Chapter 77

"So do you know your way around here?" asked Kaorin as the duo stepped into the vast cavern.

"Not really," replied Chidori as she rubbed her shoulder. Her wounds had been healed surprisingly well by the young ninja, but now she had found that most of her body ached a lot. A lot had happened in under an hour.

"So what now then?" asked Kaorin.

"I guess we just try and stay out of view until we find the rest of your group," said Chidori. "Or whatever is left." Chidori paused as Kaorin gave her a look of shock.

"Hey, I'm just saying what I'm thinking," said Chidori. "I guess I have been called rude for doing that before" she added with a shrug.

"I know my friends will be fine," replied Kaorin. Sakaki will be fine, I'll know she will be fine…

"Sure I guess so," said Chidori as an image of her friend's headless corpse crossed her mind. "But let's get a move on; this place gives me the creeps."

Sakaki glanced around in shock at the surroundings she now found herself in. A vast collection of dark brown peaks stretched high above the redhead, ending in sharp ended peaks. Above the sky was a pitch black, save for an occasional flash of bright red lightning. Directly in front of her was a deep chasm from which flames shot up, only a short distance from her feet.

"Where…where am I?" she asked aloud. She found it odd- she could remember little of what had happened before she had found herself standing here. She had a vague memory of standing next to…someone…someone she thought was a friend. But she couldn't remember the face, or why she had been there in the first place.

"This place isn't normal," said Sakaki with a nervous voice. She turned around as she heard a vast explosion from behind her. The acrid atmosphere hurt her nose and throat and caused her to cough, almost bending over as it started to overpower her. From behind the flames rose further into the air, now extending up behind the shy girl.

"I…I don't think I can…last much longer," said Sakaki as she put a hand over her mouth.

Despite her recent injuries Chidori had taken the lead of the two girls, keeping just ahead of Kaorin as they ran through a vast cavern. To one side both girls noticed a laid table. A half empty bottle rested upon it. Suddenly the cavern narrowed. Chidori abruptly came to a halt, Kaorin almost bumping into her.

"What is it Chidori?" asked Kaorin as she started to move forwards.

Chidori held up one hand. "Kaori, just stay back for a bit," said the girl. Kaorin blushed slightly at simply being called 'Kaori'.

Chidori took a step forwards and then crouched down to get a better look at the floor. She bit down on her lip as she looked at what was splattered across the floor. There seemed to be several chunks of thawing flesh scattered everywhere, with bone mingled among them. She was starting to get a whiff of the smell, and from the corner of her eye she spotted something that even caused her to feel shocked. A short distance from her were two thawing fingers, still bloodless.

"What the hell happened here?" muttered Chidori as she stood back up. With one foot she pushed some of the flesh aside to form a slender pathway. Slowly she turned back to her new ally.

"Kaori, follow me…and don't look down," said Chidori. Kaorin looked slightly puzzled.

"Why don't I want to look down?" asked Kaorin, her view currently blocked by Chidori.

"Just trust me on this Kaori," replied Chidori with a faint wink.

"Ok," replied Kaorin, deciding it would probably be better to just listen to her new colleague. Chidori slowly made her way along the thin path, not wanting to crush any of the remains underfoot. Kaorin stuck close behind Chidori and managed to avoid walking on anything either- to Chidori's great relief. She had a strong suspicion that Kaorin would be deeply shocked and distraught if she saw the remains beneath them.

In silence the duo continued to march along the corridor, passing a set of stairs. Chidori had stepped to go up them but Kaorin stopped her and suggested it would be a better idea to continue along the corridor.

"Why?" replied Chidori.

"I don't know," said Kaorin. "I just have a strong feeling to carry along this way…maybe it's just because of all of those stairs," said Kaorin looking towards the stairway. It seemed to vanish upwards without an end.

"Well, you don't hear me complaining," replied Chidori.

Kaorin smiled faintly and they returned to walking along the long silent corridor.

"Do you think anyone else is actually here?" asked Kaorin. "It's just so quiet…do you think they've all left already?"

"That is a possibility," replied Chidori. "They might have decided it was a risk to stay here. But I'm not too sure about that- I'm certain they would have the ability to take on a small group of girls. And they know they'd be able to. And I don't think they had to hurry anything."

"Why not?" asked Kaorin.

"Well before I left their employment," said Chidori (with a slice of scorn in her voice) "they often spoke of how annoying it was that it took that much time to do what they were doing. They never gave me the specifics," she added when Kaorin gave her a slight look.

"So whatever they're doing might not be finished yet?" asked Kaorin.

"I hope not," replied Chidori. "From what I overhead it seemed something bad might be…is that her?" asked Chidori, stopping in mid sentence to point at Sakaki who stood ahead of them.

"Yeah…that's her," replied Kaorin in a slightly worried voice. Sakaki stood up straight, back arched, unmoving as though she were nothing more then a board of wood. The only part of her that moved was her mouth, lips moving up and down without words. Even from this distance Sakaki looked scared about something.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Kaorin, turning to Chidori for reassurance. "What's going on?"

"I think I know," said Chidori, Kaorin pausing to pay special attention. "I think she's currently trapped in a powerful genjutsu- I've heard that is the power Takino possesses…after all he doesn't look like he'd be much use in a physical fight," muttered Chidori.

"Genjutsu…how do we break it?" asked Kaorin. "She looks terrified, how do we stop it?" There was the faintest sound of desperation in her voice.

"In a situation like this I think a shock would be the only way to break it."

"A shock?" asked Kaorin.

"Yeah. An emotional kind of shock, something that would surprise her even though she wouldn't actually perceive it…in a situation like this simply stabbing yourself in the hand wouldn't work…pain won't break it."

"Something that shocks her…," said Kaorin trailing off. Suddenly she froze and started to blush. "Miss…miss Chidori you promise you won't tell Sakaki what I'm about to do when she returns right?"

"Sure, I guess," replied Chidori with a shrug. Despite her attitude, she found herself curious about what the girl had in plan.

Kaorin paused for a moment, holding her hands together nervously. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and took a step forward before pausing. From this distance she could feel Sakaki's cool breath upon her face. She continued to blush and almost giggled nervously, all the time worrying what Chidori might be thinking. Finally she closed her eyes and started to lean forward.

"My first time…I've always wanted this, but not like this" she thought to herself as she leant closer. She allowed one eye to open slightly, peeking up as she got closer to Sakaki. Finally their lips touched, and feeling a sudden brash wave of confidence Kaorin wrapped her arms around Sakaki and embraced the tall girl. Inside Kaorin was cheering herself on; being a redhead seemed to have made the tall girl even more beautiful! As she looked up she saw a sudden shocked realization pass across Sakaki's face, and then the girl was stumbling backwards.

Kaorin backed away in surprise and called out as Sakaki fell backwards. She landed in a slight sprawl and looked around the room in surprise.

"What's going on? Where's Tomo?" she asked. She sounded very confused.

"We don't know," said Chidori from behind Kaorin.

"Wait…that man…I think he was going to do something. I think he might have attacked her," said Sakaki.

"Nah, I think he was more interested in catching her," said Chidori stepping forwards. "He wanted her for something."

"Then we have to go!" said Kaorin. "Can you stand?"

Sakaki nodded. As Kaorin helped the girl to her feet she briefly got a view of Chidori. The girl gave her an evil wide grin and mouthed the words "I knew it!"