Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and kindly leave feedback for the last chapter.
Chapter CIV
Guard thy Kingdom, and guard thy throne.
For upon it is a veil of blood and stone.
~x~
Sakura bit anxiously down on her right thumbnail as she paced about in restless agitation. Back and forth. Left and right. Her nerves were strung taut, her body plagued with the jitters of unease. A heavy feeling of foreboding had settled in the pits of her stomach, churning her gut with dread.
It had been a while since Sasuke had left to meet with the Olympians on the surface. She had tried to occupy herself once again, but failing to do so, had found herself returning to the very spot he had left her in before departing - the palace's grand entrance hall.
What was happening in the High Council grounds? Had they all decided on a strategy and ascended the summit of Olympus to rescue Kakashi from the enemy's clutches? Were all her friends and loved ones at that very moment locked in another ferocious battle?
The thought of them being in the same vicinity as Cronus himself made Sakura feel sick to her stomach with worry. She hated being forced to wait again for news, with only her thoughts for company. They were eating her alive. What if everyone had walked into a trap? What if something terrible happened and Kakashi was simply being used as bait to lure them all into being captured by the enemy?
She swallowed back the horror building in her throat. Her catastrophic thoughts were spiralling out of control, fuelled by mounting paranoia. Doing her best to reel them in, Sakura reminded herself that Sasuke had acquired the Rinnegan. Surely, whatever lay ahead, he was better equipped than ever to deal with it.
Yet she couldn't help but think that he and Chiyo ought to have returned, and could not shake off the feeling that something felt wrong. Like a bad omen looming over her head, a skitter of apprehension in her bones that had her convinced something awful had happened, or was about to happen, and-
"My Lady…?"
Chizu's voice behind her almost made Sakura jump out of her skin with fright. She spun to face her handmaid, the rich skirt of her crimson gown swishing outwards with her movements.
"I'm sorry," she winced. "You startled me."
"My apologies, Mistress." Chizu's kind eyes were full of concern. "Are you well? You seem distressed."
Sakura bit her lower lip. "It's Sasuke-kun," she admitted. "He's been gone a long time. I'm worried something might have happened to him. I've tried to reach him through the link we share but…" her voice trailed off. Nothing but silence had met her attempts.
"I am certain that the Master is well," Chizu reassured her. "He will surely return soon." Seeing the unconvinced expression that lingered on Sakura's face, she offered, "Might I offer you a drink in the banqueting hall to soothe your nerves?"
Sakura reached out and laid a gentle hand on her attendant's shoulder. "Thank you," she gave her a small, grateful smile. "But I'll be alright. I think I'll go for another walk around the grounds. If he comes back while I'm gone, could you please let him know?"
"Of course, My Lady," Chizu bowed her head politely in parting, then bustled along toward the servant's quarters.
Sakura turned away and exited the palace through its majestic entrance doors. She walked out onto the lavish, polished ebony landing beyond, enclosed within a cage of mighty marble balustrades, and stared out at the view ahead, taking in the neatly tended hedges beyond the tree-lined path brimming with luminous flowers, and the exquisite stone fountains that cascaded crystal clear water. The realm had become her second home, and yet whenever Sasuke was away she missed him terribly, felt his absence profoundly.
Slowly, she descended the steps, to the long path that led to the palace's unbreachable, formidable entrance gates, and strolled distractedly along it, studying the crimson petals that had scattered onto the mosaic-laid ground. Sasuke was fine, she reassured herself again fiercely. They all were. Storming Olympus to retrieve Kakashi would require careful planning, which in turn demanded time. She simply needed to be patient.
So lost was she in her thoughts that she did not immediately hear the strangled sound that drifted through the air some distance ahead of her. She blinked as it reached her ears, jolting her abruptly back to the present. Turning her head, she followed the source of the noise, searching through the flower hedges, thinking that perhaps a servant had gotten into a spot of trouble somewhere.
The groans of pain grew louder, until they led her at last to the towering entrance gates. Sakura blinked, surprised by a most unexpected sight on the other side.
"Jugo?" she questioned. What was he doing there? Why had he left his post?
Surrounded by the thick, freezing fog that did not encroach through the palace gates, Jugo stood deathly still, his eyes wide. Glazed.
"Has something happened?" Sakura stepped closer to the gate, peering at him through the bars in concern. "Are you alright?"
Her voice seemed to rouse him from his state of paralysis. Slowly, he shook his head, appearing confused, before a look of unbridled terror manifested across his strong features. His chest began to heave, as if he were on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Jugo, what's-?" Sakura frowned.
"N-no! No! S-stop! Get out! Get… out!" He spoke with great difficulty, as if wrestling for control of his own body, and began to strike his head with fisted hands.
Sakura's pulse quickened, thoroughly alarmed by his condition and the strange words he was uttering. She recalled Suigetsu warning her once that Jugo was prone to being mentally unstable, and wondered whether he was having an episode, or whether he was genuinely sick. She thought it was more likely to be the latter, noting that beads of sweat had formed on his brow, and he was shaking violently. Almost as if he had been afflicted with fever and barely possessed the strength to remain standing.
"Jugo-" she tried again, closing her hands around the steel bars, intending to open the gates. She could not just leave him to suffer. He looked like he had struggled to make it to the palace, and she knew for a fact that he would not have left his post or neglected his duties unless in an emergency.
"Don't-!" he ground out through clenched teeth. "Don't- open… it! Y…ou… you must… not! Please! I-I cannot control it, my Lady!"
"Control what? What are you talking about?!" Sakura pressed one hand above her thundering heart, gripping one of the gate's bars tightly with the other.
"P… please-!" Jugo moaned. "Please… fetch… the Master- arghhh!"
Sakura's heart lurched at the inhuman howl of pain that tore from his throat. She blanched, deeply disturbed as he began to convulse, foaming at the mouth.
"What's happening?!" she cried, her scattered, frantic thoughts telling her she needed to get her healing orbs, ambrosia, an antidote, something- and yet her feet remained rooted in place, and her eyes seemed incapable of dragging themselves away from his face, as if they would find the reason for his ailment written upon his anguished features if she stared for long enough.
Distressed, she turned her head to glance back toward the palace, relieved to find that two servants, who had no doubt heard the commotion, were rushing toward her. She waved desperately to them, urging them to hurry.
"Hold on, I'm going to get help-" she started.
"NO!" Jugo roared, lifting his hands to his head, clawing and clutching wildly at his ginger hair. Sakura watched, wide-eyed and horrified, as he then abruptly collapsed to the ground, just as the servants reached her.
~x~
The mood in the High Council chambers deteriorated rapidly following the tragic revelation of Kakashi's passing. Any attempts to argue that there remained the slightest possibility their enemy could be bluffing were met with one chilling realisation - that Cronus had absolutely no reason to keep Kakashi alive. After Koharu had identified the blood on the blade as belonging to Kakashi, the Olympians had been forced to accept the cruel reality that stared back at them - that Cronus had not kept their friend alive to use in trade for the remaining tailed-beasts and Sasuke's Rinnegan as they had all expected - which only meant that the Titan surely had a far worse plan in mind for obtaining both.
It made no sense in Sasuke's reeling mind. Why would Madara throw away a golden opportunity to force their hand? It was difficult to accept that Kakashi was truly gone when they had not seen a body, and yet they all knew the Uchiha patriarch's ruthless nature well enough to hold no doubts that he had already slaughtered Hephaestus in cold blood. After returning Obito's Sharingan to its rightful owner, Cronus would have had no reasons to further hesitate or delay in disposing of Kakashi, especially if he had alternative plans in mind for acquiring what he needed from the Olympians and Sasuke.
Returning Kakashi's corpse to them in pieces would have been much more in character for the bloodthirsty Titan. The fact that Kakashi had not been sent back to them only had to mean that their foes intended to enslave him in death using Edo Tensei.
Rage and guilt clawed at Sasuke's chest. Kakashi was gone, and if it hadn't been for Sasuke, perhaps he would still be with them. Nobody pointed the blame at him, but they did not need to, for Sasuke felt it acutely, like a dagger thrust into his back. The thought of never seeing Kakashi again, of not listening to another one of his infuriating lectures, or hearing his resigned sighs, cut the death deity to the quick. But his expression remained unreadable, a perfect, reticent mask as he leaned against the assembly chamber's southern wall, arms folded across his chest, silently observing the visibly upset surface gods quarrelling with each other about what their next course of action ought to be.
Anger ran rampant amongst the group, giving way to heated arguments and disagreements as they sought to point fingers, looking for someone to blame for the loss of their dear friend. They had delayed departure for too long. They ought to have gone to confront Cronus on Olympus right away, should have sent back the wounded separately. All empty, useless what ifs. The grim reality was that they had lost too many allies, and the odds were looking increasingly stacked against them, even with a Rinnegan added to their arsenal.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. They presented an increasingly dejected and alarmingly small group, with clear rifts forming between their composure and any attempts to keep a level head. Cronus was sowing the seeds of mistrust and discord between them. He could see it all too clearly, the pitiful state they were wallowing in, devastated and divided with no further reinforcements to call in. In a time where they absolutely had to keep their wits about them most, they were falling apart at the seams. A concerning development, given that their enemy had no intention of slowing down.
Naruto was uncharacteristically silent as words were thrown around the room. He had barely said a thing since Obito had left. Chiyo, also, was making no move to restore order to the group, choosing instead to look on in silence. Sasuke stared hard at her, eyes simmering with fury. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking from the unreadable expression she wore. She, a keeper of secrets, who knew what lay ahead, who could peer into The Crossroads themselves - had she known of Kakashi's fate already? But if she had, why would she have bothered to participate in their meeting in the first place?
He found himself wondering, not for the first time, just how much The Fates truly allowed her to see, and how much of what unfolded was equally as much of a surprise to her as it was to everyone else. After all, even Atropos, Clotho and Lakhesis were capable of being blindsided by the shadowy voids known as Obscurum that manifested within The Crossroads.
Movement caught the corner of his eye and his gaze flicked to the right, noting the moment Naruto chose to slink out of the assembly chamber, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides. Nobody else seemed to notice, except for the moon goddess, who gazed worriedly after him.
Sasuke waited to see whether she would follow.
When she hesitated, took a step, but was then drawn back to the meeting by Kurenai who addressed her with a question about potentially using her influence to calm the tides temporarily in Poseidon's absence, he pushed away from the wall, and silently left the room to follow after Apollo.
~x~
He found Naruto in the courtyard, next to a section of high wall that had already been demolished by a destructive, glowing fist. His cobalt eyes were wild, his chest heaving. A visible representation of the same turmoil Sasuke was experiencing within.
When he turned toward an adjacent section of brick and slammed another punch against it, Sasuke's voice rang out sharply.
"Naruto."
The sun deity did not seem to hear him, trapped in the tumult of his own thoughts and emotions. The section of the wall he had just struck crumbled, blown to pieces by the force of impact, and Sasuke understood. How many times had he laid waste to the caverns within his own realm in fury?
But he could not, would not stand idly by and watch Naruto fall apart and shoulder the blame, not when Sasuke was more responsible than anyone else for Kakashi being caught in Obito's blasted Kamui portal. Kakashi would not have wanted them to drown in despair, and there was no chance of obtaining vengeance if either of them lost their heads.
His own anger at their unfortunate circumstances flared, and he was next to Naruto in an instant.
"Naruto."
"It's my fault!" Naruto's voice shook with rage and grief. "It's all my fault!"
Sasuke's lips pressed together to form a thin, displeased line. Reaching out, he grabbed onto Naruto's right forearm and spun him roughly around to face him.
"I told you to keep it together," he censured.
Naruto wrenched his arm out of the death deity's grasp.
"You don't get it!" he yelled. "My dad gave me all this power… and for what?! What's the point, when I can't protect any of them! Neji, Lee, Asuma, Guy, Iruka, Inoichi, Shizune, Tenten, Chouji, Shino, and now Kakashi-sensei, too! I should have stopped it, all of it! He helped teach me Hiraishin, and I still couldn't get there in time-" He broke off, choking on a sob as he pressed his palms against his eyes in despair.
Sasuke stared at his devastated face in silence, allowing him to vent. When he gave no verbal or visible reaction, Naruto lowered his fists.
"Why won't you say anything?!" he cried.
When Sasuke still remained silent, hurt flickered across Naruto's expressive features. Good, thought Sasuke to himself. Maybe if he riled up the moron enough, he'd snap out of his stupid episode of self-pity.
"You…" he breathed. "Don't you care at all?! Kakashi-sense is gone!"
"And you think this will bring him back?" Sasuke challenged, gesturing disdainfully at him.
Naruto angrily reached out and grabbed onto the collar of his best friend's tunic, his eyes haunted and bloodshot with tears that were still falling as he desperately searched Sasuke's face, as if it held a solution, a way to undo the nightmare situation they were in. Somehow the sight made Sasuke grow even angrier. Every tear was a victory for Madara, a balm to his stone-cold dead soul.
His own hands curled into fists. He did not like the panic and despair he could clearly read in Apollo's grief-torn eyes.
"If you're so smart, then tell me what we're supposed to do now!" Naruto cried. "Because everything's falling apart! How have they wiped out so many of us, with that bastard still on the summit?!" Hysteria was creeping into his voice, and the muscles in Sasuke's jaw clenched as he felt himself being shaken by the collar. A dangerous move, even for Naruto.
"What happens if he gets off it?!" Naruto went on. "There's only a handful of us left! How are we supposed to beat him when we can't even keep it together-!"
He broke off, the air hitching in his throat when a hard fist slammed abruptly into the left side of his face, sending him flying backwards. He crashed into the damaged wall with force, releasing a pained grunt. Sprawled on the floor amongst the rubble, Naruto blinked, turning stunned eyes back up to Sasuke, who stood glaring disapprovingly down his nose at him.
"Wha-?" Naruto floundered. "What the hell, Sasuke?!"
"Are you done?" Sasuke deadpanned.
Naruto gaped at him for another moment, then something visibly snapped as he saw red, and lunged viciously at Hades. The pair scuffled briefly, kicking and punching at each other, until Sasuke finally caught him in a vice-like headlock from behind.
"Don't be an idiot," he snarled. "You let your emotions get the better of you. If I can get behind you without using any techniques, the enemy won't even need to try to capture you. That's why you've lost so many." He tightened his hold pointedly and finished with a hiss, "You lose focus when it counts."
"Get the fuck off me, you asshole!" Naruto shouted, struggling violently, yet his strikes were rooted in emotion, wild and lacking in focused precision, proving Sasuke's very point. "They killed Kakashi-sensei! They killed our old sparring teacher!" His voice cracked, and Sasuke felt an ugly twist inside his chest at the sound.
"Damn it," Naruto finally grew limp, his body shaking as he broke down into shuddering, anguished sobs.
Sasuke's hold on him loosened, and he waited a few more seconds before drawing away. Stepping around the blond, he stared down at him in silence for a long minute.
He understood, more than anyone else, what it was like to lose so many. To be helpless as loved ones were stolen away. But Naruto still had others left to fight for, where Sasuke once hadn't had anyone. They couldn't give into despair and lose hope. That was precisely what Madara wanted them to do. But Sasuke had met The Fates. He knew the future, and what was required of him. In order to realise it, in order to save them all, he needed Naruto by his side. Strong and determined and reliable. Not the mess he presently saw before him.
"Get up," he finally said. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. If you want someone to blame, blame Madara."
Naruto shook his head, wiping at his nose with the back of his sleeve.
"I said," Sasuke nudged him impatiently in the leg with the tip of his leather boot. "Get up."
"Damn it, Sasuke!" Naruto's voice was hoarse as he turned his tear-stained face up to his best friend. "How can you stand there so calm when we've just found out that poor Kakashi-sensei had his eye ripped out before that bastard killed him?! They're going to bring him back just like the others, and force him to fight us, damn it!"
Sasuke was anything but calm. He had spent centuries misguidedly despising Kakashi, along with the rest of the Olympians, and had barely had his memories of the time he'd spent before the war with the masked deity returned, before Kakashi had been lost to them in battle protecting Sasuke himself. Guilt and fury and self-loathing were shredding him apart inside, but he could not let Naruto see it.
Reaching down, he hauled Apollo back to his feet by the collar of his jacket.
Thrusting his face close to Naruto's, he snapped, "Breaking down brings no-one back. Get a hold of yourself, or you'll be next. Then everything Zeus left you really will be for nothing."
Naruto blinked and hiccuped, gaping speechlessly at his best friend in open shock. Finally, his head bowed. He took a shaky breath, the Nine-Tails' chakra slowly fizzling from his fist. The brutal harshness of Sasuke's unforgiving words cleaved through the haze of grief and hysteria that had settled over him, helping to clear his mind, restoring some much-needed clarity to the chaos of his thoughts.
After a long, quiet minute, he swallowed thickly, and whispered, "You- you're right. This is all that asshole's fault. He wants us to blame ourselves and each other, and-"
"Hn. It's working," Sasuke scowled, angling a pointed glance back toward the entrance that led into the building behind them.
Naruto followed his gaze. "You're right," he repeated. "Everyone's arguing in there. Damn it!" Sucking in another breath, he pressed a fist to his forehead. "I can't- we can't lose our focus. That's what that son of a bitch wants!"
Sasuke released his hold on Naruto's jacket and stepped back, satisfied that he seemed to have calmed down. His temper and emotional outbursts had always been quick to ignite and settle.
Meeting his gaze, Naruto appealed, "We have to avenge him, Sasuke! We have to get his body back! If they've kept him, then they're going to resurrect him just like they're going to do with Suigetsu. We can't let that happen! We can't!"
Sasuke silently agreed.
"The enemy knows how to find you here," he warned. "Even if the wards hold, you should relocate elsewhere."
Naruto nodded. "Right. I'll tell the others." The two stared at each other in silence for a moment, when the sun deity added sadly, "He- he really loved you, you know. He never stopped believing that you'd remember us. At least he got to see us stop fighting before he-"
"Don't." The word rang out sharply, an unmistakable warning, making it clear that Sasuke did not wish to hear Kakashi being referred to in the past tense.
Naruto's shoulders slumped again. "Tell Sakura-chan… tell her I'm sorry. I was the fastest one and I… I couldn't make it…" He trailed off, voice trembling with regret.
The words Sasuke spoke next felt like tar, thick and grainy and heavy upon his tongue. He swiftly turned his back to Apollo, for fear that the guilt gnawing away at him might openly manifest itself on his face.
"That portal was meant for me."
~x~
Sasuke remained in the courtyard with Naruto in a rare and silent display of solidarity, waiting for Apollo to compose himself again until he felt ready to go back inside and rejoin the others.
Together, they entered the assembly chamber, where Sasuke listened in silence as Naruto rallied the Olympians, urging them to be united, to not give Cronus the satisfaction of seeing them bickering, panic-stricken and divided. His heartfelt pleas seemed to finally reach the others, and it was late into the night they finally ended their long meeting, all parties reaching a unanimous agreement that emotions were too highly strung to continue discussing retaliation strategies any further.
It was decided that it would be wiser to reconvene in the morning, after everyone had been given time to rest and come to terms with the loss of Kakashi, Lee, Suigetsu, as well as the two tailed-beasts hosts who had been stolen from their party. Preparations would begin throughout the night, too, to move out of the High Council grounds and relocate to a second, more secure base in the mountains.
"Sasuke," Naruto nodded solemnly at him, patting his shoulder briefly in parting, before asking him to convey his regards to Sakura. Promising that he would visit the Underworld as soon as they had all safely relocated, he then thanked Sasuke again for helping him return to his senses, before exiting the chamber.
It was time, too, for Sasuke to take his leave. He had lingered for long enough on the surface, and knew that Sakura anxiously awaited him. His gaze flicked expectantly onto Chiyo as the Olympians slowly began to trickle out of the chamber. She was once again locked in deep conversation with Killer B, who had unsheathed Samehada and placed it on the ground beside him, holding onto the sentient blade's hilt as he chatted animatedly away with Hecate.
Sasuke could not tell what they were discussing, and impatiently wondered when the crone intended to return to the Underworld. The ancient goddess's dark eyes slipped onto Sasuke briefly, and he speared her with a dark glare, as if to remind her that they had unfinished business, a meeting of their own to take place at the banks of the river Lethe.
"Sasuke? A word, if you have a moment."
The call of his name drew his attention away from Chiyo, to Jiraiya. The older deity was holding Kakashi's blade in his hand. It had been cleaned and replaced in its scabbard. He extended it to Sasuke, who blinked at the offering, careful to keep his internal surprise concealed.
"This sword meant a great deal to Kakashi," Jiraiya informed him quietly. There was a heavy sadness in his eyes and his expression was weighed down with grief. "He was very fond of you, Sasuke. He would speak often of your talent with the blade, and I believe he would wish for you to have it. After all, he taught you the Chidori, did he not? This sword is primed for its use, and it will serve you best."
Sasuke's countenance remained coolly indifferent, yet he found his throat constricting with an unexpected surge of emotion. Jiraiya's sincere words left a bitter taste in his mouth. He did not deserve the blade. He certainly was not worthy of the great honour of carrying Kakashi's legacy, not when they had only recently been restored to amicable terms. But neither had he the heart to refuse the only remaining token and tribute they had left of Hephaestus.
Plagued by guilt, he silently reached out and accepted the sword.
"I have no doubt that Cronus tortured him. He would have let him feel every optic nerve-ending as he gouged out the Sharingan from its socket." A shadow fell over Jiraiya's face. His voice grew darker. Angrier. "Rest assured, we will avenge him. Even if it costs me my own existence, I will honour him and see justice done."
With those words, he nodded grimly at the death deity, before leaving the chamber.
~x~
They were grossly outnumbered. It was plain to see that theirs was an uphill struggle. Cronus only needed to acquire three more tailed-beast hosts, and all hope of salvation would then be lost. By awakening the Ten Tails, and fusing with its monstrous powers, he would easily be able to break free from his imprisonment on Olympus.
Free, thereafter, to wreak utter havoc and vengeance upon the world and all who had conspired to trap him on the summit. And the High Council building, a stronghold now firmly known to their enemy in its location, would surely be the first place his wrath would strike down.
Koharu's heart fluttered with fear, gripped in a dread so profound that it caused a wave of coldness to sweep over her. They were fighting a losing war, a hopeless battle. She had seen it on the faces of the Olympians who were slowly dispersing around her, that they were on the verge of falling into despair, on the brink of breaking apart. She had heard it in their quarrels. For all of Apollo's inspiring words, for all their desperate attempts to regroup and continue fighting, she had lived through enough wars to know that there was no way they could feasibly turn the tide after losing so many allies. Being spread so thin as they were, with the enemy collecting their dead to wield against them as weapons. Continuing on would be insanity, guaranteed suicide. It would only cost them even more lives before Chaos ultimately devoured them all.
Nothing had been the same since Homura had been taken from her. Things had only gone from bad to worse, and she was on the side that she knew for certain would not and could not triumph. The Curse Seal on Hades made it highly likely that he would lose the Rinnegan eventually, and if Madara were to acquire that gift also, they would all essentially become sacrificial lambs waiting for the slaughter.
There was no way to stop it. No way to avoid what she now so clearly saw was inevitable. She had not survived countless conflicts and the passing of crowns only to perish for the sake of humankind. She would not lay down her life to protect humans, who had forgotten all about the ancient gods.
Koharu was also distinctly aware that amongst the members of the High Council, only Chiyo had ever been genuinely liked and trusted. The rest of them had always been spoken to with a measure of reluctant, forced respect. Nobody else would look out for her when the culling of the Olympians and their associated allies began. Nobody would sacrifice themselves in her stead.
There was no use searching for alternatives. All paths she could see led toward dead-end roads, to desolation and hell on earth. But it was perhaps not too late to save herself from dying - if she played her cards well.
Danzo, she now recognised, had been right after all when he had wanted to neutralise the threat that Hades had posed. Had the God of the Dead's eyes been retrieved back then, there would have been no chance of Cronus obtaining his Rinnegan. Now it was far too late to do anything to help the Olympians avert what The Fates themselves had confirmed would come to pass - the awakening of the Ten-Tailed beast, and Cronus's return to the surface.
Far too late to help anyone but herself.
Noting that the Nine-Tails had left the assembly chamber, her gaze settled instead on Gaara and Killer B. There was no time to fetch Apollo, and doing so would likely alert the others, including Hecate. Two would have to suffice. She only had one chance, and she could not risk anyone else catching drift of her intentions. She crushed down the warning whispers that told her she was making a grave mistake, that there would be no turning back if she chose to follow the path her thoughts had taken, that there was a chance she would lose her life regardless. But she told herself that the only mistake would be to do nothing, to remain as she was, lending ear to false hopes, to foolish dreams that could never be realised, dreams that had died along with Minato's golden reign. They would never again be restored to the days of old, to their former glory. Only certain death, destruction and ruin lay ahead. The promise of a most painful demise, if she did not take action to save herself.
And she had no other choice, but to take the course of action she deemed was best for her own interests, and that would ensure her own continued survival.
She patiently waited until Hecate had left the room with Demeter, before making her move.
~x~
Naruto allowed the heavy, wooden doors of the observatory to close behind him with a resounding thud, shutting out the rest of the world. He needed space to breathe, time alone to process and truly come to terms with every awful catastrophe that had befallen the Olympians, before returning to the others to begin preparing for the move to their new location.
The observatory had become something of a safe-haven for him throughout his stay at the High Council grounds, a quiet place where he knew he would not be disturbed. Looking up, he took in his appealing, almost whimsical surroundings. Polished gold models of an assortment of celestial bodies hung suspended from a high ceiling, a large sun wrought from metal among them. The ceiling curved into a large, transparent glass dome in the centre of the chamber, allowing for a clear view of the starry heavens above through the various telescopes dotted about the room.
Beneath the dome was a huge, rotating globe of the world and around it were a wonderful collection of outdated methods for recording time, as well as tables littered with old scrolls and astronomical-related trinkets and contraptions.
Tall, brass floor candelabra and a generously-sized, antique wooden fireplace threw warm firelight about the observatory. Shiny mahogany study desks and chairs were placed over large, richly-woven rugs. Shelves of books lined the left wall of the room and balcony doors were built into the right side, allowing an impressive view of the courtyard and forest surroundings outside.
A courtyard with walls he had damaged in his fury and grief. Releasing a loud, heavy sigh, Naruto plopped himself onto the nearest arm-chair by the fireplace.
What was he doing? Trying to inspire the others, when he felt so close to breaking point himself? His father and mother had done everything, had given up everything to protect their court and their people. Naruto felt like he was just a pathetic failure in comparison. He hadn't managed to save anyone, and they still had another war left to fight.
He lowered his head, fisting his hands through the sunshine spikes of his unruly blond hair. His locks had grown-out, and were looking more like his father's by the day. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. If only he had inherited his father's brilliance and cool temperament, too, instead of being a loud-mouthed, clumsy idiot who was swayed far too strongly and readily by his emotions.
Sasuke had been right. He allowed his feelings to get the better of him, leading to a lack of focus, and the pressure to be the leader the Olympians so desperately needed bore down upon him, a crushing weight that felt far too heavy for him to carry.
He was his father's son. His mother's pride and joy. He knew what he needed to be, but becoming it, realising the role he had been born to someday inherit, wasn't so easy. His friends, deities and the seraphs he had considered family were being taken from him left, right and centre. The first signs of hopelessness, of despair, had started to creep into their party. And the expectation for him to step up, to take charge, had never been so urgent and immense.
He was the true heir to the Olympian throne, a throne Cronus sought to steal. It was his crown and the return to their rightful home that all his friends were fighting for; he couldn't let them down. They were relying on him to steer them through rough waters, to captain the peaceful sail back home.
The image of his parents trapped in crystals burned behind Naruto's eyelids. His heart ached. He wanted them back. He needed them back to achieve the closure he had cruelly been denied for centuries.
But he couldn't even save the living. What hope had he of honouring the dead?
"Naruto-kun…?" The gentle call of his name startled him, and his eyes flew open to find Hinata, clothed in a simple lavender cardigan and a long, modest white skirt, standing by the large globe in the centre of the room. His breath caught in his throat. How long had she been standing there, and how could she have entered so silently, that he had not even heard or sensed her approaching?
He knew the answer. He had been lost in his own thoughts, and she was a moon goddess. Made of night, the same element that coloured the lovely tresses of her silky long hair.
Straightening in his chair, he managed hoarsely, "H-Hinata? What're you doing here?" Rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck, he began hesitantly, "It's been a long day. You should be resting."
"I couldn't sleep," she admitted quietly. Shifting uncertainly on her feet, she added, "Would you mind if… if maybe I… that is to say, I am sorry if I'm intruding-"
"No!" Naruto blurted out, a little too quickly, shaking his head and waving his hands enthusiastically at her, as if to emphasise that he did not wish for her to leave. "No, you're never intruding! You can totally sit with me, it's fine! Uh, I mean, if you want to?" He seemed to realise what he had just suggested, for he stuttered, "W-wait! I didn't mean with me, I meant anywhere you want. You can sit on another chair. You don't have to sit anywhere, 'ttebayo."
As flustered as he was, he did not notice the charming blush that bloomed in Hinata's cheeks, and had no idea that she found his awkward attempts at hospitality to be so endearing.
Ducking her head, she said, "You should rest too, Naruto-kun."
He stared openly at her, watching in fascination as the strands of hair she had tucked behind her right ear slipped free, forming a curtain that concealed part of her face. He had touched her only a few times, each occasion far too brief and precious and fleeting.
Naruto wanted so much more, but with war looming over them, he did not dare to take things further. Hinata deserved a proper courtship, he had firmly told himself. She deserved to be wooed at a time when the world was safe and stable. She deserved to be whisked away to beautiful locations and showered with endless flowers, sweet treats and gifts that matched her loveliness, without fear of the enemy hunting them down. And the enemy would hunt them down wherever they went, especially since they now knew that Naruto held Kurama - one of the final pieces Cronus required to execute his sinister plans.
"I couldn't sleep either, and nobody ever comes in here so I thought I would just…" His heart skipped a beat as she slowly, tentatively, approached him, her small hands clasped together, and took a seat in the arm-chair directly opposite to him.
Naruto gulped, his words trailing off uselessly. Hinata's presence always set his pulse racing as much as her proximity immediately put him at ease. Something about her gentle, patient, quiet manner had always encouraged him to open up, to confide his deepest worries, without her even uttering a word. All she had to do was look at him with those stunning, winter, doe-like eyes, and he could feel himself unravelling, gravitating toward her like the tides toward the moon.
"I dunno know what I thought I'd do here," he confessed. "I'm just- I'm so mad about everything, Hinata. About how that bastard has my parents. About Lee, and what they did to poor Kakashi-sensei. I should've been able to save them."
Hinata looked down at her hands, resting neatly on her lap.
"I think that… about Neji-san all the time," she whispered sadly. "That I should have… I could have saved him… that I… should've taken his place."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Huh? No way! There was nothing you could've done about that. Neji chose to protect you!"
"But… that's what Kakashi-sensei chose to do in battle for us, too, isn't it?" She glanced up, meeting Naruto's gaze pointedly. "So… we can't think that way, Naruto-kun. Because… if we do… if we do, then he wins."
Naruto stared at her, stricken. She was right. He knew it. And yet the guilt he carried held him hostage, refusing to release the iron bars it had enforced upon him.
"It isn't your fault, Naruto-kun," she went on softly. "I am so sorry for Kakashi-sensei's loss. For Lee and everyone else who has passed along the way, but… we're still here. We still have a chance. I believe it. I believe in-"
Naruto shot to his feet. "Don't say it!" He interrupted, clenching his teeth, dreading to hear the words. He could not stand them, did not deserve them, not until he stepped up and became the leader they all needed. "Don't tell me you believe in me, when I can't fix anything on my own!"
Hinata rose from her chair in turn, biting her lower lip. Then, to his astonishment, she straightened her shoulders, and her expression changed. Was set ablaze with an unexpected determination that stole the breath from his lungs, and Naruto swore to himself that he had never before seen a sight more beautiful.
Crossing over to him, Selene took his hands in hers, and without embarrassment, turned her face up to his, met his gaze directly, and said, "I believe in us, Naruto-kun. That we can make it together. That together, we can be stronger. You aren't alone. Please let us… please let me share your burdens. This fight is all of ours. So… please. Hold on. Don't let go. Don't give up, no matter how hard it gets. You were the one who taught me that. All this time, I've been holding on… because of you."
Because of you. For once, Naruto was struck speechless. Her words reverberated thunderously inside his head. They gave him a renewed sense of purpose. They anchored him, reminded him of who he was, and everything he had left to fight for - including the radiant moon goddess he'd never dared to imagine would ever be his.
But there she was, by his side, as she had always been. Unwavering, brave and real. His heart fluttered. And at that moment, he silently vowed that he would not stop fighting for the future he yearned for them to have - an eternity spent together.
"Hinata…" he whispered. Spellbound, he stepped closer, the front of his body brushing against hers. Seeking physical comfort and reassurance from the softness of her touch, a peace and sanity that only her hands and arms and lips could restore to him.
No further words were exchanged as he pressed trembling fingers against her left cheek, and the Moon yielded to the passion and heat of the Sun.
~x~
"Lady Chiyo?" Ino squinted curiously at the ancient goddess who sat at the central table in the alchemy laboratory, bent over an object that she was closely inspecting. Beside her stood Shikamaru, who nodded to Ino in greeting.
"Hey," she said.
"How're you holding up?" he asked.
Sighing as she approached them, Ino confessed, "Honestly? I don't think any of us are really okay."
"Yeah," he agreed. "It's a shitty situation to be in."
"Mind your tongue before your elders," Chiyo chastised, prompting Shikamaru to turn his eyes to the ceiling in mild exasperation, in the manner one did when they had been scolded by the same person far too often.
Recognising the item as she finally reached the table, Ino's eyebrows arched in surprise.
"Uh… what're you two doing?"
"I believe I was attempting to concentrate," Hecate replied pointedly, unwinding strips of material from the item she was scrutinising. "But it appears that I now have company."
Ino winced. "Sorry," she apologised. "I can come back if now's not a good time?"
"On the contrary. There is never a time like the present," Chiyo answered, pausing in her task as she straightened in her seat. Her shrewd gaze settled onto Ino. "What can I do for you?"
Ino's eyes darted to Shikamaru. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Do you mind giving us a minute?"
"Sure," he gave her a lazy shrug. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he then sauntered out of the alchemy lab, leaving Ino alone with Chiyo.
"What is it, child?" The old goddess questioned kindly.
"Sakura told me all about Sasuke's Rinnegan, and how he had to activate it, before he can get the eye he needs to help her." She stood at the edge of the table, and fidgeted uncomfortably with her hands. "I was wondering, after he helps her, what'll happen to my powers? You've never told me if there was a way to get them back?"
"That is because you willingly agreed to relinquish all your active abilities in order for young Sakura to be reborn," Chiyo reminded her. "The love poured into her first vessel, the love that has allowed her to be reincarnated many times over - your abilities were the conduit that allowed such a miracle to happen."
"I know that," Ino bit her lower lip. "And I'd do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant she gets to live. But what happens when everything's reversed?"
"You miss them," Chiyo observed. "The power you once held to manipulate emotions. Such damage and heartache you caused with that power, Aphrodite."
"I was stupid," Ino pale-blue eyes turned sorrowful, heavy with remorse, shame and guilt as she confessed, "I was young and naive, and far too immature to really understand the consequences of my actions back then. I was irresponsible and foolish. I know it. I used to toy with mortal hearts, thinking love was just a silly game, that all the matches I made and forced on mortals and immortals were a right I had to amuse myself.
"But I know better now. I don't want them back for sport, or for spite. I need to be able to fight." Her hands closed into frustrated fists. "My power to manipulate hearts and feelings would help if we're going to war with that monster. I want to be able to help."
"Indeed," Hecate mused. "You have grown and matured, and your view of love is not as simple and shallow as it was back then. But in truth, child, I cannot say for certain whether they would immediately reawaken if Sakura is restored, especially when one considers that yours have been dormant for a great length of time, indeed."
Ino's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "But it isn't completely impossible, is it?"
"It is not impossible," Chiyo supplied. "Those are your rightful, divine abilities to wield. They may return to you in time, or not at all."
Ino released an unhappy sigh. "And what about… this?" she pointed to her lips, indicating the silencing seal beneath her tongue. One that Hecate knew about.
Chiyo cocked her head, appearing thoughtful. "Hmm. I believe the silencing seal will resolve of its own accord if young Sakura is restored to her original form. There will be no further need to remain silent once she is known. That is usually the way with such seals, yet yours was cast by one quite exceptional in the skill of his chakra weavings."
"Oh, exceptional. Exceptionally arrogant, too," Ino muttered. "He didn't even ask my permission before doing what he did."
Hecate gave her a sad smile. "He was no such thing. He was a hero to Olympus, pressed for time whilst in the midst of a war. In fact, young Thanatos did you a favour."
Ino raised a cynical eyebrow. "I don't see how it was a favour."
"Then consider this; had you been able to talk, it is likely that Cronus would have ended your life on the summit."
Ino scowled. She was probably right about that, but that didn't mean she had to like the seal that had been placed on her tongue. It had always felt like a violation.
A brief silence ensued, before Ino then added softly, "Can I be there with her, when it happens? When she makes the turn? I want to be there."
Chiyo opened her mouth to respond - when the item on her table suddenly bristled. Ino flinched, startled by its sudden, unexpected movement, but did not have time to question what it meant, for the door to the alchemy lab was suddenly thrown open. Ino tensed, and glanced behind her to find Shikamaru standing there, with a wild-eyed, enraged-looking Temari beside him.
"We've got trouble," Shikamaru said, and the grim, concerned expression on his face caused Ino's heart to plummet.
"What's happened?" she frowned.
"Gaara and Killer B are gone!" Temari exclaimed. "Kankuro told me Koharu asked them to stay behind alone for a word after everyone left the assembly room, but when Gaara didn't come back to his quarters, he went looking for him. We've searched everywhere, all around the grounds! They've vanished! She's taken them!"
"Taken them?" Ino echoed in alarm. "What do you mean taken them? Taken them where?"
Temari stormed over to the table Chiyo was still sitting at. Holding out a piece of parchment, she said, her voice shaking with barely-restrained anger, "Tell me you knew nothing of this, Lady Hecate."
"Hey…" Shikamaru, who had followed and stopped right behind her, began gently, carefully.
But Temari was inconsolable. "Please don't tell me you knew, and did nothing to stop it!" she cried.
There was a tense silence as Chiyo looked at the note held before her, her time-worn lips pressed tightly together. Her chest heaved, and her nostrils flared. Unable to stand the suspense any longer, Ino grabbed the slip of parchment from Temari's trembling hand, her eyes gobbling up the cursive words inked onto it in horrified disbelief.
There is no hope left. No way for us to turn the tide in this war. There will be no return for any of us to Olympus, but in pieces that Cronus will mount upon its walls, trophies of his inevitable conquest. It will only be a matter of time before the Rinnegan will also be lost, for Hades is Cursed with a Seal that cannot be removed.
Cronus will not stop hunting you down until he obtains all that he requires to resurrect the Ten Tails, and then the world will burn. Time itself will be unmade. I cannot stand idly by and await my own destruction and execution. I will not remain to support this cause. All hope is lost. I must do what is necessary to secure my own life and future existence.
There is only one clear path ahead that I can see. Pledge fealty to Cronus, offer him the Nine-Tails and your loyalty, and perhaps he will spare some of you in turn.
~K
"No!" Ino gasped out, the paper slipping from her hand in shock. Shikamaru swiftly caught it, fingers closing tightly around the note in anger.
All at once Ino could not think, could not breathe. The room seemed to spin, closing in on her. Koharu had well and truly lost her mind. She had taken all leave of her senses, had manipulated her powers and status as a trusted elder and member of the High Council to discreetly transport both Gaara and Killer B straight into the waiting enemy's hands, backstabbing and blindsiding them all.
They had been making plans to prepare for further attacks from their adversaries, never envisaging that another traitor would be hidden in their midst.
"Coward," Chiyo murmured softly, her eyes burning with an anger that surpassed Temari's a thousand-fold. "You foolish, wretched coward, Thea. You know not what you have done."
Then, to the anguished sister of Gaara, she answered sincerely, "Koharu has betrayed us all. I did not know."
~x~
Sasuke alighted at the Underworld's entrance and walked through the dense mist, the heels of his boots crunching down loudly upon gravel. Chiyo had remained behind on the surface, insisting that she had an important matter to attend to, before she could return. Too impatient to await her any longer than he already had, the death deity had then decided to descend to his realm alone.
Their trip to Lethe would have to briefly wait, he told himself, heavy thoughts howling like a riotous cyclone inside his head as he contemplated how best to break the awful news of Kakashi's unexpected demise to Sakura first.
He sensed that she was safely in the palace where he had left her, but did not immediately let her know that he had returned. He needed time to figure out what he was going to say first, how he was going to explain to her that it was his fault Kakashi was dead. Learning of it would surely crush her. His hands balled into fists, his guilt increasing tenfold with every step he took forward until it felt like a mountain weighing on his shoulders. He could not stand to see her cry, and yet that was precisely what his words would result in - inconsolable tears it would pain him to see.
He paused in the middle of the vast cavern, lifting a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes briefly as he sought a moment to collect himself. A flurry of further troubling thoughts blew about in his mind, cascading in a rippling effect without respite. The resting place of his brother and cousin, that Chiyo had warned Lethe would not reveal to him - but Tartarus be damned if she expected him not to go looking, to not demand the river under his rule extricate his kin and surrender their locations.
Then there was the Rinnegan, a boon in his arsenal that he had to ensure he mastered quickly, along with the sacred blade disguise within Kusanagi. There was also Itachi's Sharingan, free to finally manifest itself, and yet he did not know how much longer it would take to do so. What if it did not appear at all until Sakura had another attack?
Finally, the matter of the terrible task it was required of him to fulfil - to become the new vessel for Chaos, to allow himself to eventually be sealed away for time eternal in order to ensure that history could never again repeat itself. To become the world's saviour - at the cost of his own future and happiness.
It was overwhelming, exhausting, to carry so many burdens, to be plagued with so many responsibilities. Far too much for one to juggle alone, and yet there was nobody else to whom he could pass the mantle in his stead. His brother and cousin had believed they had been saving him when they'd ensured he was the last survivor of their clan. In reality, they had damned him for eternity without even realising it.
He inhaled deeply, taking in the cold, crisp air of his surroundings, before releasing a quiet breath. He would simply tell Sakura the truth. Nothing could sugarcoat the crippling blow of Kakashi's loss, and Sasuke had never been much good at being anything other than blunt and direct in his words.
Steeling himself, the death deity squared his shoulders and blinked out of sight.
~x~
He found her in one of the palace's many guest rooms, sitting in an armchair which had been pulled up beside a large, four-poster bed. Tucked in the heavily embroidered, bronze sheets was none other than Jugo. Sasuke's eyebrows drew together as he bled out of the shadows, surprised to find his subject inside the palace.
What was he doing there?
A quick, assessing look at the damp piece of cloth that Sakura had just wrung out and was using to wipe his brow, along with the pained expression on Jugo's face, rapidly filled in the blanks. Jugo was suffering from some manner of illness, and Sakura was tending to him.
He watched for a moment, as she leaned over and dabbed carefully at Jugo's skin with the damp cloth. A natural healer in her element. Yet Jugo had never once suffered with fever in all his long centuries of faithful service to Sasuke. The King's subjects were protected from harm in his realm. They did not simply fall unwell.
His suspicions immediately flared, and he made the decision to temporarily postpone sharing the devastating news of Kakashi's demise to Sakura. There was a far more pressing matter that required his immediate attention - the fact that there was no sickness in the Underworld that Jugo was capable of catching.
Two servants, who had been bustling back and forth carrying fresh piles of folded linen and pails of water, immediately noticed their King's arrival and curtsied deeply to him, before swiftly departing the chamber, leaving Sasuke alone with Sakura and the ailing Jugo.
"Sakura." He addressed her, not taking his eyes off Jugo, who groaned in pain.
She straightened, throwing a glance back over her shoulder at him.
"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed, her lovely features lighting up with relief. "You're back!"
Positioning the damp cloth on Jugo's forehead, she hastily wiped her hands on a small towel then rose from her seat to greet him.
"Are you okay? What happened?" She turned anxious eyes to him. "Did you go to Olympus? Did you get Kakashi-sensei back?"
"Why is Jugo here?" Sasuke returned in response, already channelling chakra to his left eye, engaging the Rinnegan to discover the reason for his servant's unexpected affliction.
"I-" Sakura faltered, caught off-guard both by the bluntness of the question and Sasuke's lack of immediate answer to her own. "I went for a walk while I was waiting for you to come back, and found him outside the palace's gates," she explained.
Sasuke stepped around her and prowled closer to the bed, staring intently at his subject as the Rinnegan revealed Jugo's inner chakra pathways to his seeking eyes.
"He was talking to himself, saying weird things and acting really agitated. I thought maybe it was one of his- those angry episodes he gets, but then he fainted, and when we opened the gates to help him, he was burning up. So I thought it was best to bring him back here to treat him, but everything we've tried hasn't worked so far." She paused, before trying again, "Sasuke-kun? What about Kakashi-sensei?"
But Sasuke barely heard her. He froze, quickly identifying the source of Jugo's discomfort. His loyal subject's chakra-pathways were infected with familiar, writhing black spores, which would have triggered his berserk behaviour as Jugo had desperately tried to fight against their foreign influence.
Black spores that unmistakably belonged to the abhorrent abomination that was the Black Zetsu. Sasuke tensed, alarmed. How had the spores entered his realm? How had Jugo been infected? His mind cycled frantically back, recalling that Karin had been poisoned by the spores, and realisation slammed into him. Jugo had been the one who'd carried her unconscious form from the riverbank to the palace for healing.
But Chiyo had treated Karin. Why, then, had she not thought to heal Jugo? She would never overlook such an obvious threat, and yet, how had he? Karin had been in such a state, that Jugo had simply been left behind, and dutifully returned to his post.
Everyone had then forgotten about him. A glaring, foolish error. Sasuke thought that the spores had to have remained stealthily dormant for Jugo not to have been affected by them at all up until then. Lying in wait to activate until the right moment.
Horror wrenched like a twisting knife in Sasuke's gut. Sakura, out of the kindness of her heart, had placed her hands on the infected Jugo in an attempt to heal him. At least four servants would have helped to carry a man of his stature up to the bedchamber. And the spores only needed close proximity to spread.
An overpowering sense of foreboding washed over him, seconds before a strange, hollow sensation breezed through his mind, along with distant, echoing words which he immediately recognised belonged to The Moirae, who were using telepathy to communicate with him across realms via the Mark he carried.
'Sworn King of Shade, hear Our call!'
'Our eyes see not beyond the Obscurum's walls!'
'A certain danger lies ahead!'
'With great caution thou must tread!'
Sasuke's pulse broke into a canter. All at once, the cryptic words they had imparted to him just before he had been dismissed from their temple resonated loudly in his mind.
Guard thy Kingdom, and guard thy throne...
For upon it is a veil of blood and stone...
He had ensured all wards were secured before departing his kingdom. Yet still a threat had somehow manifested, and Sasuke had the sinking feeling that the appearance of the Black Zetsu was only the first unpleasant surprise to rear its ugly head. He opened his mouth to address Sakura - but his breath hitched, the words on the tip of his tongue discarded to oblivion when a sudden, sharp, unexpected pain exploded in his midsection.
Shocked, he glanced down to find blood seeping through the fabric of his tunic. His confused mind blanked, stuttering to a near-standstill as it supplied that there was nobody else at his back besides Sakura.
Sakura, who had suddenly fallen strangely silent.
With an angry hiss, Sasuke's head whipped around to find her standing at his right side, holding a long silver dagger that she had just plunged straight into his gut. He stared down at it for a moment in stunned disbelief, only to grunt in pain when without warning, she wrenched it violently out again, causing blood to spurt from the deeply-inflicted wound.
Sasuke whirled around to face her, horrified, clutching a hand to his injured abdomen.
"Sakura…" he got out, staring at her with wide, appalled eyes. His lips parted in alarm when he found that her own were glazed. Unfocused. As if she was not consciously aware of her own actions, as if she did not even register that she had just stabbed a knife straight through her own lover's midsection.
Turning his Rinnegan and Sharingan onto her revealed that her own chakra pathways were disturbed by a foreign influence. Not the Black Zetsu, for he saw no evidence of spore infection within her, but he could feel it - another lingering, menacing presence along the connection they shared - something that was not Sakura.
His veins frosted with thick black ice as he scrambled to make sense of just what had happened. He had only a split-second to process what it had to mean that Sakura looked so disorientated, only a moment to frantically piece together the catastrophic scale of the situation.
Only a heartbeat to register the sudden surge of smothering, ominous chakra that rippled behind her, before she was dragged, without warning, into a swirling Kamui portal.
"Sakura!" he yelled, lunging forward without thought. He fell straight through the vortex after her, landing roughly on his knees on the other side, where he was greeted with an oppressive, searing heat.
Ignoring the sharp stab in his side, he sprang nimbly back to his feet, tearing Kusanagi from its scabbard just as Obito took corporeal form before his eyes. The masked Uchiha had transported them to the edge of Tartarus - and was holding Sakura by the throat over the brink of Hell itself.
Sasuke tensed, murderous, killing intent pulsing from his form in ominous ripples of shadow.
"You," he spat out hatefully, coiled like a predator ready to strike, intending to use his speed advantage to flash-warp straight to Sakura's side and sever Obito's arm cleanly from his body. But Obito's deep voice rang out in warning, halting Sasuke abruptly in his tracks.
"If you move, if you make any attempt to accost me, I will deliver her straight to Lord Cronus."
As if to illustrate his point, a portal rippled threateningly in the air directly beside Sakura, far too close to her for Sasuke to intercept without them both getting sucked into its gravitational pull and transported to Olympus - an even greater disaster.
"It would serve you far better to listen, Sasuke," Obito added.
The death deity clenched his teeth, absorbing the concerning discovery that the immediate lockdown he had enforced upon his realm the moment Obito had made his presence known, clearly did not prevent him from harnessing Kamui. The Underworld's powerful barriers stopped any intruder from teleporting out, but Kamui seemed to manipulate an exclusive loophole - and Sasuke immediately suspected why that had to be. It was a technique born of the same shadows and chaos that made up the very essence of the realm. And because he was a shadow-dweller and an Uchiha in blood, Obito was still capable of manipulating space and time within the kingdom to spirit himself away to any place of his choosing - provided he possessed enough chakra to do so.
Sasuke understood, then, how Obito must have managed to infiltrate his domain without triggering any of the wards that were put in place to detect unwelcome intruders and any rebel souls who attempted to escape. How he had slipped past Cerberus unseen. With both of his Sharingan restored, the effects of his Kamui would be more potent. He would have easily been able to adopt a non-physical form, hiding away in his pocket dimensions, avoiding detection from Cerberus and using his abilities of space-time manipulation to bypass the magicked entrance gates completely. And he certainly possessed enough chakra to maintain the technique over long distances in order to elude the consequences of trespassing.
With Kamui at his disposal, the only way to truly disable Obito, Sasuke determined, was to get close enough to trap him inside a chakra-negating barrier - or render him unconscious entirely.
But he was holding Sakura hostage by the throat, over the edge of the blazing, infernal pit. Tight knots of dread knotted in Sasuke's stomach, and a molten rage coursed through him, causing his right eye to burn with discomfort - a stinging sensation not unlike the one his left had often experienced while the Rinnegan had been in the process of activating. He didn't have time to dwell on what that meant, however, as a deep pain radiated from the stab wound in his midsection. He did his best to ignore the unrelenting, burning sensation. No matter how much chakra he diverted to the injury, it refused to heal, indicating that the blade Sakura had used to stab him had been laced with venom. The way he could feel the growing disruption to his chakra flow, as if his pathways were channelling corrosive acid, was unmistakable.
Obito confirmed it a moment later, when he held up the blade he'd taken from Sakura's hand, and Sasuke saw that the bloodied dagger was indeed coated in a thick black substance.
Not only with venom - but familiar, writhing dark spores. A dangerous union born of the most corrupt and devious of scientific experiments was invading his bloodstream. Potent and crippling, he felt the poison acting quickly to drain his chakra reserves, sending flame coursing through his veins. The infection was spreading like wildfire, wreaking havoc from within as the spores ravenously began to multiply within his cells.
"Kamui is a most unique technique," Obito's voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. "Its chakra is detectable only briefly at the point at which it is first cast. Once inside its dimension, that chakra is sealed. It cannot be seen, it cannot be sensed - until it is released by its user once again to re-open the portal. It was easy to remain hidden from Cerberus, to breach the entrance using space-time manipulation and find a subject at the river bank to infect. All that was required thereafter was to await your return to the palace."
Sasuke speared Obito with a deadly, daggered glare. Jugo had been corrupted by Obito then, not by Karin. The unwelcome visitor had ingeniously avoided detection, playing Sakura and Jugo like pieces on a chessboard to close in on the King. The bait had been meticulously and purposefully planned while Sasuke had been occupied on the surface, a cunning trap orchestrated to catch him off guard.
"You forget that I, too, was born of shadow," Obito continued. "The ancient seals on the gates are not designed to deny entry to those of us forged of the very element that birthed life to this world. Lord Cronus gave me all the knowledge I required to enter the realm unhindered."
The death deity released a barely audible hiss. Of course Madara had aided him. His gaze flicked briefly back to Sakura, whose expression was still disturbingly vacant. An unintentional mercy, perhaps, for her not to be aware of the horrific situation she was in.
'Sakura!' He called to her telepathically, seeking to rouse her from her unresponsive state.
Obito, who had noticed where his focus was directed, stated calmly, "Resist, or attempt to retaliate, try to summon any of your subjects to aid you, and I will throw the girl into the flames. And even if you save her from that demise, her mind and body will remain ours."
Ours. Sasuke's earlier suspicions were confirmed. He knew precisely who Obito meant.
Outraged, he engaged the pomegranate seeds rooted within Sakura, and directed a powerful, concentrated surge of chakra toward the pathways in her mind, violently severing Ares's hold and forcibly exorcising him from Sakura's body. The foreign presence he had detected vanished, fleeing her mortal coil. But when Obito simply released a dark, amused chuckle, the death deity realised that it was not Ares alone that now held Sakura's mind and body prisoner. He watched in horror as black spores slithered off the gloved hand that was gripping her by the throat. They crawled onto her body, seeping into her skin. Infecting her before his very eyes.
"I need only command the Black Zetsu to release the venom they hold into her bloodstream, and she will be forever lost," Obito continued. "No amount of ambrosia or healing will restore a human heart if it is touched by the poison of the goddess Achlys. As you know best, mortals are not as resilient as gods, and not even your influence can resurrect her."
Sasuke's lips pressed together, forming a tense, thin line. Obito was not bluffing. The death deity could see the venom contained within the centre of each spore, and although he had managed to break Ares's hold on Sakura, and could block him from repossessing her mind, Sasuke could do nothing to drive out the Black Zetsu that now overruled her autonomy without the correct antidote, one that would counteract both the spores and neutralise the danger of Achlys' lethal venom. An antidote that he did not have on his person at that moment.
His heart pounded and he wrestled to rein in the smothering, foreign sense of panic that was starting to brew within his chest. If he moved, the venom would instantly be released into Sakura's bloodstream - with catastrophic consequences. The threat of Achlys' poison essentially left Sasuke's hands tied, holding him hostage in what was a disastrous situation.
His thoughts sprinted, seeking out a strategy. Combat was not an option when Sakura's life was being held at ransom. Even if he harnessed the Rinnegan to move faster than Obito's eyes could detect, even if he swapped places with Sakura, whisked her away from Madara's puppet and returned her to the palace, even if he trapped Obito or expelled him from the realm, the Uchiha was still capable of remotely unleashing the poison carried by the spores. He would need just a second to do it, and could execute the command faster than Sasuke could administer healing to her.
But he had made The Fates promise to sustain Sakura's life if it were ever in danger of being terminated before she was restored to goddesshood. Their voices, however, had grown quiet in Sasuke's head, and any attempt to communicate with them the same way they had with him yielded only a deafening silence. Out of options, Sasuke was left with no alternative but to trust that Clotho, Atropos and Lakhesis would uphold their ends of the bargain, and to focus instead on dealing with the threat of Obito before whatever venom had infected him ran its full course.
He fought against the instinct to double over as he pressed a palm to his wound, trying to stem his bleeding and slow down the poison's advancement. His chakra flickered unsteadily, prevented from doing so by the source of its corruption.
Obito's fully restored eyes clearly noted the fatigue that was starting to creep over Sasuke, for he remarked, ""The potent venom in your body was created specifically to interact with Orochimaru's gift. A steady stream of poison will be released into your blood, draining your own chakra and forcing reserves to leak from your Curse Seal, accelerating its advancement until it eventually paralyses you."
A poison that had been specifically engineered to trigger his Curse Seal to activate, like drawing metal into a magnet. Sasuke could feel the mark throbbing on his arm, the beginnings of the cursed chakra stirring and leaching into his pathways. In the absence of Sasuke calling upon it, Orochimaru had figured out a clever way to force it into his bloodstream.
And this time, Sasuke did not have the failsafe of Itachi's chakra to save him when his own reserves depleted.
A veil of blood... and stone. All at once, the warnings The Fates had given to him made dreadful sense.
"You cannot stop it. Ambrosia will not cure it," Obito added. "Orochimaru is the only one who can remove it. The Black Zetsu spores fused within the venom can sense the movement of your own chakra flow. If you attempt to use the Rinnegan to displace me, the mortal's life will be forfeit."
The arrogance and insolence of the enemy sent unbridled fury bolting through Sasuke's body. He dared to infiltrate the Underworld and threaten him on his own terrain. To possess and use Sakura as a weapon against him, knowing that Sasuke's guard would be lowered around her, then attempt to disable him by threatening her welfare in order to pass enough time to allow the poison to do its work. Eyes that blazed luminous crimson and purple bore into Obito with malicious intent. First he had caused Kakashi's death, and now he threatened Sasuke with Sakura's demise.
Sasuke vowed to rip him apart. To confine him to the lowest depths of Tartarus for eternity to live in agony and torment, forever denied the release of death. Even if he was in part a victim of Madara's crimes, he was still a traitor, a blight to the Uchiha name and one to whom Sasuke would show no mercy.
"What do you want?" he snarled.
Obito slowly removed his mask with his free hand, and tilted his head mockingly.
"Lord Cronus wishes to offer his congratulations to you," he spoke unhurriedly, as if he possessed all the time in the world. "For keeping custody over his kingdom these past two millennia."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed in disgust.
"His kingdom?" he repeated, tone slicing. "He lost all claim to it when he murdered his own kin."
"The Crown will always belong to him," Obito dismissed. "For he is this world's creator, and everything in it, everything born of shadow, belongs to him. You would not exist, were it not for Lord Cronus."
Sasuke said nothing to that. There was no use wasting any further words or energy arguing with a mindless puppet who had been thoroughly brainwashed.
"Cronus recognises your services to the Crown. However, the time has come for you to abdicate the throne."
The words were so ludicrous, so insulting, that for a long moment, Sasuke was not certain that he had heard them correctly. Of course Cronus considered him to be merely a custodian of the throne, not a valid ruler in his own right. Madara shared power with no-one.
"And who ascends?" Sasuke asked, stalling as his mind hurtled for a way to disarm Obito that involved the least risk to Sakura. His own safety, he was not at all concerned about. As The Fates' so-called Chosen, and the only one capable of absorbing Cronus's abilities, he was certain the goddesses would be forced to do something to aid him and ensure that he survived, to bend some laws in his favour.
The Rinnegan allowed him to switch places with any object he wished. He could shift Sakura to a shadow portal of his own, one that would return her to the palace grounds, but in doing so would be swept up by Obito's Kamui in her place. That still did not negate the Black Zetsu's hold on Sakura, however, and she would be dead by the time Sasuke managed to get back, unless-
Unless Chiyo returned. Still he could not sense her in the kingdom. He had to continue to delay Obito for long enough until she was back, and as soon as he detected her presence, would convey the situation to her and leave Sakura's healing in her proficient hands. But every minute he dragged out their exchange was to the detriment of his own chakra reserves.
It was at that moment that he looked more closely at the unparalleled, monstrous energy that was thrumming through Obito's inner pathways, the awful concentration of potent power that had been locked into his body for safekeeping. His chakra network was on the verge of short-circuiting, the energy confined within them much more volatile than it had been the last time Sasuke had looked upon him. The signatures were no longer easy to tell apart, their distinct auras and colours blending constantly into one another.
The enhanced vision in his Rinnegan tracked one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…
A different kind of ice crept through Sasuke's veins.
Eight. There were eight different jinchuriki signatures in total.
He struggled to keep the shock from slipping through the stoic mask he had fixed firmly onto his face. How was that possible, when Gaara, Naruto and Killer B had been safe and well when he had departed the surface? What in the world had happened since he had left?
Was it the same reason why Chiyo had yet to return?
With eight tailed-beasts locked within him, Sasuke knew he could not defeat Obito. But if he could somehow drag him into Tartarus after getting Sakura out of his clutches, he could throw him into a chakra-negating cell, lock him up for however long the strongest wards known to the gods could withstand, and stall all of Madara's depraved plans in the process. He could buy everyone much needed time to regroup. The chance of depriving Madara of his most prized marionnette was not one that Sasuke was prepared to pass up.
"I do," Obito answered simply.
Sasuke released a short, brittle snort, a sound that might have once been vaguely related to a laugh.
"You? You have not what it takes to rule," he taunted coldly. "You are nothing more than Madara's puppet. And one day, when you are of no further use to him, he will end you, Obito. Just like he ended the rest."
Obito gave him a soulless smile. "I already died a long time ago."
Abruptly, he released Sakura's throat, allowing her to fall back, catching her by her right forearm at the final moment. She dangled precariously over the edge of the infernal crater, and this time nothing could suppress the sheer panic that careened through Sasuke. His heart lodged into his throat, as if it were on the verge of being flung into hell itself.
"Stop!" he uttered sharply, stepping forward without conscious thought. The movement caused white-hot pain to zig-zag across his vision. Whatever blasted substance had coated that dagger, its poison clearly worked in a different manner to Achlys's potent venom, which caused immediate paralysis. Sasuke could still move, could still sense his chakra - but it was rapidly diminishing, slipping beyond his control, growing weaker by the second as the Curse Seal's corrupt reserves began to overrun his pathways. He knew he had to act quickly, before the ability to act was robbed from him entirely.
"Move," Obito reminded him. "And she will be lost. It would be unwise to test me, Sasuke."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, fighting against the exhaustion that was starting to weigh in his bones like lead.
"I cannot abdicate, you idiot," he glared. "The throne will not yield the Crown to any Uchiha, not unless you had a previous claim to it, or are in the line of succession. It will not recognise another as its ruler while I live."
Obito gave him another smile that did not meet his eyes. "While you live, yes. When your blood stills, it will have no choice but to yield to the only one left who carries the bloodline. The venom will paralyse you. You will then enter a comatose state, your consciousness held prisoner, allowing Orochimaru to possess your body. To the throne, you will be as good as dead, long enough for me to ascend."
Sasuke stared at him, sickened and appalled. He was truly deranged, beyond salvation. There was no way he could rule. He lacked the sanity, the stability, the resolve and strength to do so on every conceivable level.
"Remove the barrier," Obito commanded, referring to the powerful magic that ensured Tartarus's inhabitants could not escape from their eternal, agonising confinement. "Take me to where the Titans are sealed, and when I have all that I require of you, I will remove the spores and the venom from the girl."
Sasuke did not trust or believe him for a second.
"You have my word," Obito added.
Sasuke trusted him even less.
"You cannot unseal them," he snapped, swallowing back another strong wave of nausea. Cold beads of sweat had started to form on his forehead, and an unsettling prickling sensation was beginning to crawl over his limbs.
"What know you of the nature of their seal?" Obito demanded.
When Sasuke's lips pressed into a defiant line of silence, Obito dangled Sakura further over the edge. Only his grip on her wrist was keeping her from a terrifying descent into the scorching mouth of Hell. Sasuke's heart thundered, and he watched, something wrenching violently in his chest, as clarity suddenly returned to her. Obito, he realised, was cruelly allowing her to be sentient.
Sasuke felt sick to the stomach as she blinked in a daze, before understanding slowly dawned upon her. Terror filled the verdant eyes that met his, and she released a shrill scream that cut Sasuke to the quick. He felt her panic, her fear, her confusion.
'Sasuke-kun?!' Her voice rang in his head. 'What's happening?!'
'Don't fight,' he warned. 'You've been infected with poison. If you move, he will release it into your blood.'
'I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun! I-I can't remember what happened and I-'
'I'm getting you out,' he promised, his grip tightening on Kusanagi. Whatever it took, whatever price it was required of him to pay, he swore he would save her.
She released a petrified whimper.
'Do not look down,' Sasuke attempted to calm her, sensing the uncontrolled, rampant drumming of her erratic pulse, a part of him equally as afraid that her intense emotional distress and compromised body might trigger a final, fatal attack. One he would be powerless to stop at that moment. 'Look at me, Sakura.'
A quiet sob escaped her heat-chapped lips, but her teary eyes remained on him.
"The seal," Obito pressed, an edge of warning to his voice. "Or I release the venom inside her, now. Do not lie to me, boy. The venom allows me to sense any fluctuations in your chakra."
Sasuke's glare was positively chilling. With great reluctance, he disclosed, "They were sealed inside the sword of Totsuka."
"Totsuka…" Obito exhaled. "Then it is true. That was indeed the blade the treacherous Thanatos wielded on the battlefield. Yes… I remember. What became of it?"
"It was tied to Itachi's life-force, and answers only to his hand. When he died, it lost its power," Sasuke finished bluntly. "You will find nothing but a gourd that cannot be opened."
"Fool," Obito said, his voice changing in its tone, growing more distorted, and Sasuke knew it was not his voice that spoke, but that of Ares, who longed above all else to return to his true form and wage war. "How very little you know. Any sealed weapon can be restored if you possess knowledge of the Forbidden Arts, and if a great enough source of chakra is transferred into it to imbue it with life once again. Enough potent chakra to revive those that slumber within and provide them with the power they require to break free of their chains."
Sasuke's eyes widened marginally. He could not believe what he was hearing. It could not be true.
"And what chakra is greater than that of eight, combined tailed beasts?" Ares went on. "Totsuka is tied not only to its wielder's soul, but to their blood. The same blood that runs through your veins, Hades. You may not wield its gifts as your kin Thanatos once did - but it will stir from its dormant state when it senses its Master's blood. A spark of life, and we need only that moment to break our brethren out."
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura rasped hoarsely. "What's he saying?!"
Understanding crashed into Sasuke with the force of a tsunami that threatened to sweep him out into the turbulent waves of pandemonium, the pieces clicking into place with frightening clarity. The enemy meant to force him to assist in the unsealing of the Titans. To use him as some form of conduit, through which the monsters trapped within Totsuka could be unleashed.
Confusion roared like a displacing hurricane, rattling Sasuke to his very core. But Chiyo had told him the gourd had forever lost its power. That there was no way to reverse it. Obito - Ares - had to be lying. Or had Chiyo once again withheld a very vital piece of information from him?
But Itachi and Shisui would have planned for the enemy to attempt to revive the Titans, to seek a loophole to break them out.
A terrible thought then struck Sasuke. What if none of them had known that Totsuka could be reactivated temporarily in such a way? After all, there was nothing in any scriptures about transferring tailed-beast chakra into a weapon, instead of a living host. Nor would The Fates have informed Itachi of any loopholes that ought not to have existed in a sword created by their own hands. Yet according to the claims Ares was making - Ares, who specialised in weaponry and warfare more than any other deity - Totsuka could not be used for sealing by any hand other than its original, bestowed Master's. However, it seemingly could be stirred briefly from its sleeping state if the same blood as its rightful wielder attempted to awaken it through use of the forbidden arts. And once its magic was stirred, if timed correctly, the Titans locked inside, restored to awareness by powerful tailed-beast chakra, stood a real chance of breaking out by force, aided by whatever spell the dark arts employed to further weaken Totsuka's binds.
Chiyo, who saw many things, could not see everything, for not even The Fates were capable of that. Was this the Obscurum that they had warned Sasuke about? An anomaly that could not be foreseen?
No. Sasuke's horror was absolute, feeling like his blood had been petrified to stone. The tailed-beasts weren't just being kept in Obito to revive the Ten-Tails. They would revive the Titans first. The enemy had found a way to undo the effects of Itachi and Shisui's noble sacrifices, to render their deaths meaningless.
"A tailed-beast has been collected to restore power to each of the seven Titans sealed within," Ares's voice echoed. "The Nine-tails is the key to awakening the Tenth. Soon we will have him in our possession, also."
His words confirmed that something dreadful had indeed occurred on the surface, resulting in the loss of Gaara and Killer B. Sasuke was stunned at how efficiently the enemy had managed to retrieve and extract them. The only small consolation was knowing that Naruto had not yet been taken. But it took only one more slip-up, one more careless moment, and Apollo, too, would be lost.
"That shell cannot withstand so many extractions at once," Sasuke challenged.
"It is true that this body will experience another death when all the tailed beasts are extracted from it. But we need only seven to unseal the Titans. This coil exists only to serve Lord Cronus," came the chilling reply. "Obito will rule the Underworld, kept alive by the one tailed-beast we shall leave within him - until Lord Cronus is freed and ready to reclaim his rightful Crown."
"You're out of your mind!" Sakura cried. "Do you really think Cronus will share power with you, that he'll bother saving you when he unwrites every timeline that's ever existed?! He's just using you to get what he wants! In the end, he'll enslave all the other Titans, too! Obito! Don't you see what they're going to do to you?!"
"It is futile," Ares's voice was as dark as blood-shed, as dark as death. The death his reawakening promised to unleash upon the world. "He cannot hear you. His mind has always been mine. Whatever pitiful few vestiges of his old self and memories remain, will be obliterated once all the extractions are complete."
Sasuke's muscles began to tremble with the effort to keep himself upright. He had lost a lot of blood, and was losing chakra at an even more alarming speed. Obito was wrong. There was another way to heal himself, only one way to fully restore his chakra - but he could not get back to the throne without risking Sakura's life.
"Let her go," he bit out. "Remove the spores and venom from her, and I will take you to the gourd."
"I think not," Ares's voice faded away, blending back to Obito's as he hauled Sakura closer again, pressing the dagger to the base of her throat. She swallowed, keeping deadly still, following Sasuke's instructions not to make any unpredictable movements. "The girl accompanies us to ensure your full cooperation. You are in no position to make demands. Remove the seals."
The tips of his Sasuke's fingers were starting to turn numb, and he could feel the Cursed Seal's chakra wreaking havoc within him. Chiyo had yet to return, and all attempts to contact her had been met with a strange, deafening silence. He was running out of time, had no other option but to transport Obito to the lowest level of Tartarus, and lead him to a gourd that Sasuke, himself, had never set eyes upon.
But that did not mean he had to assist Obito in opening it. Or that he had any intention of letting him leave.
For the subjects he possessed that guarded the deepest level of Hell were the most savage of all. And though they bowed to their King, they did not take kindly to intruders.
An idea finally formed in his mind. A lifeline, a way out, the means to trap Obito - but he needed to act quickly.
Silently, he lifted a hand, summoning the pronged royal spear that removed the powerful barriers placed on Tartarus. With a mighty, loud gust of hot air, smoke and sparks of fire, the ancient wards were dispelled.
Obito gave him a sharp smile, lips curving like a crescent blade, and all thoughts and plans scattered from Sasuke's mind when Sakura's piercing scream filled the air, skewering through him like a jagged steel lance as Obito abruptly released her and flung her ruthlessly into the infernal pit.
~x~
Author's Note
Reviews would be appreciated. The next few chapters get even wilder, so buckle in, dear readers!