He's here!
Is all I can think as I scramble to my feet. I look up and see Naruto launching toward Shinnou and I can't gather my voice in time to warn him. The sound of chirping fills the room and I see lighting hit Naruto's rasengan as soon as it leaves his hand. The impact changes the rasengan's direction and it is sent out of the ruins.
Naruto looks up to the new whole in the roof and makes the connection to what just happened. I quickly appear besides Naruto, unsure of what is about to happen. "Sasuke?" Naruto questions as he turns his head. There Sasuke sat casually up above, not even bothering to look at us. He jumps down only a few yards in front of us with his back turned to us. "What are you doing here?"
Sasuke ignores Naruto. "It seems after all this time, Orochimaru now wants your help."
"Oh is that the case?" Shinnou questions standing. "And if I refuse? I assume you would have to take me by force."
"If that's how you wish it to be than yes."
"Don't underestimate me kid. Do you really think I am all out of dark charka? You fool! This world is teeming with the darkness from people's hearts. And with my Body Activation Just-"
"Go ahead and try it" Sasuke cut him off. He was clam, and seemed to think he was completely in charge of the situation. Sasuke appears behind the doctor. "I won't stop you. Be my guest." Sasuke punches him in the back and the doctor is sent stumbling into the wall on the other side of the room. "What are you waiting for, show it to me."
Naruto jumps out from behind me. "Stop Sasuke! You don't get it, this guy gets stronger the more you beat him up!" Sasuke looks at Naruto for a moment before turning his attention to me. His face held no emotion, but his eyes, that same emotion I couldn't place all those weeks ago flashes over them for a brief moment before turning back to nothing. We lock eyes.
Even when the doctor starts his jutsu again we don't break the contact. Only Naruto and Amaru are watching the doctor. There was no need for me and Sasuke to look, I saw his little trick he played back there, right now, in this moment the doctor wasn't going to be a danger, but I couldn't say the same thing about Sasuke. It didn't sit well with me that I couldn't place whatever emotion Sasuke was expressing. I could see my seal still intact on his neck, but something about Sasuke was different from the last time we were face to face.
"Ahhhhhhh!" I can see the doctor fall on his knees from the corner of my eyes. His long black hair turned white began falling out, until he had nothing left on top of his head. He pawed at his chest as he struggled to take in the air.
"Doctor!" Amaru cries out but remains on her knees far away.
Sasuke breaks eye contact with me and begins walking toward Shinnou. "What's the matter? Can't heal yourself?"
"What...what have you done?"
Sasuke stops only a few feet in front of the doctor. "I took a good look at your charka and saw it's entire flow. Guess you didn't notice my Chidori Senbon."
"No, you mean you somehow interfered with my control of my chakra points? But when did you-"
"Don't worry I won't kill you. But I will be taking you back to face Orochimaru."
Shinnou rises and slowly touches the wall next to him, creating an opening in it. "I highly doubt Orochimaru wants me, he is probably looking for this scroll. I stole this scroll from the leaf you see." He tosses the scroll to Sasuke and he catches it. A leaver appears and Shinnou pulls it, creating an opening beneath him. He falls down the shaft. And it closes. "I'm not done yet! Nothing is finished!" We can hear his voice getting fainter and fainter as he makes his escape.
Sasuke tucks the scroll into this shirt and disappears. "Sasuke!" Naruto calls out to him but it's too late he is gone. Naruto walks over to Amaru and kneels in front of her. "Amaru, I am going to go after him and try and find him. It's like you said, there might be a way to save him. It's worth a shot right. You can always give up later if you want too." Naruto smiles and places a hand on her shoulder.
"But right now we need your help in order to save the villagers" her eyes lock with me but I don't see the determination in them. "You need to save the villagers, that way you would be following your master's teachings." She wipes her eyes and once the tears were gone I smiled. She was back with us. She was ready to fight. "I sense them near by, go and be careful." She nodded her head and gave Naruto a quick hug before running out of the room with her new found objective.
"Sakura are you okay to fight?" Naruto walked up next to me placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked down at my risk, it was still broken, and the marking were still spread all over my body but I knew Naruto couldn't do this alone, he was badly injured to.
"Let's go we don't have any time to waste." My eyes glow green and I quickly find Sasuke. We take off after him, making our way deeper into the floating weapon.
We follow Sasuke into a narrow corridor and Naruto quickly losses his patience. "Sasuke wait up! What are you doing here? How long have you been here? Talk to me Sasuke!"
Sasuke spots running when he is at the edge of the opening. Naruto and I finally catch up to him and for the first time in years, Team 7 stands side by side. I take another step closer and I hold my breath. At the bottom of the room was the Zero Tails. My stomach twisted in knots and the seal began to burn. The Zero Tails was chained up but it was struggling to break free. I was about to jump down there when I heard laughing.
"You followed me down here?! How stupid can you be?!"
"Who are you calling stupid?" Naruto shakes his fist at him.
"Sasuke don't!" I try and warn him but its took late, he creates his chidori but it breaks apart and slowly floats down to the bottom of the room where the Zero Tails absorbs it.
"Look at that. You can't you that Chidori of yours can you?" Shinnou laughs looking up at us.
"This isn't good. Any chakra we try to use against him will only be absorbed and make him more powerful. We need to be careful." I warn as eyes bounce all around the room.
"Smart aren't you. This place absorbs the chakra collected by the Zero-Tails and converts it into power! Now that your morons are here any charka you release will be absorbed as power for Ancor Vantain! Which means the three of you can't do a thing! Hahaha-"
"Will you shut up already? I don't need charka!"
"Naruto wait!" I try and grab his hand by his is out of my reach and jumps down on the ground floor.
"I'm going to take you down, and I am going to do it with my two bare hands! You better believe it!" Sasuke and I look at one another before both nodding and jumping down on either side of Naruto.
"If it absorbs all the charka around it, then we are all at the same disadvantage." A smirk grows on Sasuke's face as he becomes comfortable with our new situation.
"It can't be that simple." I warn staring at the Zero Tails behind Shinnou. "The Zero Tails is unpredictable, neither one of you let your guard downs, even for a moment."
"You two are bit naïve. You should listen to the girl. You do seriously think I led you all the way to the center of the core of Ancor Vantian just to have your chakras sealed? Behold!"
Black chakra begins to form again around him, while the Zero Tails begins to glow. "No!" I shout running forward, "We can't let them bond!" Glowing arms sprout from the Zero Tails and before I can make contact with Shinnou someone is pulling my backwards by my arm and jumping backwards. I whip around really to yell at Naruto but my voice catches in my throat when my eyes meet red instead of blue. I struggle as Sasuke encircles his arms around me holding me in my place, as Shinnou lifts into the air and slowly gets engulfed by the Zero Tails.
The four man squad standing on the beach stood with their mouths wide open. A few moments ago there had been decaying ships in the bay, but once the smoke cleared there was nothing left floating. A bright yellow beam of light had sky rocketed into the water from over the West Mountains. Kakashi lifted up his headband but his sharingan could see nothing.
"What just happened?" Shikamaru blurted out. His logical mind was in over drive trying to figure out what had just happened, but no scenario he came up with made any sense.
"I can't detect the source of the attack." Kakashi turned from the mountains to the bay, this wasn't a good sign. They all had though they had just won the battle, but it seems the war was just getting started.
"This doesn't make any sense. I am sure this attack was from the same enemy, so why would they attack their own people?" Sai's hand was on his scroll, his guard up. "If they had this kind of power why didn't they use it when they attacked the Leaf?"
"To attack their own people, means they are tying up loose ends." Shikamaru shock his head, to be so heartless with their own people, he could only imagine what they could or would do to their enemies.
"They didn't use this power before, they must have just obtained it. Why else wouldn't they have used it to begin with? Had they, the whole village would have been whipped out in a matter of minutes." Kakashi had a pit developing in his stomach. An enemy with this type of power could only mean death.
"Kakashi!" All the men turned around and noticed a certain green spandex jounin standing on top of the cliff they had been previously hiding. Guy leaps down onto the beach and pulls a letter from his inner vest pocket. "You need to read this."
Kakashi quickly took the letter out of his friend's hand, and his eyes danced across the paper. When he was done reading he balled his fists around the paper. He looked up and the three younger shinobi waited for an explanation. Kakashi took a breath and clamed himself. He had never let emotions get the better of his but it seemed the last three months had become an expectation. Now it seemed anything involving her quickly let his emotions get in the way of his thinking. "It seems Naruto, Hinata and Sakura have run into some trouble. Lady Tsunade is sending reinforcements our way but until then we need to get ready."
"Get ready for what?" Shikamaru asked taking the letter from Kakashi.
"We are about to encounter that weapon." The three shinobi only nodded in response and began checking their weapons. Now was their time. They had to hold the line in order to protect Konoha and failure was not any option for any of the men standing on the beach.
The whole building shock and I nearly lost my footing when I felt the huge release of charka from the building. Whatever just happened it couldn't be good. I grab a kunai out of my holster and held it up ready to use it if need be. Sakura flipped when Shinnou and that beast combined. I could see from the corner of my eye that Sasuke was still standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her, almost protectively.
He had responded so quickly to her. He had grabbed her and jumped out of danger before I could even take my first step planning on doing the same thing. Sakura was fighting trying to wiggle out of his grasp but he didn't let up. I jump backwards and land beside them, my eyes still locked on the beast.
The walls around us stop glowing and the beast begins to bounce up and down. "You see?! That is the power of the Land of Sky! After I destroy the Five Great Nations, I'll reign over a great Sky Empire!"
Sasuke let go of Sakura and placed a hand on his kusanagi. Sakura pulls up her sleeve and quickly gathers charka in her pointer finger and lightly taps the inside of her wrist and a seal appears. I blink and Sakura's sleeve is already pulled back down and she held a sword in her hands. Her eyes changed from green to pink and I only see the black markings on her skin glow and slowly spread over more of her skin. What the hell is happening to her? I shook my head, now was not the time to be distracted. I need to focus on the issue at hand, I can always talk to Sakura later. "You've got to be joking! You think we would really allow that.
The three of use sprint toward the Zero Tails. "You fools!" Arms from out of nowhere, just like before, and are sent toward us. Sasuke was quick to jump over them and continued on toward the source. Sakura moved closer to me swinging her sword in all different directions at incurable speeds. I had no idea Sakura even knew how to use a sword, let alone seemed to be a master at it. But it seems after seeing her in action the last couple of days, I had no idea what kind of person she had become while we were all gone.
I plunged my kunai into several hands effectively snapping me out of my thoughts. I discharge my kunai and grab one of the hands with my own and push back. I see Sasuke all of a sudden get grabbed by several arms around the waist and get lifted into the air "Sasuke!" I yell but before I can react I am grabbed as well. The ground slips out from under me and I am pinned in the air on the opposite side of Sasuke.
Sakura was fighting her way through trying to get to the Zero Tails, but every hand she chopped down seemed to be replaced with three more. I look at Sasuke and he is staring at Sakura. I go to call out to him when he is pulled away toward the Zero Tails.
Sasuke is brought within inches of the beasts face. "I think I'll kill you first Sasuke Hahaha!" The beast began laughing but Sasuke didn't try to struggle, in fact he seemed calm.
The anger built inside my chest as I fought against the hand imprisoning me. "Let Sasuke go damn it! Let him go! Let Sasuke g-" I cut myself off as I feel the hand holding me lose its grasp. I began freefalling but quickly regained control and landed smoothly on the ground. I look up and see Sasuke on the ground as well. A little above where Sasuke was just held was a sword embedded in the wall.
"Sakura" I hear Sasuke call out to her. She stood in the middle of the room breathing heavily. How did she? When did she?
"Get ready for his second attack." I called out and I could see the Zero Tails switch focus off of me and Sasuke and turn it all to her.
Amaru ran down the hallway trying to locate her people. She was close, she could feel it. She just had to keep going. Her heart raced and her head still ached from where the doctor had held her by the hair, but now of that matter now. Naruto and Sakura were counting on her and she couldn't disappoint her, not after everything they had done for her.
At the end of the hallway she turned onto was a set of staircases leading downstairs. Butterflies developed in her stomach as she pushed harder, running quickly down the stairs. "It has to be where they are, it just has to be!"
A buzzing sound could be heard and Amaru was quick to locate the cage everyone was being kept in. All the villagers inside were sitting down, their heads hung low. A purple low radiated off of them, their charka being stripped from them and absorbed into the prison. But while they were hurt, and charka almost gone, they were alive. Hope began to grow within her heart, it wasn't too late.
"Hey everyone snap out of it! I am here to get you out!" She shouted but no one responded and a new feeling began developing in her heart. "Don't worry I am going to save you!" In an act of desperation she grabbed the prison bars. As soon as her skin had contact it glowed and shocked her, trying to strop away her charka. "Ahhh!" Amaru was quick to let go of the bars and took a couple of steps back, raising her hands in front of her face to inspect the damage.
"Don't touch it" a little whisper called out. Amaru was dropped her hands and moved closer to the cell. In the back was Hinata, she looked sick and tired, but still she called out to her. "This cell is designed to absorb all of your charka."
"Hinata!" Amaru cried out to her, unable to get to her new friend.
"Time is running out. Amaru at this rate the villagers will die. You have to undo that lock." Hinata's voice was low and she struggled to get the words out.
Amaru looked around trying to find the source that powered the cell. Directly above her was some type of light bulb. She wasn't sure if it would work but she was running out of time and could think of no other idea. She quickly jumped and grabbed onto the metal plating along the ceiling, draggling from it, she unscrewed the light bulb and let it drop to the floor shattering. She grabbed her most prized position and lifted it up toward the socket. "Doctor I promise I will do my best." She gave the scalpel one last work before shoving it where the light bulb used to be.
Lighting escaped through the opening and ran down her arm. She screamed out in pain but held her position. This had to work, it just had to! All the lights began breaking around her until the hallway was completely dark. No one could see anything but they all heard a heavy weight hit the ground and the sound of their jail cell being opened.
Sakura bounced all around trying to avoid the sure to be deadly blows. Freeing the boys had cost her, now without her father's sword she struggled to stand on her own. She reached for the kunai that was strapped to her leg and quick pulled it out. Four, I only have four left. Damnit! Sakura was down to her last few weapons and being unable to use her charka meant she had to come up with some kind of game plan.
"Sakura!" Naruto shouted her name as he fought to get closer to her.
"Foolish child, when are you going to learn when to stay down?!" The Zero Tails hadn't forgotten about the two males, but his plan to kill Sasuke first had changed. This girl, she was trouble and had to be taken out first if he was to ensure success. The walls began glowing again and more hands sprout from his form.
Sakura wanted to call out to Naruto and tell him to forget about her and aim directly for the tailed beast but she couldn't focus enough to do so. She had never let the seal get this out of hand and she was losing control of herself. She was on autopilot. She didn't even have control over her own words and her mouth remained shut no matter how hard she fought to open it.
"Watch out!" Sasuke warned, he too was fighting to get closer to the pink haired kunoichi.
Sakura looked down just in time to see a hand push from the ground. She cursed herself for being too careless to have not noticed the sneaky trick. The Zero Tails or Shinnou, she wasn't quite sure who was in control at the moment, sent hands underneath the ground to get to her. Sakura pushed up off the ground trying to make her escape but they had expected that. A hand sprung from her left and she tried to backflip away but it grabbed her left leg.
Her body twisted in the air as the arm pulled her through the air. She tried to embrace for impact but it happened too quickly. She was flung into the wall face first, hard. "Sakura!" Naruto began screaming desperately fighting to get to his friend. "You bastard let her go!" The Zero Tails didn't respond as he pulled her from the wall and sent her into he ground below.
Sasuke stopped fighting, this isn't good. She can't keeping taking those hits. He looked over to Naruto but Naruto wouldn't make eye contact. His eyes were glued on her. Sasuke held his breath as Sakura's limb body was picked up from the ground and launched to the other side of the room. Both boys stopped fighting the arms and quickly rushed toward her direction, hoping to brace her impact or at the very least catch her before she hit the ground again.
Sasuke was faster than Naruto but before he could appear in front of her another hand had managed to grab him from behind. Sakura hit the fall and her body fell lifelessly to the ground. "SAKURA!" Naruto screamed for her, sending charka into his feet trying to increase his chances of getting to her in time before the next attack. But as quickly as the charka had formed underneath the soles of his feet it was stripped away and absorbed. The loss of charka made Naruto lose his footing and he was scooped up by an arm as well. "Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Naruto repeated as he slammed his fists into the hand holding him.
While Naruto fought to free himself, Sasuke watched as another hand picked up Sakura by the waist. She didn't appear to be conscious and her upper body leaned forward over the hand, having now power to found itself upright. The tailed beast said nothing as it threw team 7 up into the air. As they about to hit the ceiling their direction was suddenly changed and they were sent crashing into one another.
"Hahaha" its evil laughter filled the large room. "What's the matter? Can't fight back without your chakra? You damn brats." It pulled them all together in a row in front of their faces. Sasuke looked at Sakura and could see blood running down her check, but couldn't see where she had been cut. He spared a quick glance at Naruto and saw his face was starting to turn an ugly shade of purple and blue. They were screwed unless they could come up with a plan. Naruto looked at Sasuke and he seemed to understand what Sasuke was thinking.
"That's funny coming from you." Naruto spat. "You couldn't even handle us brats without turning into a monster first! You really think you're tough huh? Then prove it!"
"Why you little fox...You're asking for it!" The Zero tails shot forwarded clearly pissed by Naruto's words. Too many arms to count were sent directly toward Naruto and they crashed him so hard that it knocked him back several yards into the wall behind him. Smoke filled the air, but the arms didn't drop from around Naruto. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. Through it had been years since they both fought together, they understood each other's moments without words. They were synced.
"Wake up." A voiced called out to me in the darkness. I shook my head, I was tired and all I wanted was to rest. I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and cry. Every part of me screamed out in pain. Any moment sent new waves of pain. I wanted to throw up but decided that would be too much effort. "Wake up Sakura." The voice was louder now but I didn't understand where it was coming from. A pounding sensation started in my head and I growled as I touched the side of it, only to discover it was wet.
Wet? That doesn't make any sense. Everything around me felt fuzzy and I felt I was in-between worlds. Not all the way asleep, but not all the way awake either. "Turn your face toward the sun." I instantly snap my head in the direction the voice was coming from. I ignored the stringing hesitation as I tried to get my bearings. "Let the shadows fall behind you." His voice finally registered with me and I knew I was in trouble. "Tell a prayer, just carry on" he breathed and I felt he was close by this time.
"And the shadows will never find you" I whisper feeling my charka returning. That little voice that was inside everyone's head always took on different tones and voices depending on who you were. But my little voice inside my fucked up head, what was left of my conscious was him. It always has and always will be him. He was my center, my core. He composed every part of me in one way or another.
Come on focus. Gather your charka and open your eyes. Sasuke and Naruto need you! Konoha needs you! Are you just going to lie around and do nothing as everything you've ever loved and fight to protect disappears in a blink of an eye!
My eyes flutter open and I am pleasantly surprised to see they are still activated. My body was hunched forward and the pressure around my waist told me I was being held by one of those stupid hands. Very slowly I raise my head. Smoke was clearing from the room and I could see Naruto had been slammed into the wall. I bit my lip, if I hadn't allowed myself to be captured I could have protected him.
"This is painful to watch." Sasuke calmly spoke from my right side. I turned to look at him and my body screamed out in pain. I could tell the curse mark had retracted because the pain wasn't being blocked. But that was a good thing right? That means I am in control again. Sasuke quickly glances at me and for a moment I could have sworn he smirked, but then again I could be seeing things. The ringing in my head told me I had a concussion. "To think someone who doesn't even know the limits to his own power can be the Sky Emperor. I mean it's beyond pitiful, it's pathetic!"
Sasuke tapped into his cruse mark, and the strange marking quickly spread across his skin. He gave a devilish smile and he drawled the power all around him. A purple glow quickly covered him. The Zero Tails shot him higher into the air and I saw Sasuke's charka beginning absorb through the arm, making its way back to the source. As the Zero Tails took in the chakra it stood straighter, slightly opening its mouth, allowing a weird noise to escape it.
"What are you trying to do?" Shinnou's voice asked. "Are you trying to speed up your death?"
"So that's it!" I turned quickly realizing Naruto had been brought out of the wall, and hung only a couple of yards from me. "I read you loud and clear Sasuke. You know, if you really want our charka so badly come on then I'll give you all you want!" Naruto screamed and I smiled as the determination flashed across his face. I had to admit between Sasuke's plan and Naruto's determination, how could I not join in and help.
I felt the nine tail's charka come to the surface and engulf Naruto. The nine tail's charka was so strong, orange chakra winds began picking up, and exploding everywhere. I felt my new found determination exploding inside my chest and in seconds Naruto's orange chakra was floating next to my pink charka winds. Between the orange, pink and purple the room light up from the glow.
All three of us stared at the Zero Tails in front of us, as we allowed our charka to free escape from within us. The beast screamed out in pain as it tried to regulate the intake, but struggled to do so. Its mouth opened and a pinkish orange streamed of charka gushed out.
"Impossible!" We heard Shinnou shout over the beast's screams. "More chakra than even the Zero Tails can absorb?"
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto quickly waved the hand signs and fifteen Narutos appeared. I could sense Sasuke deactivate his release of charka. "Come on! Give it everything you got and then some! More, more, more!" His increasing numbers became to much to handle and the hand holding him fell apart. The corner of my lips tugged up slightly. Leave it to this knucklehead to figure it out.
"How dare you!" Shinnou shouted as hands shot toward Naruto, trying to stop whatever it was he was planning to do. The clones made their way toward it, and it fought to strike them all down. "Die! Die! Die!" Several of his clones were taken out but they had severed their purpose. Shinnou and become distracted and hadn't noticed the two Narutos forming a rasengan above him, before it was too late.
All the charka that had been floating in the room gathered around Naruto's hand. My charka mixed with his and I could see the power behind his next attack. I bit my thumb and began to weave my own signs, putting up protective shields around Naruto, Sasuke and myself to protect from the backlash.
"Tornado Rasengan!" Just before Naruto landed his attack, the Zero Tails created a shield in front of it and laced it with dark chakra at a last ditch effort to protect itself. The Zero Tail lost its focus and all the arms disappeared.
Sakura and I start to fall and I am quick to catch her. Her breathes came in short pants and she hadn't spoken since the doctor combined with the Zero Tails. Something was wrong with her. I could feel the extra charka she was sending to her left leg and right wrist. We landed on the ground and I heard her take in a sharp breath as she stood upright. I released my hands from her and the bubbles that were around us popped.
I activated my sharingan and look at the contact point Naruto was hitting. "I see. So that's how it works." I change into my demon form and fly toward Naruto my katana in my hand.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Naruto was still wrapped in Sakura's protective bubble as he gave everything he had into that jutsu.
"It's over!" My chidori light up and flowed through my katana as I slide down the shield. The shield spilt down the middle and fell to the ground, leaving the beast wide open to the attack.
"C'mon!" Naruto made a direct hit and the Zero Tails is sent flying backwards. The strings that were holding the Zero Tails in place break and dissolve away. I deactivate the cruse mark and return to normal. Naruto jumps down and his protective bubble pops. I turn and look at Sakura. Her eyes were looking around and her body was tense. "What the hell?" I turn back to Naruto to see all his minor wounds are somehow gone. The bruising and swelling were healed and he seemed to have regained the power he had already lost.
Sakura and I look eyes and she just stares at me for a moment. I blink and she is standing in-between Naruto and I, her hand placed on his back sending healing chakra into him. "You two okay?" She spoke, her voice steady, showing no indication she was injured. I eyed her knowing better. But why should I care? We aren't teammates anymore? I am only working with them to complete my goal, to complete the mission. But if that was true, why did I brace her fall? Why did I prevent her from running to the Zero Tails?
"I didn't think it would come to this." The smoked cleared and the Zero Tails was embedded in the wall, his head down. Sakura stepped protectively in front of Naruto, her hands changing glows from green to pink. "But I…refuse to die!" Shinnou slowly rose from the head of the tailed beast, his body still old and weak.
"What?" Naruto's angry was present in his voice and I widened my stance slightly.
"So you destroyed the slate that controls the Zero-Tails" his upper body climbed out but his lower body had changed into a worm like created, still attached to the beast. His torso moved in front of me, our eyes looking. "Indeed, you are the lone survivor of the once all mighty Uchiha clan." He moved from me to Naruto but Sakura stood in his way, stopping him from getting any closer to the loser.
"You loudmouth, the Nine-Tail's Jinchuriki brat. Hahaha" he stopped looking at Naruto and now direct his attention toward Sakura. Her hands glowed brighter in a warning but it didn't stop him from slowly lifting his hand and placing it on her shoulder. "And worst of all you girl. Had I known of your special abilities earlier you would have been my target all along. Who knew that all this time the Village Hidden in the Leafs had three aces up their sleeves? But that doesn't matter now does it. Not even you can stop this."
"What are you talking about your crazy old bastard?!" Naruto was shaking, he was allowing his emotions to cloud his judgment. The old man dropped his hand and backed up a few inches.
His face twisted in a wicked smile "now that you three kiddies have released the Zero Tails from my control I have no idea what will happen next. HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
Shinnou disappears and all I can register is the fact hands and sprouting out from everywhere and making their away all over the room. I am slow to register this through and don't notice the arm coming toward me until I am shoved to my right. I stumble a little but quickly regain my balance and notice Sakura was in my place, the hand cut down to the ground. She smirked at me and we began to jump and twist, avoiding the damn hands as we made our way to an exit. Sasuke is back in demon form and flying back up to the balcony we had jumped from.
"Wait, Sasuke! Where are you going?" I call out but he doesn't answer. All of a sudden his course changes and instead of flying to the balcony he makes his way toward Sakura's sword.
"Hey Haruno!" He grips the sword pulling it out of the wall. "Now we're even." He sends throws the sword at her and she catches it with ease.
"Thank you." She smiles as she grips the sword in hand and with a twist of her wrist it disappears, probably back into her seal. Sasuke glances at her once more before landing on the balcony and disappearing from sight. I stood still staring at the place Sasuke was moments ago. No! We had him! He was so close, we couldn't let his go, not when he is right here!
"Well what are you waiting for knucklehead? Let's go after our boy." Sakura smirk and I could feel my power surging with her words.
"Right! You better believe it!"
"Rasengan!" Naruto hit the wall blasting a decent size whole in it. Naruto was still hurt and by now he had to be running low on chakra, but none of that matter to him. We now had two goals. One to stop this floating weapon and two to bring home our friend. The last time I saw Itachi I promised I would do everything in my power to bring him back where he belonged and I'd be damned if I went back on that promise.
"Sasuke! Hold Up!" Naruto shouts and we could see the raven headed boy up ahead but he hadn't let up his speed. He was the least injured among the three of us, and more of his chakra reserves left than we did. But something in the back of my mind yelled to keep going, keep pushing. Ignore the pain and focus on your objectives.
"Naruto we need to be careful! The Zero tails is quickly spreading throughout the fortes. I can sense the others nearby but we are running out of time!" Naruto nodded showing he heard me, and I hoped Sasuke had as well. The Zero Tails was destroying everything and everyone in their path and they needed to be careful, this fight wasn't over, not yet.
"Sakura!"
"I know!" We saw an opening to the outside and sprinted forward. The fortess was begging to shake and I can feel expolsions going off in different directions. "Naruto we have minutes before this thing comes crashing down."
"Ahhh!" Her voice catches our attention and we snap our heads to her direction. Amaru was running toward something but an explosion went off above her head, sending concert falling toward her. I form a shield around her and the rumble falls in front of her pervious path. Hinata and the missing villagers are all sitting in one of the flying machines that attacked the village.
"Naruto get Amaru on that ship!" I order looking at the lever she was trying to reach.
"Right!" I released the bubble and Naruto was quick to her side scooping her up in his arms, he made his way to the flying vessel. Once he is on board I place a hand on the lever. Naruto drops the girl off and goes to exist the boat.
"Don't Naruto." I take a deep breath and tap into the curse mark and slowly allowed it to take control again. "There is still some things I need to do. I need you to go with the villagers and protect them."
"Sakura I am not leaving you! We are a team! If you're staying than I'm staying too!" Naruto leaped out of the boat before I could trap him in a genjutsu but he didn't make it far. Sasuke appears out of nowhere behind Naruto. Sasuke grabs him by the collar of his jacket and flips him over his shoulder, sending him crashing into the boat where Hinata and the villagers catch him.
"Enough talk, go." Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Naruto and before Naruto could react to what happened I pulled the lever.
The ship begins to slide down the ramp. "Sakura!" Naruto screams but my attention isn't on him. Before the ship can completely launch from the ramp arms shoot out trying to catch it. In a flash Sasuke cuts down the dangerous obstacle, his katana glowing bright from his chidori. Sasuke lands at the bottom of the ramp watching the ship sail through the skies.
"Thank you Sasuke." I whisper as I send a chakra infused punch at the top of the ramp. It breaks away and Sasuke turns to stare at me as he falls away…away from me and the danger I was about to unleash. "I owe you one Sasuke-kun" I mouth, he was too far away to hear my voice now but those bright red eyes of his allowed him to understand. He jumps from the rumble and changes back into his demon form and disappears in the clouds.
I look down and could see the ship was flying without issue. They were safe. I allowed my back to lean against the building, but I refused to sit down. Once I did it all would be over, I wouldn't have the strength to pull myself back up. The secrets that should have remained buried where still on this fortress. If they were to fall into the wrong hands this whole situation would happen again, and maybe next time we wouldn't win. Maybe if I hurried I could still follow Sasuke's trail.
I push off the wall, it was time to finish this fight. I made my way as far as I could into the fortress. Everything had to burn. Nothing could remain, any scrapes would be used to piece the evil back together. This power was too great for man.
I began humming his lullaby, finding great confront in it as I weaved hand signs. Lost my faith and trust. The fireball jutsu spread across the front of the building and made its way to the different levels. You and I know gold don't turn to rust.I bite down on my thumb and several clones appeared. I still swear that we can reign.They spread out and look for any scrolls that were under a protective jutsu that wouldn't allow the fire to burn. Like the kings and queens of better yesterdays. In a matter of minutes the whole fortress had been search and anything protected was destroyed. Don't you know I've been burned? Now it was time to bring the fortress down. I've been burned I've been burned. The charka burned as it spread from my neck into the rest of my body. You've seen me lose control. All the clones began hitting the structural support system and another round of explosions were set off. It's not worth it's not worth it's not worth. After five minutes the damage had been down, and I slide down the doorframe panting. My soul. It's finally over.
Kakashi stood on the beach, his hands balled into fists at his side. He hated this feeling, he hated feeling helpless, useless. When he had saw Sasuke disappear into the clouds he knew something had gone terribly gone. Why was he here? Sakura's letter surely hadn't mentioned that, if it had Tsunade would have relied that in her letter. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, now was not the time to get worked up, he needed to have a level head.
"Don't worry Kakashi." Guy placed a hand on his rival's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I am sure they are both fine." Kakashi didn't responded, he stayed still like a status, his eyes bouncing from the flying fortress in the sky, to the boat that was slowly making its way to the beach.
"I sense no enemy charka on the incoming ship. Naruto and Hinata are on board, it's most likely the missing villagers Sakura was talking about." Neji stood next to his sensei, his eyes watching the sky very carefully.
"Sakura isn't with them?" Guy asked, his hand still on Kakashi.
"No, I can't sense her."
'Damnit!' Kakashi mentally cursed. If she wasn't on the boat than she was still on the fortress. Kakashi turned his head slightly and took in the reinforcements on the beach and mountain. Yamato, Kiba, TennTenn and Choji stood the on the cliff. Asuma, Shikamaru, Ino, Guy, Rock Lee, Shino, Sai, Neji and several other jounin stood the beach. 'This isn't good, we only have one medic and I doubt Ino will be able to handle an injured group like Sakura.'
The boat hits the beach and both Kakashi and Shino are quick to its side. Naruto stood in the middle of the boat, his back turned toward Kakashi, his head tilted up to the sky. The other jounin on the beach started helping the villagers out and luckily none of them were badly injured, they were just suffering from signs of exhaustion, but they would be alight.
"Amaru go with your people, they are going to need you for the time being okay." Amaru complied with his order and climb offed the boat to rejoin her people. Once Shino helped Hinata climb out of the boat Naruto very reluctantly turned his attention away from the fortress and slowly climbed out of the boat.
"Are you alright Naruto?" Kakashi was at his side, placing Naruto's arm around his neck, helping him support his weight. Naruto was injured, and while Kakashi knew it wasn't threating he knew Naruto had to be in pain.
"I'm sorry" Naruto whispered as he hung his head.
"There is nothing to apologize for." Kakashi tried to reinsure. Kakashi knew Naruto would never leave her willingly, something must have happened. Kakashi lead Naruto back to where he was previously standing and slowly lowered Naruto onto ground into a sitting position. "Ino."
"On it." Ino knelt besides Naruto and began examining his wounds. She smiled after she was done examining his whole body. "Don't worry Naruto, you should be fine. Right now you are just suffering from a lack of charka. Sakura seems to have already healed the major wounds."
"How did you know-"
"I can still feel her chakra inside of you." Ino smiled before turning to Asuma, her smile gone. "But where is she? She wasn't on the boat."
"She is still up there." Naruto whispered. Another rounded of explosions went off and everyone snapped their heads up. One of their own was still in dangers way and none of them could do a damn thing about it. The fortress was begging to be lose altitude and fast.
"What are we going to do? We need to get her out before it comes crashing down with her inside of it." Sai was now taking a knee pulling out his art supplies.
Kakashi balled his fists, he had to think with his head not his heart. "Naruto was she hurt?"
"Yes, but I have no way of telling you how bad. She took several powerful hits protecting me and Sasuke." Naruto struggled to his feet.
Kakashi turned to Sai and nodded. Sai quickly began scribbling onto his scrolls but stopped when the sky light up a bright white. Everyone on the beach was blinded by the brightness and Shikamaru, Sai, Kakashi and Shino feared it was same attack as earlier. A gust of wind hit the beach and a very loud explosion went off. The bright light disappeared and the fortress that had been in the sky just a moment ago was gone. All that was left were several large pieces falling toward the water.
"SAKURA!" Naruto screamed out as the panic quickly took over him. He couldn't see her.
Neji and Kakashi were franticly searching the skies trying to find her. There was so much debri in the air that Kakashi almost missed the flash of pink. "There she is!" Kakashi quickly pointed to the pink blur as it continued to fall with the debri and then turned to Sai. "I can't tell if she is conscious or not. Sai get your bird ready."
"No!" Neji called out and everyone's hearts stop….
I tighten my arms around Sakura as I flew through the debri. Blood ran down her face from her eyes and I could tell she was almost out of charka. What had happened inside the fortress? What had happened to Sakura? I stop flying, hovering above where the fortress was just moments before. I couldn't help but stare at her. Black marking still covered her skin, and how they are appeared and disappeared during the fight had given away what was the cause. She had a curse mark, just like me. Was this why Orochimaru wanted her? Did he place a cruse mark on her? Or had someone else marked her?
She began stirring in my arms and I almost smiled when those beautiful eyes opened and locked with mine. "Sasuke?" She questioned as she took in her surroundings, quickly releasing we were still in the air. "You caught me?"
"I wasn't going to let you fall Haruno." She smiled at my remark but then shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Who marked you?"
"Does it matter?" She opened her eyes again and very slowly the marking began to fade away.
"It does to me."
"It wasn't Orochimaru. But I guess it's probably one of the reasons why he wants me so badly."
"Is it the same person who beat you weeks ago?" Her eyes widen slightly, and she just shakes her head.
"It doesn't matter. What is your plan now Sasuke? I'm almost out of charka. I can't fight you."
"I know and I am going to give you to the loser. But first I want you to answer some questions." She nodded. "What did you mean I was living a lie?"
She stared at me for a long moment before responding. "Sasuke there are many things that you have been lied to about. Your clan…their deaths were not as simple as it may seem. There are many things about Itachi that you do not understand." My anger boils at the sound of his name on her lips and I tighten my arms around her without even realizing it. A soft whimper escapes her lips and my grip loosens. "Come home Sasuke, I can show you everything. I can explain everything."
"Sakura you are not going to be able to trick me to home come that easily."
"Why are all you Uchihas so stubborn?" She laughs and shakes her head softly.
"How would you know all of this? You aren't an Uchiha."
Her smile fades and sadness washes over her. "No, no I am not. But that doesn't mean I didn't care about your clan Sasuke. You seem to forget that I spent a lot of my childhood with members from your clan. Just because we didn't share the same blood, doesn't mean I didn't consider them my family."
"You're lying." I tried to recall seeing her at any point within the Uchiha compound, but nothing came to mind. "I won't have you telling lies and talking about my clan like you were a part of it."
"Sasuke I would never lie you to about something like this. Have I ever lied to you before?" She hadn't, but it still didn't make sense. "I will never lie to you. You need at least one person in your life that will always tell you the truth."
"What density were you talking about?" I cut her off. I didn't want to hear it anymore, she had to be lying. Itachi killed our clan in order to become stronger. He was a monster, a murder and I was going to kill him.
"You're not a criminal Sasuke. This isn't who you are."
"You don't know who or what I am." I spat. Why was I allowing this? Why hadn't I just let her fall? Why was I not taking her back to Orochimaru?
She stared at me for a moment before smiling. Very slowly she raised her right hand and reached for my face. Her face twist in pain at the movement but it didn't stop her. Her eyes glows green as she taps my forehead…