Death
Lamia Deus knocked back blast of fire sent up towards her by Itachi. Sweet dripped off of her brow as she flew back to avoid more fire, all the while, clutching Gaara tightly, refusing to let him go. 'Gaara-kun, please wake up!' Robin pleaded in her mind. Lamia Deus shifted Gaara's weight so she could use both hands. With some difficultly, she summoned lightening to rain down upon the land. She tried to use more summonings but a pillar of water slammed into her and knocked her down onto the ground. Looking up, she saw Kisame grin before having to block a kick from Lee. Wincing on impact with the ground, Lamia Deus scrambled to her feet immediately. Sasuke landed near her after Itachi threw him away.
"Sasuke . . ." Lamia Deus whispered quietly. "Take Gaara and get out of here." Sasuke shot her an angry, confused look.
"No. I have to stay and avenge my clan!" The vampire god glared at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye.
"You will never avenge them if you die. Besides . . . . the life of a kage is more important then your revenge. I will slow Itachi down." She gently placed Gaara into Sasuke's arms. "Do not look back, no matter what." Lamia Deus bit down on her thumb and allowed her hands to go through the familiar jutsu. Slamming her hand down on the ground, markings spread out from her palm. Smoke rose up from the ground before clearing to show a silver wolf. "Take both of them and run to Konoha. Do not stop." She whispered quietly to the wolf. The summon turned to Sasuke and Gaara. "Go! I have to finish my mission."
"But my clan!" Argued Sasuke, earn a sigh from Lamia Deus.
"I know. You will have your chance." She looked back at Itachi who was staring at the three. "I cannot kill him. I'm not that strong. I can only stall him." She glanced over at Gaara in Sasuke's arms. "When he wakes up . . . . tell him that I have always loved him."
"What do you mean?" She smiled bitterly at Sasuke's question.
"I won't be around that long." Lamia Dues moved over to Gaara and quickly kissed him on forehead over the word 'love'. "Goodbye, Gaara-kun."
Ai was sent tumbling back from Setsuko's punch. Ai spat out the blood that had pooled in her mouth.
"Bitch!" She hissed at the Uindo Bensha. Setsuko merely stared at Ai with a deadly look in her eyes. Ai grabbed her strange weapon and hurled it at Setsuko. Setsuko flipped over the weapon and landed in a crouch. Slowly she stood as Ai forced herself to stand.
"I have the advantage Ai. You're bloodlimit is useless. While you have trained hard to kill me, I trained even harder to survive." Ai launched herself at Setsuko with a short dagger. Setsuko leaned back slightly as she took steps backwards in order to avoid the dagger while Ai swiped it at her. After several failed attempts to cut Setsuko, Ai leapt back and threw kunai at Setsuko. Setsuko jumped high into the air and flipped in order to avoid the kunai.
Yoko paused and closed her eyes willing herself to slip into the darkness of her mind. She need to discover where Setsuko and to do that she had to try and use her powers to locate Setsuko's soul. As a meiko she was taught to find strange auras and powers in order to purify any evil that there might be. And with Setsuko's hybrid soul of a demon and a human, hers was the strangest soul out of them all. Yoko sighed as she found the soul. Now all she had to do was get out of the endless maze the Akatsuki had built.
"Spirits of the lost." Yoko whispered as she clasped her hands in prayer. "Help guide me through the darkness." Yoko felt a stir in the air. She could feel many souls wandering with unrest. Her visions had told her that this place would be filled with souls of the undead but she never excepted this many. Yoko felt a tug at her heart as she reminded herself that she would have to make sure that all the souls were put to rest before she was done.
Robin stood before Itachi. She had let go of her form as Lamia Deus and summoned her naginata.
"You stood a better chance as Lamia Deus."
"I will have to kill you." The Emotionless Executioner wielded her naginata with skill and grace as she twirled it.
"Didn't you just say that you could not kill me but only slow me down?"
"I did. But I, personally, will not defeat you." Robin dropped into a deep stance. "You of all people know that I have been training non-stop. I am the perfect tool. I have nothing outside of fighting. I was a failure even at love." With ease Robin rammed the naginata down into the ground and allowed her hands to float through unfamiliar seals. "I know that I will not live through this fight. But that doesn't mean I won't take you with me." After the finally seal she slammed her palm into her chest. A dark look cross her face as she stared down Itachi.
"I won't let that happen!" Itachi charged forward and punched only to hit air. Robin appeared behind him. She spun around and slammed her foot into the back of his head.
"First my speed doubles!" Robin grabbed Itachi's arm and spun around, throwing him into a tree. As Itachi got up Robin's hands went through another series of seals.
"You little-!" Itachi was cut short as Robin appeared in front of him and hit him in the face with her knee. Blood seeped out of his nose.
"Then my strength doubles!" Itachi barely had time to react as he was hurled to the side and knocked over Kaori who was fighting Jiraiya and Naruto. The two looked up in surprise as Itachi and Kaori tumbled over into a tree.
"Robin-kun?" Robin was breathing heavily. Naruto tried to stake a step towards her but was stopped by Jiraiya.
"Naruto-kun . . ." Robin panted. ". . . . forgive me for doing so much to you." Her hands flew through more seals. Naruto glanced at Jiraiya.
"What's she doing?" However, Jiraiya could not answer him.
"I've studied the Forbidden Scrolls longer than you have Naruto." Robin bit down on her hand, drawing more blood. She let the blood cover her hands before she moved into another set of seals. "In partially, the Forbidden Scrolls referring to my specialty, summonings." Robin held out her hands. "There is a summoning for something that even I do not know. However, I do know that it holds immense power. I need you to stall them long enough that I can get through this." Robin took a deep breath as Naruto and Jiraiya fought Kaori and Itachi. "Forgive me . . . mother. Ancient Creatures beyond sight! Bring forth your mighty powers. Let my soul be yours to offer to your gods. Let my blood ring through to you. Bring forth your infinite souls!" Robin spread her arms far apart as blood dripped off of her hands. "Come to me! I call you as a mere mortal! Uzumaki Robin offers her life to you."
"Robin!" Robin looked back in time to see Gaara running towards her with an arm outstretched, reaching for her. Sasuke trailed him. Her eyes widened in fear as her emotionless mask broke right before smoke leaked out from the ground and blocked her from view.
Setsuko stumbled back and wiped away the blood that had trickled down from the corner of her mouth. Ai had dropped into an unfamiliar stance and surprised Setsuko with her speed. Speed was something Setsuko did not fair well with. She relied on power and the foresight of the wind.
"I've studied you. I know you better than you know yourself." Ai taunted as she ran around Setsuko, only a blur and nothing more. Setsuko frantically tried to stop that blows Ai was landing on her yet she could do nothing. "I know that you weren't taught how to fight properly!" Setsuko was thrown back roughly as she received an uppercut to her chin. "You know only how to street fight!" Setsuko gasped out in pain as Ai rammed her foot into Setsuko's stomach. "I, on the other hand, have learned to fight in our village's special taijutsu!" Setsuko was knocked to the ground by one of Ai's kicks. "You are still Uzumaki Setsuko. You will never become anything more than what you are now. Death is the only way for you now." Setsuko pushed herself up as Ai pulled out her strange weapon once again. Setsuko stumbled as she forced herself to stand and turn to look at Ai.
'She's right.' Setsuko stood up. 'The only way is death . . . in order to win I have to die.' Setsuko closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. Setsuko slowly relaxed as she let everything go. Ai charged forward with a dagger in her hands. 'Not a shred of the past can remain.' As she drew closer Setsuko's eyes snapped open. A dagger formed in her hand from when she wiped away the blood Ai had drawn. 'My old self, must die!' Blood filled the air.
"SETSUKO-SAMA!" Yoko screamed.
Sorry it took so long. Please review and tell me what you think.