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.

98. Chapter 97

The enchanted cavern scene in this chapter is dedicated to Vetty, an extremely talented artist who has spoiled me (and everyone else who loves Quietus!) with so many incredible pieces for the story. You can find her artwork at the end of chapters on Ao3, on her Tumblr and Twitter blogs and also in the deviantART group.

Vetty, thank you again for blessing our eyes with your wonderful talent and for all the fun you bring to the Discord group.

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Chapter XCVII

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In oceans blue ripple endless waves,
Sapphire and serene - or watery graves,
What horrors lie in wait to scare,
The seekers of a Serpent's lair?

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~x~

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The Olympians stood around a large circular table in the assembly chamber. Upon it was a model of the world map, complete with wooden pieces that served as tactical strategy markers. They had called a meeting to plan their next steps in the continuing hunt for Orochimaru's hideout.

"What news from your travels?" Koharu began.

"No luck from our last scout!" Lee reported.

"Only the occasional sightings of those White Zetsu," Temari said.

"And you have searched all nations?" The High Councillor pressed.

"These are the only villages we have left to pass through." Jiraiya tapped an index finger against three remote, north-western points on the world map.

"It's astonishing," Kurenai remarked. "That we've scoured the entire globe without success."

"Seen the news? They've been reporting unusual sightings of strange creatures in Sand Country." Shikamaru informed them. "My guess is Orochimaru's using the White Zetsu to abduct more humans to experiment on, and he wants us to notice."

Ino's eyebrows drew together in concern. "Do you think he's turning them into monsters, too?"

Shikamaru folded his arms across his chest. "He might be using them to multiply his Zetsu army. Or infecting them to use as human spies."

"Great. More Aloe-Vera freaks," Naruto frowned.

"They travel underground, do they not?" Gaara spoke, turning a pensive gaze to Tsunade. "Might your elemental nature not drive them out of the earth?"

"Only those within an immediate, local area," Tsunade shook her head. "They keep multiplying, so it would be a waste of chakra tackling them that way. Eventually they'll break off and move out of range."

"We need to find where he's making those things!" Naruto slammed a fist against his palm. "Get Sasuke to paralyse them and then wipe them out!"

"Easier said than done," Kakashi sighed. "We'd have to make sure none of the spores escape. If even one of them is able to get out, they'll start replicating all over again."

"But he's probably got others stationed around towns as spies," Kankuro pointed out. "Even if we find the hideout, how do we clear those?"

Shikamaru's analytical mind turned. "If they're constantly multiplying," he began slowly, "then that has to mean they're all connected, somehow. One grows from the other, so if we trace them back…"

"There must be a source," Tsunade concluded.

Kakashi rubbed a palm against his masked chin. "It's possible," he mused. "Based on our encounters with them, and the manner in which they multiply, their chakra network surely must be linked."

"Yes," Jiraiya agreed. "The clones merely act as parasites. That is why they look to latch onto anything living, because their own chakra is limited. There must be an original from which all the others multiplied. If we can locate it and finish it off, then it stands to reason that all the rest will perish, including the ones hiding underground in villages."

"Then it has to be in the hideout," Temari glanced at Shikamaru. "There's no way he'd be sending the original out. He'd want it protected."

"It's troublesome, but highly likely."

"Bastard," Tsunade cursed. "He's really planned this out."

"He couldn't have done any of this without Kabuto," Kakashi pointed out. "We need to disable him, but it's likely he'll be heavily protected, too."

"Kabuto?" Gaara repeated the name.

"He was a junior doctor who used to work at our central hospital," Tsunade clarified, her features twisting with disgust. "Sakura interned under him at one point. There's no way of knowing how long it's been since Orochimaru got his claws into the fool."

"I see," Gaara murmured.

"Orochimaru won't risk his most prized assets," said Jiraiya. "Once we locate the base, he'll have plenty of surprises in store for us, designed to keep us from getting to his most valuable resources. We must be cautious."

"And what is the intended plan when the base is found?" Roshi questioned gruffly. He was seated beside Fū and Killer B on one of the spectator benches that flanked the left and right sides of the assembly hall, listening intently to the exchange that was taking place between the Olympians.

"Yeah, do we get to go smashy-smashy on it?" Fū perked up.

Killer B tilted his head at her. "Little lady, for a thing so slight, you sure like to pick a big fight!"

Fū shrugged, blowing bubbles with pink gum.

"The place will be crawling with ANBU, monsters and Zetsu," Shikamaru replied. "If there's a barrier concealing its location from us, then it's likely that'll prevent teleportation once we're inside, too."

"That's no issue," Tsunade stated. "We can use our summons to burrow underground."

"You think it wise?" Koharu's eyebrows arched. "For all of you to infiltrate this place at once?"

"It's true we don't know what's inside there waiting for us." Jiraiya replied. "But we will be better prepared for any unpleasant surprises with everyone on board for this mission. The more of us there are, the more of the compound we can take down."

"So we do get to blow it up?" Fū grinned, clapping her hands together. "That's gonna be so much fun!"

"Bringing it down won't take long! I'll make it go kapow with my tailed beast bomb! Oh yeah!" Killer B lifted a hand into the air.

"You hosts, more than any of us, need to be cautious," Kakashi warned him. "They want your tailed beasts. You'll likely be the ones they target, first."

"We have a good balance of offence and defence," Temari said. "Gaara's sand can act as a barrier around us and beneath our feet. We just have to make sure we stay together in a group."

"But," Hinata began timidly, "would it not… perhaps be better to split up once we're inside?"

"She's right," Ino agreed. "I mean, we don't know how big this place is going to be."

"After we're in and get a clearer picture of what we're dealing with. We'll need a tailed-beast host in each cell to set off the bombs. The rest of us should provide cover while they work on detonating." Shikamaru clarified. "Naruto and B's bombs will cause the most damage, but if we're letting Naruto use the Kyuubi's chakra, Cronus is going to know he's holding the Nine-tails."

"I object," Koharu's voice rang out sharply. The Olympians turned their gazes to her. "That carries too much risk. Let the other hosts utilise their abilities."

"Wait, a minute!" Naruto frowned. "There's no way I'm gonna sit this one out. If I can get Kurama to make a bomb big enough to wipe the whole place out in one shot, then that's what I'm gonna do, believe it!"

"If Apollo is compromised-" Koharu began to argue.

"We shall protect the son of our fallen king with our lives!" An enthusiastic Lee pledged.

"Have faith in him," Jiraiya interceded on Naruto's behalf. "Minato sealed the Kyuubi within him so that he would use its power to do good. Kurama is finally cooperating and the boy has been training daily. He has learned Hiraishin and mastered Sage Mode which he is now able to merge with the Kyuubi's chakra. He is ready. Each one of us will carry the mark, so that he has the ability to warp to any of us at any moment, should he need to do so."

"We can't keep what he is a secret from Cronus forever," Kakashi agreed.

"Sasuke's going to be with us, too!" Naruto placed his hands on the table. "If anything goes wrong, he has Susano'o, and his black flames can torch any monsters we come across!"

"You have far too much faith in that boy," Koharu shook her head.

"He's almost awakened the Rinnegan," Naruto lifted his chin.

"He also has the Curse Seal, which keeps him from reaching his full potential," Koharu reminded him.

"Even so, he's a powerful ally. He can cloak us all from being seen," Kakashi reassured her.

"The Helm of Darkness will be useful on this mission," Kurenai agreed. "Even if Sasuke can only cloak us all for a short while, it'll allow us a chance to at least survey our surroundings."

Koharu was silent. Finally she said, "Very well. You understand the risks. Let us hope that you do not miscalculate."

"What about Obito?" Sai questioned.

"He's troublesome for sure, and the biggest threat to us," Shikamaru sighed. "We have to watch out for Kamui. Anyone who gets sucked into it will be taken straight to Cronus."

Ino shuddered, recalling what it was like to be trapped on the summit and interrogated by the ruthless Titan. It was a miracle that she had survived the ordeal, and she was in no hurry to repeat the harrowing experience.

"He also has abilities he can harness from the tailed beasts that Cronus has sealed within him." Tsunade frowned. "We can't keep our eyes off him for a minute."

"I doubt he'll be there to welcome us," Ino placed her hands on her hips. "That creep will probably throw all the ANBU and monsters at us first."

"That's more likely. The ANBU shouldn't be too difficult to take down," Kurenai stated. "They're mortal, after all."

"Sasuke can disable them," Kakashi nodded. "And any White Zetsu we encounter."

"And everything else?" Temari raised her eyebrows.

"Everything else, we're going to fight through and detonate," Shikamaru looked around the circle. "No wasting chakra in combat where it can be helped. We go in, take as much of the enemy's resources out, cover each other's backs, and then we get the hell out."

"Alright!" Naruto punched his fists together. "Sounds like a plan!"

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~x~

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Accepting Sasuke's outstretched hand, Sakura dismounted Eos. Leaving their steeds behind, they began following a gravelly path that led them through a copse of ghostly-white trees. Sakura once again found herself appreciating their beauty, marvelling at the glistening barks and the magical glow that surrounded the shimmering boughs and leaves. A dewy mist hung in the air, lending further enchantment to the small grove.

They had departed the palace together and Sakura had accompanied him on his patrol about the Kingdom. They had further discussed improvements that might be made to different sections of the realm, including adding more sources of illumination to help make the darkest areas appear less daunting for the newly arriving deceased, increasing the capacity of souls Charon could ferry across and planting more trees and flowers. The latter idea, she knew Sasuke was unable to do anything about himself, and could only hope that someday, her own immortality and gifts would be restored to allow her to create the vision she had in mind.

"You once told me nymphs make these trees glow," she recalled, slipping her arm through the Underworld king's to keep pace beside him. There was a new, relaxed ease between them that had not existed before - the ease that accompanied familiarity and increased intimacy, of being completely open and comfortable in each other's presence.

"Yes. But the trees here also draw sustenance from Lethe's waters," Sasuke answered.

He looked dashing in dark grey. The detailed hemlines of his clothing were adorned with elaborate silver stitching. It was a flattering colour that Sakura had chosen to complement with her own silver gown; the softly layered ombre skirt blended out into the same shade as his cloak.

"Does drinking from Lethe make the gods forget, too?"

"For a time," he said.

Lethe completely wiped out mortal recollections of past lives. For deities, however, drinking from its waters resulted in the suppression of specific memories that they desired not to recall, and they would have to keep drinking from it periodically in order to maintain its effects. For the great life-span of an immortal contained far too many memories to fully contain at once. And trying to drink too much from Lethe at once resulted in nausea and drunken stupor.

"That pool that reverses memory loss," Sakura continued. "What was it called, again?"

"Mnemosyne."

"That's it. Couldn't that help you get some of your memories back, somehow?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It didn't."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked, surprised. "You tried? When?"

"Before you left."

She angled an astonished glance up at him. "But I thought you didn't believe me back then?"

Sasuke was silent. He hadn't wanted to, initially. But the past had quite literally caught up with him on that fateful day at Hiruzen Sarutobi's funeral, the moment he had first laid eyes upon Sakura. Except he'd had no idea at the time that meeting her had been intended for him all along.

"I didn't," he murmured.

Sakura released a quiet breath, digesting the fact that although he had not believed her, he had still sought to investigate her claims at the time, regardless.

"And nothing happened?" she prompted.

"My memories were not sealed by Lethe," he reminded her.

"Right." Sakura sighed, disappointed. She had hoped that there might be a loophole there somewhere, but upon reflection, doubted that the meticulous Hypnos would leave such an obvious one open for exploitation. After all, Sasuke's memories had been firmly overwritten to ensure that they were both protected.

As an afterthought, she added, "Can you imagine what'd happen if Lethe's waters were bottled and sold on the surface?"

Sasuke released a derisive snort. Men were predictable enough. "War."

Sakura turned her eyes up to the pretty boughs criss-crossing high above their heads. The leaves rustled, stirred by a silent breeze.

"You're right," she agreed. "People would fight over it."

At length, the cluster of trees began to grow more sparse, and eventually opened up to a vast field littered with ethereal white blooms. They swayed to and fro, dancing between tall blades of grey-green grass beneath a midnight sky littered with the illusion of twinkling constellations.

The fields were empty, save for grazing Underworld wildlife. In the distance, graceful does and majestic stags with crowns of glowing antlers roamed leisurely around the plains. Delicate butterflies with transparent wings fluttered about, and every now and then fantastically coloured birds streaked through the air, seeking shelter in surrounding trees.

Rhea, Sakura knew, had been the one responsible for blessing the Kingdom with all manner of life for its inhabitants to enjoy. Her influence lingered on, undying, in the flora and fauna that dwelt within the realm - plants and animals that could not have possibly existed, had she not breathed life into them.

How much she had done for Cronus and in the name of love. And how much she had paid, a price too steep and horrific to even contemplate. A cold chill trickled down Sakura's spine as she wondered whether the goddess had followed the same steps she was taking at that very moment. Had Rhea walked hand in hand beside Cronus beneath the stars, too, utterly enamoured with a fierce and proud deity who would eventually consume her life? Wholly oblivious in those lovestruck, early days to the terrible jaws of peril into which she had flung herself by consenting to become his royal consort?

She had been misled and blinded by a searing, toxic passion that had ultimately ended in tragedy and despair. The thought filled Sakura with a great, prickling unease, and she pushed it firmly from her mind, clinging a little tighter to Sasuke, who was nothing like his barbarically cruel ancestor.

The phantom full moon touched everything before them with luminous silver. On the horizon, Sakura spotted Lethe's ghostly waters passing through the land and realised the area they had wandered into had to be a section that bordered the very same river they'd been discussing.

Admiring the beauty of their surroundings, Sakura slipped her arm from Sasuke's and took his hand, tugging insistently at it.

He blinked, midnight eyes shifting to her face to find her smiling at him - a vision of splendour, more beautiful and radiant than the sun itself. He could not tear his gaze from her, so entranced was he by her loveliness beneath the moonlight.

"Come on, Sasuke," she grinned, and began to run ahead, pulling him after her. He obliged, allowing her to drag him along, and they waded deeper into fields together. Sakura ran faster and faster, chasing the butterflies, until she suddenly lost her footing and collapsed into the grass, a breathless laugh escaping her lips as she yanked Sasuke down after her.

As he knelt above her, the air stilled in his lungs. Happiness twinkled in her verdant eyes, dazzling, mesmerising. Was he truly the one responsible for it? Was Sakura so content in his realm, simply being by his side? Was that enough for her? He could scarcely dare to believe it. Had he grown so important to her that she could endure parting from her old life without complaint for six months?

He swallowed. She had never named the emotion that she felt for him, and suddenly he found himself yearning to hear it defined. Pined for the words to fall from her sweet, rosy lips. He wanted to know what he meant to her. What he was to her. And yet he could not ask. The questions were lodged in the base of his throat, stubborn and awkward and unmoving.

A piercing, crushing ache filled his chest as he stared helplessly down at her, captivated and stricken in equal measure.

Her laughter subsided as she caught the strangely mournful look that had passed across his gaze.

"Sasuke…?" Her eyebrows drew together in concern. "What's wrong?"

His eyes lowered, as if he suddenly could not bear to hold hers. Reading the non-verbal cues she had grown so accustomed to and realising that it wasn't something he wished to discuss, Sakura reached up for him. Cupping his face in her hands, she gently stroked his cheeks with the pads of her thumbs, her touch soothing, reassuring.

When his gaze darted back upwards, he saw open affection and fondness shining in her eyes and found himself breathless all over again. Smiling tenderly at him, Sakura pulled him down and pressed her lips softly to his. Sasuke closed his eyes and buried his hand in the silky locks of her unbound hair, kissing her deeply as if she were made of the elements he required to live, as if he could not possibly ever drink his fill of her.

At length, Sakura reluctantly broke away from his intoxicating kisses and rolled away, springing back onto her feet, pulling him up after her. Sasuke watched, intrigued, as she turned to face him. The moonlight masked the blush in her cheeks, and yet Sasuke could easily sense how her heart quickened in his presence. It was a most exhilarating power to command over her body, to know that he was the one who caused the organ to race to a frenzied rhythm - the same way she made his own flutter in a manner previously foreign to him.

The reason for her sudden coyness was revealed a moment later when she bit her lower lip and whispered, "Dance with me?"

He blinked, staring at her in silence for a long moment. Their fingers were still entwined and to her delight, he wordlessly reeled her in, his gaze blazing through her so intently that she could not help but shiver under its heavy scrutiny. Together they waltzed beneath the moonlight and the stars, between the luminous blooms and the dancing butterflies, the beauty of their surroundings melting away around them as they drowned in each other's eyes.

In his arms, Sakura felt like she was soaring on wings. She had fallen hopelessly for him, she knew, and was still plunging, deeper and deeper into the bottomless dark abyss of love with no hope of salvation.

Love. Her private acknowledgement of the emotion filled her belly with agitated butterflies, made her heart race.

When the intimate dance was over, Sasuke slipped behind her, and wound a steely arm around her midriff. Sakura closed her eyes when cold shadows rippled from his form, enveloping them both in darkness as he whisked them away to yet another enchanted forest.

Her curiosity piqued. She didn't know where he was taking her, but was thrilled to be visiting another undiscovered section of the realm, and allowed him to lead the way. They walked leisurely together through the trees until eventually they arrived at the edge of Lethe's waters where a charming boat intricately cut from ivory wood was waiting for them. It was snugly built to seat two. An ornate glass lamp that caged blazing blue flame hung from the protruding, decoratively swirling stempost of the raft.

"What's this?" An intrigued smile tugged at Sakura's lips as Sasuke stepped inside the vessel and extended a hand to escort her in. Accepting it, she settled onto the plush, brocade silk cushions scattered on the back seat of the boat and gazed around her surroundings in fascination. With the exception of her escape attempt, she had never travelled over the Underworld's rivers before and could barely contain her excitement.

Upon closer inspection, Lethe was even more hauntingly ethereal to behold. The river seemed to glisten with its own tiny filaments of light, and as Sakura leaned over the edge of the boat, she found herself wondering what it might be like to dive beneath the silent, serene waters. Something about the way the waves rippled and shifted was cathartic, almost hypnotic. Sakura blinked, giving herself a mental shake. Perhaps it was better not to stare into the amnesia inducing waters for too long.

Sasuke, who was standing by the stempost, lifted a hand and the boat silently pushed away from the riverbank at his command. He then began to steer it using a large oar, and they started to travel downstream, passing ghostly fields littered with Underworld blooms and luminous forests in the darkness. Sakura gazed around their surroundings in awe, appreciating the dark beauty of the landscape. But nothing could have possibly prepared her for the spectacular sight that awaited her when, at length, they neared a large opening in a rockface that the Lethe passed through.

As they entered inside, Sakura glimpsed what appeared to be glittering diamonds set into the walls and the naturally arched roof of the tunnel above their heads. No, she realised with a delighted, astonished gasp. They were not gems. They looked more akin to brilliant orbs of light - like stars twinkling and ebbing around them. Thousands and thousands of tiny specks of light that glowed and glistened against the dark walls in a striking celestial display, illuminating the tunnel with magical starlight.

It was the most enchanting thing she had ever laid eyes upon. Dazzled, Sakura looked on in stunned, hushed silence, hopelessly captivated.

Sasuke, who had been observing her surreptitiously from the corner of his eye, smothered the small half-smile that curved upon his lips. Pride filled his chest - followed by a deep, bittersweet ache. The starlit cove was his mother's majestic creation, intended to mesmerise and entrance the senses - and as he had expected, Sakura was utterly charmed.

"What is this place...?" Sakura finally whispered, unable to comprehend that Sasuke had waited so long to show her such a bewitching sight.

"The Cove of Starlight," he replied.

"Those are really stars? How is that possible?" Her eyes then widened in understanding, and she realised why she had never seen the place during her first stay in his realm. "Your mother...?"

Sasuke nodded, his own eyes turned upwards to admire the glimmering celestial bodies.

"It's so beautiful..." Sakura breathed, shaking her head in wonder, a hand pressed to her chest as she took in the breathtaking view.

Against the glorious backdrop of luminous, twinkling light and the glow of blue flame, the Underworld's king was a sight equally as magnificent to behold, and for a long minute, Sakura couldn't drag her gaze away. She blinked, only snapped back to awareness when the boat gently drew to a stop against a pebbled shoreline within the cove. Sasuke once again offered her his hand, and Sakura clung onto it as she exited the vessel. Her heart swelled with giddy happiness when his fingers closed firmly around her own and he led her along the shore, then up a long set of marble-cut steps built into the wall, toward another opening, concealed by a fragrant curtain of flowering vines.

As they stepped inside, her eyes were overcome with yet another dazzling spectacle ahead. There were clusters of stunningly formed quartz crystals, mesmerising in the way they shifted colours. From indigo that changed to deep violet then to soft lavender, dusky pink that bled to blazing red, sunset orange that turned to fiery gold, then to mellow green, soothing turquoise, vivid cyan before cycling back to gradually deepening hues of blue.

The sound of powerful, gushing water echoed closeby. As they walked on, the foot trail opened up into a spacious, circular cavern. Jagged stalactites hung suspended from the high, naturally domed ceiling, their sharp ends catching the colours of the magical crystals that lined the walls of the winding, circular path. The route spiralled down to a beautiful, crystal clear pool, ethereally illuminated by yet more luminous quartz, into which cascaded a huge, spectacular waterfall that threw rippling, rainbow reflections of water upon the cavern's walls.

"Wow," Sakura exhaled in amazement, admiring the crystal rock formations. "How do they glow like that?"

"They contain dreams spun into chakra form, trapped within the crystals. The colours shift in response to variations in chakra," Sasuke explained.

"Dreams? Did your cousin put them there?" she guessed.

He nodded, leading them down the circular path to the pool. A short set of steps carved from rock climbed down to the wide rim of the basin. Long curtains of flowering vines hung down from the overhang of rock formed by the edge of the winding stairs above them, filling the air with a pleasant, floral scent. The walls surrounding the pool were midnight rock, just as the cove's had been, and also glittered with stars.

"This is incredible," Sakura exhaled, turning wide eyes up to the magnificent waterfall. Kneeling down beside the edge of the large body of water, she dipped her hands into it, pleasantly surprised to feel that it was warm.

Sasuke took a seat on one of several flat-topped boulders that surrounded the pool. He recalled, as a small child, sitting in the same spot, watching in amazement as Nyx had imbued the rock with tiny star fragments and his cousin had spun dreams into the crystals.

"Your mother liked creating beautiful things, didn't she?" Sakura asked softly, the statement gentle, inviting him to open up and share more of Nyx if he wished. Inspecting the iridescent quartz crystals that surrounded the basin of the pool more closely, she watched in fascination as they prettily changed hue. Tiny gold and silver fireflies hovered above the pool, shedding tiny specks of glittering dust. Occasionally they settled on the fragrant moon-flowers and midnight blue lilies that floated on the clear water's surface.

Sasuke's eyes lowered as he was hit with a stronger wave of nostalgia. His mother had been the most radiant and important goddess in his life. He recalled her nurturing patience, her quiet strength, her gentleness and playfully teasing nature. Her fierce loyalty, love, devotion and protectiveness toward her husband, her sons and nephew. The wisdom and the grace with which she had performed her duties. Her comforting scent - sweet jasmine and night-blooming lilies. She had always carried herself with the utmost elegance and propriety. A regal queen in every sense of the word.

He was silent for a long moment, before supplying, "She was… the Night. She commanded its cloak and shadow manipulation. Every star here is her creation."

Sakura approached one of the walls and ran her fingers over the rock, marvelling at the glowing fragments of celestial white light trapped within. She glanced back at the death deity, to find him watching her. "So your shadow abilities were inherited from both your parents, right? You said your father's role was darkness?"

Sasuke inclined his head in a nod.

Sakura directed her eyes back to the rockface. "I'm surprised Cronus let them make anything," she remarked. "But I guess he was too occupied with his war plans to care about what they were adding to the realm."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in agreement. Cronus hadn't cared much for the landscape of the Underworld once he had delegated the affairs of the realm to Sasuke's parents. Just as Sakura had stated, the greedy Titan had been far too fixated on overthrowing Zeus from Olympus to spend any further time cultivating his own kingdom.

Sakura blinked. A frown had settled upon Sasuke's features, indicating that his thoughts had taken a darker turn. It was a sour expression she firmly wanted to banish. She looked back toward the pool - and a playful idea began to unfurl its roots in her mind. One that caused warmth to bloom into her cheeks and set her pulse fluttering.

Neither of them were dressed for a swim. But what better way to turn his frown upside down than to entice him into the waters with her? She could scarcely believe that her own mind had supplied the daring idea, and yet the thought of executing it was exhilarating.

Walking slowly back to him, she cupped his face, tilting it up toward her.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she whispered, stroking his cheeks tenderly, deeply touched that he had shown her a number of sacred places that had been important to his immediate kin.

Dark lashed obsidian eyes met hers, all-consuming. The rainbow lights from the shifting crystals around them danced upon his hair and face and for a moment, Sakura found herself powerless to look away. Overcome with a surge of fondness, she leaned in to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

She heard his quiet intake of breath - and then he was immediately and eagerly responding. His hands slipped beneath the heavy, velvet fabric of her grey cloak to rest upon her hips. Sakura raked her fingers through his fine, silky hair and he tugged her closer, deepening the kiss with an endless, unyielding hunger that set her pulse racing.

Lifting her hands, she unclasped her cloak, allowing it to fall to the ground. He broke the kiss, his questioning gaze darting down to the bunched fabric. Sakura smiled against his lips and slowly began to unwrap the silver belt fastened around her waist. Perhaps it was the enclosed privacy of their hushed surroundings, or the hypnotic, ethereal glow of crystal-light that swayed her senses and chased away all self-consciousness, lending to her the unprecedented, playful confidence and boldness to start stripping before him. Or perhaps it was the way his glittering, black-diamond gaze - reflecting the myriad of mesmerising colours shimmering around them - that burned so intensely into her, making her feel like she was the most desirable creature the universe had ever conjured into being.

Sasuke watched intently as she removed her clothing without shame, the insecurities she had harboured during their initial unions all but non-existent. She had blossomed into a woman confident in her own sensuality, in the feminine power and wiles she possessed to seduce, enthrall and sway him. Sakura knew he would follow her, like a sailor drawn irresistibly to the call of a damning siren. She sang to his senses, needed only to beckon to him and he would willingly drown for her.

His eyes trailed ravenously and appreciatively down her slender form as she discarded the last of her garments. She was the very enrapturing image of temptation, igniting his ceaseless appetite for her. Robbing the breath from his lungs.

His hands itched to touch her, but Sakura had already turned away, long, rose hair swaying with her movements as she stepped into the pool. She found a small set of steps that gently eased into the soothingly warm waters and waded further in until she was waist deep into the water. Proceeding to swim, she released a delighted laugh as fireflies flitted past her and she drew closer to the majestic waterfall that cascaded down from a great height above them.

A cove filled with stars. Crystals that glowed every colour found within a rainbow's arc. It was a most magical place. Nothing on the surface could ever compare to such spectacular dark enchantment, such serene, otherworldly beauty. And Sakura knew she had been hopelessly enchanted by the Underworld - and its handsome ruler.

Floating in reverse, she turned back toward Sasuke to find that he had risen from his seat. Smouldering, searing onyx blazed through her, tracking her movements as he prowled unhurriedly around the perimeter of the pool. That intense gaze silently promised all the ways he might pleasure her the instant he captured her close again.

The butterflies in Sakura's stomach became a frenzied, uncontrollable swarm. She ached for him - but she also wanted to tease him, again. The same way he had tormented her so often. With those petulant, kissable lips. With his seductive shadow tendrils. With his tantalising fingertips, where every touch placed her on slow burn. She wanted to learn how far she could push before he snapped, relinquished all control and pinned her to the rockface to have his way with her.

Deliberately, she swam toward the edge of the pool opposite to where he was standing. The water lapped just above her waist. He looked on silently, and she tilted her head back, sighing, enjoying the steam rising around her, relaxed and completely at ease.

"The water's good, Sasuke," she encouraged. "Won't you come in?"

He blinked and reached up to unfasten his own cloak. Sakura bit her lower lip as she watched him pull off his tunic, exposing a lean body corded with rippling muscles. A pretty blush stained her cheeks and her heart fluttered as her eyes roamed over his defined torso. It was divine, honed by centuries of battle prowess and physical discipline. A body she could gluttonously enjoy whenever she pleased.

The thought of being able to tumble into bed with him - or anywhere else - any time she liked sent a trembling thrill down her spine. She had never thought of anything with any manner of possessiveness, and yet she knew without a doubt that she desired for Sasuke to be hers. With a depth of fervour that stole the breath from her lungs. Hers alone, until death and somehow beyond, until time itself fractured and collapsed.

Her breath hitched when he began to unbuckle the belt of his lower garments, his eyes still fixed onto her. Heat flared to the tips of her ears. Feeling as though she might lose her cool if she continued to watch, Sakura pushed away from the edge of the pool before he had finished undressing and dove beneath the waters for another swim, hoping to restore her composure.

She swam toward the waterfall then back again, surfacing at the edge of the pool beside the surrounding cluster of crystal rocks. Pushing her wet hair out of her eyes, she looked around, seeking out the death deity.

To her surprise, Sasuke had vanished. Only his clothes remained, placed in a tidy pile on top of one of the boulders.

"Sasuke...?" she called out uncertainly. Had he entered the pool already? She twisted around, inching along the perimeter, seeking him out before submerging under water again in an attempt to glimpse him below. But he was nowhere around to be found.

Surfacing again, she propped her elbows up against the edge of the pool and pedalled her legs leisurely as she awaited his reappearance.

Two steely arms suddenly appeared on either side of her, caging her in place. She felt the heat of a strong chest press against her back like a burning brand of iron, a sensation that set her heart aflutter. She hadn't sensed him. She had not heard him. His movements were as quiet as the shadows themselves.

"Looking for me," he exhaled into her left ear, eliciting a delicious shiver down her spine. "Sakura…?"

The air snagged in her lungs at his proximity. She closed her eyes, tempted to give in as he leaned down to deposit a trail of lazy kisses along the side of her neck. Her eyes then flew open when she felt his hands trace over the soft contours of her hips. When they changed course toward her lower abdomen and infringed upon dangerous territory, she knew that she would be trapped if she delayed acting any longer.

Without warning, she dove back beneath the water to escape the sensual prison of his arms. Resurfacing some distance away, she grinned at him, pushing herself back toward the waterfall.

"You'll have to catch me first, Sasuke," she giggled.

She had the distinct triumph of seeing that she had managed to surprise him, though the look was quickly swallowed into oblivion as he eyed her curiously, with the breathtaking intensity of a lethal, calculating predator who was determining the right moment to swoop down and seize his hapless prey.

The light of the crystals beside him cast an otherworldly glow about his sculpted features and threw a myriad of rainbow hues over the defined planes of his body. Sakura realised she was staring, and the smile momentarily faltered from her lips. He was so beautiful it hurt.

Giving herself a mental shake, she reminded herself that she was the one who was luring him in. Her playful game wouldn't work if she allowed herself to be seduced right back to his side by that impossibly smouldering gaze. She had to keep it together. No matter how strongly those bottomless, enticing pools of darkness tugged at her soul, like twin magnets to her burning iron core.

But when she blinked, he had already vanished, leaving nothing behind but swiftly dissipating tendrils of shadow. She bolted upright in the water in surprise, turning her head left and right, eyes frantically seeking him out.

A gasp flew from her lips when she felt something close around her left ankle seconds before she was yanked powerfully under. Thrashing on instinct, she spun around, trying to find him through the onslaught of bubbles, but there was only water around her. Kicking back up to the surface, Sakura spluttered and pushed the limp strands of her hair out of her eyes, gulping down a breath as she began to swim back toward the rim of the pool. Perhaps it was best to tease him out of the water, where she could actually control what she-

Before she could even finish the thought, she was hauled forward. Heat enveloped her as Sasuke once again materialised behind her, trapping her against the edge of the basin.

"Sasuke," she started. "That isn't fair-!"

His fingers laced through her hair and yanked her head back forcefully, arching her neck at a straining angle so that she could look up at him, looming over her. The look in his eyes made her legs feel weak and unleashed a fresh hurricane of distressed butterflies in her belly. The remainder of her complaint was devoured by the hungry lips that crashed down on hers, consuming and ravenous. His other arm wound around her midriff, making it clear that he would not permit her to escape from his clutches again as he pinned her down. She was trapped - and she relished it, her body tingling with delicious anticipation.

The world around them faded away into a symphony of sound and sensation as they entangled as one. No longer in control of her own thoughts and words, Sakura cried out his name as she felt herself rapidly spiralling toward the plummeting depths of an ecstasy only he could deliver to her.

"S-Sasuke-!" she gasped. "Sasuke… kun…!"

The words that had passed through her lips did not even initially register until he suddenly paused in his motions, surprised. After a few seconds, her eyes flew open in confusion. Dazed from desire, Sakura was unable to fathom why he had stopped so abruptly. She tried to turn her head but he still held her pinned down, and all she could see were the crystals glowing around them.

"What," he breathed hotly into her right ear, "did you call me…?"

His voice rumbled through the broad chest still pressed against her back, and something about his tone caused her heart to leap into her throat. Had she inadvertently blurted out something that had offended him in her drunken state of passion? Sakura blinked, disorientated. Her sluggish mind seemed to be incapable of forming any coherent thoughts. What had she said? She couldn't remember. Only his name. She had said Sasuke-

Then it slowly dawned on her, setting her already racing pulse rocketing to impossible speeds.

Sasuke-kun.

She had attached a suffix that, in the context of their relationship, denoted fondness. Familiarity. Affection.

She trembled, cheeks aflame, throat all at once more parched than a desert. Not knowing whether she should apologise, take it back, and proceed to drown herself in horrified embarrassment, Sakura remained frozen helplessly in place. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, furious and frenzied. Where had that utterance even come from? It had been subconscious and slipped from her treacherous tongue without a thought. Sakura was mortified, at a loss to offer any explanation that would justify its unexpected use, and could only assume from the instant manner in which Sasuke had halted that he did not approve.

"Sakura," he pressed expectantly.

"I-" she gulped, her brain drawing a horrific blank. Incapable of finding any words.

But then she felt his lips brush over the shell of her ear. The barely there touch sent a sinful shudder down her spine.

"Say it," he exhaled, "again."

There was a measure of breathlessness to his words. As if the addition of the small suffix changed everything. Sakura's eyes widened as clarity slowly trickled into her scrambled mind. He... wasn't angry? He… liked it? She had never used it with anyone else, and she knew that Sasuke would know that. So that made it significant between them. A verbal confirmation and declaration that Sasuke was special to her.

Dizzy with the realisation of how significant the change in address was, of its gravity and power, it took Sakura several attempts to speak again.

"Sasuke… kun…" she whispered back, testing how it sounded on her lips. It sounded precious. Sacred. It sounded right.

There was a quiet intake of breath behind her - before Sasuke gripped her chin and slammed his lips down over hers, finishing the passionate dance that they had begun.

---

~x~ Full scene on Ao3 ~x~

---

The regal sea stallions flowed effortlessly through the water, carrying Suigetsu and Karin at great speed to another region of the oceans, galloping past resplendent royal palaces, sunken old ships, stunning reefs of coral and the many diverse denizens that populated the realm, ranging from miniscule to colossal in stature.

Slowing his mount down so that it fell in line with Karin's, Suigetsu demanded, "So, you gonna tell me what happened, now?"

Karin's teeth clenched. She had lost count of how many times he had asked the very same question. To her great surprise - and absolute confusion - Suigetsu's snide comments had reduced somewhat in their frequency following her outburst in the cave, several surface days earlier. Instead, she'd felt his eyes settling on her more often than she was comfortable with, as if he were trying to burn a hole into her mind to extract the truth from her. But she remained tight-lipped, determined to ignore any further attempts at dragging her into conversation.

They had surfaced countless times over the course of their travels, following leads on chakra that always ended up belonging to nothing of significance. It was frustrating and exhausting for Karin to constantly try to map out all the signatures over such a large radius around her. Suigetsu stopped them often to allow her to rest and recover, before they ventured onwards.

Distant memories of swimming through rivers that tumbled into seas as a young nymph flooded back to Karin as they navigated the waves. These same formidable waters had once been her home - before she had quickly been abandoned by any friends she'd had in childhood due to her strange colourings and uncommon abilities. Left to her own devices and feeling as though she did not belong, she had eventually ventured to the surface. Yearning to break free from a kingdom that had alienated her and caused her such unrest. She recalled the fascination she had experienced, staying up all night for the first time to really watch the sun rise, the smell of the grass and the beauty of the forests and flowers, taking in an unfamiliar new world she had never before even known.

Once she'd had her first taste of the surface, Karin had been forever changed. She'd tentatively ventured into towns to watch humans, fully absorbed and amazed by the lives they led, the way they traded, the family and relationships that were central to their existence, the livestock they kept, the way they laboured and the curious contraptions they used and forged to help them in their daily lives. Every night she would return to the waters, feeling increasingly as though she were destined for more. For greater things. For something other than the mundane, meaningless existence of a lowly river nymph. She had craved attention, warmth and recognition - and that was what had led her to spiral into the greedy hands of all manner of men.

That was where it had all gone so wrong, when she had reached her breaking point. Until the handsome God of the Dead had happened upon her, his obsidian gaze as mesmerising and piercing as the hardest of lustrous black-diamonds. He had appeared to her from the shadows, blazing in magnificence like a distant star. Cold. Beautiful. Brilliant. And she had fallen helplessly under his spell.

She had believed him to be her saviour, the answer to all her prayers. The one who could fix her. If only she had known back then that she, alone, was capable of fixing herself, that she alone possessed the power to find her own happiness. If only she had known back then that Sasuke would end up being just another snare. Spun in gold, glittering and enticing, but barbed wire all the same.

She mourned the countless years she had lost, trying to please someone who had never seen her for her true worth. But she had nobody to blame but herself for her refusal to see it sooner, to take control of her life sooner.

"Get lost," she responded sourly, upset that she was thinking of Sasuke again. It wasn't his rejection of her that made her so angry. It was her own stupidity in not recognising that she'd never meant anything to him all along.

Suigetsu's eyes narrowed. "You're clammed up tighter than a fucking oyster," he remarked. "I could just stick an octopus tentacle down your throat and choke it out of you. I bet that's the kind of crazy, kinky shit you dig."

She shot him a look of disgust. He was repulsive.

"Why the hell are you being so stubborn about it? Is it 'cause I'm right? It is, isn't it? I'm calling it. People caught onto your abilities and started using you for them." When she remained stubbornly silent, he pressed, "You followed Sasuke because you were dumb enough to think you had a shot with him, but don't you get that he used you, too? He only took notice of you because you're a tracker with healing chakra. You really think he would've ever looked twice at you if you were just some normal sea chick-"

Karin yanked at her horse's reins, and immediately the steed floated to a halt. Her eyes widened, turning upwards toward the surface of the ocean, high above their heads. She had detected something. A strange, vague flicker of energy that she could not consciously grasp as belonging to anything living or concrete.

Suigetsu turned his stallion around to face her. "Hey," he glared. "If this is your shitty way of trying to change the subject-"

"Shut up," she hissed. "There's something in this region. I can sense it."

He rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "Lemmie guess? More spooky bats."

"No, you idiot," she scowled indignantly, turning her head as she tried to grasp at the readings. "It doesn't feel like the others. I'm picking up a signal from different points."

Suigetsu stared hard at her, before he finally relented and turned his own gaze toward the surface. It was night outside, he could tell, from the way the darkness permeated through the water.

"Fine," he shrugged. "But if this ends up being nothing, we're not moving on until you tell me the truth." Spurring his steed onward, he exclaimed, "Race ya!"

Karin shielded her eyes from the onslaught of water bubbles that followed his mount's powerful ascension to the surface. Shaking her head in irritation and muttering incoherently under her breath, she directed her horse after him.

---

~x~

---

They followed the trail for some time, revisiting the same spots on several occasions before Karin was finally able to pinpoint the source of the elusive signature. It kept shifting, sending pulses in different directions that she could only assume were attempts by the barrier to throw anyone who came looking off course.

At long last, they broke through a large body of water, above which was a huge, thick layer of rock.

"Here," Karin exhaled in the dimness.

"You sure this is it?" Suigetsu squinted, snapping his fingers together to summon a luminous, floating shell that provided illumination around their dark surroundings.

"I'm sure. There's some kind of barrier here. I can't see it, but I can sense it! The signals are scrambling together, somehow."

"That's why it took you so long to find it, huh?" Suigetsu's eyebrows arched in understanding. "Yup. This kind of shady shit's right up Creep-o-chimaru's alley." He reached a hand out to touch the damp rock-face.

"Don't!" Karin warned. "I don't know what kind of barrier this is! What if it triggers an alarm?"

Suigetsu slowly lowered his hand. "We're gonna have to get in to make sure this is the right spot. Can you map out what it looks like?"

"Weren't you listening?" she scowled. "I said the signatures are all jumbled. I can't get a clear hold on them."

"Heh." He shrugged. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. I'll just force a way through."

"Wait, you lunatic!" Karin's ruby eyes widened in alarm. "You're just going to go in? We don't know what's inside there!"

"That's why we're going in, genius. To see what it is." He shot her a look that suggested he believed her to possess the cumulative reasoning skills of a toddler.

"But-!" she started. "But that's reckless!"

He blinked at her, then feigned a comical pout. "Aw. You worried I'll get caught?"

"You wish!" she snapped. "You said we had to find the place, not go looking inside it! I've done my bit. I've found it. That was the deal!"

Suigetsu released a low whistle. "Damn. And you call me selfish? Look at you, you're just as bad!"

"Shut up. We can't just storm inside." Karin glared at him. "If this really is Orochimaru's main hideout, then it's going to be huge, and he'll have all the creepy experiments we were looking for in the other bases here."

"Probably," Suigetsu flashed her a sharp grin. "I didn't say this mission wouldn't be dangerous." At her horrified look, he released an exasperated sigh. "Okay, listen up. Who gives a fuck about triggering alarms? This place is surrounded by water. Which means that if anything goes to shit, I can get us out in a flash. Sheesh. Relax!"

At Karin's thoroughly unconvinced expression, he continued, "Don't be such a wuss. We only need to go in long enough to confirm this is the main hideout, and then we get the fuck out and lead the Olympians back here. So what if we trigger alarms? They can't do shit to us in liquid form, and he won't exactly have time to move all his resources anywhere, right?"

"How are we going to get through that?" she frowned, gesturing toward the rock.

"That's easy. I'll use water pressure to make a dent in it. We just need a teeny weeny little crack to slip through."

"But then they'll know we're coming. It'll give them time to prepare!"

"Prepare for what?" Suigetsu scoffed. "Battle with water they can't even see? We'll warp and hide in water points once we're inside."

"What if the water's contaminated?" Karin exclaimed.

"I'll protect us with barriers. Water molecules answer to me; contaminated or not, they're still liquid." When she continued to gape dubiously at him, he shot her a disgusted look. "Did you think I'd just let us waltz in without cover when we have no clue what's in there? Whaddaya think I am, stupid?" Blinking, he then began to add, "Wait, don't answer-"

"Yes," she interjected. "You're stupid. This whole plan is stupid!"

"You got a better one?" he challenged.

"We bring the Olympians here and let them go in!"

"Uh huh. Without making sure it's the place we're looking for, first?" Suigetsu's eyes narrowed. "You might not have a reputation to uphold, but I do. If I can get in and flood the place myself, that's what I'm gonna do."

"This has to be the place," she protested. "It's giving out scrambled chakra signals, and we've not come across anything like it! You're really going to let your stupid ego put us at risk of getting caught?"

He rolled his eyes. "We're not going to get caught. I told you, we're staying in liquid form! We can't just bring all the others here without letting them know what's inside this thing. Are you crazy? Who the fuck is gonna stop Cronus if they all get captured? Huh?"

Karin's lips pursed together, forming a thin, displeased line, not prepared to concede that he had made a valid point.

"This place has a barrier, right?" Suigetsu gestured. "Unless we know how to deactivate it, stealth mode isn't exactly a luxury we have right now. There's no way to avoid going through whatever this weird forcefield thing is."

"What if we can't get out?" Karin demanded. Every potential disastrous scenario skipped through her mind. "What if he has monsters in there that try to stop us escaping?"

Suigetsu stared at her for a long, incredulous moment. "Doesn't it get old?" He tilted his head, examining her as if she were an alien species he could not understand. "Being such a neurotic, paranoid pain in the ass? Would it kill you to have a little faith in my abilities?"

"You can warp in," she scowled, folding her arms across her chest. "I can't take liquid form."

"That's a lame-ass excuse," he dismissed. "You're a river nymph, so I can warp you through once I make an opening. I'll get you in and out in one piece, so quit your bitching."

Karin hesitated, apprehensive. She had a bad feeling about going inside blindly, but Suigetsu was clearly not willing to budge on his stance - and she had no choice but to follow him inside, being the only one capable of mapping out the layout based on the chakra signatures contained within the mysterious structure. Until she did that, she knew that their mission wouldn't be complete - and he would not consider her end of the deal fulfilled.

Her heart skipped a beat as she found herself wondering what manner of horrific things they would find inside. If it truly was Orochimaru's lair, then the place would surely be swarming with unpleasant surprises.

"You better know what you're doing, idiot," she muttered.

Suigetsu chuckled and snapped his fingers together again. A whirlpool formed beneath the steel structure.

"Here," he said. "This'll warp us right back outside in a jiffy, where our horses will be here, waiting. Sooo… how 'bout it?" he grinned widely, drawing an irritated huff from the nymph. "Ready to break in?"

Karin met his mischievous gaze unhappily and finally relented.

---

~x~

---

Harnessing the formidable might of the oceans, Suigetsu formed tiny fissures in the thick rock that allowed his element to permeate through the structure above them. That was all he needed to transport them swiftly to the other side.

They materialised in a deep pool within a dark, underground cave. It was empty and silent, save for the steady plop-plopping sound of water dripping from the jagged, uneven walls.

'Alright,' Suigetsu telepathically conveyed, as they remained safely concealed within his element. 'We're in. Pick up any signals?'

Karin turned her head, concentrating on the surges in chakra she could feel emanating from some distance away. They were steadier, no longer scrambled, indicating that the place was indeed occupied.

'That way.' She pointed toward a tunnel opening in the rock face.

Suigetsu nodded. 'Okay. Hold on.'

'W-what?!' she spluttered.

'You deaf?' He tossed her an exasperated look. 'I said hold on - unless your dumb ass wants to be left behind.'

She glared at him. With great reluctance, she reached out, gripping onto the sea god's shoulder. He focused, using his dominion over his element to detect a warp point into the nearest body of water. Karin felt the air catch in her lungs when the world around them blurred into cold ripples of shifting liquid as Suigetsu effortlessly transported them into a cylindrical tank.

She blinked, finding herself devoid of a solid, physical form courtesy of the cloak of water Suigetsu had enveloped around them, fortified with a protective layer of bubbles that prevented them from coming into direct contact with potentially contaminated liquid. Her limbs were barely discernible to her own eyes, transparent within the liquid, and yet she was able to see Suigetsu perfectly beside her. It was an odd, displacing, weightless sensation and yet she could not deny the fluidity and freedom of taking such a form.

They peered curiously out of the glass together, finding themselves in a dim, large cavern littered with industrial cylinders identical to their own. Warping along the tanks, they became distinctly aware that they were not alone in most of them. Test subjects were suspended within the containers, affixed to plastic tubes filled with oozing dark liquid. Some of them looked like they might have once been human, but their limbs belonged to other species entirely. Horrendous, makeshift frankensteins.

'What a crazy kink to have,' Suigetsu remarked.

Karin quickly reeled away from a large floating creature in revulsion. Whether it was alive or dead, she didn't want to stick around and find out. Suigetsu transported them to another holding cylinder, but before she could voice her distaste at finding a particularly gruesome, unidentifiable monster within it, she was overwhelmed with pulses of chakra signatures so potent that she froze in place.

'What?' Suigetsu's gaze immediately locked onto her.

'Chakra nearby…!' She responded, closing her eyes as she concentrated on the readings she was picking up. They took form behind her eyelids, crackling about like luminous bolts of lightning. 'A huge amount!'

'Hurry up and map it out,' he urged, before swiftly warping them to another cylinder. This one, thankfully, was empty.

'Monsters,' Karin confirmed, reaching out with her sensory abilities, building a gradual mental map of what was contained beyond the walls of each section of the underground caverns. 'This place is crawling with them!'

'Bingo,' Suigetsu grinned with triumph. 'We've found it. This is where that son of a bitch is engineering all his freaky pets. It's gotta be.'

'Can we go now?' Karin demanded, her body crawling with unease. She didn't want to move any closer to the chakra sources. Surely they were still near enough to the entrance of the compound to warp back out to safety, unscathed?

But Suigetsu had other ideas. 'Not so fast. We've gotta find out what else is in this dump, how big it is. C'mon.' He grabbed her wrist and the world rippled out of sight once more.

They warped to another point, next finding themselves in a large hangar, fortified with metal wall panels and flooring. Unlike the previous room encased in rock, it was bustling with activity, industrially built with clinical white floors and brightly illuminated by fluorescent lights that hung from the high ceiling.

What Suigetsu and Karin found inside the area stunned them. The armed ANBU soldiers that had evaded the surface deities ever since Danzo's demise patrolled the space. Brainwashed human scientists in lab-coats scribbled furious notes on clipboards and stood around large, complex control panels. Some wheeled expensive-looking laboratory equipment back and forth. Huge, impenetrable glass containers filled with an ominous dark green liquid that Suigetsu couldn't recognise were being used to harvest monsters.

Karin clenched her teeth, overwhelmed by the chakra signatures spiking all around her. This was where the creatures were being made, she realised. They spotted one - a newly formed cyclops just breaking out of its slimy cocoon - thrashing about in the water, heavily chained. It appeared enraged and in pain. The ANBU stabbed at its shoulders with metal spears and shot sedating darts at it to subdue it, and it soon grew still, forced into slumber. The scientists moved in, ready to inject substances that would induce mind control.

'Holy shit,' Suigetsu's amethyst eyes widened, uncharacteristically disturbed. 'This is even worse than I thought. No wonder this place was such a bitch to find. He's hiding all his heavy artillery down here!'

How many additional monsters had Orochimaru created in the time it had taken them to locate his base? The numbers were surely unimaginable. He had been quietly building up his army, which Suigetsu knew made it all the more imperative to destroy the base as quickly as possible.

In another container, a half-formed chimera was being incubated. A third held squirming birds with feathers that looked like they were forged of metal. In another tank, three trapped sirens banged against the glass, furious and helpless to escape, their long, silver and turquoise hair floating like a halo about their distressed faces.

Suigetsu's gaze locked onto them right before their container was flooded with the same filthy liquid that had them suffocating within seconds. Soon they were completely paralysed, and scientists quickly surrounded them, feeding more tubes into the cylinder. Ready to transform them into something else entirely.

Icy rage brewed like a roaring hurricane within the sea king's chest. Those were his subjects that Orochimaru had stolen and was experimenting on. Taken without a care for his consent in flagrant disrespect to his rank. Suigetsu found himself thinking of all the terrible, barbaric ways he would enjoy maiming the snake once he finally got his hands on him.

Karin, who had also caught sight of the suffering sirens, swallowed thickly and tore her gaze away, unable to watch what the scientists were doing to them. She couldn't even begin to guess how many cylinders there were in total, holding manufactured monsters that had already fully formed and were awaiting deployment.

'How can he make these?' she wondered, deeply unsettled. 'I thought all these creatures were wiped off the surface?'

'They were meant to be,' Suigetsu answered, a trace of clear anger to his tone. 'My guess is this asshole managed to get hold of their DNA somehow. That's how he's genetically reproducing them. They won't be as strong as the originals, but they're no joke, either. This is what he's always done. He was testing and experimenting on shit way before the war. How long do you think he's had to perfect all this? Fuckin' freak.'

Karin barely managed to suppress a shudder. It was cruel and alarming, seeing the way Orochimaru treated living things as little more than test specimens.

They left the hangar and warped to another holding area, manifesting within yet another glass cylinder. The new section was filled with stationary White Zetsu, lined like an army of statues. Rows upon rows, hundreds of them, all unmoving. Ready to be unleashed upon the mortal world.

'These ugly fuckers,' Suigetsu mentally sneered. He stared out at them through the water, and Karin could almost see the cogs in his mind turning.

'We should take out what we can,' he finally decided.

'W-what?!' Karin telepathically screeched at him. 'Are you crazy?! That wasn't the plan, stupid!'

'Yeah, well, change of plan. I'm pissed off, and I wanna leave that bastard a little message before we get outta here.'

'Wait. You can't do that!' Karin desperately attempted to reason with him, even though she knew, from experience, that she was fighting a losing battle. Suigetsu's moods were prone to shifting as quickly as the tides themselves. 'They'll be onto us before I can finish mapping out the other rooms!'

'We've seen enough. Let the others figure the rest out. By the time anyone here clocks on, we're long gone.'

Not waiting for Karin to protest any further, he summoned a humongous tidal wave that crashed down over the White Zetsu. The force of the impact caused them to topple over, and they did nothing to protect themselves as the room quickly began to flood. It was almost as though the zetsu were lifeless shells. Karin stared at them in confusion, abruptly realising that they had no active chakra signatures. Instead their pathways were strangely and suspiciously dormant.

'Wait a minute!' She cautioned Suigetsu. 'Those things aren't even-'

Before she could finish processing the situation, a loud alarm blared and they soon heard shouts and echoing, running footsteps approaching.

'Suckers,' Suigetsu sneered, snapping his fingers together so that the waves morphed into ferocious water dragons that hovered in the air, ready to devour and drown whoever came in to investigate the disturbance. He grabbed Karin's wrist just as the ANBU appeared through the metal doors, yelling in alarm when the liquid beasts descended down upon them with fury.

Reaching out with his abilities, Suigetsu attempted to track his subjects, intending to teleport to them immediately, but was surprised when he could not accurately pinpoint his horses' locations. The strange, scrambling barrier around the compound, he realised, had to be preventing him from picking up signals beyond the facility, somehow. The same way it had prevented Karin from sensing anything inside the hideout - making it impossible to warp back out to the oceans directly. It left them with no other choice but to travel back through the base the same way they had infiltrated into it - by switching through water points.

He warped them into another random room that fell within the same range of chambers they had already travelled through and paused, distracted by what was inside the new area. The space was similar to the hangar with the monsters - except within it were black variants of the White Zetsu, incubating inside cylinders identical to one of the few empty ones that they had teleported into.

'What the fuck…?' Suigetsu squinted. 'What're those things?'

'Their chakra,' Karin squinted, struggling to identify its precise nature and describe it with accuracy. It was unlike anything she had ever come across and made her skin prickle oddly. 'It's weird. Like it's alive… reaching out...'

'Huh?' Suigetsu's eyebrows furrowed. 'What the hell do you mean, reaching out?'

The blood drained from Karin's face as she finally figured out why the Black Zetsu was making her feel so uncomfortable. Realisation, raw and terrifying, slammed into her.

'Suigetsu! I think those things are trackers-!'

No sooner had she communicated the warning, thick green liquid suddenly flooded into their container. Karin's breath caught in her throat. The substance that stained the water was chakra draining, she instantly discerned with horror - no doubt another result of Orochimaru's diabolical experiments.

'Shit!' Suigetsu cursed when the liquid began to corrode at their bubble-barriers. 'What the fuck is this?!'

'It's chakra negating!' Karin warned.

Maintaining his protection around them, he immediately warped them to another cylinder - but the moment they reached it, the same cloudy liquid was released and sucked at the chakra-fortified shields that Suigetsu had erected around their forms, once again compelling them to move elsewhere.

'What's happening?!' Karin's heart pounded. Suigetsu did not respond, and instead transported them into another container within a different room. All the tanks in the smaller, metal-constructed area were thankfully empty and filled with clear water.

'That green water's toxic-' he began. Before he could complete his sentence, murky liquid flushed into their tank, followed immediately by a debilitating current that crackled dangerously through the water.

Electricity. Suigetsu's elemental weakness.

It spiked through the liquid, temporarily rendering teleportation impossible as it zapped around the concealing cloak of water surrounding them, weakening its effectiveness and reverting them to a pulsing, semi-liquid state. The moment their forms changed, the protective bubbles around them began to dissipate to Suigetsu's horror, despite his best attempts at maintaining them. His own element was impossibly being turned against him, as if something else was negating his influence.

Seconds later, the barrier fizzled away completely, allowing disabling voltages to pass straight through their bodies. Suigetsu's vision throbbed red with pain. Karin's mouth fell open, screaming without a sound as pure agony seared through her nervous system. They could not move, the water polluted with the same toxic, chakra devouring liquid that made their limbs feel as though they had turned to oily slush.

Karin's heart hammered against her ribcage as wave after wave of electricity coursed through her. Escape, at that moment, was out of the question.

'S-Suigetsu!' she mentally screamed. The torture only ended when the water around them suddenly solidified, frozen. She could feel the compacted, freezing ice crushing against her body, rapidly draining her of the chakra she so desperately required to heal. A panicked sob built into her chest, but she couldn't draw enough air to release anything more than a feeble whimper.

Suigetsu clenched his teeth. They had been detected. But how? He had been careful to ensure that they'd been invisible to all the ANBU and scientists around them. Even if he had flooded one of the rooms, it ought not to have been possible for anyone to be able to pinpoint their precise location. A barrier had protected them from contaminants. His mind sprinted, trying to determine just how his cloaking abilities could have possibly failed them, and realised with anger that he had grossly miscalculated. He had been over-confident in choosing to linger for longer than was absolutely necessary and arrogantly assumed that all water within the facility was his to command.

He had not factored in the possibility that Orochimaru would be able to override his control over his own element using chakra negation that unnaturally altered the liquid at its most basic, molecular level. Just how many forbidden dark arts did the serpent have at his disposal?

Furious, Suigetsu injected his will into the thick layers of ice, shifting the water molecules within, forcing cracks through the frost, his body numb from cold and the electrical current that had zapped through him.

'Karin… hold on!' he telepathically ground out, pushing against the solidified water.

'Ch-chakra!' she warned, unable to communicate anything else. Through the frosted glass they saw a tall, cloaked figure slowly approach them. It was a masked man, who lowered his wooden face covering slightly to reveal one Byakugan and one Sharingan eye.

"Oh, look," Suigetsu's lips curled into a sneer. "It's Puppet Boy, Obito. Should've guessed."

"Poseidon of the Oceans." Obito greeted calmly.

"How'd you track us?" Suigetsu glared.

"You flooded one of our chambers," Obito responded. "The alarm was raised, and in response, we contaminated every water source within the facility with liquid containing Black Zetsu spores. They devour any chakra that is nearby and are capable of detecting even the slightest fluctuations in molecular structure. Once every tank was infected, it was simple to trace your location."

"Spores? What the-?" Suigetsu broke off, enraged. How had he been caught off guard so carelessly? But how could he have ever anticipated that his own chakra and barriers would fail him under water? It was an unprecedented occurrence - and the addition of the Zetsu spores explained everything.

"You were both infected with the Black Zetsu the moment the electricity passed through you," Obito added, explaining why the bubbles around them had diminished so rapidly.

Suigetsu's mind hurtled, quickly processing the bad news and the perilous implications of being infected by a foreign organism that the enemy was capable of controlling. But his face remained a carefully blank mask, betraying nothing of his innermost thoughts.

Karin, overcome with numbing pain, struggled to communicate with him.

'This… is all your fault!' she finally mustered the strength to telepathically yell at her companion. 'I... told you... we should've left... right away!'

'Shut up,' Suigetsu telepathically snapped, growing even more irate because he felt fully responsible and because he knew she was right. They'd had the opportunity to leave sooner. It had been his flawed impulsiveness that had cost them.

"My Byakugan also allows me to visualise the smallest shifts in chakra, which made discovering your precise location possible once the spores infected you - despite your concealed states." Obito added.

"Your Byakugan?" Suigetsu mocked. "Give me a fuckin' break. You mean the eye you've stolen, just like all the tailed beasts you're holding for Cronus until he decides he no longer needs your sorry ass?"

Obito ignored the jibe. "Your abilities will make a fine addition to Lord Cronus's army."

"Heh." Suigetsu spat out. "You think this little ice block's enough to hold me? News for ya, dumbass. Where there's water, I make the rules." He forced the ice to expand further and it heaved against the cylinder, generating enough pressure to create deep fissures in the glass that shattered. He and Karin tumbled out, instantly reverting to liquid form as they hit the ground. Swiftly they began making their way toward the exit.

"Futile." Obito's deep voice remarked. "In this compound, even the floors are designed for the conduction of electricity."

He slammed a foot down on the floor, sending another devastating current sizzling through the metal panels, forcing the two to surface yet again in a neighbouring chamber. A gasping Karin slumped on the ground, groaning in pain, no longer in liquid form. Suigetsu recovered faster and floated just above the floor in a rippling liquid state, stalling the spread of the deadly Black Zetsu spores within his body. He turned to face Obito who materialised behind them, positioning himself between his foe and the nymph.

"Lord Cronus has instructed that I bring you to him unharmed, Lord Poseidon. He has plans for you," Obito said.

"You can tell your Lord Crap-Ass that I'm even less on board with his psycho plans than I was over two thousand years ago," Suigetsu panted, regaining his composure as the last of the electricity frazzled out of his system. "Man!" He rolled the knots out of his shoulders. "That was invigorating. Nothing like getting your cells fried to put you in the mood to kill a bitch."

"You cannot escape." Obito's voice was devoid of emotion, his mask firmly back in place. "Every water point within this facility has now been infected with spores and chakra-negating liquid. You cannot leave through the ground. Nor can you flood this compound. Kamui vortexes will redirect your water back to the seas, and if you attempt to flee, your friend will be devoured by the Black Zetsu. There is no way out for you."

"Your shitty little vortexes can't hold out forever." Suigetsu taunted. "You think you can keep out the might of the entire ocean indefinitely? I have a Kraken with your name on it, asshole. Once it gets in here, you're all fucked."

"If you do not withdraw your Kraken," Obito warned, "the expendable nymph dies. The spores are already leeching her chakra and will begin to leech yours once you revert to solid form. I have to only command them to multiply, and she will be lost to you, forever."

Expendable. The word echoed chillingly through Karin's ears.

Suigetsu stared blankly at him. "Huh? Is that meant to be a threat?" He blinked. "Wait a minute. You actually- you think I give a shit about her?" He threw his head back and cackled loudly. "Hahahaha! Gimmie a fuckin' break. Go ahead." He jerked a thumb back over his shoulder in Karin's direction. "I've spent centuries hating this ugly bitch. She's a traitor who deserted my kingdom for the shitty Underworld and the only reason she's even here is 'cause she's a tracker, and I blackmailed her into helping me find this place. So really? You'd be doing me a favour. If you've contaminated her, guess she's useless to me now, anyway."

Glancing back down at where the red-head was still sprawled on the ground, he added offhandedly, "Looks like she'd be pretty useless to you, too. But you know what they say about one man's trash, another man's treasure, right? Maybe you Uchiha secretly dig redheads. Matches your creepy eyes and shit?"

"Y-you… bastard…" Karin rasped out, stung beyond measure by the callousness of his words. They clapped down upon her like a physical blow that left her stunned at the heartlessness of his betrayal. "I never… should've let you…"

"Sucks for you," Suigetsu sang, wholly unsympathetic to her distress. "Guess you get to be their newest experiment, huh? That's why you left the surface to begin with, right? You'll fit right into their little freakshow."

Tears pricked at her eyes. Livid, she clenched her teeth and bit her tongue to conserve her energy as his attention turned back to Obito, who had been closely watching their exchange in silence. Wordlessly, he gestured with his hand to test the validity of Suigetsu's statements. Karin sucked in a sharp breath when she felt something cold slithering through her veins. It was a revolting, disturbing sensation that made her skin crawl, and when she glanced down at her hands, was horrified to find a sickly black liquid rippling beneath her flesh. As if it possessed a mind and will of its own.

A shrill shriek of alarm escaped her lips and she clawed frantically at her skin in a vain attempt to remove the parasitic spores. But they had already multiplied inside her bloodstream and she could feel them sucking her chakra reserves dry. Her stomach lurched. She was as good as dead.

Suigetsu glanced back down at her over his shoulder, his expression still nonchalant. "That doesn't look like fun," he quipped. Shrugging, he glanced back at Obito. "So I guess my Kraken's coming for you after all, huh?"

"Let it come," Obito commanded the spores to settle, recognising that the nymph was indeed a sensory type tracker capable of promoting healing, and therefore of potential, valuable use to their cause. Orochimaru, he was certain, would want her conscious and alive. "This compound will be its tomb, in turn."

"Heh. That's big talk for a little puppet. Say, remind me, what the fuck are you the god of, again? Oh yeah! My bad," Suigetsu snapped his fingers together and pointed at him. "Now I remember. You're the Uchiha clan reject and Cronus's resident ass-kisser."

"I serve my King." Obito stated. "You have chosen the wrong side, aiding the Olympians."

"I don't choose sides, dipshit. I look out for me. You've been stealing my people from the oceans and using them as test subjects. You fuckers thought I wouldn't hunt you down and make you pay for that?!" Without warning, he lunged toward Obito, shattering every cylinder in the room by commanding the water pressure within to increase, releasing the polluted, chakra absorbing liquid which he redirected in a vicious cyclone toward the masked man.

Obito flash-stepped aside to evade the toxic rain and retaliated with chakra strings charged with electrical current. The sea deity sliced through them with Samehada, flinging the bristling blade straight at Obito. As it travelled in a slicing arc and Obito flash-stepped aside to avoid it, Suigetsu rapidly formed seals with his hands. A plume of water exploded into the air, through which roared six furious water dragons that dove straight toward Obito.

"You might've been able to get a lucky hit on me inside those tanks with your freaky spores, but whatever's liquid answers to me!" Suigetsu shouted. Samehada spun in the air, returning to his hand and he leapt forward, summoning an enormous, nine-headed Hydra that exploded into being from a yawning vortex of water and descended upon Obito with vengeance, spewing venomous water and mist.

The chamber quickly began to flood, the drainage systems built into the bases of the walls and floors unable to clear the sudden influx of water fast enough. Karin watched the fray with wide eyes. She could feel her body weakening with every passing minute as the Black Zetsu steadily depleted her chakra.

Her hair and clothes were saturated with the filthy liquid that had flooded the cylinders and her body trembled violently. With difficulty, she pushed herself up to her feet. What could she do? She couldn't flee and escape without Suigetsu's aid. She had been marked by the enemy, her own ability to heal rendered useless.

As if that wasn't terrible enough, the chakra reserves she sensed radiating from the dangerous masked man were monstrous. There was no way, she realised with icy, sinking dread, that Suigetsu could possibly defeat him alone. He would run out of chakra far sooner than Obito would.

Obito abruptly changed course, lunging toward Karin with a dark blade that crackled with lightning. Body sluggish, she squeezed her eyes shut, anticipating the hit, when the crashing of one of the ferocious Hydra's heads blocked off Obito's attempt at impaling her straight through the chest. She blinked, shocked that Suigetsu had bothered shielding her, an act so at odds with the harsh words he had spoken about how insignificant she was only minutes earlier.

Her mind reeled. Was it possible that Suigetsu had been bluffing? Had he allowed her to believe him, in order to make the act more credible? It frightened her that she couldn't really tell with certainty or confidence what he was thinking. He had always been far too capricious for her to be able to predict.

A large Kamui portal appeared behind the Hydra and began dragging its humongous body back - a terrifying demonstration of just how easily Obito was able to turn the tables and negate any advantages lended to his opponents through summons. The enraged, roaring sea dragon released one last powerful jet of water before vanishing into oblivion.

It was immediately replaced with another summon that lashed out at Obito, buying them precious seconds in which to move. Cascading water crashed down over her head and Karin was pulled beneath the current, her body spinning uncontrollably. Panic crested within her throat, morphing into a scream, when she was suddenly caught up in a rapidly dissipating bubble barrier, just as electricity once again exploded through the water.

A steely arm wrapped around her waist and the next thing she knew, she had landed roughly on solid ground, in the very same cavern through which they had entered into the compound. Suigetsu, who had warped them away from Obito, shoved her toward the pool of water ahead of them just as the masked Uchiha swiftly re-materialised through a Kamui vortex right behind them.

Karin only managed three steps. Her body felt like lead and she writhed in agony as the spores began to seep out of her flesh, crawling all over her. They rooted her feet to the ground, making her incapable of movement.

"I- I can't move!" she gasped out.

"You cannot escape." Obito repeated, blocking off their route to the pool with swirling transportational vortexes that rippled threateningly in the air, ready to intercept any frantic dash they made toward safety. "The nymph will die. Surrender."

Suigetsu flashed a razor-sharp grin loaded with animosity at him and without warning, liquid-warped behind Karin as if to use her as a physical shield.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" she cried in alarm. Had he only saved her minutes earlier to ensure his own escape? How could she have possibly thought otherwise? He would always be the same. When push came to shove, the ocean king would sacrifice anyone's life in order to save his own hide.

"What'd I tell you?" he said, confirming Karin's fears. "She's nothing."

With those words, he stabbed Samehada straight through her gut, drawing a blood-curdling scream from Karin's throat. Her vision pulsed white as pain skewered through her, blinding and excruciating. Her mouth fell open in agony. The blade burned through her midsection and through the unbearable anguish, she felt the greedy, hungry Samehada feasting on her chakra reserves.

The world began to tilt as a lightheadedness overcame her. Suigetsu then wrenched the sword ruthlessly out of her stomach and discarded her roughly aside. She landed in a motionless heap upon the ground, her glasses clattering beside her, her blurring vision swarming with pain. Every limb, every muscle in her body, felt like deadweight.

This was it, she thought numbly to herself. The callous moment he left her behind to wither away and die, like little more than trash tossed out of the oceans. It was over. Her eyes welled with resigned tears and her drooping eyelids felt too heavy to hold open. Betrayal was a dark chasm of pain that swallowed her whole. She had always known that Suigetsu was selfish, but had never imagined he would ever stoop to levels so cowardly and low.

Then, through the sea of despair, she was astonished to feel a ripple of familiar warmth creeping through the cold numbness that had seized her limbs. It gathered slowly, centering at her stinging midsection.

Her own chakra, she registered, not restored to full capacity, but capable of promoting a small amount of healing once more.

Karin's stunned, disorientated mind was flung into confusion. How was that possible? Then understanding struck her, snatching the breath from her lungs. Samehada. She recalled that it was a chakra devouring blade. The sword must have drawn the strongest, most active chakra in her body - that of the Black Zetsu spores - into it like a magnet, acting as a siphon that removed some of the contaminants from her bloodstream.

Suigetsu had stabbed her not to finish her off, but to restore her ability to move.

Behind her, she could hear the sound of a furious fight taking place as Poseidon drew Obito's attention away from her. A small amount of strength began to return to her body. Gingerly she pushed herself up to her knees, wincing at the deep pain in her gut. She was still bleeding, but already the flow of blood was slowing down.

'Stop gawking, you dumb bitch! I've got him distracted! Get your ass out of here!' The voice that echoed in her mind was full of urgency, confirming that Suigetsu had indeed been pretending all along. The facility shook, rumbling violently as the Kraken he had commanded to come to his aid slammed against the hideout's barrier-protected walls in an attempt to break through.

Karin remained rooted to the spot, reluctant to move for fear of drawing their masked adversary's focus back onto her. She couldn't afford to take another hit and swallowed nervously, fighting against the tremors that assaulted her body. How could she possibly leave Suigetsu behind? He had been infected with spores too, and the moment he was forced to take physical form, would be in trouble.

'But you-' she began to argue.

'Not the time to start giving a shit about me! I'll be right behind you! Scram!'

Karin fumbled for the glasses that had landed beside her. They were cracked, but as she put them on, could see enough through their lenses to discern how far the pool was from her present position.

She drew in a shuddering breath, allowing her body precious extra seconds to heal further. Yet still she hesitated, crouched low. What would happen if Obito overpowered Suigetsu? She knew that her presence did not help him at all and held no sway in a brawl between gods. She had never been much of a fighter. Her strengths were in tracking and healing. But the thought of escaping and leaving him behind did not sit right with her. He was too powerful a force for their enemy to possess.

Noting with disbelief that she had still not taken advantage of the diversion he had provided, Suigetsu telepathically roared, 'For once in your stupid, stubborn life, do what I say, Karin! That's an order, not a fucking request! Get the fuck out!'

The angry words reverberated deafeningly inside her skull. She flinched at the severity of his tone as Obito, who had just evaded a vicious water cyclone, lifted his hands, manifesting a tailed beast bomb that rapidly grew in gravitational force and size. Karin blanched. She remembered, all too vividly, the destruction that the gargantuan, gravitational bombs caused from their near-fatal encounter with the Olympian guardian Killer B. If that deadly sphere collided into them, neither of them would be getting out.

Suigetsu, riding a wave, straightened, bracing himself to defend against it, not taking his eyes off Obito for a second.

'Why?!' Karin clenched her teeth, finally recovered enough to push herself up to her feet. 'You could've escaped! If the enemy gets hold of you then-!'

She didn't get a chance to complete her thought. The monstrous chakra bomb was ruthlessly unleashed and hurtled with unstoppable speed straight toward them. At that precise moment, she detected another ripple of energy just behind her and saw a swirling vortex of air manifest that began to pull at her body as if to suck her in. She cried out, trying to dig her feet into the rock, looking for anything to anchor herself to in vain as she felt its irresistible force drag her backwards.

An enormous tidal-wave wall of water surged up before the ocean ruler, its power devastating, generating hurricane force winds as it pushed against the humongous bomb, a mighty shield that slowed down the dark sphere's fatal trajectory. Before Karin could rightly discern what was happening, a rotating typhoon of liquid surrounded her, stalling the Kamui portal, which devoured gushing water instead. But yet another portal was opening up to her left. Obito, she realised, was determined to stop them escaping at all costs. They were trapped between their formidable foe and dozens of further ensnaring portals that had appeared around them, cutting off their escape.

She briefly caught a glimpse of Suigetsu, who was constantly moving to avoid the portals, before she felt cold liquid physically collide into her, splintering the breath from her lungs. Thrown violently off balance, she was lobbed into the air above all the portals and sent soaring like a ragdoll. A tentacle of water then abruptly shot upwards, wrapping around her waist. It yanked her down with blinding, eye-watering speed, sending her hammering heart careening into her throat.

'Heh. Stupid bitch.' Suigetsu's voice sounded distant and faint in her mind as the water he had commanded to get her out hauled her down toward the pool. 'What kind of shitty king would I be, if I left one of my people behind?'

She didn't even have time to process the enormous gravity of his words. With a piercing scream, she crashed down into the pool, breaking painfully through the thick surface layer of ice that had been summoned to prevent their exit. A sharp, excruciating sting sliced along her arms and back - jagged frost tearing into her flesh - before she plunged into the freezing waters, helpless to fight against the treacherous waves that sent her spiralling down into the bottomless deep.

Bubbles of water blinded her, enveloping her in a head-spinning rush of movement and soon she lost sight of everything as the world faded to black.

---

~x~

---

With a gutteral gasp, Karin's eyes flew open to find herself lying on a pebbled shoreline. Cool water was lapping at her calves and the clear sky above her was midnight black, littered with glimmering stars. One of Suigetsu's horses hovered by her side, its silver eyes glowing in the darkness. Leaning its head down, it gently nudged her, rousing her back to awareness.

Silver eyes. A gleaming hue not unlike Poseidon's hair. Dizzily she sat up, her entire body shaking from chakra depletion, dimly registering that she had lost her glasses again at some point in the frantic commotion.

Bending forward, she vomited bile, overcome with prickling nausea as recollection slammed into her. She had gotten out. Suigetsu had saved her, but he wasn't right behind her as he had assured her he would be. The idiot had chosen to remove her from danger instead of himself.

'What kind of shitty king would I be, if I left one of my people behind?'

The last words he had communicated in her mind replayed over and over, verbal ghosts that left her haunted. They were cruel, a mockery. The worst thing he could have possibly selected to say to her in parting. Insults between them, at least, were far simpler, far easier to shoulder. But those unexpected words opened the floodgates of a guilt that was suffocating, all-encompassing. One of his people? The infuriating fool had chosen that exact moment to decide she fell into that category?

Her thoughts spun, chaotic, tormented and fractured. No, no, no. Why? Why would he bother to do something so selfless and brave? She didn't understand. Why would he place her well-being above his own when they positively loathed one another? He wasn't capable of pity. He was the very definition of selfish and unfeeling. He cared for nobody but himself. Then why?

Her heart pounded, the force of its rhythm sickening. She wasn't yet ready to acknowledge that she had perhaps been mistaken about aspects of Suigetsu's character, blinded to them in her prejudice and in the grudges she had always harboured against him. Blind to the fact that beneath his crude, brash, rude and utterly insufferable exterior, he was capable of being honourable in his own way.

Had he managed to escape after her? The tightness in her throat told her with certainty that surely Suigetsu would have followed after her - had he gotten out. The horse would not be by her side otherwise. Which meant that Obito had likely swallowed him into one of those frightening vortexes or otherwise disabled him and trapped him inside the compound. Had he been knocked unconscious, allowing the black spores to overwhelm him?

Not knowing the answers to any of those questions birthed claws of apprehension that gripped her in an asphyxiating hold. She felt torn. She was furious at him. She wanted to scream.

She was nobody of significance. She had been poisoned by the black spores and didn't know enough about their sinister nature to be certain whether Samehada had truly extracted them all or simply slowed down the rate of their growth. Either way, she was useless in comparison when it came to the fight against Cronus. She ought to have been the one left behind. As much as she could not stand Suigetsu, there was no contest when it came to which of the two of them was more dispensable to the universe.

Stifling horror smothered her at the thought of Suigetsu being captured and physically possessed by the enemy, and her panic-stricken, disorientated mind finally caught up with the gravity of the situation. She was badly wounded and still losing blood faster than she could heal, but she had to move. She needed to alert the surface gods. To lead them back to the hideout as quickly as possible in order to aid Suigetsu.

Her heart sank like lead when it then occurred to her that she was just a clueless nymph who had no idea how to reach the Olympians or where to find them. She turned burning eyes up to the magnificent stallion, as if pleading with it to help her. It snorted, tossing its rippling mane, staring back at her expectantly.

Karin blinked and sucked in a sharp breath. She didn't know how to contact the surface deities - but there was one deity she knew precisely where to locate.

The formidable ruler of the very realm she had abandoned and promised herself she would never set foot inside again.

But she had no choice. The grave urgency of Suigetsu's plight was more important than her pride. She didn't want to consider what might happen if his abilities fell into the hands of the enemy. She shuddered at the mere thought.

Dragging herself up to her knees, she grabbed at the horse's reins and struggled to mount the steed. It strangely cooperated, lowering itself to allow her to crawl up onto its back.

"Suigetsu's in trouble!" She rasped out, hoping against hope that the intelligent steed would be able to find the destination she had in mind without guidance. "Please take me to the Underworld, quickly!"

---

~x~

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Author's Note

Reviews are gold. See you next update.