Sakura tightened her grip on her axe's handle, panting slightly; the battle had only just begun, yet already she was feeling exhaustion creep in. Kin merely smirked at her state as she twirled her throwing knives between her fingers with ease, barely having spent any energy at all.

"Is that the best the princess can do?" She taunted," No wonder it was so easy to kill those scouts!"

Sakura grit her teeth, every nerve in her body screaming at her to charge directly at the fool who dared to insult her people; it was only through sheer willpower that she defied the powerful instinct. She knew that if she charged in recklessly, Kin would hit her vital points before she even had a chance to move. In the few minutes that they had clashed, Kin had proven herself to be a proficient long-distance fighter, throwing daggers at her with deadly precision; she had many wounds from last minute dodges that couldn't be blocked by her axe. Even then, some of the dodges had only been because a few of the daggers had bells attached to them, their trajectory known before she could even realize it.

Still, she noted grimly as she glanced sidewise at the battles occurring away from her, Kin wasn't nearly as deadly an opponent as her partners. From the brief respites between their clashes, Sakura could see Naruto struggling against Zaku, his shield horrendously dented from the air strikes sent towards him. Paired with the knowledge of how earlier he had destroyed Kakashi's earth wall with ease, she couldn't help but compare their battle to a cat toying with a mouse; making it believe it had a chance of escape, of living, before brutally putting it back in its place.

Kakashi fared only slightly better since he could strike his opponent from a long distance. Still, the blood running in rivulets from his ears and his unsteady gait told her that his opponent was possibly even more dangerous than Zaku; after all, if one didn't have balance, then they couldn't properly protect themselves.

"I have to finish this…" Sakura thought, grip tightening on her axe. As she made to get into an offensive crouch, however, her knees suddenly gave out; she fell, dropping her axe as her hands scraped against the ground. She trembled, trying and failing to fight against her body's sudden paralysis. She could barely lift her head to glare at Kin as she laughed, a smirk crossing her features.

"Don't tell me you thought I only threw knives," Kin asked, twirling one around her finger for emphasis. "Guess no one ever thought it was necessary to teach their little princess how to properly fight."

Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off as the knife Kin had been twirling was suddenly lodged deep into her shoulder. She hissed, flinching slightly as Kin laughed again, casually strolling towards her.

"Since I'm going to make you suffer, I might as well be kind enough to tell you what happened." She said, leaning down to meet Sakura's eyes; she grasped Sakura's face, pushing her cheeks until her lips were pursed. "I'll even make sure to use simple words so that an empty-headed dwarf princess like you can understand."

"You see these little bells I have on my daggers," Kin asked, dangling on in front of Sakura; it was quickly buried into her other shoulder, catching Sakura off guard as she cried out in pain. "I crafted them using my own personal brand of magic. Whenever they make their beautiful little sound it enters the ear, just like any other bell," She tapped Sakura's ear as she finished the sentence, "But, what makes my bells so special is that the sound they make will cause paralysis and even hallucinations in the victims."

Kin smiled, releasing Sakura's face from her hold. "I hope you see something particularly gruesome; that should keep me entertained for days."

"Lieb der haak," Sakura spat, "I swear by my forge I'll feed you to the dogs myself!"

Kin barked out a laugh at her statement, slowly circling the young dwarf. "You can't even stand, yet you're swearing that you'll feed me to the dogs? You don't seem to know when you're beat…Perhaps I'll show you to your place."

Sakura's head was viciously yanked back as Kin gathered her hair in her hands. She bit back a cry as the woman forced her body to watch the battles that were occurring across from them. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as the physical pain caused by the angle of her head mixed with the emotional anguish of watching as Naruto was knocked unconscious by a blast from Zaku. Weakly, she tried to move forward to help, but was violently pulled back to her spot by Kin.

"Now do you know your place," Kin asked, sneering down at the girl. "You may call me a bitch, but your place is to grovel at the feet of your masters, begging for whatever treat they can give you. I may be a bitch, but at least I'm not a domesticated little dog like you."

Sakura dug her fingers into the ground, watching as Kakashi fell to his knees, no longer able to continue standing. Her head shook back and forth as Kin moved her hand, laughing all the while.

"Come on little dog, beg for me to spare your friends' lives." Kin taunted, "Maybe if you do it well enough I'll clean and brush your hair! After all, that's what your people like in a pampered princess, right? Long, flowing hair? But since it's such an ugly color, I guess you're only wanted as a breeding bitch!"

Sakura smirked as she leaned back slightly to glance up at Kin, a few strands of hair falling from her grasp. "You forget, that even a breeding bitch still has teeth to defend herself with!"

Kin's eyes widened as she felt one of her knives plunge deeply into her abdomen. She immediately released her hold on Sakura's hair, her hands moving to clutch her stomach. Before she had a chance to move, Sakura slammed her fist into her stomach, the wind knocked out of her as the blade cut deeper. She fell to her knees as Sakura withdrew, blood splattering onto the ground as she struggled to breathe. The sound of metal scraping along the ground prompted her to raise her head, teeth clenched tightly from the effort. Her eyes went wide as the axe soundly embedded itself into her head, blood quickly flowing from the wound.

Sakura panted as she watched Kin fall to a heap, her axe buried in the crown of her head. Shakily, Sakura tightened her grasp on the hilt and pulled, stumbling backwards slightly as it came free from the bone, gore spreading across the ground in its wake. She glanced down at her arms, noticing how they were trembling as they merely held the axe.

"Heh, not bad," Zaku called to her; Sakura's head jerked upwards in attention. Zaku smirked, leaving Naruto to lie in the dirt as he sauntered towards her. "I've never seen one of Kin's opponents move while they're still alive; you're something special, huh?"

"Why does it matter?"

Zaku laughed as he eyed her. "Why does it matter? In this world, being special can be the difference between life or death. And right now, your little boy-king's life depends on you entertaining me."

Sakura's eyes darted over to Naruto at his comment, grip unconsciously tightening on her axe. She licked her dry lips, mouth having suddenly gone dry at the thought that Naruto dying depending on her answer. "…What do you want from me?"

"There's a good girl," Zaku sneered, "And it's nothing special really; I just want you to fight me. Your friend wasn't really interesting to begin with, and he only further proved my opinion during our battle. In fact, I should just kill him for making me waste my time."

"Of course, I won't," Zaku added as he watched Sakura get into an offensive stance, a growl tearing from her throat. "At least, not yet. No, first I want to play with you; in exchange, your friend gets to live just a little longer. And, if you somehow do end up defeating me, he even gets to live! Sounds like a fair exchange to me; what do you say?"

"I accept," Sakura shouted; she had no need to think over his proposition. When she had volunteered for the journey, she knew that this would most likely be a situation she would fall into. Yet, as his closest friend, she would rather die so that he could live another day than merely watch from her mountain back home in the hopes that he would return. It was with these thoughts that she pushed her body forward, hoping that her sudden outburst would have caught him off guard.

However, Zaku merely smirked as he raised his hands in front of him and sent a blast of air towards her; it would appear he had been expecting it. She tensed her body as she brought her axe in front of her to block the current from slicing her body in half. Her heels dug into the ground from the force; vaguely, she compared the force that was pressed down upon her axe to be similar with that of the power the orcs used in combat. The wind that passed by her blade sliced into her cheeks, leaving thin trails of blood to gently roll down her face.

"Something like this…" She thought as she righted herself. She glared at Zaku, hands tightening around her handle as she saw his smirk. "To something like this…"

"There's no way I'll lose," She roared, beginning her charge once again. She watched as Zaku raised his hands once again, preparing to send another current her way. She grit her teeth, bracing herself for the hit as she pushed her body to go faster despite its screaming protests. She held her axe in front of her as she raced forward, knowing that at any minute the force would hit her; if she let her guard down for a mere moment, she'd be blown away.

When it came, she felt herself pushed backwards slightly, arms shaking as she pushed against the force. She felt her knees tremble as she fought against the urge to collapse underneath the weight; with a hoarse shout, she pushed against it, stumbling forward slightly as it disappeared. She panted, meeting the amused gaze of Zaku as he took in her exhausted form.

"Oh yeah, keep trying that," He sneered, "Your friend did, and he almost got close enough to spit on me. Maybe you'll have a bit more luck than he did with the same tactic though."

She snarled, though she couldn't argue against the validity of his words. No matter what she did, as long as he kept the force up behind the currents he sent her way, there was no way she would be able to get close enough to actually injure him. Already she felt the strength draining from her body, despite the adrenaline rush that she was consistently receiving from the fight.

"There has to be a way…" Sakura thought, eyes trained on Zaku. "Think damn it! There's always a way!"

She quickly reviewed the previous fights, trying to find a weak spot in his powers that she could take advantage of. Running headlong into it obviously wasn't the answer; it would stop her in her tracks, and send her flying backwards if she wasn't careful. But, she realized, there was something off about the current; it was only focused in one place. If it were natural wind, it would be weaker and more spread out, rather than be so concentrated in one point that it became an unstoppable weapon.

"So that means…" Sakura thought, analyzing the distance left between her and Zaku. A dead sprint would most likely be able to cover the distance, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do it in the time it would take him to launch another attack. Even if she somehow was able to do it, by the time she would be able to attack, he would have sent another blast her way, rendering her previous efforts useless. Still, there was a way to cover the distance, and it was with this thought that she gave another shout, sprinting towards Zaku once again.

"Heh, you just don't learn, do you," Zaku sneered, raising his hands in front of him. "Alright then, guess I'll just have to teach you the hard way then!"

As he spoke, Sakura threw her axe to the side, her speed significantly increasing at the loss of the weapon. Zaku laughed at the action, feeling the pressure increase in his palms as he took aim at her.

"Doesn't matter how much weight you get rid of," Zaku shouted, preparing to release the air current. "You'll never be able to get close enough to touch me!"

Just as he finished speaking, he launched the air current towards her; however, she anticipated the move, body already dropping towards the ground. He watched with wide eyes as she slid along the ground feet first underneath the current, the worst thing occurring to her being the wild movement of her hair by the wind. Suddenly, he felt himself tumbling backwards as she bowled him over, their legs entangled together. He groaned, stars bursting behind his eyelids as his head smacked against the unforgiving earth; the groan quickly turned into a shout as Sakura sank her teeth into his arm.

"You little…" He ground out, pulling himself up from the ground into a sitting position. Sakura still clung to his arm with her teeth, blood slowly staining the cloth covering it. Her lack of response to his declaration infuriated him more; he brought his fist to her face, feeling a sick satisfaction as he watched her wince in pain.

"Maybe this'll teach you to just give up," He snarled as he began to assault her face, working to rid her from his arm. Still, she gripped his arm, only serving to infuriate him more as he couldn't remove her.

"I'm sorry Naruto…" She thought, feeling blood begin to leak from her nose. "After everything that already happened…this was the most I could. But if this is all I can do, then I'm damn well giving my all to do it!"

She felt her jaw begin to slacken, teeth slowly losing their hold in his flesh. Panicking, she bit down even harder, trying to keep what little grip she could on him. "I won't let him kill you, I swear! I promised…I promised to protect you, and even if I have to die, I'll do it!"

A final hit to face sent her flying off him, blood gathering in her mouth. She skidded across the ground, her right eye already beginning to swell. She weakly pushed herself up, spitting the blood out of her mouth; she watched as Zaku held his arm, a look of pure fury on his face. She met his ire with a defiant glare, prepared to die while defying him a look of terror on her face.

"I've nothing to fear," She thought, watching as he stood up from the ground, "I've done what I can for Naruto; my only regret is that I should have done more. But with what I've done…maybe…they'll be alright without me."

With that thought she allowed herself a small smile, features softening as Zaku stood before her. He glared down at her, already raising his hands in front of him to deliver the final blow. As she stared back up at him, with only acceptance in her eyes, he felt his irritation at her reach whole new levels. How dare she only gaze at him with open arms towards death, where others had begged and pleaded for their lives?

"I'll blast her into oblivion," He snarled, feeling the air begin to circulate in his hands. "I'll blow that peaceful look right off her fucking face!"

He watched as Sakura's eyes suddenly widened, feeling a sick sense of pride; perhaps now she understood what was happening? But soon, he felt a strong blast of heat, and he realized that it wasn't him that she was staring, but rather whatever was going on behind him. He grit his teeth, turning to glare at whatever was drawing her attention away from him, only to be met with an interesting sight.

The Great White Snake, as Orochimaru fondly called the form, was tightly coiled up, staring intimidatingly down the source of the heat. He followed its gaze, and found that it was merely staring at the stupid elf that had run into the cave earlier after they had lied to him. He looked over at Dosu, hoping for some kind of explanation of what was happening, but was only met with his terrified gaze glued to the elf. He felt his blood boil; it was just a stupid elf for Christ's sake!

"What the hell is so special about him," Zaku shouted, raising his hands in Sasuke's direction. He ignored Dosu's shouted warning, launching the air current intended for Sakura at the elf. He watched with glee as it made impact, causing debris and dust to fly away from the impact zone. He panted slightly, quite pleased with himself; nothing would have survived that, elf or otherwise.

But as the dust began to settle, he caught sight of a flash of purple; his eyes widened, stepping backwards slightly as he caught a side of red eyes. Before he knew it, a large skeletal hand flew towards him, grasping him tightly and pulling him towards the still billowing dust. Zaku felt fear settle into his stomach as he was drawn closer, now able to see that Sasuke was protected by a rib cage surrounded by purple flames, as well as a second arm waiting for him.

Sasuke stared at him with disinterest, head tilted to the side in what could have been thought of as curiosity. "If you wanted a show, you could have just said so," He spoke after studying him for a moment; a sickening smirk spread across his face. "We love a good show."

Zaku was suddenly raised high into the air, the other hand following his ascent. He could see everyone on the ground, their eyes trained solely on him. He felt the other hand grasp the arm that Sakura had bitten, while the other hand held the other arm; he was dangling in the middle. For a moment, he thought that he would be dropped to the ground; if he was, at least he could survive the fall with his power. Instead of being dropped though, he felt its grip tightening as the hands began to pull him in opposite direction; his eyes went wide, having just enough sense left to let out a scream of agony.

It was the only sound anyone made as they watched in horror as Sasuke ripped Zaku in half.

Orochimaru sighed, watching Sasuke's prone form on the floor; outside, the sounds of battle could be heard. It had been enough time for the venom to take effect, and with the senses granted to him by his snake magic he could tell that Sasuke was merely playing opossum at the moment. Still, with the venom coursing through the boy's veins, he knew that waking him before he was ready could prove to be deadly for him; yet, time was of the essence.

"I sssuppossse I'll have to take my chancesss," Orochimaru thought, staring down at the elf. He sighed, signaling to one of his snakes to move towards the boy. The snake crawled towards him, climbing over his body in an effort to awaken him. As it moved languidly over his hand, the creature found itself caught in an iron grip as red eyes flashed open.

"Orochimaru," Sasuke said, bringing the snake up to his eyes; it hissed angrily back at him. The voice that spoke might have been his, but it certainly carried itself far differently than the elf he saw before. "Hmph, sending one of your pets to make sure we're alive? How pathetic of you."

"Jussst becaussse you are immortal doesss not mean time isssn't of the essssence here." Orochimaru stated; he watched as Sasuke tossed the snake to the side. Slowly, the elf stood up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. His stance was one of power, of someone who was far older and wiser than what his appearance would give away.

"Still…Why use that formula," Sasuke asked, ruby eyes lifting to meet Orochimaru's golden ones. "You could have killed the poor boy if we weren't here."

"Thossse eyesss…" Orochimaru thought, licking his lips slightly at the sight. "Even better than Itachi'sss…"

"I heard…rumorsss, of sssortsss," Orochimaru stared at him thoughtfully, "Rumorsss that, if were true, would have brought you out of the cornersss of hisss mind and into the forefront. Looksss like they were true."

"And if they weren't?"

"I have the antidote," Orochimaru shrugged, "Really, after half a century you ssstill look down upon me? Surely you can sssee what I can do; what I've done."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at his words, causing Orochimaru to chuckle. "How foolish of me; of courssse you would have ssseen it. After all, you've been there through every sssecond of it, from the very beginning."

"What do you want from us," Sasuke snapped impatiently; Orochimaru merely held his hands up in defense.

"I come with no ill will," He said, trying to appease them, "Lady Kaguya wanted me to bring Sssasssuke to her ssside like she had done to Itachi. However, sssince you have clearly made a pact with the young elf, any effortsss on her ssside would prove rather futile."

"So if it's not an alliance you want, then what is it?"

"I never sssaid I didn't want an alliance," Orochimaru corrected, "I merely sssaid that you wouldn't want an alliance with her. But, a partnership with me on the other hand…well, that could prove profitable for the both of usss, couldn't it?"

Sasuke sneered at the offer. "You think you've anything of value to offer to us? Think that we'll even consider such a proposition? Tch, you may think you're above the other members of your race, but we know better. All of you mortals are nothing but greedy, prideful cowards, hiding behind the strongest ally just to survive. It disgusts us just to think of it."

"But isssn't that all you are," Orochimaru questioned, "After all, shadowsss cannot exissst without light ssstriking a sssolid figure. Your entire exissstence isss basssed entirely on the premissse of sssomething you dessspissse."

Sasuke smirked at his reasoning. "You think we're mere shadows? Truly, your hubris must know no bounds, to even begin to think that we are similar to each other. For you see, we are far more than that; we are the pure absence of light itself. We were not a result of the light, but rather the reason that it was created. To even think that we could be compared to the likes of you…Hmph, yet another reason why this world needs to be eradicated."

"Ssso it'sss true then…" Orochimaru thought as he watched his movements. "While Kaguya merely wantsss to rule the world, they want to dessstroy it…"

"While I underssstand your sssentiment, I'm afraid that I'll have to get rid of you." Orochimaru said; he snapped his fingers, summoning more snakes from within his robes. "After all, as a member of this world, I would very much like to continue living."

Sasuke smirked, fire flaring to life in his hands. "We'll see about that."

A/N: The thrilling conclusion shall be in the next chapter! (Which I typed about a quarter already…oopsies) I would've concluded it here, and I was planning on it, but again, if I had went on, ya'll could've expected a fourteen page chapter dense with plot and feels. Best to spread it all out, ya know?