Naruto descended, his parachute transforming back into a clone before dispersing. "Looks like we didn't need plan B after all, huh."
Sasuke observed the wreckage, the arena silent and grey. Above, the sun had disappeared behind clouds, ash thick in the air. The real battle had only begun.
They turned to their third teammate.
Sakura had both hands clasped behind her back, eyes lost in the distance. Her thoughts remained encrypted inside her own mind, the end of her communication line mute. She did not appear aware of their presence, filled with a blankness that festered the apprehension inside Naruto's stomach. He had hopes the victory would allow her to find solace. Damaged or not, she needed to move on. And if this... all of this, did not help, he was at a loss as to what would.
Sasuke studied the kunoichi with care, the subtleties of her posture and command. No, she was moving on. But what Naruto wanted to see was her moving backwards, be stitched back to her old self. What Sasuke saw was someone moving forward. Someone evolving, adapting, taking what worked, leaving behind what didn't. Someone who had sunken into an abyss and was now clawing her way out, one drag of the fingernails after another. The question was whether or not they would be able to accept what emerges.
Sakura's voice returned.
"Let's go."
Between her teeth was the shell of a hyōrōgan. She bit down, letting the bitterness overpower her senses, then disappeared with a flicker. Her teammates followed.
Left behind in the arena was glass.
It cracked.
.
The ANBU halted before a barrier, each corner stationed by an Oto nin. Inside the chakra prism, a kunai pressed against the neck of their Hokage.
"Grief of your sons is understandable, Kazekage-dono, but starting a war is not the solution."
There was only a laugh in return.
"You have no idea what you've just unleashed."
.
On the hospital bed, Hinata lied strapped to wires, an oxygen mask secured around her head and inscription tags wrapped down her limbs. Bouquets of flowers had accumulated on nightstand over the past weeks, a few of the azaleas wilted dry.
Neji removed these stalks, along with the befallen petals. He sat by her bed, his crutch propped against the wall. Peeking under the hem of his jinbei were weaves of bandages, from jaw to toe, his right ear and eye wrapped by gauze. The nurses did not want him mobile for at least another two weeks, but lying bedridden every day had grated his nerves.
A knock at the door. Four guards, two ANBU and two Hyūga, parted for the regular nurse. She wheeled in a medicine cart, before stopping short of the bed to uncap a syringe. Neji paid her no attention, still brushing petals off the nightstand when she positioned the needle before the tubing to the IV.
The nurse pressed her thumb against the plunger, and the head of the needle blew off with a silent pop of air.
She craned her neck and saw the needle had embedded itself in the hard wood of a crutch, delicately repositioned between her and the final remaining Hyūga. In the background, four bodies had hit the floor, the guards dead.
Her feet were wet. She blinked, as the contents of the IV dripped onto her shoes, the tubing cut by the slash of a shuriken from under the bed. He must have thought the syringe was meant for the girl.
"Are you working for Orochimaru." The only thing to betray his composure was the fistful of crumpled petals, fingers caging around them a tad too rigid.
The nurse smiled. "You're on a different level than the others."
The crutch swiveled, collecting the assault of poisoned darts in its sweep across the bed, before the tip dealt a blunt blow to her ribs.
On the floor, she rolled her head until she faced her enemy, dead eyes fixated on the center of his forehead. "Such shame. You'd have been perfect."
Neji dug the crutch deeper into her stomach. "What does Orochimaru want with Hinata-sama."
A last breath escaped her lungs. "Greatness."
Her chakra circulation stopped, the last influences of enemy control withdrawn from the brain. Her body had stopped being warm a long time ago.
Neji deactivated his Byakugan. Steadying his knees, he limped back towards the bed, where he gathered Hinata to his chest.
By the next billow of the curtains, all wires were unplugged, the room lifeless.
.
On top of the water tower, Kabuto reopened his eyes. Getting the Hyūga heiress was more difficult than expected. He may need to use those four after all. But first... he returned his attention to the summoning scroll before him. He never expected Gaara to be defeated in the tournament, but it had saved him a considerable amount of work.
Outside the arena, Karin trembled. Even after the fire cleared, the air remained abnormally quiet, as if abandoned by nature. The surrounding energy was as saturated as the clouds above. Something was gathering.
Kabuto smiled, a gleam in his glasses. On top of the scroll was a tea kettle, battered and cracked from age.
Something was coming, Karin realized, her footwork in uneven retreat. Except this time, she did not know if she could escape.
A beam of light shot down from the skies to the earth, pulled straight into the heart of Konohagakure.
All across the village, broomsticks paused, heads peaked out from windows, pedestrians stopped in the streets. After two precarious minutes, the beam of light finally thinned. Then it dissipated altogether.
Civilians were ready to resume their work when there came a rumble, akin to a roll of thunder. Only the rumble came not from the skies, but from the earth, the noises of creaking wood and grating concrete magnifying into an eruption.
Hana rolled onto the ground, ninken shielded in her arms, as the earth beneath them undulated in waves. All around, apartment complexes caved inwards like cards, telephone poles kept from toppling by snagged wires. One wall of the post office disconnected from the tree, iron pipes exposed and electrical wires sparking.
"Is everyone okay?" she yelled, before feeling a hot flash against her back, splinters of burnt wood spat into the streets. Behind, a fire had exploded to life, gasoline leaking from a burst pipe. She caught sight of a white flash of fur. "Wait, Akamaru!"
However, Akamaru had already ran back inside their house, just as the next shockwave hit, and the village was thrust into shadow. Hana paled at the sight of the rising beast.
.
"I-Ibiki-san."
At the southern gate, Ibiki felt his fingers go numb, struck by a terror he had not experienced in over twelve years. Beside him, a shinobi stopped mid-way through his report. There had been no sightings of enemy nin along the village wall. Now they knew why.
Ibiki refound his nerve. "Get me in touch with the Chief Commander!" The command broke his subordinates out of their shock.
"D-do we go? Do we help them?" asked Shinobu. His hands shook at the collapse of a particular high-rise tower that marked the intersection of his home street. His wife was not nin. His son was two. He had warned them to stay indoors today. He had-
The men were divided, half with their focus on the inside of the village, half with their focus out. The need to fight. The need to flee. Only, no one will move from their position. Their duty was to protect the wall. Enemy nin were still waiting on the other side, anticipating a drop in their forces.
Though there will be little point to protecting the wall if everyone inside is already dead.
Ibiki dared himself to stare into the eyes of the bijū, finally snapped awake from its slumber. The ichibi dipped its head back, unleashing a roar that sent remaining structures collapsing in dominos.
.
"W-what was that!" Deep within the bedrock of the Hokage monument, inside the protection shelter, Moegi unplugged her ears. Beside her, Udon clutched onto his glasses, tears in his eyes. The lamps revealed a roomful of hyperventilating children.
"Don't panic. As teachers, we will protect you all." The assurance lowered a few shoulders but not many. Iruka felt sweat roll down his neck, his jaw tense. Once the chamber sealed, it was impossible to tell what was happening on the outside. But that noise was not human.
His fingers subconsciously touched his nose, thumb tracing along the ridge of his scar, when the floor shook again. Another sob burst out.
"Oh, will you babies calm down!" Konohamaru stood up, chest heaved. "Whatever's going on out there, the Hokage is going to handle it! So shut your blubbering, jeez." With that, he plopped back down, cheek turned and arms crossed.
His back hunched. They were going to be fine. His grandpa was going to handle it.
.
Orochimaru's face split at the earthquakes and screams. "My, these bijū waste no time." He laughed. "What will you do, Sarutobi-sensei."
Throughout the streets, Konoha troops lied scattered, impaled by stalagmites of sand. Yūgao coughed into her mask, blood trailing down her neck. Her grip against the hilt of her katana loosened. Her final sight was of a bubbling black sphere in the sky.
From the shadows, wrinkled hands kneaded into a cane.
"Danzō-sama, do we have the command to interfere."
An army of awaiting soldiers lined behind. The bijūdama coagulated, then unleashed, funneling towards the Hokage monument.
"Danzō-sama!"
A wrap of scroll weaved around the bomb midair, followed by a three-sixty assault of concealment tags and final bat of an adamantine staff. The bijūdama made an unstable swerve, resulting in an explosion several kilometers north of the village.
On top of the Hokage monument, Hiruzen slammed down his staff, his old teammates flanking his sides. Koharu secured a loose hair pin back in place, while Homura unrolled more of his scroll.
The commander of the northern patrol collapsed in relief. "Hokage-sama."
Inside the barrier, shoulders shook. "The better question is..." Anko peeled away the flesh from her face, unrestrained mirth in her eyes. "What will you do, sensei."
Both disguises shed. Orochimaru and Anko leapt to opposite sides of the barrier, hands in motion. At the final seal, summoning inscriptions spiraled to life, the rise of three coffins and the unraveling of three scrolls.
Naruto stepped off the Earth scroll while Sasuke stepped off the Heaven. In the middle, Sakura kicked away hers, just as the lids of the opposing coffins fell.
"Isn't this like looking in a mirror," Orochimaru mused, his lips pulled into an ironic smile. The coffins had sunk back into the ground, leaving behind his three reanimations, two shinobi in antiquated armor and one kunoichi.
Naruto blinked. "Uh, Sakura-chan, who are they?"
It took a moment for Sakura to break out of her shock, the blizzard of questions within her mind restacked into order. The textbooks within her mental library were quick to supply Naruto with his answer.
"The founders of Konohagakure."
.
"The found-" Naruto closed his mouth. Admittedly, math was not his strongest subject, but uh, the Sandaime was old, and the Shodaime came before the Sandaime, so the Shodaime must be even older, which means…
"Wow, that's one really good facelift," he mumbled, stroking his chin.
A thump to his head. "No, you idiot, they're dead. Dead!" Sakura lowered her fist. Well, supposedly dead…
Unfortunately for her, not as dead as she would have liked. The reincarnated body of Senju Hashirama needed only a raise his hand for the earth to quiver. In a burst, trees shot in all directions, a massive growth of flora to every corner of the barrier.
A fūma shuriken freed Naruto of his mokuton restraints, before curving back in a boomerang. Sasuke seized hold of his weapon in time to block an incoming kama attack, only to be caught within the spiral of the Sharingan.
While Sakura shattered the genjutsu with the slam of an imaginary hammer, Naruto swept her body away from an assault of senbon. Sasuke deflected the remaining attacks, and the team stood back to back.
The enemy nin encircled them. Sakura yelped as wood ensnared their bodies, set ablaze by a draconic inferno and finally doused in a hurricane of water.
Pressed against the bark of a tree, Naruto watched the complete obliteration of their kawarimi. Holy fuck. When Anko said this was going to be their last mission together, she was not kidding. Because after this, they were so promoted. Or dead. Most likely dead.
They were hilariously outclassed. Sasuke's speed assessment did nothing to calm Sakura's nerves, as her eyes flashed over to Naruto. "Activate the kyūbi."
"Easier said than done, Sakura-chan!"
Sasuke threw tagged kunai at the incoming mokuton hands. They could not resort to the kyūbi. The last time Naruto went into kyūbi mode, he destroyed a mountain. Nearly destroyed himself and the team too. And despite all their efforts in the past month, he could barely activate it on a conscious level, much less control it.
Sakura hated when Sasuke disagreed with her. She rolled out of the way of his explosion, only to find herself at the foot of the enemy. Her heart stopped, as the dusted figure of Uchiha Madara watched her with disregard, funeral ashes cracked from his skin and onto her hair.
She failed to register what happened next, just one giant whiplash. The flash of metal, a hand, a breath, Sasuke collapsed by her side, and both their bodies buried under a pile of Naruto's kage bunshin.
Outside the barrier, the ANBU watched flames engulf every edge of the prism. They leapt back when the air around them began to incinerate as well, a wave of heat bursting into the atmosphere. This type of katon was on a whole different league.
The barrier rippled, viscous under the heat. At the corners, sweat dripped onto the ground, skin sweltering red. Four Oto nin redoubled their chakra, the swirls of their curse seals emerging. The barrier stabilized once more.
Inside, the fire had eaten itself, transmuted into smoldering clouds. Blankets of volcanic ash layered onto the ground, the earlier woodlands reduced to skeletal branches amidst flurries of grey.
Orochimaru emerged from the remains of his snake summoning while Anko emerged from hers.
"Do you just plan on copying me, Anko? Did your talents sink down to Kakashi's level."
Anko sneered. "Like you were ever the one for originality."
Her foot pivoted, his Kusanagi locked by an intersection of daggers. Her parry avoided the edge of his blade, relying on momentum and angle to redirect his attack. The Kusanagi stretched just as a third dagger flew by.
The sleeve of her jacket tore open. Strands of his hair fell down.
Across the barrier, a dome cracked, then poofed away, layer by layer, piece by piece. Inside its shell protection, Sakura coughed, eyes tearing, head dizzy. Ashes burned against her skin. It was one thing to read about the Gōka Mekkyaku; it was another thing to survive it.
The final piece of the dome fell onto Sakura's lap, as Naruto released his henge.
"Naruto."
She reached for him, only to retract her hand. She shook, staring at the peaks of white bone against red-black flesh. He was not moving.
"NARUTO!"
.
Temari closed her eyes at the distant screams, limping further into the forest. She never believed in superstitions, never held any type of faith. But even she could see the wheel of karma.
"You heard the order, open the gates!"
The main gate of the village opened with a loud groan. Floods of civilians and shinobi alike made their escape, children in hand and possessions in tow. Other parts of the wall collapsed in a series of detonations, allowing survivors to climb over the timbers to the outside.
Ibiki turned his attention to the Chief Commander. "This is a risque move."
For decades, the village had controlled its borders with an iron fist. To issue a mass evacuation would have been unthinkable. Fortunately for them, Nara Shikaku had an inclination for unthinkable strategies.
The enemy had refused to move, waiting for the ichibi to annihilate the majority of Konoha forces. They would only infiltrate the village in the aftermath, to clean up any remaining survivors.
Well, if they refused to come to the village, then the village would just have to come to them.
From the north came another howl to the winds, followed by more rumbles of the earth. A Suna shinobi descended onto the camp, where the captain stood in waiting.
"Report!"
"Konoha forces have been spotted. They are moving this way."
The jōnin within the battalion exchanged a look. They had not expected Konoha to divide their manpower, not if the village wished to minimize damage from the ichibi or save their population. Such strategy was aggressive, if not foolhardy.
The captain ignored their murmurs in favor of the scout. His troubled expression had not gone unnoticed. "How many men."
The scout had no numbers for him, just that the force was large. The captain frowned. "And how large is large? Thirty men?"
"S-sixty…"
The captain turned to his troops, order on tongue, when the scout finished. "...thousand."
There was a pause, before a snort from the back. "Oi, learn to count!" Sajin made a rising gesture with his flask. "The entire shinobi force of Konoha can't be more than six thousand, let alone sixty."
A round of snickers followed, but the scout held his place, shifting a nervous glance towards the captain. "It's not just the shinobi coming, captain. It's everyone."
Before the captain could respond, their second lieutenant rose, palms freed from the earth. "He is not incorrect. I sense a mass movement, at different levels of velocity. The first wave will hit us in twenty minutes."
"How many men?"
"Eighty in the first wave. Five hundred in the second. Two thousand in the third, and…" She paused. "Sixty thousand would not be an incorrect estimate for the final."
Ibiki flipped close his lighter. Below, the streets had quieted of activity, empty except for the crackles of fire and crumbles of infrastructure. The wind carried another howl, as the ichibi fought against the Hokage and remaining platoons of ANBU. Their numbers had reduced to a meager handful, their seals and barriers broken with every additional thrash.
The Sandaime may not be able to contain this. The village may not be salvageable.
Shikaku exhaled a breath of smoke. Luckily, he had already planned for the worst-case scenario. "It takes three days to travel to Sunagakure, I believe," he mused.
Ibiki did not hide his amusement. "A counter-invasion?"
"Of the great military villages, Sunagakure has the weakest numbers. And they have only been dwindling ever since the last war, relying on terrain to deter enemy forces. Their land is infertile, so bordering countries never saw any appeal." Shikaku paused when the familiar voice from Intelligence echoed in his mind. Found them.
With a grim smile, Shikaku threw his cigarette over the edge. It landed somewhere in the rubble below, the tip extinguished. "Unfortunately for Sunagakure, we're not too picky at this point." If he timed this right, their population may find new housing within the week. With that, he left to greet Inoichi and Chōza on the front lines.
.
The air was bitter. Sasuke awakened to an ashen wasteland, a serpent trail leading up to his current spot. Dragged alongside him was Naruto, whose eyes were fluttering back to consciousness.
"About time you boys are up."
The ground at Sakura's feet was spotted with color. More blood dripped off her fingernails, down her ankles, the edges of metal pierced through her from every direction.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto kicked ashes behind him, scrambling up in time to catch her fall. Her body rolled listlessly in his arms.
His pupils narrowed. "Sakura-chan!"
A flash, the click of metal against metal. A kunai swiveled in Sasuke's hand, as he flickered up front, deflecting the next wave of attacks. Meanwhile, the real Sakura fell down to one knee. She swallowed back the iron in her mouth, her breath shallow, her body tremoring from hypovolemic shock.
"Sakura, you okay?" Sasuke froze at the sudden spike of chakra behind him. His eyes darted towards Naruto's prone figure, where a layer of orange chakra was bubbling.
"What did you do." Sasuke hissed, rushing forward only to stop mid-step. It was too late.
"He thinks I died," Sakura answered bluntly. Naruto's burn wound had been fatal. This was the only way to save him.
Slowly, flesh began to mend itself, as the regenerative powers of the kyūbi seized hold. Sakura closed her eyes. She did not regret her decision.
Straightening up, she forced herself to stand, eyes on the burnt carcasses of their enemies. Their own regeneration was almost complete, bodies sculpted layer by layer like paper mache. Their jaws reshaped, necks snapped in place, limbs materializing despite all her efforts to keep them disabled with explosive tags. Soon, they would be fully mobile, and she would no longer be able to keep them at bay.
"Sasuke, you're going to have to trust me on this one."
Anko took a double leap at the sudden screech. Then, a blast of chakra, far too demonic and dense to be human. Oho, sounded like her team finally got that kyūbi out. Her glee was cut short by the sinking of her foot. A pit of snakes hissed, wrapping around her leg and pulling her deeper into the genjutsu.
Her body broke through the ceiling and down into a familiar chamber, where a child was tapping a jar of formaldehyde. On the table lied beakers of various concoctions, the coils of snake skin in alcohol. The unbolting of a lock turned both their heads toward the door.
"Sensei!" The child ran through Anko, stopping in a flicker before the visitor. "You're back!"
Phosphorescent eyes examined the condition of the laboratory, not a single piece of equipment astray. "There's no damage?"
"Oh, the kyūbi? Pft, no, the attack was mostly in the west of the village." The child dropped the topic fast, in favor of another, even going so far as to give a swirl. "Sensei..." she said expectantly.
A flicker of recognition. "You got promoted."
Anko watched her younger self tug at her chūnin flak jacket, beaming with pride. "While stinky Kakashi and everyone hid like cowards, guess who got the Military Medal of Honor! There's even talk of expunging my record."
The bijū should come and play more often. Then she would finally be able to unleash her techniques without fear of repercussion, without all their stupid rules and regulations. She would show that stinky Kakashi who was the true prodigy of this village.
Not that she needed affirmation. After all, out of all the children in the village, she was the one to be chosen by Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin. Out of all the children, she was the strongest. She was the brightest. She was the best, and she was his, as a palm cupped her cheek in a caress. Her smile brightened all that much more.
Anko remembered this now. It was the happiest day of her life.
.
Kurenai turned to the heavy sky, the funnels of smoke from their destroyed home. Twelve years ago, Anko had been of the children missing from the protection barrier. Even now, she was still missing.
From the village came a snap and whip, then the implosion of stone. The road before them rolled in waves, sending civilians in hysteria. One tree snapped, collapsing atop the shield erected by a group of chūnin. The tree threatened to break through, until a shadow jumped out of the tumult and the tree slashed to splinters.
Asuma descended, the chakra dissipated from his trench knife. "Come on, nothing to see here. Move along now." He beckoned the civilians to continue their path through the forest.
More wagons lied abandoned, wheels split and goods forgotten. A mother held her baby closer, the father securing them both under the protection of his cloak.
Asuma exchanged a look with Kurenai, who had equally gone pale at the sight of the distant stone cliffs, the monuments of their Hokage no longer recognizable by face. There was still a group of people who had not evacuated.
"Shikamaru, Chōji, protect the civilians for us, you hear?"
Shikamaru was about to say something, but his teacher had already flickered out, gone back to the village. Next to him, Chōji stared at the crowd of bleary faces, the carpenters and merchants and waitresses now dependent on them for survival.
"W-Well, what are you waiting for?" Chōji found his voice, his chest rising. "Move along. First one there gets all-you-can-eat barbeque, on me!"
Shikamaru was surprised to hear a few chuckles from the mob, the light of hope flashing across their expressions as they continued their march onward. No one noticed tremor in Chōji's fingers, how they balled into a fist. Chōji knew how to be brave when it mattered.
.
On the battle frontier, Chōza grinned when the enemy nin stood paralyzed. Shikaku stepped into the field, his shadow binding technique strangling the Suna shinobi by their necks. He turned to the third member of his old team. "Where are the rest?"
"In retreat," Inoichi said. "The ones here are just to stall us."
"Did they?"
"Stall us? No." Inoichi gave a dry smile. The Inuzuka currently had a bone to pick with Suna. Inoichi just hoped Tsume would save a few for him.
The second lieutenant blitzed through the forest. "Captain, they're advancing! We-"
She had yet to finish when something feral leapt out of the leaves, marring the shinobi to her left.
Ahead, the matriarch of Konoha's Inuzuka clan blocked their path, fangs bared. She had lost her son. She had lost her home. Now, it was their turn to lose.
With a charge, she razored through their forces, a pack of monstrous ninken following suit. A tantō locked onto the teeth of one hound, as the captain flickered before their second lieutenant. "I'll hold them off. Take our remaining forces and continue our retreat."
With a twist of his wrist, the blade slashed through, blood splashing onto both their bodies. "Go!"
She swallowed, before nodding. Her troops would not make it more than half a kilometer before an invisible force sent them in a collision back.
Hanabi unravelled from her form, palm outwards. Further behind, Hiashi stood calmly, his arms folded inside the sleeves of his robe. "We are now under martial law. A perfect opportunity, Hanabi, to perform your first kill."
"Yes, otou-san."
The second lieutenant clutched her side, fingers digging into the soil. She had only heard stories of the Hyūga, though it seemed they were no exaggeration. The blow had ruptured something inside her, one of her arms rendered paralyzed.
Hanabi shifted into her next kata, ready to finish them off when the air shifted. Alarmed, she swiveled on her heel, just as blades of wind cut through. Strands of hair fell at her feet.
The second lieutenant could only stare at the mounted figure before her. There was no other person in Sunagakure with that kind of yōkai summoning. "T-Temari-dono."
"I've reorganized our troops. Meet up with the eastern division back at our first checkpoint." There was no waver in her voice, no room for questions. The order was final.
Temari rode forth on Kamatari, before both disappeared into the air. The surrounding forest decimated, ripped through with the power of a tornado.
Hanabi braced herself, footwork in increasing retreat. Shit. The jūken was impenetrable against all forms of physical attack except one: wind.
Shikaku leapt onto the next tree with difficulty, his foothold uneven. Everywhere, severed branches flew past at alarming speeds.
"What's going on, Inoichi," he shouted, squinting through the debris. His chakra helped him latch onto the bark, but even that was slipping.
"I don't know. Shibi-san and his kikaichū are caught in the whirlwind ahead." Inoichi forced a descent, back pressed against a boulder to shield from the wind. A new voice entered his mind, this time from the north.
Chōza caught the change in his friend's expression. "What now?"
"Oto nin have been spotted. There's trouble in the civilian party."
.
All around, Oto nin engaged in combat with Konoha shinobi. Shikamaru and Chōji were ushering the civilians away from the chaos when a monstrosity rose from the distant foliage. On top of three gargantuan snakes were three figures.
Dosu chuckled. "We're not letting you get away that easily. Kin! Zaku!"
Their strike stopped midair. Shikamaru shook, forcing himself still under his shadow imitation technique, releasing the second before a multi-sized Chōji dealt his punch.
"Now Ino, use-!"
Shikamaru stopped. Behind him was only a shivering civilian girl. She had her mouth open to warn him, a finger pointed toward the incoming snake. It was too late.
.
Thumb against thumb to create a window with the hands, as per signature of the Yamanaka's shintenshin no jutsu.
Green eyes narrowed, before a simple aim and fire. Sasuke caught Sakura's body just before her fall.
Sakura stood amidst a void of white. Only this time, there was not one door before her, but two. The key Naruto had given her would not open this second door, so she was forced to do this the old fashioned way. A battle axe materialized in her hands, as she swung again and again, pushing her conscious deeper into his subconscious until she finally broke through, the chain and lock sent flying on the other side.
The door led to a series of stairs, further and further down until she stopped at a tunnel. Overhead lights buzzed, revealing a labyrinth of narrow walls but high ceilings. She stepped down, the coldness of water soaking her feet.
She ventured forth, with no company except for the dripping noise of a leak from the industrial pipes above.
An echo. Sakura followed the sound, passing one abandoned hallway after the next, the spaces widening, the atmosphere thickening. The closer she got, the more distinct the noise became, less beast and more human.
In the final hallway, there was only darkness ahead. Before she could take her next step, a sudden clang had her falling back, her breath caught in her lungs. A throaty laugh.
A pair of luminescent eyes peered down at her beyond the bars of a gate, cheshire smile baring rows of teeth.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here."
Sakura closed her mouth. The kyūbi. It was sentient.