Later that night we awaken under the cover of nightfall. My red eyes scan the horizon. In a building across the street. Another set bore into my own...Gaara...I knew those Sand Village pricks wouldn't leave us alone! I return my attention to Naruto. He's polishing his sword and sharpening the blade. I tell him,
"It's time."
We soundlessly traverse the hotel halls traversing the corner into the entrance hall. Naruto takes a bold step towards the front door but I stop his foolish advances.
"I told you those Sand Siblings are watching us. Why the fuck would we go out the front door?"
Naruto responds by rolling his eyes.
"Man, you really need to stop bossing me around."
"If you weren't an idiot, I wouldn't have to."
I spin him around so he is facing the reception desk. He follows like a lost puppy as I push past a brown swing-door and tip-toe towards the back door. I open it allowing the warm night air to tickle my skin. I took the liberty of turning the bed sheets into a loose crop-top, minus the bloody stains. My skirt has been haphazardly patched together with sewing needles and thread I found in a dresser drawer but it's not enough to hide the bruises on my legs and thighs.
My mind continues to contemplate such minor things as I stalk the shadows. Naruto bumbles behind me, knocking a trash can in the process. I'm almost tempted to throw him into it and abandon him.
Pushing into my pocket a pull out the Shard Of Darkness. Reading my mind, Naruto pushes his own Shard Of Light Against my own. A thin ray of energy points towards a church further down the road.
A smirk crosses my face, "Did you ever imagine you would commit Breaking And Entering, goody-two-shoes?"
"Come on. Don't talk to me like I'm a fuckin' nun."
He shoves past and begins leading the way. Slightly amused, I allow it. We ensure nobody is following us as we traverse a small hill of sand.
Naruto tests the front door of the church. Locked, duh. But I let him figure a way in himself. He sends a slight glare in my direction as he finds a nearby window and jimmies open the wiggly lock with his blade. It's hilarious watching him try and pick a lock with a sword half the size of his body. If it wasn't for the great care of secrecy in our mission I would be laughing my ass off.
The window- squeeeekkks! The Uzumaki Prince fumbles inside landing with a heavy thwump! Following behind him I land with grace and propriety next to his shadowy figure. He jumps back to his feet while clearing his throat.
"Ehem! Like a glove…"
Ignoring his consistent idiocy, I make my way towards the church pews. They have been kept in pristine condition. My forefinger traces the elegant engravings on the handrails and I flinch.
Being a witch tainted by evil in such a holy place makes my skin tingle. I half expect my body to burst into flames at any moment.
"Take a good look around Naruto, the next shard must be here somewhere."
We split up. The church is small. I open every drawer, over turn all the tables, and examine every crevice but no shard in sight. Naruto and I rendezvous at the Pope's Office. It's locked. He goes to grab his sword again but I stop him.
"Please, don't, I'll die from laughter."
But not a tinge of humor touches my cold voice. Using a blast of dark magic I destroy the lock and the door swings open. Naruto is in awe.
"You coulda' done that in the first place!"
"Why would I do that? When you were doing soooo well!"
The sarcasm in my voice is undeniable.
"Let's get this over with...and if you find any porno magazines, give them to me. Everybody knows these religious men are closeted freaks."
Naruto holds back a tight-lipped smile that he refuses to let slip.
After several minutes of discovering jack-shit, we stumble across a loose floorboard. I go to work prying at it with my fingers...when all of a sudden…
Crick…..CRASH!
The floorboards give in on us and we go tumbling several feet into a black pit. As soon as my back hits the solid floor, Naruto lands on top of me. I gasp in shock and attempt to catch my breath. He regains himself, rolling off of me and placing a hand on my chest.
"Sh- shit! Are you ok, Sasuke?"
"Oh ya! Both my lungs have collapsed and I'm going to die. But I'm fine."
His concern disappears as quickly as it appeared.
"Right. You're fine, baka!"
He refuses to help me to my feet so I stumble up on my own.
"Where are we?" he asks.
"You're guess is as good as mine…"
"Do you have any magic that can light this place up?"
I try to glare at him but I can't find his blue eyes in the blackness.
"I'm an Evil Witch...Naruto, I deal in black magic. What makes you think I'm filled with love and light?"
"Fuck. Fine!"
I hear shuffling. All-at-once a ray of illumination erupts from the Shard Of Light in his hand. His eyes are closed as he channels into the crystal's unique powers. When he re-opens his eyes he is met with the same horrifying picture that I am currently gawking at.
We are in some sort of torture chamber. Huge wardrobes line the walls filled head-to-toe with glass jars and boxes. Each container seems to withhold body parts and other malformed body-tissues. The dirt floor has been stomped flat by heavy boots. I follow the footprints up to a metal table soaked in crimson blood. Beyond that, a tiny wooden table stacked with faded papers threatens to fall over.
"What. The. Fuck."
"For once, Naruto. I agree with you. Lead the way, but stay close."
We circle around the surgical table. Being this close, I can see blood soaked leather cuffs chained to the surface. Naruto hesitates before the table, staring down at a particular paper at the top of a stack. It appears to show medical records of a person's H2O balance.
"What?"
I grip the thinning paper and rub away a spot of dirt. AS the smudge is cleared, a photo of a human being tortured is brought into full view. They have been pinned to the table. Tubes have been stuck in their tender flesh every which way. They are screaming. Standing above them is a man dressed in white covered in blood. He has short red hair. If he wasn't clearly much older, I would say he looks exactly like Gaara.
"That must be the Pope. Mr. Rasa. I saw a photo of him hanging in his office."
"Why was Rasa torturing people underneath the church? And why do all these papers have information about "H2O levels?"
Closing my eyes, a series of calculations and hypotheses whir past. After a moment, I re-open my eyes and glare down at another paper. A bright blue crystal has been drawn in blotchy blue ink…
"The Shard Of Water."
My voice is harsh.
"Mr. Rasa was using the Shard Of Water to experiment on these innocent people. From what I'm reading, he was trying to manipulate the amount of water in a human's body."
"Why do that?"
"Because, Naruto, humans are made up of 60% water. Manipulating that percentage while still maintaining their core functions could transform them into something different all-together…"
As I'm concluding my theory...my eyes wander back to the desk...where the leather straps have been broken out of and the table is coated in blood. I glare. My eyes follow the trail towards a nearby door that has been shattered. Beyond that? More darkness.
"The real questions we should be asking now are...where is the Shard Of Water, and where are the experiments."
Naruto visibly shivers. This is starting to turn into a horror movie… I forcibly drag him towards the broken door. He starts to protest but I cut him off with a raised hand.
"If you want to save the world. You need to man up."
"I- I am a man!"
"Well. Prove it. You have the Shard Of Light. Lead the way."
I push him into the hall and he yelps. His boot slips on a pile of melted flesh. As he raises his appendage a gush of water pools into the sand.
"Mr. Rasa must have raised the percentage of water in one of his experiments bodies to 90%. This poor victim was practically turning into a pile of mush..."
"Sasuke, I really, really hate this!"
Right on cue, a haunting wail erupts from within the darkness. Getting annoyed, I attempt to snag the crystal from Naruto but it goes dark in my hand. Looks like I can feel the Shard Of Lights magic but can't control it as well as Naruto can. Perhaps, because I am a literal anti-Christ.
"No luck. You have to do this, Naruto."
"F- fine."
Naruto marches onwards. I can sense his feigning confidence is quickly wavering. By the time we reach another pitch black room filled with rotting corpses he's trembling again. I wish i could say I'm feeling as disturbed as he is...but I've seen shit like this and worse back at the Uchiha Encampment. I've watched my own family slaughter another cultist and eat their flesh over an open fire. When you've been raised by savages, shit like this feels more comforting than terrifying.
Behind us, we hear another loud- crash! Followed by a terrifying, sloshhhhhh...It sounds like somebody is gargling on blood and choking on half-chewed meat.
We turn around…
Slopping out from around the corner is a grotesque humanoid figure with melting flesh and a sagging face. His eyes are two sunken holes and his teeth are pudges of jelly. His two arms attempt to pull him through the doorway but they give out on him. He falls to the floor, turning his nose into paste. He looks back up at us. His elongated arms are twice the size of my body and they almost snatch me up. Naruto grabs me by the hip and pulls me out of the way just as the twisted monster shrieks.
"i"lL kILL yOu RaSa! I'LL KILLLLL YOUUU!"