Sangreal Chapter 10: Ten, a naruto fanfic

I'll save my comments for the end of the story since I know a lot of you have been waiting for this story.

Regular

Thoughts

"Talking"

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Naruto is not mine, unfortunately.

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Enjoy

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Sasuke ran to Tsunade's brick building, ignoring the ache in his side and girls staring after him with longing gazes. When he'd received the phone call, it'd only taken one sentence for him to come running.

He didn't know why he was reacting like this, hell, he didn't understand any of his feelings anymore. Ever since Sakura had arrived, things had changed. Emotions he'd buried were being dug up, dreams he'd never had before were appearing every night, and that throbbing in his chest—right where his heart was, which he sometimes wondered if he still had one—thrummed every time he was around her.

It felt like hours before he finally made it to that glorious and ominous brick building. Sasuke knew that when he walked out later, things would be different. Tsunade rarely called him unless she needed something, and she never called with fear in her voice. That subtle shaking of her tone had made him stop what he'd been doing and head straight for the building.

Taking two steps at a time, three when he had a chance, Sasuke opened Tsunade's office door without knocking. He never did knock, why would he start now?

"Sasuke—"

"What's going on?" he cut Tsunade off, taking a deep breath and trying to smooth out his face. He knew the emotions flashing across his face were new, the worried furrowing of his eyebrows, the unhappy frown, the fearful glint in his eyes.

Even though he didn't like the display of emotions, he was more focused on the way Hinata was leaning heavily against the back of the couch. Sakura sat next to her and was rubbing her hands together in anxiety, her eyes staring unseeingly at the floor.

"Hinata had a vision," Itachi informed him, turning from his spot in front of the window.

Sasuke felt the urge to punch Itachi, not liking how he was involving himself. But there were other things that needed to be dealt with first. Maybe later he'd get a chance to punch Itachi.

"What did she see?" Sasuke saw Sakura look at him out of the corner of his eye. He wondered if she knew about Hinata's ability or not, if Tsunade had had the guts to tell her about Naruto and Hinata. If she didn't know, he figured that she did now.

"I saw Sakura dying," Hinata breathed out, her words barely audible over the sudden rushing of Sasuke's ears. He felt his blood burning in his veins, making him want to pull out his lighter and use his fire. After that, he wasn't sure what he'd use his fire on, but he figured his first target could be his brother.

"And because of this vision," Tsunade said, rubbing her forehead wearily and sighing sadly. "You'll have to go to the other dimension."

"Why?" Sakura asked, standing up and crossing her arms. "Hinata said she saw me die in the meadow, the meadow in the other dimension. Going there will get me killed."

"Hinata's visions change, but this one hasn't," Tsunade explained, crossing her arms and mirroring Sakura. She gave Sakura a no-nonsense look. "You have to go to the other dimension to stop it. Besides, you were going to have to cross over anyways. There have been uprising from Orochimaru's group, rumors that he's trying to get out of Hell. Only you can stop him—"

"I don't know how! You haven't told me shit and you expect me to cross to the other dimension and stop some guy that has been planning revenge for centuries?" Sakura argued angrily.

A sudden cold feeling started to form in the room, making the hair on Sasuke's arms stand on end. Sakura didn't notice as she let out an ire filled breath, a white cloud forming from her breath.

Tsunade stared at Sakura and something snapped in her eyes, the fear leaving and determination taking its place. Standing, she went around the desk and stood in front of Sakura. Placing her hands on Sakura's shoulders, she said, "You have to fight. Everything you know is in here," Tsunade paused to tap lightly at Sakura's temple. "You won't be alone when you do this."

Sakura's face crumpled as her eyes fluttered closed. She took in a shaky breath before opening her eyes and looking at her Aunt, nodding slowly as dread slowly crawled up her spine .

The door burst open, slamming against the wall with enough force to leave a dent and making everyone turn. Naruto walked in, an excited grin on his face as he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder and asked, "So, when do we leave?"

"You all will be leaving soon," Tsunade stated as she swept past Naruto without another word, Itachi close behind her. Her shoes could be heard as she moved down the hall in a hurried gait.

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Deka.

10.

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My lungs felt like they were being crushed. I couldn't breathe or move.

"I can't breathe," I informed my Aunt Tsunade, inhaling gratefully when she finally let me go and opted instead to look me in the eyes worriedly. At that moment, she reminded me of my mom more than she ever had. It'd been so long since I'd seen anyone in such a fret over my wellbeing.

"I'll be fine," I tried to reassure her, swallowing heavily at the obvious lie. I couldn't promise her something like that, not when my future was an impending doom.

"You better be." Auntie's shoulders drooped for a moment before they straightened. Her attempt at remaining strong gave me little confidence. "You're the daughter I never had, even if it was for a short time."

"I'll be fine," I repeated, turning and shouldering my pack.

"Is everyone ready?" I tugged at the hem of my long sleeved shirt nervously, smoothing my cotton pants while shifting from foot to foot, my training shoes squeaking lightly. Tsunade had given the clothes to me, warning me of the cold nights and long trek ahead.

I wished she had warmed me about the more important matters rather than the weather. I didn't have a chance to voice my concern as Tsunade passed me and walked straight for the door.

We headed out of her office and instead of going down the stairs Tsunade led us through her apartment. She approached the door I had never entered, one that had been locked every time I had jiggled the knob.

Pulling out a key on a chain around her neck, Tsunade unlocked the door and let it swing open. I took in everything as I walked into the room. What looked like glass display cases lined the entire left wall, bending with the corner and ending halfway along the far wall, inside ancient, dusty looking books opened at random pages. On the far right a metal staircase wound up and up until it disappeared through a square in the ceiling. The right wall was scattered with paintings of every size and shape, every subject and color. A giant tapestry of a blond haired woman atop a golden horse ran down the middle of the wall in vibrant colors. In her left hand was a raised sword with an emerald encrusted hilt.

Sasuke and Naruto stepped into the room with a familiar ease. Hinata followed and moved off to the side, towards the display cases. Naruto shut the door behind Hinata and locked it. My gut told me they had been here before, several times judging by the way they step up to the display cases without hesitation.

Tsunade moved towards a small painting next to the tapestry. For a moment she stood there, staring at the tapestry with a far away look in her eyes, then she touched the surface of the painting and it shimmered before dissolving. Underneath laid a small number pad with an eye scanner.

After punching in the ten digit code and scanning her eye, Tsunade turned towards the display case and I watched as the ancient books shimmered and disappeared, revealing silver weapons encrusted with rubies and sapphires, armor and hand made chainmail, and stones of every color and shape.

The glass casing slid down, allowing Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata to reach in and grab the katanas in front of them. They continued to grab objects, stopping every once in a while to contemplate whether they should bring it or not. Naruto put a bright orange, circular stone in his pack, Sasuke grabbing an obsidian one. Hinata reached for a gray one.

I didn't dare grab anything, especially when I wasn't sure what some of the objects were or what they were for.

I opted instead to stand there and watch Tsunade grab a familiar looking katanas with symbols I would forever recognize. Then she grabbed armor that looked worn but still powerful and a locket that I'd never seen before.

My hands felt sweaty as I took the sword and armor from her outstretched hands. With the sword and armor safely strapped down in my pack and the locket resting on my breastbone, I felt as ready as I'd ever be.

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The metal staircase led to a landing that looked like an attic. The only thing missing was the old, dusty furniture.

Tsunade led the way, each footstep making the staircase groan. Sasuke followed behind me, Hinata behind him, Naruto bringing up the rear.

On the far side of the landing was a door. I couldn't imagine what was behind this one after all I had seen behind the last door. I could hear a faint humming noise, growing louder as we got closer to the door.

Tsunade opened the door and I could see the sky and clouds over her shoulder. I followed her through it and raised a hand to block out the wind wiping me in the face. The roar was deafening, resounding in my body with each swipe of the helicopter blades.

The walls of the roof of the building rose up high, hiding the helicopter with the false appearance of a normal roof.

I watched as the helicopter door slid open. Itachi motioned for us and we jogged up to the door and got inside, settling in our seats and buckling up. I was relieved that we were finally going, but that didn't mean I wanted to deal with this. Every vision Hinata had seen had come true, who were we to try and change this one, to try and change fate?

Sasuke sat down next to me and for a moment I was calm and confident. Sasuke knew what he was doing, so did Naruto and Hinata. I wasn't alone in this.

But then the doubt came back. None of us had ever crossed over to the other dimension. Once we were on the other side, what would we do?

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As the looming trees blurred by below me, I contemplated what I was about to do. I was about to cross over to the other dimension and fight a war that I didn't understand. A war that I hadn't been involved in a year ago, that I wouldn't have dreamed of being involved in now.

What I was about to do, it was unthinkable. It went against everything I knew, against the normality that had been my life months, years ago.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke's head turn. People always said that they could feel people staring at them, could feel the eyes on the back of their head, but I couldn't feel his eyes boring into the side of my face. That alone made a part of me shrivel up inside in fear. Fear at that small weakness and the other weaknesses of mine that could get me killed.

I didn't have time to contemplate what my other weaknesses were as the helicopter slowly lowered. We came to a clearing and the helicopter landed. Itachi and Tsunade remained strapped in, watching us unbuckle and grab out packs.

Itachi nodded at me and although I couldn't hear him above the roar of the helicopter, I knew he was wishing me luck. I smiled back, keeping my doubt to myself. I would need more than just luck.

I hugged Tsunade as best as I could around her seat buckles. It took her a moment to let go, the reluctance clear in her face.

"Please come back," she yelled in my ear over the helicopter. I nodded, my eyes welling up. I blinked rapidly, turning so she wouldn't see how upset and scared I was.

I got out of the helicopter and joined the Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata. We stood together at the edge of the clearing, watching as the helicopter ascended and moved over the tree tops before disappearing from sight.

Hinata pulled out a map from her backpack. She opened it and knelt down, placing it on the grass so we could all see it.

"So we're here," she stated as she pointed at a clearing on the map. Her finger trailed up the map slowly but surely. "We need to go this way."

She turned and headed into the woods, Naruto close behind her. Sasuke glanced at me and together we followed them. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I trusted Hinata to lead us the correct way. All I knew was we needed to find the portal.

We trekked through the forest quietly, our breathing the only sound besides the natural sounds of nature, the sun setting slowly across the sky. The tall trees let out little creaks and moans as the wind picked up, disturbing them and giving my goosebumps.

When we had started our journey the sun had been much higher in the sky. The heat had been sweltering, but now that night was approaching the air was much cooler, a great relief to all of us.

We had all been tense. Naruto surprisingly had kept silent, knowing that at any moment someone could fly out and attack them. Hinata had been fidgety, her eyes darting around, staring at the trees and expecting someone to appear from behind one of them. Both had stuck together, Naruto helping her over large fallen trees and her helping him out of his pack when we took rests.

I guess Sasuke and I were doing the same, but I hadn't really paid attention. I was too busy trying to imagine what would happen when we got to the portal. I wondered if it would be easy or hard to cross over.

In my mind, I imagined a shimmering veil that hung from the branches of two tall, ancient trees with winding trunks. Although it was unlikely that that was what it would actually be like, it calmed me slightly. As long as I continued to convince myself that I knew what to expect I wouldn't feel so much like a headless chicken.

Auntie Tsunade had told me to just feel it, let my abilities lead me on how to open the portal.

Of course this hadn't helped me calm down at all, but made me more nervous. What if I couldn't open the portal? What if we were stuck here and couldn't get to the other side to change what Hinata had saw?

I shook my head, not allowing myself to think about that.

Shivers racked my body, goosebumps appearing on my skin as the hair on my arms rose painfully. Oddly, the air seemed to be colder than normal. As I breathed out my breath turned to ice, visible and a clear sign it was colder than it should be.

Auntie Tsunade had warned us of this. She claimed it had been too long for her memory to possibly remember everything that had happened when she had crossed over.

I stumbled over a branch that was sticking out of the ground, my hand reaching out to steady myself. I felt a hand on my other arm, its grip only loosening when I had my footing again. Without glancing in that direction, I knew it was Sasuke.

"We're close," his low voice sounded loud in the air, the silence making every noise startlingly loud.

His statement wasn't needed. We all felt it, the crackling energy that surged through the air as we got closer to the meadow and the gateway to the other dimension.

I shifted the pack on my back, the armor clinking together inside. My katanas were strapped to my back under the bag, but the hilts were free so I could reach over my shoulders and unsheathe them at any time.

Auntie hadn't told me where she'd gotten the katanas. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know or not. The armor, she told me, she'd brought over from the other side. It felt weird to think about the armor and the fact that I'd worn it thousands of years ago and that I'd be wearing it again soon.

After another ten minutes of walking, the trees started to thin out. It started to get steeper until we broke through the trees and stopped at the edge of a cliff.

No one spoke for a moment.

The cliff we were standing dipped and only leveled off after a long way down. The clearing at the bottom was huge, miles wide, or more. The cliff ran all around the edge, waterfalls lining them and flowing into streams. All the streams flowed straight to the middle where there stood a huge stone temple that looked thousands of years old. Vines and moss ran over the worn away edges and ran down the walls, thousands of years giving them time to grow down the wall, but not enough time to reach the bottom. The walls looked eroded, but even after all this time the symbols were still visible from their carved places in the walls.

"How the hell do we get down there?" Sasuke spoke, breaking the silence. I could hear a hint of frustration in his voice which was new compared to the unemotional man I was so used to.

"I…I'm not sure." I looked around, trying to find some way to get down the rock walls surrounding the clearing.

The waterfalls were out of the question, along with scaling the wall. The walls were slanted, but were still too steep to even think of walking down.

Everyone was searching around trying to find a way down when Hinata froze, her eyes going blank as she fell to her knees. Naruto dropped to his knees besides her, his arm going around her back to support her.

Sasuke and I stood back a little, not wanting to disturb Hinata as she had a vision.

"Hinata…?" Naruto murmured as Hinata started to move again, her eyes focusing in and out before settling on Naruto. She looked into his blue eyes and smiled.

"I found a way down." We all gaped at her, glad but curious. "I saw us walking down a set of stairs carved out of the side of the wall." Naruto helped her up and steadied her as she regained her balance.

I felt bad for her. It must be hard being disoriented after having a vision and coming to on the floor, people standing over you worried.

"Do you know which way it is Hinata?" I asked her.

"I'm guessing it's to the right from the angle of the temple," she said thoughtfully while staring at the temple.

We set off along the cliff wall to the right while searching for any sign of staircases. I was starting to get nervous as the sun neared the horizon, just a sliver of sky preventing it from touching the horizon line. What if we didn't make it to the temple by midnight?

"We'll make it Sakura." My eyes stopped looking at the horizon and moved to Sasuke, surprised. For a moment I wondered if he had just read my mind before I mentally snorted. Yeah, right.

His black eyes twinkled, catching the sun's dusk rays. His face held a gentleness I had never seen and a determination that made my own determination flare up again. My breath caught in my throat at the beauty of his eyes and face.

"But what if we don't?" I let myself voice that one second of doubt I had pushed down earlier. Doubt in this journey, doubt in time, and doubt in myself.

"We will Sakura. Hinata saw us on the other side." I stared at him as all doubt left me. He was right. Hinata had seen it, had seen us in the other dimension.

"Yeah…you're right." I continued walking, Sasuke following me. Hinata and Naruto were ahead walking slowly.

Hinata slowed to a stop, her eyes looking at the temple.

"This is where the stairs should be…" she drifted off while approaching the cliff's edge. Naruto held onto her arm when she neared it and they both glanced over the edge.

I came up besides them and looked over also. All I could see were small plants sticking out of the rock wall and rocks skidding down to the bottom.

Something caught my eye. It was a tree that looked like half of it was coming out of the wall. I glanced around it, looking for anything else that looked like it was sticking out of the side of the wall like the tree.

Naruto and Hinata backed up from the ledge and started to walk along the wall again, searching for the stairs.

"Let's go, the stairs aren't here." Sasuke started to back away, but hesitated when I stayed at the edge. I nodded but continued to stare at the tree. Something was off with it, but I couldn't understand what.

A bird chirped as it flew through the sky. Its wings tilted as it landed on the tree and hopped down the length of the tree before it disappeared out of sight. I leaned forward to keep watching it but I couldn't find it on the tree.

Where had it go—

"SAKURA!"

I screamed as my foot slid over the side on loose dirt, followed by the rest of my body as I fell sideways off the edge. My scream was cut off as I slammed into the wall and slid downwards.

Loose rocks slid down the wall under me as I tried to grab onto something to stop my fall. I managed to grip onto something thin, and held on with all my might. There was a burning sensation in my hands. My momentum made me fall away from the wall for a moment before I came back, slamming into it. I screamed again as I slid down another couple of feet before stopping again.

"Sakura! Are you okay? Hold on, I'm coming down. Let me go Naruto!" I looked up and saw Sasuke on his hands and knees leaning over the edge while Naruto held him back.

"I-I'm fine," I shouted back. Dirt and rocks slid down the wall and I lowered my head to shield my face. I cried out as I slid down again. It occurred to me that I was holding onto a vine and that my hands were sweaty and sore, both not good things. But there wasn't anything I could do about it considering I was hanging above my grave.

My arms started to ache and I faintly heard the bird chirp again. I glanced around and found the tree down a little ways below me.

"You are the stupidest person alive Sakura…" I told myself as I slowly inched myself down the vine. I kept muttering this as I got closer to the tree.

"Stop Sakura!" I ignored Naruto's shouts. I heard Sasuke yelling at me, his threats making me smile shakily. I listened to his threats as I moved down the wall on the vine.

My arms ached like hell and my heart was still pounding in my chest. I could feel the sweat running down my back, my forehead, and my arms but I ignored it. I panted as I set my feet on the tree, praying that it wouldn't come loose and fall.

I clung to the vine as I slowly sat down on the tree. With one hand on the vine, I reached around to make sure my backpack and katanas were still strapped to me back. I sighed in relief when I found them to be.

I glanced up and shouted that I was fine. They were probably all going to kill me when they got their hands on me, even Hinata, for going the wrong way. I was supposed to be going up, not down.

I gaped as I set my eyes back on the wall. The bird was staring at me while perched in a nest inside a carved out section of the wall. The carved section ran deep into the wall and slanted down, stairs leading downwards.

I…I had found the stairs!

"Guys, I found the stairs! They're carved into the wall. They're here," I shouted up to them. Naruto shouted, his arm almost smacking Sasuke in the back of the head. He turned around the glare at Naruto before they started talking. Sasuke pointed at the vines and Naruto's face took on a terrified look.

Sasuke tightened his straps of his backpack before he crouched, his back to the temple. He slowly moved over the edge of the wall before starting slowly down the wall, holding on the vines.

As he got closer, I moved up the tree towards the wall and slowly stepped into the little alcove. It was big enough for two of me and vines ran along the wall and steps. We would have to very careful to not fall.

I watched as Sasuke stepped onto the tree and called up to them, telling them he was fine. He held onto the vine as he moved onto the steps also.

"Are you okay?" I nodded and watched as he came closer, inspecting me for injuries. "You're covered in dirt."

I looked down at my self and saw my whole front was covered in dirt. My shirt was torn in some places, but they weren't big tears so I was fine with it. I had some scratches but they didn't ache. Unfortunately my arms and hands burned but I chose to keep quiet about it.

"Well yeah, I just rolled down a wall of stone and dirt," I told him. He smirked while reaching up to brush off a piece of dirt near my mouth. His other hand came up and cupped my other cheek while he stared into my eyes.

I had to stop myself from shuddering, from getting lost in those eyes. His warm fingers reminded me that the danger was gone for just this moment but still there, lurking in the shadows and ready to strike.

With a small, relieved sigh, he released my face and stepped back, his face resuming its emotionless mask. He looked at the temple, my eyes following his.

I wanted to turn back and go home, to sink into my soft, safe bed and fall asleep thinking that everything would be okay. But I knew better than to wish for something like that. Where we were heading, there were no soft, safe beds. Where we were heading, things would be dangerous, unsafe.

Seconds later Hinata's feet appeared on the sideways tree. She slowly sat down and moved towards us, her face flushed with the exertion.

We could hear the girly screeches of Naruto as he slowly—slower than a snail—made his way down the wall.

Hinata sat on the tree and watched him for a moment before moving onto the stone steps. Naruto's girly screams grew louder until his feet were firmly planted onto the tree. He sat down and stayed there while clinging to the vine like it was a lifeline.

Well, it was a lifeline, but still. Only when you were falling down the cliff, not sitting on the tree, somewhat safe. I wanted to snort at that thought, but decided that Naruto's ego didn't need anymore dents.

It took Hinata a couple of minutes to get Naruto to move towards us on the tree and finally onto the stone staircase. We all stood there for a moment and stared at the sunset. We had gotten this far, there was no turning back now.

Only way was forward. Towards what? We didn't know, nor did we want know just yet.

No soft, safe beds, I reminded myself.

"Let's get going," I told them while I started down the stairs, careful to watch my step. I heard the others following behind me and we descended down the stone steps, one obstacle out of our way, more unknowns still to come.

The stairs continued at a steady downward slope until they somehow twisted into the wall further and we started going downwards in the opposite direction. This continued until we got closer to the ground, where the stairs detached from the wall and started downwards toward the temple.

I could feel everyone's exhaustion as we got closer. It wasn't until we were walking up the stairs of the temple a couple of hours later that I felt the energy coming from the ancient structure.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, but that might have been the exaggeration of my exhaustion. The heavy packs on our backs didn't help either.

I had to remind myself to breath as I stared all around me. The walls were nothing like the outside countenance. They were smooth, the stone not worn anywhere. Streams ran on each side of the stairs, leading up to a large room. The streams continued down each side of the long room before they stopped at the wall.

"Is that…" Naruto faltered, his eyes widening as he took in the large stone figure standing in the middle of the room.

"A grim reaper? Yeah," I answered, moving further into the room without taking my eyes off the reaper. Its torso was bare of clothing, but covered with symbols and markings that radiated a power I'd never felt before. Large, stone wings stood on each side of him, spread and appearing ready to take flight. The lower half of the grim reaper was covered in a robe, the top part folded over the rope at the waist and hanging towards the floor. All in all, the face scared me the most.

The eyes seemed to penetrate me, staring into every fiber of my being and analyzing me. Looking at the others, I knew they felt the same way. The mouth was set in a grim line, like it was forever to be that way, upset and unhappy.

"That's one big scythe," Naruto piped up again, Sasuke agreeing with a nod of his head. I would have found it funny, Sasuke actually agreeing with Naruto, but Naruto was right. It was huge, so large that I had no doubt that it could take my head off with one clean swipe.

"I think that's where we're heading," Hinata said as she pointed to the wall behind the grim reaper. A large arched frame was carved into the wall, large symbols branching out from the doorway. Other than the symbols branching out from the arched frame, the doorway was smooth.

"But how do we get through it? It's stone," Naruto complained, his shoulders drooping. "And we don't have time to go back and grab some hammers."

Glancing up at the large opening in the ceiling, the sky stretched out above me. Stars blanketed the sky, the moon an ominous figure that only served to remind me of what little time we had.

"I don't think we're digging our way through," Sasuke told him, his eyes flickering to me. Silently, I knew the message he was trying to send me.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this," I muttered, looking back at my friends. Sasuke nodded, encouraging me to what my body was telling me to do.

My footsteps were the only sounds as I stepped up in front of the stone grim reaper. I tried to find what to say, but I came up blank. What was I supposed to say? Open Sesame? Or maybe there was a secret password I was supposed to know.

I was stumped. I didn't know any passwords.

I opened my mouth and sighed when nothing came out. Closing my eyes, I dug deep within myself and searched. There had to be something, anything that I could say.

"Open the passage between the worlds so we may pass," I told the grim reaper after a moment, faintly realizing that the words I were speaking didn't sound familiar even though I knew what I was speaking. They sounded like another language, but I didn't dwell on the thought for very long.

I opened my eyes, yelping when the stone figure trembled in front of me for a moment before it stilled again.

The stone grim reaper's face suddenly transformed, its eyes focusing as the stone covering its face slowly broke away, showing pale, waxy skin underneath. Oh God, it wasn't stone. It was alive and looking very angry for being disturbed.

The urge to step back ran through me, but my feet felt rooted to the ground. I couldn't look away as its eyes focused on me. The eyes were completely gray, a chilling gray as cold as the stone that had covered them minutes ago.

The grim reaper's lips parted slightly and the sound that escaped through its lips made me cringe. The laugh scraped across my skin, giving me goosebumps. A fearful shiver ran down my spine, erupting in a spasm of tingles that branched out along my back.

Those tingles, the long lost tingles that I hadn't missed one bit, reminded me of who I was and the abilities I possessed. Exhaling, I froze as a white cloud drifted up from my mouth and in front of my eyes. I watched as it slowly lifted before fading, my eyes snapping down in time to catch another white cloud of breath fading.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled, yanking me backwards by the arm as a scythe sliced through the air. A second later and the scythe would have sliced through my stomach.

I looked at Sasuke, his chest heaving with heavy breaths and he pulled out his katana. I mirrored him, pulling out my two katanas and snapping them together to form one.

Auntie had shown me earlier how to work the katana. With one little tug a certain way, my katana could break into two. Although I liked the idea of having two katana, I wasn't exactly sure how to work both just yet, my left hand a little shaky with the katana still.

"Keep your eyes on the target," Sasuke commanded, his eyes focused on the grim reaper as it stepped off its ledge and swung its scythe again in warning. Its eyes remained focused on me, its face formed into a hard sneer as it stepped towards me.

"You are not allowed to pass," the reaper bellowed, slamming its scythe against the ground in warning as I raised my katana.

I jumped out of the way when the grim reaper charged at me, its scythe raised over its head. I slammed my katana into its arm, stepping back and gaping at the skin as it crumbled like stone before mending itself.

It swung its arm out, catching me in the shoulder as I ducked. I heard Sasuke yelling as Naruto roared, but all sound disappeared as I stumbled backwards. My body tipped sideways, but I somehow managed to stay on my feet.

"You are not allowed to pass," the grim reaper repeated, approaching me. I tried to step back, but the stream stopped my movement. I was trapped, cornered by a stone grim reaper that couldn't be stopped.

A chill ran through me as I tried to picture the ice wrapping around its ankles, hindering its movement and rooting it to its spot. As the thought was going through my head, the water flowed past me on the ground and wrapped around the reaper's ankles. It stopped at its knees, hardening into rock hard ice.

I stared at the reaper, its eyes boring into mine. I wanted to look away, to walk past and go into the other dimension, but I knew that only the reaper could open the doorway.

"You will let us pass," I commanded, staring at the grim reaper. If he'd been mad before, I know he was going to be livid now. My thoughts were confirmed when the reaper started to hack at the ice with his scythe.

With one powerful step, he was free of the ice and approaching me again. I looked past him and saw the others running towards me. Naruto had shifted into his fox form and he was a large, orange blur as he sprinted towards me, Hinata and Sasuke right behind him.

The grim reaper stopped right in front of me and I prepared to have my head taken off. But instead of swinging for my neck with his scythe, the grim reaper kneeled in front of me with his head bowed.

Naruto slid to a stop, his head cocking to the side as he stared at the kneeling grim reaper. Sasuke stopped next to him, torn between staying there and attacking the grim reaper.

"You may pass," the grim reaper told me, standing and moving back towards its ledge in front of the arched frame. "The Chosen Guardian may pass."

"How did you—" I began, but a loud rumbling cut me off.

The grim reaper had swung its scythe into the stone inside the arched frame. Instead of the stone cracking, it shimmered, the surface rippling and crinkling.

"You may pass," the grim reaper told me again, turning and motioning with its arm for me to go into the shimmering mass of rock.

I nodded and walked up to the shimmering wall, motioning for my friends to follow as I pressed first my hand against the surface and then the rest of my arm. I couldn't describe the feeling—the warm, soothing feeling that surrounded me as my whole body submerged into the wall.

I blacked out for a moment, regaining my senses as I stared up at the afternoon sky. For a moment I wondered if it had all been a dream, but Naruto's groan from beside me made me realize that it wasn't.

The happiness overwhelmed me, the shock rendering me speechless as I sat up. We had made it. We had crossed into the other dimension.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So it's been a while! A really long while. I can't guarantee when the next update will be or how soon, but I am still writing this story and working on it. That much I know for now.