Part 4 in the Obelisk Series:
Kingdom of Man, Kingdom of Beasts, Kingdom of Monsters, and Kigdom of Gods.

OBELISK:
KINGDOM OF GODS

"Magic does that. It wastes you away. Once it grips you by the ear, the real world gets quieter and quieter, until you can hardly hear it at all." ―

Catherynne M. Valente,

Deathless

The smack was sharp and echoing, hurting in her ears as Sakura looked up from her drink. She blinked once before running towards the sound that wasn't quite as violent as she first thought it to be. She was awake, after all.

Before she made it to the kitchen there was another smack. Standing on the threshold Sakura saw both girls sporting red hand prints on either side of their faces. Karin's eyes refused to flinch as Ino held her gaze. Neither girl looked ready to back down.

"What's going on." Sakura looked to Ino first and then to Karin. "Isn't Suigetsu here?"

Ino smirked and it was cruel. "Yeah, your boyfriend needs you."

"That's got nothing to do with this. You think one thing, one person can make up for years of absence you bitch, than-"

"Okay!" Sakura cried, running between the both of them. "That's enough, the both of you. I left you alone for ten minutes."

"You shouldn't have left me alone at all," Ino pouted playfully. "I got lost looking for the trash."

"Ino," Sakura warned tone sharp. The blond blinked in response and looked away, ears reddening. "The both of you know better. What was it this time, cup sizes?"

"Nothing, I have to go." Karin rubbed the heel of her hand across her cheek like that would take away the handprint there. "Suigetsu gets clingy when he's drunk."

Sakura swallowed, knowing her friend was being honest about her boyfriend and nothing else. "You're going to leave now? I haven't seen you in days."

For a moment Karin looked as if she was about to stop and change her mind, but a glance over Sakura's shoulder made her frown. Stubborn as ever, the redhead turned and stormed off through the apartment looking for her boyfriend. Sakura let her, knowing Karin needed space a time to cool off. Unfortunately, Sakura had little of either.

"Did you instigate it?" Sakura asked, her back to Ino.

Even though she couldn't see her blond friend, somehow Sakura was still able to hear her friend pout before Ino decided to drape herself over Sakura's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I tried, really I did. I have no self control when it comes to quick slap backs. It's a reflex from work."

"You're not at work and you are not your job." Sakura rolled her shoulders and Ino detached easily, hopping off to stand off to the side with her hands behind her back. Sakura sighed again before adding, "I'm going to find Karin and tell her goodbye before she leaves, don't get into trouble. I'm coming right back."

"Goody two shoes," Ino chirped, looking off to the wet bar where an assortment of drinks waited.

She had already had enough to color her cheeks, a few more would be all it took before she was boneless on the floor and dead to the world. Sakura didn't want to have to deal with that again, but it was going to be impossible to play mom to the model blond for the rest of the night and not look like she was being a bitch to her other friends.

"Stay out of trouble, I mean it," Sakura warned before moving out of the kitchen.

Karin was in the stairwell's hallway, trying to squeeze around a couple making out in a way that let you know it was a new relationship. Karin looked green at the sight but managed to blink away her nausea when she felt Sakura's hand on her wrist.

"Don't leave just yet. I haven't had a chance to talk to you yet," Sakura said, tugging Karin away from the new couple.

"What's there to talk about? You need something?" Karin asked in a huff, looking away.

"No, I just-I just wanted to talk. You're ignoring my texts."

"I've been busy."

"I was with Juugo when you texted him back right away. But not me?" Sakura let go of Karin's wrist and stepped back. "I'm not stupid."

"I'm not stupid either," Karin snapped. "I could tell you were being shifty about something. You didn't tell me the truth when I asked you if you were seeing someone."

Sakura flinched. "What?"

"I thought you were my friend, I thought you would tell me so I could look out for you. Did you think I wouldn't? Did you think I would be a bad friend? Do you think I'm not a good judge of character or something like that? You gotta tell me cause I don't know. I just know it's something I got different from your other best friend, the one you could tell anything to."

Karin's words were biting and Sakura felt each one dig in deep, prying at her emotional venerability. Karin was one of Sakura's closest friends. Sakura couldn't loose Karin over something so silly.

"Kar, I'm sorry. I really am, I didn't know you felt that way, but I don't know what you're talking about. You mean dating someone? You think I was seeing a guy and not telling you about it? Who did you think I was seeing?"

"I don't know! Bu-but earlier this year you…you seemed like you were and the guys at the Orchard thought so to. We all kind of did and then you were so down, you were just like a…you were like someone who just got her heart crushed and I saw it and I waited for you to say something, but you didn't."

"And you think I said something to Ino."

Karin flushed. "That's what she said!"

Sakura shut her eyes and thought back to the early spring when she would fall asleep to wake up in Madara's arms and pretend she was as happy as she was ever going to be because she was safe there and she belonged with him. That had been a lie, she had been running away from her responsibility to finish what she started. Still, leaving his safety and his comfort hadn't been easy. No matter what she felt for him, Sakura knew Madara loved her, she didn't doubt it. Up to the very end he had been so frantic to keep her with him where she would be safe from slavery and torture. He knew, and he was willing to give her to a different man to keep her safe in the Kingdom of Monsters.

But how could Karin understand that? How could Sakura make her understand something as absurd as a dream?

"I never…oh my gosh, I haven't dated anyone since high school Karin, you know I'm not like that, I wouldn't get into something meaningless. I would have told you if I was seeing someone."

Karin's face was darker with a deeper flush. "I-I know, but Ino was…you're living with her now."

"Ino says stuff, especially when she's buzzed, that she knows she shouldn't. Let me apologize for her."

"Don't," Karin grumbled. "Don't do that for her. She doesn't deserve it. She's such a….skunk."

"Actually she smells kind of good most of the days. It's a new perfume she's advertising-ah, okay I got it, I'm sorry. I won't tease you."

"You're still hiding something from me," Karin grumbled, not sounding like she was ready to forget.

Sakura thought back to the last month of peace she had before the last kingdom began. She had maybe a couple of days since her cycle was nearly finished. After that….she didn't know how long she would be trapped in the curse. She didn't even know how she would be trapped anymore. Last time one night of sleep had lasted days within the dream world. It was like a bad take off of the movie Inception.

'The deeper you dream the slower time moves,' she heard the made up voice of Michael Cain preach to her.

Who knew what would happen next.

"I was never seeing anyone, not for one second of one day, I swear it. But yeah, I am keeping some things from you. I have secrets, and until those things are finished I have to respect the distance to keep from those secrets. I don't want to lie to you, but I can't tell you those things right now."

"There are things you can't tell me."

"They're not all exclusively my secrets. But, please respect it when I say I would if I could, but I just can't share the truth with you right now. Please wait and be patient. I…need to work things out."

"You make it sound like I'm the bad guy for wanting to know. If you're hurt I'm going to want to help you."

"I'm going to be fine, it's me, remember?"

"That makes me worry even more. It sounds like I have a reason to be afraid!"

Sakura forces herself to roll her eyes and laugh. "Please, just let me have this secret for a little longer. Don't worry about it and don't worry for me. You care too much with it comes to your four favorite people," she joked.

"Three-Shisui is sort of demoted at this point. He's holding out on me and I didn't think that was possible but it's pissing me off more than I thought it would. He's avoiding me right now. Ugh-if he thinks he needs to be jealous of me and you he's right. You're the only one I feel like I can talk to and not end up screaming at when I don't get my way."

Sakura chuckled and reached for Karin, pulling her friend in for a hug that turned into a snuggle as the redhead began to complain even more about her boyfriend. Sakura rubbed small circles into Karin's back and dragged the nail of her smallest finger up the path of her spine and then down again, soothing the girl as best she could.

A minute later the couple in the stairwell broke apart and then barked something rude about their PDA being 'super gross.' Karin got aggravated and flipped them the bird before the dude called them a slur. At the sound of it, Karin lunged for his throat, screaming about how she was going to tear open his sexist homophobic butt-hole and fill it with rusted screws when Sakura pulled her back and hugged her from behind. Sakura whispered into Karin's ear and the redhead instantly simmered.

"Let them be," Sakura cooed in an overly sweet voice. "It seems they have a problem when they see something like this…" Sakura's hands slithered around Karin's front. Sakura's hand teased with the trip of Karin's shirt, tugging it upwards. Karin smiled wickedly, reaching up to wrap her hands around Sakura's neck.

"What about something like….this?" Karin breathed, voice purposefully low and throaty as she rocked her hips back. Sakura faked a gasp and then giggled playfully.

"Naughty," Sakura teased in a singsong voice.

"You're the one teasing me to the point where I can't stand it."

"Then don't stand for it," Sakura cooed before playfully nipping Karin's neck. A kiss on the redhead's pulsing vein turned into two, and then three. Karin made a throaty sound before her knees began to wobble.

The girl in front of then gagged, looking to her boyfriend for support and choking when she saw his blown pupils and the slack jawed look on his face. His jeans didn't hide much either. With a shrill shriek she smacked her boyfriend and stormed off. He seemed to snap out of it, blushed deep red, called them another slur, and then ran off down the hall to catch his girlfriend before she could get too far.

Sakura barked a laugh before she fell against the wall, howling. Karin turned around with a huge shit eating grin spread across her face. Sakura laughed even harder, falling down the wall, her knees giving out.

"Oh my God," Sakura breathed, unable to say anything else.

"Yeah," Karin chuckled, calming down. "Really, here in New York, in this day and age?"

"There are terrible people everywhere," Sakura hummed.

"Yeah, but that's one way to deal with them."

"You can say that again," a new voice added. Both girls turned to see who was speaking.

"Hey," Karin cried. "I was looking for you!"

Suigetsu grinned suggestively. "Oh, what for?"

Karin smacked her boyfriend. "You're such a pervert, no! I just wanted to talk to you. You disappeared on me."

Suigetsu shrugged, ambling up to the pair of girls and stopping only when he was close enough to swing an arm around Karin's shoulders and drag her to his side. "Sorry, babe. You found me." He looked over at Sakura and winked. "Anytime you want to join us let Karin know. I won't mind."

Karin screamed and hit her boyfriend, barreling into a tirade about how he was such a creep and they weren't even doing it regularly anymore, and how dare he talk to her friend that way, and who did he think he was, and there was no way they were going to do something without discussing it first.

Sakura chuckled at their antics. "If you guys need a minute…"

Karin's hand shot out and grabbed Sakura's arm. "Don't, I'm sorry! Ugh, no, wait. Yeah, I think we do need to leave, but we're skyping tomorrow night. You're going to be at the Orchard Sunday night, right?"

"Where else would I be?"

"Don't bail on me."

"As if I could," Sakura said with a smirk.

Karin came up with a few colorful threats in case Sakura dared skip out, but Suigetsu was pushing her out the door, rolling his eyes at his girlfriend's antics. Sakura felt a twinge of regret, that she never managed to get a minute alone with Suigetsu to talk about how he was feeling and make sure he was dealing just fine. Karin could be a bit trying, and it sounded like they were working some stuff out. She'd leave them to that first and pry later.

Something in the back rooms made Sakura flinch when she heard it echo down the hall. It sounded a first like breaking glass, but then there was laughter: a very specific laughter.

"Ino," Sakura grumbled, balling her fists and stalking back the way she came.

There was a mess on the floor and the whole front of Ino's shirt was soaked through with water. She was laughing while a pair of males mopped up the glass pitcher that had shattered. One was reassuring Ino that it was no problem, she was fine, accidents happen, etc.

"What did you do?" Sakura sighed, walking around the spill site to her friend.

Ino wobbled a bit on her heels before backing up to lean against the side of a kitchen barstool. "I thought I was making a good choice with water. You didn't drink anything."

"That's because I'm taking you home."

"But we're getting a cab."

"That doesn't mean it's safe for two girls to make it anywhere in this city if both of them are sloshed. Even if we're not driving it's better to have your wits about you before leaving someplace. Ino, how many parties have you been to like this?"

Ino made a cat sound and leaned her head down on Sakura's shoulder. "You'll protect me."

"Way to not take advantage of your friends," Sakura grumbled.

She didn't say anything more though, since Ino was already doing Sakura a huge favor by letting the girl crash at her apartment while the legal disputes were settled between Sakura's mother and aunt over the ownership of the house Sakura had been previously staying in. Sakura's aunt had recently suffered a heart attack and while in the hospital became paranoid her sister was selling off the things inside the house. Grandmother had left the property to both sisters and either refused to share their half of the claim to the other. Sakura's mother was hoping her sister, who was sixteen years older, would die before then.

As the drama stirred up, the imaginary favor Sakura had preserved was lost between her and her aunt. She had been asked to leave the property in a week's time and Ino had been ready to swoop in and save the day. That had all been a handful of nights after her last nightmare ended.

Shaking her thoughts away, Sakura went into the kitchen, got a hand towel, and give it to Ino to clean her front, which was already starting to turn see through in places it was stretched too tight. People were staring and Ino preened under their attention.

"Are you ready to leave?" Sakura asked, staying close to her childhood friend. The cab was coming around the front of the building and Ino's apartment complex was close by. They would been back in their rooms in twenty minutes, tops.

Ino mumbled something but ducked her head and latched on to Sakura. Sighing, Sakura led Ino out, wishing their host and hostess, a brother sister pair in the fashion business, a good night.

Ino snuggled in the elevator, the cab, and the lobby to their apartment. Thankfully the doorman recognized Ino right away and let them in without ID. On the way up to their floor, Ino's legs started to give out as she became sleepier and sleepier. But before she could pitch sideways Sakura grabbed her friend's arms and heaved Ino up onto her back to carry the rest of the way, huffing about how heavy models were when they were deceptively so thin.

It was also Sakura's pseudo job to take care of Ino on night's like these. Because Sakura both refused to take a hand out and also couldn't actually afford to live with Ino, she had accepted a sort of live in maid status. She cooked specific meals for Ino, kept track of her appointments, scheduled things for her, ran errands, watched out for her, and took care of her when she was flat out drunk. It was one of the reasons Sakura even bothered coming to the parties in the city. It was a rare night when Karin could sneak in an invite as well.

"No, you're not allowed to fall asleep without brushing your teeth. You have a photoshoot tomorrow night. I don't care what you've told me about vodka teeth stains being good for you," Sakura grumbled, coming back into Ino's room after changing the girl out of her party dress and into a nightgown. Her heels were tucked away in the closet where they had come from originally.

Sakura pinched Ino's cheek before grabbing her jaw and placing the toothbrush in Ino's hand. Ino moaned, glaring from under her cleaned off lashes. Sakura knew Ino wanted sleep, and her body needed it, but Ino already made too many poor decisions on her own.

Sakura lays her hand over Ino's and helps her get started, but Ino finishes on her own. Washing her mouth out she begins to sit down under the sink when Sakura groans, swooping in to grab her friend and drag her back to the bed. Ino doesn't make it easy for her and by the time she's under her covers Sakura is exhausted.

"Don't go back to your own bed."

Sakura looks down at Ino. She can't tell if Ino's truly awake or talking through her sleep. She started to leave the bed but Ino's hand is a vice to Sakura's wrist.

"You get super clingy when you're drink, just like a child. I don't remember you being this bad when we were kids."

"I never thought I would loose you when we were kids."

Sakura stills. When she turns around Ino's eyes are still closed, but they're dripping tears. "Ino…"

"You get along so well with Karin. You fight and forgive so easily. Why can't you be like that with me. I was your best friend first."

"Ino, you're tired, go to sleep."

"You'll leave me. Everybody leaves me."

Sakura wants to roll her eyes and play it all off as her friend being overly dramatic, but Ino's too out of it to be anything but honest. She's on the edge of sleep with enough booze in her bloodstream to make this a moment she won't remember.

"I never left you, Ino. You were the one who did the leaving."

"…Yeah, I know. That's why you're the only one…you're the only one who I can't loose. Nobody else but you. Don't ever leave me."

Sakura waits a moment more and hears the soft breathing of Ino's almost snores. Sakura kicks off her skirt and snuggles in next to her friend, still feeling the hand on her wrist. "Yeah, I won't leave you, Ino Pig."

The White Crown is set on your head. You seized the crook and the flail when you were (still) in the womb and had not (yet) emerged onto the earth.

-Book of the Dead

Sakura opens her eyes and she's at the end of a long corridor made from stone. Stone beneath her, around her, above her. She's in a stone tunnel with only one way to go.

She takes a step forward and stops, realizing her feet are bare and only a simple white shirt covers her. It's long enough to reach mid thigh on a she inhales the air is stagnate, warm in the uncomfortable way, and there's dust between her toes.

Dreams always felt real to her before, but this one seemed hyper real to her for some reason. There was another level, one more layer, and more depth that hadn't been there before. This kingdom was different from the others.

"You are not wrong, child."

Sakura stumbles backwards, nearly knocked over by the sound of the voice echoing off the walls around her. She staggers and then corrects her stance. Reaching out she dreams up her bone sword, feeling the texture of the different designs on the sheath in her opposite hand. She scans her narrowed surrounds on a turn, but she is alone. There is no one in the hallway with her.

"Who's there?" Sakura straightens. She tried to think back to a month ago in the last gate world and who she had heard with a voice like that? Something in her mind clicked. "Baki, is that you?"

The walls around her trembled and then they began to blur, racing pas her as the world around her shifted, she was pulled forward, down the corridor that stretched out of view. She felt the force of her motion press against her, compounding greater and greater until the walls fell away and she lurched forward, off her feet. She remembered her reflexes and prepared for the impact after curling for a rolling landing, but gravity caught her ankles and pulled her upwards.

Cursing, Sakura thrashed, spinning in mid air as the clay bricks that made up the walls began to float upwards and apart. The gaps and spaces between them were white and growing as more and more of the walls broke apart. She was falling up, up, up, and when she tilted to look in the direction she was going, she saw a room being assembled out of all the bricks that were sent floating.

Grunting, Sakura turned over in mid air and stretched out her legs. Bare toes touched down and the rest of her followed, landing in front of a man in robes as dirty white as hers. Baki was staring down at her while she straightened up.

"That felt like a waste of time. You wanted to make me sick or something?" Sakura snapped, patting dust off her shoulders. "Is this the Kingdom of Gods?"

"It soon shall be. Outside the tombs are the red sands where your journey will inevitably come to an end, one way or another. But you are not ready for that just yet."

"Red sands?" Sakura took a step back to see in better detail the wall behind Baki. There were designs in black, as well as full colored pictures as flat and two dimensional as a person would expect from an art form that didn't evolve in over three thousand years. "Hieroglyphics."

Sakura spun and the torches on the wall flickered to life, sparking a hungry, thick flame each. Towards the back of the room was a table where bodies were prepared and behind the table were jars with animal heads. It was enough to make her swallow.

"What is this place. Why have you brought me here?" Sakura turned back sharply. "What do you want to do with me here, Baki?"

The tall man blinked once and Sakura noticed that this time his face was free of the cloth covering that obstructed half his face in the previous dreams. This time his skin was darker, tanner, and his eyes were lined in dark liquid that made them stand out all the more. He was looking the part.

When he spoke his voice was still booming, but it stayed in the room this time. "That table isn't for you. I am no the dream killer, nor am I an actor. My role with you is neither to harm or to sabotage."

Sakura couldn't help but taste the sass on her lips when she replied. "So what is your job? You going to aid me, watch me, teach me? It's been vague what your role really is since each watcher/guide whatever has been sort of different so far."

The stone bricks under Sakura's feet groaned before shifting in a circular direction, turning her to face a different wall. The torches grew higher, shedding more light and the picture was illuminated that much better for it. Sakura felt her sass leave her as she looked up at the mural.

"What do you see?" Baki asked.

"You know what I see," Sakura growled, recovering. "It's the Obelisk. It's just, different looking."

The mural was brightly colored with a iridescent white obelisk shining rays down on the people below. The citizens in the mural were bowing, worshiping the light. Outside the rays there were people who didn't bow down. They were screaming, throwing stiff hands over themselves and dropping ash into their eyes. Even in their crude 2D way, the drawings were unsetting, but it was the top corner of the eye that unsettled Sakura the most. The top part of the Obelisk triangle wasn't blank white. No, there was an eye there, one that saw all.

"What do you know of the Obelisk?" Baki asked from behind her.

Sakura stared down the wall, seeing more illustrations that were harder to make out without the light. "I know it's the key to solving each level, that I have to find it to move on. It's what the curse was trapped in when I opened it. Oh, it used to be a puzzle." Sakura nodded to the original mural. "It was probably worshiped in Egypt once upon a time, eh? Somehow it became a curse."

"A curse?" Baki echoed. "You think it is a curse?"

Sakura snorted. "Of course it's a curse. My life has been hell because of it."

When Baki chuckled the walls vibrated. Sakura glared back over her shoulder at the mad who laughed at her suffering. He though it was funny to compare what she went through to hell? She didn't say that lightly.

"What's so funny?" Sakura snapped.

The floor shifted again and Baki was beside her in front of a new mural of a man standing in the light of a black Obelisk. On the other side of the same mural the man stood in the same light of a white Obelisk, adorned with a traditional headdress and arms lifted above his head with a staff and some other instrument.

"You were ignorant to the ways of the Obelisk when you solved her puzzle, but the Obelisk is no curse."

"What the hell are you saying? You think anyone would want what I went through? People have been trying to kill me in each and every world I enter. I've bleed, I've cried, I've watched friends die. Damn it, I've killed people. What part of any of that doesn't sound like a curse to you?"

"Trials to test your worthiness."

Sakura hissed, stomping a foot down. "Bullshit. I never would have opened that thing if I knew this would happen. This is no test of worthiness."

"Maybe it does not seem that way to you." Baki stepped around her to stand in front of the painting. He touched the drawing of the ray of light, tracing it. "But you are mistaken. The Obelisk is no curse, and it is far older than the Egyptians, but they were the first to harness it and contain it for themselves."

Sakura looked back up at the mural and flinched when she saw the eye. It made her want to bow her head and look away. She didn't like it. "Even older than the Egyptians? Wh-what is it?"

"There was another name for it, a name they called it before in a different language. Roughly translated, the name means: 'God Maker.' Others have called it the Holy Diviner of Gods, or the Eye that Sees, but it's purpose has never changed."

"What purpose?"

Baki stepped aside so the image of the man richly dressed in the light of the white obelisk could be seen. "The power of the Obelisk was harnessed and contained as a means of choosing a mortal kings and pharos believed to be worthy of godship. The trials of the kingdoms and gates have all been designed with this in mind, to prepare the dreamer for divinity, and until you, no dreamer has entered into this word not knowing what they were competing for."

Sakura stared back at the drawing, eyes focused on the outline of the tools in the man's hands. She recognized both of them after a moment and frowned. The crook and the flail were both objects held by pharaohs and gods to show leadership. And during there rule, pharaohs were believed by the people to be gods of their own right.

"Is that how they chose the first kings in Egypt?" Sakura asked, not daring to look back up at the drawing of the eye on the Obelisk's top. "They entered the Obelisk's dreams willingly because they….they wanted to be gods. All those actors knew?"

Baki nodded. "Did you ever wonder why there were so many Uchiha? Their clan got a hold of the Obelisk before swords were banned in their country. The first to enter into the dream of the Obelisk was their strongest son, Madara Uchiha who was by blood one forth god, a demi god in his own right. It was why he was able to manipulate so much of the dream so well until his death inside the dream. His relatives and descendants attempted to follow in his footsteps for as long as the Obelisk was in their country."

"Why would they throw their lives away like that? It's hell to dream like this. I thought it was a punishment."

Baki regarded her once more with narrowed eyes. "Do not exaggerate. There were times of enjoyment for you. Where else would you be so powerful, so loved, so feared? In all your life, had you ever experienced such an adventure?"

"I didn't ask for this," Sakura snapped. "I never would have chosen this if I knew. And did you say that no one has ever solved this thing before, that the last level has never been beaten?"

"That has been said by others, yes."

"Then wouldn't people start to think that after everyone they sent into the Obelisk, it was sort of hopeless to try and send any more in? They couldn't have been that stupid?"

"Some men sacrificed all they had for a chance to be chosen in hopes of being what they could only dream of. You've walked with kings and sultans and princes and conquers."

The lights grew brighter and more of the mural was exposed. Sakura saw hoards of people throwing their fine things and offering their babies to the light. All for a chance, all for a shot of fame.

"That's horrible."

"That is what happened." He said it as a matter of fact, not up for dispute.

"But I don't want that. I don't want to win if that's what winning is for. I just want to be free I wanted the nightmares to end and for my life to go back to how it was. It wasn't perfect, but it was my life. I never wanted this sort of glory or power. It was all just a mistake."

He was in front of her again, looming. "And yet here you are, closer than all others who have come before save one. You are one of the most desired among the actors, one of the most creative in her use of powers, and the most intelligent in her solving of puzzles. These are traits that have help you along the way, be it to glory of freedom from the trials."

Sakura felt the world spin but it wasn't her head, but the actual floor tiles. She was in front of the ledge where four jars stood. Behind her was the table meant for dressing mummies. "Great," she muttered. "Now what?"

"Before you emerge into the true Kingdom of Gods, you must make a choice, one that will follow you the rest of the game. Which will you choose?"

Sakura looked down at the canopic jars, remembering how they were used by the ancient Egyptians during the mummification process to store and preserve the organs of their owner for the afterlife. Each one was special for a different part of the body, protected by a different god and goddess.

"What do you want me to do?"

"You choose your boon for this last trial, as it will be the most challenging yet. Each jaw contains a wish, be it the wish for a specific companion, a specific power, a specific landscape, or a specific enemy." He pointed to the first once and began to recite the details for each.

They were: Hapi, the baboon-headed god representing the north, whose jar contained the lungs and was protected by the goddess Nephthys.

Duamutef, the jackal-headed god representing the east, whose jar contained the stomach and was protected by the goddess Neith.

Imseti, the human-headed god representing the south, whose jar contained the liver and was protected by the goddess Isis.

Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god representing the west, whose jar contained the intestines and was protected by the goddess Serqet.

"Which one has the specific power gift?" Sakura asked, looking each jar over.

"You will not know until your choice has been made, though clues may be picked up based on what you know of the specific jar's function. It is up to you to make the final choice. I will aid you no further on this."

"You're not making much sense right now, but leave me alone for a sec. I need to think this over. How long do I have?"

"You have the night, for however long that shall last."

"That's not cryptic at all," Sakura bit sarcastically.

Baki turned away, moving to stand in front of a dimly lit mural that Sakura couldn't make out in the dim light. Most of the room had already been illuminated, it was just that one last dark corner that remained unexposed. She had a feeling she would see what it was only after she made her choice.

Turning back to the jars Sakura looked over their heads once more. There was a human, bird, jackal, and human. In addition to not knowing what each jar did, she didn't know what she wanted. She had fair control over her powers so far. She didn't care what the terrain looked like. In regards to choosing a specific enemy, she preferred to leave that to someone else. It didn't matter very much to her one way or the other. But something nagged in the back of her mind.

Squating down to be eye level with the jars Sakura blew across the face of the human one, scattering dust into the air. The face was male and indiscriminate looking. It could have been anyone's face. But the eyes were dark and the headdress was just as dark and she felt a familiar pang. Imseti, the human-headed god representing the south, whose jar contained the liver and was protected by the goddess Isis.

Sakura knew enough that there really wasn't a goddess more feared than Isis. Thousands of years later, her name still meant something. For whatever reason, Sakura felt like she knew what would happen when she cracked open the jar. She knew what would be offered to her and what she would choose.

"Baki," she called out. "I've made my choice."

"Shatter it and see what you have chosen then," he called from the shadows.

Sakura grabbed the jar, lifted it up, and let it smash against the floor. The room boomed as gold colored clouds rose up around her and the figure of a woman stood out of the cloud before she faded.

"A companion for you. Who do you choose?" the mother goddess asked with a voice as soft as a dove's wing.

An actor, someone from the dream, someone she missed. Sakura's mind thrummed in action, searching through a couple dozen faces of all the people she knew to be a part of the dream. Kisame her mentor, Madara who loved her, Sasori who she loved…Tsunade could teach her, Hungry could walk beside her again, and Pein could bring the rain with him. Her heart ached when she though of red hair and lazy eyes that watched her with adoration that made her melt.

Between her toes the fragmented shards of the jar lay scattered. One with the eye of the face stared up at her and her resolve grew.

"I am in the Kingdom of the Gods and I will not be broken by it. I have made my choice," Sakura declared, pulling herself up to her full height.

She pictured his face in her mind and the goddess became light, flashing all around her until the room was empty again, except for the three figures left standing on the stone.

Sakura swallowed, blinking to make sure she was seeing things correctly. "Did it work?"

He hesitantly reached for her. A second later an almost smile came onto his face. "I knew you would make it this far, Sakura." The wound from where she severed his head from his neck was gone, and Sai stood before her whole once more. "Thank you for bringing me back."

Sakura felt light all of a sudden and the world around her began to pull apart again. The dream was ending, but Sai was back, he was back, he was back, and he was in front of her.

"No problem," she laughed. "No problem at all."

UPDADE: Ibiki has been replaced with Baki in this version. Sakura's guide for the last desert themed world is Baki, Baki a jōnin of Sunagakure and a member of its advisory council. He's the dude from Suna. I got his name and Ibiki Morino's name mixed up, I apologize.

AN:/ I finished this six minutes ago and I'm off to my part time work so I'll see about coming back to it later, but there we go. Not really a good first look into the Kingdom, but I think the reveal at the end was worth it. A good way to end the chapter. To all of you who were sad to see Sai go, I knew I was going to do this one way or another. Another idea I tossed around was bringing him back as a cat that helped her secretly, but I like this way too.

Please remember to review, because really, that's what sustains me.