Sasuke narrowed his eyes, hands clenching tightly into fists. "Ama tyelka," He growled in response to Danzou's taunt; he charged towards Danzou at incredibly speeds, appearing as nothing more than a blue and black blur. Danzou moved quickly, grasping the top of his staff and pulling to reveal a sword hidden within. He charged towards Sasuke at the same speed, sword aimed at his chest; he thrust it forward, smirking slightly. Sasuke held his hands out in front of him, the fire coming together quickly as the sword came.

"Naur tinchor ostring," Sasuke muttered; the fire solidified, becoming a bright red shield protecting his heart; the sword bounced off it, the screech of metal on metal as Danzou's eyes widened. Sasuke used the distraction to push forward, slamming Danzou's body into the opposite wall, his shield pressed harshly into his chest. Danzou gasped, the top of the shield cutting off his airway, staring at Sasuke with his wide eye.

"What did you do," Sasuke hissed, pressing the shield more into his body; Danzou choked, eye beginning to bulge from his socket.

"I merely…followed her orders…" Danzou wheezed out, spittle forming at the corners of his mouth. He groaned, feeling the pressure increase, Sasuke glaring intensely at him.

"That's not what I meant," He replied, a surge of sadistic pleasure filling him as he saw blood began to form at Danzou's mouth. "What did you do to my brother? How did you force him to kill our family?"

"Ah…" He breathed, recognition flitting in his eyes. "That one…he was a fierce fighter…fierce enough…that our plans would have been ruined. So I…stepped in…took control…and made him Kaguya's pawn."

Sasuke's eyes widened, Danzou's words ringing through his mind, blood running cold in his veins as his grip slackened slightly. Danzou smirked as he raised his hand, a powerful wind hitting Sasuke in the chest that sent him flying backwards. Sasuke groaned as his back slammed onto the ground, stars bursting into his vision, his shield disappearing as it transformed back into flames. Danzou drew his sword, charging towards Sasuke's prone form on the ground; Sasuke forced himself up onto his elbows, mind still hazy as he watched Danzou come towards him. His eyes widened, acting on instinct as he rolled out of the way of Danzou's sword, watching as it embedded itself in the ground where his heart would have been. Shakily Sasuke stood up, wincing slightly as his body hurt from the force of the hit.

"Pilin en' templa," Sasuke breathed, imitating the familiar motions of nocking an arrow on a bow; the air around his hands seemed to shimmer, moving to create what appeared to be a transparent bow. Danzou's eyes widened as he pulled the sword free from the ground, beginning to charge forward, sword poised for a killing strike. Sasuke aimed at Danzou's throat, letting the arrow fly through the air; Danzou moved to cut it down, but watched in surprise as the arrow shattered his sword, lodging itself deeply into his throat.

Sasuke watched in satisfaction as Danzou fell the ground, hands clawing at his throat desperately in an attempt staunch the flow of blood. Sasuke smirked, the magic in his veins seeming to purr in approval as Danzou's movements stilled. He turned his back on the corpse, dark eyes settling on the root that held Sakura captive. He began to examine it, trying to figure out the best way to get her down without injuring her further, ignorant to how the corpse behind him disappeared from the ground.

Sakura watched as it disappeared, eyes wide. "Impossible," She thought, "Then that means he's still…" She trailed off, panic begin to settle into the pit of her stomach as she saw Danzou swiftly approach Sasuke from behind, intent on running him through.

"Watch out," She shouted, startling Sasuke out of his thoughts. He glanced behind him, arms immediately rising to block the hit as he dodged. Specks of blood followed his movements, his sleeves dyed red from the wound on his forearm. She watched as fireballs formed in his hands, his eyes hardening as he glared at Danzou and sho"Unlesst them towards him.

"How did he do that," Sakura wondered, eyes darting back to the spot where Danzou had seemingly laid motionless only moments before. Where there should have been a puddle of blood and a shattered sword, there was merely empty space clear of any debris. She was pulled out of her frantic search for answers by the sound of Naruto's body slamming against the tree, a grunt leaving his lips. She watched as he stood up shakily, wiping a thin trail of blood off his face, panting heavily; the clones of Danzou stood before him, neither of them sporting a single injury. Naruto released a warrior's cry, charging towards them; as he charged, Sakura noticed that he still used the staff as a club, not having realized that there's a sword hidden within it.

"Unless…" She thought, realization dawning upon her, "Unless to him, there is no sword, despite the one fighting Sasuke having one! Meaning that…"

"Sasuke," She called out; she saw his ear twitch, meaning that he had at the least heard her voice. "Sasuke," She repeated, "He's using illusion magic!"

Sasuke skidded backwards, body still poised defensively as he blocked Danzou's attack. "Meaning that I have to kill him if we plan to get anywhere."

Danzou smirked, sword glinting by his side. "I wouldn't have expected a dwarf to be so clever," He said, grasping the sword hilt with both hands, "Such a shame she'll have to watch you die."

Sasuke glared, the fire flaring up in his hands again at the thought of her in his clutches. "The only death she's going to watch is yours," He growled, bringing the flames together to form another shield. "Naur tinchor ostring!"

Danzou lunged forward, sword aimed to pierce the shield before it properly formed. Fire suddenly lapped at his feet though, causing him to jump back with a curse; Sasuke smirked, the light of the dancing flames casting sinister shadows on his face.

"For someone so young, you are quite the prodigy with fire magic," Danzou stated, "However, fledglings will never be able to defeat a true master of magic!" He said, raising his sword above his head; the steel emitted a bright light, appearing as if it had just been newly forged.

Before Sasuke had a chance to comprehend what was happening, Danzou swung the sword down, creating a powerful gust of wind that extinguished the flames surrounding Sasuke. Sasuke raised his shield, trying to block the hit; as it made contact with his shield, he was knocked off his feet, body moving with the force of the wind. He gasped as his back hit the wall with enough force to leave a small dent in it. Danzou merely smirked, raising his sword and swiping through the air quickly, sending shockwave after shockwave into Sasuke's prone form. Sakura could only watch helplessly as his body was slammed into the wall time and again, the dent growing deeper as the wind hit him from every side. After what seemed a painful eternity, Danzou ceased his movements; Sasuke slid down the wall, a trickle of blood running out of the corner of his mouth, head lolling lifelessly on his chest.

"Sasuke," Sakura shouted, squirming futilely in her encasement. "Damn it you useless dekhel, get up! Get up and fight damn it!"

"It is no use," Danzou said, calmly walking towards her. "If he isn't dead, then he is surely unconscious right now. Right now though, I would be far more worried about your human friend."

Sakura's eyes widened, her head whipping back to watch Naruto's fight. He was panting, posture slouched slightly, while the fakes merely watched him in amusement. He grit his teeth, giving another war cry before charging at them, staff poised to incapacitate them. They merely sidestepped, causing his body to lunge forward; one raised his sword, slamming the hilt into the back of his neck, causing him to fall forward onto the floor. Sakura felt her body begin to tremble, fear for their lives beginning to overtake her senses as she watched soldiers storm into the room, clearly arriving in order to take them back to the dungeons.

"Such a pity," Danzou murmured, loud enough to snap her out of her reverie, "I would have thought that Kakashi's champions would have been more of a challenge, rather than some weak children."

Sakura turned her head, glaring at him. "Take back what you said, valaz Tharki!"

Danzou frowned, eye narrowing at her in disapproval. "I don't think you're in any position to insult me, dwarf. Your comrades are defeated, and if I remember correctly today is your execution."

"I will never truly die," She stated, meeting his gaze, "My spirit will live on in my friends and my forge! If you kill me, you will only awaken the true strength of the dwarves!"

"Enough," Danzou said, snapping his fingers; the root holding her began to shrink, bringing her down to his level. As soon as she was released from its clutches, the two clones of Danzou grasped her from behind, each securing an arm. One of them kicked out her legs, causing her to drop down to her knees; the other pulled her hair back, exposing the back of her neck as the real Danzou approached her. He smirked down at her panting form, sword raised above his head, prepared to cut her head clean off her shoulders.

"This ends now."

"Where am I," Sasuke thought; he looked around him, trying to get a better sense of his surroundings, but everywhere he looked was an impenetrable darkness. He felt as if his body was floating in water, weightless but undoubtedly there. "Am I…dead?"

"Not exactly our child," A voice called out from the void; Sasuke twisted his body, frantically searching for the source of the voice.

"Who are you," He thought, eyes unable to see anything. The faint sound of Sakura's voice caught his attention; he twisted again, searching for her. "Sakura?"

"Consider us a friend," The voice spoke again, gaining Sasuke's attention, "We are the ones who gave you the power to fight."

Sasuke remembered how the spells merely came to him, despite having never heard of the words in his entire life. "…You're the reason I know those spells."

"Yes," The voice said, "When your people are in great need, we come to them and give them the power to protect; the power to live."

"Well it wasn't enough," Sasuke said angrily, "Danzou defeated me, and now my friends are going to die, all because you didn't give me enough power!"

"Foolish little boy," The voice cooed in a way that, in his current state, Sasuke deemed was mockingly, "We cannot give you more power when you initially awaken us; it is against our rules."

"Then how do I get more," Sasuke asked, frustrated at the roundabout way it seemed to be taking to get to the point; he could almost see the amused smirk on the entity's face as it spoke next.

"You must agree to let us take over," It replied, "Let us control your body, and we shall give you all the power you need to protect those close to you."

As it spoke, a shining light appeared before Sasuke, illuminating the darkness; he blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the sudden bright light. As his eyes focused, he saw Sakura being forced to kneel on the floor, head bent forward as Danzou came to stand beside her; as he wondered where Naruto was to save her, he saw the blond's limp body in the background of the image. He felt his blood boil at the sight, wanting nothing more than to go forward and burn Danzou to a crisp.

"Do you accept," The entity asked; Sasuke merely reached out towards the light, capturing the image in his hand.

"I accept!"

Sasuke opened his eyes, standing up shakily as he watched Danzou prepare to kill Sakura; he raised his hand, summoning his newfound strength to produce a black flames in his hands. "Amaterasu," He shouted, catching Danzou's attention. Despite Danzou looking over, it was too late, as the flames shot out of his hand and immediately struck Danzou in the chest. He screamed in agony as the flames ate away at him, hands clawing desperately at his chest as he tried to rid himself of the burning cloth; the more he struggled though, the more his body burned, and his soldiers could only watch in horror as their leader burned slowly to death.

Despite his obvious death though, the clones still holding Sakura stood, meaning that the real one had yet to be killed. Sakura used their surprise to her advantage and, pulling from the dregs of her adrenaline fueled strength, yanked her arms free from their grasp. She jammed her elbow into the groin of the one holding her hair, causing his grip to release as he fell to the ground; quickly she grabbed a dagger hanging from his hip, jumping away from them. She smirked, pleased to have at least a dagger back in her hands, standing to fight the two to her very last breath.

"Leave them to me, Sakura," Sasuke spoke, catching her attention. She glanced over at him, about to reprimand him for taking all the glory, when her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. His obsidian eyes were now as red as blood, glaring murderously at them, flicking his wrist in their direction. Parts of the flames detached themselves from Danzou's still writhing body, blasting past Sakura and attaching themselves onto his clones; they shrieked in pain, immediately disappearing in a puff of smoke when the fire made contact with their skin.

"What is that," One of the soldiers breathed, staring in horrified wonder as Danzou's body finally stilled. Sasuke heard him, immediately turning his attention to them, causing the company to immediately raise their weapons defensively, in case he tried anything.

"How pathetic," Sasuke sneered, "Your weapons cannot save you from my power."

"Sasuke…" Sakura thought, watching his every move, "What happened to you?"

Sasuke raised his hands; the flames of Amaterasu immediately rose into the air, combining themselves into a massive black force. "Pelekta yassen runya," He shouted, slamming his hands down; immediately the fire rained down upon the soldiers as a massive pillar, igniting a symphony of agonized screams to occur. Sakura watched as some were immediately struck dead, while others fell to the ground and rolled in a futile attempt to put out the flames. Despite having been tortured for days in unimaginable ways by their hands, she realized that she would have never wished this kind of fate on them.

Sasuke watched in sadistic delight as men continued to drop dead from Amaterasu. "We told you we'd bring more power, didn't we," The entity spoke in his head, pumping its power through his veins.

He nodded to himself in agreement, looking down at his hands. "With this, there will be nothing standing in our way!"

"So you awakened the flames from Hell, have you," Danzou asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. Sasuke turned to him, lips curling up into a sneer as he saw that he was alive and well.

"How did you survive Amaterasu," Sasuke demanded, feeling the flames form in his hands. Danzou eyed him carefully, aware that at a moment's notice he could burned to a crisp.

"It is as the dwarf said," Danzou replied, "I use illusion magic."

"Then where is the real body," Sasuke demanded, glaring harshly at him. "Come out and fight me you coward!" He called out, never taking his eyes off of Danzou. In response to his threat, Danzou merely chuckled, causing a growl to be released from Sasuke's throat.

"What's so funny?"

"You have much left to learn," Danzou stated, avoiding the question. He ignored the scowl that Sasuke sent his way and continued on with his speech. "But, I'm afraid that by unlocking Amaterasu, your life shall have to be cut short."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, getting into an offensive position, "You couldn't kill me before; what makes you think you can kill me now?"

"Because my dear boy, I have control," Danzou said, sword glowing white again. Before either of them could cast another spell though, an explosion destroyed the far wall, the screech of an eagle directing their attention to the wall; from their position they could see Kakashi standing atop the eagle, looking battle worn but ready for more conflict.

Danzou tightened his hold on his sword, pulling it back into its sheath. "We shall continue this battle another time," He said; as he spoke, a whirlwind surrounded him, his body seemingly being dispersed by the wind. Sasuke shouted, firing more of the black flames at him, only to watch as the wind dispersed before the fire it, no sign of Danzou left. He turned his rage to Kakashi as he calmly walked over to him, the eagle having transformed back into an exhausted Rin.

"Why did you interfere," Sasuke shouted, "I could have killed him! My family could have been avenged!"

"Sasuke," Kakashi began, raising his hands defensively, "You need to calm yourself before anything more happens."

"You mean before I go after him," Sasuke asked, eyes glinting maliciously. "I don't think so. In fact, I think we need to track him down now and kill him!"

"Sasuke," Sakura said, approaching him slowly, as if approaching a wild animal. He snapped his attention to the sound of her soft voice, chest rising and falling rapidly. "Kakashi is right…This isn't you."

Sasuke smirked, staring down at his hands. "You're right Sakura…this isn't me. But, we've finally gotten a taste of this power, and we won't stop."

Sakura's eyes widened at his change in tone; it sounded ancient, and far more sinister than anything she thought he could be capable of doing. Kakashi quickly overcame his shock, the crescent moon of his staff glowing as he slammed the end of it on the ground. Instantly, Sasuke was surrounded by a spinning circle of runes on the ground; finding it to be satisfactory, Kakashi banged his staff on the ground again. In response, the runes flew off the ground and attached themselves to Sasuke, all of them crawling up his body to his left shoulder. Sasuke screamed in pain, dropping to his knees as he clawed at the spot, eyes screwed shut in agony.

"What the hell are you doing," Sakura asked, whipping her head to Kakashi as he focused on Sasuke. He opted not to answer, lips drawn into a tight line as he focused his energy on the task at hand. As Sakura was about to demand an answer again, he fell to his knees as Sasuke fell forward in unconsciousness; Sakura rushed to his side, turning him over on his back. She noticed three black marks on his shoulder, slowly disappearing into the skin as quickly as they appeared.

"It's a sealing spell," Kakashi panted out, bringing her attention back, "If I hadn't…he would've killed us all."

"Will…" Sakura swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat, "Will he be alright?"

"He will be fine," A voice from the shadows said; Sakura and Kakashi looked over, noticing as Sai appeared before them. "It's used on multiple times on young mages," Sai explained, a smile on his face, "As you may have noticed, they have trouble controlling their magic, so when their mentor thinks they're getting out of hand, they use that spell to reign them in. I've had it used on me multiple times in fact."

Sakura nodded, feeling her eyelids grow heavy as the adrenaline began to wear off. "That's….that's good," She murmured, falling forward in a dead faint. Sai glanced over at Kakashi, noticing how he seemed to watch him warily.

"It would be best if we got you four to the apothecary," Sai said, beginning to walk towards Sakura.

"How do I know I can trust you," Kakashi asked, prepared to attack if he had to. Sai merely shrugged, kneeling down besides Sakura's body.

"You don't," Sai admitted, "I will admit that I've grown attached to you four, and with Danzou no longer running the city I am not under his orders, but I've not given you any reason to trust me otherwise. But, as I'm sure you know, if the girl doesn't get proper care, she may not make it past the evening."

Kakashi looked at the ground, weighing his options; risk being imprisoned again which put the quest at risk, or risk the quest if Sakura died? Either way, he wasn't fond of either scenario, but for some reason he felt as if Sai was telling the truth.

"Take us to there," Kakashi conceded, looking at him. Sai nodded, picking up Sakura's body as Kakashi used his staff to stand up, legs shaking with the effort. As Sai reached for his scroll to summon other animals for Sasuke and Naruto, the sound of Kakashi's voice halted his actions.

"But…" Kakashi began, "I swear, that if you double cross us and hurt these kids…I will make you pay."

Sai nodded, smiling at his threat. "I would expect nothing less from the great Kakashi."

Kaguya sat at her throne, staring at Deidara as he finished his tale of his encounter with Kakashi's group. She waited for a few minutes, allowing the news of Isobu and Sasori's death to sink in, before deciding how she would properly punish him for his failure. She glanced over at Gedou, who lay curled around her throne; he nodded, raising his body so that he faced Deidara. Quick as lightning, his teeth ripped Deidara's arm off his body, eliciting a cry of agony from Deidara; he spit it out so that it lay at his feet before returning to his position curled around Kaguya.

"Take it to Kakuzu to have it sewn back on," Kaguya said, watching as Deidara knelt to pick his arm up. "And let this serve as a warning to all my men: succeed, or die honorably; do not come home a failure."

Naur tinchor ostring: fire shield (cold)

Pilin en' templa: Magic arrow

Valaz Tharki: Cowardly Mage

Pelekta yassen runya: Flamestrike

A/N: School be kicking ass and taking names. Also guys, Naruto is ending in like, four chapters! I don't think my body is ready! And the most recent Sakura confession?! My doki-doki went brokey-brokey yo.