Nightmare World

Part 3

The transition into the land of fire (not the one you think) was much smoother and less painful than the first, though no less uncomfortable as they were all in full view of the scorched city that lay ahead of them. Neji, especially, wondered with trepidation what concoction that insane redhead's unconscious would conjure up.

Neji was nothing if not serious. Rarely one to crack a smile at anything, even after he reconsidered his philosophy of fatalism due in large part to his fight with Naruto (and to the aforementioned insane redhead, though she would hardly listen to reason), he still dutifully followed his superiors because unless the order was too ludicrous, nothing usually went wrong when following orders or staying within the group.

That was why he couldn't comprehend why Oreo went after the rogue without fully assessing the situation. She had backup, but even she - for all of her foolish antics (the buttersock incident was still fresh in his mind) - should have been smart enough to know not to charge after an enemy she did not fully understand. He told her, or at least tried to, that her impulsivity would get her killed; he just wished that he wasn't right.

As they drew closer to the center of this section of a nightmarish city, the humidity spiked to an unbearable heat. From man sized holes in the ground fire burst at random intervals threatening to turn anyone who stepped too close to ash. Oh, if that was the only thing they had to worry about…

Something must have happened when they released Mae, because merely a few minutes after stepping into that hellish place something was charging at them. It took a slash of a kunai to cut the thing's neck, and by thing Neji meant a small person whose completely charred body still smoked even as it lie motionless. Neji couldn't say for certain if it was dead, and the smell of burnt flesh was clear in his mind, but some paper bombs took quick care of the thing.

Unfortunately that wasn't the end of them. More of these miniature people came as they ran further into the city, throwing small balls of fire at them as they went. They never approached like the first one, and only a few followed before losing interest. And it was strange how some even threw others in the path of danger when Neji, Ino, or Gaara fought back; as if they actually cared more about themselves than their comrades, if they could even be called that.

By the time they had made it to the center of the section, a small steel mill with tall cylinder chimneys emitting smoke, they were all tired, sweaty, and covered with soot. Nonetheless, they entered the establishment through a broken vent. The inside was warm, not a blistering hot thankfully, and had expanded enough to allow them some movement. Neji gently pushed out the vent at the end, and they all stepped out into an empty hallway with metal doors, walls, ceilings, and pipes running through the entire length of it.

"Okay, so is it Creepy Door #1, or Creepy Door #2?" Ino muttered.

"Just be thorough." Neji clipped, trying to ignore how it seemed to get hotter every minute. Neji opened the first door on his right, but closed it immediately when a burst of fire soared at him. He could still feel the heat of the door. Practically all of the rooms were like that, whether bursting with fire or filled with those demonic children.

They were getting nowhere and the clock was ticking. Neji persistently tried to activate his bloodline trait. The scissors of irritation clipped away at his patience each time the Byakugan failed to activate. In the end he had no choice but to find a way by looking with the naked eye only. It would have been faster, easier, and more precise if he could see through the walls of concrete and doors of steel. He was just thinking how impossible the situation was becoming when he noticed it. The pipes. The steaming metal tubes that ran along the ceilings all convened and ran down a specific hallway. Upon pointing out his observation to Gaara and Ino they all agreed following the pipe trail was the only feasible option for the time being. Much better than guessing what's behind each and every door.

The trail stretched far and it seemed to get hotter and hotter as they went. Their guard was up, especially so when they turned dark corners. One never knew what was waiting around on the other side. They could be jumped at any second. Although, Neji suspected these horrendous creatures had about as much tact as Oreo did. If he was correct in his assumptions then guerrilla strategies were not likely to be used. And so far all they had encountered were frontal attacks. Oreo was a direct kind of person, almost as much as Naruto.

Ino barely suppressed a shriek as one of the burned human-like things charged out of the blistering darkness. It was coming directly at them, just as Neji had anticipated. But as they readied their weapons – kunai and shuriken poised, sand hissing – he noticed something was amiss.

"Move out of its way!" Neji shouted to Ino and Gaara, and the trio leapt to the side. The thing did not attack them; instead it went straight by them as if running away from something. That's when he heard it; the collective sound of beating wings echoing in the corridors. Moths, hundreds of them, flew down the hall. Their wings chased off the dark with the fire that ate their fluttering wings. Neji, Ino, and Gaara ducked out of the way as the moths swarmed past them, chasing and occasionally swooping down in flurries to attack the burned humanoid.

Neji glanced at his temporary comrades. They both nodded in affirmation and he led the way. They followed the swarm, which was now nothing more than a distant flicker of flames in the blackness. It was still the direction the pipes were going.

Shadows flickered in the light of torches as they entered a large room. Gray flecks were falling from the ceiling and they thought it was ash. However, upon closer inspection they saw it was the moths. The flames had consumed most of the bodies leaving only pieces of insect. What was left of their wings still glowed with the aftermath of fire. Ino made a disturbed sound in her throat and tried vainly to avoid the falling bugs.

"Look there." Neji directed their gazes from the ash moths to the middle of the chamber.

The charred creature that was being chased was strewn out on the floor and others like it surrounded it. They were crouched down and pulling at it.

"Are they…" Ino started and then gasped in disgust. "They're eating it!"

Neji felt his gut twist in revulsion but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Ino's outburst attracted the monsters' attention. They all stood and Neji could then see that they were slightly different from the ones they'd encountered earlier. They were taller, though lanky. Neji estimated they were about seven feet tall. Almost all of their skin was charred black and they had no eyes. Their ears were nothing but small holes in the side of their heads. Their gaping mouths were large and lined with sharp teeth. They began their assault by picking up and throwing what was left of the other one. Gaara's sand shield blocked the half eaten arms and legs from touching them. Neji was grateful for that. Though it would have sickened him, he was sure Ino would have lost all composure if hit by something like that. She was already as white as a sheet. Gaara on the other hand did not seem fazed. It was as if he'd seen worse.

The shield went down and Neji took that opportunity to toss shuriken. The charred skin acted like a shell that the blades did not easily sink into. A couple landed a hit on the target while the other blades bounced off and clattered to the floor. The blackened skin cracked, leaking blood and pus from under the grisly shell. Ino covered her mouth with a hand while the other white-knuckled a kunai.

The humanoids charged head first. They then effectively did damage to themselves as they went headlong into a wall of sand. More blood and infectious pus spilled and sprinkled the floor red and yellow. A barrage of blades and sand splattered the two colors everywhere. Ino pinched her nose from the smell and gingerly stepped over the pieces. Gaara walked through it without a care.

Just when Neji thought they could move forward something else happened to stall them. The sound of beating wings came from the dark halls, not the soft assemble of the moths but something bigger. They flew in at the same time; birds with red feathers and needle-like teeth, and began devouring the moths. Neji lashed out with a kunai when a few tried to fly down and bite at his face. Ino yelled as some yanked at her ponytail and clothes. They soon came to ignore the outer layers of their persons and went for the flesh.

"There are too many," shouted Neji. "We need a distraction!"

"Got it." Gaara moved his arm in a sweeping motion. The sand scattered and startled the birds away to the ceiling where they circled in a frenzy.

The trio took the chance and escaped. They continued on the trail of the pipes, rushing down the dark corridors once more. The heat was becoming unbearable and Neji noticed even Gaara, the desert ninja, was uncomfortable. They were all sweating profusely, their clothes getting damp and the sweat running into their eyes. Ino grumbled something about smelly boys but kept moving.

"Do you hear it?" Gaara looked over to Neji as they ran. The air breezing past them was hot as well and did not do much to cool them.

"I do." Neji narrowed his eyes, trying to see past the shadows. It was a metallic sound, like someone was beating on iron. The sound grew in volume and number as they neared its proximity.

The pipes began to rattle. Neji's eye caught a valve coming loose.

"Look out!" He bolted forward and tackled Ino out of the away just as a jet of steam blasted the very spot she had been seconds before. He helped her back up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"Well enough." Neji winced at a pain on his ankle.

"It got you!"

"I'm fine, really."

"…Okay, but remember," Ino looked at Neji and Gaara worriedly. "Whatever happens in here happens to our bodies outside. Be careful."

"We need to move," Gaara said hastily.

The pipes rattled again and now were shooting out steam at random. The large jets of vaporized water could cook them alive if they stepped into a blast.

The clanging of metal pierced through the loud hisses of the steam.

Neji squinted through the darkness, Byakugan veins trying to meet his eyes. "Up ahead!"

A large door greeted them at the end of the corridor, and beyond that a large chamber. It was much larger than any other room they encountered, and one of the darkest. It was like an old blacksmith factory. Strange devices, things Neji had never seen before, were everywhere along with piles of scrap metal. Gears were turning by the walls, fire roared in furnaces, and smoke funneled up through chimneys. Red hot metal was being smashed by otherworldly machines. Only the fires and the glow of the metal illuminated what was in the center of the room.

The Hyuuga knew what it was when he saw it… because she was there as well.

The first thing that Neji noticed about the creature who was the personification of Oreo's worst nightmare (if nothing else he had seen was counted) was the smell. Nothing was like the smell of burnt human flesh; human being the operative word as the monster with its back turned to them setting about trapping Oreo in metal bindings looked like a completely charred and burnt…being. More so than all the others. It was like a giant version of all the other things and the smell definitely tripled with its size. Every step it took burnt a mark into the floor as it leaned over to grab pipes with sharp ends with coal black fingers, and speared one end into the ground.

It repeated the process until there was a line of razor sharp pipes forming a fence around Oreo.

Neji surveyed the room more closely. It was enormous and unlike any smith's shop as he had seen, and with its own hellish touches of hand-shaped scorch marks, a captive, and what he could've sworn were pieces of burnt human flesh on the floor. He had to remember to swallow to stop anything from coming up.

He held open the door so the others could slip in and take cover behind the various items in the room, and when the others confirmed that they were in position he released the door and dove behind a pile melted metal that covered his body as long as he crouched.

The slam of the metal door alerted the creature to their presence, and Neji wished that the thing had remained as it was.

That face…! Neji's ability to form a cohesive thought was lost somewhere between when he looked at the creature's noseless, earless, and skinless face, the melted eyelids, lips that were stretched and melded together with tears that showed yellow teeth and the gaping chest wound emitting puss.

The creature must've known that people were in the room with it, and it thrust one of its blackened hands out to release a stream of fire. It continued this with all of its limbs in an erratic and random pattern as if it didn't know where to hit.

Looking at the others from behind their respective hiding places, he wondered how on earth they were going to get close to it. It wouldn't be long before the creature figured out where they were, and when that happened they may end up becoming part of the floor (if there was anything left).

Neji looked over the edge of the covering only to duck just seconds before a burst of flame was shot at him. More quick fire spouts accompanied by a roar alerted them all to the fact that the monster had been made aware of their presence.

If ever there was an understatement.

He couldn't see it from where he was hiding. If only he could see. If only he could decipher where its weakness was. If only… Neji knew then it was now or never. He connected his hands in a signal and concentrated all his chakra to his eyes. His eyesight blurred then sharpened, blurred then sharpened. The little rivers of veins struggled to his eyes. They went forward, then receded, then forward again.

Almost.

Sweat ran down the side of his face as he doubled his concentration. His vision was sharpening now without falling into blurry hazes. The veins no longer receded, now they trudged on slowly, steadily until…

At last.

Neji activated his Byakugan. And he could see everything.

He saw that the creature was shooting fire from its hands and feet. He could see the tunnels within its arms, and how the fire built up. The pressure continued as the fire festered there and then exploded, shooting out like a volcano. They would have to seal it off, though that was easier said than done unless they wanted to be burnt into a crisp. And judging by the creature's inconsistent firing he didn't want to take the chance of accidentally getting Oreo stuck in the literal crossfire.

Neji dashed over to where Ino and Gaara were hidden, barely avoiding a blast of fire.

He leaned down into the cover to whisper to the others. "It's the same plan as before. One of us must distract the creature while the others remove the hands and feet."

Ino replied (though mindful to keep her voice low), "Great. How do we do that?"

"By using the creature's erratic behavior against it." Gaara supplied. "If we managed to get wires around the hand and feet, and stimulate it with sound its own momentum should do the rest."

"Then let's go." Neji already took out a number of shuriken before throwing it at the creature's head while it was turned away. A small part of him hoped that perhaps that would end it, but just like the original this monster was hard headed and refused to go down. A long, continuous stream of flame over Neji's head caused him to sweat more profusely. He carefully used to the objects around the room as cover; using his own wire to bring to him what was out of reach.

Throw kunai. Duck. Move to another cover. Repeat.

Avoid flames. Buy time for the others. Try to survive. Repeat.

Ignore the way the flames licked at him. Ignore his sweat slicked skin. Ignore the very real chance that they could all die. Repeat.

The process was repeated over and over until it became a mantra in his head. He just recognized Gaara and Ino on either side of the creature now. All he had left to do was provide one last distraction.

Unfortunately the creature was not as thick-skulled as he believed.

The creature had figured out Neji's diversion tact, and had begun to play a game of "Scorch Goes the Weasel" by burning Neji's right arm. He hastily patted at the flames that began to engulf his bandages before he simply tore them off.

He heard a guttural cry of pain followed by a few heavy thuds. He carefully looked over the edge of the overturned metal cart he was hiding behind, and breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw Ino and Gaara reeling in their lines from the clean cut remains of the fire demon. Slowly he saw the arms and legs turn into ash which was swept away by a low wind. He took a glance at Oreo's prone form - unconscious but alive - and took a step forward when he realized something.

Why hadn't the head or torso been reduced to ash as well?

He hardly had the time to warn his comrades when the high shriek of metal against metal resounded, and several pipes had lodged itself into the creature's back. A low moan of pain was emitted, and the being was lifted up by the pipes before it tore at the fleshy bindings that sealed its mouth to release a breath of fire.

Ino had tried to attack it while the fleshy bindings of its orifice were reforming - a form of torture of a tortuous being - she was burned by a blob of puss the monster spewed from its chest.

While throwing kunai and shuriken at it, Neji couldn't help but notice something. The monster was doing everything in its power to keep them away from Oreo. It would even intentionally take damage from easily avoidable attacks if it meant keeping the girl away from them. It was much the same way as it has with the other one - Mae - who was kept inside of a flower bud on the back of the last monster they faced.

Of course! The girls must provide some source of life support for the creatures; at the very least they keep them around while their psyche's are being destroyed. That would explain why Mae was kept on the flora monster's back, and why the fiery apparition trying to kill them now set up a hastily made fortitude around Oreo.

Remove the girls, and the creatures will die.

He quickly shouted this to Gaara and Ino, and without another word all three knew what to do. With a carefully placed shot Ino threw a kunai across the mouth's flesh bindings, causing it to shriek in pain and involuntarily release fire. As it recovered it tried to release some puss, but Gaara's sand became embedded in its chest. And since the puss had nowhere to go it only further caused damage to its user.

Once that was accomplished, Neji raced towards Oreo repeatedly kicked a few pipe until they were bent enough to allow him some movement. He hoped the others would keep the creature away from him or else he would join the ashes in the wind. Not looking back he reached over to Oreo and pulled. He pulled and pulled and pulled, striking at any weak spot in the rusty metal until finally a crack was heard, and Oreo fell into his arms.

Not a moment too soon he took Oreo and dodged a ball of fire from the monster. The creature tried to attack again but found that it was slowly dying.

With a final cry via a ripping of its orifice's binding, it wailed before it too was ash.

"I know… this might sound crazy," Ino said between gasps, "but I am… really starting… to miss the… killer plants."

Neji gave a mirthful smirk. "I knew she'd be more of a handful."

"We better get out of here," said Gaara as the steel structures shook.

"Right." Neji, Byakugan still activated, scanned the area to find the shortest way out. "This way."

-OoOoOoOo-

The Hyuuga carried Oreo all the way out. She wasn't heavy, but by the time they were out Neji felt like his arms were going to fall off. The battles and the Byakugan had fatigued him. They were all tired and sweaty, but thankful there were no more fire monsters. The smoke had begun to clear and Neji set Oreo down. He frowned down at the sleeping girl. Her vibrant red hair was faded by soot and ash. "Why isn't she waking?"

Ino knelt down next to her. "She was trapped longer. Leave this to me." The Yamanaka made a chakra hand sign then tapped Oreo between her eyes.

Nothing happened.

Neji leaned over her, scrutinizing for any movement. He hated to admit it, but he was getting exceedingly worri –

"ACK!" Oreo screamed. She shot up in one fluid movement, effectively smacking her forehead against Neji's and knocking him back on his butt. "You stupid CHICKEN!" she shouted to the dazed Hyuuga. "I should devour your soul and – " She stopped. "What happened?"

Neji mumbled under his breath.

"You were trapped in a genjutsu, a very powerful one," Ino informed her, trying not to laugh at the spectacle. "Don't worry, you're fine. We just need to get you out and then – "

"Where's Mae?"

"She's fine," Gaara told her tersely.

"Katy?"

The Suna shinobi glared.

"Everything is under control," Neji said strictly. "You need to go wait with Mae and Naruto."

"No," she shook her head, "wait, I… That guy! He did this!"

"He's dead." Gaara was getting impatient, Neji could feel it.

The Hyuuga knew Oreo would just continue to argue. So he nodded to Ino, who nodded back, to transport her to safety. Ino began the hand signs.

"Look at me," Neji demanded, snaring Oreo's attention. "That was a very reckless thing you did. You went in without planning. Did you think going in and swinging your fists was the right thing to do for you and your team? A leader cannot make such uninformed decisions. If you just stop to think, things like this wouldn't happen."

"Who do you think you are?" Dark emerald eyes narrowed at him. "My father? We were doing fine! I lead my team well enough! So we were having a little disagreement at first, no big deal. If Katy could just learn to cooperate like a normal person - !"

"Enough," Gaara snapped. "Get her out of here."

"What? No! Wait, wait… Okay, I was being a little unreasonable too, but… You know I'd die to protect my team!" She glanced at all of them, sincerity melting into her eyes.

Neji's stern look softened. He remembered how they were found, with Oreo sprawled out in front of Mae and Katy, as if trying to absorb the attack herself to spare them. "I know."

It was all he said, and it was all she needed, because she conceded and lowered her head before vanishing out of the nightmare world she had built for herself.

"We're running out of time," Gaara turned towards their next destination, "One more."

An icy wind blew in from the north.

A/N: Well, one more chapter to go.

Noel would like to ask, "If you were stuck in a world of your nightmares what might be there?"