Chapter 32: Black Veins

As if a boulder had been lifted from her shoulders, as if every cloud cleared from the sky, the world suddenly felt lighter and clearer than it had ever been before. Hibiki didn't think, once the burden was lifted, she instinctively closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. Inside Kami's room, there was no clear beginning or end, a black abyss surrounded her in all directions, infinitely stretching in every direction. Besides herself, there was the bright glowing river of life energy that caused the flow of time. As it moved it divided into infinite streams of possibilities. Somehow the river's liquid seemed brighter than before, now it felt somewhat blinding.

Carefully she placed herself above the current time and dipped into the river, falling into the reality it held. She moved about the battlefield and stumbled upon Madara, He should have been a blur, he should have blurred everything around him but He was a clear clean image before her. It all made sense now, Madara was human.

Unlike the cautious and calculating Itachi, or the oddly knowledgeable Obito who hid their motives skillfully in the shadows of the actions of those like Naruto. Madara had no intention of hiding anything. He was an arrogant ass who was so confident that he was unstoppable at this point, that anyone knowing his plans wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Unbeknownst to him, Hibiki was determined to make sure his hubris would be his downfall.

With the world so clear, even the remaining reanimated Hokage did very little to warp the world she saw. They reacted to Madara, and with Madara being human, this opened many doors that were closed for so long.

Taking her time, Hibiki walked through the current status and the next most likely events to occur. Sweeping over the battlefield and taking in every detail. The location of everyone relative to one another. She found Sasuke, and Naruto, she checked the positions of Orochimaru and Juugo, Both who seemed to be retreating to their last location. She found the positions of Madara and Obito. With an area so big it was hard to organize her thoughts. So many variables countered each other, so many people moving at once. So much going on at a single moment. Somewhat overwhelmed Hibiki backed off and sat by the Rivers edge. Everything she had so desperately wanted to see was right before her yet the information meant little.

She had watched as people died, Sakura and the Hyuga Girl, she watched countless limbs being lost. Karin could lose a leg, Suigetsu could lose an arm, Juugo alone had the possibility of losing 3 different limbs in one scenario. She saw Sasuke and Naruto both die a hundred different ways. The handful of small happy occurrences included Kabuto-san escaping his genjutsu. He seemed happy, no longer possessed by the idea he had no identity. Beyond that only destruction prevailed.

As she contemplated her options something odd caught her eye. Dread ran through her, as her thoughts halted. She slowly turned her head hesitant to see what caught her eye. Close by an odd black line ran in the shadow of the glow of light from the river. It was dim and hard to see, but something was there. She approached it slowly, cautiously, as if it were going to attack her. As she hovered over it, she watched it closely. The black line pulsed and liquid flowed through it.

Hibiki reached for the line, she shook slightly as she did so. She was afraid for some reason. But to her shock, her fingers collided with a solid surface, the black line far beneath. It was a hard surface and was cold like ice. She had never encountered such a thing before, and after a moment of thought, neither had Haruto.

This isn't right, she thought. She was split, indecisive of what to do. Every inch of her body told her not to pursue this, to pretend to have never seen the line, Haruto would have advised against digging deeper. But a small voice, a whisper told her to dig. Doing this would probably have consequences on her body, serious ones. Could she afford to do something so reckless? Suigetsu would tell her to stay away, to come back. She wanted to get away from this line as fast as she could, that her life was at risk by simply being near it. Hibiki took her hand back and moved away from the line.

Dig

A whisper in her ear,

Dig

It echoed through her.

Dig

Clenching her fist, knowing she was going to regret this, she turned back to the Black line and sat before it once again.

DIG

She began to claw at the ice shavings slowly started to manifest. She worked hard at it, the ice was thick, her fingers felt like small pins were pricking her. She dug harder into the ice, her nails chipped off but she kept working at it. She grew more confident as she dug into the ice, Slowly she made an indent in the ice, she continued until she was 2 inches down. Shaking from the cold, ice running through her veins, she made a fist and began to slam into the dent she made. Why she was doing this she could not say, it was like the whisper was apart of her now, telling her what to do. Her hand throbbed as she punched it for the hundredth time, the thousandth time before a crack finally appeared. She worked her arm into it, painfully leveraging it open just enough to shove her arm further down. Buried to her shoulder, she used what was left of her nails to scrape the rest of the way to the stream.

It was sudden, blurs of images and events rushed past her, Blood, death, the woman in the moon, the tree, the fruit. Hibiki was only momentarily able to access the stream, but what she saw, terrified her, blood drained from her body. Whatever this stream was, it was beyond probability, this was manipulation.

Hibiki's eyes fluttered open, warm arms held her close, Ringing flooded her ears, nausea rushed over her. Biting her lip until her hearing slowly returned.

"Hibiki!" he begged. Regaining her senses only made her feel worse. Her nose must have busted from the blood that dripped down her face. Her ears felt wet, and her arm throbbed. She felt like ice, she shivered as the arms wrapped themselves around her more.

"Suigetsu?" she chattered. Her head split in half.

"Oh geez,," he sighed in relief, "Hibiki for fuck's sake what the hell was that?" he asked. She shivered violently in his arms as Karin examined her body, just as scared as Suigetsu.

Hibiki had suddenly stood up then passed out, Karin watched as she grew cold, then her nails deteriorated, bleed and broke off. Her nose burst out blood, her ears dripped. It was almost as if she were having a violent seizure. Worst of all was the sudden snap of bone, her arm breaking for no visible reason. Both Suigetsu and Karin stared in horror. Juugo and Orochimaru both appeared while she was going through this fit, both looked just as dumbfounded.

"I saw something, someone, The black stream, the thick ice, Sasuke…" she gasped. Karin did her best to bandage Hibiki's arm, while Suigetsu cleaned her face off. Slowly she seemed to regain her composure but was still in a daze.

"Pick her up, we need to move." Orochimaru instructed as he watched the battlefield.

"I don't think we should move her," Karin said.

"Then abandon her body here." Orochimaru said. Suigetsu picked Hibiki up in his arms and followed the group to a new location, hiding strategically behind a boulder. As they moved Hibiki came around, she was placed on the ground when they arrived.

"Juugo," she whispered.

"What?" he answered, sure he wasn't going to like what she had to say.

"I need you to give me chakra," she told him.

"Why?" he asked.

"I need more energy to search for the cause." She explained.

"No, you need to rest," he told her before Suigetsu could.

"You don't understand," she told him.

Hibiki looked exhausted and beaten. In her eyes lay an emotion Juugo couldn't quite place. But something about it made him sure she needed to do whatever she needed to do.

"Do it fast," he said. She nodded.

Before Suigetsu cold protest Hibiki fell back into Kami's room. She slowed her breathing and listened for the heartbeat. The soft rhythmic sound she knew from Haruto's memories and lessons suddenly had the slightest murmurer. Haruto had never heard the oddity in his life, so it must have been well hidden.

But now that she knew what she was looking for, she could hear it, the oddity in the heartbeat. She reached in and after a moment of searching, she found it. It was a thin and inky vein coursed through the strings infecting everything around it. She braced herself before grabbing hold of it with her good arm. When she did finally take it in her hand, she was overwhelmed with what she saw.

Hibiki gasped as her eyes snapped open. She was leaning against the boulder the group now hid behind. Suigetsu hands held her face and could tell that her heart was beating a mile a minute. Thankfully her body temperature was almost normal again causing Suigetsu's hand to feel cool again. As she came to her senses she began to freak out. She shoved her hair away from her face, clutched a wad of it before pulling at it. She leaned forward onto her knees and doubled over. Her thumb clenched between her teeth, she rocked slightly as she began to mumble to herself, squeezing her brain for anything she could do.

"Hibiki what is it?" Karin asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, concerned about the erratic behavior.

"I saw it, the big picture, the whole plan, everything. It's bad, really really bad. And far more complex than I would have ever imagined. This goes back centuries! I need to do something, but what? How…" she wondered aloud.

How could she possibly sway the future when it was so set in stone yet changing every moment. Kaguya was going to return, but the aftermath varied. What would be the best choice? She had so few options. Give in? Let fate finally kill her like everyone else in her clan, in her family? Run around the battlefield and try to place people in specific locations with instructions on what to specifically do? How would she ever be able to convince anyone to be chess pieces and sacrifice themselves when the time came?

Suigetsu sat in front of her and placed his hands on her quivering shoulders.

"Hibiki honey, you need to take a breath." he told her as he caressed her face. His cold touch pulls her from her thoughts and takes a few deep breaths. Without hesitation she quickly pulled Suigetsu into her, wrapping her arms around him tightly and her chin on his shoulder.

"I don't know what to do, Suigetsu I… I know everything but I can't do anything." she whimpered. "Why am I so useless?" Suigetsu returned her hug, cradling the back of her head with his hand.

"I know you hate not having control but maybe this time you don't do anything. You cannot save the world Hibiki, it's not your job." he told her, rubbing her back. Haruto's voice rang through her, repeating her grandmother's advice.

"I can't do nothing," she said.

"Then find someone who can." he assured her.

She pulled away, Suigetsu was holding her face again, their foreheads connected. He began to hum the song her mother use to sing. Exhaustion catching up to her she leans into his hand.

War however, was still going on and their momentary peace was gone when the earth rumbled, the ground vibrated with impact. Nearby an enormous wood statue was summoned, Suigetsu pulled Hibiki back against the rock to hide from view as Orochimaru studied the new development, calculating their next move.

Hibiki placed herself back into her front vision, her gut told her she was in immediate danger. She silently promised herself a whole month of nothing but sleep if everything ended up working out. A small cry turned Hibiki's attention to Karin who began to cry, now it seemed to be her turn to have a breakdown.

"That's a lie… such a thing would…" Karin whimpered.

"Shhh. Your too loud." Suigetsu snapped.

"What's wrong?" Juugo asked. Hibiki took Karin's hands and tried to look her in the eye.

"Sa….Sa…" she stuttered.

"Did something happen to Sasuke?" Juugo asked.

"It seems like it would be in our best interest to get this over with as quickly as possible," Orochimaru interrupted. Karin finally made eye contact with Hibiki, and she knew what must have happened.

"Sasuke is really going to die..." She whispered. The two shared a determined look before they both stood and charged the statue. Karin led the way manifesting Adamantine Attacking Chains, ripping the statue up,

"I need to get to Sasuke! Move it asshole!" She screamed as she propelled forward. The white zetsu lunged forward and thrusted his stick into Karin, making it multiply it points and stabbing right through her. Juugo grabbed the bleeding Karin from the air, as she quickly bit herself to heal as Suigetsu, who saw Hibiki was next to be hit, follows up her attack with his Water Gun: Two Guns technique, blasting the Zetsu and destroyed part of Tobi's head revealing someone inside the clone. Stunned, Hibiki was able to swat him away with her staff, forcing him into Orochimaru's path. He paralyzes white zetsu with a bite. With the enemy momentarily incapacitated, they rushed past the Statue.

"Are you all right, Karin?" Juugo asked as they ran.

"Yeah but never mind me. Sasuke! I can't sense Sasuke!" Karin worried. Juugo let Karin go, she took the lead and ran off in Sasuke's direction. As they grew closer Karin gasped.

"Who's there?! There's someone elsewhere Sasuke is." she revealed.

"Do you recognize the chakra?" Orochimaru asked.

"No! But," she started.

"But what?" Suigetsu asked, irritated.

"This chakra has a real nasty feel to it!" she panicked.

"Then we need to hurry even more. We don't know what this stranger might do to Sasuke." Orochimaru told them.

"Probably nothing worse than what you would do to him." Hibiki said.

"Is this the end for him?" Orochimaru wondered ignoring Hibiki.

"Damn it," Karin yelled. She ran faster now jumping and propelling forward.

"Karin! If you up the pace too much, you're going to collapse soon." Orochimaru warned.

The rest had a hard time keeping pace with Karin, her adrenaline giving the boost of energy the rest did not have. Hibiki bit her lip, wondering if everything was going to work out. Would Sasuke pull through? It was possible for him to die before Kaguya shows up… An odd feeling told her that he wasn't going to die, not like this at least. As they grew closer an image formed, something stood above and unconscious Sasuke.

"Who is that guy?!" Karin asked as they slowed. "Hey you, I don't know who the hell you are, but what are you doing to Sasuke?"

"Oh, so that's what's going on Huh?" Suigetsu said.

"It was you Kabuto." Orochimaru smiled.

"Kabuto san!" Hibiki happily called to him. Kabuto Looked up from Sasuke, seeing the group arrive.

"I sensed a group rushing this way. It was you, after all, Lord Orochimaru." he said.

"That's Kabuto?! His chakra is different! Even his appearance." Karin awed.

"He has taken in the chakra of many people, even Senjutsu chakra. It's no wonder even you thought he was someone else, Karin I wonder if his chakra had a nasty feel to it because he still has some of mine inside him?" Orochimaru wondered.

"Get away from Sasuke, you brainy jerk!" Karin yelled.

"What brings you here, Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked ignoring Karin.

"I should ask you the same thing." Orochimaru countered.

"What are you planning, Orochimaru?" Kabuto eyed him suspiciously.

"Kabuto Don't tell me you're going to absorb Sasuke? And would that make you Kabuke or Sasuto?" Suigetsu jokes, all this serious atmosphere was starting to bug him. Hibiki sighed, with Kabuto-sans aid, Sasuke would surely pull through, unless something odd happened like a meteor crashing into them, which at this point Hibiki did not rule out.

"You're the one who did this to Sasuke?! You bastard!" Karin accused.

"Suigetsu I don't desire to do that anymore. Nor am I going to steal Sasuke, Karin." Kabuto said. From the looks on everyone's faces, Hibiki seemed to be the only one to trust him at the moment. Kabuto smiled slightly; she did always tend to trust him.

"Sasuke's chakra! I can faintly sense it! No way! Kabuto You're helping Sasuke?" Karin gasped as she rushed to Sasuke's side. Hibiki followed quickly behind, she sat on her knees next to Kabuto, while Karin sat on the opposite side, not wanting to be near Kabuto.

"With my Medical ninjutsu and much-tinkered cells of Hashirama, along with a certain someone's suggestion, I managed to stop him from dying." Kabuto explained.

"He's right." the second Hokage spoke up. He was laying on the ground a few feet away, rods pinning him in place, leaving him unable to move.

"Well, well if it isn't the man I most respect the Second Hokage, Lord Tobirama Senju." Orochimaru teased. "However, Kabuto you being here means that you were able to slip out of the infinite loop set up by Itachi's Izanami?"

"You're right. I was unable to acknowledge myself; I didn't even know who I was. That allowed you to give me easy answers and use me. Making me lose myself even more. If you're not satisfied with what you've had so far Just find other things and add them onto yourself one by one. But with that jutsu, Itachi made me realize that I am none other than Kabuto and where my home is." Kabuto monologues.

"Does it seem like the person inside has changed too?" Suigetsu asked Hibiki as he squatted next to her.

"That is the jutsu known as Izanami. The jutsu is set up so that you cannot undo it until you reflect upon yourself and accept who you are. Sasuke Now I hope from the bottom of my heart to not lose my home. And Itachi, who wanted to protect Sasuke even unto death His feelings have pierced through my heart strongly." Kabuto continued.

"Hey! Isn't it a little too late to say things like that? You teamed up with that fake Madara! You guys started this war!" Suigetsu complained.

"You're right. Both Obito and I thought we'd lost our place in this world. And dragged everyone else into this. But, I now know who I am. And what I must do." Kabuto smiled.

Kabuto then finished his work on Sasuke, pulling away and waited for him to come too. His breathing which had been labored seemed to become easier. Still worried, Karin made Sasuke bite her to help rejuvenate his chakra supplies.

Everyone was silent as they watched Sasuke. Slowly he stirred, opened his eyes, and slowly sat up. As he regained his senses Hibiki relaxed and let her Front vision go. She was far past her limits, she felt exhausted and weak, her ears rang, and she felt sick. She couldn't even keep herself sitting up. Suigetsu caught her and held her as she barely kept conscious. She heard murmuring, Sasuke was talking to someone.

Sasuke….

To do this she was going to practically die, but with Kabuto-san there she had a better chance of surviving. She couldn't do anything, with all this knowledge she was useless, but Sasuke was the one person she trusted who could do something.

Suigetsu's going to be pissed…..

…

I glanced behind me as the others caused a ruckus, I could feel her life slipping away, but I had bigger responsibilities, besides Hibiki would be pissed if I prioritized her over the war. She had placed her trust in me. I wasn't going to let her down. As I turned to leave, the smallest voice called out to me. A voice I knew far too well came from the deepest place in my soul, it was weak but clear.

Sasuke I'm using every last bit of my life to tell you that I know what should happen now. I'm sorry that Naruto is still a variable I cannot account for. But for once in your life, listen to me, she's coming, I can't do anything but give you these images…. Sasuke…

I know. I thought. I could feel her smile, and just before her presence faded a flash of the future rushed in my mind. I could barely keep up, but I got her message.