"Sakura."

Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at the voice. Sasuke and Naruto both hovered over her, a bit of concern behind their eyes.

"What happened?"

"You were out for a while."

She pushed herself up and instantly wished she hadn't. Her head was pounding and the quick motion sent it swimming. She put a hand to her head and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Sorry," she finally mustered.

"We all had a harder time getting up," Sasuke stated.

Sakura nodded, still not convinced. She hated thinking that they were waiting for her. She hated feeling like she was the weak one again.

"What now," Naruto asked, looking around.

Sakura followed his gaze and tried to control her heart beat again. The hospital, once a center of life and healing, had completely twisted itself in the other world. Blood trails ran along the wall, the distinct five lines of finger marks visible in them. The lights were on but flickered constantly like lightning. The seats in the waiting room had been pulled up and stacked to a side as if to say there was no reason to wait for treatment here.

"We need to find Hinata," Sasuke replied. "The beast will find us."

Naruto nodded. "It's a big place. How are we going to find her?"

"Her room," Sakura whispered. The other two stared at her. "It's obvious, isn't it? Her room was in the hospital. It's the room where she died. So she must be there now."

"It makes sense," Naruto responded, nodding as he did.

"Then we'll go there," Sasuke said. "We need to start collecting weapons. Check every room on the way up."

They nodded and walked towards the staircase. The waiting area remained quiet, a stark contrast the bustle that was there moment before. Sasuke reached the door first and gave it a yank, cursing as it held firm.

"There should be another staircase," Sakura whispered, "on the other side of the building."

"What about an elevator?" Naruto asked.

They looked at each other for a few moments before deciding against it. Somehow the thought of cramming into a small box and leaving themselves at the whims of this world's physics didn't seem like such a good idea.

"Where is the other staircase?" Sasuke asked.

"There's a map in the waiting area," Sakura replied. "I saw it when we walked in earlier."

"Then let's hope its still there."

Two minutes later, they stood in front of the shattered display case, trying to determine if the map was there. After a few moments of staring, Sasuke finished the glass off and pulled the paper free.

"Through the cafeteria and then up the flight of stairs," he stated, drawing a line on it with his finger.

"The kitchen might have something we can use," Sakura said hopefully.

"We'll stop there on the way."

The trip to the cafeteria was uneventful, almost too quiet considering their past experiences in this world. The door was unlocked, a rare treat and they barely hesitated before entering the room.

Perhaps the normalness of the room should have tipped them off. But in their hurry to get to the kitchen, the trio simply dove into the room and hurried through it. The ranks of chairs were still as they ran down the center of the room instead it was the tables that suddenly began to scrap across the floor.

Two slammed together in front of Sasuke just as he neared the end. It completely blocked the exit but he wasn't willing to stop. He jumped up and tried to step over them but one of the tables shifted quickly throwing him back several feet into the sea of chairs.

"Sasuke-k…" Sakura didn't get a chance to finish as the table that had thrown Sasuke came towards her and hit her in the midsection. It pushed her into a neighbor and the two pinned her while Naruto ran forward.

"Let her go!" he screamed, as if the inanimate objects could understand him. When there was no response, he grabbed the edge and tried to pull it away form her, ignoring the pain as his wounds pulled open.

Sasuke got up slowly and pushed himself free of the chairs. He turned just in time to see Naruto struggling to free Sakura. He took a few steps forward but came to an abrupt halt as the loud yowl filled the room.

It had found them.

"Run!" Sakura cried. "Find Hinata before it does."

Sasuke ignored her and stepped next to her, wedging himself in the small gap between the two tables.

"Naruto pull, I PUSH."

With the effort of two people, the tables finally gave way and Sasuke grabbed Sakura's arm, yanking her out with him from the tables. Naruto stumbled forward a bit but didn't wait too long to follow his friends out of the tables' aim.

As they reached the other side, the tables had completely cornered them and they were forced to forget about their side trip to the kitchen. Sasuke put his hand on the door knob and turned, letting a bit of relief show in his face as it opened.

They charged up the stairs, taking two steps at a time as they tried to outrun the beast that was hunting them. The floor came up soon enough and they pushed on the door.

"DAMNIT!" Naruto yelled, kicking at the door furiously as it refused to open. "What the fuck is wrong with this place."

"Everything," Sakura said wrapping her arms around her chest. "We should go up a floor and try to get down through the ducts again."

"Is that safe?" Sasuke asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing is."

"This is safe," Naruto stated, looking around. "Nothing's in here but us."

"He's right," Sasuke added. "Sakura stay in the staircase. We'll go up and find a way down."

"What?"

"Sasuke has a good idea," Naruto agreed. "We'll come around and open the door."

She wanted to protest but she couldn't get past the old mantra. She was slowing them down. They had already lost precious minutes in the cafeteria and by waiting for her to wake up.

"Go," she whispered. And they took off. She listened to their echoing footsteps. She closed her eyes when it stopped, half wishing to hear Naruto's voice cursing again. But all that answered her was a squeaking door that eventually slammed shut.

She slid to the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs and shutting her eyes. No, she couldn't feel useless again. Sasuke had made a strategic decision. The beast was closing in fast on them and they needed to secure Hinata.

She looked up the empty staircase and frowned. It was safe, that was for sure. And Sasuke had told her to stay in the staircase… just not where.

With a renewed vigor, she quickly ran down the stairs, passing by the door to the cafeteria without bothering to look inside. She wanted to see where the stairs led to because in her experience, hospitals usually used basements for storage.

Or morgues.

She was really hoping against the latter case.

She landed on the bottom floor and crouched in a shadow. She waited a few minutes to see if anyone showed up but the coast was clear. With cat like steps she crossed the hallway and eyed all of the doors. She tried to open a few of the storage closets and was not too surprised to find them locked. It annoyed her but at least she had tried.

She moved back towards the steps, not eager to stretch her teammates' patience if they came through the door before she got back. She was ready to charge up the stairs when she saw the tell tale double door. The temperature dropped several degrees and she found herself moving towards the morgue.

The doors swung open easily enough but the room was pitch-black. She hesitated for a moment but took a step forward, running her hand along the wall to find a switch.

"Sakura…"

Sakura paused. "Hinata?" she asked softly.

"Sakura… please…"

Three steps in and she was in complete darkness, the doors behind her having closed. There was no going back now. The ceiling began to dip down and eventually she had to crouch to move forward.

She could hear Hinata's voice still but it was getting weaker. It wasn't until Sakura was on her stomach trying to slither forward that she finally understood what the other girl was saying.

"Please… don't come in…"

Sasuke didn't look back once as they traversed the hallway. He and Naruto had already fallen into a pattern that worked well. Stop at a door, open it, check it for possible weapons, move on.

"Got one!" Naruto cried, pulling an IV stand out with him.

"Me too," Sasuke replied. That brought their total to nine, one more then they needed. Sasuke shifted the poles in his hand, letting the soft ring of metal fill the empty hallways. It had been easy to get this far, almost too easy. It was as if some silent foe was taunting them, drawing them further into the floor. It felt like a trap, Sasuke just didn't know how it would be sprung.

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke stopped and looked at where Naruto was. The door was open and the other boy was just staring into the darkness. As Sasuke was about to tell the idiot to start moving, Naruto jumped forward.

Sasuke cursed and reversed his direction, running towards the door. Idiot! Who just jumps into a room in this world like that? He came to a halt at the same place Naruto had been.

The room was completely dark. There was nothing to see. So why had Naruto stopped?

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's heart jumped at the familiar feminine voice. Sakura? But she was supposed to be downstairs. Suddenly Naruto's actions made sense. Without a second thought, Sasuke stepped into the darkness.

He fell at least a floor down and hit the grating hard. His fingers searched for solid ground to level himself but slipped through the holes of the chain link floor. When he finally found his footing, the floor underneath him started to dip into the darkness from his weight. He jumped to a nearby metal pole that ran from wall to wall and held up the metal netting. Once he had his balance, he looked over and was not surprised to see Naruto in the same situation.

"You heard her too right?" Naruto asked. "Hinata was in here."

Sasuke looked at him, not able to hide the growing frown. "It was Sakura."

Naruto summed it up perfectly. "Shit." It was a trap.

"Stay on the beams," Sasuke ordered. "The middle parts are too unstable."

Naruto was about to retort was a snide comment when the pole he was on sagged slightly. He looked down into the darkness with a frown. It was like every room on this floor had been replaced by this grid.

There was a moan, a despair filled cry that shook the metal beneath them. Naruto took a few steps back, trying to hold onto the four metal staffs he had. Sasuke balanced as the pole under his feet began to move as well.

They came out of the darkness, moving slowly and wearing grotesque remains of nurse's uniforms, down to the trademark hats. Each step weighed on the bars but for a moment it looked like they weren't too much of a threat.

"Are those… axes?" Naruto asked.

In response, one of the nurses raised hers up high and brought it down on the metal. The entire structure shook and it took all of their ninja skills to stay standing. One of the nurse creatures was not so lucky and fell down, tumbling into the metal net. It whined under her pressure.

"Son of a bitch!" Naruto yelled charging at the creature.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled but it was too late. Using one of his new pole weapons, Naruto smashed the side of a nearby creature, sending her tumbling into the one that had already fallen.

The chain buckled under the combined weight of the two creatures and ripped away from the metal poles that held it. The two creatures fell into the darkness and Sasuke noticed that there was no sound of them ever hitting bottom.

Naruto was balanced on the grid precariously, three creatures limping towards him. Sasuke realized they weren't getting out of here without a fight. He moved quickly, wishing for the tiniest bit of chakra to steady himself.

An axe swung towards Naruto and he bent backwards so far that his head touched the beam. His hands still gripped the staffs tightly but he realized it was getting harder to keep balanced with them and the attacking nurses. For a moment he actually wished Sasuke was there to help him with the fight.

And as if to answer him, a large amount of weight planted itself on his stomach in the form of Sasuke's foot. Every last muscle went into not letting him collapse and Naruto strained to right himself just in time to see Sasuke taking out two of the creatures.

"OW!" Naruto yelled belatedly, watching as Sasuke cleared the third one.

His teammate glared at him for a moment before grabbing his arm and dragging him away.

"We're not fighting under these conditions," Sasuke stated.

"Che, what are you talking about? This is cake!"

The grid below him shuddered as more nurse creatures appeared. The axes were hitting down more now and the entire structure was whining under the effort. Sasuke directed them towards the nearest door, not surprised to find it was locked.

"We need to get out of here," he said simply and Naruto offered no argument. Sasuke laced his fingers into the chain wall and looked up into the shadows they had fallen from. "Up?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Look, down that way. Do you see it?"

Sasuke struggled to follow Naruto gaze into the darkness. Beyond the grid was something that looked solid. "What is it?"

"Considering how much running we've been doing, I'd say it's the other staircase."

With their options running out, Sasuke was forced to follow Naruto as he ran towards the tower. As they got closer, Sasuke could make out a door. The poles they were running on vibrating horribly and occasionally they had to jump to a neighboring one to maintain their speed. He spared a glance over his shoulder and couldn't count the number of creatures that bobbed in and out of the dark.

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed happily as the door opened under his grip. "Maybe I should open the door from now on," he smiled. Sasuke just pushed him through and slammed the door shut behind them.

"Up or down?" Naruto asked.

"Up. We need to get back to the floor we were on and double back to get Sakura. Obviously the second floor is not where we should be looking."

Naruto frowned but saw the logic in his comrade's words. He ran up first and grabbed the door knob before Sasuke, finding it locked shut.

"So much for your luck," Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah, thanks," Naruto replied, kicking the door. "So what now?"

"We go down."

"First floor is locked."

"Hospitals have basements," Sasuke replied. "They keep their supplies there."

"Eh?" Naruto asked. "How do you know?" An evil smile grew on his face. "Go down there with Sakura a few times?"

Sasuke's face didn't move. "It's where you go to identify bodies too," he said.

Naruto's face fell but before he had a chance to apologize, Sasuke was already running down the stairs. He followed behind, trying not to get dizzy as they followed the twisted steps down to the basement.

Sasuke had stopped in front of the door with a frown.

"Locked?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke waited a moment before answering. "You open it," he said. "Better luck today then me."

Naruto smiled and nodded, glad that the momentary idiocy on his part concerning morgues had not been held against him for long. He put his hand on the door knob and snatched it back.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"It's cold," Naruto replied. He reached out again and pulled the door open.

A cold, opaque wind moved into the stairwell, wrapping them up in a cloak of frigid air that sent chills down their backs. Naruto let out a breath and it turned into white clouds. Sasuke walked inside, trying to keep his breath steady as he moved into the room.

The basement didn't house a morgue, it was a morgue. The entire room was filled with row after row of slabs while closed drawers lined the walls. The slabs themselves were each decorated with a white sheet that covered something that looked vaguely human.

"Oh… hell no," Naruto said, taking in the scene.

"We need to get across and to the staircase," Sasuke added, suddenly feeling nervous. It was becoming clear that they shouldn't have left Sakura by herself.

"I'm not opposed to running," Naruto piped in, quickly falling into step behind his friend.

"I think we're in agreement on…"

Sasuke trailed off. Naruto began to ask why but Sasuke hushed him quickly. He looked around the room as he waited. A second later he heard it. Pounding from the right wall. He exchanged a glance with Naruto and they slowly moved towards the noise.

As they got closer, it was obvious which drawer was the source of the noise. On the door, written in barely legible script was the name of the occupant.

"Shit," Naruto said, just as Sasuke threw open the drawer and pulled out the slab.

Sakura sat up quickly, wrapping her hands around her body as her eyes wildly looked around. Her lips were tinged blue and kept moving as she tried to say something. Naruto reached forward and put his hand on her arm.

"Sakura-chan?" he asked.

The voice seemed to break her from her panic. Instantly she locked onto Naruto. "She's here… Hinata's here," she cried before burrowing herself into Naruto's shoulder. Naruto patted her on the head while he shared a glance with Sasuke.

"Of course," he said. "In the end, this is where she would have ended up."

"But where?" Naruto asked, still trying to keep his female roommate warm.

Sasuke looked at all the slabs. Cautiously he stepped forward and pulled the sheet off one of them. He jumped back to prepare for a fight but all that lay on the slab was a mangled mannequin.

"Stay with Sakura," he ordered as he moved from each slab, pulling off the sheets.

"No wait," Sakura called out, pushing herself away from Naruto. "I'm fine… I'll help." Before he could protest, she walked forward and pulled a sheet herself. "Naruto, check the drawers for her name."

Naruto nodded dumbly and turned back to the wall. His sleeves stuck to his skin from her tears but he pretended not to notice how it chilled him. He read through the names slowly, finding most were easy to read and decipher.

"Yamanaka Ino," he whispered. He looked over his shoulder at Sakura and pondered if he should bring it up. Instead he turned back to the wall and continued to read.

I know all these names, he realized. Every one of them. Umino Iruka. Uchiha Itachi. They were all here, stored and organized in tiny boxes.

"Hyuuga Hinata," he read out loud. "Hinata! She's here!"

Sasuke and Sakura ran over quickly. "Open it," Sakura cried.

"I can't! It's stuck… Sasuke, hand me one of the poles."

Sasuke nodded and picked one off the ground from where they had freed Sakura. He tossed it to Naruto who in turn wedged it under the handle. He pulled back with all his weight and the handle whined before finally releasing. Sakura reached inside and pulled out the slab the moment the drawer was open.

There she was, eyes closed and still wearing the white hospital gown. Her hands were crossed over her chest but there was no movement there. The trio stared in silence before Naruto leaned down.

"Hinata?"

Her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly. For a moment she panicked and tried to get back into the drawer but they grabbed her and pulled her off the slab.

"It's okay," Sakura said, trying to be reassuring.

But Hinata shook her head fervently. "No, no its not. I told you not to come… I begged you."

"We had to come," Naruto stated. "We had to save you."

She shook her head. "You're too late." She looked over his shoulder, eyes losing all signs of life in them. "He's here."

The trio turned around quickly, just in time to see the Tsunade creature melt into the familiar form of the beast. It howled at them, two of the appendages coming out instantly and knocking over several slabs.

"Get outside!" Sasuke yelled. "We can't fight it here!"

They bolted, Naruto taking a minute to grab Hinata. She melted in his arms, dipping to the floor so he resorted to carrying her away as they ran. Sasuke threw two poles at Sakura and she caught them easily.

The beast became a blur as it slid quickly through the room, pushing gurneys to the side as it did. As the group reached the door, it threw a third arm to block their escape. Sasuke cursed but used one of his poles and pierced the skin. Sakura ran forward and helped him, threading the metal through the door handles and locking it in place.

Behind them, Naruto was having difficulty juggling Hinata and his weapons. "Sasuke! Catch!" he yelled, tossing the limp body at him. He turned quickly and brought one of his staffs forward, following the same technique as Sasuke. When the appendage had struck, he pushed the pole through a handle on a morgue drawer.

"That's TWO!"

"Fight it here!" Sasuke ordered dodging a limb as it shot towards him. It was a difficult situation but they were trained to fight under worse conditions. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

But indeed, the team did their job. Naruto managed to get two limbs tangled in a mess of slabs and used two poles to lock it in place. Sakura's brute strength was impressive as she continuously pierced the skin of the creature while pinning it to the floor. Sasuke spent the better part of his attacks protecting Hinata but managed to catch a limb in a drawer all the same.

"That's six!" He yelled. "Regroup!"

Sakura and Naruto doubled back, realizing that there was a small reprieve. Each took a final staff and eyed the creature as it howled. Two new limbs tore through the skin, stretching and unraveling towards them.

"We just need to pin the last two and then kill it while it's trapped," Sasuke stated. "Naruto stay with Hinata and rest. I'll try to get the other two arms. Sakura… you're the only one with the strength to run it through."

She nodded firmly. "I got it. Just distract it for a bit."

The beast roared and charged, renewed by the fact that it had two more limbs to use as weapons. The ones that were trapped pulled against their bonds, causing the roof to shake and debris to begin raining onto them.

"Hurry!" Naruto called, attempting to protect Hinata from the falling ceiling tiles.

The beast thrashed about, angered by the fact that its attacks were limited. The remaining two shot forward, desperate to find a target. Sasuke dove under one and spun around quickly, spearing one of the arms as he came to a stop. The pole flew free before he was able to lodge it somewhere and followed the arm's course as it progressed towards Naruto.

Naruto reacted without hesitation. He grabbed the pole and pushed against it, holding the appendage at bay. He caught Sasuke's eye and yelled at him to get the other one.

Sasuke nodded briefly before traversing the maze of turned over slabs. The last limb was trying to pull free one of the pinned ones. Sasuke charged it and slammed the spear into it. But the thing would not relent in its attempts to get free. He had to use all his weight to keep it caught.

"Sakura… NOW!"

She ran forward, a clear line from her to the beast. The spear was firmly gripped in her hands. A clear shot, it would be cake. And then the nightmare would be over.

All her strength went into the strike, ever last bit of energy she had. The spear lanced forward and there was a sickening noise.

Blood began to drip to the floor.

The metal pole fell from her hand and clattered on the floor, unused, unbloodied.

"Sakura!" Sasuke screamed.

Naruto turned just time to see the beast howl in victory. It wasn't possible, they had won, they had to have won.

She slumped forward and tried to regain her footing. Her legs were like jelly and she dropped to the ground, whispering as she did.

"There were nine."

Naruto screamed first, in pure rage as the beast glared at him. The nine limbs slowly migrated to the small of its back and it landed on all fours. The Kyuubi reared its head and howled in victory, the broken body of its prey at its feet.

The noise pushed into their minds and brought them to their knees. Hinata was screaming, holding her arms around her head. Naruto was still yelling, trying to reach the creature even as the world change brought him to the ground.

Sasuke never moved, he just stared at the body at the beast's feet, letting the familiar hum fill his senses. And just before he passed out, he could make out Sakura's last words.

"I can't hear the noise…"