Author's Note: Hey everyone! I know, I know, it's been forever since I last updated and I'm sorry; nothing but work and over time on the weekends. I have barely had any time to write at all, but managed to get a page here and there when I could. To be honest I probably wouldn't have updated for another week but a certain someone, cough *Uzumaki Ricky* cough, got on my ass about it so here you are! And to make up for the long absence I have another chapter for you after this one! Happy Birthday! Now onto a slightly more serious note.
There seems to be some slight confusion with Hinata and the demon chakra. The demon chakra in her feeds off of negative emotions and can influence negative emotions. Because of this, Hinata can become quick tempered. She has lost control of her emotions because she is not used to feelings such as hatred and rage, and because of this the demonic chakra is able to take control of her and revert her back to a more animalistic state. So just like Naruto, but with less control over her emotions because she is not used to them. Also, there have been a lot of comments about Hiashi's inconsistent personality. I have a reason and a plan for this and you will find out very soon why. Well now that that's out of the way, here's the next chapter! As always, please read and review!
Chapter 11: Betrayal
Hiashi stood hunched over holding his side and breathing heavily. He stared at the ANBU that just saved his life in shock, surprised at the speed that the ninja had just shown. Seeing that he still had not moved the ANBU spoke again.
"Hiashi please leave this area and see to it that the rest of your clan makes it safely out. Let the ANBU deal with this, you are a clan head and a member of the council, your safety is extremely importance."
Hiashi was about to tell the ANBU that had just saved his life that he was capable of still fighting but a deep feral growl emanating from the dust cloud where his daughter was just thrown stopped him. Looking over at where Hinata once was, he saw that she was no longer in front of him. Instead, he watched as her skin seemed to peel away to reveal a blood red layer underneath. Confused at what he saw, Hiashi activated his Byakugan to see that it was a thick condensed layer of demonic chakra that now enveloped her.
Horrified, Hiashi could barely find his voice. "Wh-What's happening to her?" he asked, his voice betraying him and revealing his true concern.
The ANBU cocked his head to the side slightly confused at hearing this but answered anyways. "It's chakra armor. Her anger has been pushed to the point to where she is now in a blind rage causing the demonic chakra to condense around her."
Hiashi watched in horror as the transformation reached its end and the new form of his daughter looked around for a target while letting out a low growl.
"Hiashi!" the ANBU said loudly snapping him out of his trance. Once he saw he had the Hyuuga's attention he continued. "You need to leave; it's no longer safe for you to be here."
Hiashi nodded and slowly started to turn to leave but stopped and looked back at the fox masked ANBU.
"Please…" he asked lowly causing the ANBU to glance at him in confusion. "…Please, save my daughter."
The fear and worry was evident in Hiashi's voice and caused the ANBU to hesitate in confusion before answering with a slight nod.
"I promise." The ANBU said definitively.
Hiashi sighed in relief and closed his eyes. Then, with the conversation over Hiashi looked at some of the Branch members that were waiting by to escort him away and with a nod they all took off to see to the evacuation of the rest of the compound. However, before they moved the ANBU spoke.
"I need Neji Hyuuga to stay and help with things here."
Looking quickly over at Hiashi who nodded, Neji ran over to Naruto's side. Then Hiashi and the others left, but as they started to run away Hinata saw her father and, with a roar, took off towards him. Acting quickly, the fox ANBU appeared in front of Hinata intercepting her with a kick to the ribs and sending her flying back into the wall again.
"I don't want you to actually fight." The fox said quickly catching Neji by surprise.
"What? Why not?" Neji asked almost offended.
"See that?" he asked as he pointed at Hinata as she started to climb from the rubble of the wall. "That's a dense layer of demonic chakra covering her body. Your Jyuuken will have no effect on her, and there's also a chance you will burn yourself as well."
Neji nodded in understanding. "Then what do you want me here for?" he asked confused.
"I need your eyes." The ANBU said seriously. "I need you to tell me when Hinata's normal chakra is more than the demonic chakra."
Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan. His expression turned grim. "The demonic chakra looks to be at about eighty percent whereas her normal chakra is only at forty." He hesitated for a moment before looking over. "Do you have a plan Naruto?"
Naruto looked over at Neji and nodded. "I do have one…" he gritted his teeth as he cursed. "But damn she's got a ways to go before that ratio flips." Looking up at the rooftops around him he saw all the other ANBU preparing to fight, looking over at a member with a weasel mask he asked, "Who's in charge here?"
Immediately another ANBU appeared by weasel who was wearing a cat mask. "I am in charge of the squad that is assigned here." The man said with a deep voice.
"Good," Naruto said as he took off his mask and lowered the hood revealing his identity, "I want you and your men to set up a perimeter around this area to keep Hinata from making her way into the village. I'm going to try and push her outside the walls so be ready to move."
The cat ANBU shook his head and spoke. "I'm sorry Naruto-sama but we have orders stating that you are not to be involved with any Hyuuga affairs whatsoever. We are going to have to ask you to leave the premises, and we will escort you safely from the area."
A sudden roar followed by a scream caused all three men to turn and see Hinata swiping an ANBU away and send him crashing through the wall of one of the houses.
"Look, either you can handle this and lose valuable men," Naruto said seriously, "or you can let me handle it; someone who knows how to deal with this sort of thing and can go toe to toe with her without anyone getting hurt."
The captain hesitated for a moment. "But we have orders from the Hyuuga's to-"
"-Screw the Hyuuga's and their pride!" Naruto shouted angrily before he looked over at Neji and said, "No offense or anything."
"None taken." Neji said flatly.
"Let's just focus on saving and protecting lives, I'll deal with the consequences myself." Naruto said as he looked back at the ANBU captain.
The ANBU captain was quiet for a moment before he nodded and then looked at the rest of his men. "You heard him, for a perimeter around the complex. No one is to enter, now move out!"
The ANBU surrounding Naruto and Neji disappeared in an instant but a moment later two more ANBU appeared at Neji and Naruto's side.
"We just received orders from one of the clan elders before we arrived here that we are to kill the girl regardless of whether or not she can be saved." One of the ANBU said with a scratchy voice.
Neji's face flashed through horror to anger at what he had just heard and he clenched his fists, but before he could say anything Naruto spoke first.
"Understood." He said with a slight nod and a serious look.
Neji's eyes widened and he looked over at him in confused shock. "You aren't actually going to follow those orders are you?"
Naruto was quiet for a moment before he looked over at Neji. "Just because I said I understood the order doesn't mean I'm going to listen." He flashed his trademark grin.
A growl and crash brought them out of their conversation and they saw Hinata pulling herself out of the wall again and throwing the debri around. The two ANBU quickly removed their masks and cloaks to reveal an old couple that Neji had never seen before. Naruto apparently knew them since he showed no surprise and instead he looked back at Neji.
"Neji, we'll take it from here. Just let us know what's going on." He ordered.
Neji nodded and jumped back giving them space.
"What are we lookin' at Naruto-kun?" Renge asked, but before Naruto could respond Hinata shot forward again.
"Earth Style: Death Valley!" Jihibiki yelled as he pulled his hands apart.
A giant crevice suddenly appeared underneath Hinata's feet and she went from running to falling in an instant. There was a brief moment of silence before Hinata roared and a chakra hand appeared on the edge of the cliff, stopping her fall and pulling her back towards the top.
"Oh no you don't." Jihibiki said as he closed his hands together again causing the two sides of the valley to rush back together trapping Hinata in the earth.
"What the hell?" Naruto shouted looking at the old man. "Are you trying to kill her?"
Jihibiki sighed. "Do you honestly think that's going to stop her?"
As if on cue the ground exploded upwards and out shot Hinata growling angrily and looking around for the cause of the jutsu.
"We need to get her out of the village." Renge said and the other two nodded.
"I'm on it." Naruto said and looking up at the roof he saw two ANBU ninja's still there. After a moment one of them disappeared and Naruto felt a rush of natural chakra overcome his body as his pupil turned to horizontal slits and orange rings appeared around his eyes. "Okay, let's do this!"
Hinata roared once more and shot forward hell bent on ripping them all apart. The three shinobi looked at each other and nodded. Renge jumped high in the air rising up over the rooftops of the entire complex. Once again Jihibiki took the lead.
"Earth Style: Crashing Boulder!"
He slammed his foot down on the ground and a giant boulder erupted from it. Throwing his palm towards the rock he shot it forward with lightening speed. Hinata didn't even miss a beat and threw both of her clawed hands up to catch the projectile. The impact caused her to stop in her tracks and she growled in anger as she slid back a little.
"Not done yet." Jihibiki said with a smile as he flashed through a few more hand signs. "Earth Style: Rock missiles!"
Three sharp rock spikes rose from the ground over Jihibiki and with a wave of his hand they shot forward. Cutting straight through the boulder, the missiles slammed straight into Hinata knocking her backwards and causing her to go crashing to the ground. About the same time Renge appeared over Hinata and as she landed on top of her she brought her palm down slamming it into her chest.
"Sealing Jutsu: Homing Beacon!"
As soon as her hand hit Hinata's chest she instantly felt it begin to burn away at her palm, but she held it there until she saw the seal appear. Flipping off of her chest quickly, Renge turned around and went as quickly as she could through some more hand signs.
"Water Style: Rising Geyser!" she yelled and slammed her hand down on the ground.
There was a brief lull and Hinata tried to get up but as soon as she moved there was a deep rumble that shook the ground. Suddenly a huge pillar of water erupted where Hinata lay sending her flying into the air. That's when Naruto stepped in. Gathering chakra in both his legs and his right hand he jumped up to meet her.
"Ōdama Rasengan!" he yelled as he slammed the giant swirling orb of wind chakra into Hinata sending her flying over the wall of the village and crashing through the trees of the forest that surrounded them.
Landing on the ground, Naruto was quickly joined by Renge and Jihibiki. Renge placed her hands on each of their shoulders and then gave Naruto a nod.
"Sorry Neji but we're going to go on ahead; you'll have to catch up." Naruto said and in a bright flash all three of them disappeared, leaving Neji utterly stunned.
Tenten had finally managed to clam Ino down and the group was now making small talk in the lumber yard while they waited for results of Hinata's duel. They had heard a few rumbles coming from the Hyuuga complex for the past two hours, but a sudden deep rumble that shook the ground caused them all too look up in that direction.
"What was that?" Choji asked as he absent-mindedly reached into his bag of potato chips.
"I don't know, but whatever it was it was big, bordering on a ninjutsu." Tenten said before looking confused and asking. "I thought Neji said that Hyuuga duels forbid the use of any ninjutsu or genjutsu?"
"That he did Tenten-chan." Lee said from atop a lumber pile. "Which begs the question, what taijutsu attack is capable of causing that kind of destruction? My Iron Lotus technique is capable and Gai-sensei has a few that could cause those kinds of shockwaves but I do not know of anyone else capable of doing that."
"That's because it isn't taijutsu." Shino said bluntly.
Everyone looked over to see him conversing with one of his insects. "Someone is using ninjutsu, the match is over." A moment later, another bug landed on his finger and Shino visibly tensed. "We should go now, Hinata is in trouble."
Not waiting for anyone, Shino took off towards the Hyuuga complex in a full out sprint.
"What the hell is going on?" Ino asked, voicing what everyone else was thinking.
"I don't know, but I guess we better go find out." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he jumped down from the lumber pile and followed.
It didn't take long for the rest of the group to get up and follow after quickly. By the time Shikamaru and the others had caught up with Shino they could see the Hyuuga complex just up ahead, however, something was wrong and the large amount of people pouring out of the complex screaming and shouting was a pretty good indicator.
"Something does not feel right." Lee said uneasily as he took in the chaos.
"Shino!" a voice called out in sudden panic and the group turned to see Hanabi making a beeline straight for the bug user with tears in her eyes.
Before Shino could say anything she quickly threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his jacket as her tears began to fall. She was one of the few that were not put off by the fact that he housed insects inside his body. Over the years they had developed a distant kind of brother sister relationship which Shino accepted happily since she, just like her sister, did not judge him.
"Hanabi-chan, what's wrong?" Shino asked a bit more concerned than his voice usually let on.
"I-Its nee-chan! S-Something is w-wrong with her." Hanabi's voice was muffled as she sobbed into Shino's jacket but everyone heard her.
"Oh no, not again…" Ino whispered to herself and everyone turned to look at her confused.
Shino raised his eyebrow. "I take it this isn't your first time dealing with this situation?"
Ino nodded her head. "Once before at the hospital, she went into a fit of rage. Her eyes…" she trailed off and shivered as she remembered the blood thirst she saw in them. Then she continued, "Her eyes were red, red as blood."
Shino was quiet for a moment before looking at the crowd of Hyuugas down to Hanabi.
"I think it's much worse than just red eyes this time." he said solemnly.
Hanabi nodded her head with a sniffle in confirmation. Suddenly there was another deep rumble and everyone looked at the walled complex to see a large geyser of water with a strange red creature on top shoot out of the ground. Immediately after that they saw an orange flash shoot up to meet it followed by a giant blue ball of light that sent the creature flying out of the village with a deafening crash. Everyone shielded their eyes except for Shino who stoically watched through his sunglasses.
"That was a Rasengan…but who can do that? I thought Naruto was the only one who knew that jutsu?" Choji asked thoroughly confused.
"We need to go now." Shino commanded.
Quickly he pulled Hanabi off of him and gave her an awkward yet reassuring pat on the head before motioning for the others to follow. The group left immediately and upon arriving at the gate they found their way blocked by an ANBU captain.
"I'm sorry but we have orders to prevent anyone from entering the area." The captain said definitively.
"But we're here to help!" shouted Tenten and Ino at the same time.
"Who's orders?" Shikamaru asked.
"Naruto-sama instructed us to keep guard. He says it's too dangerous for anyone else and that he is dealing with the situation himself." The captain answered.
"What?" Shikamaru asked as he tried to wrap his brain around what was happening.
"It's okay captain, they may come in." Neji said appearing at the captain's side.
"What about the threat?" The captain asked.
"If you mean Hinata-sama then the threat has past." Neji answered rather harshly to the captain causing him to flinch slightly. "Naruto removed her from the village to the forest just west of here." Neji continued. "They may come with me to help and assist Naruto. As ANBU your priority is to protect the village. Since Hinata is no longer here I'm sure you will be focusing your efforts on the wall to make sure she does not reenter the village, is that correct?"
"Hai, that is correct. My men will relocate to the wall now." The captain said and with a hand motion he and his men disappeared, but not before looking at Neji and saying, "Good luck."
"Neji, what the hell is going on?" Tenten shouted more than asked.
"There's no time to explain. Quickly, follow me." Neji said grimly before turning and running to the wall, vaulting it in one leap, and continuing on his way.
Shino didn't hesitate and left right on Neji's heels while the rest of the group looked at each other in confusion before quickly following behind.
"Kiba, are we getting close?" Sakura asked as the trio plus one hound ran down a random road on the outskirts of the Land of Iron.
"Yeah, just a few more miles, their scents are getting stronger." Kiba answered.
Suddenly Kiba's nose twitched and his eyes went wide before narrowing and Akamaru made a short slightly confused whimper. Sai immediately picked up on this and wasted no time on thinking about what it meant.
"Kiba what is it?"
Kiba was quiet for a moment before answering slowly.
"I think I smell…I don't know it's been so long…No, it definitely is…Sasuke…I'm picking up Sasuke's scent!" he said excitedly after finally placing a finger on the familiar smell.
Sakura nearly tripped when she heard what Kiba said and she felt her stomach drop and her heart rise to her throat at the same time. Immediately her mind began going in a thousand different directions. "What is Sasuke doing all the way out here? Are Naruto and Sasuke fighting again? Will he come back now that his brother is dead? Where did he go after that fight?" She shook her head as she tried to clear her thoughts.
"Okay, change of plans." Sakura said as she tried to come up with a plan. "Sasuke is the reason we are coming all the way out here to talk to Naruto so let's just head for Sasuke instead. We can try and bring him back to the village ourselves. If all four of us work together we should be able to bring him back even if he's unwilling."
Sai was quiet for a moment as he just stared at Sakura. Part of him didn't believe or trust what she was saying but eventually he nodded in agreement. He then turned his attention to Kiba.
"Kiba, how much further is Sasuke from Naruto?"
"Actually, Sasuke is closer to us than Naruto is." Kiba admitted and Akamaru voiced his opinion with a bark.
"What? How? You just caught wind of Sasuke's scent." Sakura asked confused now as well.
"I know, but Sasuke's scent is much stronger than Naruto's is. It's weird though, it just randomly appeared out of nowhere. I would say that he is about two miles northeast of where we are now." The tracking ninja said after running through some quick calculations.
"I see…" Sakura trailed off as she realized what she had to do.
Dropping back a few steps while pretending to be lost in thought, Sakura inconspicuously reached into her side pouch. After double checking to make sure that neither of her two teammates was looking she pulled out two senbon needles, took aim, and let them fly. Sai and Kiba didn't even know what was happening. One minute they were running through the forest fine and the next they both were sent crashing to the ground with their limbs going numb and refusing to respond. Sai struggled as best he could and managed to pull the needle out of the back of his neck. His eyes widened as he looked from the needle to Sakura who now stood over both of.
"S-Sakura…why?" he managed to get out breathlessly.
"I'm sorry Sai, I really am." Sakura said as she checked Kiba and found that he had already lost consciousness. "But this is something I have to do alone."
Sakura turned to leave but found Akamaru blocking her path and growling.
"It's okay Akamaru, he'll be fine." She said reassuringly. "I just gave him something that will put him out for awhile. Just watch over these two while I'm gone okay?"
Akamaru growled one last time before hanging his head and whining before slinking over to Kiba and lying beside him. With her path clear, Sakura began running in the direction Kiba had last said. Sai watched her leave through his blurred and darkening vision. Slowly closing his eyes he had one thought on his mind as the darkness consumed him.
"Bitch…"
Sakura found a road that led in the direction that Kiba had last mention so she decided to follow it for awhile in hopes of speeding up her progress. After a few minutes she saw a stone bridge up ahead and as she drew closer to it she could feel a cold presence start to surround her. "What the hell is this?" she wondered as she slowed to a walk and entered onto the bridge. However she stopped when she saw the destruction that had taken place.
The bridge was in shambles, barely managing to stay intact. The large stones that made up the bridge were deeply cracked in some areas and in others had been reduced to nothing more than gravel. In the center of the bridge a perfect bowl had been cut out of it and off to the side of that was a massive tree randomly growing out of the bridge.
"What in Kami's name did this?" she asked herself in a whisper.
That's when she noticed the blood. Not just a little blood here and there, but everywhere, coating most of the bridge in puddles, sprays, streaks, and even some bloody foot prints. Continuing out onto the bridge further Sakura saw that a large portion of the blood was coming from a body lying off to the side. Walking over to inspect the body she saw that it was of a fairly attractive girl around her age that had bright red hair and glasses. She wore a light purple zip up vest much like what Sakura was wearing that revealed her stomach. She had a matching purple short skirt and had fishnet armored shorts underneath. She knelt down to study the body further and upon further inspection she found something that made her stomach drop.
"Holy shit, she's still alive!" Sakura yelled out to no one in particular. Instantly she went into medic mode and began healing the severe stab wounds she had in her chest.
"Is she now?" came a cool voice that caused Sakura's blood to freeze. Looking over her shoulder she saw that Sasuke was standing behind her with blood coming from his eye and a small but sadistic smile on his face. "Well we can't allow that. After all, she is of no use to me now."
Sakura stood up hesitantly and took him in, not sure if he was truly standing in front of her.
"Sasuke?" she asked hesitantly trying to find her voice. "Sasuke what happened here?"
Sasuke frowned for a moment in what seemed like irritation but then smiled evilly. "It's really none of your concern but since you want to know so badly I'll tell you. What you see here is the aftermath of the battle between me and Danzo."
Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "You…you murdered Danzo, our Hokage Danzo?"
Sasuke's smile immediately disappeared. "No, I did not murder him! Murder implies that he was innocent! No, I killed Danzo as an act of retribution for my clan. He was one the men responsible for their demise and now he has been dealt with." His face turned impassive as he stared Sakura down. "This means that now I can deal with the Leaf Village and destroy that accursed place that sentenced my clan to death. And since you are still part of the Leaf, I'll start with you!"
Without any warning Sasuke activated his Sharingan and charged Sakura with his katana drawn and lightning crackling to life around it. However, after a few steps he suddenly screamed and fell to the ground covering his eyes with his hands allowing his sword to fall away from him. Sakura stared at him for a moment to make sure it wasn't a trick before she slowly started to walk towards him. Kneeling down next to him, Sakura gentle placed her hand over his eyes before allowing her chakra to leave her hand and begin to heal him.
"Sasuke…" she said gently, "The only thing I want to be a part of is you."
Kakashi and Yamato were racing back to Fire country as fast as they could after Yamato had repaired the hotel room. Yamato was in the lead but he quickly switched directions when he randomly felt a familiar presence in the area. Kakashi noticed the change in direction and had to ask.
"What's going on?"
"There's a familiar presence in the area, and as you know that shouldn't be happening." Yamato said slightly confused and on edge. So much had happened today and now all he wanted to do was get home and soak at the bath house, he was done with surprises.
They traveled a few hundred meters before they came to a clearing and saw two people lying there unconscious with a large dog guarding them.
"That's Kiba's dog, Akamaru." Kakashi said recognizing the ninja hound. "What are they doing here?"
Akamaru noticed them and barked excitedly as if to call them over. When they arrived they saw that the two people were in fact Kiba and Sai. Walking over to Kiba, Kakshi lightly tapped his face.
"Hey, wake up. What happened here?" he asked.
Kiba cracked an eye and groaned before answering sleepily. "Sakura…went after..Sasuke…Two miles…northeast." After he managed what he needed to say he promptly passed out again.
Kakashi thought for a moment before turning to Yamato. "Okay change of plans. Wait here until they're ready to move and once they are continue back to the village to check on Naruto. I'm going to go after Sakura and try to get her before she reaches Sasuke."
Yamato wanted to argue but he knew it was for the best so with a nod he handed him a small seed. "Keep this with you; it will relay information to me. Good luck Sempai."
Kakashi nodded and then did a few seals before touching the ground. Smoke erupted from the ground and when it cleared a small dog was sitting there with a vest and Leaf headband on.
"You need something Kakashi?" it asked.
"As a matter of fact I do Pakun. We are going to track down Sakura; do you still remember her scent?" Kakashi asked.
Pakun nodded and after taking a few sniffs around found the direction and took off running. Kakashi gave Yamato a wave and quickly followed behind.
Sasuke was confused as to what he had just heard come from Sakura's mouth. He had just admitted that he killed Danzo, the newly elected Hokage of the Leaf village. Then, he tried to kill Sakura and now she was healing him. He couldn't understand it, why would she help him? He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't feel the tears hitting his face or her speaking softly to him.
"Sasuke…I came here fully intending to kill you…" she whispered sadly and she could feel him tense slightly in her lap. "But…I now know that it is not possible to kill someone that you truly love."
Her voice cut straight into Sasuke and sudden images of his brother flashed through his mind causing a lump to rise in his throat. "It's true." He thought. "Itachi could kill my entire clan but he could never bring himself to kill me." He listened intently as Sakura continued.
"You always said that you were alone, that no one was ever there for you Sasuke. But I was…I was always there for you. All I wanted to do was take away your pain, ease your suffering, but you never let me…You never saw or acknowledged me. You saw me as just another fan girl, someone who only wanted to be with you because of who you were." Sakura suppressed a sob before she continued. "I love you Sasuke, I always have…And I will do whatever it takes to ease your pain and suffering now. You could come back to the village with me. Everyone misses you Sasuke and they would be so happy to see you again. I could help you start over…help you rebuild your clan from the ground up." She blushed slightly at the thought of 'rebuilding' the clan. "But…If that isn't what you want, then let me come with you. I'll help you with your goals…even if…even if it means helping you destroy the Leaf village." She paused for a moment as she let what she said sink into Sasuke. "But if you cannot walk away from this path then I have only one question for you. Will you acknowledge me? Will you accept me for who I am and accept my love?"
For the first time in three years Sasuke felt unsure of what he wanted to accomplish. He had been so dead set on revenge that he had no time to think about any other feelings. Now, as he lay in Sakura's lap while she was healing him, Sasuke found himself reconsidering everything that he had been preparing for. "Can I really go through with this?" he asked himself. Images of his brother, mother, father, and everyone else in his clan flashed before him. "Yes…yes I can." he told himself. "And she will be useful!"
Finding his voice he spoke. "Okay Sakura, come with me. Help me with this and I'm yours."
He heard a slight intake of breath and then he continued. "But Karin." he said motioning with his head, "She is a lose end that needs to be dealt with."
Although he couldn't see because of the bandages Sakura had wrapped around his eyes he could feel her nod.
"I'll take care of it." She said emotionlessly and gently set his head off to the side before getting up and walking away.
There was a pause before he heard a deep yet familiar voice ask him seemingly out of nowhere. "Do you think we can trust her?"
"We're about to find out." Sasuke said coldly trying to hide his surprise.
Sakura slowly walked up to Karin while pulling out a syringe. Kneeling down next to the girl she tried not to look her in the eyes as she raised the syringe to Karin's neck.
"Please…don't…" she heard a weak voice say and instantly Sakura was forced to close her eyes tight as new tears began to roll down her face.
"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered back before plunging the syringe into her neck.
"Excellent." Madara said with a smile in his eye as he watched Karin's chakra network fade out. "It seems you have a replacement for Karin." Sasuke gave him no answer and chose to remain silent.
Karin shudder for a brief second before her eyes closed and her body went limp. Still crying Sakura pulled the syringe out and then placed both of Karin's hands over her chest. Slowly standing up she walked back to Sasuke completely ignoring Madara.
"Time to go." Madara said and placing his hand on Sasuke and Sakura he began to suck them into the spiraling void where his eye was. In a matter of seconds all that was left was the carnage from the previous battle and the crying of the wind as it blew through the canyon.