CHAPTER 7

From a wide-angle perspective, it did resemble a game of cat and mouse. Of all the mission Shikamaru had gone through, this one was the silliest and bizarre task. He wanted to either laugh or cry in a corner.

He scratched his head as he watched the whole scene from the rooftop. He continuously watched Suigetsu – in a version of gigantic mud monster – roaring and throwing tantrums of mud around the village. The Chief – on the other hand – struggled to contain the crisis on his own, commanding his confused men from the watch tower and demanding them to capture it.

Naruto was right – Suigetsu was a distraction. It was calculative of Sasuke to instruct him in tailing Suigetsu from behind so that he could come up with strategies to prevent his nakama from getting caught. If it was not for that instruction, he would have ended up in the watch tower with the Chief, providing him advice and strategies to capture Suigetsu alive at a higher success rate.

Well-planned, Sasuke, well-planned indeed, he praised.

He glanced at the watch tower again, searching for Sasuke who was supposed to be with the Chief right now. The Uchiha was nowhere to be seen.

"Naruto," he called, "Sasuke is not on that tower. You need to transform into him."

"I'm on it," the cloned-Naruto replied. Moments later, a fake-Sasuke appeared and stood beside the Chief.

Shikamaru jumped building after building, dashing towards Suigetsu. As he ran, he activated his shadow gathering technique to help the struggling guards out of the way. The other cloned-Naruto, who was now using Kurama's chakra to form arms and hands, also helped to shift the guards to a safer place.

"I'm going to get closer to that fish guy. Back me up by getting to the front and move the men as far away as possible; don't let them get in the way," he explained to the clone before summoning his jutsu.

His shadow technique latched onto Suigetsu's hand. Its strength alone allowed him to get lifted in the air and landed directly on top of Suigetsu's monstrous head. Now, it looked as though the mud monster has an antenna. Despite that, it did give Shikamaru a 360-degree view, which would be an advantage for him to counter the village's plan of attack.

"Yo," he greeted, displeased by the fact that he was now stuck – waist deep – on a head made of mud.

"Aaargh! Rah! Aaargh!" Suigetsu roared, attempting to remove and eat him alive.

"If you eat me, I swear by the Gods that I will give you a severe diarrhea you will regret for the rest of your entire life! My shadow technique can go through your digestive system as easily as fluid!" Shikamaru sternly warned. "Sasuke sent me here to back you up. It's troublesome, but I'm going to guide you from getting caught. How long did he ask for?"

"As long as I can give him," he answered while transforming his hand into a slingshot. He took a pile of mud, aimed, and shot his target before celebrating, "bull's eye!"

When Shikamaru was about to forbid Suigetsu from another attempt, a strong wind suddenly attacked them from behind. He glimpsed over his shoulder to look.

"Oh shit," he cursed.

"Who goes there? Who the hell scratched my butt?" the mud monster demanded, concealing himself with deeper voice.

"What did you just do?"

"Exactly what I'm supposed to do – throwing mud on those bunch of squads, and that woman with a big fan. Why?"

"I suggest you run, idiot, run as fast and far away as possible. The sister of Kazekage is a wind element user, and after what you did, it seems like she's on the killing mode."

"So, tell her to back off," he suggested.

"You just threw mud on her face! Do you expect no retaliation from your actions?"

Before Suigetsu could answer, Temari summoned Daikamaitachi no Jutsu and slashed his arm. It dropped to the ground with a thud. He did not have the chance to regrow his arm because she was about to attack him again, and he feared it would be bigger than before.

"Fuck, your girlfriend is mad!" he screamed with fear.

"She's not my fucking girlfriend!" Shikamaru yelled back. This game of cat and mouse has apparently turned into a handicap match. Not only did he need to avoid the attacks from the Chief and his men, but he needed to counter Temari's as well.

He peeked over his shoulder to check if she has finally cooled down. Apparently, he was dead wrong; the woman was about to make another strike.

"SHIT! RUN IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, YOU BASTARD!"

Meanwhile, fake-Sasuke continued to watch and scowl at the whole scene from the tower. His left eye twitched at the sight of them playing a reverse game of cat and mouse.

"Locusts! A swarm of locusts is heading here, my lord!" a nightguard suddenly warned from afar.

Fake-Sasuke scrambled to the corner of the tower, trying to spot the insects in the night sky. In that instant, a locust – as huge as his palm – latched onto his shoulder.

Jūgo, he figured that the invading insects was caused by none other than one of Sasuke's nakama. He grumbled as he brushed the locust away, scowling at the orange-head shinobi, who was happily smiling away on the rooftop.

"A plague!" the Chief and his men panicked. They immediately kneeled and started to pray. "The Gods must be cursing us! We haven't faced a plague in hundreds of years!"

Fake-Sasuke shook his head and sighed.

Apparently, adding more complication to the situation was the key to ultimate distraction.

Sasuke led the way with Karin followed closely behind. As he moved deeper into the unknown, the air was getting thinner, and it was getting more difficult to breathe. He used concentration breathing technique, taking slow and deep breaths to prevent dizziness and relief the stress in his lungs.

"I don't think it's a good idea to be down here. There's an unknown aura and it gets stronger every time we move towards it. Sasuke, it's telling us to stay away," she voiced her concern nervously, trying her best to change his mind.

There's no doubt about it; there's a secret lies underneath Shinkirōgakure, he believed. The lack of footprint on the steps evidently showed him that this part of the fortress has not been explored yet.

As they reached the bottom, they were struck with awe by the natural beauty of the cavern. Soluble rocks were formed over time, surrounded by its natural element such as limestone and marble. They discovered stalactite hung from the ceiling of the cave, and stalagmite formed upward from the mound of mineral deposits that must have precipitated from water dripping onto the floor for over thousands of years.

In here, time stood still.

With his Sharingan, Sasuke studied every pattern and shape the prehistoric cavern had to offer. His attention then turned towards a platform in the center of the hollow cave, which certainly has piqued his curiosity.

He stepped into the circular platform. Karin followed closely.

The surface of the floor was smoothed and leveled; no doubt that it was unnatural. Someone must have built this place a long time ago and left it to be forgotten.

"We shouldn't be here," Karin pleaded. "I'm sensing it's here – exactly right where we're standing on – but all I see is an empty floor."

Sasuke stared at Karin with more curiosity because what she had mentioned did surprise him.

"You can't see it?" he asked.

"See what exactly? There's nothing here," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Interesting, he thought. The seal was right underneath her feet. Yet, she could not see it.

He returned his focus on the cryptic seal, studying every line and curve, which was in oddly shapes and sizes. After several analysis, he concluded that this was not the exact seal he was looking for. Nevertheless, the symbols have its similarity to the ones he found on the Anbu spies, evidently proving that there was a time when people had used symbols in writing to communicate.

"Karin, return to the vault and pack the scrolls up. Naruto will be here soon," he said.

She nodded and ran back to the vault. As she dumped the scrolls into her backpack, she found herself wonder if Sasuke would be safe alone in that cavern. The aura she had felt on that floor was ominous – the kind that she could never really understand. The only vibe she could sense from it was that it was not human made, and that it did not want to be known or found.

Utter darkness – the underground's concrete labyrinth was harsh to the Hero of Konoha. Despite Kurama's glowing chakra, Naruto kept bumping into the wall every time he made a turn.

As he reached the bottom, he found two collapsed shinobi on the floor. Seeing that they were still breathing, he moved on, entering the vault and following Sasuke's chakra that has led him to the restriction area. So far, it led him to an opened trapdoor with stairs beyond it.

He looked around, searching for a woman who carried the same clan's name as his. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen; not even Kurama could sense her out. She must have concealed her chakra to prevent him from detecting her exact location.

That is one tricky kunoichi, he thought and decided to focus on Sasuke instead.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sensing Kurama's uncomfortableness. When his friend did not answer, he pressed on.

I don't like what is hidden down there, he said.

There was nothing visible beyond the spiral stairs but pitch darkness. Sensing that Sasuke was down there, he braced himself and took a step into the unknown. Immediately, he felt a jolting vibe throughout his body.

"What the hell was that?!" he exclaimed.

Stay quiet and keep moving forward, kid, Kurama advised.

Naruto hyperventilated as he reached the final step of the stairs. Despite the heavy air, he insisted on quickened his pace towards the platform that continuously warned him to stay away.

As he was about to walk into the circular floor, Kurama stopped him.

Don't step any further, kid. Do you see this line? You better stay away from it. This is a sacred place; the air in here is ancient. You must respect it, the tailed beast warned.

He crouched down, taking in the odd patterns and shapes on the floor. There were symbols within the circle.

"I've never seen anything like it. What is this place?" he asked, but his friend decided to remain silence.

And just then, he sensed it.

"Are you going to remain hiding in the dark, or do I have to punch you out to make yourself known, Sasuke?"

The raven-hair shinobi emerged from the shadows and stepped into the circle. He stood still in the center with lack of emotion in his expression.

"I need to speak to Kyūbi," Sasuke demanded.

"You have the bloody cheeks to demand things after making a fool out of me and others," he scoffed.

"I don't own you any explanation after you'd pulled that lie detector trick on me," he countered, as sharp as a razor. He looked above – particularly at the entrance to this cavern – and then back to Naruto. "I don't have all the time. Either your friend will come out or I'll jump into your mind. It doesn't matter which because either way, I need to get my answers – now."

Switch with me, kid. We're all in this conversation. Besides, I can sense impatience in this Uchiha, Kurama insisted.

Naruto nodded and then glared at Sasuke before he switched with the tailed beast. Like the eyes of a cat, his eyes constricted into a vertical slit.

"What do you see?" Sasuke asked, pointing to the floor on where he stood.

Kurama was slowly circling the floor – carefully not to step over the line – to get a better view of the odd inscriptions.

"These symbols are very old – extremely old. It's not even the language of mantra," he paused, "Kid, you're standing on holy ground. I suggest you move otherwise because one – we shouldn't be here, and two – it doesn't want us to. We're not welcomed here."

It was not a threat, but some advice. Sasuke obliged and stepped outside the circle out of respect to the historic carving.

"I don't recognize this ancient language," Kurama continued to analyze, pointing at the symbols. "Look at its shapes and patterns – it's not in a single word. It doesn't even demonstrate genealogical relationship to any other language that I know of. These symbols are completely isolated; it's a dead language."

"So, not even the one who was closest to the Sage of the Six Paths could understand the meaning of these symbols. If you don't know, then no one else could."

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, disappointed by the result of this mission. He thought he could solve the symbolic seal by now. Unfortunately, it gave more questions rather than answers.

Yet not everything was deemed to be lost.

"We need to go."

Sasuke already made his move to return to the vault. On that note, Kurama immediately switched back to Naruto.

"I'm not finished talking to you!" Naruto yelled, chasing after him.

"I'm not close in finding Sakura! If you want to find her," he gestured to the symbolic floor, "help me by keeping that a secret. Those things we've discovered must stay between us; don't mention it to anyone. Do you understand me?"

Sasuke did not wait for his friend to answer. He turned his back, leaving the cavern with a mixture of disappointment and rage. Frustration consumed him as he made his climb back to the vault. He took a final glance at the symbols.

[Refer to the note below]

The riddle of the symbolic seal must be answered, Sasuke reminded himself, already imprinted it to his memory. All that was left was analyzing the scrolls he has stolen from Shinkirōgakure, hoping that it would provide him clues to decode the meaning behind these symbols and solve the hidden seal on the Anbu spies.

Note:

[Dear readers, unlike Archive of Our Own, Fanfiction does not allow to upload website links. If you want to view the symbolic symbol; select & copy below (from https all the way to png), open a new tab and paste the link to view the image. Thank you for your support. Love always - Aika]

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