Really excited for you to read this chapter, a lot happens. Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter LXXVI
Memories sealed away belie,
True thoughts and feelings lost in the midst,
Of a complex web of interwoven ties,
Threads hidden away to leave nothing amiss,
Intricately planned by those pulling the strings,
To leave a legacy behind that defines all things.
"Sasuke."
Sasuke's bowed head rose, angling away from the dusty street he'd been watching over pensively. Kakashi had found him perched on the edge of the rooftop of the hotel they'd taken shelter in for the night. It was almost dawn, and yet Sasuke had not closed his eyes for even a minute. Even if he had wished to sleep, his mind was far too overrun with troubling thoughts of Itachi, Shisui, Zeus, Cronus and the Kore he had forgotten all about, to find any peace.
"Naruto and I are going for a walk. Sakura is still asleep downstairs."
Sasuke felt something tap his shoulder, and glanced up at the object Kakashi was holding out to him.
"Here's the room key. Watch her for us. We won't be long."
The death deity did not reply, his acceptance of the key the only acknowledgement Kakashi received of him having listened at all. Sasuke heard his former teacher depart, and a few minutes later saw him exit the hotel building with Naruto, who was rubbing blearily at his face, clearly still half-asleep. His dark eyes followed the sun deity's figure, narrowing with distaste. It was only the fifth day of their journey together, and he had already had enough of Naruto's loud-mouthed idiocy to last him until the end of eternity.
With an air of detachment he watched them walk away, heading toward the western district of the town, then got to his feet, entering back into the hotel interior through the staircase that had led him out to the rooftop. Arriving at the room they'd rented out for the night, Sasuke unlocked the door and quietly stepped inside. There were two beds, and a neatly folded sleeping bag on the floor. His eyes were drawn immediately to Sakura's slumbering form. Walking up to her bedside, he regarded her a moment. Her face was peaceful in sleep, giving no indication of any of the pain that had befallen her.
As he gazed at her, he recalled the vision he had seen in the memory orb. Himself, with Apollo and Kore in the magnificent gardens of Olympus. Apparently he had been friends with the sun god back then. And he had clearly been acquainted with the Goddess of Spring, too. The vision correlated with Naruto's past words to him. Who, then, had wiped his memories of them both? And to what end? His thoughts had been turning in a tumultuous tide all night, trying to come to terms with everything he had learned.
Had it been done to make him participate in the war? But that made no sense. There was no way that he would have ever sided with the Olympians against his own kin. Sasuke's loyalty had always been directed unequivocally toward his family. He hadn't known anything about Cronus's plans back then. What reason would he have had to question them at all?
His own brother and cousin, however, had clearly had other allegiances. Or had they, truly? It certainly wasn't beneath Madara to assign spies in the midst of his enemies. And yet Sasuke could not imagine Zeus being any easier to outwit and fool than Cronus was. Indeed, Minato's sharp intelligence had been well-known and renowned on both the surface and in the Underworld. His reputation had spoken for itself.
Hypnos and Thanatos had been Cronus's most prized fighters and assets. Their combined abilities of illusion and mind manipulation were unrivalled, falling second only to Cronus's Sharingan. Was it conceivable that they had been working against him all along? Why else would Zeus give them the knowledge of wielding Hiraishin?
How could they possibly have fooled Cronus? Sasuke knew that if anyone could do it, it would have been his brilliant brother and Shisui, and yet - had they not marched to war at his side?
He thought of Itachi, asking Chiyo to watch over him. Why would he have requested such a thing, if he had been loyal to Cronus and believed in his cause? And his parents - had they come to know of Itachi's treason? Was that why they had been killed? Had Itachi been forced to murder them, to keep his treachery hidden and to protect his and Shisui's secret plans from Cronus? The very thought made Sasuke feel sick to his stomach.
He settled restlessly on the edge of the second bed, lowering his face into his hands. He had believed that he had finally accepted his clan's death, buried and assigned them all to memory - only to discover so many more skeletons remained in their coffins, shrouded in secrecy. How was he meant to find peace, now? There were so many questions. So many things he did not understand about why he had been the only one spared, the only one left ignorant about the war. And beneath them all, was one burning, underlying question that was gaining rapid traction in his mind; was his discovering Sakura again truly a coincidence?
On the day he had gone to the surface years earlier to collect an exceptional soul, had it been pre-determined, somehow, that he would set eyes on her again? Planned? Was his initial, inexplicable attraction to her the result of subconsciously recognising her, somehow, on some level he had not even been aware of, from a past life? Sasuke would have once scorned and rejected the notion outright, but now it seemed to be disturbingly more possible, the more evidence he found, the more proof he had of knowing Sakura in her original life.
If Zeus himself knew that Sasuke supposedly possessed the means to unlock the seal placed upon her - then how could it be any coincidence at all that they had met again? And if it were intended all along, then why had he been made to forget her, and why had he not come across her sooner?
The only reply that reached his ears was the quiet sound of Sakura's deep, even breathing.
Hades's grip on her wrist was tight as he led her down dizzying, winding paths in the dimness. Kore threw a wild glance back over her shoulder to find that nobody was following them, but from the urgency of his movements, it was clear that Hades expected and anticipated that they might be discovered at any moment.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked in a choked voice, repeating the question that had tormented her from the second she had watched him unlock her cell door, near stumbling in her haste to keep up with him. She felt anger, indignance, confusion. What did he mean by it, crushing her soul to pieces and then showing up as if he were the hero and not the villain in a tragic tale of his own making?
"Be quiet," he ground out in a low whisper, and abruptly tensed - only to yank her forcefully backwards. Kore's heart leapt into her throat as swirling, icy coils of darkness closed around them, cloaking them both from view as an Underworld dweller hurried along the ascending path directly above them. Hades waited until he was out of sight - before he continued to drag Kore along. They ran and ran, through darkness and mist and fog, until Kore could no longer feel her trembling legs, eventually arriving at an opening in the rockface that led through a short tunnel.
Kore blinked, stunned to find the streaks of an early-dawn sky on the other side. The gap was wide enough to allow her to crawl through and led right back to the surface itself. Her eyes turned to Hades in bewilderment. He was letting her go? Why? Was this a trick, a cruel game?
His eyes met hers. She could see nothing but seriousness in them. Hades then tossed a tense glance behind him, before pushing her forward toward the opening.
"Go," he instructed harshly.
Kore could not believe that the surface was right in front of her. How she had missed the land of light. She had no way of knowing how long she had been held in captivity for underground, and felt her chest swell with the longing to return to her home, to safety in the company of her mother and friends.
She swallowed thickly and placed her hands against the rock-face, but hesitated despite herself. She had told herself she despised Hades, for he was wicked and heartless and had used her entirely for the gain of his kin. He had betrayed her trust and shattered her heart and yet - and yet he was now freeing her? She did not understand. Could not comprehend the reasons behind his perplexing actions. Her head spun, mind reeling as her eyes rested on his face one final time. She knew, somehow, with certainty - felt it in her bones - that they would not meet ever again. After all, their families were marching to war against each other that very day.
Her gaze trailed across the angled planes of his handsome features, drinking them in one final time. He had acted so coldly toward her the last time they had met at the ball, when she had cursed him for all eternity. He had looked upon her as though she were nothing but a stranger to him. But right then, his dark eyes - eyes she had fallen so hopelessly, so foolishly in love with - were filled with recognition. Concern. He looked anxious. Agitated. Almost nervous.
"What are you waiting for?" he scowled at her, seeing no reason why she would choose to linger. "Get out!"
"Why have you freed me?" she demanded, searching his eyes in desperation, feeling as though her heart were ready to burst from misery.
Hades blinked and opened his mouth to respond - when a sound behind them caused him to stiffen. He all but shoved Kore through the opening without another word and she scrambled through it, scraping her elbow against jagged rock in her haste, and felt stones digging into her bare feet. A hand then reached out and caught her slender wrist before she could make it out to the other side, and she glanced back, to find Hades's eyes fixed on her, wearing a peculiar expression on his face that sent her pulse hurtling.
What was it? Regret? Hurt? Guilt? She could not quite tell. Suddenly she could not breathe.
"Sakura..." he began in a thick whisper, astonishing her by speaking, for the first - and last time - her true name - names they had exchanged with one another under moonlight in a time when Kore's heart had been singing with happiness. "I..."
Her heart pounded, caught in her throat. No. He could not do this to her now, she thought to herself. Not when she had finally brought herself to believe that he was as evil as Cronus himself.
His head then whipped around, hearing another sound, and the fingers gripping her wrist were snatched back, as if scalded. Kore stumbled out onto the other side, turning back to look toward him one final time.
Hades's dark, remorseful eyes were the last thing she saw before he sealed the hole with shadows entirely. Kore stood for a moment, her pulse drumming, her thoughts spinning with endless questions as to the endless possibilities of what it was Hades might have wanted to say to her. He had never spoken her true name to her before. Why had he used it then? It indicated sincerity - and yet how could anything about him possibly be sincere, after the heartlessly ruthless manner in which he had discarded her and allowed her to be taken by the enemies of the surface gods themselves?
She turned away, refusing to dwell on it, chastising the part of her heart that had ached and wept the moment she had heard her name falling from his lips, the part of her heart that had leapt when he had reached out to snag her wrist and halt her, intending to speak words that would forever remain unknown. He had smuggled her out, seemingly against the wishes of his King, Cronus. But it made no difference. It was too late. The damage had already been done and she would never speak with him again.
It was early dawn. She inhaled deeply, overwhelmed with the joy of breathing in fresh, open air. The sun's radiant light peeked shyly over the horizon, tinting everything its rays touched with a glow of gold and Kore revelled in it. She ran and ran, delighting in the feel of the grass beneath her feet, allowing the whispering trees to guide her in the direction of her mother's fields. When she felt she was far enough away from the Underworld to avoid being caught again, she came to a stop in a flourishing forest, her legs buckling underneath her. She fell to her knees, overwhelmed with relief, her hands fisting the grass gladly. She bent forward, resting her head against the earth, inhaling the soil's comforting, reassuring scent, drawing power and strength from her cherished element. Weeping at her ordeal, she acknowledged that she was alive. She had survived. And she was forever changed, no longer the naive, ignorant young goddess hidden away in her mother's meadows. She needed to make it back to her mother's temple, to warn everyone of Cronus's atrocious plans. She hoped that she could make it in time, and wondered whether King Zeus's army had already begun marching out to the battlefield.
Rising back up to her feet, Kore sprinted with renewed energy, weaving through the trees, the bare soles of her feet pounding upon the grass, thoughts of seeing her mother, dear Hestia, Aphrodite, Selene and Apollo urging her onwards. But the more she ran, the more she found she began to tire, until eventually she was forced to halt once again, breathless and exhausted. She blinked in confusion, resting a hand against the trunk of a nearby beech tree as she attempted to catch her breath, trying to fathom why she felt so strangely drained. A sudden wave of nausea washed over her, and her skin began to prickle oddly, breaking out into a cold sweat. She turned her head to the tree, trying to draw from its energy, hoping it would help to reinvigorate her own - only for her body to freeze at the sight that met her eyes.
The bark beneath her fingertips was oozing a thick black liquid. With a startled, pained gasp, Kore's arm dropped. She watched as the body of the tree was overcome with a thick, oily coat that soon cracked the wood, drying it up and reducing its outer coat to crumbling ash. Stumbling back, she pressed her hand to another tree in alarm - only to watch in dismay as the same black liquid afflicted its bark. Kore snatched her hand away, clutching it to her chest, overrun with fear and a sickening sense of dread. What was happening? What was killing the trees? Her eyes darted around, looking at the others that surrounded her. They had not been marred by the strange substance that seemed to corrode the ones she had touched with acid.
The ones she had touched.
Kore sucked in a sharp breath, and lifted her hands, her heart lurching within her chest when she found faint black tendrils snaking out from the tips of her fingers to her palms. Horror mounted within her as the thread-like veins began to coil out onto her wrists before her very eyes, seeping outwards like poison. She gasped and looked down at her feet, to find the grass there was blackening. Back-pedalling frantically, she watched, with a rapidly escalating sense of panic, as everywhere she stepped turned to death, as if her very touch was killing nature itself.
"No," Kore choked out, terrified, looking at her hands again as though they had willingly betrayed her. Her entire body began to shake, and she could feel an iciness crawling up her spine. Pure dread gripped her in a paralysing hold as the realisation that she was defying her very role - and what that would mean - slammed into her. "No," she sobbed. "Please! No!"
Hades had released her - so that she would poison the plants, the flowers, the trees? Had Cronus ordered it? Had that been why she had been taken - to be used as a pawn, a weapon in the war against the ones she loved? Anguish unlike anything she had ever experienced before engulfed her, and she felt as though her heart were physically splintering into a thousand, unrecoverable fragments. His cruelty had no end. He had masqueraded as a saviour - only to destroy her entirely. Something had been done to her in the Underworld, without her knowledge - and now that she was on the surface, the horrible dark magic had activated, rendering her a threat against the very nature she existed to sustain.
She could not stand the crippling pain, and collapsed to her knees, weeping in fear, in dismay, in agony as her body began to register that it was going against its own design and function. Her heart's rhythm climbed higher and higher, faster and faster, and with every passing second she felt herself draining, growing weaker. Scrambling back up to her feet, she made a mad, desperate, blind dash through the forest, trying to listen to the guidance of the trees, willing and pleading with them to tell her the way home. But the responses she received were jumbled, and she could not make sense of them any more. Her mind began to hum, and the skin of her arms was now overcome with angry black coils of whatever sickening, corrupting power it was that had been injected into her bloodstream.
She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, leaving behind a trail of destruction, charred black, sickly grass. Kore tried to find a rock to stand upon, anything to stop the oozing black poison from tainting the plant-life around her, but there was nothing but trees and grass. The black tendrils were now snaking out in all directions regardless of where she stepped, growing thicker and more malicious in their reach, tainting even spaces where she did not tread. The trees around her were bleeding black wisps of smoke. Her body quivered violently in terror, and her vision began to dull. Still she pushed onwards, crying out for her mother, for anyone to find and save her, even as she willed her body to stop shutting itself down.
"Please," she sobbed to the grass, as she finally fell to her knees, incapable of going any further, the strength all but robbed from her limbs. Simply drawing breath set her lungs rattling, and she coughed, horrified to find black liquid dripping from her lips. What had they done to her? She could not heal. She could not use any of her powers. She could do nothing but wilt like a flower deprived of all light, cast in perpetual darkness. "Help… me…"
The grass beneath her palms melted away. Tears blurred her eyes, and dropped to the ground. Red. She released in horror that she had to be bleeding. Whether from her eyes, her nose, her mouth - she did not know. Whatever wicked sorcery had been cast upon her, had been cast with the intent to slaughter her and erase her from all existence. For a deity could not survive and endure when they betrayed their own purpose.
When had the evil spell been cast? How? Her mind struggled to think, to remember, but it was already struggling, falling into a foggy haze, leaving only the memory of Cronus's cruel smiles, and the coldness of Hades's eyes behind. Kore cried out, trying to drag her heavy limbs forward, as wave after wave of unbearable anguish seized her body, squeezing the life out of her veins. She bent over in agony, fingers digging into the earth in one last desperate plea for the soil she was poisoning to help heal her, to somehow undo the terrible damage that was causing her very life-force to fade. Her heart raced erratically, as if every pounding beat could be her last. She felt sick and retched, throwing up more black liquid as her gaze blurred dangerously, throbbing with pulsing pain before refocusing.
A fearful, piercing scream filled the air, ringing dully in Kore's ears, and warm hands grabbed at her, tugging on her shoulders, willing her to sit up.
"Kore!" A familiar voice called out to her in tones of love and terror. Kore writhed in pain, seeing Aphrodite's face through the haze of her vision as her friend found her, her features contorted with horror. "Kore, what has happened?! Kore!"
Kore released a scream of anguish, her beautiful pink hair matted with perspiration. Her white dress was torn, bloodied. She heard Aphrodite cry out again, and then a trembling hand was cradling her face.
"What has happened to you?" Aphrodite wept. "Kore… Kore, do you see me?"
Kore gasped, her breathing shallow, rapid. "A-A…ph…" she struggled to speak. "H.. he…lp… m…e…"
She felt Aphrodite press a hand over her heart and then the Goddess of Love wailed, hugging her friend's broken body close.
"Please!" She heard Aphrodite beg tearfully, doing her best to comfort the dying goddess. "Please hold on, Kore. Please. Please don't leave me! Oh, what have they done to you?!"
"I'm…s-s-so…rry," Kore choked on her blood, coughing. Her entire body felt ice-cold, and her eyes rolled back into her head as she began to convulse in her friend's arms.
The humming sound in her ears was deafening. She saw a white light, and a searing pain shot through her skull. When the fit passed, Kore rasped out the name of the one who had released her back to the surface, the one whose actions had led to this disaster befalling her. The one who was the reason for her impending death.
"H… Had…es…."
"Hades?" The Goddess of Love repeated incredulously. Her words were a faint murmur that Kore could barely make out. "He did this? Kore, did he do this to you? Tell me!"
Another jolting pain zig-zagged through Kore's body, causing her to fit once more. Everything grew dark, and for a while she drifted in a sea of pain, caught half-way between consciousness and suffering and blissful unconsciousness, feeling her immortality fading slowly. Far too slowly. Had she been mortal, she knew that her end would have been so much more merciful and swift. Still her ever weakening life-force lingered, as her body continued to poison the forest around her, growing ever colder, ever more rigid in the warm arms that held her.
She caught drifting words. Aphrodite's voice, which she heard yelling at someone hatefully, and then pleading for her life.
"No. Please! I beg of you! Let her live!"
She thought of her mother, in her last moments. How very sorry she was that she had ever drifted from her side. Demeter had been right about the cruelty and harshness of the world and of young gods who were only ever after one thing. She had been right to keep Kore hidden from everything. Kore had been the foolish one. If only she had listened to her mother. If only she had turned away from Hades, when he had appeared to her, the very embodiment of dark seduction and sin. If only she had not strayed, and fallen for an Uchiha who hailed from a world that hosted the pits of Hell itself. If only she had resisted temptation - then she would have surely lived.
If only… if only…
"No! No! You can save her! Please!"
"Stand aside, Goddess."
"I won't leave her! No. Please! Take my life instead! I beg of you! Please don't take her!"
Regrets. Kore had so many of them. They ate at her, corroding her like the black substance that was dissolving nature all around her and wasting her body away. Even as she lay dying, afraid of what awaited her in the unknown end. Even as she felt her breathing finally still.
Paralysed by pain, locked in the prison of her poisoned body, she waited for her slowing heart-beat to finally beat its last and still, her body growing numb, until she felt nothing but a sliver of the faintest thread of consciousness. Her eyes could no longer see. Her ears could no longer hear. Her limbs could no longer feel. There was nothing but emptiness and a quiet hum in her mind, a hum that lulled her into the arms of oblivion. It was almost over, she told herself. In just a few more moments, she would be relieved of all burdens, of all sadness, of all pain. She had never known how the gods died. But she was certain, somehow, that she was close to the finality of that state.
'Release…'
The word in her mind was a resounding echo that flung her violently back into a state of awareness. It seemed to resonate through her entire soul, and she was suddenly aware of another, unsettling presence within her own lingering consciousness as she floated deep within her comatose cage.
'Persephone.'
Her name was spoken to her in a rich, deep voice she did not recognise, permeating clearly through her clouded mind. She saw a blinding bright white light behind her eyes and all at once the crippling pain roared back to life with the force of a raging inferno, flooding her body with burning agony. The fluttering, faint pulse of her feeble heart began to beat more forcefully. Kore fought against it, wishing only for mercy, to be allowed to fade - but an unseen, undeniable force seemed to be acting upon her, compelling her to linger in her broken body - though it remained frozen beyond her conscious control. Her lungs, pooled with blood, rattled as she sucked in a breath, and suddenly she was dragged back to awakening, could hear and see and breathe again, though she wanted nothing more than to die.
Her heavy eyelids lifted and immediately she wished they had not. Piercing crimson was the first thing she saw, long-lashed eyes so beautiful and frightening in their intensity that she felt all thoughts scatter. They stabbed into her mind, swirling, mesmerising kaleidoscopes of black spinning in a sea of blood-red. Boring into her from behind the barrier of an ornate, gilded black mask. Terrible. Absolute, they pinned her mind, her body and her very soul in place. She could see nothing else but those eyes, hear nothing else but that voice, and was only faintly aware of strong fingers firmly gripping her chin. Everything else around her was an incoherent blur - as if she had been summoned back to consciousness from the depths of oblivion for those arresting eyes and that commanding voice alone.
She had seen him before. In the gardens of the Underworld palace, where he and his masked companion had pursued her. Had they been the ones to cast this horrendous curse upon her? She did not know. Perhaps they had. Perhaps they had not. It mattered not, anymore.
'When you awaken, Child of Spring, you will remember nothing of this life.' The masked man spoke without moving his lips. 'You will know not your name. Nor how you came to be. You will not know Hades. You will not recall what calamity befell you. It will be as if you lived all your past days within a dream, a mere fantasy beyond the reach of your consciousness, beyond your reckoning.'
The words seemed to clamp down upon her skull, searing through it, burning their will into her mind, an irresistible, undeniable compulsion.
'You will fear Death.' His voice went on, crimson eyes blazing coldly through hers. 'For Death will be your mortal coil's End. This fate will not be denied, even if the heavens themselves were to fall asunder. A mortal you will be, and so you will be reborn ever after in body, for life is both your boon and your curse. There, locked within this cycle, your soul will ever slumber in ignorance, within its seal. Until Death, with an eye awakened, looks upon you again. Therein your mortal shell will perish, and to Death you will eternally return.'
A second voice joined the first. She saw another pair of scarlet eyes behind another mask, hypnotic and arresting, that seemed to instil a powerful wave of sleep over her. She distantly felt fingertips pressing against her temple, but could not move, could not speak, could not turn toward the source of the touch.
'Your first life you will dream of throughout the ages, phantom images woven in slumber of a time beyond your recollection. So the cycle will repeat, and so you will continue to perish, your soul ever-seeking its final form, hidden from the eyes above that would wish to find you - until comes the time of your true awakening. Therein he shall find you again. The one whose awakened eye will break the cycle of resurrection.'
Kore could not understand the words. Her eyes fluttered shut, but the imprint of those terrible eyes remained, and their words continued to fill her ears, though she could no longer feel her body again.
'Goddess of Spring. When you dream of these words in sleep, you will come to recall the nature of your seal. Forged by three for the preservation of life on the surface. The first, a cloaking seal upon your soul by True Death, concealing your powers of life within an Essence that can only be seen with His eye.'
Kore saw a combination of seal-runes slash across her vision. They glowed white, before fading. She felt something lurch painfully within her, and her heart's beat dulled, slowing once again.
'The second, a locking seal upon your memories by Sleep, reversed only when True Death's eye is awakened. When it looks upon you, your memories will be unlocked. Therein your immortality will be restored, through the reunion of your deity blood with your unsealed Essence. In dying, you will live on eternal.'
Another set of runes flashed across her mind's eye. She felt her thoughts immediately freeze.
'Both contained within the binding seal of the third, the one who infused light into your very existence.' The first masked man's voice finished.
The slashing of symbols she did not recognise, scrawled in a language unknown to her, exploded into white behind her eyes. Everything then began to fade.
'Sleep, Persephone.' The second voice echoed, the final words Kore would ever hear before her passing. 'Sleep and know no more.'
Kore felt an audible click in her mind, as if a lock had been set upon it - followed by a blinding pain that ripped through her body so violently, she felt as though every fibre of her being was being torn to shreds. She screamed and screamed without a sound, until the white enveloped her and she lost all semblance of consciousness.
'Sakura,' she distantly heard someone calling her name. 'Sakura!'
"Sakura!"
Hands grabbed at her shoulders, yanking her upright, shaking her awake. Sakura could hear that someone was screaming, and she realised with horror that it was her own lungs making the awful, frightening sound. Her heart pounded riotously in her chest and her head spun, reeling from her nightmare. For a terrifying moment, her mind was caught in limbo between sleep and wakefulness, and Sakura believed that she was dying all over again. She could see nothing but darkness all around her and struggled to break free, thrashing with all her might.
"No," she sobbed. "Please, make it stop-"
"Sakura. Wake up." Sasuke's voice reached her, and with a gasp her eyes flew open. Reality slammed into her and she realised, disorientated, that she was safe and alive. She wasn't being poisoned. There were no masked men with piercing crimson irises leaning over her.
Sasuke was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her with wide, alarmed dark eyes, his hands gripping her upper arms firmly.
"S-sasuke," she stammered, and dissolved into fresh tears, lifting her hands to her face forlornly before unthinkingly burying it against his chest, the remnants of the dream she'd had - what had without doubt been the awful moment of her first death - ingrained torturously in her mind's eye. She remembered it so vividly. What she had seen. What she had heard. The spinning, piercing Sharingan that had burned their spells into her. Her head hurt as she strained to recall anything she had seen before that. However, she could only remember the part immediately before she had awoken. Everything else was a murky haze as the seal within her once again prevented her from recounting the entirety of the dream sequence. Why, then, could she recall the end so well?
'When you dream of these words in sleep, you will come to recall the nature of your seal.'
The command echoed so clearly in her head, reverberating with alarming clarity within her skull. She trembled, afraid.
Sasuke blinked, frozen at the sight of her so upset, uncertain of what to say or do as he found her unexpectedly clinging to him for comfort.
"The seal," she babbled. "Death and sleep and light, the seal-"
"Sakura." His fingers tightened around her arms. What was she rambling about? Death and sleep and what? "What are you talking about?"
"I saw them," she wept. "They spoke to me. They did something!"
Sasuke scowled. "Who?"
"The masked men," Sakura pulled back, looking up at him with tearful, anguished eyes. "They were there when-"
'Stop,' Sasuke's voice rang sharply in her mind, abruptly cutting off the remainder of her words. He didn't want Orochimaru hearing anything about whatever it was she had seen. His hands fell away from her shoulders as he instructed her telepathically, 'Tell me this way.'
Sakura gulped, and nodded. 'I saw the moment I died. There were two masked men with me.' She racked her mind for the precise words they'd said, pressing her fingertips to her temples as she willed herself to recall them as accurately as she could. She couldn't remember everything. But the parts about the seal in particular seemed to resonate.
Sasuke stared silently at her. Her words corroborated what he'd seen when he had briefly connected with Ino's mind. Shisui and Itachi had indeed been with Sakura at the moment of her original passing.
'The seal on me was placed to preserve life on the surface. The first was a cloaking seal, they said only 'True Death's' eyes can see it. To hide the Essence. The second was…' she frowned. 'Sleep. Sleep took away my memories, and they can only be returned when the cloaking seal is removed by True Death's eye. Then, to restore my goddesshood, my deity blood has to be returned to my body. They said those seals are held together by one other, made by the person who infused light into me. So the seal is made up of three parts.'
Sasuke searched her eyes, the intensity of his stare doing little to settle her galloping pulse.
'I think…' Sakura began hesitantly. 'I think one part was done by Zeus, because he was the one who lended my mother his light to create me, and the other two were...' She lifted her eyes nervously to his. "Those masked men are your brother and cousin, aren't they? Hypnos and Thanatos?"
Sasuke was silent for a long moment. Then he abruptly got up and turned his back to her, his hands closing into fists by his sides. 'What else?'
Sakura shook her head. 'I can't remember everything they said. Something about me living many lifetimes as a mortal. Something about Death awakening an eye, about an awakened eye breaking the cycle of rebirth.' She pressed her palms against her forehead, wincing against the throbbing pain in her skull. 'But they were there, when I was poisoned. I'm sure of it.'
Sasuke swallowed thickly, his heart drumming to a sickening rhythm within his chest. A three part seal? Then Shisui and Itachi had known? Had planned this from the start, somehow, working in collaboration with Zeus? Somehow, they had left the battlefield in the midst of war, warped straight to a dying Kore, and placed a seal upon her that had compelled her to live through endless cycles of rebirth, for the sake of preserving life on earth? Why would they go through such pains? Itachi's function had essentially been that of a reaper and collector of souls. Shisui's role had related to sleep and dreams. What business had they in intervening in such matters wholly unrelated to their responsibilities?
An awakened eye would break the cycle of rebirth and restore her memories, Sakura had said. A seal only 'True Death's' eye could see. His brother's eyes. Had they then intended him to be the one to awaken it and to end Sakura's suffering? If that was the case... then... Sasuke could scarcely draw a breath, his mind racing to the only possible conclusion that suddenly made frightening, horrible sense.
Then had he indeed meant to find Sakura again? His meeting her at the funeral - had that been pre-planned, too? Timed to occur at the exact moment it needed to? Had he been intended to cross paths with her only in her final lifetime? How in the world could anyone plan something so intricately, to pan out in such an accurate manner? It defied all belief, even for deities as wise and clever as Shisui and Itachi had been, given how many lifetimes she had reincarnated in. Even as his mind considered it, Sasuke struggled to come to terms with the possibility and all its dangerous implications.
But he had been made to forget her. Something had happened that had wiped all his recollections of ever meeting her. And yet he was seemingly an integral part of breaking the curse placed upon her. He couldn't fathom how the two opposing truths could possibly co-exist, couldn't make any sense of it. If he was meant to help her, then wouldn't it have been more logical for him to remember her?
And how in Tartarus had Shisui and Itachi even managed to get to Kore in the middle of a raging battle without Cronus even noticing?
His thoughts suddenly stilled, grinding to a halt as it dawned upon him. Zeus had gifted them with Hiraishin. Had they used that to teleport to Kore's precise location? Had they marked her, at some point, with the Hiraishin seal that had allowed them to leave in the midst of chaos, cast a seal upon her that Zeus had clearly authorised if Sakura's words were anything to go by - before returning to the battlefield? Or perhaps Zeus had marked her himself, long before she'd ever been abducted to the Underworld?
He suddenly knew with certainty, from the incredible risk involved in his brother's actions, that Itachi had been no spy for Cronus. He and Shisui had been on the surface gods' side all along.
His chest heaved with the constrained effort to restrain his emotions and anger. His eyes turned to the ceiling, wrestling to maintain composure, as he found himself wondering with anguish, once again, why he had been kept in the dark about so many important matters.
'They also said…' Sakura's voice spoke again in his mind, disturbing the turbulent cyclone of his thoughts. 'Something about me dying continuously, to keep me hidden. Only Death with an awakened eye can break the cycle. Do you know what that means?'
Sasuke did not reply. He had believed it to be the Rinnegan. But if the eye that had activated her seal had in fact been Itachi's, and was supposedly the only eye capable of seeing the cloaking seal, then how in Elysium was Sasuke supposed to awaken it? Itachi was dead. His body had perished on the battlefield. And yet if Kore herself, in dying, had been informed that there was a way to reverse the seal upon her, then surely that had to mean that Itachi had left some way of undoing the curse on Sakura behind.
Wasn't the Rinnegan capable of seeing all seals? Wasn't that why Sasuke had gone through so much trouble to meet the requirements necessary to obtain it? He glared at the floor in frustration. What if it had all been for nothing? His brother had always excelled in all things strategy-related, and with the cunning Shisui by his side, they were certainly a force to be reckoned with. Had they found a way to keep the seal hidden from even the Rinnegan? Was that possible?
Another thought suddenly hit him, with the certainty of striking lightning, seizing the air in his lungs. Sakura had said something about continuously dying to keep her hidden. Had Shisui, Itachi and Zeus somehow anticipated, through their awareness of Madara's ultimate plans to control the Ten-Tails, that he would acquire the Rinnegan himself eventually, and worked together to contrive and weave a complex, forbidden, tripartite seal unknown to the Uchiha patriarch, which could literally only be removed by the eye that had activated it?
Sasuke's mind raced. It made sense. It made horrible sense. And if it were true, then it also had to mean that somewhere, somehow, Itachi had left his Sharingan behind. No doubt for Sasuke to find.
He turned slowly back to regard Sakura. She was hugging herself, looking tearfully down at her hands, her body still trembling slightly. It was pointless, he realised, noting her dejected body-language, to be angry at her. She, who had been a victim and suffered the most, had had no say in the fate that had befallen her. Shisui and Itachi had chosen to work with Zeus against Cronus. That had surely been their decision - nobody else's. It was just like them to want to avert a war. Neither of them had ever taken any pleasure in violence or inflicting torment on others. But to betray their entire clan and fail to warn them all of Cronus's sinister plans, allowing them to march to their dooms, was a crime in itself. If they had known the full truth, why then had Shisui not used his Sharingan to brainwash the Uchiha into disobeying, and revolting against Cronus? Their actions were also questionable and gave birth to even more fresh doubts in Sasuke's overburdened mind.
One thing was for certain. He could no longer dismiss Sakura's dreams as nonsense. Not when everything else she had told him had already been confirmed by the memory spheres, and Ino, up until that very moment. And an intricate seal was precisely the kind of thing his clever cousin and older brother would be capable of planning and pulling off, along with Zeus who was known to have knowledge of the rarest of seals and capable of creating his very own. He had supposedly been selected as King of all gods for those very talents, amongst others and his personal qualities.
Sakura's eyes lifted, to find Sasuke staring at her intently. The slight knot of his brow betrayed his inner state of unrest, and she could see that his jaw was tightly clenched. He was looking at her as if searching for the answer to something in her face. Sakura found that she could scarcely catch her breath, from the weighted intensity of that dark gaze. He hadn't answered her question, and she wished she could know what he was thinking.
The door opened, and they were both snapped out of the moment by the return of Naruto and Kakashi, carrying a fresh bag of food and warm breakfast.
Sasuke immediately turned away and exited the room. Kakashi's eyes followed him wordlessly, before they settled onto Sakura.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bounded forward to perch on the edge of her bed. "Are you alright?"
"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm fine," she wiped at her eyes.
"Are you crying?" Naruto peered at her. "Sakura-chan, what did that bastard do now?!" He demanded, immediately assuming that Sasuke had said something to upset her.
"It wasn't Sasuke," Sakura shook her head. "I… I had a dream. I remembered the moment I was poisoned in my first life, and I saw who placed the seal on me."
"What?" Naruto's eyes widened. "No way!"
Kakashi hastily closed the door, and turned back to her. "Go on," he prompted gently, and they listened in silence as Sakura shared with them the visions she'd seen in her dream.
"Clever Zeus," Madara hissed, standing before the crystalline structure that held the entombed bodies of the deceased King of the Gods and his faithful wife, locked within a vacuum that not even the flow of time could touch. His eyes narrowed hatefully at the pale face that was held suspended within. "So clever, to leave behind memory spheres in an attempt to sway the only sole remaining heir I have who commands his will freely."
The Curse Seal of Heaven had allowed Orochimaru to reach out with his consciousness and tap into the cells that had infected Sasuke's body, establishing a link with his chakra housed within them and had afforded him a view through the death deity's eyes of the contents of the memory sphere. He had relayed what he had seen to Madara, who had been enraged to realise the extent of Itachi and Shisui's betrayal.
It was a pity, Madara thought, that Orochimaru could not listen into the relic rooms and conversations. It seemed some manner of chakra interference prevented him from hearing anything that was said - he could only see in fragments. Spying on a deity as powerful as Sasuke was required considerably more concentrated effort to achieve in order to override Sasuke's own chakra network and establish a remote connection.
Madara had known Hypnos and Thanatos had always possessed sympathies for mortals and their plights. They had never rushed to partake in violence and blood-shed, had always been ever polite and quiet, keeping mostly to themselves and obeying his orders without dispute. Or so he had believed, until it had been brought to his attention by an anonymous source that they had been convening with Zeus and Hera on Olympus behind his back. Madara had at first believed that their kindness towards humans had been the main motivation behind their cooperation with the God of Thunder, an attempt perhaps to avert what they had perceived to be a catastrophe upon humankind. But it had soon become apparent to him that their intentions were not assigned to that alone. He had simply realised it too late, on the summit of Olympus - that Zeus, Hera, Itachi and Shisui had known the truth of his plans all along, had been aware of Cronus's intentions to sacrifice his entire clan, acquire the Rinnegan and awaken the Ten-Tailed beast that would allow him to enslave all of humanity to his will.
How Itachi and Shisui had fathomed his plan had always escaped him. He had never spoken it aloud to anyone, had always locked himself away in the privacy of his quarters to conduct the research he needed to bring his schemes into fruition. And yet, their eyes and perceptive minds had unravelled it all. He had grossly underestimated them - and it had cost him greatly, cost him the war itself.
Madara's hands clenched into fists as he recalled the dawn of the day of the war. The morning when he'd had the chance to completely crush Sasuke's mind - and rued, at that moment, that he had not.
Dawn was almost upon them. At last the day had arrived in which he would conquer Olympus. His formidable army was ready and assembled at the mouth of the Underworld, prepared to ride out with him to a battle from which none of them would return. They did not know it, of course. A faint, smug sneer graced his lips. His faultlessly loyal kin believed they were nobly fighting his cause, heading out to the surface to reclaim glory for their clan. In a way, they were. They simply would not live to witness it and reap its rewards. For Cronus was not one to share power.
Adjusting his armour, he glanced around at the soldiers who rode up front beside him: Hypnos, Thanatos and three other of his strongest riders, seated proudly upon their dark stallions. Everything was in place - except one final integral piece.
He wondered what was taking Hades so long to retrieve the spring goddess from her cell. He had specifically and deliberately selected the boy to do so, to test his allegiances - loyalties he had sworn were his and yet Cronus was no ignorant fool. He'd kept close tabs on Hades, had been more than aware of the disgusting 'bonds' the youngest of their clan had once forged with Zeus's son Apollo and his sparring mentor
Hephaestus. And so he had privately instructed Hades to bring Kore to the Underworld's entrance, where she would be chained to Cronus's steed and dragged out to the battlefield. He intended to release her upon arrival, to allow her to run back to her loved ones while they watched on, in horror, as the very element she commanded turned against her.
He had planned it without fault, implanting a deadly curse upon her forged from the very chaos that made up his being, laced a corruption seal into her bloodstream and set it to activate the moment she set foot back on the surface. Then, it would only be a matter of time until it poisoned her body against nature, only a matter of time before it took the wretched little goddess's life. The surface gods would be weaker without her, and mortals would surely come to curse their names for allowing famine to befall humanity.
He shifted on his mount, impatient. Hades ought to have returned by now. Kore was only a slight thing and his Sharingan, though still young and not fully evolved, was capable of subduing any fight in her. The minutes trickled by. Irked and growing increasingly suspicious, Cronus slipped off his horse, firmly instructing his forces to wait as he went to investigate the reason for the delay. Nobody but Hades knew of his order to bring the girl to him. Therefore, the only cause for her failure to appear had to be the youngest of his descendants.
Flickering effortlessly to the cell he'd had the goddess relocated to after the ball the previous eve, he found it open and empty. Cronus's eyes narrowed, and he immediately took the path leading toward where he suspected Hades had led Kore out, the closest exit to the surface. He blinked out of sight, reappearing behind a concealed part of the rock-face - just in time to hear feet hurrying down the curving route ahead, crunching down upon gravel and stone. He waited for the person to round the corner - and then his hand shot out, clamping ruthlessly around their throat as he hauled the individual roughly forward and slammed them back against the rocky wall.
Hades, dressed in the raiment of battle, blinked, stunned and winded, the air fractured cleanly out of his lungs. His hand immediately moved to Kusanagi's hilt - only to balk at the sight of none other than his Lord and Elder Cronus. His dark eyes widened, and his hand fell away from his blade in surrender, as the Uchiha Patriarch sneered at him condescendingly.
"L-Lord Cronus," he struggled to speak, the fingers around his windpipe crushing in their hold.
"What did I tell you, boy?" he hissed. "I told you to ride out with me, to avenge your parents. I gave you a simple task, to bring the girl to me. And what have you done?"
Bringing his face closer to the young deity's, he hummed, "Hmm? Little Sasuke. I cannot hear your excuses. Where is the goddess?"
Hades swallowed, gritting his teeth. When he stubbornly did not reply, Cronus tilted his head, his eyes bleeding to crimson.
"You have released her." His voice was cold, full of malice, and he saw that the boy had the sense to be afraid. It did not matter what excuses he provided. Nothing would save him now. He had committed treason by disregarding the orders given to him. Even one as young as Hades was, knew the laws of their world. "You have interfered directly with my designs and disobeyed my instructions. Tell me, boy, why would you risk my wrath for a slip of a creature, a daughter of the enemy?"
"She is... innocent-" Hades tried to croak out, only to choke when Cronus's hold tightened, nearly constricting his air-way completely.
"None of them are innocent, you imbecile. You have proven in your ill-choice of action to me what I have suspected all along. You are partial to those on the surface."
"N-no-" Hades tried to plead and protest, but Cronus continued savagely on.
"Even when I commanded you to discard all ties with them following the girl's kidnapping, still you feel pity for their plight. This pitiful child... was she not in love with you?" he spat the words out contemptuously, as if the very idea of 'love' was something to be scorned. "Tell me, Hades." His lips curled to form a disgusted sneer. "Was the sentiment mutual, after all? Did you truly believe you could keep anything hidden from my eyes?"
"I am loyal to you," Hades rasped. "I swear it! But... she has… no hand in this war…"
"Silence! Insolent fool. I dictate what roles are played on the stage of my own choosing. You have displeased me, Hades. There is regrettably no time to retrieve her, which means we must proceed ahead without her - but know that you have not saved the miserable little wench." He smirked cruelly. "Oh, no. You have only quickened the inevitable. Whether she is on the battlefield or not, her end will not change."
Hades's eyes widened in alarm, as he clawed in vain at the vice-like grip on his throat. "But yours… yours will be quite altered." The smirk vanished, and Cronus's features became sinister, ugly and terrifying. "You have always been useless, the weakest among us, a pampered, spoiled, ignorant little princeling shielded from all truths by those who so foolishly, so desperately hope to protect you. It is no wonder you are so weak. You are not worthy of my inheritance. You are not worthy of anything, except to join in the graves of the very surface scum you sought to aid." With those words, his Sharingan morphed into its eternal form and began to spin, a terrible, inescapable kaleidoscope and Hades could do nothing to protect himself as the Patriarch's superior ocular prowess pinned him in place, inflicting a deadly, devastating attack upon his mind.
"You are fortunate, that I am a god of my word," Cronus hissed ominously. "I will not cast you to Tartarus, though you deserve no less. But I gave no promises as to the state of your mind. I will remove every semblance of pity you hold toward the surface gods." Hades tensed in horror as his mind began to burn, the result of Cronus injecting his malicious will and thoughts into his head, corrupting his memories, splintering and snapping the threads of the reality Hades had known, replacing them with his own. He was powerless to look away. With each fibre undone, the pain escalated, until he was left screaming in agony, feeling as though his very eyes were bleeding and his mind was on fire.
"You will forget every memory of friendship and warm sentiment you bore toward Zeus's son Apollo and the Sharingan-thieving mentor who taught your hand the Chidori." Cronus went on. "They are enemies to you, as are all the surface gods, adversaries who plotted to destroy your clan." He tilted his head, his Sharingan swirling, mesmerising and merciless. "Apollo used you, Hades. He masqueraded as your friend and attempted to learn our clan's secrets to relay them to his father. He is no friend of yours. You will hate and curse him, for time eternal. As you will hate and curse all the surface gods. You will forget that the pink haired goddess Kore loved you, and you will no longer recall any memory of ever having seen and-"
Fingers clamped firmly onto his arm, cutting off the remainder of his words. Cronus turned his head to look upon the one who had dared to lay a hand upon him - to find the blazing crimson eyes of none other than Thanatos himself.
"Lord Cronus." He stated tersely. "We had an accord."
His smooth voice was calm, level and polite in its tone, yet Cronus could clearly perceive a cold, warning glint in the piercing depths of his activated Sharingan.
"Hmph," Cronus sneered derisively. "Indeed. I promised his survival - not the peace of his mind." Roughly, he released his hold of Hades, who immediately crumpled to the ground like a lifeless puppet clipped from its strings. Hypnos darted forward and quickly caught him before he could hit the ground, lowering him carefully so that he sat slumped against the rock-face. He then reached up, pressing a gentle palm against Hades's forehead, pushing the hair out of his eyes.
Cronus observed them aloofly for a moment, before turning his eyes back to Thanatos. "Your brother has committed treason and defied my orders by releasing the goddess back onto the surface. Do not question my word when it is given, Itachi," he warned dangerously. "Your precious, pathetic little brother will live. Now." His expression grew icy. "Remove your hand."
Itachi's eyes narrowed marginally, but he silently did as he was bid.
"A fine soldier," Cronus taunted, slapping his cheek gently in a gesture of mock-affection, before he turned his back on the unconscious Hades entirely.
"What did you do to him, my Lord?" Hypnos asked quietly from his position crouched down beside Hades, gazing in concern at his motionless cousin, whose eyes were still half-open yet glazed as they met Shisui's crimson irises. "Will he not join us in battle?"
Cronus flexed his fingers, readjusting his gloves and gauntlets nonchalantly. "I merely erased all treacherous thoughts he held toward the surface gods. He will recall none of his bonds with any of them. After all, he can afford to show no weaknesses on the battlefield."
"And the goddess?" Shisui questioned. "What of her? Do you wish her to be retrieved?"
"No. We have wasted time here enough, and his stupidity has only hastened her end. It matters not." Cronus dismissed. Then, casting a threatening look at Itachi, he added, "Do not forget your side of the bargain, Thanatos. I need only one of you on the summit with me to capture Zeus and Hera within their eternal confinement. If either of you attempt anything that breaks our agreement - I will incapacitate whichever of you I see fit and rip the very shadows that bind this child's form to shreds." He pointed back at Hades. Snapping his fingers, he then instructed sharply, "Leave him behind, he is of little use. With me, the both of you."
Itachi immediately moved to follow him, without looking back at his brother. When Shisui lingered by Hades's side, Cronus's voice rang out warningly. "Try anything untoward, Shisui of the Body Flicker…" The remainder of the unspoken words hung heavily in the air, a promise of terrible retribution if they did not obey his every command.
With one last lingering look into Hades's eyes, Shisui silently rose to his feet and followed after his kin.
Madara slowly exhaled. He should have taken care of Sasuke back then. He had underestimated Sasuke's survival instinct and made a grave error in judgement in consigning him to the shades. The horrible moment that he had realised something was amiss on Olympus's summit, Madara had immediately directed a Titan to slay the youngest of their clan - only to be told, to his astonishment, that his Uchiha kin were shielding him with their own bodies. They overrode even Cronus's angry, telepathic orders to stand down. Almost as if they had been compelled to follow no other command than one: to protect Sasuke at all costs.
Madara did not know when Shisui had given the instruction to his army to guard Sasuke with their very lives. He could not think of the moment when he might have done so, for he'd had both True Death and Sleep under heavy surveillance for weeks before the war and they had even allowed for his spies to watch their every move as a sign of their cooperation. Perhaps Shisui had implanted the command even before that? The only reason Madara had kept Shisui alive at all, was for the very same reasons that had come around to stab him in the back. His renowned use of mind control and memory manipulation, which he had needed to consolidate his plans. He had believed that he had forced Shisui and Itachi's hands, and ensured their full cooperation. Evidently, he had miscalculated. Who knew what forbidden knowledge Zeus had shared with them that had allowed them to betray him?
Sasuke had been spared only because the Kyuubi had been wrestled from his command, the Titans had been sealed away and Madara had been trapped on Olympus before he'd even had the chance to retaliate. Still, to this day, he did not know what manner of seal they had cast upon him. Hatred burned like acid within his chest. Hypnos and Thanatos's gifts had existed because of him. And yet they had used their esteemed ocular abilities against him, to ensure that Zeus could trap him on the summit. The moment he had been caged into his prison, and Thanatos and Hypnos had perished, Sasuke had been the only Uchiha left, and the shades had rushed up to claim him to rule.
And now, the meddling Zeus had left behind images that clearly showed Sasuke's brother and cousin as being in league with Olympus, which interfered with Madara's plans to poison the boy further against the surface gods. Fury boiled within him. It had not been enough for Minato to steal away his most prized fighters in Hypnos and Thanatos. He had also seemingly put things into place to ensure that Sasuke would not be manipulated into submission. Madara cursed him. He had no way of knowing just how much Sasuke had learned, for they had heard nothing of the interactions within the relic rooms. He realised that it was now unlikely, regardless, that he could sway Sasuke at all. He could rely only on the Curse Seal to do its work. And he now knew how to escalate the process. Because Sasuke had a weakness, after all.
The girl who was supposedly human, who was afflicted with something that had required Sasuke to intervene and stabilise her, as Orochimaru had informed him, was clearly someone the death deity cared for, as he went out of his way to protect her repeatedly. And Madara was going to find out precisely what that something was.
"It'll take approximately six days of travel to reach our next destination," Kakashi informed them the next morning, after they'd had breakfast and sorted their supplies. Pointing to the map, he added, "We'll cut through the mountains here to get to Iwagakure, The Village Hidden by Rocks. There aren't many forests around, so we'll be taking cover for the night in any caves or mountains we come across."
Sakura secured her backpack. "What's the landscape like in Earth country?"
"It's mostly rocky terrain but cooler than Sunagakure."
"What a relief! I can't wait to be done with all this sand," Naruto frowned in distaste. "It's everywhere, 'ttebayo!"
"Sensei?" Sakura glanced at their mentor. "Can I pop out and buy some souvenirs before we leave?"
"Go ahead," Kakashi waved. "Be back in thirty minutes. We need to head out then."
"I'll be quick," Sakura nodded, and exited the hotel lobby with Naruto by her side.
Sasuke hadn't joined them for breakfast, and had been absent for the briefing, too. Sakura glanced around as they walked down the streets of Suna, a village that was bustling with life despite the harshness of its climate. He was nowhere to be found on any of the rooftops above them. She wondered whether what she'd communicated to him about the vision she'd had, had anything to do with his absence. It had to be a lot to take in, to realise that his brother and cousin were working with the very surface gods Sasuke had sworn were his eternal enemies.
"Are you sure you're okay, Sakura-chan?" Her friend cast an uncertain glance at her. "Your attack was pretty bad this time. It took Sasuke a while to stabilise you."
"I'm fine," Sakura reassured him, silently mulling over the fact that Sasuke had saved her yet again. She was starting to lose count of just how many times he'd done it already on the course of their mission - and they were only five days into it.
"We were attacked by some other monsters when you passed out," Naruto told her. "I think that slimy creep Orochimaru sent them after us."
Sakura rubbed at her arms, feeling uneasy. "Naruto," she began. "The Curse seal that Sasuke has… I read about it in the High Council's library. Is it true that Orochimaru can hear and see things through the person he marks?"
"Yeah," Naruto's expression became subdued. "Sometimes I wonder if Sasuke is being even more of a jerk to us just because of that."
Sakura came to a stop by some market stalls selling pretty jewellery. Her eyes browsed the collection for something nice to take back for her mother, Shizune, Hinata and Ino.
"What do you mean?" she asked the sun deity.
Naruto shrugged, as he picked up a bracelet adorned with stars thoughtfully. Squinting at it, he said, "Uh… well, if that creep can tap into what Sasuke hears and sees… I guess he has to watch what he says? He's always been an asshole, but he's barely even talking to us."
Sakura considered this. It certainly aligned with the fact he'd instructed her to communicate telepathically with him back when she'd woken up following her attack. She wondered if that was also a reason why he was acting like he barely knew her, and hadn't addressed the issue of everything that had happened when she'd left the Underworld. Anytime she had tried to bring it up, he'd been quick to silence her.
If she called out to Sasuke telepathically, if she tried to talk to him that way, would he answer her? She'd not thought to try it, yet, mostly because she hadn't known what to say to him. But now, after everything they'd discovered from Minato and the memory spheres so far… they needed to talk. About so many things. He couldn't just keep avoiding her forever. Her attack had reminded her that any day could be her last. She didn't want to waste any further time and resolved that she would try to talk to him using the mental communication line afforded by the seeds instead next time.
"Do you think Ino would like this?" she pondered, holding up a beautiful necklace with a pale blue crystal. "It matches her eyes, doesn't it?"
"Uh, sure?" Naruto sounded clueless. "It's... nice?"
Sakura sighed. He was hopeless. "I'm going to look over there," she pointed, and walked over to the line of stalls on the opposite side of the street. Naruto lingered behind, still inspecting the one she'd departed. After a few more minutes of deliberating, Sakura settled on pretty brooches for her mother and Shizune, and crystal necklaces for Ino and Hinata.
"Just these, please," she told the merchant politely. The wrinkled old woman serving her wrapped the gifts carefully in tissue paper before slipping them into a paper-bag and taking payment.
A shadow fell over Sakura as she took the bag from the seller. She glanced up, her heart jumping to her throat as her eyes met fathomless onyx.
"Uh… hi," she said awkwardly.
Sasuke ignored the polite greeting. "What are you doing?" He intoned, his eyebrows furrowing together slightly at finding her walking out and about in the street, instead of being back at the hotel, preparing to leave.
"Buying souvenirs," Sakura replied.
He stared blankly at her, as if he didn't even understand the concept or its point. Sakura shifted on her feet self-consciously for a moment, before supplying, "Umm… they're gifts. When you visit new countries, you buy souvenirs, like tokens to remember the place you visited. You can also have souvenirs to remember people and events..." she trailed off, fully conscious of the fact that she was babbling. He'd already lost interest in the conversation but his eyes were sweeping over the jewels on display in obvious distaste.
Oh. That's right. They don't compare to the gems he's got in the Underworld, she thought, as she stared up at him. The Great King of Riches clearly didn't approve. Snorting internally to herself, she moved along to the next stall, inspecting some silk scarves that were on display. Shizune liked scarves. Ought she to invest in another gift?
"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto joined them. "Where the hell were you earlier? You missed the briefing."
The death deity ignored him.
"Want a souvenir?" Naruto continued to press. "There's a perfect one for you, right over there." He pointed at another stall. "A grumpy looking skull with bones, 'ttebayo." He grinned widely.
Sasuke tossed him an unimpressed, bored look, and wordlessly stepped away, heading in the direction of the hotel. Naruto sniggered as he watched him leave.
"Stop trying to wind him up, Naruto," Sakura sighed.
"I just can't stand him being so cold, Sakura-chan," Naruto complained to her. "I'd rather he get pissed off at me, any reaction than acting like he doesn't know me at all."
"He's had a lot to take in," Sakura reminded him, linking an arm through his when Naruto stuffed his hands into his short pockets unhappily. "And maybe you're right about the Curse seal. Maybe he's just trying to be more careful about what he says, because he doesn't want to be overheard. I just wish we knew how he ended up getting it, and why."
"Like he'd tell us that," Naruto muttered sullenly, and they walked together in silence the rest of the way back to the hotel.
They departed Sunagakure just before ten o'clock that morning. The roads leading away from the isolated village were sand-strewn and seemed to stretch on endlessly. The service stations they encountered along the way were few and far between, and the traffic they passed on the winding routes was infrequent. The sun climbed ever higher, bringing the heat that shone down upon them punishingly. Sakura had to drink often from her water bottle, and they made stops where they could to refill her supply.
When she got off the motorbike at the third, basic service station they'd stopped at over the course of their six hours on the road, Sakura was glad. Her lower back was starting to ache from being seated on the vehicle for so long, and it was a relief to stretch her legs a little. As she ventured inside for a comfort break and Naruto went to refill her water bottle for her, Kakashi waited by the bikes with Sasuke.
Turning his head to thoughtfully regard the stoic death deity who was leaning against his motorcycle with his arms broodingly folded across his chest, Kakashi said, "Sasuke. I think we can agree from the memory spheres that things are not as they seemed in relation to the past."
He noted the way Sasuke's jaw tensed at his words. When he didn't say anything, Kakashi ventured on carefully, "I don't think it's any coincidence that you have some gaps in your memory, too. Maybe we can figure out what happened to you, together. What's the last thing you remember? The last interaction you had with us, before the day of the war?"
"I don't need your help," Sasuke dismissed, shooting him down coldly.
Kakashi sighed, lifting his eyes to the hazy sky. "Perhaps I'm not just trying to help you. Maybe knowing helps us. If Cronus had anything to do with it, then we'd need to know about it. Wouldn't you want to, as well? Who knows what other hidden motives he has?"
Sasuke was silent. Kakashi's words struck a chord, though he didn't want them to. He'd already considered the possibility himself that Madara might have tampered with his memories - though he could not think why. He had only ever been loyal to his clan - and the disturbing fact was, he couldn't really remember many interactions with Naruto and Kakashi before the war, other than brief sparring recollections. In his mind, they had never really been his friends. Naruto had been plotting to betray him all along, and Kakashi had been on Zeus's side, too. An enemy to his clan was no friend of his.
At least, that was what he had always believed. Now, after hearing Minato's words and seeing the memories that contained Itachi and Shisui within them, he had serious misgivings. Madara's true plans had come to fruition. Zeus had indeed seemingly had his hand forced with no choice but to retaliate to put a stop to those terrible designs. And Madara was still trying to manipulate and control things from his prison atop Olympus. Who was the real enemy here? Zeus and his forces, who had marched out to war, forced to take on Madara and the Uchiha to preserve the balance of life and death, or Madara, who had compelled his kin to fight a battle in his name, being fully aware that it would lead to their extinction?
His brother and cousin had clearly known which side to pick by aiding Zeus. Was that the side Sasuke ought to pick, too? But his brother had murdered their parents. How could Sasuke ever forgive that? It didn't make sense for Itachi to do so, regardless of the side he had chosen to fight on. Fugaku and Mikoto had been powerful deities in their own right. Why would Itachi have slain them, and why would Madara have allowed such a thing to pass, to lose two of his strongest kin just before the day of reckoning?
He wanted to know why he couldn't remember everything. Why he had forgotten Sakura in her first life, forgotten so many things that were blanks in his mind. If he cooperated with Kakashi, would that lead to him discovering the truth? Though it gave him no pleasure to accept the aid of any surface deity. Regardless of who was responsible for the war, he did not consider them his allies. They belonged to different worlds and the truth of the fact was that the surface folk had always considered themselves to be above the Uchiha. It was evident in the way the High Council had dealt with him at the trial, bar Chiyo - but even Chiyo had misled him. He did not trust any of them, and that would not change, no matter what the truth turned out to be.
"..." His dark eyes slid onto Kakashi, considering the masked deity for a moment. He was too laid back. Sasuke didn't like the way he said things, in an irritating fashion that always made him listen. After much silent deliberation, he supplied flatly, "I remember nothing."
Kakashi exhaled quietly, daring to hope. Sasuke had chosen to respond. Were these the first steps to him finally cooperating? Hoping that Naruto and Sakura would stay inside a little longer, he carefully said, "It's plain you don't recall your attempt to intercept Cronus with Naruto. Do you remember anything to do with planning it?"
Naruto had said something about averting a war together - but was that his past memories, or what Naruto had insisted to him since then, countless times? Sasuke couldn't be sure, and shook his head.
"Your meetings with Naruto?" Kakashi prompted. "Do you remember anything about Kore being taken to the Underworld? Anything about knowing her at all?"
Sasuke's mind drew a frightening blank. He had absolutely no recollections of Kore at all. Not a single one - other than what he had seen briefly in Ino's mind and the vision in the memory sphere Zeus had left behind that showed clearly that he had been friends of sorts with both Naruto and Kore. But those were not his own memories - only things he had seen from others.
"No," he replied flatly, his eyes returning to fix glumly onto the sandy ground at his feet.
"I see," Kakashi said thoughtfully. So Sasuke didn't recall anything to do with Sakura in her past life, despite clearly knowing her, from both the memory sphere's and Naruto's affirmations of that fact. And yet, he had found Sakura again in this lifetime, and stolen her away. Clearly he cared for her - Kakashi had seen evidence of that fact in the way Sasuke had reacted to her attack. It wasn't the binding contract alone that compelled Sasuke to look out for Sakura's well-being. Something had clearly happened between them in the Underworld - and it didn't look like those unresolved issues were going anywhere from what he could see.
"Do you remember knowing us?" he questioned next. "To some extent you must. You haven't forgotten I was your sparring teacher once. And you still recognise Naruto."
Sasuke said nothing to that. What could he say? He recalled knowing Naruto, and interacting with him numerous times, but there were no feelings of camaraderie between them. Naruto had followed Zeus's orders in his mind. He remembered them - but had always felt nothing but contempt and hatred toward them.
Kakashi sighed, as if sensing that Sasuke was done with answering any further questions. As Naruto and Sakura re-joined them, he wondered whether Cronus had made Sasuke forget it all so that he would never take up arms against him. The possibilities were endless, and Kakashi vowed they would get to the bottom of all the underlying mysteries surrounding Sasuke's memory loss.
After all, the boy who had lost everything deserved peace of mind more than anyone else.
The first two days of their journey toward Earth country were uneventful and monotonous. The desert landscape passed them by in a blur as they rode through the winding roads, spanning endlessly in all directions. Wherever they did stop to rest for food or comfort, Sakura was grateful for it. She used the breaks in travelling to send messages to her loved ones back home whenever network signals allowed it. Naruto also invited her to spar, Kakashi would sit occupied reading his book, and Sasuke kept mostly to himself, a measured distance away from them all. Sometimes Sakura would feel a weighty gaze upon her while she manoeuvred to avoid Naruto's sword swipes, and thought that perhaps Sasuke was observing their training sessions and watching her foot-work. But whenever she turned her face to chance a glance his way, he was always looking elsewhere.
Naruto wouldn't give up trying to speak to the death deity, who mostly continued to ignore him. Whenever Naruto pushed too far, Kakashi would silence him with a look, or Sakura would dig an elbow into his ribs. Sasuke needed time to process things, and they mostly allowed him the space. Sakura sat watching him from the corner of her eye, trying to ascertain when the right time to attempt to talk to him telepathically was. It seemed there was no correct time. Sasuke's body language remained closed and he clearly wished to be anywhere else but amongst them. When they made camp, dragging their bikes over the sand to the closest concealed rocky hills and mountains they could find, Sasuke left their company entirely to brood alone.
Each time he departed, Sakura once again felt the urge to go after him, to try again to open dialogue - only for her doubts to get the better of her, and root her miserably in place. She grew ever more agitated. She had nothing to apologise for. He was the one who owed her explanations. He blew hot one moment, protecting her fiercely in the heat of battle, shielding her and pulling her close - and cold the next, disregarding her existence like he'd never kidnapped her away to his world and held her captive there for six months. It was maddening. Frustrating. She glared up at the starry sky, wrapped up in her sleeping bag and coat to fight off the plunge in air temperature at night, until exhaustion eventually overtook her and she fell into slumber.
On the third day, they collected their belongings after a dry breakfast consisting of bread, salted meat and apples, and set off at dawn. Stopping once to refuel their vehicles at a petrol station, they then continued onwards. Sand and desert plains still surrounded them, but the increase in rocky terrain signalled that after days of travel, they were finally reaching the outskirts of Earth country.
The air was cooler and the clouds in the sky were a dull grey, signalling the prospect of rain. Sakura turned her face up to the heavens, inhaling deeply as she maintained a firm hold on Naruto's jacket. There were birds flying a distance away up in the sky, she could see, and they seemed to be heading in the same direction as they were along the road.
Her eyes dropped back to the ground, watching as the dust-strewn tarmac whizzed by - just as a shrill squawking sound echoed above them. She tilted her head back up in confusion - only for her eyes to widen at what she saw.
The birds she'd glimpsed only moments earlier had rapidly descended and were swooping down straight toward them - and were anything but ordinary. They were enormous in size, large enough to devour an adult human whole, with mighty wings that appeared as though they were constructed of sharp, metallic feathers that glinted bronze and brown, their bodies seemingly encased in a plate of impenetrable armour. Their long, curving beaks were rusted gold and their eyes glowed an ominous red. Long feathered necks reared back and they released another menacing cry.
"Uh, sensei?! We've got company!" Naruto yelled.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed upon witnessing the threat. It seemed that Orochimaru was trying his utmost, yet again, to derail them.
"Stymphalian birds!" Kakashi shouted over the hum of their engines and the flock of five birds that had descended upon them. "Their feathers are as sharp as needles and can puncture through anything - we need to take them down before any others arrive!"
The large, feral bird leading the flock dove angrily down toward them, its long, shredding claws extended. Naruto slammed the breaks on his bike to avoid it, and Sakura shrieked in alarm at the sudden, dizzying change in momentum.
"Hold on, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out to her. Her arms locked tighter around his midriff as he channeled a ball of Rasengan into his left hand and let it loose at the creatures above them.
They scattered, and then feathers rained down upon them, dangerous and piercing, clanging against the metal of their bikes as Team Seven frantically swerved to avoid being hit.
"What are its weaknesses?!" Sakura cried out.
"Lightning!" Kakashi answered. "Sasuke, with me!"
Chidori flashed in the air, striking the metallic tips of the monsters' wings. They released pained, furious screeches and circled around them again, swooping in closer. Sakura's heart raced as she dragged lightning chakra from the orb she'd equipped, and raised her hand, aiming it at the closest bird. It evaded and with a bone-shattering wail lunged straight toward her and Naruto, claws outstretched to grab at them.
"Naruto!" Sakura warned in alarm, throwing another lightning attack at them - but her aim was thrown off by the movements of the bike as Naruto steered to avoid another falling storm of feathers.
Sasuke intercepted, striking upwards with Kusanagi, sending a stream of jagged lightning slicing between them, warding the birds back. Kakashi, who had veered his bike around, summoned his lightning cutter technique and sent crackles of electricity shooting outwards. They hit the birds but they kept on recovering. With a shrill screech they flapped their great wings, sending another hail of damaging metal needles flying outwards.
Kakashi gritted his teeth in pain when he felt two of the needles stab deeply into his shoulder, the rest indenting in his backpack. He directed another stab of Chidori and finally succeeded in stunning one of the birds when the bolt connected with its head - the only weak point in its body. Sasuke followed up with a cutting beam of lightning that caused the bird to topple with a shrill wail to the ground.
Its companions were enraged and flapped their wings furiously, diving down and pecking with their flesh-tearing beaks. Sasuke narrowly avoided one of the creatures' attempts to decapitate him, only to hiss in pain when three needle-like feathers impaled into his right thigh. He yanked them out in disgust, wincing as warm blood poured up from the wound and immediately healed the damage they had caused, glaring up at the carnivorous birds. He couldn't channel Kirin while they were moving, and calling upon Susano'o for monsters that were more pests than anything else seemed like a waste of chakra. The birds were also too swift to ensnare in chakra strings. The only option that remained was to wear them down and outrace them. He released a flaming blast of Katon which forced the flock to disperse. They glided gracefully around in the air before turning back toward their targets.
Naruto sent another spinning ball of howling chakra up at them. They spiralled out of the way and once again attacked them with their feathers.
Sakura summoned an earthy shield above her and Naruto's heads like a protective turtle shell, flinching when she heard the feathers embed deeply into them.
Another bird cut in between Kakashi and Naruto's bikes, its beak opening wide. Sakura ground her teeth in determination and raised her palm, dragging a large concentration of chakra from the orb on her arm brace and smacked the monster with a blinding bolt of lightning. It connected with the bird's neck, sending it plummeting roughly to the ground.
"YES, Sakura-chan!" Naruto crowed, and then swerved his bike, his gaze fixed on the struggling creature. "Take this, you feathered freak!"
He accelerated, slamming right into the felled monster, crushing its wings beneath the wheels of the vehicle.
"You idiot!" Sasuke shouted at him. "Those feathers puncture through everything!"
"Huh?" Naruto frowned, looking down at his wheels in confusion - only for his eyes to widen when another of the birds swooped down toward him. He sped up to avoid it - only to lose control of the bike when the wheels, indented with iron feathers, flattened, sending the vehicle skidding dangerously off-balance. Sakura screamed fearfully, lurching violently to the right, her earthy shield disintegrating into rubble the moment she lost focus of maintaining it.
No sooner had the shield crumbled, a sharp pain and stabbing pressure erupted in the side of her neck. Sakura choked, blinking in shock, and lifted a hand to the source of the pain - to find that a metallic feather had been driven into her flesh. She coughed, startled to taste the coppery tang of blood in her mouth. She tried to focus to heal herself, but the erratic movements of the bike kept cutting off her concentration.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled fearfully, only to shout out in agony when an onslaught of feathers impaled through his shoulder. He tried to accelerate to avoid another shower of needles, but his vehicle skidded dangerously, unsteadily, the rubber of its wheels destroyed.
Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief as Naruto's bike veered sideways, toppling toward the ground, smoke billowing from the damaged tyres.
Kakashi blasted two of the Stymphalian birds with Chidori, covering his team's back as Sasuke swerved his bike, slashing at another diving monster to force it to retreat. Veering close to Naruto's motorcycle, he reached out and plucked Sakura off the passenger seat. She blinked, stunned to feel a steely arm winding around her waist, and before she knew it, she'd been hauled away from Naruto and in front of Sasuke, onto his bike. Their eyes met briefly, before an irked looking Sasuke pressed Kusanagi into her hands, kept one hand on the steering handle of the bike and lifted his freed palm to her neck. Sakura's skin tingled as his fingers curled lightly around the side of her throat. She felt a liquid coolness washing over her skin as he wordlessly healed her wound, gulping as the pain ebbed before vanishing. Numbly, she glanced down at the sword in her hands. The last time she had held it, she registered, was when she'd committed treason in the Underworld.
He then drew his hand back, his eyes flicking onto her skin, satisfied that she had been adequately healed, and took the blade back from her hands.
She opened her mouth to thank him, but her gaze was then drawn to the screeching bird flying down toward them, beating its wings frantically as it prepared to fling a fresh wave of feathers like spiking darts down upon them.
Acting on instinct, Sakura lifted her arm over Sasuke's shoulder and depleted the rest of the lightning orb in one go, sending a crackling, monstrous bolt flashing in the air. It struck the bird that had been about to attack them, and it crashed to the ground, convulsing before writhing weakly on the tarmac.
"Take that!" Sakura yelled at it, pumping a fist into the air in triumph. "Shannarooo!"
"..." Sasuke's dark eyes flicked onto her face momentarily. Their eyes locked, and heat bloomed into Sakura's cheeks as she finally became sensible of just how close together they were sitting.
He broke eye-contact and she yelped when he abruptly accelerated, causing the side of her body to bump against his chest as he sped away. When he then slammed on the brakes to avoid the swoop of another descending bird and sent the bike spinning wildly to evade another, she lurched forward and reached out instinctively, grabbing onto his arm to steady herself, her hammering heart lodged in her throat.
She felt his bicep muscle tense beneath her touch. The air caught in her lungs as he slashed at another of the vicious birds with his crackling blade and regained control of the vehicle, before racing on ahead.
Naruto leapt onto the back of Kakashi's bike just as his own slammed onto the road, the force of the crash sending it spiralling and somersaulting before it exploded into flame onto the sand, destroyed beyond repair.
"Shit," Naruto cursed, lamenting the loss of his mechanical steed, and then angrily flung a large spinning orb of wind at the remaining birds. It clipped their wings, sending them into a dizzying circle mid-flight. Kakashi saw an opening and connected a Chidori bolt into them, causing another of the creatures to falter in the air. Sasuke attacked the remaining birds with a swarm of shadows that caused them to panic and collide into one another, their flight movements growing disjointed and uncoordinated as the shades tore at them. Kakashi finished them off with well-placed crackles of lightning that sent them plummeting to the ground.
"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, as they left the carcasses of the birds behind. "Finally, those freaks are dead!"
They continued to drive on, watching the skies warily for any further additions to the flock that had attacked them - but thankfully no others appeared.
Sakura willed her pulse to settle, but it was near impossible given the proximity and heat of Sasuke's body, so close to hers. There was no way for her to not notice his arms caging her in position as he steered. She kept her head ducked, her cheeks ablaze, not daring to lift her face to look at him again. Inwardly, she cursed Naruto, as the realisation that she would now likely have to travel on Sasuke's bike hit her, causing her stomach to flutter and knot with dread. Stupid, stupid Naruto had had to go and trash his bike, which meant she had no alternative but to take the passenger seat of Sasuke's. After all, there was no way Naruto could share with Sasuke without the two murdering one another, and she doubted Sasuke would consent to riding behind Kakashi.
The sky soon opened up with rain, and Sakura thought she couldn't possibly feel any more miserable as she sat frozen and rigid on the bike. After what seemed to be forever, in which the rain grew progressively heavier, they navigated off the road and made their way toward a line of mountains, travelling over rocky terrain. The sand, Sakura realised suddenly, had vanished, signalling that they had likely left Wind country at some point during the frantic race to escape the Stymphalian birds.
They drove around until they found a natural opening in the mountain's rockface, leading them to a small cavern. Taking shelter inside, Sasuke immediately slipped off his bike, his hands balling into fists as he cast a surreptitious glance at Naruto, who had healed his own wound, and rushed over anxiously to Sakura.
"Sakura-chan, are you alright? You were hurt. I'm so sorry!" he apologised.
"I'm fine," Sakura lifted a hand to where the injury had been. She was just grateful it hadn't cut through a vital artery.
"That's good." The concern in his features relaxed. Then he whinged, "Man... I can't believe I lost my bike."
"Serves you right," Kakashi chided lightly. "What you did on the road was reckless."
"I didn't know the tyres would puncture if I ran it over, -ttebayo," Naruto scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
Sasuke's dark eyes glittered in the dimness of the cave.
"Alright," Kakashi sighed. "Might as well get a fire going to keep warm. Who knows how long this storm will last."
An hour later, the rain finally began to grow lighter, though it continued to drizzle outside. Sakura sat huddled against the wall of the cavern, eating an orange she'd purchased from the previous service station they'd stopped at. Naruto kept huffing in boredom, and Sasuke leant against his bike, his back turned to them. At length, Kakashi informed them that he was going to try to get to the top of the rocky structure, to ascertain their surroundings and how far off from their destination they still were. The navigation systems on their phones had lost signal, which meant that they needed to rely on manual mapping. Telling them that he wouldn't be long, their teacher exited the cavern.
Sakura drew her knees to her chest and rested her head in her arms tiredly. She heard feet scraping on the gravelly floor as Naruto got up - but a moment later he howled in surprise and pain. Sakura blinked, startled, and her head snapped up - to find that Sasuke had grabbed and slammed her friend against the wall, one arm pressed against his neck in a near-choking hold.
She scrambled up to her feet, sputtering in disbelief. Kakashi hadn't even been gone for five minutes, and they were already at each other's throats?!
"Sasuke!" she exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing?"
"You useless idiot," Sasuke hissed, ignoring her alarm. Naruto had almost gotten Sakura flattened on the road-side, had allowed her to be stabbed by needle-like feathers needlessly, only narrowly avoiding a major artery - and the death deity had had it with his clumsy, moronic carelessness.
"What the hell, Sasuke?!" Naruto glared back, trying to pry his arm away.
"That needle barely missed a vital artery," he snarled.
"Wha-!" Naruto gaped at him, before anger contorted his features. "It's not like I got her hurt on purpose, you asshole! She's my best friend! I care about her more than you do!"
Sasuke bristled at his words. "Shut up. Weren't you listening to Kakashi?" he demanded, applying more force against his throat, causing Naruto to struggle to draw breath. "He said the feathers can pierce through anything."
"Sasuke!" Sakura sprinted to them, grabbed hold of the arm Sasuke had raised against Naruto's throat, trying desperately to prise it loose. But it was like steel, locked in place, and Naruto was now gasping for breath. "Stop!" Apprehension churned her gut. "Sasuke! Let him go!"
No matter how hard she tugged, Sasuke would not relent. Her heart raced at the cold fury she saw in his eyes, stunned by his rage. Was he that angry that she had gotten hurt? Or was that merely the tipping point, the culmination of so many things that had angered him, that had been simmering steadily beneath the surface over the course of their journey and had finally reached boiling point, exploding in the face of one focused target - Naruto himself?
"I- I thought I... killed it!" Naruto wheezed. "What's your problem, you bastard? Sakura...chan's... fine! It's not like she would've died- isn't that why you're here?!"
This seemed to enrage Sasuke even more, for he hauled Naruto violently forward before slamming a fist into his stomach, winding the sun deity and sending him sprawling onto the ground.
Naruto gripped his throat, rubbing at it, and when he lifted his head, Sakura saw that he'd already activated Sage Mode. She watched in horror as her blond-haired friend rose to his feet, glowering at Sasuke.
"You wanna fight, Sasuke?" he demanded, rising to the bait. "Will punching me make you feel better?! Then give me all you've got! All your hatred! Come at me!"
"No!" Sakura held up her hands between them. "Naruto, don't! Both of you, stand down!"
"Sakura-chan, get out the way," Naruto's azure eyes burned past her, fixed on Sasuke with angry intent. "The only way to make this asshole listen is to beat some sense into him!"
Sasuke unsheathed Kusanagi, a dangerous light in his eyes. Sakura stared at him, horrified, recognising the murderous intent in the Sharingan that bled crimson, and turned to him desperately, her heart thundering with dread. Where was Kakashi? He'd only been gone a few minutes and yet it felt like hours when everything was falling apart. She was unable to comprehend how things had spiralled out of control between them so fast.
The tension had reached breaking point in their team and a part of her wasn't surprised that Sasuke had snapped. She couldn't imagine how he had to be feeling following all the revelations - like surely his entire past had been a lie, how he couldn't trust anyone. He had to be feeling alone. She didn't know what to do to fix it. He was angry and wouldn't let any of them get close - not even her anymore.
"Sasuke," she tried frantically to reason with him, recalling the way she'd managed to stop him from attacking Sai when the Messenger deity had tried to help her escape from the Underworld. "Please, don't!" She pressed her hands against his chest, trying to push him back, willing him to look at her, but it was as if she didn't even exist, was nothing but an invisible apparition before him. He didn't even acknowledge her presence, his scarlet gaze locked solely onto Naruto. "Sasuke!"
He blinked and then his eyes captured hers, and suddenly everything around her faded away. She was standing by a waterfall, overlooking a vivid sunset. She gazed around in bewilderment, uncertain of how she had even come to be there.
"You bastard," Naruto seethed, as he watched Sakura stumble before slumping to the ground. "You didn't need to use genjutsu on Sakura-chan!"
Sasuke circled him, leading them away from her sleeping form. Sakura would have been a hindrance, would have gotten in the way. There would be no interruptions this time. All his frustrations and fury at being forced to tag along on the relic mission in their company, all the uncertainties over Sakura, and of being misled and deceived by his very family, those he'd believed were closest to him, had culminated together and were now settled in a red haze onto one single target - the son of the King of Olympus, who was loud and brash and an absolute thorn in Sasuke's side, who irritated and angered him with the simple act of breathing and with his sickening optimism and idiotic, misguided declarations of friendship and undying loyalty.
He wanted to rip Naruto's throat out so he couldn't speak to him of damned bonds ever again. Sasuke's past relationships with his kin had already carved his heart out, and the ghosts of their memories were still slicing open whatever seeping wounds lingered, still afflicting fresh damage from all the previously unknown truths that he had unearthed over the duration of the quest so far. The only other connection he'd forged since his ascension - Sakura - had dealt him just as much pain and suffering, though he recognised he was at fault for the actions that had led to such torment. And there Naruto stood, with the audacity to claim that he cared for Sakura more than Sasuke did, taking every opportunity to rub into Sasuke's face just how close the pair were, how she laughed in his presence, how she was happy in his presence, how they teased and bantered and got along with one another so perfectly, how Naruto leapt into battle to try to protect her when it was Sasuke who'd been assigned the task of doing so, Sasuke who was responsible for it and who didn't need anyone else's help with watching over her, didn't anyone else's help to do anything.
Something burned in his chest, a foreign feeling he could not place. With rage simmering in his blood he lunged forward, drawing Kusanagi back, electricity screeching along the metal blade as he charged at Naruto with killing intent. With a frustrated yell the sun deity leapt forward, his speed and power enhanced by Sage Mode, and aimed a Rasengan straight at Sasuke's gut. Sasuke flash-stepped to avoid it, reappearing behind Naruto, delivering a punishing kick to his lower back. Naruto exploded into a puff of smoke, signalling the use of a clone, and body-flickered behind him, slamming an elbow into the death deity's side. Sasuke's teeth clenched in pain and he lifted an arm to parry away Naruto's angry fist, before lightning flared from his body.
"Chidori Nagashi!" He sent freezing, biting tendrils of electricity spiking outward, and they struck Naruto, who yelled in pain - but recovered quicker than Sasuke had anticipated, flickering out of sight and reappearing behind him. Launching himself at the God of the Dead like a missile, he tackled him bodily around the waist, sending them both sprawling to the ground. Naruto managed to land on top of him and drew his fist back and pummeled Sasuke in the face. Pain exploded in Sasuke's jaw. Livid at the hit Naruto had managed to get on him, his hand shot out, clamping around Naruto's throat in another choking hold, before reversing their positions and returning the favour. Naruto hissed in pain as Sasuke's fist connected with his cheek three times, before he succeeded in kicking him off roughly.
They broke apart, catching their breaths. Naruto's lower lip was bleeding and he spat angrily onto the ground.
"Does this make you feel better?!" he yelled. "Hitting me even though I've done nothing wrong to you?!"
Sasuke glared hatefully at him, eyeing up his next opening.
"I understand how you feel, Sasuke! Believe me! I lost my family, too! But I don't blame you for it. I don't blame your clan for it! It's that bastard Cronus who did all this. Surely you see that now?!"
"Spare me your speeches," Sasuke snarled at him wrathfully, his voice dripping with contempt. "You didn't lose everything!"
"I lost my home and my family, just like you did!" Naruto argued back. "And I lost my best friend. I know you don't want to believe it, I know something must have happened to make you forget it, but that's what we were, Sasuke, we were working together to stop it-!"
"Shut up!" Sasuke flickered behind him and swiped at him with his blade. Naruto unsheathed one of his twin swords and parried the blow. They danced around each other, attacking and defending, until Sasuke spotted a weakness and ducked low, aiming a crushing heel slam at Naruto's shins. Naruto toppled backwards, somersaulting to recover, and continued to retreat as Sasuke advanced on him, Chidori screeching in his palm.
"Damn it! Listen to me, Sasuke! I told you before; Itachi asked me to be your brother in his place! He told me to look out for you, to make sure nothing bad ever happened to you!" At the icy look of fury that crossed over Sasuke's face at the mention of his older sibling, Naruto went on, "Do you know when that happened? It was three days before the war. He showed up in a flock of crows on his own, out of nowhere, and asked me how far I'd be willing to go for you!"
Sasuke didn't want to listen, didn't want to believe the words, but his ears were betraying him, his feet were betraying him, because his body wasn't moving to shut Naruto up as it would have done under any other ordinary circumstances. Every single time he heard Itachi's name, agony and anger skewered his chest, massacring the deepest catacombs of his heart that he had sworn to close off and never reopen following his ascension to the Underworld's throne. He wanted to know everything Itachi had said, at the same time he wanted to hear nothing more of it. All the people he had seemingly asked to watch over Sasuke - he couldn't stand it. His chest ached, the feeling unbearable. Naruto had no idea how much he had suffered. No way of perceiving it. He'd lost his parents, yes - but it hadn't been anything close to the scale of Sasuke's loss. At least Naruto's family hadn't lied to him - at least he'd had no brother that had murdered his own parents only to turn around and ask everyone else to keep him safe as Itachi had.
They exchanged another flurry of skilled sword swipes, steel clanging loudly against steel. Sasuke rammed an elbow into the sun deity's ribs and kicked him onto the ground once more, leaping fluidly forward, blade drawn back, intending to impale Naruto on the floor. Naruto rolled nimbly aside and tossed another spinning ball of chakra at Sasuke, who blurred out of sight to avoid it. Naruto lifted his hands, formed rapid seals and summoned four clones who attacked Sasuke from all angles, buying him time to speak some more.
Sasuke's Sharingan narrowed. He could see who the real Naruto was, but the clones were forcing his attention away. Ducking and evading, parrying and attacking, he worked to take them down one by one.
"I didn't understand at the time why he'd ask me, but now it all makes sense! Now that I know he was working with my dad! Your brother knew he was going to die, and wanted to make sure you'd live! That has to be it! That's why he asked me to look out for you!"
"I said, SHUT UP!" Sasuke's composure completely snapped, the prospect of Itachi knowing everything and taking precautions to shield his little brother and ensure his survival was one too insufferable for him to absorb. Too tormenting, too painful - and yet everything about it screamed Itachi, the kind, responsible, gentle, considerate brother he had known - before the illusion had violently fragmented at the killing of their parents. He stabbed his blade through the final clone and prepared to charge straight at Naruto - when the flash of pale pink caused him to falter in his movements.
He blinked in surprise, finding that Sakura was already awake and had leapt between them again. Had he not incapacitated her with his genjutsu? And yet she stood there in his way, shielding an equally stunned looking Naruto.
"S-Sakura-chan? You're awake?"
Understanding dawned upon Sasuke as he stared at her, meeting emerald eyes that were clouded by upset and glittered with defiance. She had broken his illusion. Evidently, at some point during her time on the surface, she had learned how to break free of simple genjutsu. His eyes narrowed in displeasure, begrudgingly acknowledging her growth, a part of him silently impressed. He couldn't cast a stronger one - it would knock her out for longer and that would hinder their progress on the quest.
"Stop it!" she shouted at them angrily. "I won't let you rip each other apart like this! The only enemy we have is Cronus! He's the one who caused all of this! Stop fighting, both of you!"
"Move," Sasuke hissed at her threateningly.
"No." She lifted her chin, glaring obstinately at him as she bravely stood her ground. "If you want to get to Naruto, you'll have to go through me!"
Sasuke released a quiet, astonished breath at her dedication to the sun deity - before fury erupted anew within him.
Sakura gasped when Susano'o abruptly materialised around Sasuke, forming a skeletal, glowing, giant fist - a split second before it shot out and closed around her, sending her slamming with great speed against the wall. The air escaped her lungs and she blinked, shocked to find that he had pinned her in place there. She felt no pain, for the armour had absorbed the shock of impact - but she couldn't move, could do nothing but watch as Sasuke lunged at Naruto again.
"No!" she cried in frustration and despair, banging her fists against Susano'o helplessly. "Sasuke! STOP!"
"You bastard!" Naruto screamed, racing forward and aiming a swiping hook at Sasuke. "I told you not to hurt Sakura-chan!"
Sasuke vanished in a blur of movement far too fast for Naruto to follow. Sakura watched, in distress, as he connected a devastating uppercut to Naruto's jaw. Naruto stumbled back, stunned, and Sasuke used the moment of disorientation to grab him by the throat once more, lifting him up into the air in a vice-like, punishing grip before slamming him bodily into the ground.
"Gwah!" Blood spurted from Naruto's mouth, and he appeared winded and momentarily dazed.
Drawing Kusanagi back, Sasuke lifted it, his eyes cold and unfeeling, aiming the tip straight at Naruto's chest, ready to drive it cleanly through his heart.
"No!" Sakura screamed in terror, her eyes widening with horror as she struggled desperately against Susano'o's unyielding hold. "Sasuke! NO!"
Sasuke's body suddenly froze, and a crippling pain seized his limbs. The arm that had been raised to stab Kusanagi into Naruto's chest locked in place, as if suspended by an invisible force. His fingers spasmed painfully, sending the blade clattering to the ground. He released a strained breath, as an icy, foreign, prickling sensation washed over him. A moment later, his legs buckled and he fell to his knees beside Naruto, breathing heavily, his heart pounding, blinking in astonished confusion.
The barrier around Sakura flickered before dissipating. She fell to the ground, shaking with relief.
Naruto scrambled to sit up, staring at Sasuke in bewilderment. What had just happened? Angrily he kicked at Kusanagi, before scrambling backwards to restore distance between them.
"Are you both done?" A voice sighed tiredly, and they looked to the cave entrance to find that Kakashi was leaning against it, his book held in his hand, as if he had been standing there for a while, watching them pulverize each other without concern. "Is the urge to murder each other out your systems, yet?"
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura gulped out in disbelief. "H-how long have you been standing there for?"
"Long enough to plan a really extended vacation once this is all over," Kakashi answered wryly. Then his lone-eyed gaze settled onto Sasuke censuringly. "Sasuke. Were you really trying to seriously wound Naruto just then? You signed a binding contract, if you recall. You've both achieved nothing right now, other than wasting precious chakra."
Naruto got to his feet, disgruntled, glaring down at Sasuke. "He started it," he muttered.
"Drop it, both of you," Kakashi's voice held within it a warning-edge. "Sasuke. If this happens again, I'll inform the High Council. It will be another charge against you and a further seal will likely be placed upon you to limit your abilities. Do you really want that?"
Sasuke glowered at the ground, but said nothing.
"And Naruto. Any more trouble from you, and there'll be consequences, too."
Naruto grumbled something incoherent beneath his breath, and lifted his sword from where it had fallen onto the ground.
Sakura rubbed at her arms as Sasuke slowly got back to his feet. She stared at him, and shook her head slightly in alarm. It seemed impossible to get through to him with words. Had Naruto's approach worked, or was he even angrier now? She couldn't tell. His expression had walled off completely and he avoided all eye-contact with any of them.
Kakashi sighed heavily. The tension in the team was a disaster. He could only hope that they'd all snap back to their senses - preferably before any of them got seriously hurt.
"Well." He remarked lightly after a smothering moment of awkward silence. "The rain has finally stopped. We're moving out."
Author's Note
Reviews would be lovely, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the reveals and developments! See you next update!