"But it's useless! Do you think that I haven't tried to escape from here before? Each time I've failed, and I didn't come any closer each time I tried!" Fuu hopelessly exclaimed to Sakura, who looked down at her as if she were some insignificant child who begged for dessert before the main course of a meal.
How many times has she tried to escape? How many attempts has she made to crack the cave walls and send the rocks crashing down onto the dusty ground to gain access to her freedom? From the look in her eyes, it seemed that many attempts were tried, and each and every single one of them fell into hopelessness and was added into the dust on the ground, her failures taunting her beneath her feet and sticking to her perspired skin.
But today, Sakura would be the water that washed away the failures of the jinchūriki before her. The next step, however, would be to find the weakest part of the walls. She secretly wished that Hinata or Neji were there with her, or any Hyuga that wielded the byakugan. That way, she would be able to tell where the rocks ended, and the right spot to strike them.
Sakura turned her head and instantly caught her reflection staring back at her in one of the green crystals sticking out of the wall, casting its green light on her body. She narrowed her eyes at her reflection, remembering how moments ago it came extremely close to stealing her chakra, depleting her energy just enough so that she wouldn't be able to do anything but rot in the cave. Eyes blazing with frustration, she sent her fist smashing into the crystal, sending deep cracks into its core.
Then it happened.
The crystal began to vibrate, deepening the cracks and cutting Sakura's surprised reflection in half. The light that the crystal once casted vanished, melting away into the air.
Sakura stared into the now clear crystal for a few seconds, completely shocked at the event that had just occurred before her. It only took a few seconds for her to formulate a plan, the angles working themselves out rapidly inside her head.
It had to be it, it had to work.
"The crystals!" Sakura exclaimed, looking to Fuu with hopefulness in her eyes, but the bright feeling slowly drifted away once Fuu shook her head sadly.
"Look again." she said, pointing to the crystal that Sakura had cracked moments ago. Sakura's eyes widened as the cracks rapidly began to repair themselves, dissolving back into the surface and stitching themselves up to create a scratch free surface. The green glow slowly began to return, mocking Sakura by blooming inside of the crystal even brighter and stronger, the color melting into ever inch of the rock.
"I've tried destroying them, but they always grow back and mend themselves. I've always been too slow.." Fuu explained mellowly.
Sakura frowned in thought, and glanced from Fuu to the newly fixed crystal, her head swimming with thoughts.
She thought back to when she first woke up in the cave, and how she had immediately noticed the eerie green glow that saturated the cave. Then, she recalled being pushed to the ground by Fuu with a panic in her eyes, Sakura not realizing that Fuu had wanted to protect her from the bright green flash that ate up every inch of the cave except for the girls, who were shielded by one of Chomei's orange dragonfly wings. Sakura heard past Fuu's voice in her head, the girl telling her that the light zapped away chakra to keep captives weak and unable to fight or defend themselves.
And it had suddenly became clear to Sakura that the two of them hadn't gotten struck by the light.
"I don't think that's it.." Sakura said carefully.
Fuu cocked her head to the side and frowned. "What do you mean?"
Sakura traced the wall with her fingers, skimming her fingertips over the bumps of the rocks. Her mind raced as she spoke.
"I don't think that your problem was that you were too slow…I think your problem was that you didn't have enough pieces to put the puzzle together."
Fuu shook her head. "You've lost me."
"Think about it. You said so yourself that these crystals have the ability to absorb our chakra and weaken us, and where else would our chakra go but inside the crystals? But, everything has its limits."
Fuu's eyes widened. "You mean-"
"Exactly." Sakura nodded tersely. "This entire cave is a network of flowing energy. This is why the rocks are indestructible and it also explains why the crystals regenerate like they do, they're living off of stolen chakra. Who knows how many prisoners he's kept here?"
Sakura had surprised herself at how quickly she came to this conclusion. Normally, she would spend minutes thinking over a situation this complicated, working out the smallest angles and bumps in her mind slowly and carefully so that she wouldn't miss a single hole. But this time, she had a strange feeling in her gut; something was telling her that she had to act quickly, and her plan would take effect. With just one minute, she had everything figured out.
"I have a theory, and if it's correct, we may be able to get out of here."
Fuu's complexion brightened instantly, and she bounced over to Sakura and lightly shook her shoulders. "What is it?!"
"If I'm correct, the chakra in the wall rushes to rejuvenate a broken crystal, so that means that while the crystals are repairing, there should be weak spots in the walls. Think about it. The energy comes from what the crystals absorbed. And after that last hit of light, it shouldn't have absorbed our chakra thanks to Chomei."
Fuu's eyes widened and a smile spread on her lips. "Then that means.."
"The more the crystals regenerate, the more stored chakra is used, and when it runs out of chakra to use.."
"The walls will be weak!" Fuu exclaimed.
Sakura smiled triumphantly. "And we can escape!"
"You look like you have a plan." Fuu said, her eyes glittering in mischief.
Sakura returned the glittering eyes. "More than that."
Sakura's eyes danced around each crystal in the cave, noting their positions carefully. They were scattered all around them, only leaving a few small inches of space between each other to allow the rocks of the wall to make their presence known.
"You said that Chomei is the seven tails, correct?" Sakura asked, her eyes still tracing the crystals.
Sakura saw Fuu nod in the corner of her eye. "Yupp, but to be more precise, he has seven wings. After all, he is a dragonfly."
"And just how strong are those wings?" Sakura asked, envisioning the giant orange wing shooting out of Fuu's back to protect the girls from the light of the crystals.
Fuu smiled. "You'd be surprised. Don't underestimate a dragonfly."
"Perfect. We'll need them." Sakura said, finally looking down from the walls and into Fuu's eyes. "Here's the plan…"
He'd been listening to their hushed whispers and planning, eagerly awaiting for his captives to try and make their escape.
But of course, that's what he had planned all along.
Even as he continued to listen to the pink-haired kunoichi relay her plan of action to the jinchūriki, he laughed at the hope he felt in their bodies, though to be more exact, in the pink girl's body. The jinchūriki had been proving to be difficult to keep control of, his hold over her had weakened over the years that he'd kept her in that cave, and he found it more difficult to stay in her head as long as he used to.
However, that's where the other one came in.
She was new and exotic, and she would be essential to his plan. After all, she would be supplying him with another jinchūriki to hold on to. And now, it seemed that she had a special trait of her own, something to make her a bit sweeter. And she had been ripening for three years..
Fuu looked at Sakura with shocked eyes, glittering with surprise.
"Are you sure? You've been saving all that chakra for three years, it would be a waste to just get rid of it.."
"It would also be a waste to stay in here and remain in that creep's hands. I couldn't think of a better scenario than this to use it." Sakura said, reassuring Fuu clearly. "Don't worry."
Fuu sighed, then wiped away the doubt in her eyes.
"You ready?" Sakura asked, putting on her signature black fighting gloves and flexing her fingers underneath the fabric.
"You bet!" Fuu nodded, closing her eyes and forming a single hand sign with her right hand.
Sakura also closed her eyes, and began to activate her chakra that she'd been storing up, gathering it all together into her fists in a frenzy, allowing herself to feel her own power flow into her fingertips and palms. Her head had suddenly felt lighter, having taken a bit of chakra from the very spot in the middle of her forehead that she'd been saving to receive the mark of her success in training, the same seal that the Hokage bore on her forehead.
Sakura felt her chakra charge up, and her eyes flew open.
"Now!"
"Hah!" Fuu exclaimed as Sakura saw her eyes fly open, her amber eyes swirling red. An invisible breeze began to swirl around the two girls, and Sakura felt an overwhelming rush of chakra, a rush that she had only felt whenever she was near Naruto in a dire situation.
In a sudden flash, Fuu's back erupted with orange, flooding the area around them with the color. Sakura watched in amazement as the orange dragonfly wings sprouted out of Fuu's back effortlessly and lunged for the walls of the cave. Sakura's breath caught in her lungs as she watched the wings swipe away the crystals effortlessly, as if they were mere pebbles. They emitted crashes that resembled the sound of shattering glass, glittering emerald shards exploding above their heads like fireworks. Glittering stardust fell onto the girls, dusting powdery shine to their skin and hair. The walls of the cave had been exposed, stripped naked of their jewels, the green glow darkening as each crystal exploded.
But they weren't done yet.
Almost immediately , the cave began to light up in its green glow, the crystals growing back and regenerating and sticking out prominently from the walls.
"Fuu!"
"On it!"
Sakura watched as Fuu's wings-or Chomei's, rather- reacted instantly to the new growth activity on their right, smashing into the new crystals. Sakura's eyes followed the wings, nodding as they demolished every piece of green it touched.
After a few more pounds of dust sprinkled down in front of her eyes, Sakura nodded to herself, and closed her eyes, continuing to build up her power. There'd be no way that Fuu would be doing all the work here. She'd made that promise a long time ago, to never sit back and let others do all the work. It would never happen again.
However, she wasn't ready, not yet.
She needed more time, just another minute..
The act continued countlessly. The wings of the Nanabi would crush the crystals into a fine powder that was sent down in a sparkling shower around them. The dust floated in the air around Sakura as her chakra built up.
Just a bit more.
Sakura's breathing slowed, her muscles numbing from her chakra.
"Sakura!"
Sakura's eyes flew open, and saw the base of a single crystal beginning to form, however, its progress had slowed significantly. The crystal had barely begun to surface, frozen in its tracks against the rocks surrounding it. It glowed feebly and weakly, its light diminishing.
"Do it now!" Fuu yelled.
Without hesitation, Sakura leaped up into the air. She extended her right leg so that she would land on top of a bright orange wing, and she braced herself as the wing lowered slightly, then gave her a boost as she shot farther up into the air from the momentum.
The chakra in her fist swirled violently with power, demanding to be released.
With an intense fire in her fist and eyes, she charged at the weakened crystal, seeking an avalanche.
"SHANAROOOO!"
Her fist slammed into the wall, and a shower of rocks exploded around her, sending dust and bits of rock flying everywhere. She swiftly dodged every bit of rock that lunged to hit her, jumping on top of them and making her way back to the cluttered ground.
Swiftly out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw a gigantic rock falling right towards her. In a swift motion, she spun in mid air and sent it flying in the opposite direction, creating a multitude of cracks down the side of the cave. The cracks travelled up the wall, sending more rocks falling down; a shower of rocks.
Just as she landed on the ground, Sakura was enwrapped in an orange wing, blocking her from the hundreds of sharpened rocks aiming to harm her. Sakura panted heavily as she watched the rocks bounce off the wing, slamming into the ground.
"Arigato.." Sakura said, turning to Fuu who had sweat dripping down her temples. Fuu smiled at her, showing no signs of discomfort, however her body had said otherwise. Sakura instantly honed in on Fuu's slightly shaking legs and glassy eyes, which were turned back to their amber, the red banished completely.
"Are you hurt?" Sakura asked, her medical instincts kicking in instantly.
Fuu shook her head. "No, trust me I'm fine. It just takes a lot sometimes, to use this power..what about you?"
Sakura nodded. "I'm perfectly fine."
With what sounded like a relieved sigh, the orange disappeared from Sakura's vision, the light of their surrounding dimming even more drastically than before.
Sakura watched intriguingly as the seven wings slowly began to return to Fuu's back, melting back into her skin, leaving no trace that they were ever there in the first place.
The area had looked far worse than Sakura had anticipated. The ground had been layered in rocks and crystal dust, every inch of the cave floor covered up, the cave resembling a small and battered battle field of war. Not a single crystal remained on the crumbling walls, the green dust scattered everywhere proved it.
Sakura took a step forward, and immediately regretted it, for she had stepped on a loosened rock that almost made her trip. She grunted and kicked the small rock to her side, and her eyes bounced around the rock avalanche zone until she turned around and let out a relieved yet excited sigh.
Her tired eyes laid on the desirable outcome of their plan; a giant opening had been created in the cave, faint light pouring into the dark and sending small tingles of warmth onto Sakura's face.
The light of their freedom.
"We did it, Sakura!" Fuu exclaimed.
Sakura turned to Fuu, and shook her head happily. "Don't thank me, it was all thanks to you and those wings of yours. Be sure to give my thanks to Chomei!"
Fuu laughed, "Will do!" and leaped over to the newly created passage for the girls. She leaned her head out towards the light, then turned back around excitedly. "It's a tunnel! The exit's just up ahead! Let's go!"
"Hai!" Sakura exclaimed, leaping over the sharpened rocks that lay scattered on the ground and dashing towards the light, the light that she craved to feel on her skin and the breeze that she wanted to ruffle up her hair. Everything of that nature meant freedom, and as she glanced over at Fuu running beside her, she couldn't help but feel a warmth spread in her heart, a warmth that told her that she had not only given herself freedom, but also to Fuu. How long had it been since she felt the fresh air and sunlight of a new day? Just how long had it been for her to see the blue sky and lush green grass?
None of it mattered though, because she would have it all that day.
The opening of the cave lead to the widespread tunnel that stretched outwards, a long and dim alley of rocks and solid dusty ground that opened up at the end that served as an exit for those worthy enough to find their way out. Sakura knew that she would be back, right after she met up with the others, she'd take them back here to send Joryoku into his deserving pit of hell.
Sakura's lungs began to inhale the crisp air of the forest, the light becoming stronger ahead of them, blinding her eyes with the truth. She was almost there, almost free-
"That was very foolish of you.."
Sakura's eyes widened and her body slid to a stop, her heart palpitating from the voice that had found its way back into her head.
No..it couldn't be…of all times…
And then there was pain, so much pain..
She collapsed to the ground in agony as if she had a thousand weights strapped onto her spine. A fire erupted in her head, melting and blazing her skull into oblivion. She heard a contorted scream that was far from sounding human, and yet it came from her very own mouth.
"Sakura!"
Sakura's throat closed up, burning as if she had swallowed acid. She dug her nails into the dirt beneath her, her body limp on the ground. Pain vibrated throughout her entire body, pain she'd never felt before than succeeded all the rest.
She heard footsteps rushing towards her, and another shot of pain through her head confirmed the source of her agony.
"No! Don't!" she exclaimed breathlessly to Fuu, who had instantly stopped in her tracks, her eyes widened in fear.
"What's wrong?! What's happening?!"
Sakura screamed again, her entire body shaking.
It was him, she had heard his rough and threatening voice vibrate throughout her skull.
And he was coming.
"G-Go! G-Get out of here!" Sakura spat out shakily.
"What?!" Fuu exclaimed, eyes widening.
"If..if you don't leave now..he'll get you too!" Sakura said through her gritted teeth.
"What? No! Absolutely not! I won't leave you like this-"
"Find them! Find Naruto and Sasuke-kun! Find my teammates…tell them what's happened-AHH!" Sakura choked out before writhing in pain once more.
Fuu shook her head rapidly, tears budding in her eyes. "Sakura, I can't just leave you-"
"GO! NOW!" Sakura screamed with venom in her voice, sounding more harsh than intended.
Fuu stood in her spot like a frightened doe, not knowing whether or not to abandon its mother for safety or get killed along with her by the hunter.
But Sakura was adamant, Fuu had to escape, even if she didn't.
"And..if they don't believe that you are who you say..you are..t-tell them….aghhh!" Sakura barely choked out what she had wanted to say, but she managed to fight the pain, her message to her friends barely a whisper.
She watched with blurring vision as Fuu looked at her with terrified and regretful eyes, but she finally dashed away, looking back at Sakura before melting into the sunlight.
Sakura remained silent on the ground, her body becoming numb. As she heard threatening footsteps approach her limp body, her mind slurred out her thoughts.
Fuu gone..be safe.
Naruto..
Fuu wasn't affected..
Sasuke-kun..
Pain.
What wasn't she in pain like me?
So much pain..
Escape..
Fuu not under control like me..
Sasuke-kun..
Control…..
Everything went black.
A/N: OMG I'm finally able to post this chapter after a month! I'm so sorry it took this long, school has literally been killing my free time since it's my senior year and I'm taking AP classes and not to mention applying to college..so that's been fun. Not to mention extra activities that I'm in, where I practice at school three days a week and don't get home until 8:00 and sometimes 9:45..so yeah fall is a very busy time for me so I hope I'll get some chapters up, I'll try my very best!
Anyway, thoughts on the chapter? Naruto and Sasuke will be back in the next chapter! So look out! Thank you for being SO patient! 3
For manga readers:
OMG OMG OMGGGGGGGGG
Everything is just so crazy now, and honestly I wasn't that surprised after last weeks's chapter (692) since we all knew the fight between Naruto and Sasuke was coming, but still! I just want Sasuke back…