No poem in this one; it's a direct continuation of the last chapter.
Chapter LXXII
"Griffins?" Naruto exclaimed, as the humongous winged creatures advanced menacingly toward them. "They served my parents. Can't we just… skip the fight with them?!"
"Sure. Go ahead and introduce yourself," said Sakura nervously from her position behind Sasuke. "I'm sure they'll just let us pass right through!"
The imposing monsters possessed the powerful, golden body and whipping tail of a lion and the white head and wings of a majestic eagle. The hind legs resembled a lion's, but the front bore razor-sharp eagle talons. The curved tips of their golden beaks were tinged with black, and three glowing golden eyes set intently upon their targets. There was no mercy or recognition to be found within them. They were as terrifying to behold as they were magnificent.
"Of course they guard the entrance to the relic site," Kakashi murmured. "Griffins are known to protect precious treasures. Everyone, stay alert! They can switch between the elements at will. Stay out of range of the tails and the claws. A puncture wound from those talons can be fatal! Aim for their legs. If we can topple them, they'll be vulnerable, and we can then get to their chests. It won't be easy - they can fly; use long-range attacks and only get close when they're stunned!"
Sasuke's coal eyes narrowed impatiently. Kakashi wasn't telling him anything he did not already know. While the others were wasting their time discussing strategy, he had already spotted a clear opening, and wasn't going to wait around for them to make up their minds before acting.
"Wind?" Sakura suggested. "That'll knock them off-balance if they fly, right? I can use-"
She broke off abruptly, for Sasuke had already formed hand seals and released a blazing ball of Katon at the creatures. An intense gust of heat accompanied the attack, causing Sakura's hair to shoot back away from her head. The griffins released a shrill cry and their mighty wings quickly enclosed protectively around their bodies as the spinning fireball slammed into them, encompassing their enormous forms in a raging inferno. When the fire finally cleared, Team Seven were astonished to find the griffins unharmed. They prowled forward, angered. It seemed they had completely absorbed Sasuke's attack.
"Sasuke!" Kakashi admonished. "Their wings are shields! Their feathers are as hard as diamond and can absorb elemental chakra! We need to work together to aim for their legs and disable their wings. Long-range attacks are best, and wind while they're in the air, as Sakura said-"
But Sasuke was already leaping forward with the fluidity and grace of a predator diving toward their kill.
"Hey!" Naruto yelled after him. "Bastard! You can't just take them down alone! Didn't you hear a damn thing Kakashi-sensei just said?! We have to work together-!"
"Stay out my way," Sasuke responded coldly, summoning chakra strings at his wrists. He flung them at the closest griffin, aiming it like a noose around the creature's mammoth head. The griffin evaded, batting off the attempt with a giant wing, and took to the air. But Sasuke was fast. The chakra strings shot out again at his direction, snagging the griffin by a thick, hind leg. Sasuke felt the line grow taut and pulled with all his might. The hovering griffin flapped its wings, teetering off balance. It spun its body, sharp talons seeking to sever the restricting connection.
Sakura's eyes widened. Memories of her many training sessions with Sasuke flooded into her mind, and her body moved on instinct to cover his back, as she had so many times when they'd fought together in the monster battle simulator in his palace. Spying an opening, she immediately lifted her arm and drew wind elemental chakra from one of the orbs she had equipped on her arm brace. It exploded out of her palm, spinning in a howling funnel toward the griffin. Slamming into the animal, it sent it rocking even further off balance.
"..." Sasuke's eyes met hers for a split second, as if noting her use of elemental chakra - before he blurred abruptly out of sight, reappearing swiftly directly above the creature. He fell into descent, Kusanagi's slicing steel aimed straight for its vulnerable neck. The griffin reared its head back, parted its sharp beak, and shot out a freezing stream of jagged ice upwards. Sasuke quickly lifted a finger and directed another blast of Katon, melting the ice, and the fireball slammed down upon the griffin's head, sending it crashing awkwardly to the ground.
Sasuke body-flickered to the side, a hunter closing in on its prey, but before he could take further advantage and swoop in for the slaughter, another of the griffins charged toward him, swiping with its piercing talons. The death deity was compelled to flash-step away at the final moment. He landed roughly back on the ground in front of Sakura, inwardly cursing. He'd been so close to taking one out already.
Sakura's eyebrows furrowed together in worry. She could see that Sasuke clearly had no intention of cooperating within the dynamic of a team. He was technically sticking to his binding contract by fighting with them, thereby offering his assistance - but according to his own battle plan, which did not bode well for the rest of them.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted furiously, as he dove aside to avoid the third griffin's attempt to rip his head from his shoulders. "Damn it! Quit showing off! If they were so easy to defeat, do you think we'd need your help to do it?!"
Sasuke completely ignored him.
"Long-range attacks!" Kakashi repeated, channeling a flare of Chidori in his right palm. "We can't let this battle draw out. We don't know what else we'll encounter! Aim for the weak spots!"
The griffins bounded toward them again, every heavy foot-fall causing the ground to quake beneath their great weight. One of the fierce monsters drew its head back and aimed another blast of ice at the team, forcing them all to scatter once more. Sakura felt a shard graze by her side, bitingly-cold. It settled on the ground in a glistening, thin sheen, rendering the floor slippery under their feet.
The griffins were clever, Sakura realised, intelligent, sharp-witted animals that were seeking to nullify any advantages they had. Her mind raced through potential offensive actions she could take from a safe distance. She drew earth chakra from the crystal orb, her eyes tracking the movements of the griffin that had taken to the air, its flapping wings sending a mighty gust of wind down at them. If she could catch it with manipulated earth energy, and bring it to the ground, she reasoned…
Sakura lifted her hand, fingers splayed, and earth began to coalesce at her palm, forming a solid, large, hard clump. She ran forward, as Kakashi aimed a screeching bolt of Chidori at its legs. The griffin zig-zagged to evade, when another lightning stream from Sasuke struck the left side of its body, at an exposed area just behind its wing. The acrid smell of burning fur filled the air, and the griffin shrieked in agony. Heart pounding, Sakura followed its movements and, skidding to a slippery stop, aligned herself under it, ignoring Naruto's anxious call of her name.
"Sakura-chan! Don't get too close!"
She drew her arm back, and borrowing chakra from the strength orb, hurled the cluster of condensed earth up toward the griffin's belly with boosted power.
"Take this!" she yelled, letting the solid mass loose. It slammed into the monster's underbelly, causing it to release a piercing cry of pain and retreat higher into the air, wounded. Chakra strings immediately wound around its wings, knotting them together. The griffin, unable to fly anymore, came crashing to the ground - at the precise moment another of the creatures released a pelting jet of jagged ice at them.
Sakura gasped in alarm, when she felt the attack freeze her legs in position. She looked down, to see she had been encased in solid ice up to the knees. She drew fire chakra to melt it, glancing up to find another of the griffins was rearing back to make a dive straight toward her.
Naruto leapt in front of her and unleashed a spinning Rasenshuriken, which forced the griffin to change direction at the final moment. As Sakura freed herself from the ice, her eyes darted to Kakashi, who, with Sasuke's assistance, had closed in on the fallen griffin.
The other two bounded toward them, lashing out with their wings and tails. Sasuke and Kakashi evaded - but one of the griffins lunged and succeeded in grabbing Kakashi between its claws. It slammed its foot down on the ground, pinning him underneath. His arms were trapped by his sides, unable to form any hand seals.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura shouted, charging forward to assist. Another griffin blocked them, flapping outwards with its great wings, forcing them backwards.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, seeing the ruthless way the griffin was proceeding to crush the life out of their mentor. "Help Kakashi-sensei!"
Sasuke, who had just evaded the snapping of a ruthless tail aimed at him, glanced across at Kakashi's prone form. His eyes narrowed.
A moment later, a crack of Chidori impaled the ankle of the foot that held him, loosening it enough to allow Kakashi to roll out from underneath. He dragged himself away, as Sasuke landed fluidly beside him.
"Thank you, Sasuke," he murmured, kneeling to catch his breath.
Sasuke blinked. "We're even," he answered flatly.
"..." Kakashi's lone-eye drooped. He meant leveling things for his assistance with binding the death deity's Curse seal. That alone was the reason Sasuke had chosen to help him.
"Hey! Over here!" Naruto waved his arms, drawing one of the griffins toward him. Sakura and Kakashi did the same with the second, and succeeded in making it angry enough to leave its injured companion's side.
Sasuke didn't miss a beat. With incredible speed, he flash-stepped to the struggling griffin on the ground, and stabbed into its chest with Kusanagi. It writhed in agony for a few seconds, before growing still.
The other two creatures released enraged, ear-splitting shrieks at the sight of their fallen kin. Crackles of lightning were directed at the ground from their beaks, snaking out erratically. Sakura's eyes widened in horror. She raised her arm, trying to summon a shield of negating earth in time - but there was a flash of dark movement in front of her. Sasuke lifted his left arm and caught the lightning stream that had been about to strike her with his blade, charging it with electricity which he then directed straight back at one of the griffins in a devastating counter-attack. The griffin once again used its wings to protect itself, and then, with increased savagery, lunged down at Naruto with such unexpected speed that a taloned claw succeeded in clipping the back of Naruto's jacket, sending him flying up like a ragdoll into the air.
Sakura gasped fearfully. "Naruto!" she cried out. Her head snapped instinctively around to look at Sasuke, who was observing the sun deity's path of descent with cool, impassive eyes.
"Sasuke-!" she began to appeal for him to help, knowing he had the pace required to safely catch Naruto out of mid-air. But the death god made no move to intercept, instead focused his attention back on the creature closest to them.
Sakura was appalled. Her eyes turned back to find that the griffin had snagged Naruto out of the air, and had him locked in one of its claws. She ran forward in alarm, moulding another piece of earth in her hands, which she tossed up at it in a desperate attempt to stop the creature from crushing her friend's bones in its vice-like grip.
Naruto lifted his hands, rapidly forming seals - and to her utter relief, disappeared in a puff of smoke as he substituted his body with a log of wood. He alighted on the ground before her.
"Phew," he panted, "that was way too close!"
Kakashi, who had used the diversion to draw in closer to one of the monsters, succeeded in connecting a Chidori attack into the griffin's back leg. Sasuke darted forward, Kusanagi drawn back to strike, hacking at the other hind leg to bring the creature down. But it swiped at them with a gigantic claw, forcing them to retreat again as it struggled to lift itself back up onto all-fours.
Its remaining companion spotted the danger it was in, and, pushing itself high up into the air, released a shriek that sent the very ground beneath their feet trembling. Then it dove down like a bullet, landing on all fours defensively before its kin, causing the stone beneath Team Seven to crack as the force of the griffin's weight fractured the ground itself, sending them all hurtling up into the air.
The griffin below's beak then parted, sending lava spewing out onto the ground. The other griffin joined in its attack, and soon the entire floor was on molten fire.
Sakura cry caught in her throat. She had no way of preventing aerial falls, and could feel the unbearable heat rushing up to meet her as she plummeted toward the flames. A large plume of smoke suddenly enveloped her, and she landed on something solid. Looking down, she was astonished to find a giant, magnificent brown hawk now hovered in midair, keeping her safely off the fire-strewn ground. Sasuke stood before her atop it.
"Shit!" Naruto cursed, as he and Kakashi fell into descent. "Kakashi-sensei!"
"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed desperately. "Catch them!"
The hawk remained in place. "They're not my problem," he clipped icily. He had already assisted Kakashi out of a fix once to even a score. He had no intention of making a habit out of it.
Sakura gaped at him in dismay, her wide eyes returning to Naruto and Kakashi's tumbling forms. There was nowhere for them to go to avoid the fire on the ground.
Thinking quickly, Kakashi summoned chakra strings which wrapped around the end of the flying griffin's hind legs. Swinging off it, he caught Naruto just before he could tumble into the lapping fire. The griffin shrieked and shook its leg angrily, causing them to be jarred left and right.
Naruto aimed another Rasengan orb up at the griffin. It connected into its belly, sending them both swinging unstably in the air, hinged off the chakra string.
Sakura grabbed a water orb from her supplies pouch and exchanged it for one in her right arm brace.
"..." Sasuke watched her wordlessly from the corner of his eye, noting the new weapons she'd amassed from the surface. She lifted her hands and drained the entire orb of its chakra in one go, sending a flood of water cascading onto the ground, enough to extinguish the worst of the flames, allowing Naruto and Kakashi to land safely. They both yanked on the chakra string, hauling the griffin toward the ground. But it struggled violently, fighting to break loose.
"Sasuke, take me down there!" she said to him.
He didn't move. His dark eyes apathetically watched as Kakashi and Naruto struggled to rein the monster in.
"Take me down," Sakura frowned up at him. "Or- I'll have to jump!"
"..." His eyes narrowed at that, and slid down onto her anxious face for a moment, reading that she was serious in her threat. Then he looked aloofly away.
To Sakura's great relief, the hawk then glided smoothly lower, allowing her to hop off its back and onto the ground. She dashed toward where Naruto and Kakashi were wrestling with the chakra strings, and channelled her strength orb, helping them to pull with all her might. The griffin was finally dragged down to the cracked floor - and swiftly impaled by a bolt of Chidori, straight through the heart. It slumped over, instantly dead.
They glanced up to see Sasuke, still on his hawk summons, lightning crackling from his right palm. He had directed the killing blow.
One griffin remained. Sakura breathed heavily, her entire body quivering with exertion. This was only the start, she thought to herself in alarm; they had no idea what else was waiting for them beyond the door ahead, how much more fighting they would need to do.
The griffin reared its head back, and shot a stream of flame straight at them. Naruto countered with a large Rasengan, which forced the fire to disperse into a funnel. The creature retaliated with lightning shots. One of the streams connected with Kakashi's left arm, who negated it with his own Chidori attack.
The monster then raised its wings and rained feathers down upon them like whistling, sharp projectile missiles. Sakura summoned an earth-shield, and gulped as she heard the sharp feathers stab deeply into the thick layer of solidified mud. Naruto winced in pain as one of them connected with and sunk into his left arm. He instantly yanked it out and raised his hands to form another attack.
"Rasengan!" he yelled, charging at the remaining griffin with speed-boosting Sage Mode activated. He released the rotating orb of wind chakra, and it flew toward the creature with terrible velocity. The griffin batted it away with a mighty white wing, sending it flying back toward Team Seven. Sasuke, who had managed to manoeuvre his hawk behind the monster, then dismissed his summon, and leapt toward it, stabbing his blade down the length of the animal's back. It screeched and spun, clawing the air, trying to throw him off. His speed was the only thing that saved the death deity from being impaled by one of its giant, curved talons. He alighted before Sakura, as Kakashi ran ahead. Jumping and ducking to avoid the lashing of the griffin's tail, he aimed another cutting Chidori attack at its legs. Sasuke followed up with chakra strings, knotting its hind ankles together - just as Naruto leapt into the air, slamming another howling wind orb into the monster's skull.
Sakura raced forward, sword in hand, as the griffin crashed to the ground. She dropped low to avoid the swipe of its front leg and threw herself toward its exposed torso, putting all her chakra-enhanced strength into thrusting her blade forward, wedging it straight into the griffin's chest. It shrieked in pained fury, turning blazing golden eyes onto her, and snipped at her with its razor sharp beak, coming close enough to clip the trailing ends of her hair as she instinctively ducked to avoid being decapitated at close range.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.
Her pounding heart lurched with sickening realisation. It still wasn't dead! Its tail descended furiously upon her, meaning to deliver a stinging blow. She then suddenly felt a tightness coil around her, disabling her arms - and then she was being hauled swiftly backward through the air. A hand clamped firmly onto her left shoulder to halt her motion, steadying her on her feet. She glanced up in surprise, just as Sasuke dissolved the chakra strings he had summoned to get her out of immediate harm's way. His grip on her then fell away and he did not meet her eyes, as Kakashi finished the final griffin off, stabbing it straight through its skull with a well-placed lightning bolt.
No sooner had the final monster been felled, the forcefield that had been glowing around them, keeping them trapped within the space, ebbed out.
A heavy silence followed, punctuated only by their attempts to regain their breaths.
Naruto crouched down, breathing heavily. "That was…" he panted, "one hell of a welcome, eh, Kakashi-sensei?"
The older deity released a deep sigh of agreement. "Jiraiya gave me some bottled Ambrosia," he stated, retrieving the backpack he'd discarded in the heat of battle. "Each of you, take a sip. It'll help replenish some chakra - but we must use it sparingly. Each bottle has to last for three weeks. We can get by between locations by taking rest-breaks to recuperate chakra. It's inside the relic sites where we need to be extra careful."
He unzipped the bag and tossed three slender flasks at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.
"One sip," he cautioned. "A little goes a long way. Keep these on you."
Sakura unscrewed the lid carefully and took one swallow of the sweet, honey-like liquid. Immediately she felt it travel down her throat, helping to soothe her tired body.
After they picked up their belongings, they walked over to the arched stone doorway, now free of any barriers. Kakashi pushed open the old, heavy wooden door, and led the way onward. They found themselves in a low-roofed, narrow tunnel. Kakashi shone his flashlight up ahead, and they followed the path slowly, feet crunching down on crumbled stone.
The air was musty and damp. It smelled old and ancient.
"Where does this even go?" Naruto asked.
"Unfortunately we didn't get a map of inside any of the locations," Kakashi answered absently.
Eventually the lengthy, narrow tunnel led out into a huge, yawning, dark cavern. They stepped out into it and followed the path, which wound around a large rock-face. Sakura glanced nervously down to her right, as she inched along the trail. It was the only solid barrier between them and falling into an endless chasm. Her eyes then turned up to the roof of the cavern to find rocky stalactites hanging high above their heads. The air here was decidedly colder. She prayed that nothing would attack them as they climbed up the path. There was little to no room to manoeuvre if they were forced into combat.
Naruto flinched when a sudden screeching sound echoed loudly about the space. Sakura shone her torch back up to the roof of the cavern in alarm.
"Wh-what was that?!" Naruto questioned jumpily.
Sasuke, who was following behind Sakura, and keeping a careful eye on her footing to ensure she didn't stumble, internally scoffed at the blond's idiocy. They were only bats. His eyes, accustomed to darkness, had already made out that there was no immediate threat around them.
"Bats," Sakura exhaled in relief. "Kakashi-sensei, can you see anything up ahead?"
"only this path," their teacher responded. They continued to walk for a few more minutes in silence - until he abruptly drew to a stop.
"Eh? Why'd you stop? What is it?" Naruto stuck his head out, trying to peer past him. Sakura reached out to grab the collar of his orange jacket, pulling him back against the rock-face. She knew he had a tendency to be reckless and clumsy and to forget his surroundings at times.
"Don't lean too far, Naruto!" she scolded. "We don't know what's down below!"
"Right. Sorry, Sakura-chan!"
"How strange," Kakashi mused. "The path ends here."
"Huh?" Naruto exclaimed, his voice echoing in their surroundings.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. The buffoon's voice was irritating. He was certain it was loud and aggravating enough to wake even the dead.
Kakashi glanced down at where the path broke off suddenly. There was no way to continue that he could see. He looked up and around, trying to discern if there was a hidden, alternative route. But the only thing around them was bottomless black.
Sasuke deliberately held back, waiting, observing how long it would take them to figure out that there was a concealed path before them. When they all failed to do so, he scoffed to himself.
Incompetent. As expected. No wonder he had been assigned to this laughing stock of a so-called 'team'.
There was a blur of movement as Sasuke suddenly alighted before them. Kakashi stepped back, surprised, when the death deity crouched down, and pressed an open palm over the empty space, at the point where the path cut off. Channelling fire chakra into his hand, he pumped it into the air. Flames erupted, highlighting a previously invisible bridge that led all the way across the gap to the other side of the cavern.
"Whoa…" Naruto breathed, grudgingly impressed by how quickly Sasuke had managed to recognise the illusion. "Neat!"
Sasuke ignored his compliment, side-stepping to allow them to walk ahead of him.
"Another genjutsu," Kakashi noted, and began to walk over the bridge. The edges of the hidden crossing glowed with fire, but the part they walked on was thin air. Sakura gulped as she set foot onto it.
Don't look down, she told herself firmly. Do not look down.
Sasuke, who had fallen back into position at the back of their line, shadowed her movements, remaining two carefully measured steps behind her. They crossed over without incident, until they came to an opening in the rock-face on the other side of the humongous cavern. Passing through it, they found themselves in another narrow tunnel that ended with an opening in the ground.
"There's a slope here that leads deeper below" Kakashi pointed out. "We'll need to slide down through it."
He jumped forward, disappearing down the descending tunnel. A crowing Naruto hopped in after him, and Sakura followed, her breath catching in her lungs as she slid through the cold, winding, icy funnel. They landed with a splash on their knees in shallow, ankle-high water, finding themselves in another, pitch-black cavern. It smelled stuffy and unpleasant, like something Sakura's nose couldn't quite place. They all froze as the sound of loud buzzing immediately filled their ears.
"Get down!" Kakashi communicated to them urgently, and they all crouched low, switched their torches off and kept deadly still as they took in their new surroundings. Sakura's eyes turned to the roof of the space, adjusting gradually to the dimness, to find large, hanging sacs of membrane that contained what appeared to be writhing, large insects within them. Her blood curdled when a moment later, Kakashi, who had lifted his eye-patch, confirmed this with his Sharingan.
"We've landed straight into a giant hornet's nest!"
"G-gross!" Naruto whispered. "I hate giant bugs!"
There had to be at least fifty in incubation. Sakura then spotted one resting against the cavern wall, and had to bite down into a knuckle to stop herself from screaming in hysteria as her eyes rested on its deadly stinger. She had never seen such a large wasp. It looked like something out of a horror movie, and was larger than all of them put together.
Her hands fumbled for her supplies pouch. "Maybe we can slip through unnoticed?" she suggested in a low, nervous whisper. "We can't possibly fight all these things!"
"Good idea, Sakura-chan," Naruto agreed.
'We'd expend too much chakra here for sure,' Kakashi added. "One sting from those tails has enough venom to paralyse the heart."
"I have cloaking orbs," Sakura offered. "They'll hide us, won't they?"
"Good thinking, Sakura," Kakashi praised. "They'll keep you out of sight."
"..." Sasuke listened in silence, offering nothing of his thoughts in response to her smart strategy to use shadows - his element - to hide their forms from the nesting hornets.
"Hey," Naruto hissed, turning his head toward Sasuke. "You control shadows, don't you? So cloak us then, asshole."
Sasuke lifted his chin dismissively. "Cloak yourself," he deadpanned.
"Sasuke," Kakashi entreated. "We need your aid to get through this. Until our powers are unsealed..." his voice trailed off. Sasuke stared blankly back at him, unrepentant and unmoved in his decision. Sakura swallowed. If he was going to keep playing this immature game, then she had no other choice. Irritated, she slotted two cloaking orbs into her arm braces - and took them off. She handed one to Kakashi, and the other to Naruto.
"Here," she whispered. "You can use these."
"But Sakura-chan, you-" Naruto's words died out as he saw Sasuke shoot a cold, withering glare at Sakura. He blinked, slowly understanding what his clever friend had just done. She had effectively forced Sasuke to cloak both her as well as himself - and by giving them her gauntlets, had ensured that Naruto and Kakashi could remain hidden too - even when Sasuke refused to cooperate.
"Hah," Naruto smirked at Sasuke smugly. "That's smart, Sakura-chan."
As he and Kakashi equipped the orbs and cloaked themselves, Sakura waited awkwardly beside a displeased Sasuke. She could feel his glare as it drilled into the back of her skull, and made a point of avoiding eye contact. A few seconds passed - and then she felt coolness pulse around her as Sasuke enveloped them in rippling, moving shadows. They shifted and coiled around their bodies, trailing like black mist as they moved forward, carefully passing beneath the hanging sacs containing the hibernating hornets. She couldn't see Kakashi and Naruto ahead. They had been hidden from her line of sight, too.
Her head snapped up when the buzzing suddenly grew louder. Her body tensed, and she watched, both riveted and horrified, as one of the giant insects broke out of the membrane it was encased in. A huge, hairy brown leg exited from the sac, followed by another. Sakura was overcome with nausea, and could feel her mouth hanging open in horror.
'Sakura.' Sasuke's voice resounded telepathically in her head, compelling her to keep moving.
She dragged her gaze away, and hurried across the gravelly cavern floor. Relief flooded through her when they reached the other side and slipped through another opening in the wall without incident. The shadows immediately melted away from her body, drawn back by Sasuke. In front of them, Kakashi and Naruto reappeared.
"Alright! No chakra wasted!" Naruto enthused. "Way to go, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura smiled, feeling proud of herself. Her eyes inadvertently flicked onto Sasuke. His expression was stony, and he showed no acknowledgement of her contribution. She felt some of her pride deflate at the sight of his icy exterior. Shaking it off, she continued to trudge on ahead behind Naruto.
They followed the path, and eventually stepped out into a smaller cavern. There was another chasm between where they stood and the other side.
"Genjutsu?" Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, whose Sharingan spun in the dimness.
He shook his head, signalling a negative.
"Hmm?" Naruto pointed to the left wall. "There's a lever here, dattebayo."
"And another one here!" Sakura gestured.
"Ah… two more on the opposite side," Kakashi observed. He and Sasuke walked across to them.
Naruto pulled his lever down. They heard the mechanical sound of gears spinning - and a platform slowly rotated from the darkness below, up into the space. Sakura tried hers next. Naruto's platform descended while another platform rose up.
"A puzzle?" she guessed, as Kakashi pulled another handle. "There must be a correct order to operate these levers so that all the platforms stay up at the same time."
They tried all different possible combinations, but no order kept all four bridges from sinking alternately.
"Let's try them together?" Sakura suggested.
"Alright. Everyone. On the count of three. One… two…thr-"
Naruto yanked the lever down before Kakashi had finished saying the final word.
"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. "Kakashi-sensei said after three! Focus!"
"Moron," Sasuke muttered under his breath in disgust.
"Okay, okay!" Naruto, who had failed to hear Sasuke's insult, apologised. "Sorry, sorry!"
"Three… two… one… now!" Kakashi paced them. This time they all pulled the handles down at the same time. Four platforms rotated up, and remained in place, the resounding clicking sound that filled the air confirmed that they had solved the puzzle correctly.
"Alright, way to go!" Naruto pumped a fist into the air. "That's how teamwork works." He stressed the word, sliding a snarky glance across at Sasuke, who had gone back to completely ignoring him.
They crossed over to the other side and through another opening in the rockface. It led to a similar area, with another yawning space between them and continuing on ahead.
"Geez…" Naruto mumbled. "My old man sure put in a lot of effort to hide these relics away, huh?"
"As expected of Minato," Kakashi said. "He did enjoy puzzles."
Sasuke's eyes moved up to the walls. There were hexagonal panels on either side, each one bearing a different symbol. He recognised one as flame, one as lightning and one as wind.
Naruto squinted. "What do we do here?"
Sasuke held out his hand and directed precisely controlled blasts of Katon at the indicated panels. They glowed red. Catching on, Kakashi aimed Chidori at the lightning crests, which lit up with blue. Naruto summoned Rasengan into his palms and sent the orbs hurtling at the wind panels. They glowed white.
When nothing happened, Sakura tried, "Maybe there's an order again? Maybe you need to hit them all at the same time?"
They tried. When that didn't work, Naruto rubbed at the back of his head. "What the hell? Now what?" he demanded.
Sakura's analytical eyes darted around, trying to find anything that they may have missed. Her gaze then fell onto the edge of the path before them, spying a dent in the ground. She moved forward, tilting her head to inspect it more closely. Shining her flashlight down onto it, she saw that it was oddly shaped. In fact, it looked like a large coin slot.
Her eyes moved back to the crests. Did they relate to the prophecy? An idea suddenly occurred to her. If those symbols were linked to their elements, then perhaps her part of the prophecy was the missing link to unlocking the path ahead. She unsheathed her sword, and hovered it over the dent in the ground.
"Sakura…?" Kakashi addressed her.
Sakura pushed her blade into the opening. To her surprise, it slotted neatly in. They heard an audible click, and all the panels illuminated.
"Let's try to hit them now!" Naruto suggested. They struck each crest - and sure enough, a bridge rose from the abyss below, affording them entry across.
"Alright!" he grinned at Sakura, who beamed back, accepting his high-five.
Sasuke's eyes shifted surreptitiously back and forth between the two, watching them silently.
Naruto and Kakashi returned Sakura's arm braces to her, and they bridged the gap, stepping into a narrow passageway forged entirely of glistening, jagged rock.
"Do you think it's much farther?" Naruto questioned.
"Naruto," Sakura sighed. "How would we know?"
"What if there's a hundred levels, Sakura-chan?" he threw back a wide-eyed glance at her. "What if we have to climb a thousand steps? Or swim underwater to find the relic?"
They continued forward, with Naruto chattering aimlessly on.
"Maybe we'll need to cross a pit of acid. Or sharks! Like in those action movies, dattebayo!"
Sasuke scowled to himself. Maybe he could throw Naruto into a pit of acid or sharks. The more the sun god spoke in that loud, obnoxious voice of his, the more his nerves were grating.
"Or - ghosts. What if we come across some ghosts? That'd be totally creepy, dattebayo. Woooo!" He lifted his hands goofily, mimicking a haunting.
The death deity's eyebrows drew together. Naruto was a half-wit, an absolute imbecile. The only ghosts that existed were spirits, and the only place they went to was the Underworld. No soul ever escaped him, or was ever sent back to haunt the living.
"What if we need to climb some mummy-infested pyramid? What if we need to go inside a volcano?!"
"We're underground, you idiot," Sasuke finally bit out, irked enough by his stupid rambling to break his frosty silence.
Sakura blinked, surprised that he had chosen to address her friend.
"You can get volcanoes underground!" Naruto protested.
"Underwater," Sakura corrected automatically.
"That's what I meant! What if we have to go into a volcano and-?"
"Shut up," Sasuke snapped cuttingly.
She saw Naruto bristle ahead of her. He tossed a glance back over his shoulder. "You shut up! You've been a miserable, antisocial dick the whole way so far," he threw back. "You can sulk all you like, asshole. You're still stuck with us for three weeks! You can't go on ignoring us!"
Sakura stifled a giggle - but it came out as a choked snort. Part of her felt bad for Sasuke, knowing how burdensome the purpose of their trip had to be on him - but she wholeheartedly agreed with Naruto's words. Sasuke was acting insufferable. Nothing like the deity she had gotten to know in the Underworld - but she supposed that was back before she had lost his trust. Her amusement quickly waned. She felt his glare burning into her back once again, and bit her lower lip. She knew this wasn't easy for him, the worst of punishments - but he had signed an agreement in blood to assist them in retrieving the relics. That meant that he couldn't really refuse them aid - and yet had already not extended his powers to cover Kakashi and Naruto. She supposed he was able to do that as technically, there had been alternative actions available, and the clauses had only specifically mentioned shielding her.
"That's enough," Kakashi's voice cut into their bickering, in a resigned tone that clearly did not expect any of them to actually listen to him.
"Tell him to stop being such a jerk," Naruto mumbled unhappily.
The corridor led them to a long set of time-worn stone steps. They walked down cautiously. The stairs seemed to stretch on forever.
"Told you!" Naruto announced. "Didn't I say there'd be steps?"
Sakura gripped the straps of her bag and readjusted them, feeling the strain of the weight on her shoulders. They finally reached the bottom, and she found herself wondering just how deep they were beneath the club floor now. They descended onto damp, stony ground and passed through another passageway which led out into a square shaped room. No sooner had they set foot into it, the stone panels beneath their feet sunk low and the walls began to vibrate around them.
"What was that?" Sakura froze anxiously.
"Whoa!" Naruto yelled suddenly, as a sharp projectile missed his shoulder by inches. Kakashi hopped aside, and glanced upward - to find that a ceiling of sharp metal skewers was descending upon them rapidly as the roof compressed toward the ground.
"Run!" he ordered, and they dashed across. Sakura winced when something sharp sliced into her right cheek, but didn't dare to slow down for risk of being impaled by the spikes above them. They dove into the safety of the opening on the other side of the room, turning just in time to see the spikes slamming onto the ground, blocking off the way they'd come from.
Naruto gulped. "W-we could've been turned into kebabs, dattebayooooooooooooo!" he suddenly howled as the floor beneath their feet unexpectedly gave way, and they were all sent tumbling into thin air once again, rocks and debris flying all around them.
Sakura's heart leapt into her throat, as blackness blurred past her. There was no way of seeing how high up they were, nothing but darkness all around them. No way of knowing what awaited them below.
A hand clamped around her left arm and the next thing she felt was the jarring impact of landing on solid ground. Before she could even process the pain, she felt her body rolling uncontrollably, a consequence of the violent momentum of the fall. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for gravity to slow her dizzying motions down. Finally, to her relief, she drew to a stop - only to become overly conscious of a warm body beneath hers, and strong fingers gripping tightly onto her arms.
Heart pounding, she lifted her head - and froze.
Sasuke's face was inches from hers. He was blinking, looking momentarily dazed and winded, his hair in messy, dark disarray around his head, and she realised that he had shielded her body from the bruising impact of their descent upon the ground. His eyes then shifted. They locked onto hers, widening marginally at her proximity, and she felt his body tense beneath her.
For a split-second, they stared at each other, neither of them daring to move.
Heat flooded into Sakura's cheeks. The front of her body was pressed against his, and she was certain he could feel her heart thundering through her chest against his. She was close enough to feel the warmth of his breath against her skin.
Then he blinked again, and the moment was broken. His eyebrows knitted together in a displeased scowl, and he sat upright, pushing her firmly away from him.
"Thanks," she managed awkwardly, feeling her face aflame with embarrassment. He gave no response, simply turned his back to her as she pushed herself up onto her feet, and lifted a palm to her cheek to heal the cut she had sustained in the room high above them.
"Sasuke! Sakura!" Kakashi's voice echoed ahead of them. The air was full of smoke, rubble and dust. "Are you both alright?"
"Yes!" Sakura called back. "Naruto?"
"I'm okay, Sakura-chan!"
The floating debris eventually cleared, and they found themselves walking into a vast space full of ancient sand-stone columns, engraved with faded old symbols and images. Broken remnants of old statues lay crumbled on the stone strewn ground. There were various swords, shields, rusted goblets and other manner of strange objects strewn around them. Sakura swallowed when she glimpsed sight of what appeared to be old, decomposed bones scattered about.
The space was dimly lit with firelight. Cobwebs hung from the tops of the pillars, and as they walked through, they heard a strange noise drifting from some distance ahead of them.
Sakura turned her head, listening intently. It sounded like... a large rattle being shaken?
"What's that sound?" she whispered.
Kakashi, who walked ahead, turned his head - and then froze, holding out a halting hand to them. They heard nothing but silence - and then the same scratching sound.
Kakashi's eyes widened when his gaze inadvertently fell onto what looked to be a sickening pile of shedded reptilian skin on the ground to his far right. "Get behind the pillars!" he urged.
They all hurried for cover behind the closest columns to them. The odd sound was distant, but was soon joined with ominous, echoing hissing.
Kakashi closed his eyes, his fears all but confirmed.
"What is it?" Sakura asked in a hushed voice, turning her face towards where Kakashi was concealed behind the next pillar across from hers.
"Medusa," he murmured back. "The rattling sound and the snakes are unmistakable."
"Medusa?" Naruto balked, visibly startled. "That freaky snake lady who turns anyone she looks at to stone? That Medusa?"
Sakura's lips parted. The monster sounded horrific by description alone.
"Aah," Kakashi confirmed.
"H-how'd my dad get her down here?" Naruto sputtered.
"I imagine with Hiraishin," Kakashi speculated with a sigh. "He was very good at transporting things unexpectedly to places they didn't wish to be. I'm sure Medusa has had plenty of time to wallow in bitterness and misery in her stone prison down here." Looking ahead, he added, "Sasuke. Can your Sharingan make out anything else?"
"Gorgon harpies," the death god informed them.
"Great. They can turn us to stone, too," Naruto whispered nervously. His father clearly hadn't taken any chances when he'd hidden the relics away, guarded by some very dangerous, very unstable creatures.
"What happens if we get turned to stone?" Sakura asked Kakashi. "Can it be undone?"
"It's not easy," Kakashi shook his head. "It takes a special kind of seal to reverse the harpies' attacks, and even then, it can take several days to thaw out of stone. We don't have that kind of time. We can't afford to be caught. Medusa's paralysis effect is irreversible. If you're turned to stone by her - there's no way to get out of it."
Fear shot through Sakura's spine, lodging there like immovable ice. Encased forever in stone? It seemed a wretched, awful demise.
"How are we gonna fight these things without looking at them?" Naruto demanded.
"Stay behind these pillars," Kakashi advised. "We can use them as barriers. We'll have to use long range attacks again."
"Can't we use the cloaking orbs to hide?" Sakura whispered.
Kakashi shook his head once more. "They'll help against the harpies. But Medusa has many serpents on her head. She can sense even the slightest sounds and vibrations in the air, as well as body heat. Once we move into range, not even the shadows can hide us. The only way to get past Medusa, is to run - or slay her by severing her head from her body."
"We should be fine if we just don't look into her eyes, right?" Naruto peered around his pillar.
"That's only one of her attacks," Kakashi disclosed. "The snakes on her head spit venom that's capable of dissolving skin. If you catch their gaze too, you'll be paralysed in place. That's how Medusa gets close enough to finish the job and turn you to permanent stone with her eyes. Her tail acts both as a sensor and a means to trap her victims. If you get caught up in it, she'll crush your bones. That isn't all. Her cries have a paralysing effect, too. Cover your ears if you hear it!"
Sakura's heart thumped in her chest. "Can't we just outrun her?"
"The harpies will alert her to our location. We need to take them out first. Medusa is fast. As soon as she senses body-heat or sound, it takes her just a few seconds to reach its source." Kakashi paused, and looked across to Sasuke. "How many harpies can you make out ahead, Sasuke?"
Sasuke stared intently into the dimness. His eyes calculated eight. He knew cloaking himself would allow him to take them out with little trouble - but would also alert Medusa to their arrival. What if there were more harpies hidden beyond his Sharingan's line of sight? He anticipated that others would make themselves known once the slaying began.
His mind raced through possible strategies. They didn't know where the exit point was. If he summoned Aoda, would they be able to steam-roll their way through? That would remove the danger of Medusa. There was little damage she could do to the enormous summons. But the gorgon harpies would be able to attack them from above, and they had the ability of turning their targets to stone, too. The harpies were not limited in motion to the ground - which meant that the safest way to get across was to carry everyone on Aoda, protected in the barrier of his Susano'o to negate any aerial attacks from the harpies.
His eyes narrowed, flicking onto Naruto and Kakashi. It gave him no pleasure to shelter them. But the quest couldn't be completed without them all surviving, and knowing Naruto the absolute imbecile, he'd likely get himself turned to stone within minutes if left to his own foolish devices.
He had to take out as many harpies as he could first - and then return to put the rest of his strategy into motion.
"Sasuke?" Kakashi's voice reached him.
He blinked, and without a word, blurred out of sight.
Kakashi's eyebrows drew together. Sasuke was acting dangerously. Going ahead with a plan he had not shared with them, was reckless and left them open to miscalculating and making mistakes. He made a note to address the importance of team-work with the death deity as soon as they were all safely back on the surface.
"What's he doing?" Naruto frowned in irritation. "If he's got an idea, why isn't he sharing it with us, so we know what's happening?"
Sakura pressed her palms against the column in front of her unhappily. They waited for a few tense minutes, not sure what to expect - when piercing wails suddenly filled the air ahead of them. Her eyes widened as she peered around the pillar's edge. Bright streams of Chidori were illuminating the air, striking and impaling flying harpies who circled around in a panicked, angered frenzy. One after the other, they were felled, their wings clipped, their chests stabbed with jagged electricity.
Kakashi stepped around his pillar and hid behind another in the next row ahead of them. Chidori flared in his palm in turn and he proceeded to assist Sasuke in taking down the gorgon harpies that remained. To Sakura's alarm, more were flooding into the space, crawling out of holes in the upper walls. It seemed to be a nest of harpies - and they were dispersing towards them in their desperate haste to escape the lightning bolts being directed at them.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto had slipped beside her. "They're heading this way. Let's take them out before they get too close! Remember not to look at them!"
Sakura summoned fire chakra from her arm brace and directed it at the incoming creatures, catching a few by their wings. They shrieked, and were knocked off balance in the air by well-timed Rasengans - before Kakashi caught them with Chidori. The harpies collapsed onto the ground, writhing in agony. But more filled the room until the space was overrun with hissing gorgon creatures. Sakura's heart leapt as three of them changed directly abruptly and swooped down toward her and Naruto. She couldn't aim where she couldn't see!
Carefully molding the energy from an equipped chakra crystal, she summoned a funnel of wind which surrounded her and Naruto's forms and cycloned upwards. Naruto added his Rasengan to it, resulting in a whirling, savage, protective typhoon that forced the harpies backwards and prevented them from closing in on them. The monsters circled them viciously, awaiting an opening - but were warded off by a stream of lightning.
"Naruto! Sakura!" Kakashi's voice yelled warningly up ahead, as he and Sasuke continued to work at bringing down the masses of creatures that continued to spill into the area. "Medusa knows we're here! She's heading toward us. Take cover!"
The typhoon around them dissipated as Naruto and Sakura hid behind another pillar, crouching low. The sinister sound of hissing echoed in the air, followed by a chilling rattling. Heavy scales scraped against stone. Sakura's heart pounded. They had no way of looking ahead without risking being caught in Medusa's line of sight.
She tensed as a screaming harpy landed inches away from her, contorted in agony, electricity crackling from her torched body. Her eyes then widened as she spotted another tearing away from the flock circling up ahead, and lifted her palm to slam another ball of flame at the creature. The harpy evaded and turned its face toward Sakura, who squeezed her eyes shut and drew from the earth chakra she had equipped, forming a solid shield over her head.
Naruto, who had spotted the incoming threat, hurled a Rasenshuriken at the harpy, sending her careening into the ground. She smacked into a stone pillar with enough force to cause bits of it to break off, and did not move again.
The hissing and rattling grew louder, closer. Sakura could hear the deafening screeching of Chidori ahead and the dull thumping of bodies dropping to the floor. Her foot touched against something solid, and she glanced down - to find an old shield resting upon a pile of rotting bones on the ground. Maintaining the earthy barrier above her head, she reached down and picked up the circular plate. Its polished sheen was dulled by the passing of time, but it still reflected some light and she could see her reflection despite the rust and scratches on its mirrored surface.
An idea slowly took shape in her intelligent head. If she could angle it correctly, she and Naruto would be able to discern just how far Medusa was away from them without the risk of peeking around the pillars.
"Naruto," she whispered to her friend. "Cover me!"
"You got it," he nodded fiercely, and Sakura dissolved the earthy-chakra above her, and held up the shield. Looking into it, she turned it carefully, trying to map out what was ahead of them. She saw masses and masses of harpies flying, attacking and falling, blurs of movement that were Sasuke and Kakashi working to take them out. She tilted the shield further, catching firelight off its surface - and then her heart leapt to her throat as she spied the end of an alarmingly large, flickering snake's tail slithering between the columns several rows up ahead.
Medusa. Sakura's pulse thundered. If she and Naruto could use the reflection to their advantage to aim a precise attack at her, would they be able to take her down before she did any damage?
A sudden shrill scream pierced the air, so terrifying that Sakura's hands immediately relinquished hold of the shield, flying to her ears in agony. The shield clattered loudly to the ground, and she felt her entire body stiffen, as if rooted to the spot.
"Sh-shit!" A wincing Naruto ground out, palms pressed against the sides of his head. "That's… that's her cry!"
Sakura's body felt heavy. She waited for the horrendous sound to die down, but another nightmarish wail followed it, and her muscles all locked into place once again. She could feel her body straining against the force of the paralysis, weighing down on her bones like crushing rock.
The hissing drew closer than ever. Summoning all her strength as the cry faded into the air, Sakura lifted the shield again, and tilted it - to glimpse a hissing mass of silver eyed, dark green serpents writhing on a woman's head, in the place of where her hair ought to have been, only several pillars down away from them. Sakura's lips parted in horror as she realised that she was staring at the side-profile of none other than Medusa herself.
The gorgon's skin was a pale green, patched with darker green scales. She was naked and bore a human from the neck down to her slender waist, which then tapered off into a frightening long and muscular snake's tail. Her lips were blood red, and a pink serpent's tongue flicked out from between her teeth. Her eyes, from what Sakura could see, glowed with the same intensity of silver as those belonging to the smaller snakes on her head.
"Naruto," she whispered, her voice quivering with fear. "We need to hit her before she sees us! She's only a few metres away, I can see her in this shield!"
With a hiss Medusa's head immediately turned in response to the detected vibrations of sound, her demonic eyes scanning the area around her as her tongue tasted the air. Seeking them out. Sensing their body heat. She slithered around another column, searching it, before pushing away. Her movements were swift. Barely audible. In a few minutes, she would find them.
Naruto channelled another wind orb in his palms. Looking into the surface of the shield Sakura held, he nodded at her and waited until the right moment, before aiming his attack at its surface, allowing him to direct it at Medusa without revealing their location. It bounced off the metal face and spun straight toward Medusa's head. She screamed in rage once more, and with lightning fast reflexes, ducked to avoid the incoming tornado sphere. Sakura gasped and grit her teeth as Naruto's hands came up to cover her ears protectively, his face full of strain as he braced himself against the awful shriek.
Medusa lunged forward, closing swiftly in on them - when a glowing purple-blue, skeletal fist suddenly slammed crushingly down onto her and wrapped around her tail, flinging her violently away from them. Sakura's eyes flew upward, to find Sasuke hanging from Kusanagi's hilt on one of the pillars far ahead, his crimson eyes fixed intently onto her. Susano'o's protective barrier was glowing around his body.
Kakashi yelled, "We need to get out of here! These harpies keep coming! Naruto! Sakura! Keep to the right of the room and run! We'll cover you!"
Naruto grabbed Sakura's wrist and the pair tore between the columns, the soles of their boots crunching down upon bones and stone. Medusa released another ear-splitting scream, and Sakura felt her body freeze in place once more, trembling from the sound. Naruto bodily shoved her aside, just as a harpy dove down toward them, and using the speed afforded by Sage Mode, impaled the creature with one of his twin blades. Gasping, Sakura continued to run, her sword gripped tightly in her hand, and a shield of earth chakra cocooned around her head. Two more harpies fell before her, and she almost tripped up over their smoked corpses in her haste to continue onwards.
She tossed a wild glance behind her to find that Naruto had just finished off another three harpies, slashing at them with his swords. There was a blur of movement, too fast for her eyes to follow, and Sakura twisted in alarm, her gaze falling onto her friend just in time to see Medusa coming up right behind him.
Naruto tensed, as if he had sensed her presence. Time seemed to suspend, in which Medusa reached out to his right shoulder with clawed fingertips, the snakes in her hair shooting forward in an attempt to clamp onto Naruto's head with their venemous fangs.
"No!" Sakura screamed in terror, and raised her hand, drawing everything that was left from the fire orb she had equipped to send a raging blast of flame at the creature. Medusa's head turned and Sakura immediately averted her gaze before the monster's could lock onto her. The creature emitted another terrifying wail and then opened her mouth, spewing a stream of black venom into the air. Droplets caught onto Sakura's left leg, and she looked down to see smoke pluming up from the fabric of her jeans. She slapped at it with her gloved hands. A stream of lightning crackled into the air just in front of her as Kakashi aimed another Chidori bolt at a harpy that had attempted to lunge at her from behind.
The floor in front of Sakura was ablaze from the remnants of her attack, and she heard scales slithering toward her. The smoke cleared to reveal Medusa's approaching silhouette. Sakura lowered her eyes immediately, heart pounding against her rib-cage, but the monster was closing in on her even as she turned to bolt away. There was an angry shout, as Naruto threw himself forward, his eyes squeezed shut, a ball of Rasengan aimed straight at Medusa's back in a desperate attempt to lure the monster away from Sakura.
"Hey, you ugly-ass snake-haired freak! Over here!"
The end of Medusa's tail whipped around, and clipped Naruto by his left ankle, sending him flying upwards into the air. She turned away from Sakura, hissing, and caught him as he fell, a clawed hand wrapping tightly around his throat. She yanked him closer to her, and the snakes on her head swarmed around Naruto's face, licking at his skin with their forked tongues, as if enticing him to open his eyes. He yelled out in alarm as she summoned snakes to bind his arms, effectively pinning them uselessly against his side, causing the swords in his hands to fall onto the ground uselessly.
"Look at meee…" Medusa's voice reverberated in the air, and was unexpectedly seductive and musical, a stark contrast to her hideous appearance which made her even more horrifying. "Thissss isss your endddd…."
Sakura's body moved on autopilot. She tore forward, her blade drawn back. If Naruto opened his eyes, it was over-!
"Sakura!" Sasuke's voice called out distantly, a trace of alarm in his tone. "Stop!"
Medusa's head began to turn, alerted by the noise behind her. A stream of zig-zagging lightning was directed at her, which she deflected with her thick tail. It was then promptly set alight with black flame, causing the creature to shriek in agony.
Sakura's heart raced. Amaterasu, she recognised. Sasuke had set the creature alight with the inextinguishable black flame. Medusa immediately dropped Naruto who grabbed his blades and wasted no time in stabbing her straight through her gut with his blade. Venemous blood spattered the air, just as Kakashi pinned her to the ground by her tail with three bolts of Chidori.
Sakura darted forward from behind Medusa, drawing strength enhancing chakra into her right arm. With all her might, she lifted her sword and brought it swinging down, hacking at the gorgon's neck. Medusa screamed, her head half decapitated. Her poisonous blood spurted upwards, and Sakura felt droplets hit her left cheek like fire, setting her skin alight as the venom instantly began to corrode her flesh. The dreadful sound of Medusa's cries so close to her ears caused Sakura's entire body to fall into a state of paralysis. She couldn't move a muscle as the serpent, in one last desperate attempt to kill her, twisted her upper torso, head lolling horrifically to the side, her glowing silver eyes seeking out Sakura's to turn her to eternal stone.
Strong, warm arms grabbed her, hauling Sakura out of further harm's way.
She gasped, feeling weak with relief. "S-Sasuke-!"
"Tch. Reckless." Sasuke's voice censured just above her right ear, as he set her safely down. Sakura's entire body trembled, as she watched Naruto slash at Medusa's head with his twin blades, finishing her off. The gorgon's head fell to the ground, her eyes quickly losing their silver glow. The serpents on her scalp writhed for a few seconds longer, before growing still. Her twitching corpse, overcome with black flame, quickly disintegrated.
The harpies that remained screamed, as if in response to their leader's demise, and dove down toward them in fury.
"Run!" Kakashi urged them.
Sasuke's hand closed around Sakura's wrist, dragging her behind him. Her shaking legs slammed upon the ground with as much speed as she could muster. They raced ahead, weaving between columns, Chidoris and Rasengans lighting up the air as they worked to bring down as many of the ravenous monsters as they could. Eventually, blessedly, they spotted an opening in the wall far ahead of them and bounded toward it. The harpies tried to follow them through as they dove for cover into it, but Kakashi struck the stone with Chidori, sending layers of rock crumbling down to block their entrance. They sprinted forward - only to lose footing as the ground turned into another slippery slope, sending them careening down a winding tunnel which dumped them into a circular space full of high, jagged walls. Naruto summoned a giant toad to catch them all, and they finally had a chance to regain their breaths as the summons set them safely onto solid ground once again, before promptly vanishing.
Naruto crouched down, wiping at his face. He had venom burns on his flesh, and was breathing deeply.
"Shit," he rambled hysterically. "This- this is crazy, dattebayo! What was my dad thinking?! I- I almost got turned to stone! What the hell?! What the hell, dattebayo!"
Sakura whole-heartedly agreed, placing a palm over her chaotically beating heart. Even Sasuke, ever composed, looked somewhat unsettled and was leaning back against the wall to catch his breath.
"Naruto!" Kakashi, almost spent on chakra entirely, exhaled heavily. "Calm down."
"Calm down?! Did you see what we just had to face?!"
"I've no doubt we'll have to face worse things than this," their teacher offered. "There's no point losing our heads about it - not unless you really do want to lose your head."
Lifting a hand to her face, Sakura drew from the healing orb in her brace, and focused to mend the damaged, venom-burned skin. When the stinging stopped, she lowered her palm and moved over to Naruto.
"It's okay, Sakura-chan, I can-" he began.
"Don't waste your chakra," Sakura shook her head, and healed his wounds in turn. Then she grabbed water from her backpack and gulped it down thirstily. She felt grimy and sweaty and couldn't wait to take a hot shower to wash all the filth of their mission off.
"Do you think that was the worst of it?" she asked Kakashi with uncertainty.
"Hard to say." Kakashi sighed. "I don't know if we should consume more ambrosia, or if we're near the end. If we have to fight again, we have no choice but to drink some more."
"There doesn't seem to be a way outta here," Naruto scowled into the dimness. The tube-like space they were in climbed upward endlessly - but there were no stairs or any other perceivable way to get up. There were also no openings in the walls around them.
They walked toward the middle of the area, trying to find any sort of clues as to what to do next.
Sakura tensed when runes began to glow beneath their feet, once again activated by their weight on the ground.
"Uh oh," she exclaimed anxiously, pointing down. "Not good!"
"W-what!?" Naruto squawked in alarm. "N-not again, dattebayo!"
The walls around them began to rumble. They looked around, trying to discern what was happening. Sasuke's face then angled up, looking into the darkness. He directed a controlled blast of Katon upwards, which illuminated the air above them - just in time to see a humongous flood of water shooting out from an opening high above their heads. It cascaded down, utterly destructive, a tumultuous wave that had the power to crush bones once it landed.
Sakura cried out in alarm. It was akin to an unstoppable tsunami about to hit them at full force.
"Gaaah!" Naruto yelled. "Kakashi-sensei, what do we do-!?"
Gritting his teeth in acknowledgement of what he was compelled to do, Sasuke instinctively summoned Susano'o around them, protecting them all from the force of impact and keeping them dry. The water crashed against the barrier, pushing them downwards as the space around them was covered with gushing liquid. It filled the area with frightening speed. Sasuke commanded his full-form Susano'o to fly upwards, until they found another opening in the wall, from which water was not exiting. They stepped through it, crouching along, the barrier Sasuke had summoned to shield them immediately dispelling once they entered the new tunnel.
He paused briefly as the others continued on ahead. His chakra reserves, just like theirs, were running low as a result of using heavier, more powerful attacks. He couldn't afford to waste much more, mindful of the Curse seal on his arm.
The opening led them through another passageway, the walls of which lit up with mystical runes as they passed through. Eventually they came to a set of descending stone stairs, enclosed within a downwards sloping tunnel that glinted with iridescent rock. They climbed down, battle-worn and fatigued - and when they reached the end, found a narrow stone path that connected their side to yet another opening in the rockface ahead. Kakashi set foot on it, and Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke followed, balancing carefully, placing one foot slowly in front of the other to keep from losing balance and falling into the endless, misty darkness below. When the path began to shake perilously beneath their feet, they dashed over it, just as the walkway began to disintegrate to pieces beneath them. They managed to leap across just in time, turning back to find the last remnants of the path plummeting into the chasm.
"Traps everywhere, dattebayo," Naruto muttered.
They slipped through the opening in the rock, walking through another glimmering passageway, which ended with yet another set of descending steps. When they finally reached the bottom, they came to a solid, immovable stone wall, bearing four circular crests.
Shadows. Lightning. Fire. And a human hand.
Kakashi glanced at them wordlessly and nodded.
Sakura pressed her hand against the hand symbol. Sasuke placed his palm against the shadow crest. Kakashi raised his hand against the lightning one, while Naruto touched the flame emblem. The panels all glowed in response to their touch - and then, to their astonishment, the wall rumbled and slide smoothly aside, allowing them all entry into another descending staircase, which took them down into a large, circular space.
"Whoa..." Naruto breathed, blue eyes widening at the ethereal sight that greeted them as they stepped inside it.
Sakura gasped in open wonder. It was unlike anything else they had seen underground up until that point, a stark contrast to the ruins and time-ravaged elements of all the previously-traversed caverns. The new area was a sight of beauty and splendor, of magnificent ancient architecture impeccably kept and untouched by the cruel flow of the ages. The walls cascaded with waterfalls that fell into surrounding, luminous, crystal clear turquoise waters. Built atop the pool was a white-stone, circular platform, surrounded by lofty arched columns. It led to a set of steps which climbed up to a raised, spacious square dais, bearing four unlit torches in its corners. Team Seven climbed up the sets of steps to discover four circular runes engraved into the ground of the square-platform - the same ones that had caused the wall to part for them.
Sasuke lit the fire torches around them, and the space illuminated with warm light.
"Is this… it?" Naruto whispered, daring to hope. "It must be... right? This reminds me so much of home..."
Sakura looked around appreciatively.
"Let's activate these runes," Kakashi said. They moved over their respective symbols and crouched down, pressing their palms against the crests. Each one glowed as it was activated - and the stone dais rumbled beneath their feet. A new, smaller square platform emerged up from it, empty - save for a slot upon its surface.
A slot just big enough to accommodate a sword.
Sakura unsheathed her blade - and pushed it inside the opening. They heard a clicking sound, as if something had just been unlocked. The firelight around them suddenly winked out, plunging them into dimness. They waited, with baited breath, for something to happen. Seconds later, the flames burst back into exuberant life, blazing dazzling gold. A light shot out from the point where Sakura had placed her sword. It encircled the dais, pulsing - and then, to their astonishment - orbs of golden light materialised, coalscing together, slowly at first, before picking up speed, swirling together faster and faster, taking on the outline of a tall silhouette above the square platform.
They shielded their eyes as the light suddenly exploded, raining brilliant, golden sparks. When they looked up again, a figure stood hovering above them.
Hair as gold as sunshine itself and eyes as jewel-blue as a pristine clear ocean. The flash of a lightning bolt earring. Resplendent white and gold, royal robes.
Kakashi exhaled in astonishment, and immediately fell to one knee, bowing his head low. Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief, as a handsome face, imbued with hallowed light, gazed down upon then. She felt compelled to follow in Kakashi's motions, to bend the knee, but found that she could not move, was rooted to the spot as those piercing azure blue eyes slipped briefly onto her.
In the corner of her vision, she saw Sasuke tense in surprise, when that all-encompassing gaze flicked onto him in turn.
Naruto felt the air flee from his lungs entirely, as he looked up at the shining silhouette of his father, his vision blurring with tears. Namikaze Minato. Zeus. The King of the Gods himself. He was otherworldly, majestic, beautiful - and yet, not fully tangible, his body pulsing between solid and semi-transparent. As if he were a hologram, Sakura recognised, feeling a deep twisting ache in her chest for Naruto, who had stepped forward, reaching out toward the spectre with a shaking hand, his eyes glazed with disbelief.
"D...dad?" he choked out.
Minato's lips curved into a gentle smile.
"Naruto," he spoke, his smooth voice reverberating lightly around the space, as light as air itself. "My son. At last. You have made it here."
Author's note
I'm ending it here, because there's still a fair bit left to cover as part of this first mission, and it will need another chapter. Hope you enjoyed this instalment. See you for the next one. It shouldn't take as long to update, as it'll be a shorter 7K-ish one at most. Thanks for reading. I'd appreciate your feedback for this.