Rebirth, huh? In a different world, perhaps I would be able to further my understanding of it, though my grasp of it is adequate enough. Maybe I would name a technique after it. Creation Rebirth. It would be the pinnacle of medical jutsu. Humans are hairless, overgrown apes, but for all of our deficiencies and limitations, our higher-order thinking more than makes up for it, and the idea of rebirth—of a brand new start, of erasing the past and building the future—appeals to me. I think that's why I wanted to spare him that day. The man they called a monster.

— Excerpt from 'The Legendary Hokages and Other Important Political Figures of Konohagakure, Fifth Edition': Lady Senju Tsunade's interview

"Goodness, Arisa-san, who might this be?" an old woman inched her neck downward and forward to try and further glimpse the red-haired child hiding behind his mother's legs.

Arisa smiled at the elderly lady, who had been her neighbor for more than five years. The old thing was rather fond of gossip and cheating her relatives at mahjong, but Arisa was fond of her.

"Why haven't I seen him before?" demanded the woman. "We've known each other for so long—it's unlike you to keep such a thing from me. Why, I didn't even know that you have a child! Now how did that happen?"

"You were holidaying with your brother on the other side of Sunagakure, Rio-san. You were gone for almost the whole year," Arisa patiently explained, absently palming her child's hair and ruffling it affectionately. The little boy squeezed his eyes shut, a little blush appearing on his round face.

"Hm, I see, I see. Well, little one, care to tell me your name?"

Under his mother's encouragement, the little boy allowed his elderly neighbor to finally see him properly. "Sasori." His voice trembled a bit, but he was fighting hard to wrestle it to neutrality.

Rio was kind to him, and soon, Arisa sent her son off to play in the backyard while she and Rio discussed everyday matters. The conversation was looking to wrap up peacefully when Rio made a statement that had Arisa swerving hard.

"You know," the wily old woman said, "Chiyo told me over mahjong last week that several of the royal male concubines were murdered by a jealous acolyte, who committed suicide immediately after his killing spree. The Empress and Emperor are both very displeased, and are sending guards and messengers into the cities to scout for more. To be frank, your son's beauty is also his curse. The guards will undoubtedly take him away for a lifetime of servitude as a palace whore."

Almost frantically, Arisa turned her entire body toward the house, relieved to find that Sasori had migrated to the front yard to play with his wooden toy puppets, which were very expensive gifts from his grandmother, Chiyo.

"What do you suggest I do?" Arisa inquired fretfully, trying to wipe down her sweaty hands on her apron.

Rio eyed the street discreetly. "Chiyo will take him away." Clearly, she had already known about Sasori before today.

"Where?"

"To the Royal Puppet Corps, where she is a trusted commander and healer."

Arisa froze. Such a life promised assassinations and bloodshed. How could she ever condemn her son to such a life?

"Would a life of being someone's personal puppet be any better?" Rio reminded her sharply.

She must have said it out loud. Arisa swallowed, tucking her hands into her apron pocket, where the pentadactyl limbs continued to perspire rapidly. "I... I'll have to talk to my husband. He'll be back next week—"

"No time. The guards are coming to this part of the city in two days. Take your pick, Arisa—assassin or whore? At least as the former, he will have guidance from a trusted family member. The latter promises a cruel madam." Rio pulled at the collar of her garment, revealing a small tattoo on her shoulder, sadness clouding her eyes as she did so. "I'm past my expiry date. I live only to cheat my own flesh and blood from parting from their money. I have lost an entire lifetime—and he will, too, if you allow this... atrocity to happen."

Rio knew that Arisa had made her decision when she burst into tears, muttering something unintelligible about Chiyo looking out for the boy. In the front yard, Sasori had sat up straight, a curious gleam in his normally droopy brown eyes.

Arisa spent the rest of the day with her child, cooking with him and perhaps subtly teaching him the art of slipping poison into food at the same time. When he went to bed, stuffed full from chicken and ginger rice, she wept in her own room, yearning for the presence of her husband more than ever.

The next night, Sasori was whisked away to the secretive Puppet Corps, where he would learn how to quarter men more than twice his adult size with chakra scalpels, and how to control multiple killing machines at once with only his fingers. If the royal family ever ventured there—and they rarely did—they would see nothing but what they wanted to see.

So Sasori trained and faded into the dark, and only returned to the living world when his expertise was requested by the Royal Family, who were to appoint a new Royal Assassin.

"Here. Your first victim as my personal tool. Make sure the world knows who you are, and why you should be feared."

"Hai, Tennō Heika."

The cave was dark. The lamps they possessed were shared around, each person with a light source spreading out so that the light could touch as many people as possible.

"Watch your step," Sakura warned, grabbing Udon's arm with her free hand (the other held a lamp) and guiding him around the dip in the floor that would have surely caused him to twist his ankle and fall.

Udon sniffled. "Thanks, Sakura-san. Sorry about that."

"Slowpoke-Udon!" Konohamaru berated to try and lift the mood. His bespectacled friend looked absolutely miserable, and aside from the sickness, it was not difficult to tell why. They had seen more death than most ever did in their lifetime, and morale could only ever go up from here. Moegi gave him a disapproving glance, but Konohamaru ignored her.

"I said sorry!"

"You guys," Moegi growled, planting her fist softly down on both of their heads. "Stop fooling around. And don't be so loud."

"Huh?" Konohamaru was confused. "Why's that?" Then realization struck him and he lowered his chin, fearful. "Is... Is it 'cause of the monsters? I-I thought they were none left..."

Naruto, overhearing the conversation, sidled up next to the Sarutobi boy, fiddling with his three-pronged kunai. "You know how your voice echoes in here? It might cause a rockfall or somethin'."

"Really? Wow, you sure know a lot, Naruto."

"Isn't that avalanches?" Sakura muttered to herself, and even then she was skeptical. If she ever made it to Konohagakure, she would be sure to do some research on the matter. It would be a nice distraction.

At the front of the group, Hyuuga Hanabi had her Byakugan activated, and was beside Itachi, who was nodding slightly to whatever she was saying. She lifted her arm up, pointing ahead of them. Then Itachi lifted his hand up, and almost everyone halted at once. Naruto bumped into Sasuke's back, and the Uchiha shot him an irate glance.

"Fork in the road," Itachi announced, just loud enough for the people in the back to hear. "Shikaku?"

"Left," Shikaku said after some consideration. "If we were to go backwards, it'd be the left path."

"Are we seriously trusting this man?" Masami whispered to Asagi. "His memory could be shoddy for all we know!"

Asagi agreed quietly, but was inwardly unsure. Nara Shikaku was a genius, and she liked to think that someone with his brain would be able to pull up old memories from the past crystal clear. Her mother coughed and lurched then, and Asagi supported her, rubbing circles on her back.

Shogo looked up at his grandmother worriedly. "Are you okay, obaa-chan? Do you want some more cough medicine? I-I can get some from the medics!" He dashed toward Shizune, who was standing next to a lamp-holding Kisame, but Asagi pulled him back at the behest of her mother.

"Thank you, little one, but I'm already much better," the old woman reassured. Shogo, for all his child-muddled naivety, didn't look entirely convinced, but he left the matter alone anyway, deciding that the next-best thing to do was to stick himself to his grandmother's side. Eventually, though, his grandmother needed some space, and Shoog was forced to stay a few steps away from her. He looked to Itsuki for company, but the tubby boy—he had lost a lot of weight, actually, but he still held some chub around his frame—was busy trying to get the attention of his mother, who was walking with Karin, thinking that she would be the first to know if a monster approached, and therefore the safest.

So Shogo turned to the only other boy around his age in the group: eight-year-old Daichi. He had his Sharingan turned on, two tomoe in his left eye; one tomoe in the other. He was looking around warily, and he kept it on until Hikari said that looking at the redness was hurting her eyes. Daichi noticed Shogo staring at him, and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yes?"

Shogo wasn't very sure how to talk to the older boy. He seemed so much bigger—so much more intimidating and world-weary than an eight-year-old was supposed to be. There'd been other eight-year-olds in his old neighborhood, and none of them seemed nearly as intense as him. Then again, he had never seen any eight-year-old Uchiha children before.

Luckily, Hikari saved him from having to answer to the slightly scary boy. "Aniki, be nicer." She broke away from her mother's side—Rin looked vaguely amused, and perhaps a little sad, too, but Shogo couldn't really tell—and walked over to Shogo. She held his hand, holding their entwined fingers up for Daichi to see. "Like this, see?"

Daichi frowned, but his demeanor was slowly melting thanks to Hikari. "Yeah," he said gruffly. "But I'm not holding this hand. Hn."

"Did you just hn?" Deidara's incredulous voice came from behind them. "Not even Obito hn'ed without doing it ironically, hm."

"Actually, he did it plenty of times," Rin amended, and Deidara blinked at her, surprised. "When he was moody, or when a business choice didn't go right." She smiled softly, her eyes creasing a little at the corners. She was in her early thirties, Deidara was suddenly reminded, seeing those early signs of crow's feet. The age difference between them had never stopped them from being friends, but Deidara had never really acknowledged it like this. And come to think of it, wasn't her Danna well into his thirties as well?

"Huh. Glad he never did it around me, un, otherwise I would have—"

Sensing she was about to swear, Sasuke kicked the back of her ankle. She turned, shocked.

"The hell, bastard?"

"Don't swear in front of my cousin."

Deidara stared at him in outrage and disbelief. This guy...! "After everything you did... After everything you put him through—!"

"Stop it, please!" Rin admonished, clenching her jaw. "This isn't the time or place. Sasuke, just..." She rubbed her temple, brows furrowed. "Stop talking, please. Stop talking."

Daichi had been silent throughout the whole exchange. He didn't break it, simply walking ahead. Hikari, shooting Shogo an apologetic look, untangled their fingers and trotted after her brother loyally. Rin picked up the pace as well to catch up to her children, leaving Sasuke and Deidara to each other.

"Don't ever talk to him again," Deidara seethed. "He doesn't need someone like you in his life." Roughly, she shoved past him, wanting to be with just about anyone else but that piece of shit. Forget betraying the country—she didn't care about that too much in comparison; she wasn't of Ame origin—but betraying his friends and family? People who doubled as her friends and family? And Daichi—he had trusted Sasuke and looked up to him, throwing away his hero-worship of Itachi for him and spending almost all of his free time with him. They'd bonded during their training sessions, and Sasuke's betrayal had cut him deeper than the stupid emo-duck-haired-brat could ever possibly imagine—

She would have walked straight into Sasori had he not sensed her coming and moved out of the way in time. Deidara glared at him as if she had walked into him and it had been his fault. Then she turned her head away, facing the front and huffily crossing her arms. If a growl sounded from the back of her throat, both of them ignored it.

They walked side by side, enjoying each other's company without the need for words. If they wanted to converse (or, more accurately, if Deidara wanted to vent), they would wait until they weren't completed surrounded by others.

Everyone else seemed to share the general idea; if any of them talked, it was with low voices, as if they didn't want to disturb whatever entity resided in the earth. Their footsteps were muffled as well—those trained properly walked almost perfectly silently, their feet almost gliding against the smooth stone floor, but even the civilian members of the group had grown used to walking on the balls of their feet or going down heel first to avoid making as much noise as possible. It was a new habit instilled by their close and ever whispering friend, fear—a powerful motivator that could bring even entire countries to their knees.

They did not like fear. Because fear could just as easily guarantee their deaths as well as their survivals.

Drip.

Drip.

Udon sneezed just as a drop of water landed on Moegi's nose, causing the girl to blink and scrunch up her face. She flicked the water droplet away, it being a mere annoyance to her.

Then she glanced upward. Her eyes went wide. "Whoa..."

"What is it, Moegi-chan?" Sakura tilted her head up, lifting the lamp with her. But she soon found that she didn't need to do such a thing. In their path, bio-luminescent fungi started to grow in bunches along the cave walls, climbing up until they was wedged between stalactites that dripped with water from the recent rain. The glow reflected off the dew collecting on the stalactite tips, allowing the light to be reflected throughout the cave ceiling at random angles.

"Beautiful," Rin whispered in awe, also looking skyward. She smiled gently, only one corner of her lips quirking upward.

"It really is," Asagi's mother concurred, her cough having disappeared for the meantime. "I'm glad I lived long enough to see this. I'm so glad."

"Kagami?" Shisui had noticed a pulse of chakra coming from the gender-ambiguous Uchiha. Sharingan?

"Just making some memories. Nice ones. I really need them." Kagami said in that usual drawl of theirs. They turned to him, Sharingan spinning contentedly. "You should, too, Shisui."

"You Uchihas," Kakashi said to Itachi, light jest in his tone. "Using your Sharingans as photographs."

The gray, suffocating cloud around the group morale lifted ever so slightly, many of them practically plunging for the opportunity to simply forget about reality for a little well, and entertain and awe themselves with one of nature's most magnificent sights—a beauty that most of them would only ever see once in their lifetime.

Deidara wondered how the light would look if she detonated one of her bombs there. It'd probably scatter all around the place in a frenzy, but that was the beauty of it. Trying to be everywhere all at once because such a state was fleeting. She noticed that her Danna seemed to be quite engrossed with the mushrooms as well, more than she had expected him to be. He looked so curious, so innocent and untouched that she just had to smile, her ire with Sasuke slowly seeping away from her heart. He's from Suna. He's probably never seen anything like this before.

Izuna had awoken from his nap—thankfully, the child was asleep most of the time—and was slowly gaining awareness, sluggishly turning his head left and right. His eyes were big, but they seemed bigger than ever, as if he was trying to absorb as much as possible. Infantile memory loss would likely ensure that he wouldn't remember any of this, though—all the better, truly, for these beautiful memories came with most monstrous ones. Nevertheless, Izumi adjusted her hold on him so that he would get a better view of the mushroom bloom. A drop of water fell from a stalactite and landed on Izuna's cheek, nearly getting his nose. The baby flinched, looking adorably and utterly confused as to what had just happened to him. Izumi laughed, kissing his forehead and brushing the cold liquid away with the pad of her thumb. She didn't realize that some of the travelers were giving her incredulous looks, nor did she notice that Itachi had looked back and was looking at them with the most loving expression that an Uchiha could ever produce.

Deidara had learned to read his eyes a while ago. He never said much, not that she minded, but his eyes conveyed more than words ever could. It was said that the Uchiha could love very intensely, capable of loving, and considering that most Uchiha seemed to have constant sticks up their behinds, she had never quite believed the myth.

Itachi completed erased any doubts she had in a split second.

All around her, people marveled, some quietly, others loudly (but not too loudly). It was exhilarating for her—how such a fleeting moment of wonder and intrigue could exist completely knocked the breath out of her, and she could not speak for many moments, not even when Gai addressed her, pointing to a mushroom that was shaped like Konoha's symbol.

"It's amazing, isn't it? How long has this been here? An eternity?" Sasori had finally spoken, breaking the string of silence between them. Deidara turned to him, not entirely sure how to respond. She surprised both of them when she expressed something other than repulsion or dubiousness toward the idea of posterity.

"Maybe," she stated, a little awe in her tone as she tucked her canary's wing behind her ear to allow herself a full view of the glowing fungi. "I guess we'll never know, hm?"

Shikaku answered the question, turning around. "I have some vague memories of this particular tunnel, haha. It's a lot brighter than I remember, but I can tell you that they've been here since the end of the Great Migration at the very least."

Sasori made a noncommittal sound, tilting his head heavenward to appreciate the glowing fungi again. It was such a marvelous, stunning thing—a culmination of nature's finest, one that could have only been produced by the toils of time. It moved him, and it showed in the way he admired it, as if he were gazing at the finest diamonds in the world.

Deidara had learned to read his eyes, too, even more so than Itachi's, and a passing moment of contentedness washed over her, leaving her feeling light. At that very moment, it was like he had shed his chains and taken flight; he looked so—so—

Artless.

She thought she would have died without her art.

He caught her staring, but she didn't look away—had no reason to, especially when he didn't frown, a guileless expression on his face.

"Come on," Shikaku said in the end, addressing all of them. "We can't stay here, even if we want to. Our supplies will last us another two, three weeks at the most, so let's make the most of it."

"Yeah, let's!" Caught up in her own exhilaration, Anko cheered, managing to sound vicious and inspiring at the same time. "To Konoha we go—those rich bastards won't even know what hit them!" She got a few chuckles, and the gray cloud of oppression had almost completely dispersed.

There wasn't any battle cry caterwauled before they continued, but they needed none. They pushed forward, determined. The last two, three months had been absolute hell for all of them, and it was time to finally walk up the staircase the heaven—

Karin jumped when she felt something cold brush against her neck, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized it was only a slime of some sort, having been backed into the wall by the crowd. She rubbed the back of her neck, shivering from the cold draft that blew through the cave.

Why did it suddenly get so cold? It almost feels like...

Something's wrong.

Heavy breaths. Lolling tongues that stretched to the floor and piled in a disgusting twirl of black snakes.

They gathered around it, waiting to move off, their necks twitching impatiently from time to time. Dumb creatures. It was better than them all. It was growing faster, stronger, and more sentient by each passing hour, while they remained in their mindless states.

It paused, looking at a scar on its hand that had never healed for some reason. "Ha... Hanabi." A long-haired child, slashing at his hand—

One of its comrades twisted its neck in confusion. "Mrrgh? Haaaanaaabeeee, comrade?"

"Nooo..." It clutched his head, as if it were having a battle with its mind. "No, don't touch—Hyuuga. Kill. Eat. We will feast on the bodies of the worthless, and assimilate the useful. Zetsu commands it."

"Zetsu." Its comrades murmured the name in reverence. "Zetsu, Zetsu."

Don't march. Don't march. Don't—

"March."

They bayed like mad animals, and took off at top speed toward the Crystal Caves of Mount Fire. He had learned so in his studies—

"Worthless!"

"Gouge out his eyes!"

"He doesn't deserve the name of—"

Dirty, dripping, jaws snapped, and it broke out of its reverie.

Karin suddenly dropped to her knees, screaming as a dark presence invaded the sensitive parts of her brain. It was like learning a new language for her—a language of teeth, corners, and angles—

"Oh my god!" Masami shrieked. "You scared the life out of me—!"

Karin's head snapped up and she stared straight at Masami, but it was like she wasn't even looking at her. Masami looked vaguely disturbed, and stepped away from her, but the red-haired teenager wasn't even seeing her anymore.

Sasuke, the closest to her, grabbed her arm and hauled her up roughly. "Are they coming?"

A weak nod.

"Turn on your Byakugan!" Sasuke suddenly snapped at Hinata, who was travelling near the back of the group.

"Wh-What—"

"Do it, Hinata," Kakashi said firmly, knowing that had little time to waste. "Tell us how far away they are, if you can see them. Your range is longer than Hanabi's."

Hinata looked terrified, but she pushed down her fear and cried out, "Byakygan!" Veins appeared around her eyes, and she reluctantly walked a few steps back so that her range of vision was longer.

Without really realizing it, the people began to huddle together, their minds telling them that there was safety in numbers.

"Oh my god," Hinata suddenly burst out, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "There—there...!" She shuddered, trying to compose herself for the sake of everyone. "At least thirty. And the one leading them... has a Byakugan, likely m-more p-powerful than m-mine!"

Overhearing this, Hanabi's eyes widened. More powerful than her's?! Hinata-nee has nearly a ten-mile range on her Byakugan, from all the times that our father pushed her, thinking that a powerful Byakugan would make up for her ineptness at taijutsu! I might be stronger than her, but my own Byakugan is only just shy of eight miles. Who—what kind of monster could exceed that range?

Everything was crashing down all around them. The wonder and awe that they had all experienced in the bio-luminescent mushroom tunnel rapidly changed into fear and anticipation.

"Shikaku!" Itachi sharply said. "Where next?"

Shikaku traced out a twisting path on a blank part of the map, which Itachi quickly committed to memory without even using his Sharingan.

They had little time to get themselves into proper formation, so the plan was simple: run.

If that beast had an extremely powerful Byakugan lodged in its head, then there was little doubt that it could see them perfectly. He wasn't sure if monsters could feel fear the same ways humans did, but Itachi switched on his Mangekyo Sharingan, a display of power.

Naturally, those who were able to fend the monsters off lingered near the back, so when the monsters caught up—they traveled at a much faster pace than the survivor group—they would be able to protect the others better.

Hanabi was in the middle of the pack, furiously debating with herself whether to keep running like a chicken with her head cut off, or to make herself useful by joining the fighters at the back of the fleeing group. Hinata was right behind her, thinking the same thing. But with the power of their Byakugans, they would easily be able to see the battle, so they remained where they were.

Their frantic footsteps echoed in the cave, and were soon joined by thumping, heavier ones.

How could I have miscalculated so gravely?! Shikaku was absolutely kicking himself, though he really couldn't have known. Sasori had sent out hunting parties day after, and none of his party members had ever been confronted by a single monster, let alone a whole pack.

"There they are, the ugly fuckers!" Anko spat when the Byakugan Monster appeared in her vision. She grinned wildly, looking unhinged and fearful at the same time. More appeared behind it, sporting all sorts of features. Each monster was unique, taking on traits that they had once possessed as human beings. Some had hair, others too-large teeth, and birthmarks blown completely out of proportion. The monster right behind the Byakugan Monster had quite a lovely mop of ginger hair on top of its bulging head, short, but sharp horns poking through the hairs. "DIE!"

A particularly eager monster that had ran past the Byakugan Monster had gotten to close for comfort, and was rewarded by Anko slicing off its arm with Orochimaru's old Kusanagi. Black-green liquid splattered across her front, but it only made her deranged grin stretch even wider. If she didn't fear being infected, she would have lapped up the spot of blood near the corner of her lip.

The Byakugan Monster eyed its writhing comrade with thinly veiled disdain, the type that Sasori only saw in the most refined aristocrats. Who were you? A Hyuuga, I assume, but... How did you get out of the city? A rogue? Chakra claws wrapped around his fingertips, his pensive frown deepening when he realized that they wouldn't be able to get out of this without a good bloodletting.

Well.

He was used to blood. Old blood, new blood, man's blood, monster's blood—in the end, didn't it all start out the same?

In a warm, living body.

So Sasori slashed mercilessly with his neko-tes, knowing his puppets would be little more than a hindrance in such a tight environment. Deidara was the same, forced to use a tanto she had borrowed from Shisui just minutes after Karin raised the alarm. It was a weapon that she was practiced in, more so than the bo staff that Tenten seemed to favor. The same bo staff which the bun-haired girl was now holding up defensively as she ran, her body angled sideways so she could jump into the fray if a monster got too close.

They couldn't fight like this anymore.

Kakashi, the furthest back from the frontlines, actually pulled down his mask and shouted in a voice louder than anyone had ever heard him use, "KEEP GOING!" He planted his foot in the dirt, skidding to a stop. "Everyone..." He put his mask back on again.

"Aa." Itachi narrowed his eyes at the monsters, which had slowed to a walk when they realized that the martial artists had stopped running. The civilians looked back once—Sakura looked especially torn—before they kept going.

Izumi looked at the sleeping babe in her arms. My darling... I'm sorry. She kissed the baby on the forehead one last time before passing the drowsy babe on to Asagi, the closest woman to her.

"Izumi-san, what are you—"

"Look after him," Izumi commanded, her eyes desperate. "Please. There are so many of them. I can't stand by idly anymore."

Asagi was horrified. "Oh, Izumi-san, you mustn't!"

"Asagi!" Izumi wiped her tears away with the back of her palm. "You owe my family, don't you? If you ever want to repay your debt to Itachi, let it be this!" She could see that there were over thirty of those things now, and they were hopelessly outnumbered. "You'll be his godmother. Rin has too much on her plate, and I trust you."

"Izumi!" Asagi screamed as the Uchiha woman disappeared, worming through the crowd, completely forgetting about the honorific. "IZUMI!" She wept, but her legs kept going and going until she reached where Sakura was ushering her mother and her son along. Her mother ended up clambering on a pale Hitoshi's back, while Shizune picked up Shogo and held him close in her arms, seeing as Asagi was clutching Izuna. The baby was awake by now, and, as if sensing something was wrong, began to cry. "Shh, shh," Asagi hushed, squeezing her eyes shut momentarily. "Dear boy... Oh, Izumi, please come back safe. Please."

Meanwhile, thunder was pounding in Deidara's ears as she sliced limbs off her opponents, unable to get close enough to safely skewer their hearts. Vines slammed against the cave walls with wild abandon, sending crumbles of rock and dust everywhere. It was like her entire mind had switched to a mode where she could not fully comprehend everything anymore—there was only one thing that needed to be done and that was to kill. These monsters had murdered her comrades, and done far worse to others. They deserved to die. Death was the only option for them. Blood nearly sprayed in her eyes when she managed to slice through some thinner vines with her chakra-laced short blade, nicking the face of the Ginger Monster. Those vines were strong enough to survive a C2 bomb, and that level of explosion had only charred the surface.

The Ginger Monster shrieked, outstretching its hands. Without warning, its already elongated nails grew at an exponential rate, nearly piercing Deidara in the heart. She managed to quickly skirt to the side, but the monster used this opportunity to smash her against the cavern wall with one mighty swing of the arm. But before she was finished, Shisui leaped in front of her, blocking the killing blow with his tanto.

She quickly scrambled up, stabbing the Ginger Monster in the heart through the back, while Shisui had it distracted. It deflated almost comically, becoming nothing more than a heap of skin on the floor.

A large stalactite fell from the ceiling, dividing Deidara and Shisui.

"Thanks," Deidara managed to gasp out, adrenaline still coursing through her veins as she desperately tried to refill her lungs with air. Who's next? she thought almost mechanically, swerving around to see Itachi actually stab his arm through a monster's chest, taking out its heart.

"Don't mention it, sunshine." With that, he was off, assisting Kagami with a particularly big beast.

'Sunshine'. She could have snorted at that, but there were other, more pressing matters currently at hand. Even though her body shifted into autopilot again, she wasn't completely blind to her surroundings. From all the vines being thrashed around, chunks of stone and rock were falling dangerously from the ceiling, and sharp stalactites cracked at the seams of the base.

Cave-in, her mind screamed at her. Cave-in!

It was precisely for this reason that Deidara wasn't able to use even the most minor of explosives in this battle. Not only was there a lack of space, but if she set off even a C1, she would probably bring everyone else down by causing the roof to collapse on them.

She didn't know how long she'd been fighting for, but, eventually, there were only nine left. Itachi had taken out most of them, which was impressive, as he wielded only a blunt kunai, Kakashi's amount of kills almost reaching the Uchiha prodigy's number. Kisame's sword, Samehada, was also quite effective at shredding monster hearts and flesh into bloody pieces.

But then she saw something that made her freeze. Somewhere along the way, Izumi had joined the battle. She was covered head to toe in blood and panting heavily, the Amaterasu she had learned from Itachi the only thing keeping her alive. She dodged left and right, carrying only a short sword. Near her, Sasuke was attempting to cut through a monster with thick skin with his slick-with-blood katana, clearly trying to make a monster-less path to Izumi, so he could protect her.

Deidara forced her tanto through a small monster's chest with a newfound energy, her focus shifting almost entirely to Izumi. Rocks were falling left and right now, and she could have sworn that the cave was actually shaking. She prayed that the civilian group had already exited by now, or at the very least far away enough to avoid getting caught up in the inevitable cave-in.

"KAKASHI!" Shisui suddenly screamed, the sound coming from the very back of his throat.

Kakashi was in the middle of getting himself untangled from a monster's vines, not noticing the gigantic stalactite that was falling toward him end-first. The vines hadn't even finished falling off of his body before Shisui was suddenly there.

Not even Itachi had the time to blink before the stalactite pierced through the torso and chest of the man that had once been his best friend, Kakashi righting himself from being pushed out of the way.

The silver-haired man's eye widened in shock. "No..."

For all his loudness, Shisui was surprisingly quiet in his dying. His eyes were glazed over, and he couldn't even speak as his soul slowly slipped away from his bruised and battered body. Then their gazes met: Itachi's and Shisui's.

A flurry of emotions—shock, disbelief, the telling silver linings of immense grief—were passing through the former's eyes at a rapid rate, as his genius mind attempted to process just what was happening before his very eyes.

A monster bayed.

"Itachiiiiiii!"

A bead of sweat rolled down Itachi's neck as he stepped to the side, a flying blur whooshing past him at the speed of light. The blur skidded to a stop, sending a cloud of dust flying into the air.

"Shisui," Itachi sighed out. At four years old, his mother had decided that he needed more friends, and had set up a play-date with his cousin, Shisui, just one week ago. He was a few years older than Itachi, but his enthusiasm and instant attachment made his hackles rise. Itachi had never met such a person before, most Uchiha preferring to keep a stoic, unflinching mask on their faces. Itachi was one such example.

"Where're you going, Itachi?" Shisui asked, patting down his front to remove excess dust.

Itachi pointed to a nearby dessert shop, run by two perfectly polite Uchiha. "I wanted some dango."

"'Wanted'?"

"You're here now, so I don't see the point of going anymore. You'll just ruin it." It was rude, yes, but Itachi had just come out of training with his father in their private courtyard, and he could feel the welts his father had given him grating painfully against the back of his shirt. It'd been bamboo practice poles today. A similar, smaller type was used as a tool to cane undisciplined children. Humiliating.

Shisui wilted, feelings obviously hurt. But then he schooled his hurt into a mask, grinning broadly at Itachi. The gesture shocked him into silence. "Why don't I treat you then? Then old Fugaki won't have the pleasure of knowing he made you cry during training!"

Itachi stiffened. 'Fugaki'? The nerve! Speaking so derisively of his own clan head! "Uchiha do not cry." Strangely enough, he didn't feel the urge to reprimand Shisui, despite knowing how wrong it was.

"Did your dad tell you that?"

Yes. Yes he had, and Itachi had to admit he didn't really believe him. Though he was at the tender age of four, Itachi was smart enough to comprehend the vast range of human emotions—emotions that Uchiha were not exempt from exhibiting. But, still, he hadn't cried. Maybe a tear or two had slipped out because he was unused to the pain, but Shisui made it sound like he'd been wailing.

Watching Itachi zone out, a pensive frown on his face, Shisui rolled his eyes and walked around his cousin until he was standing behind him. Then he began to push Itachi toward the dessert shop, the younger boy's heels digging into the dirt. "Come on, Boy Wonder, let's get you your candy."

"Don't call me that."

"Itachin, then."

"No."

"Whyyyy?"

God, this boy could whine and it wasn't even funny. But when Itachi found himself sitting at a table and eating delicious dango, his vexation slowly melted away. He'd been unkind to Shisui, he realized. His cousin had done nothing to deserve such treatment, other than being a little too overbearing in his displays of kindness and eagerness. Guilt flooded his heart, and he peered sadly down at his plate.

"What's wrong?" Shisui asked, concern in his gaze.

Nobody had ever been so nice to him before, other than mother.

"Do you..." Itachi hesitated. "Still want to be friends?"

Shisui's eyes lit up.

They were inseparable for a time after that. When Itachi discovered that Izumi existed and had a most wonderful garden patch, he had put Shisui aside for a while, immediately feeling bad afterward. He tried to include both of them in his circle as much as possible, and eventually succeeded.

But then Shisui grew discontent with the ways of clan, Itachi sharing his sentiments. But the difference was that Shisui had acted. Deep down, Itachi knew that the sort of change Shisui wanted to bring around was good, but his methods were questionable. How was openly challenging the clan and acting carefree any helpful? Before they knew it, they'd drifted apart, Shisui discovering new friends in Maito Gai and Uchiha Obito, a pariah in the Uchiha clan.

They still talked from time to time, but the something that had been there in their childhood had long but disappeared. With wistful smiles, they cut their losses, mostly going their own separate ways. Eventually, Itachi came to find the clan ways unbearable when the elders protested against him marrying the love of his life, Izumi, stating her too common for the likes of the heir. So Itachi denounced his position, and estranged himself from the clan, for good. Izumi's childhood home was burned down after the death of her parents, and her garden patch destroyed. She'd wept immensely that day, and had been almost inconsolable. She'd cultivated that garden since the age of five.

It hadn't been a happy parting, him and Shisui, but it hadn't been a sad one, either.

But—

He wished they hadn't parted at all.

Itachi froze, and Sasori noticed a monster—the Byakugan Monster—charging toward the Uchiha at unnatural speeds. It bellowed, but it was like Itachi was rooted to the ground.

"ITACHI!" Sasuke was nearly sliced in half by his opponent, forgetting about Izumi and trying to reach his brother. But he'd bee too late. "ITACHI! GET OUT OF THERE!"

Itachi... His body was moving before he even knew it, his pupils dilated and focused on only the rapidly closing distance between Itachi and the Byakugan Monster. He was one of the few that welcomed me when I came to Ame. I don't...

Sasori lashed out, ignoring the anguished shriek of Deidara telling them both to get the fuck out of here and—

The Byakugan Monster bit down on Sasori's arm, fangs tearing through flesh and piercing the bone until the white ivory teeth appeared on the other side. The Byakugan Monster howled, continuing to rip at already torn flesh, and Sasori couldn't even scream, his brain completely disconnected from the pain.

But if he was going down, this motherfucking bastard was going down with him.

Itachi had finally snapped out of it, it seemed, and was horrified to find that Sasori had taken the blow for him, his mangled right arm still between the jaws of the monster as his chakra fluctuated dangerously, a chakra scalpel forming around his left arm. He stabbed the monster in the chest repeatedly, clumsily so that the wounds were ragged, and it screeched, vines flooding out of its back and wrapping around the Suna man, lifting him up until the lower half of his arm was almost detached from the rest of his body. The stabbing stuttered, Sasori's face going white from shock, not even registering the blonde blur flying towards them.

Even in pain, the monster managed to avoid Deidara's blade—instead of plunging into its heart, the metal ended up in its intestines. Screaming in grief and fury, she grabbed the handle and twisted, dragging it through the monster's flesh diagonally. "DIE! YOU DAMN FUCKER!"

Silver and green had joined gold, Kakashi and Gai jumping into the fray as the cave fell apart.

"KILL IT ALREADY!" Kagami yelled, a Mangekyo Sharingan spinning in their eye. "This place is about to collapse!" The Byakugan Monster was the only one left, and the remaining fighters were hesitant to join in. They would certainly all perish if they didn't run now.

"Fuck it," Kisame muttered. "Anko, throw me your sword! Now!" The purple-haired woman complied, and Kisame dashed toward where the others were, dodging falling stalactites. "HAAAA!" Expertly, he sliced through the vines holding Sasori, and cut off the red-haired man's arm while he was at it. There was no way that the limb could have been saved. Not even Sennin Tsunade could put it back together.

Sasori was barely conscious at this point, the white-hot pain he was feeling from the stump of his arm just keeping him awake. Kisame picked him up and ran down the cave, shouting for Deidara, Kakashi, and Gai to leave it and run while they still could.

They did, looking back desperately at Shisui's pulverized body. Considering his torso was split open and his intestines were mush, he looked surprisingly peaceful in death. The rock was still on him, and too heavy for them to move off in adequate time.

We'll have to leave him, Deidara thought numbly, a heavy aching in her chest. Her stomach was flipping and her entire body was heaving from a combination of terror, grief, and sheer anger, but her mind felt calm. Run. Run, run, run. Just run. That's all you can do... Alongside her, her comrades kept the pace. That's all we can do. Shisui, Danna—Sasori—his arm—he'll turn—! A furious sob escaped her throat, and more threatened to sound but she pushed it back down. Fuck! This situation was so fucking hopeless—

Itachi was covered head to toe in blood. Deidara didn't know how he had gotten so messy in so little time, but she didn't care. She didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered. Nothing.

Danna—Sasori. Izumi. Izumi, you're alive. Thank god. Thank god. Gai's okay. Gai's still okay. I can still count the number of people I care about on two hands, not one—it made her want to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it—her eyes snapped toward a figure behind them.

The Byakugan Monster was chasing them. Well, not chasing them, but limping after them. It had undergone a strange metamorphosis, half of its bulky, gray body swapped for a more humanoid shape, a pentadactyl limb emerging from the end of its right arm. The skin was melting away at the face as well, revealing an almost delicate human face.

Monster. Rage bubbled in her stomach. This—this thing that had murdered and pillaged dared to take on a human form? She'd kill it. She didn't care about lives anymore—she'd fucking cut its head off and quarter it—

There was a resounding boom! as the cave collapsed behind them, leaving behind a mountain of rubble that blocked the entrance.

They met up with the group, their footsteps slowing down as they saw their wide-eyed comrades, huddled in fear. They'd thought they were monsters, covered in all that black blood and gore.

"Everyone's back!" Naruto blurted as he did a head count in his head. His heart sank. We're missing one. Who?

"Shisui's dead," Kakashi reported blandly, his voice devoid of any emotion. He stared straight ahead, as if he wasn't even seeing the people in front of him.

"Shisui?" Rin echoed in disbelief, her hands lifting to her mouth. "Oh my god..."

"Wait—who's that? Is he dead, too?" Hitoshi pointed at the bloody lump of human in Kisame's arms. Sasori's breath rose shallowly as he struggled to breathe properly. He looked so small and defenseless—as if he were a child rather than a man who could kill almost all of them if given the opportunity. His face was contorted in agony as he fought the disease of the Zetsu valiantly.

"His arm!" Shizune walked forward, her face tear-stained. "What—?"

"A monster bit him. I cut it off," Kisame stated, a haunted quality in his voice that hadn't been there before.

"You brought him back?!" Masami cried.

Shikamaru grimaced at the sight of him. "It's obvious he's turned. I... I don't want to say this, but—" He stopped abruptly.

"His chakra is changing," Karin said lowly. "It's changing..."

Hinata grabbed her sister's hand and squeezed it, fear evident on her face as she regarded Sasori. That poor man. They would have to kill him now, wouldn't they? None of them said the words out loud, but they hung in the air.

But then Sakura was there, and there was a syringe in Sasori's jugular. Whatever she had injected in him was like liquid fire, and he shouted, lurching upward and struggling in Kisame's grip.

"He's turning!" Karin screamed in fear, feeling the chakra turning even darker.

"KILL HIM!" Masami said the words first. "I KNOW HE'S VALUABLE, BUT WE HAVE TO KILL HIM!"

No. Nononono—Deidara's entire frame shook, the fury that had encompassed her body just minutes ago returning with a force that nearly swept her off her feet. Gai tried to grab her shoulder to calm her down, but she slapped his hand away. These... bastards! They're really going to kill him! The turmoil that had been building up in the pit of her stomach exploded, and she stormed forward and slapped Masami across the face, chakra laced throughout her hand.

A tooth flew out of the woman's mouth as her head snapped to the side. The area was already beginning to redden and swell, and tears brimmed in Masami's eyes. "Wh-wha—"

Suddenly, something changed, and the wretched, hissing scream that Sasori couldn't keep down ripped Deidara's heart in half, and she was certain the sound would haunt her for the rest of her life—for all eternity, for all posterity. A white, plant-like substance started to emerge from the stump of his arm, and everyone looked on with fascinated horror as it formed an arm—completely with a hand, fingers and all. There was a slick sheen on the newly grown limb, similar to the liquid one would find on a newly born baby.

The screaming died down soon after that, and Karin shuddered once more before relaxing. The dark chakra was gone from his body. Shizune looked in awe to Sakura. "You did it. The cure worked."

Sakura burst into excited, hopeful, blubbering tears, laughing and crying at it all.

"Life is already so short," Choji suddenly said. "No one should have to die too fast."

Numbly, Deidara walked toward Kisame, peering down at Sasori, who was now asleep, his timeless face looking more worn and weary than she had ever seen it. Wake up soon, Danna.

Everything was just starting to calm down when the footfall of an unknown reached their ears.

"What now?" Anko hissed, whirling around. "If it's that Byakugan bastard—"

A man—no, a teenager—with long, unkempt hair appeared, walking toward them in a daze, as if they weren't all roughing it in a cave and instead having an afternoon at the park. He opened his mouth, but closed it when he was met with hostile stares.

Deidara was prepared to kill him and be over and done with it when Hinata's trembling voice carried through the cave.

"N-Neji-nii-san?"

"What's your name?"

She blinked at the casual, outstretched hand belonging to the Uchiha. "Deidara. No family name, hm. Have I met you before...?"

He scratched his head. "No, I don't think so? It might have been one of my relatives. There're a lot of them wandering around these parts. But never mind that, welcome to Akatsuki, Deidara!"

A wry smile had her lips quirking upward. "Thanks...?"

"Shisui."

She shook his hand. It was so warm, just like his smile and heart. "Thanks, Shisui."

In real life, he'd treated her to dango and introduced her to Gai. But this time, painfully, he turned his back on her and walked away with a sad smile, disappearing into the Akatsuki crowd.

Deidara simply stood there, helpless to watch her first friend in Akatsuki vanish from her life forever. She tried to chase after him, but her feet were bound to the cobblestone and her voice was restricted to a whisper that would never reach his ears.

His dreams were haunted by gnashing teeth and baying howls. It was like Karin had said—they hid in the corners, and he could always find them at the angles. Waiting. Always waiting.

Monster, monster. A man screamed in the distance as his chakra neko-tes eviscerated him. All of his past victims were burned to the back of his eyeballs, and he would forever see himself, the person he'd once been and still was—Akasuna no Sasori—repeating the acts over and over again.

His parents were the final victims. Even if he hadn't struck the finishing blow, the blood was still on his hands.

"Maybe I'll tell you about myself someday, brat. About what I used to do in Suna and my family. About... Hatake."

Why, though?

He had controlled everything. He was a puppet master. He had controlled how the people perceived him, and made sure that they would only ever know him as Sasori, a normal, working-class man with a taijutsu and puppet-making hobby.

I thought I could control her, too. Contain her. And I could have.

But...

She had proven herself to him over and over again—she was an emotional brat, but she was also a loyal comrade and someone who he wouldn't mind spending the rest of his life with. Even if he didn't deserve her.

His parents faded away into dust, and so did Akasuna no Sasori.

Wondering why they hadn't killed him when they'd had the chance, Sasori awoke.

A/N: My mother's blender turned on by itself and I got so terrified; I thought the blender was haunted or something. Turned out she (mom) just preset it to blend at a certain time. Gosh. And if you're wondering what the contents were, it was almond malted milk. I think, anyway.