind her. And then-

And then everything had grown frighteningly dark.

She released a stifled sound of dread, looking down to find dried blood all over her clothing. She didn't appear to be bleeding anymore – or if she was, it was much less. Her wide eyes darted around the room. Where was she? She needed to-

Her gaze then fell upon large, jagged, crystalline structures containing something she could not quite discern from her distance, stationed on the other side of the room she was in. But even though she could not see clearly, she knew. She knew it in her bones. Those were the bodies of Zeus and Hera – of Minato and Kushina. Just as Sasuke had reported to Kakashi.

"A fine addition to the decor they make," a deeply suave voice spoke from directly behind her, causing Ino to gasp. Every muscle in her body stiffened.

"How does it feel, to know your precious 'King' and 'Queen' rest frozen within my possession, and within so close a distance to you?"

Ino's heart thundered. It had been a very long time since she had last stood within this room, but she still recognised where she was. Sheer panic clawed at her chest. If she was really here, then that meant- that meant the person behind her was none other than…

No, she thought, horrified, as a fine tremor overcame her body. She was all alone in the throne room of Olympus – with Cronus himself.

Madara Uchiha stepped fluidly around the columns, walking into view before her – and Ino felt the air flee from her lungs as she looked upon him for the first time in millennia. He towered over her, tall and strongly built, with an unruly mane of glorious dark hair that framed his sharply-sculpted face and tumbled down his back. He possessed the flawless, statuesque, hallmark good-looks enjoyed by the majority of the Uchiha clan prior to their demise. To be expected, given that he was their founding father. Proud, arrogant lips. A straight, aristocratic, haughty nose. A strong, angular jaw-line. And cat-like black eyes, framed by dark lashes.

He was dressed entirely in black. A long-sleeved top that flattered his broad-shouldered, well-defined upper torso, and loose black pants, coupled with black sandals. The attire was informal - but it made him no less intimidating to look upon, as Ino nervously noted he hadn't appeared to have aged even a single day – besides the deep grooves under his eyes that betrayed his ancient lineage and wisdom.

He smirked at her. "I do not believe we have ever been formally introduced. Though I am aware that your powers have certainly made fools of the best of men over the course of time."

Ino stared up at him with wide eyes. She told herself that this had to be it. That this was surely the end for her. There was no conceivable way that Cronus would possibly let her live. And so, although she was terrified, she would not cower before him.

A deep ache filled her heart as she thought of Sakura going on without her. Would she be alright? Would the others look after her? Would her cycle of suffering end at last? Would Sasuke ever-? She stemmed the remainder of her thoughts. Tears prickled at her eyes – but Ino would not let them fall before Cronus.

This was the same heartless monster who had ordered Kore to be stolen to his Kingdom, who had authorised her poisoning. The demon who had laid waste to her friends and home and caused them so many losses, so much pain.

No, she told herself resolutely, lifting her chin bravely. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her crumble.

"I've never had the displeasure," she retorted scathingly.

Madara blinked lazily at that. "Impertinent," he remarked, looking down at her as if she were an offensive little insect that needed to be squished. "And ill-bred. To be expected of a member of Zeus's court, and a goddess who rules over such superfluous an emotion."

"Superfluous?" Ino echoed, and the chains at her wrists rattled lightly as she tested just how much she was able to move. Very little, she concluded in dismay. "I wouldn't expect you to understand anything about love," she bit out hatefully.

Madara regarded her silently for a moment. "How very little you know of the Uchiha," he answered cryptically. Then, noting the way her eyes flitted around the room, he added mockingly, "You must be wondering where your friends are."

Ino swallowed, unnerved by how easily he seemed to read her, without his Sharingan even activated.

"I have made arrangements," he enlightened her. "They will be returned to the others. Though perhaps not wholly in one piece." His smile was cruel. It did not reach his keen eyes.

The goddess of love's own widened even further at his words. "You monster…" she whispered.

"You will fare no better," he went on as if she had not spoken. "Once you tell me what I wish to know, your purpose will be spent. It is within my best interests to curb the useless emotion your wretched existence inspires. Without it, chaos will thrive. Which means that I will thrive."

"You're out of your mind!" Ino gasped, aghast. "Love is what gives humans purpose! Love is what ensures that humanity endures! You can't just- just wipe it out!"

"Oh, but I can…" Madara replied. He reached up with his right hand to grip Ino's chin in a firm hold, forcing her to angle her head upwards to look directly into his eyes. "You have no idea just how much I am capable of doing - what I will do, once these accursed binds are removed from me."

"Why?!" Ino exclaimed, frustrated. "You started the war! You forced us all into it when you poisoned one of our own! We had no issues with your clan-! Why can't you just let things be?!"

"Let things be?" Madara repeated tauntingly. "While you all roam freely, and I am stripped of all influence and power, locked within a cage that mocks me?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Fool. I will not justify or explain my reasonings to a mere child of a goddess so decidedly beneath me. You have no grounds to question me, Aphrodite. You will tell me the truth about the human girl under Tsunade's charge. Begin by speaking her name."

Ino's heart pounded as she watched his black irises bleed to mesmerising crimson. She knew that Madara's offensive abilities were sealed off and he was incapable of using them outside the confines of his majestic prison – but he was clearly still able to activate his Sharingan at will. Which meant that he was still able to cast genjutsu on a basic level within Olympus.

A basic level illusion would hardly require the exertion of any chakra from a Titan as great and powerful as Cronus was.

He was going to use it to force her to talk, she realised. Her pulse hurtled, and panic seized her in its icy grip. She tried to look away, but could already feel the spinning Sharingan weaving its hypnotic spell, a deadly, inescapable kaleidoscope.

"…Sakura," she blurted out. Horror overcame her.

No! She bit into her tongue in desperation, hard enough to draw blood. No! She thought, feeling the coppery tang fill her mouth. Don't! Don't say anything!

Madara nodded, satisfied that she was caught within the web of his genjutsu. "Tell me," His deep voice was like a dark caress, stripping away all resistance. "This Sakura bears a striking resemblance to the daughter Tsunade lost in the war. And yet spring is still sustained on earth. I take it that Tsunade absorbed her gifts of life at the time the goddess Kora died?"

"Yes... Kore passed..." Ino choked out.

"Then this child is truly nothing more than a mortal?"

"She… is…" The words flew from Ino's lips before she could stop them.

"Why does Tsunade give life to a child who is sickly and repeatedly dies…?" Madara questioned next. "How has she been able to consistently birth new creations in her sealed state?"

"Sakura's... human," Ino repeated. Her mind was reeling. Her tongue felt heavy, was forming the words – but the words that were leaving her were doing so without any conscious thought on her part.

Then she realised, with a startled jolt - her tongue felt like it was burning. The underside - the side that contained the seal of silence.

What's happening…?! She thought in alarm.

"Why is a new infant born once the previous child dies?" Madara pressed, gripping her chin harder.

Ino's entire body was shaking. Cronus knew, she realised in terror. He already knew that Tsunade had a child who lived and died repeatedly. He was already suspicious of Sakura. It was written all over his face. The only thing that was causing any doubt at all, was the fact that Sakura's reincarnations always died, leading to the birth of another infant.

"The baby... is just a mortal," Ino gasped out.

"But why would Tsunade go through such pains?" Madara demanded impatiently. "When time and time again, each child born ends up dying? How is she sustaining this? And why, if the girl is truly nothing more than a sentimental reincarnation of what was lost? Why waste her efforts? Why rear and protect a human so sickly? What is the nature of the illness that ails her?"

Ino couldn't look away from those eyes. They were crimson vortexes, unravelling her thoughts. She had no active powers left to begin to fight them.

"Sakura is…" she breathed heavily with exertion, "…mortal."

Madara stared at her with rapidly rising suspicion. She was repeating exactly the same answers – as if from a pre-prepared script – even when looking into his Sharingan. He had lived far longer than most deities; he knew of almost every technique there was that existed under the sun – and the surface. And this repetition reeked to him of a binding ruse. His eyes narrowed, and he pushed her chin back ruthlessly, prising her mouth open.

"Show me your tongue, girl," he ordered coldly.

Ino fought against his hold – but already, her tongue was extending out her mouth.

Finding nothing on its surface, he commanded, "Show me beneath."

To Ino's horror, her tongue rolled obediently back.

Madara inhaled sharply. As he had suspected, a single-lettered seal glowed upon the underside of the organ, clearly activated.

"A seal?" he breathed, understanding dawning upon his features. "A seal that prevents you speaking of the girl…? But if she was truly mortal, then why?!"

Ino's eyes welled with tears. Tears of loathing. Tears of helplessness. The seal had stopped her from saying a word of the truth – but in doing so, had also raised Madara's suspicions of Sakura even further.

"Obito," he said. A few seconds later, there was a ripple behind him – and the masked man who had slit her throat stepped out of a swirling portal.

Obito? Ino thought to herself, astonished. She vaguely recalled a man of that name who had been a friend of Kakashi and Zeus's before the war had broken out. But he had died - hadn't he?

"This seal. Undo it."

The masked man approached them, and inspected the seal. Then he lifted his hands to form reverse seals. Madara waited. When the seal did not fade, he turned his head questioningly to Obito.

"What manner of seal is this?"

"No ordinary one. It seems it can only be unlocked by a very specific combination," Obito answered. "This seal has been personalised so that only the one who placed it upon her can undo it - or someone else who knows the original hand seals."

Displeased, Madara turned back to Ino, and gripped her face harshly between his fingers again. "Who placed this seal upon you?" he hissed. When she simply stared up at him, he instructed, "Answer me."

Ino summoned whatever scraps of autonomy she had left in her body to spit insolently right in his face, in open insult and defiance of him. She was rewarded with a vicious backhand to the jaw that made her head spin and caused her to see stars.

She inhaled raggedly, as Madara snarled and yanked her head roughly back up to look into his Sharingan again. It blazed through her, the genjutsu growing more severe. "Tell me who placed it upon you, pitiful wench!"

"I…it w…as…" Ino began breathlessly, compelled to answer. But talking was becoming difficult. She could feel her vision and mind fogging over. Concentration was evading her. Her mouth tried once again to reply. But it was burning. Not only her tongue, but her entire throat, as if lava were being poured down it, rendering her incapable of articulating anything coherent, preventing her voice from obeying the Sharingan's call. "…It… wa…s… uhn…"

A second later, she felt her consciousness slip away entirely, as the seal's safety mechanism kicked in and shut her down, ensuring that she could speak nothing else.

---

Upon realising that the goddess had passed out, Madara released her face in disgust.

"Curses," he glowered. "She is of no use to me unless we remove her seal. Someone clearly placed it on her to ensure that she cannot speak of this 'Sakura'," he spat the name out as if it were poison upon his lips.

"Then the girl must be more than she seems," his masked subordinate suggested.

Madara's eyes narrowed. "Sasuke took the girl to the Underworld. He stated she is mortal. Orochimaru has confirmed that the child dies from illness - as a mortal. And yet Tsunade is able to create a new child each time she dies." A thought occurred to him. "But she should not be able to do so alone, with her powers so compromised."

"Perhaps that is why the child dies? She lacks the power to create a stable life."

Madara considered this.

He thought then of Sasuke, who had stated that he had chosen to take the girl to the Underworld to lure Naruto to him - before releasing her. He had kidnapped a girl who just so happened to strongly resemble a goddess Sasuke had kept company with in ages long past. Something didn't seem right about that, either. Especially given what Madara knew of the nature of the past acquaintance the original goddess had had to Hades.

He had first come to learn of Kora from reports that had reached him of Hades passing idle time chariot racing on the surface in the company of the sun god Apollo, and a young goddess nobody within his clan could identify. Curious that there would be a deity in existence that he was unfamiliar with, Cronus had confronted Hades - in the presence of his older brother Thanatos, and their cousin, Hypnos - and sternly asked why he had been keeping company with surface gods, given the tension that had been steadily building between both sides.

He had then explained the clan's intentions to partake in war to the youngest member - only to discover that Hades had been near-oblivious about most of the details and when they intended to act. Thanatos had explained that their father had not wanted to burden his youngest son with such things, until everything was finalised. In the meanwhile, Hades's continued friendship with the surface deities gave the false impression that all was well on both sides, helped alleviate any suspicions and brought the Uchiha more time to plot their coup.

Hades had been silent - before swearing his loyalty to the clan and giving his word that he would make no further contact with them. Cronus, however, had disagreed and ordered him to continue on as normal, and to find out whatever he could about Zeus's plans from his loud-mouthed son. He had then asked Hades specifically about the girl. Hades had answered that she was just a friend of Apollo's who happened to tag along with them sometimes. Her abilities related to springtime.

But Cronus had always been a remarkably shrewd god. He sought to find out precisely what powers this unknown goddess possessed. And so, shortly after, he had secretly deployed his soldiers to spy on the girl from the shadows on one particular night. They'd eventually located her and found her walking within a forest - but she had vanished before they could draw close enough to snatch her. Instead, they'd managed to kidnap a pair of nature nymphs they'd located in the same woods. The nymphs had endured a great deal of psychological torture - before finally cracking and disclosing that Kora was the Goddess of Spring who had the ability to infuse life itself into nature. They also revealed that they had witnessed her professing her love to a deity named Hades within the same forest. But Hades had cold-shouldered her entirely.

It was through her pathetic pining after Hades that Madara had been able to trick her to the same location he had chosen for her abduction to take place.

Madara's thoughts turned back to the human girl Sakura. Had Sasuke lied about her being mortal? Did he know something more about her, and was that the real reason why Naruto had agreed to his terms in desperation, in order to return the girl to the surface? But once again the question arose; why would it matter so much, when the child would eventually die from whatever mysterious sickness ailed her? When Tsunade ensured a replacement was created whenever her daughter perished?

Did the girl die because Tsunade was indeed too weak to create a perfect new body, due to being restricted in powers? Could she only manage a feeble one, and, unable to let go of her past grief, chose to keep trying to create a shadow of what she had lost?

That made no sense to Madara. Why would any parent actively choose to watch their child die repeatedly?

Something definitely didn't add up about the girl. She was a paradox – clearly mortal in soul – or so he had been told. She had to be, in order to die. And yet it seemed there was more to her than that, which warranted the surface gods to be so protective of her. Which warranted a seal that prevented her from being spoken about. And if that were the case, then was it also probable that Sasuke knew more about this Sakura than he had let on? Or had he really taken her because she had been an easy target?

But why now? Why had he waited so long to act? And why this particular girl? Several months was a long time to keep the girl beneath the surface for the purpose of securing his terms. Perhaps he had taken her for the reasons he had disclosed at first - only to find out there was more to her, in the time he'd held her underground?

Madara's sharp mind went over every possible scenario. If Sasuke knew more, and had chosen not to share it, then what reason would he have to do so? Given his animosity toward the surface gods?

Unless... Madara's breath stilled. It could not be, he told himself. There was no conceivable way that a deity as cold as Sasuke had become, could possibly care for a scrawny wisp of a human child. The child of who he perceived to be his enemy.

Unless – unless he somehow retained some basic memory of the fate that had befallen the original goddess who had matched Sakura's colourings in a long ago past? And the role he had unknowingly at the time played in her demise? But that was equally as impossible. Cronus himself had arranged for the boy's memories of her to be erased entirely, when he'd caught Hades returning back to the Underworld after smuggling Kore prematurely back up to the surface.

His mind halted. Realisation struck him with the severity of lightning.

Obito's initial thought manipulation had been temporary. He had been able to snap back to his original state of mind – before Madara had finished the job.

He exhaled, enraged, as one name reverberated deafeningly, hatefully, within his skull.

Shisui.

Shisui could have once again intercepted!

But when?! Madara's mind hurtled at the speed of light, scouring his memories. Hypnos and Thanatos had been by his side the entire time. He had lost sight of them only once - briefly on the battlefield - when Zeus had dangerously attacked them directly with Hiraishin, forcing them to scatter into feathers to avoid the ruthlessness of his aerial assaults. In the din of battle, Madara had been diverted from tracking their movements, as Hera and her guards had lunged at him.

Feathers.

He had seen feathers.

The crows Itachi had been capable of summoning had not only been a means for him to escape from attacks – but to teleport himself and Shisui in tandem, also.

If he had wanted, at that moment – he could have warped away from the battlefield entirely. Madara had simply not noticed at the time – because Thanatos and Hypnos had been by his side again in what had felt like mere minutes later.

But mere minutes was all deities of their calibre would need to do something unpredictable.

His heart began to pound to a slow, sickening beat, as the realisation that he had potentially been outsmarted by not only Thanatos, but Hypnos too, began to sink into him, filling him with unbridled fury. The two had been a lethal combination he had believed he'd had complete control of on the battlefield.

But it evidently seemed that they had been his deadliest miscalculation. He had always known them to be uncommonly cunning. But he had not quite realised the true extent of just how brilliant they had been.

He needed to get both Sasuke and the girl to Olympus to confirm her mortality. He needed to find out, once and for all, how deeply Thanatos and Hypnos's treachery had run.

"Take her," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "Let the serpent carve out her heart, the source of her power. And when he is done, let him slice up the rest of her. Get her out of my sight…now!"

Obito moved to do as he was bid.

---

Sakura tossed restlessly in bed. She knew she wouldn't sleep a wink that night. Every single time she closed her eyes, she saw plaguing images behind her eyelids. Ino coughing up blood, her throat ruthlessly slashed. Neji and Hinata vanishing into a portal. Coupled with the memory of Tenten's lifeless body, and the horrific casualties at the Winter Ball, Sakura's mind was flung into overdrive, haunted. It made switching off impossible – even when she knew she desperately needed sleep to recharge after what had been an emotionally overwhelming day.

She knew Naruto, Jiraiya and the others were still awake downstairs, trying to track the whereabouts of their friends using Sage Mode. Sakura thought that she couldn't possibly rest and do nothing in the meantime. It didn't feel right.

A quick glance at her bedside table revealed that the date and time was March 26, 04:21AM.

She hugged her pillow to her chest in the dimness, feeling utterly miserable. The Spring Festival, which normally occurred in the second week of March, had been delayed due to unfavourable, rainy weather the previous week. This year it had fallen just three days prior to Sakura's own birthday.

Every year she celebrated with Ino, Hinata and Tenten. This year, it seemed that the day would pass by without any of her friends by her side. She swallowed dejectedly, squeezing her eyes shut, overcome with a fresh wave of sorrow.

Where was Ino now? Was Hinata hurt? What about Neji? What if they had been taken to Madara? What if he tortured them? What if he killed them?

Stop it, her inner voice of reason was quick to snap at her, as her mind threatened to turn into her own worst enemy once again. They're not dead. They're not! You have to believe that and focus! Stop wallowing in despair. If you can't sleep, get your butt up and do something useful.

She opened her tearful eyes, hugging the pillow a moment longer for comfort. Then she pushed the covers off the bed in defeat, giving up on her attempt to get any shut eye.

She padded over to the bathroom. Switching the light on, she walked to the sink and washed her face, taking a deep, sobering breath. Then, looking up at her reflection, she gripped the edge of the basin tightly, feeling roiling anger surging anew within her. Vivid green eyes, darkened from the storm of her emotions, stared grimly back at her.

Cronus. She hated him. She hadn't even met him again in this lifetime, or any since her initial passing, but she knew she despised him with every inherent part of her being, for everything he had done to her, for forcing her into a repeated, doomed existence, for the anguish he had caused her poor mother, Shizune and Ino, and Naruto, whose parents had been robbed from him. Of the way he had hurt everyone else she loved and cared about, how his actions had resulted in all their powers being unfairly sealed by a High Council who'd believed they were doing what was best for humanity's sake. Cronus had wiped not only his own family out, effectively orphaning Sasuke in the process, but had catastrophically and adversely impacted everyone else with his selfish, power-lusting actions.

And worst of all, he had not changed. Time had taught him nothing in isolation. He was still hell-bent on revenge and destruction, and Tenten was dead because of him, Chouji and Shino were dead because of him, and Neji and Hinata and Ino were gone because of him-!

Weeks and weeks of suppressed emotions bubbled within Sakura like a volatile brew, pressurised and ready to overflow. And as her intense inner frustration escalated, all the bottled feelings of hatred, despair, fury, helplessness and sadness finally erupted, and her reflection in the mirror became a haze as she literally saw red. A loud sound clapped in her ears, and it was only a few minutes later, as she stood, chest heaving, her vision refocusing, that she realised what had happened.

She watched, with a detached sort of morbid fascination, as deep crimson stained her peach-hued flesh, travelling in rivulets of blood from her knuckle down to her wrist. It dripped into the white sink, splaying bright red splashes against the ceramic basin. She had smashed her right fist against the glass with enough force to succeed in cracking it – without the assistance of any equipped chakra crystal - and shredded her hand against a protruding shard as a result. Her eyes followed the angry gash that wept blood.

Strangely she felt nothing but a dull sting. Then her eyes refocused on her reflection. The pain was sobering. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped toilet roll around the cut, and marched back into her room. Flicking the bedside lamp on, she grabbing the arm brace, hastily strapped it on and drew healing chakra from the half-depleted healing crystal she had used in the previous altercation with the enemy. She watched as the chakra glowed on her flesh, making quick work of healing the injury.

Discarding the stained, make-shift bandage into the bin, Sakura then tied her messy hair back into a ponytail, and changed into soft, dark-blue jeggings and a white tank top. She hastily threw a black cardigan over the vest. Then she plopped down on the rug in the middle of her room and sifted through her collection of chakra orbs, slotting cloaking and earth crystals into two of the slots, and a fresh healing one into the third.

Her mother had been right. She needed to think strategically as a medic and equip defensively. She needed to do whatever she could to minimise the risk of becoming fatally wounded again. She couldn't afford to keep slowing her team-mates down.

There was a light tap on her door. She glanced up to see her mother standing by the doorway. Her face looked grave. Troubled.

"I knew you'd be awake," she said, as she joined her daughter inside the room. In her hand, she held a piece of cloth. As she knelt down in front of Sakura, she unwrapped it, to reveal another arm-brace.

Sakura blinked, surprised.

"I have just been to see Chiyo," Tsunade informed her. "We figured another brace would be helpful, and allow you to equip a wider range of orbs. Six should now be sufficient, and will let you add in some offensive spells. But remember… your priority is always defence."

Sakura nodded and gratefully accepted it, equipping it onto her left arm. She slotted speed, strength and wind crystals into the empty slots.

"Never go anywhere without these," Tsunade instructed. "The only way you'll gain the confidence to use them will be in battle. I wish I could keep you away from any combat. But nowhere is safe for us now. Chiyo has confirmed it."

"Have they found Ino?!" Sakura asked anxiously. "Or Hinata and Neji? Is there any news at all?"

Tsunade was silent. Then she said heavily, "The Council confirmed that they were all taken up to Olympus. I have just told the others. They have made contact with Madara. He openly rejects their laws and…" she broke off uncomfortably.

"What?" Sakura pressed. "Mother, what is it?"

"And he has said that the only way we will have any of them back... is in pieces."

Sakura gasped and leapt to her feet. "We have to do something before he hurts them! We have to go up there-!"

Her mother reached out and gripped her wrist, yanking her back down to her knees. Still holding onto her daughter's arm, she said tensely, "That isn't an option."

"But mother-!"

"We'll address this with the others when we go back downstairs. For now I wanted to speak to you about something else Chiyo told me. She says only four out of us can go on the quest to locate and retrieve the relics."

Sakura looked at her in confusion. Why was her mother mentioning that now? She couldn't even think about the relic quest right then, or anything else for that matter, other than getting Neji, Hinata and Ino out of immediate danger.

"Mother, what-?"

"You are one of them," Tsunade disclosed, her eyes meeting Sakura's levelly.

"Me...?" Sakura got out in disbelief. "But I'm just a-"

"Human?" Tsunade raised a fine eyebrow. "Precisely. The only mortal among us, and so you must go."

Sakura bit her lower lip uncertainly. "Wait. What about you? Will you come, too?"

"Regrettably not. Kakashi and Naruto are the other two. And the fourth…" her lips pursed, forming a displeased line as she frowned. "The fourth will be Sasuke."

Sakura stared at her. Something twisted violently deep within the pits of her stomach at the mere mention of the death deity's name.

"…What?" she managed, after a stunned moment. "Sasuke…? Wha-? But he would never agree to-"

"He would hate to help us, it's true. But that's exactly why this is being enforced upon him. Apparently, the High Council have agreed to the terms of his punishments, which will be delivered at his trial." She gave Sakura a pointed look. "You will be expected to attend, to give evidence against him and Suigetsu. They will be placed on trial together, for overlapping transgressions."

Sakura's heart had started to pound. "When…?" she asked. The thought of standing in a courtroom of sorts, testifying against the great God of Death himself, filled her with unspeakable dread. She had mentally prepared herself to see Sasuke again when it was time for her to return to the Underworld. To discover, that in fact, she would be seeing him far sooner, caused absolute pandemonium to erupt within her.

"Soon after we deal with this unexpected new development. You'll set out for the quest after the trial and sentences are delivered. And one of those sentences is a binding contract that will force him to assist in the unsealing of our powers," Tsunade explained. Her lips then twisted to form a bitter, sardonic little smile. "It would be a fitting sentence, to see his damned Uchiha pride in tatters, and I'd have no qualms about it… but he's also being assigned to shadow you specifically, to ensure your safety while on this mission."

"What?!" Sakura squeaked. Her heart leapt into her throat. "But- no!" she protested senselessly.

"Believe me. I am not happy to have you share company with him," Tsunade's expression was positively thunderous. "Were there any other alternative to you having to go, I would have taken it. But unfortunately, he commands shadows and you are the only mortal. Throw in his quarrel with Naruto and Kakashi… I don't know what Minato was thinking, choosing those elements specifically." As an afterthought, she muttered, "It's no wonder a binding contract needs to be enforced."

Sakura's thoughts spun. Forcing Sasuke to protect her on a mission? That was just great. She couldn't imagine the frightening, destructive extent of his fury once he received word of such a sentence – compelled to help the very deities he despised as much as Cronus himself. And if that wasn't enough – he had to babysit her on the quest, too!

How mortifying!

She lifted a palm to her forehead, groaning internally. As if things weren't awkward enough between them! And after she would give testimony against him, too. If he'd disliked her for her past actions before, she was certain he would absolutely loathe her after the trial, when he would be obligated to not only travel with Naruto, whom he clearly reviled, but Kakashi also, and to watch over her, too.

It's his own fault, she told herself fiercely. I had every right to do what I did. He chose to act like a complete jerk, kidnapping me and feeding me those seeds. I hate that I have to see him again like that, in that way. I hate how awkward it's all going to be. But it's his own fault, and he has to answer for what he did.

"I have made it clear to Chiyo that if he so much as tries anything untoward while assigned as your guard, or lays a hand on you in any way other than what is necessary to ensure your safety, I reserve the right to invoke my own punishment." Folding her arms, Tsunade added, "She has agreed."

Sakura felt oddly nervous. She didn't want to think about Sasuke laying his hands on her for any purpose, even keeping her safe. She also didn't want to know what punishment her mother might have in mind for Sasuke. Probably one that would make the death deity even angrier.

Before she could further contemplate this unpleasant turn of events, the sound of feet bounding up the stairs drew their attention to the doorway. Naruto skidded into view, face urgent. The orange markings of activated Sage Mode encircled his wide eyes.

"We've picked up a trail!"

---

With a hoarse gasp, Karin awoke, broken out of her stone cocoon of paralysis at last. Warmth and feeling flooded painfully back into her body, and she blinked, disorientated, struggling to regain her bearings.

Her still thawing mind groggily recalled that she had been raiding a hideout with Sasuke and the others. Then she had inadvertently looked up into a Gorgon harpy's eyes – and then – then everything had faded away to black.

She glanced around to find that she was in a large glass cylinder of sorts, contained within a dimly lit, clinical-looking room. Men in white lab coats were moving around the space, engaged in their work. Her wrists were shackled, and her cloak had been removed, leaving her in a black, sleeveless turtle-neck top and the black shorts she routinely wore under her cloak. Multiple needles had been inserted into her bare, scarred arms. Tubes were attached to them, and her blood flowed from them, being drawn out of her body into test-tubes beyond the glass.

It was her worst nightmare come to fruition – being trapped in a research facility, used as a lab rat for the benefit of others.

She shrieked, fighting against her bindings, slamming her fists against the thick glass.

"Let me out!" she screamed hysterically. "Let me out!"

The scientists didn't even so much as blink her way.

'Sasuke!' She thought out telepathically. 'Suigetsu! Jugo! I'm here! Help!'

There was a light tap on the glass. She looked down – only to suck in a sharp breath when her eyes met golden, serpentine ones. Orochimaru smiled up at her, looking deeply smug.

"A sensor-type nymph, with the unique ability to heal others who bite into her flesh. I have you to thank for the waste that Sasuke-kun has laid to my bases. Such a remarkable gift…and one that will prove an invaluable addition to my plansss."

Karin screeched. He unsettled her greatly, made every nerve ending in her skin crawl with disgust. "Let me go!" she snarled, struggling desperately against her restraints.

"I am afraid that is not possible," the serpent replied calmly. "Not until I have harvested what I need from you. Your blood - and samplesss of flesh, which will be taken and regrown within my laboratories…"

"You- you freak!" Karin exclaimed. "Sasuke will find me! And when he does-!" she broke off. The creepy smile that graced itself on Orochimaru's face was alarmingly disturbing.

He did not look concerned at all. In fact, his eyes glinted brightly, as he ran a grotesquely long tongue over his lower lip.

"I have a… special surprise… prepared for Sasuke-kun when he inevitably arrives…" he remarked cryptically.

Karin's eyes widened, and she could barely suppress a shudder at the overtly familiar and affectionate way the creep uttered the King of the Dead's name. What did he mean? Was Sasuke in danger? And what did the serpent intend to do with her once he had obtained all his 'samples'?

"You cannot escape your confinement," Orochimaru warned. "If you attempt to do so, the tubes will administer poison into your veins. Sit tight. Perhaps, if you are fortunate, I will modify you also, and morph you into an even greater creation. After the extraction of your cellsss is complete, we will deal with the matter of your mind and consciousnessss…"

Karin gulped, horrified, and could do nothing but watch as he nodded his head in a mocking gesture of polite parting, before turning and leaving her helplessly trapped, unable to do anything to stop him drawing from her resources.

---

Sasuke's head snapped up and his eyes flew open as he finally picked up the location of Karin's soul. At last, she had been broken out of her stone encasement.

The signature was faint – which meant that her location was a long distance away. Near the Ryūchi Caves, he realised.

"Huh," Suigetsu noticed the tension in the death god's body. They were still on the surface, sheltered within the boughs of trees, and had completely recovered their chakra in the time it had taken Sasuke to trace the nymph. He stood up from where he had been leaning back against the tree's thick trunk beside a resting Jugo. "You got something?"

"We're leaving," Sasuke replied.

---

The floor was cold and damp. Hinata stirred as she regained consciousness and opened her eyes, blinking dazedly to find herself in absolute darkness. Lifting her heavy, pounding head, she engaged her Byakugan, forming a fuzzy outline of her surroundings.

She was in a small cell of sorts. It had a low ceiling, barely high enough for her to sit up in, and was constructed of jagged rock. Her ankles were chained to the wall and her wrists were shackled together.

They had been abducted by a masked man on the battlefield on the way back from the Spring Festival. Hinata's heart began to thump to a slow, sickening beat. Where had they been taken? And how much time had passed?

Thick metal bars separated her cell from the next. Inside it was Neji. He was sitting, hunched over, feet and wrists also bound. His head was bowed. Long brown hair had fallen over the side of his face, concealing it from view.

"N-Neji-san?" she whispered, recognising his profile clearly thanks to the x-ray vision her ocular gift afforded her. "Are- are you alright?"

Neji was silent. Then he surprised her, by saying, "I have failed to keep you from harm."

Hinata pushed herself up onto her knees, Byakugan still activated. She inched closer to the bars, reached out to grip them, trying to bring herself as close as possible to her cousin and guardian.

"It's not your fault," she spoke softly. "We- we didn't know about that masked man."

Neji was once again quiet.

"I am sure…" Hinata added, her voice barely above a whisper in the darkness. "I am sure Naruto-kun is doing everything he can to find us."

Once again, silence met her. When Neji next spoke, his words filled the moon goddess with alarm.

"It will be too late for me."

"I- I am sorry?" she faltered. What did he mean? How much longer had he been awake for? "I- I don't understand? Neji-san…"

The echoing sound of a door scraping open caused her to snatch her arms back from the bars. Footsteps walked unhurriedly over stone, and firelight filled the space. Hinata made out a thin corridor, and more dark rock opposite the cell – but little else. Quickly she receded her ocular gift.

Four masked men came into view, holding torches in their hands. They were identically dressed from head to toe in white, with silver shin and wrist guards, as well as protective chest plates. Full coverage face masks bearing demon-like features on them concealed their faces. Swords were sheathed at their waists.

One of the men lifted a large metal key and moved to unlock Hinata's cell. But Neji's voice stopped him.

"I already told you," he said, his tone low, with a dangerous edge to it. "That you will begin with me."

"Even so," came the gruff response. "Lord Orochimaru has requested the girl's presence while the procedure takes place."

Hinata released a startled gasp. Procedure? What had Neji agreed to while she had been unconscious?!

"Neji-san!" she began, heart pounding within her chest.

"That is not what was agreed," Neji answered, ignoring her.

"Shut up. That's what is going to happen," another of the masked soldiers sneered back.

They opened Hinata's cell. One of the guards stepped in and detached the shackles at her feet away from the wall. However, her ankles remained bound, allowing for only slow, shuffling movements. She was grabbed by her left arm and hauled out the cell forcefully.

Neji glared at the soldier who had rough-handled her, as another stepped into his cell and unclasped his ankle chains in turn. He was dragged out just as violently – and then they were both marched down the narrow corridor, up a set of stairs and through a heavy steel door.

They stepped out into what appeared to be an endless, dimly lit hallway. Two more guards joined them.

'Neji-san,' Hinata telepathically communicated with her seraph. 'Where are we? What- what did these men mean about a procedure…?'

'It seems to be the serpent's base,' Neji's voice answered in her mind, his face remaining perfectly stoic as they walked down the winding corridor. 'These men in uniform do his bidding. I am not sure where exactly we are.'

'And- and the procedure?' she pressed nervously.

Neji did not reply. Instead, he reassured her, 'I will do everything in my power to protect you, Hinata-sama.'

They seemed to walk slowly for a very long time, until eventually they were shoved through a door, into a white-washed, clinical looking room. It contained various medical equipment, as well as clipboards and scientific paraphernalia. Computers were strewn around, as well as control panels. There was a padded grey restraining chair in the right corner of the room, and beside it was a white trolley bearing scalpels, forceps and other surgical tools.

Two men in lab coats, wearing surgical masks and protective googles stood by the chair – and beside them was none other than Orochimaru himself.

The serpent smiled at them as they entered.

"Welcome," he greeted. "To one section of my new research facility. You are amongst the firssst to honour us with a visit… though I suspect your friendss will soon join you."

Neji dug his feet into the ground, trying to buy as much time as he could. But he was quickly overpowered, and dragged to the surgical chair by four of the guards.

"Tie the Hyuuga goddess up to that post," Orochimaru ordered the guards. Two of them moved to do as they were bid.

Hinata's lips parted, and her heart leapt into her throat. She finally understood, with sickening realisation, what was about to happen – why Neji had refused to answer her question.

"N-no!" she gasped, overcome with horror. Her entire body began to quiver, as nausea swirled in the pits of her stomach, causing her to break out into a cold sweat. "Neji-san! No!"

A valiantly struggling Neji was restrained into the chair, and as Hinata was chained to the post, she could do nothing but helplessly watch as her cousin's wrists, legs and head were strapped tightly so that he could not move or defend himself.

"Your guardian has known you from your infancy, correct? More a brother to you, than a cousin. And so he has nobly agreed to sacrifice his eyes first," Orochimaru smiled cruelly. "A great addition to our resources the renowned Byakugan will be. You will have the privileged of watching a medical transplant take place…"

There was a ripple in the air beside Orochimaru. The masked man materialised.

"No!" Hinata began to sob, shaking violently. "P-please! Please, don't harm him! T-take mine! I-! I beg of you-!"

"Hinata-sama!" Neji's voice rang out harshly, as one of the scientists picked up a scalpel. "You are a Princess of the renowned Hyuuga clan! Do not beg from these animals!"

"No!" She sobbed in grief, as another of the surgeons picked up a pair of large steel forceps.

No, she thought to herself. No, no, no, this could not be happening! For a Hyuuga to lose their eyes, the greatest prize of their exalted and ancient clan, was akin to a death sentence. Neji would never recover. Even if he lived, there was no way his pride would allow him to get over the loss.

"Have no fear," Orochimaru reassured her heartlessly. "Your eyess will be harvested next…"

Neji's body jerked in rage. "That was not what we agreed!" he snarled. "You gave your word that Hinata-sama would be unharmed!" An uncharacteristic, underlying trace of panic filled his voice. It was enough to turn Hinata's blood ice-cold, hearing her perfectly collected cousin on the verge of losing his composure.

"No…" the serpent rasped maliciously. "But as one of your eyes will be given to my ally here… I require another in its stead. I may allow Hinata-chan to keep one. Perhapsss...kukukuku."

"You… you son-of-a…" Neji, who never verbally swore, began to curse in fury.

"Ah, ah!" Orochimaru raised a long, slender, alabaster finger. "Quite unbecoming of the Hyuuga to use such language." Then, to his minions, he instructed, "Begin."

"Close your eyes, Hinata-sama!" Neji warned. "Do not look-!" He ground his teeth, as the scientists leaned over and set to work. He bit into his tongue as hard as he could, to not cry out, to not cause Hinata any further pain than what she had to be experiencing, being forced to watch such a gruesome event.

Hinata wept and wept, her vision blurring and over-flooding with hot, heavy tears, as Neji's eyes were ruthlessly gouged out before her. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear the torment of watching someone she loved so dearly being dismembered. She told herself that she had to remember this chilling, horrifying moment. That one day, one day, when she grew strong enough, she would do whatever she could to avenge him - if she survived.

'Naruto-kun!' she inwardly wailed, her heart torn apart with anguish and pain as Neji, unable to handle the agony any further, finally began to scream. 'Naruto-kun! Please! Help us!'

---

"They're in the Ryūchi cave district," Jiraiya announced. "We can teleport there directly on Gamabunta."

Sai was silent, inwardly disturbed by the revelation. That was the very same area where Danzo kept the ANBU. But of course, he ensured that the location remained top-secret from everyone, safely concealed behind chakra-bolstered force-fields that rendered the grounds invisible to anyone who came looking. The ANBU who were stationed to guard the headquarters from anyone who happened to traverse too closely to it also remained hidden within the forests, and were swift to do away with any intruders.

In the past, Zeus and the Olympians had known of the ANBU's whereabouts. But following the events of the war, Danzo had relocated his army several times and insisted that to ensure they could do their job properly, their location needed to remain secure.

As a member of the High Council, everyone had trusted his judgement and never questioned it. The ANBU had always done their part to ensure the safety of Konoha in the past.

But now, nobody was questioning his motives more than Sai himself. The district was a large area on the map. He told himself it could just be a coincidence. However, that seemed unlikely, given everything he had found out over the course of the previous months about a new facility being built that ran adjacent to the ANBU base.

Still, Sai was sworn to secrecy. He could not discuss incriminating Danzo and ANBU-related matters verbally. But he reasoned that he could take the others with him to infiltrate the base when he next visited. What remained to be seen was whether the location where Neji, Ino and Hinata were being held, was in fact within the same place.

"Let's go," Naruto exclaimed. "Sai, Shikamaru, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Alright, let's get this over with," Shikamaru sighed.

"Wait," Sakura frowned. "I'm going, too!"

Naruto gave her a hesitant look. "Sakura-chan," he started uncomfortably. "After what happened, I don't know that it's a good idea- I mean, what if the masked man is there again? You haven't even slept-"

Oh, no, you don't! Sakura thought to herself angrily.

"I'm fine! And he's as much a threat to me as he is to everyone else!" she argued. "Besides, I have more chakra-crystals on me this time." She glanced at her mother, who was looking just as uneasy about it. "Mother. I'll be more careful! Didn't you say the only way to get stronger was by being in battle? I can't just sit here and wait, knowing Ino and Hinata and Neji are in danger. I won't!"

Shizune glanced nervously at her friend. Tsunade clenched her teeth. She had said that. But sending Sakura off into the unknown still filled her with apprehension.

Then she recalled Chiyo's words. Soon she would be sending Sakura off on a quest, anyway. She had to come to terms with the fact that she could no longer hide her daughter away from danger. Not when danger was already all around them, and ready to strike without a moment's notice. She had to have faith in Sakura. This was her final life cycle.

Tsunade regarded her daughter – and then closed her eyes in defeat. "I doubt I could stop you," she mumbled. "Not when Ino and Hinata are involved."

"Well," Kakashi pointed out lightly. "We have Jiraiya with us this time. If there's any trouble, we'll send her right back with Gamabunta."

"Very well," Tsunade conceded reluctantly. Meeting Jiraiya's gaze, she added, "Look after her."

"Do I sense some increased trust in you, old shrew?" He flashed her a teasing grin in response, prompting the harvest goddess to roll her eyes at him in exasperation.

"Just make sure you all come back in one piece," she dismissed.

"Alright!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air. "Let's go, dattebayo!"

---

Karin stared miserably out of the glass, as a man in protective medical scrubs wheeled a trolley into the room. Upon it was a body covered with a white sheet. Karin's eyes followed the trolley as the man pushed it toward a door in the wall to her far right. He then disappeared into the neighbouring room.

Someone followed after him, carrying a set of surgical tools.

Another of Orochimaru's victims and test-subjects, Karin thought to herself, feeling an unexpected twinge of sympathy for the person who had shared in her unfortunate fate. Then her attention turned back to herself, as one of the scientists retrieved yet another filled test-tube of blood, replacing it with an empty one.

Karin had no way of knowing just how much blood they had taken. Someone had already opened the cylinder and grafted away a patch of skin from her arm. The wound had been covered with a bandage, but she could still feel it burning. She didn't want to expend chakra trying to heal it – precious chakra that she might later require if an opportunity to escape presented itself.

She desperately hoped that Sasuke, Jugo, and the idiot Suigetsu were on their way to find her. All she could do was hope.

---

'The fuck is this place…?' Suigetsu asked the fundamental question, as they stepped out into a winding corridor. 'Some kind of military base?'

Sasuke had warped them as close as possible to the location where he had sensed Karin to be. But it had led them outside a huge building he had never seen before, one that was tightly manned and patrolled by masked, armed guards who all wore matching uniforms.

They'd snuck in easily enough, completely cloaked from view by the Helm of Darkness. Sasuke was once again thankful for his ability to track down individual souls at will. Without it, he imagined that they'd have gotten hopelessly lost within the endless labyrinth of identical corridors and passageways located within the complex.

The new level they had entered upon was buried deep underground. Sasuke noted that there were much less people around, and any they did see wore different masks and uniforms to those they had spotted on the upper levels. They walked over a metal bridge, beneath which flowed what looked like industrial waste water. It was peculiarly coloured and smelled pungently like chemicals.

'Oi, Sasuke,' Suigetsu telepathically communicated. 'Why the hell aren't you just teleporting us straight to that dumbass bitch?'

Sasuke silently thought that the only 'dumbass' present amongst them right then was surely the idiotic, loud-mouthed ocean god. Did he not conceive that Sasuke surely would have warped them all to Karin directly if it had been physically possible for him to do so? He had already tried. But there seemed to be a chakra-negating barrier on the building that prevented direct warping – which meant that whoever the complex belonged to, was nobody ordinary.

'I felt like walking,' he quipped icily, too irritated by the sheer stupidity of the question to offer anything other than scathing sarcasm in response.

'Wha-!' Suigetsu sputtered – and then guffawed in surprised. 'Holy shit! Did you just crack an actual joke? No fucking way!'

'No,' the death deity snapped curtly, irked. 'Shut up and keep moving.'

Suigetsu continued to snigger to himself. They walked on, with Sasuke's Sharingan activated, as he committed the lengthy route they were taking to his eyes' internal, photographic memory.

'C'mon, how much longer are we gonna walk for?' Suigetsu complained. 'This is taking fucking forever.'

They side-stepped to avoid two men who wore surgical masks and scrubs. They were wheeling along what appeared to be a trolley full of operating equipment.

'Lord Sasuke,' Jugo addressed the death deity. 'Do you think that perhaps, this base might also belong to the serpent?'

'Probably,' Suigetsu agreed. 'Looks like the kind of shady shit that creep would pull – but a lot more high security. Like he upgraded his shit.'

Sasuke watched as the men walked ahead of them. It was highly possible – but without Karin there to confirm whether the snake's creations were nearby, they could only assume that this was possibly the final – and largest – of the bases.

Which meant that once they located Karin, they needed to find a way to demolish it.

It would be no easy feat. Sasuke required Karin to create maps of buildings using her sensory abilities to draw chakra connections. Without her with them, he had no way of telling what the layout was like.

Her signature was finally getting closer. It felt like it was just up ahead. He paused, as they drew close to a door.

'In here,' Sasuke notified them. He peered through the small window panel set into the steel door, and saw mortals in medical attire bustling about.

'Alright,' Suigetsu stood on the other side of the door. 'So what's the plan? There're cameras everywhere here.'

In response, Sasuke called upon the power of shadows, instructing them: Find every camera. Cloak them.

The shadows rolled off his fingertips, seeping through the narrow gap in the bottom of the door to do as they were bid. Then, silently, he locked his gaze onto one of the scientists, and willed the mortal to look toward the door.

Come here, he commanded telepathically. Like clockwork, the man looked up, and moved toward the door without hesitation. Once he was standing directly on the other side, Sasuke ordered him to open it.

The man pushed the door open, allowing them all to slip inside. His colleagues did not question what he was doing – instead they continued to work methodically on their tasks.

Satisfied that all cameras had been cloaked, Sasuke then enforced sleep on all the humans present within his immediate radius. Immediately they dropped to the ground, lost in deep slumber.

Karin noticed this and, immediately realising what it had to mean, began banging on her glass container. She couldn't see them, shrouded as they were by darkness – but she knew that only one deity alive had the power to compel mortals to sleep.

"Here! I'm over here! Let me out!"

'Well, well, well,' Suigetsu hoisted Samehada over his shoulder, as he sauntered up the cylinder located in the middle of the room. 'Lookie here. Looks like a stupid water nymph got stuck in the wrong end of the woods!'

Drawing his sword back, he struck Samehada against the door panel in the thick glass repeatedly, until it cracked. Jugo's arm then morphed and extended, and he ripped out the damaged panel, creating an opening in the cylinder. Suigetsu proceeded to yank the tubes and needles out from a wincing Karin's arms.

Sasuke lifted a hand, extending the Helm of Darkness's cloak to include the nymph's form. Able to see her team-mates at last, she clasped her hands together in delight, and gasped, 'Sasuke! You came for me! I knew you would!'

'Hey! You're welcome, bitch!' Suigetsu shot back, mildly affronted, as he secure Samehada at his back again. 'I'm the one who's getting you out.' Then, noting her bare legs, he added, 'Heeey. You actually have legs. Long ones.'

'I-idiot!' Karin spluttered, flushing as she glanced down at where the ocean deity was working to break the shackles at her ankles – while simultaneously checking out her slender pins. 'Just get these chains off me!'

Suigetsu looked up at her and gave her a snarky grin. 'Only if you call me your hero, admit you missed me, and tell me how happy you are to see me,' he provoked.

'Ugh! Shut up, Suigetsu!' she huffed. 'As if! You're such an idiot!'

'Shut the fuck up,' he tossed back, freeing her of one ankle bind. 'You're the idiot, bitch. If you'd not been dumb enough to look at the harpy in the first place, we'd not have had to waste our time saving your hopeless ass.'

'I didn't ask you to save me,' she retorted tartly.

Suigetsu sneered at her. 'That so? Trust me, I was gonna leave your sorry ass right here. Sasuke had to beg me to help him.'

Sasuke shot him a brief, unamused, withering look that communicated he had most certainly not done anything of the sort.

The ocean deity ignored the glare. 'But okay, fine.' He lowered his hands from where they'd been about to break the remainder of her binds. 'Get out your wrist chains on your own then, you ungrateful little pain in the ass.'

Karin looked helplessly at Sasuke. He looked coolly on, but did not intervene. Then she glanced at Jugo, who was making a point of avoiding eye-contact.

She swallowed, and glanced back down at Suigetsu, who was waiting expectantly.

'Huh?' he squinted up at her. 'What's that? The sound of actual gratitude? Sorry. Can't hearrr you.'

Biting her lower lip, she erupted telepathically, 'Alright! Fine! Ugh. Just get me out these chains!'

'Magic word,' Suigetsu hummed, tapping a finger against his chin mockingly.

Karin clenched her teeth. Then she bit out sarcastically, 'Please get me out.'

'That's so much better!' he grinned. 'See? It's not that hard to be polite. Bitch.' He reached up a hand after casting aside the last of the chains, to help Karin out. She stiffly accepted – only to trip up over the jagged end of broken glass, causing her to topple forward, less than graciously out the cylinder.

Suigetsu reached out to catch her instinctively, and for a few, fleeting seconds they froze as their faces came within inches of one another. Then Suigetsu dropped her as if she were made of lightning, muttering something under his breath as he turned away. Karin smoothed down her scarlet hair, visibly flustered.

'What now, Lord Sasuke?' Jugo questioned.

'Did they take samples from you?' Sasuke asked Karin.

'Y-yeah. They wheeled some out a short while ago, before you showed up.'

Sasuke recalled the scientists he'd seen pushing a trolley. He picked up the partially filled test-tube of blood that remained, and threw it to the floor, incinerating it with a burst of Katon.

'Karin,' Sasuke turned to her. 'Is this Orochimaru's hideout?'

'Yes!' she confirmed, straightening her glasses. 'He was here! These are definitely all his workers!'

'What about the levels above us?' Suigetsu asked. 'We had to take several elevators to get down here, and we walked a long way. Do they all belong to that creep, too?'

'It's only this level and one below from what I can tell. I don't know what's above us – I woke up down here,' she informed them.

'There's a chakra barrier,' Sasuke said.

'Yes,' Karin agreed. 'One that negates teleportation.'

'What about the area? Damage radius?' Sasuke asked for specific measurements. He wanted to know how many places he needed to get to, to bring the entire level down. Whether whatever was above them was part of Orochimaru's schemes or not – Sasuke didn't care. They were within close proximity of one another – that was all that mattered.

Karin lifted her hands, and closed her eyes, concentrating as she reached out with her sensory abilities, visualising a map of the area they were in. She telepathically fed the measurements into Sasuke's mind, assisting the death deity with building a much clearer picture in his head of the layout of the floor they were on, relative from their present position.

'The ground is pretty linear, full of tunnels and corridors, and lots of different research and lab rooms,' Karin stated. 'If we want to detonate it, there's only two ends we need to place explosives in. Any branching off paths head in the same direction – east and west. I can sense a strange, large concentration of chakra coming from somewhere that isn't on this level, though. A really large area. There must be a way to get to it. We should probably head there first, where we can do the most damage.'

'You actually know something about strategy?' Suigetsu teased, grudgingly impressed.

'My sensory abilities make this my forte!' she scoffed.

'Right. So, we trashing this place or what?' Suigetsu's eyes moved to Sasuke.

'Take us to the storage area,' Sasuke instructed Karin.

Karin nodded – and then remembered something. She hesitated, looking to the door where she had seen another person being wheeled inside on a trolley. She hurried to the door, and peered through the window panel at the top.

Scientists had fallen asleep in the neighbouring room, too. The person lay on an operating table. The white sheet had been removed from their body, revealing a person who was dressed in a pale blue surgical gown with a surgical cap concealing their hair. There were ink markings drawn above the opening in the flimsy garment on the individual's chest. It didn't look like whatever operation the doctors had been about to begin had actually been performed yet.

Which meant the person was still alive. But so what? Karin thought to herself. There were probably loads of unfortunate test subjects trapped inside the building.

'Hey, what's the hold up?' Suigetsu asked, as he joined her and peered through the glass in turn.

'N-nothing!' Karin answered, embarrassed to be caught tarrying. She stepped back and began to turn away – but Suigetsu's telepathic voice stopped her in her tracks once again.

'Wait a minute. Sasuke. Come and look at this. There's someone else in there. Maybe they have special abilities too, if that creep has them here.'

Sasuke looked through the window. Suigetsu then pushed the door open and stepped into the operating room. Sasuke, Karin and Jugo followed after him.

Suigetsu's eyes widened as he reached the operating table.

'What's this?' he exclaimed in surprise. 'Huh? Oh...'

'…' Sasuke looked aloofly down the barrel of his nose, coolly inspecting the deeply sedated individual with cold detachment.

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, the ocean deity communicated, 'So, uh? We just gonna go? If we're blowing this entire place up...?'

Sasuke blinked. Then his eyes narrowed into slits.

'Jugo,' he instructed flatly.

His sworn servant nodded in immediate understanding. 'Yes, Master.'

---

They exited the room that had been holding Karin, hurrying along the corridor. But they had only managed several steps – when the panels beneath their feet suddenly began to rumble – before folding in on themselves entirely, with such unexpected swiftness that they found themselves immediately struggling to avoid plummeting straight down an industrial chute.

'Shit!' Suigetsu cursed, as he began to slip on polished metal and lose his footing. 'What the fuck!?'

But it was too late. Jugo had already plunged down the shaft, and a shrieking Karin was disappearing after him. She grabbed onto Suigetsu's ankle, dragging him down after her.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke activated Susano'o, and having no other choice, dove down after them.

---

"What is this place…?" Sakura asked, as Gamabunta deposited them within the dimly lit tunnel. Jiraiya's faithful summon had travelled swiftly underground, avoiding all surface-level obstacles in the process, and transported them to the location closest to where his Sage Mode had detected traces of their friends' chakra signatures. As the team of six hopped off the humongous toad's back, Gamabunta vanished in a plume of smoke, leaving them to navigate through the space alone.

"Some manner of underground facility," Kakashi commented, as they began to walk ahead. It was the only possible direction. The route behind them was closed off by compacted earth.

"Probably one of the snake's research hideouts," Shikamaru guessed.

"Stay sharp," Jiraiya cautioned, his deep voice echoing within the tunnel. "We don't know what might be lurking down here. If it has anything to do with Orochimaru, it shan't be pleasant."

They continued onward, with Naruto and Jiraiya leading the way.

"Are we close?" Sakura asked, as she walked between Shikamaru and Sai. Kakashi stayed behind them, keeping watch from the back.

"Their signatures are faint," Jiraiya answered. "It seems there is a barrier of sorts here. We cannot teleport any closer."

"Damn it," Naruto quickened his pace urgently. They had no time to waste.

Eventually the tunnel led to a long metal ladder which climbed upwards. Jiraiya headed up first, pushing a hatch open at the top. Looking left and right, he then hoisted himself onto the upper level, and beckoned them all to follow.

Once everyone had climbed up, they found themselves in a stretching, dimly-lit, winding corridor.

Sai had expected to find a familiar hallway. Instead, it was different to any he had seen during his previous visits to the ANBU facility and the new level that had been built running adjacent to it. This unsettled him. Had they come to a different complex entirely? Or to a section he had yet to venture through? He'd spent the previous few months trying to map out as much of the new level as possible. He'd even obtained key-cards for that exact purpose, to allow entry into even the most classified of areas. He had found nothing in them, except lots more frozen cylinders. Certainly nothing particularly incriminating.

How, then, were they now in a steel-perforated corridor he failed to recognise? His eyes turned upwards, seeking out cameras. He couldn't see any here.

The previous time he'd snuck into ANBU, he had very nearly been caught when a soldier had grown suspicious of his loitering around within classified areas. And so Sai had paused in his mission, figuring it best to allow time to pass before he tried again.

He logically concluded that this had to be a newer section that was not yet in use. Or otherwise, an entirely different building.

There were doors set into the walls. They peered through the window panels as they passed them, finding mostly unoccupied storage rooms.

"This place is creepy," Sakura spoke in a hushed voice. "These rooms are all empty."

"There's nobody here," Naruto frowned. "Pervy Old Hermit, are you sure this is the right place?"

"If Gamabunta led us here, it must be," Jiraiya responded. "Perhaps there is another level above us?"

The sound of approaching footsteps in the distance caused them all to tense.

"Quickly," Kakashi hissed. "Into one of the rooms!"

Sai noted that there were no card-reader security locks on these doors, unlike within the ANBU complex. They all dove inside the nearest door and hurriedly closed it, holding their breaths. Peering through the window panel, they saw masked soldiers in silver and white uniform patrolling down the corridor.

Sai frowned lightly to himself. That was not the ANBU uniform. This seemed to be a place within the same district as Danzo's facility – but was it indeed possible that it was a separate complex entirely? After all, the Ryūchi caves spanned over a vast area.

When they were sure the guards had vanished, they slipped back out, continuing down the corridor, until they came to a steel door with the letter D marked on it. Like the other door they had tried, it was unlocked. Jiraiya pushed it open, and they stepped into another, identical corridor.

"Be careful," Shikamaru warned. "Looks like this area has cameras."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sai stated. "I am well versed in infiltration. Please follow me and lend me your lightning element."

They crept along, with Kakashi and Sai leading the way, progressively taking out any cameras they came across. Naruto, Shikamaru, Sakura and Jiraiya fell back, checking the windows of the symmetrically aligned doors on both sides of the new corridor. Some of the rooms here had staff in them, mostly scientists in lab-coats or medical scrubs who were working on unknown projects.

Behind them, a door suddenly opened, and a medic stepped out, wheeling a trolley. It happened so suddenly, that none of them had time to think to hide. But to their disconcertion, the staff member walked by them without as much as sparing a glance their way.

Weird, Sakura thought to herself, heart racing. Something was definitely not right.

"This must be Orochimaru's work," Shikamaru observed. "He routinely brainwashes people, doesn't he?"

"That bastard," Naruto snarled, and then surprised them all by charging ahead after the man wheeling the trolley. "This is taking too damned long!"

"Naruto!" His comrades called after him in alarm. But it was too late. Naruto had already reached the man – and grabbed him by the collar of his lab-coat.

"Hey, you!" He addressed the startled scientist. "I'm looking for a girl and guy with dark hair and grey eyes. And a blonde girl. They were brought here just today. Tell me where they are, dattebayo!"

The scientist simply stared at him in a clueless daze.

"Naruto, you fool!" Kakashi exclaimed in exasperation. "You'll have the alarm raised on us any second-"

"Put your hands up in the air, right now!" Angry voices suddenly called out behind them. A cluster of masked soldiers had come running up behind them. Sakura's stomach knotted. Where had they even appeared from?

"Ah," Sai stated the obvious. "It appears our arrival has been noted."

"Shit," Naruto cursed, releasing the scientist, who scurried quickly off.

"What a drag. Nice one, Naruto," Shikamaru mumbled under his breath, as they raised their hands and turned to face the guards – to find guns being held up at them.

There were five of them, all wearing masks with demon-like faces. One of them lifted a radio communication device close to his concealed mouth. "Calling for reinforcements. Intruders detected on basement lev- arghh!"

He didn't get to finish. With Sage Mode activated, Jiraiya flash-stepped to them and made quick work of disabling all five men – but not before two of them managed to fire shots at the others. Sakura, who had anticipated the danger, immediately drew chakra from the earth-crystal she had equipped, and held out her hand, forming a solid, earthy, circular force-field that radiated from her palm. One bullet lodged into it. The other whistled just past Sai's ducking head. As soon as Sakura stopped drawing on the crystal's stored chakra, the force-field faltered, crumbling into useless clumps of earth onto the ground.

She stared at her palm. So this was how to use the orbs in defence, just as her mother had instructed her.

"We had better get a move on before any others find us," said Jiraiya, and they began to move at a faster pace, checking the doors along their way.

It seemed that the corridor was never ending. They continued to run, until Sakura started to feel her legs ache from exertion. She channelled the speed crystal, drawing on the enhancing chakra, directing it to her legs. Immediately she felt herself bolt forward, at a faster pace than she could usually manoeuvre. On and on they continued to check the doors, passing a handful of scientists who paid them no mind – until Shikamaru suddenly drew to a stop at one of them, and flagged them to him.

"Everyone! Over here!"

Naruto was beside him in an instant. They all ran inside - just in time to see Hinata being strapped to a restraining chair.

"N-Naruto-kun!" she sobbed heavily. Sakura's heart leapt at the sight of her dear friend. Her face was drenched with tears and she looked to be in agony. On the floor beside her, was a motionless Neji, who lay on his stomach. Blood was pooling onto the grey vinyl flooring beneath him.

A frighteningly large volume of it, Sakura noted in apprehension.

"Hinata!" Naruto moved on auto-pilot. He lunged toward the scientists – but was swiftly intercepted by a masked guard who lifted a sword to deflect him. The sun deity snarled, furious at being slowed down.

"Hurry and complete the procedure!" the soldier yelled, as seven other guards who had been stationed around the operating room fell into place beside him.

Kakashi ducked low to evade the swipe of a razor-sharp blade, then retaliated with a stream of Chidori. He slashed the lightning energy across his attacker's chest, sending him flying backward. The man staggered back up and charged at him again, aiming a vicious flying kick at Kakashi's head. Kakashi grabbed his ankle with both hands and pumped lightning into his limb, electrocuting the soldier with lethal voltage.

The guard convulsed as he fell to the floor, before growing still.

Shikamaru summoned shadow hands to restrain two assailants, pinning them to the ground before stomping down on their masks, rendering both guards unconscious.

Jiraiya danced around two of the guards' attempts to disable him, before grabbing them by the backs of their necks. He then smashed their heads together and threw them against the walls. They fell in a daze, and struggled back onto their feet, but Sakura closed in on them, connecting strength-enhanced punches to their guts, leaving them winded and groaning as they slumped back to the ground. This time they didn't get back up.

Sai, who had disarmed one of the guards of their swords, stabbed the blade into their shoulder and kicked them back. He followed up with a swift uppercut to the underside of the man's jaw. Sakura dove at him from behind, sweeping his legs out from underneath him with a resounding crack. The man howled in pain, before Sai knocked him unconscious.

Naruto leapt aside to avoid the slicing jab of a guard's blade. They exchanged blows for a few seconds, before the sun deity dropped low and smashed a spinning Rasengan orb into the guard's chest, sending him hurtling back into the last standing guard and in turn one of the scientists who had just lifted a set of forceps to Hinata's face. With a shout, the scientist crashed onto the floor. Sakura raced at the remaining man, grabbing him by the collar of his coat. She then punched him straight in the face with a gloved hand, breaking his glasses, and shoved him aside.

With trembling hands, she worked with Naruto to rip off the restraints that held Hinata down.

Hinata wept as Naruto pulled her up from the seat. Holding onto her shoulders, as if he needed to make sure she was truly there before him and not an apparition, he said, "Hinata! Are you alright?!"

She continued to sob uncontrollably. Sakura knelt down beside Neji, and gently pushed him onto his back, preparing healing chakra into her palm to mend any wounds.

"Neji…? Can you hear me?" Her hand then flew to her mouth in horror at the sight that met her.

Neji's Byakugan eyes had been gouged right out of his skull. The sockets were still bleeding heavily, which suggested that the operation had not long since been completed. She swallowed, overcome with an intense wave of nausea. That was when she noticed the rest of his injuries. There was a deep wound to his chest, precariously close to his heart. Blood was still seeping through it.

"By Olympus…" Jiraiya exhaled, his face twisted with the same horror they all felt as they gazed down at their brutally maimed friend.

"This is bad," Kakashi murmured, deeply troubled.

Sakura almost retched. Then her mother's words echoed in her mind. She was a medic! She needed to get a grip of her emotions!

She lifted an unsteady hand to the pulse point at his neck. It was faint, but detectable. His chest rose and fell in shallow, irregular breaths. With trembling palms, Sakura did her best to use healing chakra to stem the bleeding as much as she could.

Neji coughed, his lungs rattling, filled with blood from fatal, internal puncture wounds.

"H-he…when…when…t-they unstrapped him, h-he… he t-tried to s-save m-me… a-a-and…" Hinata stuttered, before grief clogged her throat, cutting off the remainder of her distressed words.

"Who did this?" Naruto whispered. His face had gone as white as a sheet. Then he roared, "WHO DID THIS?!"

Hinata cried into his chest. "I-it...was... Oro...chimaru... and... and... the masked man..."

Jiraiya's hands closed into angry fists. "Damn it," he uttered.

"Na…ruto…" Neji struggled to speak.

"I'm here," Naruto answered thickly, kneeling down beside him. He gritted his teeth, tears of frustration flowing freely down his cheeks.

Neji reached out unseeingly to him, and Naruto gripped his hand. The seraph clasped it tightly, and rasped, "T…ake… care… o…f… Hin…a…ta…" he drew a shallow, gurgling breath, and added, "Her… li…fe… i…s… in… you…r…ha…nds…"

With those final words, the air in his lungs hitched - and he grew limp and still.

Sakura didn't need to check his pulse again to know that he was gone. Even though she had done her best to heal him, the damage and stress had been too great for his body to bear.

Shikamaru crouched beside him, head bowed. His hands closed into shaking fists as he silently mourned the passing of his long-time friend.

Naruto froze in place. Unspeakable pain seized him. His entire body was shaking violently form the withering storm of his crippling emotions. His vision blurred with tears, as he gazed down at the now deceased seraph.

Another of Hinata's family he had failed to protect – had charged him with ensuring the safety of the only Hyuuga left. The significance of that was crushing.

A terrible silence filled the room as they all absorbed the critical loss of a loyal companion who had been with them since the very beginning.

Hinata fell to her knees beside her cousin, weeping softly as she gathered him up into her arms, embracing him tightly.

"N-Neji-san," she sobbed repeatedly, as she rocked back and forth, quivering with anguish. "Neji-nii-san…"

"Hinata…" Naruto whispered, watching her helplessly. "I…" His unspoken apology and regrets hung weightily in the air.

"..." Kakashi's lone eye lowered sadly. If Orochimaru and the masked man had done this... then it meant they had transplanted Neji's eyes into someone or something.

"We need to move," Jiraiya finally said heavily, speaking the harsh truth. "Now isn't the time or place to grieve. Get up." When nobody moved, he urged, "Get up, now! All of you! Orochimaru may still be here!"

"We still have to find Ino." Sai added quietly.

Another friend had been lost. Sakura's heart dropped to her feet. So soon after Tenten, Chouji and Shino's painful deaths. And they still hadn't even located Ino yet.

Tears stung at her eyes as she watched an upset Naruto pull a grieving Hinata away from Neji's body. She released a suffocated breath, the very real possibility that Ino could be dead too finally hitting her full force. Unable to process it, she got to her feet and turned and bolted angrily out the room.

---

The journey down passed by in a blur. Sasuke finally succeeded in extending Susano'o to all his team-mates, ensuring that they landed unhurt as they finally reached the end of the metal chute. It dumped them to a lower level labyrinth of tube-shaped tunnels hidden deep below the main facility. Fluorescent white lights were set unevenly into the rocky walls, providing irregular lighting.

'This just gets better and better!' Suigetsu snapped. 'Now we need to climb all the way back up.' He glowered at Karin. 'This is all your fault, you stupid bitch!'

'H-how is it my fault?!' Karin retorted, bristling indignantly. 'I didn't make the ground disappear, idiot!'

'I fucking wish you would disappear, you useless pain in the ass!'

Their bickering was cut off, when a moment later, a thunderous growl echoed distantly through the air.

'W-what was that?!' Karin whispered, instantly stricken with panic. She forgot all about arguing with Suigetsu, as she reached out to grip onto his arm unthinkingly.

They detected a faint rumble in the ground beneath them. Sasuke turned his head, looking to their right, Sharingan glowing in the dimness. Something was approaching.

'You're shitting me,' Suigetsu slapped a hand to his forehead. 'You have got to be shitting me.'

Orochimaru had clearly anticipated their coming, and deployed a welcoming party to meet them. Sasuke had no doubt that the snake was watching from some remote location, pressing buttons that had caused them all to drop to the level below. He couldn't see them - but he could see doors opening and closing.

They needed to destroy this base. With its wealth of resources, Sasuke knew the loss would be a huge blow to Orochimaru and his twisted plans. His eyes slipped to Jugo and Karin. With them, their progress would be slowed down. And he couldn't sustain Susano'o indefinitely to protect so many allies without risking his own chakra reserves.

His intelligent mind raced, improvising quickly. He'd initially intended to go to the large storage room first. But now that they knew there was another level beneath the one they had just vacated, that changed the priority of action. He knew he needed to get Karin and Jugo out. They couldn't risk Karin being captured again – and neither did he want Jugo's safety compromised.

Sasuke had every confidence that he and Suigetsu could remain behind and bring down the facility, now that Karin had provided him with a telepathic layout. An idea occurred to him. A safe way for them to travel swiftly without the need of Susano'o's barrier.

He lifted his hands to his head and removed the Helm of Darkness. Immediately, its invisibility cloak vanished from around them. For his plan to work, he had to relinquish it. As powerful a tool as it was, the range over which it could shroud allies was not infinite – and he needed Jugo and Karin to escape without hindrance.

"What the fuck?" Suigetsu looked at him in confusion. "What're you doing, Sasuke?"

"Jugo," Sasuke regarded his subject, depositing the prized weapon into his stunned servant's hand. "Take the Helm. It will allow you to wield its powers this once. Take Karin and get out of here. I'll use Susano'o to return you back up to the level above us. Put it on then, and get out."

"Sasuke!" Karin gasped in concern. "But what about you and Suig-" she caught herself, realising she had been about to include the irritating ocean deity in her question. She didn't want the idiot thinking she was actually worried about him.

But Suigetsu caught on. He didn't grin, or tease her. In fact, he blinked, clearly surprised.

"Suigetsu and I will remain behind and take this level down. Is there anything else below us?"

"No," Karin confirmed. "This is the lowest ground. It has a similar layout to the ground above. Everything else is built above it, so if you blow up the foundations, everything should follow. But... Sasuke! I can sense powerful chakras down here. There must be many monsters!"

The growling was coming closer, confirming her words.

"How the hell are we going to do that?" Suigetsu demanded angrily. "When the enemy can now see us, thanks to your ingenious ass?" He pointed at Sasuke. "Any monsters lurking here will attack us, and we'll be screwed and out of chakra before you know it. How are we going to get from one end of this shithole to the other without warping? What the hell, Sasuke?"

"Get back outside, and as soon as you do, return to the Underworld," Sasuke commanded Jugo, ignoring Suigetsu's misgivings. "Karin. Help him find the exit."

"Master," Jugo said, shifting on his feet. "What of the-?"

"Head to the shore. I'll take care of it when I return." Sasuke replied, cutting off the remainder of the question.

"R-right!" Karin nodded. "But- be careful!"

In response, Sasuke summoned Susano'o's fully winged form. It enveloped him, Suigetsu, Karin and Jugo within its protective cocoon, and with precise control, Sasuke crouched down on the ground before pushing up from it, leaping upwards. Susano'o's mighty wings propelled them back up the chute, quickly returning them onto the level they had fallen from. They broke through the panel that had sealed the entrance to the secret shaft shut, to find that the rest of the retracting flooring around the opening had been restored. Sasuke set Jugo and Karin down. Jugo took a deep breath, and dutifully placed the Helm on his head – and then he and Karin vanished immediately out of sight.

Sasuke then looked at Suigetsu.

"How is this going to work?" Suigetsu scowled. "And why am I the one who has to stay behind with you? Have you even got a plan, asshole?"

The death deity blinked and dove abruptly back down the chute. Susano'o's armour dragged the ocean god in after him, causing Suigetsu to curse colourfully.

"What the fuuuuck!?" he yelled, voice reverberating loudly within the steel shaft as Susano'o carried them down at blinding speed.

They landed back onto the lowest level, just in time to see three, fire-breathing chimera rounding the curve in the underground tunnel. The creatures bounded ferociously toward them, growling menacingly in the dimness.

"Uh, Sasuke?!" Suigetsu grabbed Samehada from his back. "Incoming!"

Sasuke quickly swiped his thumb across his lips, drawing blood, and crouched down, slamming the palm of his left hand against the metal grating walkway set into the ground.

At his invoking words, a huge plume of smoke enveloped them.

---

"Sakura!" Alarmed voices called after her.

She ran down the corridor, looking desperately through the windows of neighbouring doors. Soon she heard steps catching up behind her.

"Wait, Sakura!" Jiraiya's deep voice echoed. "Let me pick up the new trail!"

She glanced back to find that everyone had exited the room. Jiraiya was carrying Neji's still body over his shoulder. Naruto was gripping Hinata's hand tightly in his.

"Where is she?!" Sakura cried. Her emotions were bubbling over, despite her best efforts to keep them in check. The longer they didn't find Ino, the more danger her best friend would surely be in. And now that she had seen the awful fate that had befallen poor Neji, her mind couldn't help but cycle to the worst case scenario. Every second counted. They couldn't afford to waste any more time!

"Sakura, calm down," Kakashi cautioned, as they re-joined her by the door she had just finished checking.

Jiraiya closed his eyes and lifted the first two fingers of his right hand up to his face, focusing intently. A minute passed. Sakura shifted impatiently, anxiously on her feet as they waited.

Then his eyes opened.

"Odd. I cannot sense her," he frowned. "I was certain I could before, but now, there is no clear trace."

"What?!" Sakura exclaimed. The words didn't make any sense to her. "What do you mean?"

"Let me try," Naruto lifted his hands and concentrated in turn. After another few seconds, he lowered it, looking troubled. "I... I can't either."

Sakura turned and looked desperately back down the rest of the stretching corridor.

"I'm not leaving," her voice shook, "until I find Ino! She has to be here if you sensed her before!"

"She could perhaps be unconscious," Jiraiya mused. "Or heavily sedated. Both can affect how much active chakra Sage Mode is able to detect."

"Let's hurry and check every room," Kakashi urged.

They ran along, peering through the doors. It wasn't long, however, until they ran into a large troupe of masked guards who had been alerted to trouble on the lower floors. Just as they prepared to fight, there was a bright flash of light as a grenade was thrown, forcing everyone to shield their eyes from the blinding flare. The sound of shouts and scuffles broke out.

When the surface deities looked up again, they were astonished to find a new set of masked guards incapacitating the other soldiers.

"Who are they...?" Sakura asked.

"Members of Danzo's ANBU squad," Kakashi replied.

"Great gods!" One of the masked ANBU addressed them respectfully. "Lord Danzo has sent us to aid you!"

Sai was silent. Was this why he had failed to recognise the layout of this particular facility? Because it was indeed a separate building altogether to the basement levels he had been infiltrating over the previous months? He had assembled key cards and tried once more to enter the large storage room where he had seen the huge volume of cylindrical containers – but with no luck. The access code combinations had either been changed – or the area had become strictly off limits to all ANBU personnel entirely.

"I see. So Danzo used his tracking abilities to locate us here," Jiraiya commented.

"He sent us to retrieve the hostages," another ANBU guard explained. "However, the passageways to get to you were swarming with monsters and enemy soldiers. We had to fight our way through. There are other creatures still headed this way!"

"We've found two of them," Shikamaru informed them. "The third is still missing."

"Please," Sakura entreated. "Her name's Ino. She has blonde hair and blue eyes!"

The ANBU exchanged glances.

"Apologies, Miss," a female soldier answered. "We have yet to find anyone by that description. We have already searched all the rooms behind us."

Sakura lifted her hands to her head in despair. "Maybe you missed a corridor. Please, we need to check again!"

"It's dangerous," another male guard warned them. "There are more enemy reinforcements coming! Lord Danzo believes Orochimaru uses this as the base of all his experiments, and has commanded us to destroy it! The serpent knows we are all here!"

"That son-of-a-bitch," Naruto seethed.

"There's no doubt this is Orochimaru's work," Jiraiya agreed.

"Please follow us back to the exit point," the dark-haired leader of the ANBU guard entreated. "We have used our resources to open up another tunnel which will allow us to return to a secure area outside. Once we are there, we will detonate explosives to destroy the passageways leading into this place. This entire facility will be demolished."

"No!" Sakura gasped in dismay. "You can't! Ino might still be down here!"

"There are no survivors," the ANBU stated. "As we have stated, we checked every room in all the corridors behind us searching for you and any of the hostages."

Sakura whirled, turning desperate eyes to Jiraiya. "You said you sensed her here!"

"I was certain that we did," he frowned. "But there is no longer any trace. I am sorry, Sakura. We cannot remain here for much longer-"

"I don't believe it!" Sakura's eyes stung with tears. "How can she just vanish?! We can't just let this whole place blow up without making sure-!"

"Sai and I will check with you one last time," Shikamaru offered calmly, surprising her. He looked at the ANBU. "Can you buy us some time, and hold off any enemies we encounter long enough for us to look through the rooms again, just in case?"

The ANBU hesitated - but nodded. "We must be quick," their leader warned. "Lord Danzo is awaiting our return to authorise the detonation of the explosives remotely."

"We'll be right behind you, covering you!" Naruto said. "Be careful, Sakura-chan!"

"Let's go, Sakura!" Shikamaru urged.

Together with the ANBU, they ran ahead. Sakura's heart pounded as she, Sai and Shikamaru searched through every room and interconnecting room. They found lots of unconscious bodies – but none were Ino.

Please, Sakura thought frantically. Please be here! Please, please!

She burst out of another room, to find that the ANBU soldiers were battling more of the demon-masked soldiers. She ducked past the fray, diving into another room to discover nothing yet again. Her sense of frustration and desperation escalated with every unsuccessful door she opened.

The ground rumbled beneath her feet, and as Sakura ran back out into the corridor, her heart plummeted. Three roaring cyclops had appeared, and Naruto and her friends had joined the ANBU in dealing with the new threats. Chaos was erupting around them. Time was running out, Sakura realised with sinking realisation. They couldn't remain there safely for much longer.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru yelled, as he ran out a room he had just finished checking. "Don't stop! Keep moving!

She raced forward, lungs burning. When one of the demon-masked soldiers slipped past an ANBU guard and lunged at her, Sakura charged chakra into her right hand in anger and smashed a fist right into the enemy's mask, breaking it into fragments and sending the unfortunate victim flying back into one of his comrades. She checked another door, another and another. Still nothing, nothing, nothing, no sign of Ino anywhere.

Scrambling back into the corridor, she found even more enemies had swarmed the area. She was just about to head to another door - when one of the cyclops behind them smashed his mighty spiked club against the ground with such force, that Sakura lost her footing entirely. An arm grabbed her and hauled her up. She glanced up to find Sai, who dragged her after him. They continued to run, splitting only to peer through windows, having no more chances to enter rooms. A shadowy hand shot out in front of them, as Shikamaru flung a cluster of masked soldiers out their path, leaving them with an open stretch at last.

But as they ran along, the panels beneath their feet suddenly quivered and began to give way. Sakura screeched in surprise, feeling herself falling through air. Shikamaru shouted in alarm, and she felt a shadowy hand wrap around her right arm to halt her fall – but then one of the cyclops lunged after them, his monstrous weight causing the rest of the panels in the walkway to collapse - and then Shikamaru was falling in turn, with Sai tumbling quickly after him.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" she heard Naruto's voice echo behind them.

Sakura screamed as they plummeted freefall through darkness. With nothing to break their descent, and no way of knowing if her friends above had also dropped through the floor, she channelled the wind element crystal and summoned a protective typhoon of howling air around her body. It swirled obediently around her, slowing the speed of her plunging decent by pushing upwards against her body.

Her concentration was rudely broken, and the wind dissipated, when they crashed into darkness and ice cold water. Sakura was dragged under from the force of the fall. The cyclops had already smashed into the water, his thrashing weight causing violent waves that pushed Sakura further under. She could feel her oxygen supply running out as she battled frantically to swim back up to the surface.

Something then grabbed her by her waist and yanked her out the water with dizzying force. She landed on cold hard steel, spluttering and coughing, her heart racing, body shivering from adrenaline and cold. Shikamaru's shadow hands slipped away from her, and he placed a hand on her back. He and Sai were just as drenched as she was.

"You okay?" he panted.

"Y-yeah," she wheezed. Then she turned her face upwards, finding nothing but darkness above the body of water. They had fallen far enough to no longer be able to see the level above them at all. "What happened?!"

"The floor gave way," Sai stated, wringing as much water as he could out of his clothing. "It appears we are now in a lower level tunnel."

"What about Naruto and the others?" Sakura accepted the hand that Shikamaru offered to pull her to her feet.

"We'll just have to trust that they make it out alright," Shikamaru said grimly, wiping water off his face. "Right now, we need to focus on ourselves. We have to get back outside before the detonation goes off!"

"But… Ino…" Sakura said hoarsely.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Shikamaru looked genuinely pained. "If Jiraiya couldn't sense her, then we can only hope she wasn't here after all. There's no way we can get back up the way we came, and the ANBU were right about all the rooms we checked before we landed here."

Sakura gulped miserably.

Shikamaru squeezed her shoulder. "We've got no choice. We need to look for another exit, before anything else finds us down here!"

The cyclops behind them continued to roar and thrash, but was unable to pull himself out of the water. Everything eventually grew eerily quiet as the creature finally succumbed and sunk to his death beneath the waves. Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru began to run down the metal walkway, following its curve, tense and fully alert to the fact that practically anything could come leaping out at them. The blackness above them turned to what looked like compacted earth. They were encased within a wide, dimly lit tunnel, constructed of rocky walls and a very high, earthy ceiling. The smell of damp soil filled the air and the tunnel seemed to stretch onwards with no clear end in sight.

"This must lead up somewhere," Sai mused. Sakura envied how collected he appeared. Part of her was almost mad at him for taking all of this so well – when she felt like she was on the verge of losing her head at any moment.

Neji's death, Ino's kidnapping, everything that was happening – she was emotionally overwhelmed. It was taking everything within her power to keep herself as composed and level-headed as possible.

A sudden loud sound akin to an explosion echoed through the tunnel, and the ground quivered beneath their feet. Stones crumbled from the walls, indicating a powerful impact.

"The detonation?!" Sakura gasped.

"We need to hurry!" Shikamaru shouted. Sakura drew from the speed crystal in her arm brace, and the boost in chakra sent her hurtling forward.

Another explosion rocked the area, causing the ground to rumble. They raced on, trying to find an exit point. Eventually the tunnel split, leading into two different directions.

The ground continued to shake. They heard an inhuman, high-pitched shriek, and then, to their horror, a chimera came bounding down the left tunnel.

"Shit!" Shikamaru cursed. They had no time for diversions. "Run!"

The chimera opened its mouth and a fireball immediately blazed in their direction. They dove into the right tunnel and raced down it. But the chimera was giving chase, and with four legs, was capable of making ground on them quickly. It shot another fireball at them, which crashed into the walls, sending large clumps of rock flying through the air.

Sakura drew from the earth orb, forming a hastily constructed shield of hovering, thick rock above her head. Rocks and debris rained down upon it, but it held strong, protecting her from physical harm. She threw a wild glance back over her shoulder, to find that Shikamaru and Sai were engaging the beast, in an attempt to slow it down.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru yelled. "Keep running!"

She did so, sprinting as fast as she could, lungs burning from exertion, heart pounding. She tore down the path, pumping wave after wave of speed-enhancing chakra into her screaming legs. When she came to another fork in the tunnel, she hesitated, not knowing which way to go. A third, louder explosion reverberated in the air. Sakura released a panicked sob, spinning around, trying to find her friends – only for her eyes to widen in disbelief at the sight that met her.

A humongous snake was slithering right down the tunnel at epic speed, so frighteningly huge in its colossal size that it dwarfed the large chimera ahead of it. The serpent had deep blue-hued scales and light green eyes that glowed mesmerisingly in the dimness – and was charging straight toward them. It steam-rolled over the roaring chimera, immediately flattening and killing it. She saw Sai and Shikamaru dive swiftly aside for cover, and she did the same, hoping to the heavens that she selected the right path to seek refuge in – or else no amount of earth chakra would prevent her from being squished into a pulp. To her great relief, the hissing snake took the other exit. Sakura sat back up, gasping for air, noting in alarm how its gigantic body seemed to go on and on and on and on… until finally its tail passed her.

She crawled shakily back up to her feet. Rocks and debris were crumbling everywhere from the snake's movements, quickly clogging up the path behind her. Smoke filled the air, causing Sakura to cough violently.

"Shikamaru!" she yelled in panic, eyes darting anxiously around in an agitated attempt to locate her friends again. "Sai!"

Thump thump thump thump thump. Her heart had never raced so hard and fast.

"Sakura…!" A voice called distantly. Shikamaru, she recognised. Her legs almost buckled with relief. "Run! Follow that snake! It could lead us out!"

"But what about-!"

"Don't worry about us! There's something else coming down the tunnel! We'll catch up! You need to get out before your chakra-crystals run out, and that snake can run over anything ahead! It's our best bet! We'll cover you from behind. GO!"

Sakura hesitated for just a moment more. She quickly swapped the wind and strength crystals in her arm braces with fresh earth and speed chakra orbs in anticipation of running low. Then, praying that they would be enough, she turned and raced down the tunnel the snake had slithered through. Rock crumbled loudly all around her. She held her arms above her head, drawing more earth chakra to form a shield above her body. Falling debris smashed against it, causing her arms to tremble with exertion.

All the tunnels looked identical. She had no way of knowing where she was going, or whether it was even in the right direction. Half sobbing, half gasping, she fuelled her legs with a combination of healing and speed-boosting chakra, and once again sped up, tearing down the walkway with such haste that she failed to spot the pile of rubble that had fallen in her path in time until her feet stumbled over it, sending her flying forward onto the ground.

She landed painfully on her side, winded, and rolled onto her back – just in time to see a particularly huge, boulder sized piece of rock plummeting down toward her. She gasped, half trying to drag herself back up, half trying to increase the radius of the shield above her body – even when she knew for certain that there was absolutely no conceivable way her arms could physically withstand such a heavy impact – when a sudden, flaring stream of screaming lightning energy cleaved straight through the boulder, breaking it into harmless little pieces of rock that rained down on her.

Kakashi-sensei?! Her heart leapt hopefully, as she drew herself up to her knees.

There was a shadowy blur of movement around her, and then she felt a strong hand suddenly grip her left wrist firmly, hauling her back up onto her feet with such force that she immediately hit the ground running. She glanced up, expecting to find her teacher – only for her pounding heart to nearly leap straight out of her chest.

Her apple-green eyes grew as wide and round as saucers. Staggering disbelief slammed into her. She had to blink several times, just to make sure her vision was not deceiving her.

Raven hair. A trailing black cloak. A familiar, katana blade, illuminated with crackling, pale-blue tendrils of spiking lightning.

Her stomach knotted tightly, painfully, fluttering violently in agitation.

Sasuke?!

It was Sasuke who was holding tightly onto her wrist, Sasuke who was clearing the path ahead and pulling her along behind him. Sasuke who had saved her from being crushed to death.

A hundred thoughts and emotions flooded through Sakura all at once. Nothing, she knew, nothing could have prepared her for the intensity of her body's reaction to seeing him so unexpectedly again – even when he wasn't even looking her way or addressing her. But she could feel his aura. How foolish, that she had forgotten it. Forgotten how overpowering and electrifying it was, how overwhelming he was, and how being in his presence was akin to having a bucket of ice-water tipped over oneself - a shock that forced one's absolute and undivided attention.

But what was he doing here? Why was he helping her? Had he seen the snake? Why was he here?

"Sa...suke...?" His name fell from her lips in a breathless whisper, drowned out by the whistling of air and the crashing of rocks that rushed around them as he steered her along after him.

If he heard her, he gave no indication and did not look back. Her heart thundered against her rib-cage, beating like a stressed bird flapping its wings in a desperate attempt to escape its restraints. She gaped at the back of his head, too stunned, too overcome, too bewildered to do anything but follow his lead as they tore through the tunnel together at breath-taking speed. But her legs began to stumble as he dragged her along. He was simply too blindingly fast - she had forgotten that too - and even at full, chakra-enhanced speed capacity, her mortal legs couldn't keep up.

Purple-blue, freezing chakra suddenly glowed from and then engulfed Sasuke's body, extending along Sakura's arm at the point where his hand gripped her wrist. She watched, awed, as a full-form, perfect Susano'o suddenly cocooned them both, caging them in its mighty, protective barrier. The hand holding onto Sakura's wrist then fell away, and a giant fist wrapped carefully around her body. She was lifted off the ground entirely a moment later. Then they were no longer running but flying through the tunnel. Sakura's earthy barrier immediately dissipated, replaced by an unbreakable force-field that deflected every piece of rock that crashed down toward them.

Sakura glanced wildly back behind her, to see a graveyard of rocks being left in their wake. Apprehension and dread filled her. How were Shikamaru and Sai ever going to make it out? Strands of hair whipped wildly into her face as she turned her attention back to Sasuke, who was crouched down on Susano'o's helmet, steering it at a pace so swift that their surroundings passed by in a literal blur. Sasuke gracefully twisted and turned aerial-flight, and Sakura's eyes watered from the sheer speed. Her head spun at the dizzying momentum that was propelling them unstoppably forward.

I...I think I'm going to be sick! She thought to herself. Every twisting motion caused her stomach to churn in on itself, as she was treated to a full reminder of just how deadly fast the death deity was capable of moving.

Then they suddenly landed on something with a heavy thud. Sakura looked down in astonishment – to find that they had caught up to and alighted on the very same ginormous snake that she had scrambled to avoid earlier. Sasuke crouched down in front of her, and the perfect Susano'o shrunk down to a smaller radius, losing its wings and armour, forming only basic, protective rib-shields around them.

Still he did not look back at her. His attention was fixed intently ahead.

Her mind was reeling. So this creature belonged to Sasuke? Or was he just hitching a fast-pass ride out of the tunnels?

"Heh!" She then heard a familiar voice ahead of them say, and was even more dumbfounded to find Suigetsu standing on the snake's enormous head, grinning widely back at her. He was also being protected by Sasuke's barrier. "Heeey, look who it is!" he shouted, over the howling of air. "My favourite little human! Hey, hey, Pinky! What'cha doin' here, huh?"

Sakura gawked at him in disbelief. Seeing him with Sasuke – seeing both kings together and not at each other's throats, but actually cooperating – was bizarre, given that her last memory was of them fighting it out with killing intent.

She guessed she wasn't the only one that had changed in their time apart.

Suigetsu chuckled. "Man, the look on her face right now is gold-"

"Get down!" Sasuke instructed him harshly, and the ocean god immediately ducked low to avoid the sudden narrowing in the rock-face above them.

Sakura's heart wrenched in response to hearing his voice once again. Cool, silk-wrapped steel. It had only been six months – and yet at that moment, it felt as though everything that had happened between them had occurred a lifetime ago.

She wanted to speak to him. She wanted to ask him every question that had weighed so heavily on her mind since the day they had parted so unpleasantly. But her tongue wouldn't form the words. She was muted by shock - and also knew that it was not the right time.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke ordered. "Fall back."

"Yeah, yeah," the ocean deity dismissed. "Quit bossing me around just because you wanna show off some more, fucking asshole."

But he leapt into position, landing behind Sakura as Sasuke shifted onto the snake's head.

She glared back at the ocean god, glowering at him over her right shoulder.

He smirked, amused. "Oooh. Scary. Head's up, Pinky! We're climbing!"

The snake whistled through tunnel after tunnel, taking left and right turns, until eventually, it broke through the earth itself, burrowing upwards. Sakura instinctively squeezed her eyes shut and hung onto the snake's scaly body for dear life, despite knowing full well that Sasuke's shield would hold. The world around them shook and was drowned out by the deafening sound of earth crumbling and displacing – and then she sensed sunlight behind her closed eyelids. Her eyes flew open – to find that they had finally reached the surface, and drawn to a stop directly by the opening of a large set of caves.

Sasuke leapt nimbly off the snake's head, onto the top of the roof of the cave. Suigetsu hopped up to join him, while Sakura was deposited gently onto the ground below. She felt Susano'o's cool chakra barrier fade away from her body as Sasuke commanded it to dissipate. Then, she watched in amazement as the humongous snake bowed its majestic head to Sasuke – before disappearing in a great puff of smoke.

"Alright! Another one bites the dust!" Suigetsu punched the air. "We screwed that creep up real good!"

What... the hell...? Sakura thought, thunderstruck, unable to get over the fact the two were working together.

Suigetsu glanced down at where Sakura was still gaping up at them in open-mouthed disbelief. "Don't look so shocked, Pinky," he chuckled.

Then he glanced at Sasuke. "Oi. We better split."

Sakura's gaze shifted to Sasuke. Now that she could clearly view the handsome, side-profile of his face in broad daylight, the reality of meeting him again hit her full force. Seeing him was like a shock to her senses. Every single part of her was on edge.

This was the god who had kidnapped her and bound her to his Kingdom. The very same god who had intervened and saved her life – twice in less than twenty-four hours. Once remotely. This time directly.

Sakura's heart raced. Her eyebrows knotted together. She had never felt so confused about him, so uncertain about what his motives were, than she did at that moment. Why was he even here with Suigetsu? What had they come to accomplish, that Suigetsu seemed so pleased about achieving?

"…" Sasuke's head then angled slightly to the right, as if sensing her lingering stare on him. Sakura felt the air arrest in her lungs, and thoroughly forgot to breathe, when dark, smouldering eyes finally locked briefly onto hers, piercing and utterly indecipherable. She felt her entire body freeze in place at the severity and weight of that heavy-lashed, detached stare - and then, without a single word, he flickered abruptly out of sight a second later.

"See ya," Suigetsu gave Sakura a playful wink – before following after the death deity.

Sakura continued to stare up at the place they'd vanished from, stunned. Finding herself alone, her legs then finally gave way and she crumpled to her knees on the grass, trying to catch her breath, her mind and body besieged by a conflicting swarm of raging emotions. She paid attention to her full surroundings at last, something that had been impossible for her to do while Sasuke had been standing above her. He had set her down in a forest, and there didn't seem to be anyone else around.

A few minutes of silence passed, in which Sakura numbly acknowledged that there was no way anyone would survive within the research facility once it was detonated and collapsed in on itself. Mortal or otherwise, anyone left behind would be crushed.

Ino… her eyes prickled with fresh tears. She gulped down the lump in her throat. If they had somehow missed her inside… how could Sakura live with herself? How could she ever forgive herself?

Her lamenting, anguished thoughts were cut off when the air in front of her began to swirl. She tensed, immediately on guard – only to relax again in relief when Kakashi landed on the ground. Shikamaru and Sai followed him out of the Kamui vortex, breathing heavily.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she exclaimed.

"Sakura." He immediately moved to her. "Thank goodness."

"That was... close," Shikamaru panted.

A minute later, the ground shook beneath their feet, and Gamabunta broke through the cave entrance, reuniting them with the rest of their friends and a handful of remaining ANBU survivors.

Sakura's eyes anxiously searched her friends' faces as they dismounted from the enormous toad's back. Her heart sank to her feet. Their sullen expressions told her everything she needed to know.

The explosives had been detonated, and Ino had not been recovered.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan..." Naruto said in a hushed voice, falling to his knees in front of her. "I-we tried. We tried our hardest to pick up her trail, but there's no trace of her anywhere, and…" his voice trailed off. His blue eyes lowered, unable to hold hers anymore, the inner guilt that plagued the sun deity clearly palpable on his face.

Sakura's vision grew bleary with tears as crippling reality sunk its harsh claws into her chest, puncturing deeply through her heart. If it had been splintered before by Tenten's death, the loss of Ino now shattered her to pieces, ensured that every broken fragment within her would never glue back together.

She released a broken, heavy sob. Felt gentle arms close around her, numbly registered that a quietly weeping, equally as distraught Hinata was trying her best to give her comfort.

Ino's trace had initially been picked up – but was now gone. Snuffed out entirely. It could mean only one thing.

That they were too late. Ino was surely already dead.

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Author's note

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Reviews would be appreciated.

Constructive criticism is always welcome, but I want to take this opportunity to make clear that personal attacks and immature name calling are not tolerated or acceptable. I apologise to the majority of supportive readers for having to put this in an author's note, but as many of the negative comments on the board recently are unsigned, this is the only way to get my point across.

If you are going to criticise content you are reading for FREE, do so politely and fully explain what you mean with clear examples to support your words. And don't hide under guest/anonymous. How are we to have a grown up discussion about your opinions when I can't even respond?

Also. If anyone dislikes this story so much, or finds that nothing worthwhile is happening, go read something else. If it's so predictable(!) go read something else. If it's too lengthy for you, or doesn't have enough SasuSaku(!), go read something else. Either give me comments that I can actually take on board (like the ones about the fortune teller, which, in all earnest, I thank people for pointing out as I honestly didn't realise it could come across as offensive and will go back and edit) or else, keep any flames/insults/repetitive, unconstructive statements to yourselves. Don't clog up my review board or waste both your time and mine sharing rude/pointless feedback.

A final, polite reminder. I am writing this story entirely for FREE. I have been trying to update frequently over lockdown, in the hopes this fic will help as an escape for people during a very difficult period for everyone worldwide. But let me be clear: to those entitled reviewers demanding quick updates. Nobody is entitled to my free time and to make demands of me in terms of how quickly I update. Don't start taking this story or me for granted. I write Quietus and have stuck with it because I am genuinely passionate about completing it. But I will do so at my own pace and as time allows me. All I ask back in return for what I do is patience, politeness and class when expressing feedback.

This is the last time I will ever address this. If people still choose to repeatedly abuse the review system, I will simply switch guest reviews off. Cheers and see you next update.