Quietus

by Seraphina Scribes

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

81. Chapter 80

This is part one of two so the next chapter will have no poem as it's a direct continuation of the events unfolding here. Happy reading!

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Chapter LXXX

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And so the dawning takes its flight,
Harsh and ruthless, it tells the plight
of Death and Sleep and the souls they sold,
The horror of a sacrifice untold,
To shelter a princeling from an untimely demise,
A prince turned King in a grave of lies,
The crown on his head of gilded thorns,
Weeping the blood of his kin, first-born,
An anguish that births true clarity's light,
The power of vengeance,
The power of sight.

---

As Kakashi and Naruto walked back toward the hotel following their rejuvenating visit to the hot springs, they soon noticed that a large crowd of people had gathered near the marketplace and that security forces were speaking to residents. A quick glance at his phone informed Kakashi that over an hour and twenty minutes had passed since they'd contacted Jiraiya and he had yet still to join them. He was just beginning to wonder what the cause of the delay was, when he suddenly spotted a tall, familiar, broad figure with a long, white-shock of hair standing amongst the disturbed-looking locals, engaged in deep conversation with an old man who was gesturing animatedly into the air.

"Huh?" Naruto squinted in surprise. "Look, it's Perverted Old Hermit, 'ttebayo! What's he doing over there? Didn't you tell him to meet us at the hotel?"

"We did," Kakashi agreed.

Jiraiya turned, as if sensing their arrival, and wove his way through the crowds to join them. His expression was grim, the line of his jaw tense, and Kakashi immediately felt his stomach knot with dread. He recognised that look. Something was awfully wrong.

Almost instantly, his thoughts turned to Sasuke and Sakura. He couldn't see them amongst the crowd. Were they still in the hotel? Surely they had to be. But his instinct whispered to him otherwise from the concerned look on his friend's face, and his heart began to thump almost painfully in his chest. Had he miscalculated? Had the enemy struck? But there didn't seem to be any signs of casualties or any commotion otherwise.

"Kakashi, Naruto," Jiraiya greeted with a short nod. "It seems there's been an incident here."

"What's happened?" Kakashi questioned.

Jiraiya looked back toward the townsfolk. "Witnesses are reporting that they saw a young, fair-haired woman vanish into the air in the company of two men. One blond and another dark-haired." Glancing back at the two, he said, "Do you know anything about this?"

Naruto froze, the blood immediately draining from his face. "Wait. What?" he finally managed to get out. "What did you say?"

Kakashi, rendered equally speechless, shook his head. "When...?"

"Just under half an hour back. I've been standing here talking to the villagers, trying to make sense of it. There's a hysterical old woman who thinks one of the missing people must be her grandson. The other descriptions accurately match Sakura and Sasuke's."

"That's impossible!" Naruto exclaimed, wild-eyed with worry as he stepped backward. "They've gotta be back at the hotel, they've gotta be!"

Jiraiya reached out and gripped his shoulder before he could turn away and dash back toward the building.

"I checked." He said quietly. "They're not there, Naruto."

The sun deity stared up at him, aghast. "V-vanished into the air?" His stunned mind struggled to accept what he was hearing as panic began to bubble inside him. "B-but- how? Kakashi-sensei," he looked helplessly at his mentor.

"There's no trace of them," Jiraiya added gravely. "I've tried tracking them with Sage Mode, but they're definitely no longer within this village. I've yet to tell Tsunade. I wanted to understand how this could have happened. Why did you not remain in the hotel?"

"We didn't expect the enemy would strike at these borders. They never have within any of the other villages we've stopped at. This place neighbours Konoha and is well-secured. I don't understand. Sasuke was with her." Kakashi was at a loss to comprehend how they could have disappeared together. If the accounts claimed they'd vanished into thin air, then did that mean Obito had used Kamui on them? That made no sense; Sasuke would have surely seen him coming and raised the alarm.

"How did they vanish?" he asked urgently. "Did anyone see Obito?"

"There was no mention of any masked man. From what I gather, the girl was walking with the old lady's grandson down that road ahead of us, and was then sucked into what witnesses say was a vortex. The dark-haired man tried to get to her and then they all vanished."

"No!" Naruto fisted the blond spikes atop his head in dismay. "No! Sakura-chan! Sasuke! That bastard got them?! How?! This can't be happening!"

"I waited only to confirm with you that they'd not ventured elsewhere that you knew of," Jiraiya added. "But when I heard the descriptions and checked the hotel room, I knew it couldn't be anyone else. This will take some explaining to Tsunade."

Guilt gnawed at Kakashi, eating him alive. How could he have let their guard down? Sakura had been right. They should have remained in the hotel-room, and just waited for Jiraiya's arrival. He'd assumed an hour was nothing. It was his oversight that was the cause of this disaster occurring.

"The High Council," Kakashi said, his mind reeling with horror. Why had the enemy targeted Sasuke and Sakura specifically? How could he have been so careless? He fully blamed himself, overcome with remorse and apprehension. If anything happened to either of them, he would never be able to forgive himself. "We have to inform the High Council-"

Jiraiya's cell phone rang at that moment. He lifted it to his ear to answer - but the distressed voice on the other side of the line was loud enough to draw both Kakashi and Naruto's attention.

"Jiraiya!" Asuma's voice yelled, and in the background they could hear the sound of shouting and a loud bang, as if a huge scuffle was ensuing. "Bring the others, quickly! We're being attacked by- Shikamaru, look out-!" The line abruptly cut off.

"Curses!" Jiraiya exhaled. He turned his gaze to Naruto and Kakashi. "If Obito took Sasuke and Sakura, then they're already on Olympus. There's nothing we can do for them at this second."

"But-!" Naruto began to protest hysterically. "Sasuke and Sakura-chan, we can't just-!"

"Naruto!" Jiraiya interrupted sternly. "You heard Asuma! We're being attacked! Our priority is to return to help everyone else now and hope that Sasuke holds Madara off long enough for us to go up there!"

"We can't leave them with that bastard!" Naruto cried, helpless, angry tears welling in his eyes. "Let me go up and-"

"No. Listen to me," Jiraiya grabbed the back of his neck and drew him in closer, leaning forward to look him directly in the eye. "Sasuke is King of the Underworld and can't be disposed of so easily. There's nobody else to take his place. And he can keep Sakura alive. We need to go back to the others. Compose yourself and focus, Naruto! Let your guard down for a moment and you've seen what our foe can do!"

Naruto sucked in a shaky breath and finally nodded.

Jiraiya released him and glanced at Kakashi. "Let's move out!"

---

The two weeks that passed in Sakura's absence dragged by uneventfully for Ino and the other surface gods. They communicated regularly with the High Council, updating them on the news of the quest's progress and worked on identifying potential areas where Orochimaru might have constructed new, secret underground bases. They'd ventured out in the hopes of trying to find them, but with little success. Either he was operating from Olympus itself or had found a way to conceal all evidence of any further hideouts from their eyes. Sealed in abilities as they were, their tracking capabilities were not at their strongest, and they'd had little option but to wait for the return of Team Seven.

Following confirmation of the successful retrieval of all the relics, Kakashi had informed them that they would be on their way back to discuss their options amongst themselves first instead of returning directly to the High Council. But low on chakra as they were and having lost their mode of transportation, they had decided to recuperate briefly ahead of their journey by staying for a short while at a neighbouring village, mostly to allow Sakura time to eat and rest. And so Jiraiya had departed to ensure their safe return, and in the interim, the other surface gods had started to make their way over to Tsunade's house in preparation of their imminent arrival.

Ino had been sitting by the window in Sakura's living room, absently scrolling through her phone while anxiously awaiting her best friend's return, when she first realised that something was amiss.

They rose silently and slowly from the earth in the front yard, sickly white corpses with plant-like appendages. With a start, Ino jumped to her feet, pressing her hands against the window pane, her light-blue eyes widening in disbelief.

"Look!" she alerted the others. "Something's out there-!" she gasped in recognition. "It's those Zetsu things!"

Shikamaru was by her side in an instant, and sure enough, at least twenty of the creatures had already materialised outside. They were cloning each other at frightening speed, and within a minute, an entire army of them had surrounded the house.

"Shit!" he cursed. "We've got company!"

A sudden rumble shook the walls of the house, passing through the floor like an earthquake. The surface gods were immediately on their feet, ready to battle.

Tsunade watched in alarm as the chandelier hanging from the living room ceiling shook violently, swinging to and fro. Moments later, the windows of the house were smashed as the White Zetsu began to flood into the house, climbing in through the broken glass and materialising through the floorboards.

Hinata gasped, engaging her Byakugan to determine the elemental nature of their enemy. "An earth type user!" she warned them. "Those clones can devour chakra!"

"Everyone, whatever you do, don't let them grab you!" Asuma yelled, as the house was thrown into instant pandemonium.

"Dynamic Entry!" Guy leapt forward, delivering a devastating aerial kick to a group of Zetsu, sending them flying backwards, crashing into furniture. Lee supported him, following up his attack with a vicious spinning kick of his own.

Tsunade ducked to avoid the off-shoot of wood that a Zetsu had aimed at her chest and then grabbed it, hauling the creature toward her before connecting a bone-shattering punch to its jaw. Shizune fought behind her, flinging the poison-laced kunai she'd retrieved from her satchel at their energy.

"Orochimaru sent them!" Kurenai cried, and lifted her fingers to her lips, whistling into the air. At her command, black panthers materialised in plumes of smoke, and wasted no time in lunging at the creatures as their mistress fired arrows from long-range with her trusty bow.

Inoichi sent powerful kinetic pulses of energy at the enemy, stunning their minds, allowing Shikamaru to grab them with shadowy hands that extended out from his feet, choking them around the neck before slamming them into the ground.

A shocked Sai, who had just arrived to discover the chaos unfolding within the house, immediately summoned forth ink-beasts from his scroll to assault their assailants as Iruka, Ino and Hinata used weapons thrown to them by Kurenai to disable another group of Zetsu.

"Call Jiraiya and the others back!" Tsunade yelled, delivering an uppercut to a Zetsu that tried to seize her before whirling around to elbow another in its gut.

Asuma grabbed his phone to make the call, covered by the animals Kurenai had called forward to fight alongside them. But despite how hard they fought, the Zetsu kept cloning each other, and soon the twelve surface deities and their seraphs were completely outnumbered.

A sudden coordinated onslaught of wooden branches shot swiftly outward, and one of them stabbed straight into Iruka's chest. He winced in pain, staggering backward, right into the clutches of another waiting Zetsu who had melted out the floorboards behind him.

"Iruka!" They called his name in alarm as he struggled to throw the creature off his back, stabbing into it with the kunai in his hand, but his movements only aggravated his wound and the branch prevented him from breaking free.

Inoichi grabbed hold of Ino's arm and hauled her out the way, just in time to avoid another clone's attempt to grab her from her legs.

Hinata severed the branch with a chakra-charged swipe of her palm. But before they could assist Iruka any further, his entire right side began to grow white spores as the Zetsu drained his chakra. They looked on in horror as the seraph's face grew gaunt, as if the life was being drawn out of him, his eyes turning glazed as he became a mindless zombie under the White Zetsu's control and began to attack his own friends.

"Iruka!" Shizune gasped, distraught.

"We have to take him out!" Shikamaru gritted his teeth, pained by the cruel end the seraph had met. "These things infect everything they have time to latch onto!"

"They use the chakra they absorb to heal and multiply themselves!" Hinata confirmed.

"I'll do it! Forgive me, old friend!" With tears in his eyes, Guy swiftly disabled his fellow seraph, giving him a quick, merciful end.

"Damn it!" Ino cried.

"We're surrounded!" Tsunade snarled. "And they keep on coming!"

The living room was destroyed, and now brimming to the walls with Zetsu. The surface deities gasped when the house quaked violently around them again.

"We need to retreat!" Lee yelled. "Though it's not the youthful way, I fear there're too many of them, Guy-sensei!"

"You're right, Lee!" His mentor answered, as they coordinated another flurry of vicious kicks together.

Asuma's eyes darted around them frantically, surveying the scene. The front door and windows were not an option. There were now hordes of the creatures, blocking every exit in the house, and they had no opportunity to form the combination of seals necessary to teleport while under attack by so many enemies at once. They would only be interrupted and risk being infected by the spores. They had to put distance between themselves and the creatures - and they had to keep the fight contained inside the building to shield mortal lives.

"Everyone, upstairs, it's the only way we can warp out!" Asuma ordered.

"If they're earth types, they'll operate most dangerously on ground level!" Sai pointed out.

"We must go to the High Council!" Shizune cried.

Ino grabbed a table-lamp and smashed it violently on a nearby Zetsu's head as they steadily worked to clear a path toward the stairs in the hallway. "Where are Naruto and the others?!" she shrieked.

"On their way!" Asuma confirmed.

Tsunade grabbed two Zetsu and smashed their heads together, when she felt a sudden cold grip on her left ankle. Blinking in surprise, she glanced down, only to find that another creature was seeping out of the ground. She lifted her foot, immediately smashing her heel into the creature's skull, but it had already formed another clone that grabbed onto her other leg.

"Tsunade-sama, no!" Shizune gasped, throwing herself without hesitation at the White Zetsu's back as it crawled further out the floor, hacking savagely at the arm that had latched around Tsunade's calf, breaking her friend quickly free before it could begin infecting her.

Tsunade's heart plummeted to her feet when another Zetsu materialised and cloned itself, grabbing her friend in a choking hold before dragging her straight back through the ground. Shikamaru immediately grabbed onto her arms with his shadow-hands, and for a horrific moment engaged in a desperate tug of war for the goddess.

Her wide, tearful dark eyes locked onto Tsunade's, and she offered her a pained smile, glad to lay down her life while protecting her sister, before spores began to bloom all over her body. When they also started to travel along the shadow hands, Shikamaru had no choice but to release her in order to prevent himself from being infected, allowing her to vanish entirely into the ground.

"Shizune!" Tsunade screamed, punching another of the monstrosities aside in a desperate attempt to reach her closest friend, the woman she regarded as her own kin who had been by her side for countless millenia. "Shizune! No! Shizune!"

Hands grabbed at her, pulling her backwards.

"It's too late!" Asuma shouted into her ear. "We need to move!"

"No!" A deep, ragged, ugly sob tore from Tsunade's throat. Enraged and frustrated by her limitations, she directed as much of her chakra available to her as she could, charging it into her limbs and pummeled the ground, fracturing a large portion of the floorboards. Shizune had to be under there. If she could only break through and find her-!

A cluster of Zetsu surged up from the ground, and Tsunade's eyes widened in horror as she recognised what remained of her friend amongst them. Shizune was lifeless, no more than a possessed zombie under the control of the unnatural creatures.

Tears spilled from Tsunade's eyes, the loss hitting her greatly as grief crashed over her.

"I'll kill you, Serpent!" she vowed hoarsely as she snapped another Zetsu's neck with her bare hands. "I'll rip you to pieces, you son-of-a-bitch!"

The walls once again shook, this time sending a part of the ceiling collapsing onto the ground.

"We can't stay here!" Ino screamed.

"Everyone, upstairs, now!" Shikamaru shouted. "We need to form the seals to warp out before the entire building falls on top of us! These creatures are able to manipulate the earth itself!"

Kurenai set forth more panthers, who cleared a path through for them as Asuma sliced through several more Zetsu with his wind-charged chakra-blades.

Hinata dropped low, angling a powerful, chakra-charged palm into a Zetsu's midsection as she fought her way toward the stairs. Ino reached out to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her along - only for shoots of wood to bar their movement as they reached the doorway. Guy soared through the air, drop-kicking them, snapping them cleanly apart. Inoichi fell into place protectively before the girls, leading the way, telepathically stunning another Zetsu that appeared in front of them before stabbing his sword through its neck.

Ino screamed fearfully when several more of the monsters surfaced through the wood of the staircase, but one of Sai's ink-lions pounced on it, ripping it aside, allowing them to continue onward. The living room exploded into debris, courtesy of the explosive-tags the Messenger god had attached to the ink-birds he summoned into the air, taking out large clusters of Zetsu.

Lee spun rapidly, sending more of the creatures flying before diving after the others, charging up the stairs while Tsunade viciously curb-stomped on the heads of the Zetsu that tried to grasp at her legs again before dashing up after the seraph, pummelling more of the creatures that appeared and attempted to stop her along the way, slamming them into the wall with enough force to crack the plaster.

Despite their best efforts, the creatures were continuing to multiply and were out of control, leaving utter carnage and ruin everywhere. The living room was littered with broken glass, furniture and branches that the Zetsu had summoned, and a fire had broken out, sparked by the explosives and the live wire that hung from the hole in the ceiling above them.

Asuma, Kurenai, Sai, Guy and Shikamaru hung back, holding the forte to allow the others to push on ahead.

"Sai!" Asuma called. "Upstairs! They might need you!"

The Messenger deity released one last rain of detonating ink-birds before he nodded, moving to do as he was bid, just as lightning stabbed through the air as Kakashi, Naruto and Jiraiya finally arrived on the scene, immediately launching into offensive attacks. Jiraiya, in Sage Mode, released a raging ball of flame that slammed into the Zetsu, while Kakashi disabled clusters of the creatures with crackling bolts of Chidori. An infuriated Naruto swept through the room, flinging howling spheres of Rasengan at their enemy.

"Where's Hinata?!" Naruto shouted, his eyes desperately seeking her amongst the devastation.

"Upstairs! With the others! She's safe!" Kurenai assured him.

"Kakashi! Naruto!" Guy shouted. "Where are Sakura and Sasuke?!"

"They've been taken!" Jiraiya informed them, breaking the terrible news as he snapped the limbs of several more Zetsu.

"Taken?!" Kurenai gasped, horrified.

"How the hell did that happen?!" Shikamaru demanded, unfurling further shadow hands to ward off another onslaught by the monsters.

"We can't think about that now! We have to warp out!" Jiraiya shouted, as Naruto engaged Sage Mode, tearing through the room at a faster speed to tackle large amounts of Zetsu at once.

"Be careful!" Kurenai cautioned them. "If they latch onto you, they'll drain your chakra and infect you! We've already lost Shizune and Iruka!"

"What?!" Naruto's eyes darted to her in disbelief, stricken by the news.

"We're wasting chakra here! They won't stop coming! Go up!" Asuma yelled. "Everyone, make sure the others got out! We'll hold them off as long as possible here! Naruto! You first!"

"But!" The sun deity protested.

Kakashi hauled him by his jacket up the stairs. "Let's go, Naruto!"

"Shikamaru!" Asuma glanced at the younger god. "You too!"

"Asuma-!" Shikamaru began, frowning in concern.

"We'll be right behind you!" He reassured him. "Go!"

Kakashi's Chidori struck a Zetsu in the head, sending it flying back onto its companions, clearing the way to allow himself, Naruto and Shikamaru to sprint up the stairs.

Once there, they dashed down the corridor, running through any Zetsu who appeared in their way. They were not out of danger yet, as the creatures travelled upward, through the ceiling, albeit at a slower pace than they had on the ground.

Kakashi passed the master bedroom, his gaze widening when he found it overrun with Zetsu. Shikamaru's shadow hands wrapped around multiple creatures' legs, flinging them to the ground. Floored, they lifted their pale hands, sending forth thick branches from their palms. Inoichi was impaled in the shoulder as he flung himself protectively before Ino. The goddess cried out his name in anguish, tried to reach him but was intercepted by Sai, who tackled her bodily to the ground and winced in agony as another off-shoot stabbed into his back.

A wide-eyed Ino, trapped under him, screamed as he coughed up blood, the warm liquid spattering onto her face.

Kakashi immediately severed the branch that had connected with Sai before the Zetsu could sent its spores along it, slicing it apart with a cutting stream of lightning, just before Sai succeeded in forming the hand-seals required to warp himself and Ino out.

Naruto watched his mentor's back, slamming Rasengan into the Zetsu that tried to attack Kakashi from behind as the masked deity lunged forward, cleaving through the wood that had pierced the seraph's chest, but as he caught Inoichi, he could already see that the spores were starting to grow on him.

"Protect… Ino…!" he used his final strength to grind out through clenched teeth, seconds before his eyes dulled, all chakra and life depleted from his body.

"No! Inoichi!" Naruto cried in despair as he sent another Zetsu crashing through the hallway wall. "Damn it!"

If only they'd had Sasuke, who would have been able to bring every one of the cursed creatures to their knees within seconds. In the death deity's presence, they hadn't even had the chance to move. It was clearly a cleverly coordinated attack that the enemy had meticulously planned to ensure maximum damage and devastation. Limited as they were in chakra-use, there was no way the surface deities could contend with a creature that had the ability to clone itself much faster than they could wipe it out in their presently compromised states. Neither had they wanted to draw it outside onto the streets.

Kakashi's guilt was magnified ten-fold, holding himself accountable for the way events had unfolded, the way everything had gone so catastrophically wrong following the elation of the relic retrieval. His breath caught in his lungs, not having even a second to mourn their loyal friend's loss as he was forced to drop Inoichi's body and turned frantically away from the now empty room. He, Shikamaru and Naruto checked that the others were vacant, too, which they hoped meant that the rest of the surface gods had already succeeded in teleporting safely out, before Kakashi telepathically sent a signal to their friends downstairs and lifted his hands to warp out just as a fresh group of Zetsu seeped through the walls.

Only Guy, Kurenai, Jiraiya and Asuma remained behind, guarding the stairs as they continued to fight off the Zetsus that kept on cloning themselves no matter how many they took out.

"Damn it, this is Orochimaru's work indeed," Jiraiya cursed.

"Kakashi says upstairs is clear!" Kurenai notified them. "They're all out! Let's go!"

A stronger tremor than before rocked the house, sending a huge clump of ceiling plunging toward the floor. Kurenai's eyes widened, watching its movement in slow-motion, when something collided into her side, sending her flying out the path of danger as one of her animal summons took the hit in her place. The last thing she saw before Jiraiya bodily grabbed her and hauled her up the stairs was Guy spinning like a hurricane to send swarms of Zetsu flying and Asuma's face, turned toward her, his eyes meeting hers for just a fraction of a second before the rest of the ceiling collapsed in on itself.

---

"We meet at last, Haruno Sakura."

Sakura forgot to breathe, the air fracturing cleanly in her lungs as she stared helplessly up at none other than the baleful God of Chaos himself. He towered over her ominously, dressed from head to toe entirely in black, his long hair an untamed mane that tumbled all the way down his back. He was strong in build and radiated an aura of danger that was so menacing, so chilling, so profound and suffocating that her entire skin prickled almost painfully in response.

A combination of dread and stomach-clenching fear overcame her. Here was the very same enemy she had heard so much about. The very same tormentor and war-mongering instigator responsible for the large-scale massacre and slaughter of Underworld dwellers and surface gods alike. The selfish, unfeeling Uchiha patriarch who had made orphans of Naruto and Sasuke, who had arranged to have her poisoned in her first life and manipulated everything and everyone around him into doing his bidding without a care for anyone else's losses and sacrifices.

Here was a god who was cold and cruel, capricious and unforgiving. The deadliest and most ruthless of deities. One that held no pity, no ounce of compassion in his heart. Only hatred and bitterness and greed. He was merciless, through and through - and he had them trapped in his dangerous clutches.

Sakura's heart galloped uncontrollably in her chest, panicked thoughts ricocheting in her head as her inner horror mounted by the second. He couldn't find out what she was. She had to lie. What if he read her deceit? Would he kill her here and now? Did he suspect what she was already? Why had he targeted only her and Sasuke specifically? Was he using them as leverage? Or did he truly mean to slaughter them both?

She gulped when he crouched down beside her, his dark eyes seemingly omniscient as they inspected her intently. The power of his stare was terrifying. As if he already knew everything there was to know about her. As if he could see right through her and untangle every one of her secrets.

"Ares," his rumbling voice was almost reasonable in its tone, belying the callous monster that Sakura knew resided beneath its deceptively smooth surface. It was deep and carried a strong air of authority; a voice that clearly tolerated no defiance or disrespect. "The God of War. He possesses a most unique ability; the power to shift his consciousness into the minds of vulnerable, unsuspecting others, allowing him to seize control of their very thoughts and limbs."

He reached out and gripped a fistful of Kenji's dark-blond hair, angling his head back, causing more fresh blood to spill forth from the fatal wound at his jugular.

Sakura's eyes returned helplessly onto her friend's pale face, revolted by the gruesome sight, fresh horror clogging her throat shut as understanding dawned upon her.

"Your acquaintance was a most easy target to manipulate," Madara released Kenji's head, allowing it to hit the marble with a dull thud, a look of open disgust settling on his noble features. "And once his purpose was fulfilled, Ares discarded him like little more than a puppet. A pathetic, disposable life. As is yours, little mortal." He paused, his intimidating, heavy gaze lingering on her, before he rose fluidly to his feet once more. A moment later she was roughly pulled to her feet by the thick cords that bound her hands behind her back, and tied to a cold marble pillar.

"Or so you would seem to be." He added darkly, as he stepped back, turning his attention to a motionless Sasuke.

Sakura's heart plummeted. He knew. Or at the very least, already strongly suspected. Just minutes in his presence made it transparent that he was highly perceptive and cunning and that lying to him was not an option.

The only option she truly did have was to remain silent, even when she wanted to do nothing more than confront him over all the countless centuries of pain he had caused her, her mother, and everyone else. But Sakura had a strong feeling that the words would be wasted on him and would fall upon deaf ears. It was apparent that he knew no remorse. He had sent his own clan to their deaths; her feelings would be of even less consequence to him, would carry even less weight.

No, she knew, the smartest thing to do was to remain quiet. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears of despair burned behind her closed eyelids. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction, even when knowing that Kenji had been possessed and his life terminated on a whim because of her filled her with unspeakable guilt and grief.

Inhaling shakily, she opened her eyes to take in their surroundings, looking for any hope of escape. They'd awoken in a large, circular chamber with stone walls, attached to which were strongly burning fires in iron sconces. The torches threw a combination of warm light and shadows across the area. There were a pair of large, gold, arched doors beyond a long, rectangular marble bridge that offered passage over water onto the circular platform on which Sakura stood. The platform was surrounded with fluted, slender columns that climbed up to a midnight dome ceiling, scattered with pretty constellations. A deep, tranquil body of water surrounded the platform, reflecting the glint of firelight.

They were on Olympus, she registered, the very prison that had held Madara contained since the day of the war. She wondered how long it would take Kakashi and Naruto to note their absence and furiously blamed herself for the perilous predicament she'd gotten them into.

Turning her face back to Sasuke, she saw that Madara was impatiently nudging his side with the tip of his boot and that Obito had appeared behind the restrained death deity and was holding onto the end of the chain wrapped around his torso. At last Sasuke stirred, and Sakura watched, heart in her mouth, as his heavy-lashed eyes slowly opened and he blinked groggily, visibly disorientated and confused.

'Sasuke!' she telepathically cried, her eyes stinging anew with tears. 'It's Cronus. We're on Olympus!'

She saw the instant the lingering fogginess in his eyes dissipated as he registered her words and quickly came to realise that he was bound. The most transient flicker of alarm and incredulous disbelief danced briefly over his features and she immediately detected the tension in his body as he became fully alert of his surroundings and the gravity of their situation.

'I'm so sorry, Sasuke!' she communicated miserably, knowing that it was entirely her stupid fault for being so careless in the presence of someone she had genuinely believed to be trustworthy. Kakashi had been wrong. She should have listened to her instincts and never left the hotel room. She should have let Kenji walk away. But Sasuke had been with her, watching her the entire time. Even when she'd told him to hang back, he had followed her. She shuddered to think that she would've been captured alone had he chosen to listen to her.

And yet, how could she ever have anticipated that anything like this would happen? That the enemy would possess her poor friend and take his life? It had all happened so quickly, so unexpectedly. Their enemy had attacked stealthily, without warning. None of them could have possibly predicted it.

'They possessed Kenji. He's dead!' Fresh tears blurred her vision and she rapidly blinked them away.

She saw Sasuke's eyes flick briefly onto the deceased human.

'Shut up and stay quiet,' he responded angrily, before he was abruptly hauled backward onto his knees by Obito. He didn't meet Sakura's gaze, no matter how hard she tried to catch it, keeping it trained instead on the individual who was standing over him.

Madara's smile was darkly smug and sinister. It was the self-satisfied, gleeful smirk of one who decidedly had the upper hand. Sasuke could feel cold hard chains digging into his arms, keeping them locked by his sides. A quick glance down at them revealed to him that the nature of his binds were chakra-depleting, which meant that any attempt by him to summon his chakra would result in it being rapidly drawn out of him. It left him essentially incapable of attacking or defending either himself or Sakura.

His heart pounded dully in his chest, his mind racing for a way to get them out of their dreadful plight. Part of him was furious at Sakura, furious at himself for allowing her the space and courtesy of following after a young man who now lay uselessly slaughtered on the ground before them. Had he only been a few footsteps closer, he could have whisked her to safety. His sheer speed had allowed him to make it to her in the nick of time, but without enough of it to drag her out. Instead the Kamui vortex's powerful gravitational force had pulled him in, and the only option he'd had was to allow it to swallow him up too as he'd grabbed at her wrist. Better he fell into danger with Sakura than to have her face it alone.

And great peril they were in indeed at that moment. Alone with Madara and Obito on Olympus, with the risk of the Uchiha patriarch finally discovering her true identity. Surely he had already arrived at such a conclusion. That had to be why he'd kidnapped her at all. But that wasn't Sasuke's greatest concern. It was the awareness that Sakura's life itself hung in the balance that set his pulse racing.

His thoughts sprinted, analysing the seriousness of their critical situation and the possible strategies he could deploy to get them out. He had to bluff. But even if he did, he was bound and powerless to help her if Madara chose to hurt her in any way. He couldn't even command the seeds to heal her in his present state, as they required his chakra to activate. Did Sakura still have her chakra crystals equipped? A quick glance around at his surroundings confirmed that she did not. He spotted her discarded arm brace, and shattered spheres of depleted chakra crystals, discarded some way behind her and his stomach lurched.

There was no way to heal her if she was harmed. Not unless he somehow escaped his chains.

What if he played along? Told Madara what he wanted to hear? Agreed to whatever terms were surely about to be enforced upon him? But bargaining for Sakura's life would betray her significance. And how could he possibly pretend to be in league with the war-mongering Uchiha patriarch, now that he knew the truth of everything Madara had done? When merely looking at him filled Sasuke with intense rage, loathing and unspeakable disgust?

He knew the curse seal meant that Orochimaru had likely already fully relayed the events of their quest to Madara, as well as their meeting with Zeus within the first. That meant he would have also glimpsed some of the memory spheres and informed him of those, too. Orochimaru could not hear through his hosts, but seeing, in this instance, even if it was intermittent, was more than enough.

Lying, then, would only invoke his wrath, and likely a quicker end. Sasuke needed to buy enough time to hope that the others came for them before Madara decided to act.

If Sakura died here, her death would be permanent, Sasuke knew, the very thought filling him with a wild, bubbling panic he fought to keep from rising to the surface. There would be no rebirth. He couldn't stop her soul from departing if he, himself, was incapable of using his own abilities to stem her wounds and keep her heart beating. And if her soul did depart, it would not be to his realm. Her soul was that of a goddess's. It would be beyond his reach, and she would be lost to him forever.

The graveness of the situation slammed into him full force. He couldn't show any emotion. He couldn't even risk looking at her, or doing anything that would betray her importance. Madara was monitoring him like a hawk, his knowing eyes trained in detecting even the slightest traces of weaknesses to manipulate. Sasuke swallowed, steeling himself, even as fear whispered through his veins. Not fear for himself, but for Sakura and how vulnerable she was in that moment.

He had to save her. Whatever the cost to himself, he would pay anything he needed to. He had to get her out. Biding his time would perhaps reveal an opening he could not yet see.

Madara's voice broke into his thoughts, drawing his attention onto his ancestor, who stood looming over him.

"So. You have learned what I suppose you believe to be is the truth, sold to you by the spectre of an usurper who had no right to ascend the Olympian throne."

His words confirmed what Sasuke had already suspected. Madara knew that he had discovered the truth about the war from what he'd seen in the memory spheres, as well as their meeting with Zeus. There was no use in denying it. No option to bluff his way out.

"Tell me, boy," Madara added unhurriedly. "I wonder, that you would lend aid to the very gods who rode against your own kin."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at his elder, the hypocrisy of his words filling him with strong abhorrence. "I was compelled by a blood contract," he ground out.

"So I have been informed," Madara replied. "A sentence imposed for your abduction of this very girl and your imprisonment of Suigetsu in your realm - amongst a long list of other transgressions."

Sasuke's mind froze. How could he possibly know the details of his trial and sentence? The High Council's quarters were heavily guarded. There was no way the enemy could possibly infiltrate them to spy and obtain information unless-

Unless there was a traitor already working with the adversary in their midst.

He shoved the thought aside. He couldn't dwell on that now. He had more important issues to worry about.

'Sasuke,' Sakura's anxious voice echoed in his mind. 'What do we do? How are we going to get out?'

'Let me think,' he telepathically snapped at her, harsher than he'd intended. At least the seeds allowed them to communicate still. The link they afforded between them did not require the use of chakra to permit in the sharing of thoughts. 'Don't speak. Don't answer him. Don't meet his eyes, no matter what.'

He saw her head lower from the corner of his vision and abruptly severed the connection. He needed to focus, to concentrate fully on Madara. One slip of the tongue, one wrong glance would have disastrous consequences.

"Why have you brought me here?" Sasuke demanded.

Madara regarded him intently. "You understand, Sasuke, that I cannot allow you to continue aiding the surface gods."

"I have no intention of it," Sasuke responded coldly. "After my sentence is served."

Sakura held her breath. He was bluffing, she reassured herself fiercely. Surely there was no way he meant that.

"Hmph," Madara folded his arms across his broad chest. "Your word alone is not one I can trust. Certainly not in light of your recent actions and so I cannot allow you to walk free."

Sasuke stared at him, appalled. He couldn't keep him imprisoned indefinitely. Not when he was King of the Underworld itself.

As if guessing the line of this thoughts, Madara added, "At least, not in your present state of mind. It is truly a pity that you have chosen to act against us in your meddling of Orochimaru's work." He continued, his eyes narrowing in displeasure. "Had you joined me willingly, there would have been no need for the curse seal. But you have proven you cannot be trusted."

A wry, disdainful sneer settled on the death deity's lips. Madara claimed he could not be trusted? The irony and hypocrisy of his words made Sasuke feel sick to his stomach.

"You broke our terms," Sasuke reminded him.

"No less dishonorable than your deceit in trading a corrupt vial when I provided you with true Senju DNA," Madara pointed out, flashing him a sharp-edged smile. "We both of us made alternate arrangements, knowing we could not trust the other's word. So you see, boy, we are not perhaps so different in our way of thinking after all."

Sakura's mind raced, trying to comprehend what they were talking about. Senju DNA? What did that mean? Why would Sasuke want that? She bit her tongue against the desire to scream at Cronus that Sasuke was nothing like him. That the two were as different as night was from day. And yet she knew better. She knew from everything she had heard about him that this lethal, unfeeling Titan deity searched for any weakness or smallest sliver of emotion to exploit.

"You traded those cells for your own benefit, and enforced the curse seal with the intention of turning me into another of your mindless puppets," Sasuke spat out. "Just like he is." He angled a contemptuous glare back at the masked deity who stood silently behind him, holding firmly onto the end of the chakra chain. Turning back to Madara, he went on, "You would manipulate me, the same way you manipulated our clan into following you to war."

"Manipulated?" Madara echoed, his eyebrows lifting. "They were willing to follow me, to lay down their lives. As is expected of faithful subjects who swear fealty to their lords."

"It was a war of your own making." Sasuke glared. "You sacrificed their lives knowing that nobody would survive on the battlefield. None of them had to die!"

"It is the surface gods who slew them."

"It was you who began the war."

"Fool," Madara regarded Sasuke the way one might an insignificant nuisance of an insect. "It was not I who began this conflict, but those who wronged me long before that upstart Zeus ever ascended the seat of power. Our clan simply served their King, seeking the restoration of glory for the Uchiha."

"Glory?" Sasuke's voice dripped with sarcasm. "What glory for them, when you were the only one left?" He wondered how he could ever have been so blind to the fact that Madara was deranged, clearly out of his mind. He was no ruler worthy of following, of respecting, of admiring or swearing fealty to - he was nothing but delusional, greedy, corrupt, selfish, power-hungry and bitter. His lust for the throne, his desire to rule over everything that breathed, had clearly driven him to madness.

"Insolent worm. The throne is my given right! As it was my father's before me. The Uchiha were born of my line, my descendants, loyal to me and my cause. Do you not also owe your allegiance to your king?" Madara stepped closer to him. "To the one who gave you your gifts, the very ones you parade with such pride?"

"You are no 'king' of mine," Sasuke snapped acrimoniously, only to clench his teeth tightly when he was rewarded for his rejection of authority with a vicious backhand to the face.

Sakura bit down hard on her tongue as Sasuke spat out a mouthful of blood. She could barely stand to watch.

"Everything you are," Madara hissed, anger, dangerous and volatile, glinting in his onyx eyes. "Every power you command, was bestowed upon you through my hand. Will you deny it? What were you before the demise of our clan, but a spoilt, naive child eclipsed in the shadows of the brilliance of your elders? And now, only because you wear the very crown I discarded, you wield the impertinence to speak to me as if you and I are equals of sorts, as if you are worthy of passing judgement upon affairs of which you are entirely ignorant! Affairs that transpired long before you came to ever exist in this world?"

Sasuke stared defiantly, unrepentingly back at him.

"Hn. You are clever, Sasuke, I will grant you that much. Certainly an improvement in intellect from what I recall." Madara sneered. "The curse seal was enforced, knowing that you would not cooperate. In truth, you have been a thorn in my side since the days of old, and yet even back then you served a purpose. You were at least a means of keeping the disobedient in line, but now?" He smirked darkly. "As soon as the curse seal does its work, I will take everything that is rightfully mine from you, and finally be rid of you, the way I should have ended your miserable existence on the day of the war."

Keeping the disobedient in line? What did he mean by that? Uncertainty crept through Sasuke, and something in his eyes must have betrayed his confusion, for Cronus's gaze suddenly grew more intent, and the smirk that graced his lips was positively predatory.

"Ah… but you do not know. Of course you do not." He threw his head back, and laughed, a deep bellowing sound that caused a tremor of fear to tremble through Sakura's body. She stared at him in open-mouthed dismay, her eyes darting briefly to Sasuke, who looked on, his eyebrows drawn together, equally as baffled as to the source of the Uchiha patriarch's amusement.

Without warning, Madara's hand shot out and he roughly grabbed hold of Sasuke's chin, angling his face back at an uncomfortable angle, all mirth abruptly vanishing from his features.

"Sasuke!" Sakura could not help but gasp out.

'Shut up!' Sasuke's voice rang furiously in her mind. 'I said don't talk!'

She swallowed, frustrated, feeling powerless to help him or herself. There was nothing she could do for either of them, bound as she was, stripped of all her weapons. She struggled against the cords, trying to direct chakra into her wrists. The enemy had underestimated her, assuming she could not harness it offensively alone. Was there any way she could focus its flow precisely enough to attempt to cut slowly through the binds?

But even if she did, then what? Her gaze darted frantically around the room. Obito would catch her before she got far. She could perhaps grab one of those torches as weapons? But then what? Her thoughts sprinted. Think, think, think, she urged herself. If she wanted to stand any chance of freeing her arms, she needed to try to control her chakra.

Madara's smile was wicked. He had heard the unmistakable tones of worry in the girl's voice, but Sasuke's features were carefully schooled. He told himself he would enjoy watching that expression turn soon to despair. He would deal with the weak mortal… right after he inflicted the greater damage to Sasuke's psyche first.

"It is a pity indeed." His lips curled back into a derisive sneer, his nails digging deeply into Sasuke's flesh. "That your brother passed on and is not here to witness this moment. Your brother and cousin, two filthy traitors who sided with the Olympians, assisting the surface gods over their own kin. It seems that you are adamant that you will follow in their stead." He tilted his head, regarding Sasuke disdainfully down the barrel of his aristocratic nose. "That you will stand against me. I gave you every chance to aid me but you are as much of a failure and disappointment as you have always been. I have no other use for you, wretched ingrate."

Tightening his hold, he uttered forebodingly, "In pain and in darkness and with great loss, the Rinnegan is born. I will have that eye, and I will wait no further for it to manifest. Your brother denied me once. Allow me to generously return the favour in kind, by breaking the mind of the very one Itachi so desperately sought to protect..."

Sasuke's eyes widened, watching as Madara's bled to crimson, revealing his feared Sharingan, and the moment they met Sasuke's onyx irises, he was dragged into a vision constructed by Madara's will and flung ruthlessly back into the past, to a time long gone. A time where his brother and cousin had lived.

---

"You summoned us, My Lord," said Hypnos, as he and Thanatos entered into the large, circular, stone-floored assembly room. Its stone walls were adorned with richly-woven tapestries proudly bearing the Uchiha clan's emblem and a set of ten, high-back onyx chairs were arranged around a long, rectangular black table that seated members of the curia regis, the King's royal council.

A large, impeccably polished black-marble fireplace provided the only illumination in the chamber, inside which a hearty fire crackled.

The black, heavy arched double-doors closed behind them, plunging the room into silence. The two masked deities stood respectfully in wait behind Cronus, who was stationed by the table before them, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Indeed," he agreed. "And ever timely you are in your arrival."

He turned to regard his cloak-clad kin who were seldom apart from one another. Close was their bond, he knew, more akin to brothers than first cousins. They kept no secrets from one another.

"Your burdens are heavy," Cronus began, his deep voice echoing about the chamber. "Yet you carry them out with diligence, tirelessly. True soldiers of the Uchiha, in your resilience and in your intellect."

They were silent for a lengthy moment, before Hypnos supplied, "I fear our Lord is much too generous in singing our praises."

"Indeed?" Cronus began to walk unhurriedly toward them, and without warning, drew his blade from its jeweled scabbard at his belt. "Perhaps, then, you would both prefer to sing of your other qualities?"

"My Lord?" Hypnos asked, after another second of uncharacteristic hesitation, eyeing the sword with uncertainty.

"Itachi," Cronus beckoned with his free hand. "Step forth."

Obediently, Thanatos moved one step forward.

"A round in which we spar," Cronus stated abruptly, lifting his blade, angling it toward the God of Death. "Just the one."

He heard Hypnos inhale quietly in astonishment, his eyes darting between the two in noticeable confusion and concern.

Thanatos regarded their patriarch silently, dark eyes solemn behind the gilded barrier of his mask. "Lord Cronus," he then began to politely decline. "I cannot accept."

"We will spar," Cronus continued, in a warning tone that made it clear he would accept no defiance in the matter. "You will not hold back. Show me everything you can do with the blade, Itachi." He prowled around the stoic deity who stood so poised, so unmoved in place, as constant as death itself. "If you disarm me, you are free to go." Cronus continued, before coming to a stop once more before Thanatos.

Gazing down at him with blazing crimson eyes, he finished in a hiss, "But if I disarm you... you will sing to me all the sweet little secrets I know you have both been keeping from me."

Thanatos's gaze did not waver. There was no visible reaction upon his features. He did not respond.

Cronus smirked at his composed aloofness. "You are one of my finer progeny, indeed. But do not think for a moment that even your brilliance can match mine. Draw your blade."

"My Lord," Hypnos spoke tightly, interceding on his kin's behalf. "I would entreat with you to reconsider. We would never think to draw our weapons in insolence against you."

"Oh, but you have," Cronus's narrowed eyes flicked onto Shisui. "Clever little liars. Let me see how loudly you will bleet of your treachery, when I remind you of who gave birth to the gifts you command, who owns you. In fact." He sneered snidely at them. "Both of you. Come at me."

When still neither of them moved, he roared, "That is an order I will not repeat!"

Hypnos's gaze shifted briefly to Thanatos.

"..." Wordlessly, Thanatos drew his blade.

"Have at me." Cronus sneered. "Now!"

They circled Cronus, prowling around him with the grace of two black panthers surveying their quarry, before launching themselves nimbly at him, attacking him from both sides. All three deities moved in a flurry of breath-takingly swift movements, alternating between attacking, parrying, dodging, ducking and defending as they exchanged powerful, lethally accurate blows in quick succession. Thanatos and Hypnos worked effortlessly in tandem, one attack flowing into another as they coordinated their assault against the Uchiha patriarch, seeking to wear down his defences. But he parried each strike with remarkable proficiency, his Sharingan reading each one of their movements. After all, they were skills he himself had honed in them.

Just as Thanatos finally saw an opening and dropped low, preparing to aim a savage stab at the God of Chaos's midsection, his blade arm froze mid-strike and Hypnos was also rendered motionless at Cronus's back.

Cronus had lifted a palm to still their movements with the element of chaos. It rippled like a transparent force-field around him that contained floating fragments of dark energy. He sneered scornfully at them. "You see? I control the very fibre of your essences. You belong to me."

With those words, his open hand closed to form a fist, sending both their blades flying from their grasp, clattering loudly onto the stone floor. They took back their own weight as his hold on them was relinquished.

"Now," Cronus continued menacingly, sheathing his blade once more. "Where were we? Ah, yes. The singing." He approached Thanatos, until he came to a stop directly before him.

His eyes inspected him coldly for a moment, before he reached out, taking the liberty to remove the mask from Thanatos's face.

"Itachi." The God of Chaos purred darkly. "The pride and joy of our clan," he crooned. "My heir apparent." He raised a hand to cup the death god's right cheek, in a gesture that feigned tender, paternal affection. "As distant, as beautiful and as terrible a force as the cosmos themselves, and yet as silent and gentle in soul as the hush of twilight." The sharp tip of the silver metal claw ring he wore upon his thumb stroked over Thanatos's smooth skin as he held Itachi's long-lashed gaze.

"Did I not select you personally to join the elite of my guard? Did I not recognise your talents as a boy and did I not train you with my own hands in the art of the sword and the casting of illusions?"

When the curving talon unexpectedly sunk into his flesh, drawing blood, Thanatos did not so much as flinch or even blink, his ebony eyes remaining locked on his superior's, devoid of all readable emotion.

"So intelligent," Cronus smirked deeply, his eyes boring into the death deity's with unspoken, yet unmistakable implication. "So perceptive," he mocked. "And to think, you would seek to use those very gifts against me. How can a King bear such betrayal from the very one he chose to inherit his throne?"

"Lord Cronus-" Hypnos began in alarm, stepping forward instinctively, protectively, upon witnessing the wound inflicted on his cousin's face.

"You will not move, Shisui," Cronus's voice rang out authoritatively, halting Hypnos immediately in place, his gaze never breaking from Itachi's. "You will not speak. You will make no attempt to protect him, nor to interfere. You will only listen, and obey."

Hypnos swallowed, and fell quiet once more.

"You seem to have forgotten," Cronus hissed. "That your loyalty to one another does not supersede your loyalty to your Lord and King, the one who breathed life into this world, the one who gave you the very same gifts that elevated you to the most exalted of ranks, the most distinguished of powers."

The claw continued to dig in further, giving way to thicker rivulets of blood. Still Thanatos did not react - as Cronus himself, with his own hand, had trained him from a young age to never show emotion in the face of any adversary.

"I have schooled you well," Cronus sneered. "Perhaps to arrogance, for it appears you believe yourselves capable of deceiving me."

He dragged the claw down, maiming a larger section of Thanatos's right cheek, giving way to a slicing, gaping wound. Hypnos could do nothing but look helplessly on in silent agitation, witnessing the pain inflicted on his kin yet powerless to stop it.

"I know that you have been keeping secrets from your King." Cronus snarled. "Meeting with the usurper Zeus. Did you truly believe that I, a Titan King, would be blind to such treachery? That I do not possess my own spies, soldiers of chaos ready to do my bidding at a moment's notice?"

"My Lord," Hypnos began once again in protest. "We seek only another alternative to a war that would result in too many lives lost. To spare our clan-"

"Silence! The clan is mine to command as I see fit!" Cronus's enraged voice boomed against the stone walls as he ripped his claw the rest of the way down the death god's face before finally drawing his hand back, leaving angry smears of crimson blood all over Thanatos's wounded skin. "Everything you are, every bounty you enjoy within this Kingdom, was bestowed to you by me. I did not toil to create this world for myself and my kin, only to be cast to the shadows, unrecognised! I did not build this realm to rule over the wretched dead! There are no alternatives, you witless imbecile! You do not make the decisions. You are a servant of this clan, nothing more. You have no right to seek out any other routes!"

His displeasure, burning white-hot one moment, immediately and terrifyingly walled off, turning to ice. His eyes settled coldly onto Hypnos - before his gaze turned back to Thanatos. Already the wound on his face was healing of its own accord, the blood slowing in its flow. "Word has reached me of your schemes. That it is your hope to use your gifts to avert the war. Treacherous fools, the pair of you.

Did you think that the Olympians would be grateful? That they would ever trust in your intentions? When they all look upon the Uchiha with the same disgust as the rulers that sat upon the throne before them! Indeed it is one of their folk who has betrayed you." He lifted a hand, splaying his fingers apart, and immediately, the two deities were compelled to bend the knee before him.

"You are a disappointment to my legacy." He spat out, regardeding them with a disdainful sneer. "Acting in alliance with the very surface scum who consign us to the darkness, while they themselves revel in the devotion of humans. The 'peace' you seek is nothing but a naive illusion. Speak your pardons," he ordered.

There was a lengthy pause.

"We make no apology," Thanatos finally said quietly, "for seeking to save the lives of our kin."

"But for the offence we have caused you in considering the welfare of our clan, my Lord, we humbly ask for your pardon," Hypnos added.

His tone was sincere but the double-meaning of his words was not lost upon Cronus's ears.

"Impertinent knaves!" His voice struck with the severity of thunder. "That you would dare speak to me of the welfare of our kin, forgetting who has guarded it long before you ever came to be! Instead of pleading for forgiveness, you dare to further insult your King?!"

"My Lord, we did not mean-" Hypnos attempted to reason.

"Hold your tongue lest I tear it from your mouth!" Cronus's eyes blazed with fury. "You are unworthy of your gifts. Unworthy of the title of Uchiha. Would that I rip out your eyes here, and cast you both to the flames of Tartarus for your betrayal. What say you to that?"

They both remained silent.

"What say you?!" Cronus shouted, further enraged at their refusal to apologise further, their stubborn resistance to grovel at his feet for mercy.

"I see…" he murmured after a tense, heavy silence, his features twisting, becoming even more cruel. "So it is true. You choose treason, then. In seeking to meddle with my designs and convening with my enemy, you have openly defied me. You know that I do not suffer disobedience, nor traitors." His eyes narrowed to form intimidating slits as he tilted his chin back, regarding them with open contempt as he seemed to consider his options.

"You both know the penalty for treason in our realm. Your lives are forfeit." Icily, he instructed, "Get up."

He lowered his hand, releasing them from his influence, allowing them both to rise back to their feet. Their gazes remained lowered, a mockery of humility to Cronus's disapproving eyes.

"The price for treason is your heads. But I will not cast you to Tartarus yet, oh no. I will have you squirm, like the filthy, dishonorable maggots you are, first. It is an unfortunate truth that still you remain two of the most skilled within the elite ranks of our clan, and I would have you beside me on the battlefield."

He began to circle them, unhurriedly, a predatory smirk slowly manifesting upon his lips. "You will obey. You will desist in your alliance with our enemy. You will follow me to war, and you will fight against the Olympians, alongside your kin, as your King dictates. Attempt to betray me again, make any move against me, and you will forfeit not your lives - but Sasuke's."

Thanatos immediately tensed and at last, he reacted. His heavy-lashed eyes lifted, locking straight onto Cronus's, and cold fury flashed within them, dangerous and full of warning.

"Ah…" Cronus exhaled, his smirk widening, knowing that he finally had the death deity by the throat, by the one weakness he could exploit without fail, for Thanatos doted upon his little brother Hades like no other, and was beloved by Hypnos also. "Do not think for a second that I have any use for that pathetic child. He is weak, inexperienced in combat, and serves no purpose in my plans. Do not think for a moment that I have not perceived how desperately you keep him wrapped up in his own ignorance. One wrong move. One more lie or misstep - and mark my words. I will unmake him. Do we have an understanding?"

A stifling silence filled the air, oppressive and strained.

Finally, Thanatos uttered, "Your word that he will live unharmed, and we will follow you."

"He will survive, for as long as you obey me," Cronus snapped back. "His life is the penalty should you step out of line again. Obey, and I will waste no efforts on dealing with him. That is my word."

"It will not happen again, My Lord," Hypnos said quietly, though his dark eyes glittered with an emotion that was carefully concealed behind his mask.

"See to it that it does not." The patriarch responded disparagingly, before adding, "And… there is one further matter. The matter of the penalty for your treason. Do not think me convinced of your cooperation and loyalty if I must barter a life to acquire it. You will prove yourselves in earnest to me first." He gestured nonchalantly into the air. "Two lives I will take in place of your own."

They waited, knowing him well enough to know that he was not yet finished with his dastardly instruction.

Leaning in closer to Thanatos, Cronus smiled ruthlessly, a diabolical smile as jagged and sharp as serrated knives.

"Erebus and Nyx. You will slay them with your own hand."

Thanatos blinked, and Cronus had the deep satisfaction of witnessing the surprise - though brief and fleeting - flicker in his eyes before all emotion was quickly swallowed back into those unfathomable dark depths.

Hypnos's eyes widened in alarm, his lips parting in ill-concealed horror. "My Lord Cronus," he began. "I beseech you not to-"

"Now you plead?" He sneered. "It is much too late for that. You wish to save your precious Sasuke?" Cronus spat, not breaking eye contact with Thanatos. "Then prove your allegiance to me, now. Their lives... or his."

Thanatos's eyes searched Cronus's for a long moment, before trailing slowly over his features, almost as if he sought to memorise them as they were in that moment - before his gaze finally lowered to the floor. He did not respond.

"In a fortnight, it will be done - or I will take it that you chose their lives over Sasuke's."

"My Lord," Hypnos said stiffly, as if he were speaking through clenched teeth. "Please, allow me to be the one to do it."

"No," Cronus responded cruelly, pointing at Thanatos decisively. "Him. I trust we now completely understand one another."

With that, he walked past them, just as the double-doors opened to reveal none other than Hades himself who strode purposefully inside the chamber.

"Brother," he began automatically, but upon spying Cronus, instantly faltered, adopting a more formal stance. "My Lord," he bowed his head respectfully. "Forgive me if I intrude-" he broke off, when Cronus sauntered toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder, before angling a smug look back at a tense Hypnos, who watched him in carefully concealed dismay.

Thanatos remained in place, his back turned to the doors, unmoving.

"No intrusion at all, young Hades," Cronus purred smoothly. "Your brother and cousin were just renewing their vows of allegiances to me, but we are done here, and it is time you all took your leave." With a deep laugh, he playfully ruffled Hades's hair, before standing by the door, clearly awaiting their departure.

Hades stared at him, genuinely confused by the rare display of affection, before scowling and lifting a hand to rearrange the disorderly raven strands of hair atop his head. Turning his attention back to his kin, he repeated, stepping toward Thanatos, "Brother, mother has asked for you to-"

Hypnos was quick to intercept, placing an arm around his shoulders to guide him away from Thanatos. The stains of blood were still on his cheek, and that was not something either of them wished for Hades to see.

"Give Itachi a moment with our Lord. He will follow us shortly," Hypnos said brightly, reassuringly, his voice betraying nothing of his inner turmoil. "Take me to my Aunt in the meanwhile, Sasuke. I am happy to assist in his stead."

"What?" Hades frowned, perplexed. "But Lord Cronus has just said you are done. Brother...?" He twisted his head, looking impatiently back toward his older sibling, even as he allowed Hypnos to usher him hurriedly out.

"A precious boy," Cronus remarked. "A pity it would be, for a young existence to be snuffed out so soon…"

Thanatos's hands, resting by his sides, closed briefly into fists before relaxing once more. Only once their voices had disappeared down the hallway, did he finally turn.

Keeping his head held high, he walked slowly toward the doors, his poise unbroken, pausing only briefly as he passed by a smirking Cronus to murmur, "We have an accord."

---

The air seemed to have seized entirely in Sasuke's lungs, for he could not draw a single breath. It was as though a fist had closed around his throat and was squeezing mercilessly, ruthlessly, denying him of oxygen, leaving an unbearable, crushing pressure on his chest. The horror of knowing the brother he had spent millennia hating and blaming for the death of his parents, had in fact been forced to take their lives in order to spare Sasuke's, filled him with unspeakable anguish. His heart had been splintered into fragmented shards all over again, smashed like shattered glass, and it felt to Sasuke as though it had been ripped entirely from his chest, reduced to nothing but bloodied shreds.

Itachi. Itachi. Itachi.

Sasuke saw his kind smile in his mind's eye, and the pain that accompanied the memory was unlike anything, worse than the stabbing of a thousand poisoned needles. His brother's name resounded deafeningly in his mind, almost mockingly, goading him into despair and the bottomless oblivion of guilt for his ignorance, for the wretched naivety in which he had existed despising Itachi. Sasuke could not stand it, remorse corroding through him like acid. He forgot where he was. He forgot the danger he was in. For a few terrible moments, he could think only of Itachi, of the horrendous depths of pain and suffering he'd had to endure in slaying his own father and mother in order to save the life of his brother.

He knew, categorically and without question in his heart, that what Madara had shown him was the truth. It explained everything. The words Itachi had cryptically spoken to him, that he had failed to understand back then.

"We live bound within the confines of our own perceptions, constantly defining reality according to what we perceive as correct and true. But these are such vague concepts, when you consider… that the things we believe to be correct and true - our realities – may all be a mirage."

If only he had listened. If only he had possessed the insight and wisdom required to understand. Would things have turned out different? Would he have been able to help Itachi, instead of allowing him to carry his burdens with nobody else but Shisui, whose hands had been equally as tied?

"You are still a child, Sasuke. There are times when deities must make difficult choices. One day, when you awaken the same eyes; you will understand."

"There is no hope left for this wretched clan."

He had been a child. Nothing but a fool. Back at that moment, Itachi had been trying to tell him something. Had implied that the reality before him had been nothing but a mirage. And yet none of it had resonated because Sasuke had been blind to everything that had been happening around him. Even when every instinct had screamed at him that Itachi's actions were nothing at all like the cherished, gentle, protective older brother he had always known, that it took a stranger of that person to turn his blade against his own kin. Itachi, who had always been so fiercely, so faultlessly loyal to his parents and to Sasuke.

Why hadn't Itachi told him the truth? Why had he allowed Sasuke to believe that he'd lost his mind and murdered them in cold blood? Had Madara forbidden him from saying it? Or had Itachi remained silent, knowing he was destined to die either way, and decided that it would hurt Sasuke much less if he died hated, rather than being mourned so loved?

Now knowing what he did, that sounded like the extent of selfless sacrifice Itachi would go to and Sasuke was overcome by a fresh wave of suffocating sorrow. It weighed him down like lead, sinking him into the endless well of grief.

A ragged breath tore from his throat, his entire body shaking from the emotional onslaught of the cruel revelation. How had he lived in such a web of lies for so long? What was the meaning for his continued existence, knowing its hideous cost?

But Madara was not done, for the vision around him had altered to one of darkness and with a start, Sasuke recalled where he was.

He recognised this cavern. How could he not? It was the very place where he had discovered his parents slain.

He could do nothing but stand, frozen to the spot in helpless horror, watching Itachi who stood in the shadows. Their parents were kneeling on the ground, their backs turned before him, still alive, the looks on their faces resigned. As if they had made peace with their horrible fates and accepted death at the hands of their firstborn.

Knowing that he was about to see them in their final moments sent fresh daggers of agony stabbing through the bloodied, tattered remains of Sasuke's heart.

"Let your blade hold strong and true, my son." Erebus's voice was gruff and low, just the way Sasuke remembered it and hearing it again after so long flooded him with anguish.

"Protect Sasuke," Nyx's sweet tones added, her voice steady, unwavering. "Protect your brother, my love, and doubt yourself not. Know that we hold you to no account for this. We are at peace, knowing we give our lives for yours."

"You are our firstborn and we could not be more proud." Erebus added.

Itachi's head bowed at their words. Sasuke could see, all too clearly in the darkness, how tightly he was holding onto the hilt of his sword. So tightly that his fist was trembling.

"Mother... father..." His whispering voice wavered, so unlike the ever-composed brother Sasuke had always known, and the moment of uncharacteristic vulnerability tore Sasuke apart inside, hurting more than anything else.

"Forgive me..."

As he struck them down, Sasuke's heart broke into even tinier shards, ripping a blood-curdling scream from his throat. He barely had time to process the moment, when the scene changed once more.

He saw himself, as he had been in the past, just after he'd confronted Itachi over their parents' lifeless bodies. He saw himself knocked to the ground, the moment he had fallen victim to his brother's brutal genjutsu. The instant he was unconscious, Itachi dropped to his knees beside him, his blade clattering loudly to the stone ground, throwing his gilded mask aside as if he despised it, as if it were a shackle upon him that represented all the feelings he was forced to constantly repress and hide.

Sasuke watched, his heart hurtling painfully in his chest, as Itachi crawled over to his past-self's motionless form. Watched, a scream lodged in his throat, as Itachi knelt beside him, pulling him gently up from the ground and into his arms in a close, desperate embrace. His fingers stroked through Sasuke's raven locks, cradling his head close to his chest as Itachi sobbed over his body. He buried his face into his little brother's hair, weeping, his entire body shaking from the force of his emotions, and the heartbreaking sound broke Sasuke more than anything else.

But Itachi was not alone. Sasuke noticed with an unpleasant start that Cronus had suddenly materialised there with them, pulling the Helm of Darkness from his head. He had been there the entire time. Watching. Smug and cruel in the face of Itachi's horrendous torment.

Fury and hatred exploded into being within Sasuke, roaring like a raging, inextinguishable inferno in his veins. Madara had lied. He had initially pretended that he did not know of Itachi's actions. Had allowed Sasuke to believe that Itachi had lost his mind and killed his parents of his own volition. Had even followed him to the scene of the crime.

But the dreadful truth was, he had been there, watching in the shadows all along. The last thing Sasuke saw before the vision faded away, was Itachi's features instantly turning cold once more as he too realised he was not alone, lifting his tear-rimmed eyes to Cronus.

---

Sakura watched in horror as Sasuke was abruptly released from the genjutsu and Madara roughly relinquished his hold of the death deity's chin. He cried out as he returned to the real world, his face contorted in pure anguish, a clear sign that whatever the God of Chaos had shown to him, had been a vision of utter torture. Her heart constricted painfully at the sight of raw tears streaming from his dark eyes, down his cheeks. Sasuke, who was always so strong, so unbreakable, so steely in the command of his emotions and so disciplined in remaining reticent and unreadable, was sobbing like a man broken. It was a sight Sakura never imagined she'd ever see. Witnessing it filled her with terror and unspeakable distress, made Sakura's own eyes blur with tears for him.

What had he seen? What had that heartless monster shown to him?

"Sasuke!" she choked out, wrestling against the ropes that kept her arms locked together behind the pillar. She could feel them starting to loosen, ever so painstakingly and slowly, and did not relent in her chakra flow, though she could already feel that she was running low. Her reserves had not fully replenished following their mission.

For several, horrific seconds, Sasuke seemed breathless, incapable of forming any words as his mind struggled to process everything he had seen, the new reality that left his feelings toward his brother altered forever. Itachi had saved his life. Had sacrificed everything to ensure his survival. Accepting all consequences at the expense of his own happiness. Itachi had been more a victim than Sasuke ever had.

"Your precious Itachi," Madara taunted, spitting the name out as if it were a curse. "Bargained for your life. You are the reason your parents perished. He had to choose. And he chose your miserable existence over theirs."

Sakura's eyes darted between the two in confusion. What was Madara saying? Her heart pounded, anger and frustration blazing within her chest and she wanted nothing more than to launch herself at the callous god, to gouge his eyes out and get him as far away from Sasuke as she physically could.

A ragged sob escaped Sasuke's lips. "You…!" His voice wavered unsteadily. "You did this!"

"I gave him a choice," Madara replied coolly. "You know the laws of treason in our world. Your brother betrayed me. He paid the price."

"You son-of-a-bitch," Sasuke snarled, glaring hatefully up at him. He struggled against his binds as if he wished to lunge for Madara's throat directly. His attempt at getting to his feet was intercepted by Obito, who held onto the chain firmly and kicked the back of his legs, forcing him to his knees once more.

Madara's smile was vicious. The smile of a tormentor who had their victim precisely where they wanted them. "Now you choose to mourn your brother?" He raised his eyebrows sardonically. "When his blood is on your hands?"

Sasuke froze, feeling as though the ground itself had been pulled out from underneath him. "What…?" he got out, with great difficulty, unable to comprehend the words that had been spoken to him.

"You do not recall?" Madara prowled around him, like a dark jaguar moving in for the kill. "Ah, but of course you would not. Your memories are tampered. They contain missing fragments, do they not? Well, then." He gestured. "Allow me to fill them in. Your brother escaped the summit, wounded, and went to find you on the battlefield. To ensure you still lived. And when he did… you slew him, taking vengeance for the deaths of your parents. You remember?" His voice was like insidious, liquid velvet. "How desperately you wanted him brought to justice? How you begged me to bring him to trial? In the end, you took that justice into your own hands."

Sasuke was stunned, feeling like he had been punched in the gut and left winded all over again. He had no recollection of ever encountering Itachi on the battlefield.

Enraged, he screamed, "You liar!"

"You were trapped on Olympus!" Sakura cried. "You wouldn't know!"

"My Titans were not yet all sealed," Madara did not even look at Sakura, a wild light in his eyes as he continued to torment Sasuke, pushing him further and further toward the brink of breaking point. "They relayed to me the news of his passing in their final moments."

"Shut up!" Sasuke rejected, chest heaving from the intensity of his anger, his grief, all the emotions that were simmering within him, close to tiding over entirely. It wasn't true, he told himself desperately. It wasn't, it couldn't be, and yet there were too many gaps in his memories, too many things he simply couldn't remember. Another strangled sob tore from his throat.

"Your brother allowed you to take his life. He saw it fit, the ending he deserved for murdering your parents, to die at your hands. You killed him with your own blade, Sasuke. Shisui erased all memory of it, knowing it would drive you to madness once you discovered the truth of it, his final act of charity before he, too, perished, sealing the rest of the Titans away."

"NO!" A stricken Sasuke snarled, once more trying to lunge at him, and Obito once again kicked his legs out from beneath him, compelling him back to his knees. "No," he repeated, as if desperately trying to convince himself that it was impossible. "No, no…"

Madara was a liar. Madara twisted truths all the time. And yet he had told him that Itachi had escaped the summit, just as Sasuke had seen him do with his own eyes. Erasing memories was something that Shisui had always been adept at. He had no evidence that Madara was telling the truth. But he had no evidence that he was lying, either. In his sealed state, he didn't possess the free use of chakra required to create complex layers of fabricated genjutsu. The visions he had shown to Sasuke, at the very least, was undeniably real.

Horror ate away at the death deity, and his eyes were burning.

"Deny it all you wish, it changes not the reality of your circumstance." Madara sneered. "That your brother would have lived, were it not for you. You killed him, Sasuke. You murdered the very brother who only sought to protect you. You delivered that final blow."

Sakura watched helplessly as fresh tears dripped from Sasuke's face, falling onto the marble floor. Ragged, hoarse breaths heaved from his chest, a sound that was unbearable to her ears. Unable to stand watching him being emotionally tortured any longer, she desperately sought to draw Madara's attention onto herself.

"You monster!" she screamed, through the well of her own tears. "Haven't you hurt him enough?!"

Madara ignored her once more, reaching out to grab Sasuke by his hair, angling his head painfully back. "Let me show you, boy," he snarled. "The precious memories I took from you."

Forcing Sasuke to meet his gaze, he engaged the full, eternal form of his Sharingan, and as soon as Sasuke met those terrible eyes, his mind was flooded with images belonging to memories that had been stolen from him. Of lazy days spent on the surface in a grinning Apollo's company. Chariot rides. Sparring with Kakashi. Their friendship. Promising to meet Apollo, to work with him together to avert the war. His eyes widened, his mind overrun, overwhelmed, staggered in the face of the evidence of everything he had once so vehemently denied.

Naruto had been telling him the truth all along.

Those were the only things he recalled, before a piercing pain suddenly assaulted his skull, turning his vision to white and his eyes began to burn and burn until they seemed to be set alight with fire. With a cry of agony, he squeezed his eyes shut, just as liquid warmth spilled down his cheek.

Madara's eyes widened and he cursed, moving aside just in time to avoid the burst of Amaterasu that exploded out at him. It slammed instead into a pillar behind him, incinerating it in seconds. The Uchiha patriarch stared at it for a moment, stunned. It had clearly been meant to strike him.

Infuriated, he turned his head back to Sasuke, whose left eye was now bleeding heavily. How was it possible for him to utilise the black flame when he could not presently summon any chakra?

Itachi, he realised, his hatred for the cunning Thanatos intensifying. No doubt he had planted it as a fail-safe to stop Madara from tampering with Sasuke's mind any further.

As Sasuke's eyes opened, and he stared in bewilderment at the crackling black flames ahead of him, Madara felt his patience wear thin. Still, the boy's Rinnegan had not appeared. Even despite the huge emotional turmoil he had inflicted upon the Underworld's ruler, still it had not materialised.

Incensed, he struck Sasuke savagely across the face again, prompting Sakura to cry out once more.

"Stop it!" she begged. "Leave him alone!"

'S-Sakura!' Sasuke struggled to communicate with her, momentarily disoriented from the force of the blow to his head. 'Don't-!'

'Look what he's done to you!' she interjected tearfully in his mind. 'Sasuke, I can't just watch while he-!'

'I said, shut up!' he telepathically seethed back, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Even in her mind, his voice sounded strained. Exhausted. 'Don't draw his attention to you!'

But he realised, gut clenching tightly with dread, that it was already too late. Madara, who had heard the open distress in Sakura's voice, had already turned his face toward her, his focus shifting onto his new target. Sasuke's head bowed as a debilitating wave of nausea washed over him, accompanied by a startling stab of pain in his left eye, so intense that he winced against it, struggling to regain his bearings when the room abruptly blurred and spun without warning.

Madara's eyes narrowed. He had only one option remaining to him, to hasten the Rinnegan's activation. One last ace in his deck. To place Sasuke's body under extreme physical stress, by accelerating the progression of the curse seal.

"A mortal child, so curiously shielded by the gods," he began, stalking slowly toward Sakura.

Sasuke's head lifted, his red-rimmed eyes settling for the first time onto Sakura as his vision refocused.

"One so significant as to accompany a party of deities in their quest to unlock their powers." The God of Chaos stopped before Sakura, regarding her intently. Sakura kept her eyes lowered, refusing to meet his gaze. "A girl who bears a remarkable similarity to a goddess long lost." Madara reached out, taking a lock of pale-rose hair in his hand, inspecting it with clinical detachment.

Sasuke clenched his teeth, wrestling to control the tumultuous storm of his conflicting, crippling emotions, the reminder that Sakura's very life was at risk hitting him full force once more, causing his heart to thunder against his ribcage. Madara was too close to her. There was no way for him to get out of his binds. His chakra levels were still not fully recovered, but even as he tried to channel the faintest stream, he felt the chains around him absorb the flow, rapidly devouring it.

What did he do, what could he do? His mind, still rocked by the pain of everything he had learned, hurtled at full speed, bordering on panic. He needed to draw attention away from her. To play down her importance. To somehow convince Madara that Sakura was nothing-

"You do me a great insult in mistaking me for a simpleton, Sasuke," Madara hissed, as he reached out, grabbing Sakura's chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him. "Did you think I would not suspect any manner of sorcery in her? Why else would Tsunade expend such efforts on protecting a mere shell of a daughter that perished so long ago?

Why would you take a mortal to your realm, when you possess more than enough power than any of the sealed deities to take your vengeance upon them and Apollo directly? What is the nature of this girl's 'sickness'? Perhaps she is not sick at all. Perhaps it is that she is merely not as human as she appears. Look at me, child."

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut. "No!" she cried. "I won't!"

"Look at me!" he snarled, digging his nails viciously into her skin.

'Don't, Sakura!' Sasuke's voice echoed in her head, as he wrestled once more with his binds, working to move his hands, inch by inch, seeking the supplies pouch still strapped to belt. His heart raced, as a lifeline presented itself in his mind. If only he could get to it.

"I won't!" Sakura repeated, refusing to open them. "I don't care what you do to me! We'll stop you! One way or another, you'll pay for everything you've done!"

'Sakura!' Sasuke's alarmed voice warned in her head.

Madara blinked at her, surprise etching in his eyes, before he threw his head back and bellowed in amusement. The air arrested in Sakura's lungs when his hand closed around her throat, and she felt herself being hauled forward a moment later, released from the pillar but not from her binds, no matter how hard she struggled to free her wrists. She rerouted her inner chakra to her hands again, focusing, trying with desperation to wear through the remains of the thick cords biting into her skin.

"Such bold words for a feeble mortal," Madara mocked, towering over her petite frame, his gaze flicking back to Sasuke, who had finally managed to stagger up onto his feet. Obito permitted it, but kept tight hold of the chain in his hands.

"Tell me, Sasuke. Did you take her, seeking to atone for the wrong you did to the woman who shares her likeness?"

Sasuke stared at him, fresh confusion flooding through his already overwhelmed thoughts.

The Uchiha patriarch pushed Sakura in front of him, holding her from the back of her neck. Sakura's eyes flew open, fixing onto Sasuke. Terror caused her heart to gallop wildly in her chest, shaking her entire body from its thunderous pounding as their eyes locked.

She would be brave, she told herself. Whatever happened, whatever Madara did, even if he killed her now, she would be brave, and they would go on without her, they would do whatever needed to be done to stop the heartless demon masquerading as a deity behind her.

'Sasuke,' she began, desperate to communicate with him, even as tears blurred her vision, spilling down her cheeks. She didn't know how much time she had left. She knew only, with certainty, that Madara was about to use her against Sasuke, and that it was entirely her fault for getting them into such a deadly predicament.

'This is my fault. I'm so sorry he hurt you! I- I'm so sorry for everything! I want you to know that I-! I wish we hadn't wasted so much time fighting! That I wish we could go back and-'

She saw his eyes widen, as the sound of steel scraping against steel rang in her ears, splintering her line of thoughts entirely. Madara had drawn his sword.

"How sentimental," Madara's deep voice rumbled, dripping with disgust and contempt. "That you would seek out the very girl I wiped from your memory. The one you betrayed on my orders, and poisoned with your own hands."

Sasuke froze, his blood turning to ice all over again. Madara had taken his memories of her? He had betrayed Kore? Poisoned her himself?

No. He was lying. And yet, once again, Sasuke's terrifying lack of recollections made him question everything he knew. What if he had been the true reason for her original death? Hadn't Ino accused him of as much? But rather than be an indirect cause, what if he had truly administered the venom into her blood himself? The very idea made him feel sick to his stomach. But that didn't make any sense, he told himself frantically. Why would Madara take his memories away, when it would have hurt him so much more to remember them? Unless he really had felt nothing for her? But that didn't add up to what Sakura had told him about them.

It then hit him, with the force of lightning, that the memories that had returned to him when Madara had met his eyes, had been only of Naruto and Kakashi. His grief had not allowed him to recognise it at first, and yet at that moment, he remembered with clarity; he'd not seen Kore with them. Still, he could recall nothing of her, which meant-

Was Madara lying? Was it possible that Madara wasn't the one who had sealed away his memories of Kore, after all? Was Madara simply doing to him what he had done to every other one of their kin? And if he was lying about that, then what else had he manipulated, in his twisted, callous attempt to turn Sasuke's own mind against him?

Fury blazed in the death deity's veins, white-hot, as his eyes fixed on the God of Chaos with loathing so murderous and profound, even Sakura was startled by its burning intensity.

"So sweetly the goddess pined for you… and you tore her heart right out her chest. Sent her to her death." Madara continued, chuckling, greatly entertained as a barely suppressed sob escaped Sakura's lips.

It wasn't true, she told herself. That wasn't the Sasuke she now knew. She refused to listen to his venomous words.

Her chakra was responding. She could feel the cords loosening at long last. She told herself if she could only get them free, then maybe, somehow, she could do something, anything, to help Sasuke-

"And now…" Madara tilted his head mockingly. "You have killed her likeness again."

"She has no value," Sasuke said harshly. "The relic sites required a mortal's blade to unlock, that is the only reason that she was taken!"

"Then her death will be of no consequence to you," Madara watched him closely, like a hawk about to devour its prey.

"Use her for leverage!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Madara paused, raising an eyebrow. "That is precisely what I am doing."

"Bargain for the relics! They would trade-" Sasuke broke off, realising too late what Sakura was about to do.

She tore her hands free of their binds and dropped low, aiming a savage kick at Madara's shins, charging every ounce of chakra she had left into the heel of her boot, but he already recovered before Sakura could even blink, and she was caught in a choke hold seconds later when his large hand abruptly closed around her slender neck, cutting off the oxygen to her lungs. The floor fell away as she was lifted to her feet, dangling precariously in his vice-like, merciless grip, as if she weighed little more than a feather, as if to him, she was little more than a meaningless toy. One he had tired of playing with.

She struggled frantically in his hold, scratching and kicking savagely at him, even as her vision began to grey from lack of oxygen.

"Madara!" Sasuke's voice rang out, an edge of desperation to it that did not escape Cronus's notice. "Your quarrel is with me. She is nothing!"

"Nothing, you say?" Madara's smile was slicing, ruthless, as he drew back his blade. Eyes on Sasuke, he hissed, "Let us see how mortal, how nothing she truly is."

"No!"

Pain unlike anything she had ever felt before exploded through Sakura's body. She blinked and looked down, stunned, to see that the end of a jagged sword was protruding from her chest. The fingers around her throat loosened, allowing her to draw a brief, rattling breath, choking on the copper-tinged blood that immediately welled in her mouth - before the blade was wrenched violently out of her and she was tossed like a ragdoll backwards, flung over the edge of the platform and into the freezing waters surrounding the chamber.

"Sakura!" Sasuke's panicked voice reverberated in her ears as she sank into the depths, arms outstretched, watching her own blood stain the waters crimson before her wide eyes, the firelight glinting off the surface of the water, from which she was sinking farther away by the second.

A moment later, she saw something break through the water above her, sending bubbles exploding in all directions. Sasuke had been thrown in after her, still bound by glowing chains. His seeking eyes immediately met hers, his expression frantic, and for the first time since she could remember, openly afraid.

'Sakura!' His voice in her mind sounded distant. 'Hold on!'

The pain was immense. She couldn't swim. She couldn't move. She couldn't think. Her lungs were already filling with water and she knew that the wound inflicted upon her was unmistakably fatal. She could do nothing but sink, watching as Sasuke fought desperately against his binds to swim down to her. But every time he seemed to be making any progress, he was hauled mercilessly back up by the chains, only to be compelled to start again, exhausting his body in the process.

'I'm...'

'Sorry...'

'...Sasuke.'

His panicked, terror-glazed wide eyes were the last thing Sakura saw, and the gradual slowing of her heartbeat was the last thing she heard thudding dully in her ears before numbness overcame her and consciousness slipped rapidly out of her grasp.

---

Author's Note
NO! How could I end it there? I'm a MONSTER! JUST LIKE CRONUS IS. This cliffhanger is just as bad as the last. Or is it worse?

Actually I had to split this because it would be way too much info in one go for you all, and I don't want to put any of you in cardiac arrest. Please do review and leave your thoughts, even if it's just to scream AAAAAAAAAA or I HATE YOU at me. The next part is being written as we speak so rest assured it shouldn't take long to upload. See you next update.