Chapter 48: Inside The Alliance
Wiseman leaned his head through the door and saw the guard asleep on the floor across from the door. Wiseman continued through the door and slit the guard's throat when he reached him. He sheathed his swords and opened the door allowing the others into the Alliance's base.
The door was in the center of a hallway with doors along the walls going in both directions.
"Which way?" Lax asked.
"Link said this is the second basement, we have to go to the left to get to the first, which is where Sasuke would be if he were a prisoner," Sakura said.
"The left it is then, no one talk again until I say so," Wiseman said before heading left down the hall.
They reached and climbed the stairs to the first basement and began looking in all the rooms. These doors hand barred openings that they could easily look through. Nearly all the rooms were empty, though some had occupants, none were Sasuke. They were nearly halfway down the hall when Lax looked through an opening to find someone looking straight back at him.
"Ooh, you're new here! Can I spill your blood?" the man behind the door asked in a voice that echoed down the hall.
The instant the man spoke the others looked at Lax who had stepped out of the man's view.
"You don't belong here do you?" the man asked in the same echoing voice. "I want your blood, GIVE ME BLOOD!" the man shrieked his hand reached through the opening in the door and clawing at the air.
"Lax, shut him up," Sin said from further down the hall.
"Mulow! What the hell's going on down there?" a voice called from the other end of the hall as several sets of footsteps came charging at them.
"We've been found," Wiseman said drawing his swords.
"That we have," Sin said taking out his axe, "only the Master in here Edge, not enough room for the rest," he added looking at Edge.
Edge nodded and drew his claymore. Wiseman's eyes were on the end of the hall, concealed by darkness that held an unknown number of enemies. Sin was looking at the same thing, until the flailing arm distracted him.
"This guy's Mulow huh?" Sin asked.
"Yeah, I'd guess that by what the voice said," Wiseman said.
"Ain't Mulow the name of a Head?" Sin asked.
"Sure is," Lax said.
"Thought so," Sin said before raising his axe and bringing it down fast on the flailing arm, severing it.
Screams of pain now came from the cell as they heard Mulow stager around inside it yelling, "My Blood! Not Blood! My Blood! Not Blood!" over and over again.
"Sin, shut him up please," Wiseman said.
"Sure thing," Sin said before he took the door down with two swings of his axe.
More screams came once Sin entered the cell, each one ending in something that sounded like blood. Sin soon emerged, his hands and axe covered in blood and he looked down the hall into the darkness.
"Mulow's dead but, how long is this hallway?" Sin asked.
"A lot longer than I thought, they're still coming," Wiseman said.
"Well, more accurately, we're already here," a voice came from behind them.
Wiseman and Sin turned to see a man in all black holding Naruto in a bear hug, his mouth gagged. Another man, dressed in mostly black held Sakura. Lax was on his knees, two men had his arms behind his back and Blue had him in a headlock. Another woman, this one in white with a white blindfold, held the tip of a katana to the back of Edge's neck.
"Well, I see we have some Colors here, as well as some Kids," Wiseman said.
"I'm not that good with names, who's who again?" Sin asked stepping next to Wiseman.
"The one holding Lax is Blue, the one holding Sakura is Tzet, the one covering Edge is White and Black is the one holding the Kid," Wiseman said.
"Bravo, got them all, or at least, all that matter," Black said with a glance at the two holding Lax with Blue.
"How long were you there?" Sin asked.
"Just after you cut Mulow's arm off," Black said.
"And you let us kill your Head?" Wiseman asked.
"Saves us the trouble. We need to lock him down here every night otherwise he'll kill us in our sleep," Black said.
"Frankly, I'm glad to be rid of him," Blue said.
"And to cover it up, we just tell the other Heads we didn't get here fast enough," a voice said behind Sin and Wiseman.
The two spun to see Lerah walking out of the darkness; she was the one who had distracted them.
"He was pretty weak for a leader of such a strong group," Sin said.
"He didn't have any weapons with him. Plus, his jutsu are all torture, not very combat orientated," Tzet said.
"Well, you thought this out very well, and were even smart enough to know not to try and capture me and Sin," Wiseman said.
"We've done our research on you. We know what all of the Twelve Terrors can do," Tzet said.
"Lax, care to prove them wrong?" Sin asked.
"Way ahead of you," Lax said as he pulled out of the three people holding him.
Lax pulled out two daggers and dug them in the chests of the two men that held his arms. Blue had her short swords out and took a swing at him, but Lax easily dodged and got behind Blue where he knocked her to the floor and put her own daggers through her shoulders and into the ground.
"Get off her. Now! Unless you want one of them dead," Black said nodding towards Sakura in Tzet's arms.
"For your own safety, I wouldn't recommend hurting her," Wiseman said.
"Perhaps not, but what of him?" Lerah asked behind Sin and Wiseman.
The two turned to see a beaten Sasuke in her arms, a kunai at his throat. Sin sighed, "all good so far?" he asked Wiseman.
"Hey, sorry I couldn't asked Strag's opinion on this but he was out at the time," Wiseman said back.
"What, this little mission wasn't planed by the great Strag? You're doomed to failure," Black said.
"Edge, when you're ready," Wiseman said.
"You move, I kill you," White whispered in Edge's ear.
Edge stood still, not moving an inch.
"Whatever he's got to do, the poor bastards too scared to do it," Black said with a laugh.
"Might be," Lax said pulling the short sword from Blue's left shoulder and throwing it at Black, hitting him in the upper right back.
Black recoiled in pain letting Naruto break free, who immediately decked Tzet in the face, freeing Sakura. The instant Black was struck Edge ducked fast, causing White to stumble forward slightly. He kicked her feet from under her and quickly got to his, the tip of his sword and Whites neck, while her katana was at her feet.
At the same instant Wiseman lunged at Lerah, both swords raised for the kill. Lerah stepped back and pushed Sasuke into the line of attack, But Wiseman just went right through him and Sin caught Sasuke as he fell.
"Well, that worked rather well," Sin said pulling Sasuke to his feet, Sasuke wasn't even conscious.
More footsteps sounded in the halls above and below them. "Kid, Sakura, get Sasuke back to the base, Lax, see them out of here," Wiseman said.
On these words Sin gave the limp Uchiha to his teammates and Lax started back the way they came. Naruto and Sakura, not knowing what was going on, followed close behind with Sasuke between them.
Tzet and Black started after them, but Sin knocked the back, "Sorry, you're not allowed to go any further," he said as the two stumbled backwards.
Black was on his fists and knees, slowly standing and Blue came up behind him and pulled her sword out of his back, "you'll move better like that," she said as Tzet pulled Black to his feet.
x-X-x
Lax and the others moved silently through the tunnel back to the outside. They reached the tree and Lax held it open for Naruto and Sakura to carry Sasuke through.
"Go back to the village, you should make it safely," Lax said.
"What about you, I'm not gunna run out while I can help fight," Naruto said.
"He needs help and Sakura can't do it here, or alone, you gotta get him back to the village," Lax said.
"I won't leave you alone," Naruto said.
"They're not alone," a voice said behind Naruto.
He turned to see Dragoon standing there, "what the hell are you doing here?" Naruto demanded.
"Lending the aid in battle so you can save Sasuke," Dragoon said.
"The others inside?" Lax asked.
"All of 'em" Dragoon said nodding.
"But what about you? Saving Sasuke is the reason we came, but not at the sacrifice of anyone," Naruto said.
Lax grabbed Naruto by the collar and lifted him to be eye level, "we're not built the same Kid. You're built to do amazing things everyday, and fight sometimes. When you fight, it's big and flashy, and hurts you as much as the enemy.
"Us, we're built to fight every damn day of our lives. We're soldiers; we're built to die by the end of the war, so that our side had the chance of victory. But we're special above the other soldiers, we can do those flashy things too.
"So when any of us twelve go down, we do it in a blaze of glory, and we take as many of the enemy down with us as we can. If we're meant to pull through Kid, we will," Lax said before dropping Naruto.
He pulled open the tree to let Dragoon through. Lax didn't say another word before he vanished into the tree, Naruto and Sakura stood there a moment, Sasuke on the ground between them.