A/N: Since next week is Spring Break, I will be updating twice and not once next week. Now, on with the story.
The earth trembled. The ground shook. The subterranean environment, cthonic in its distance and vastness, grew darker, the lights falling away. Torches darkened in the abyss.
"Before we continue…"
The tunnel darkened.
"I'd like to ask a simple question. Would you really have killed the entire town?" Kōju asked in a cold, clear voice. Her hand seized on the hilt of the short, small blade.
"Che." Kisan glanced to one side. "No. I was just playing around."
Kōju lunged forward. Her sword pressed against Kisan's throat. "Then we're good. Follow me; we're going for a walk."
Kisan's eyes widened. "Huh?!" She's fast even without using that Flash Technique. I underestimated her... She swallowed, glancing over her shoulder.
"You thugs… I'm holding her hostage." Kōju backed up, her sword still against Kisan's throat. She exhaled. I have enough left for that… She backed Kisan into the first passageway.
Kisan's eyes widened.
The thugs growled. Their hands seized on weapons. Ignoring the threat before them, they rushed forward.
Kōju reached upward. Placing the blade against Kisan's throat lightly, she balanced the weight of the blade's hilt on her foot.
Kisan's eyes widened. Huh?!
Performing the seals, Kōju's eyes narrowed. "Heh."
The ceiling collapsed.
Rubble fell, blocking the path of the thugs into the turning corridors.
Walls fell downward, forming several statues of bees that contained the majority of the corridor.
Kōju caught the blade lightly in one hand. "You're free to go that way."
A single path of white stone lay between the collapsed pieces of the wall.
"Whuh… Why?" Kisan started. "Weren't you going to kill me? Or are you just sending me to Blood Prison, instead?"
"I spared you because you are good." Kōju faded into the wall. "At this moment, I've given you a second chance. Do not waste it. Make a new path for yourself."
Kisan's eyebrows furrowed. My throat could be split open right now. She stared at the rocks, her eyes wide with shock. I'd be dead. Instead, she's given me a second chance. Why? Why is she so confident in herself?
Price
The battlements shuddered rapidly. A piece of the castle collapsed downward. The edge of the battlements shook. The sky darkened with clouds, surrounding the space.
Miyama reached downward. The blood coalesced around her fingers, energy dancing across the surface.
Mirai's eyes widened. "Huh?!"
"Yeah… Magnetism Style: Sword of Bloodstained Iron." Miyama's hand surrounded the bloodied surface. A massive sword, in design curved and long, formed from the blood. "At this point, you understand a lot more of my motives. Iaijutsu."
The sword slashed forward.
Mirai blocked rapidly.
"At this point… It's between you and me now." Miyama's lips curled upward. A faint froth built at the edge of the lips, energy mixed with blood.
The sword shot forward. A loud clang echoed over the battlements.
Miyama smirked. "Swordsman to swordsman."
"I wouldn't have it any other way…" A tired smile crossed Mirai's lips. She danced forward.
A notch formed in the katana.
Mirai's eyes widened. "This is…" She took a step backward, staring at the blade. My ancestral katana has been cut, now?!
"Yeah. It's strong, huh?" A mad grin crossed Miyama's face. "Like me… I grow strong on the blood of my defeats."
Price
The ice mirrors rose around the battlefield. The height of the tower shook, ice creeping along the spilt blood on the ground. Winter-white snow drifted down from the height of the tower.
Sasuke stood motionless.
Is he bluffing?
The top of the castle darkened.
If he's bluffing, then I know my path. If not… Haku lunged forward. Haku reappeared in the mirror directly behind Sasuke.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
Haku hurled a needle rapidly. The needle pierced Sasuke's back.
Sasuke choked. Blood spurted from Sasuke's mouth.
"Aw, what is that?!" Naruto demanded, his eyes widening as he glared at the figure. "You were acting all cool, and then you just let yourself get hit in the back!"
"Shut up!" Sasuke returned, her face reddening. "It's not like I had a choice, moron!"
"As amusing as your banter is, I don't have much time left…" He made a mistake. His bluff didn't work. Still, of the two, he is the more dangerous… Haku's hand lifted. The needles shot downward as Haku moved.
Sasuke grinned. Here we go.
The kunai shot through the air from Sasuke's hand.
Every mirror save the one behind Sasuke and the one Haku had escaped from shattered as the kunai pierced them.
Haku's eyes widened. Haku landed on the ground before impacting the chain lying across the ground. The mirrors collapsed, melting into nothingness.
"There." Sasuke smirked. "I… win." Crimson light glinted in the depths of Sasuke's eyes.
"The Sanzengan? You are the last member of the Uchiha clan, then." Haku lowered his hand, his eyes narrowing.
"Your mirrors have a slight weakness. At the instant you leave them… they can't be protected. You can't change your path mid-motion. Knowing that, I decided to give you a 'safe spot' to land at…"
"Wait! Sanzengan?" Naruto demanded.
Blood trickled out of Sasuke's mouth as she chuckled. "Sanzengan. The eye that copies all ninjutsu, an eye exclusive to the use of the Uchiha… excepting bloodline advancements like Haku's, I can read anything."
"Anything at all…?" Haku blinked. "How impressive."
"But, unfortunately, it's too late for me."
"Why did you save me?" Naruto demanded fiercely.
"Could you have seen through her techniques? No. Naruto… you are the only person capable of beating her now." Sasuke feebly extended her hand toward Naruto. "Please... finish it..."
"No! I mean why did you draw her attention to you with that feint?!" Naruto hissed angrily.
Sasuke's cheeks flushed. "It's not as though I wanted to save you or anything, dumbass! I… just wanted to make sure that she ended up in the right line, that's all!" She cleared her throat loudly. "Don't… you dare lose, dumbass! I will fucking kill you in the afterlife!" Blood pooled on the ground. Sasuke spat blood onto the ground.
Naruto's eyes widened. "You haven't acknowledged me yet! Don't die! Don't die!" He shook Sasuke up and down rapidly.
"Of all the reasons to want to save my life, THIS IS IT?! YOU MORON!" Sasuke shouted.
Naruto fell to the ground.
Sasuke collapsed. Her hands shook, blood oozing from the wounds.
"Great. Just great. Now we can—" Haku started, staring at Yokaze.
A cold chakra filled the air.
Sasuke swallowed.
Naruto's body lay motionless on the ground.
Haku's eyes widened. He's already collapsed. An unconscious shinobi should not be capable of molding chakra... What kind of monster is this?
Slowly, the chakra reformed into the image of a fox, momentarily, silver and glowing with recycled energy.
Price
The air darkened. The forest shuddered with dark lights. Echoing will-o'-wisps and dancing bog lights rose through the forest, echoing the ancient recollection.
"This chakra…"
Shadows crept along the ground. Clawing echoes of tails, remembrances of them, formed along the ground and the darkness.
"What is this? That kid really is a jinchūriki, isn't he?" Zabuza questioned, his head tilting to one side.
"Where did you receive that information?" Nōtō demanded, his eyes narrowing.
"Don't have to tell you." Zabuza scowled. He looked up at the tower. That could be a problem. With where the kid is right now... she probably won't be willing to kill him immediately. That's a risk we can't afford. A jinchūriki has to die before the Tailed Beast can act.
"We don't have time. Probably… For both of us we have to finish this quickly." Nōtō gritted his teeth.
The shadows drew along the ground.
"My virtue is now about to be broken." Brown chakra rose around Nōtō.
Zabuza's eyes widened.
"What do you say… Zabuza-san? Let's end this here and now."
The shadows twisted along the ground.
"Sounds interesting. But what can you do?"
"Sit down…" Nōtō slammed his palm into the ground. "And I'll tell you, soon enough."
Price
The tower shook, waves of energy spreading through the air. The stones crumbled at the edges, a few grains of stone falling from the surface of the breaking energy.
Sasuke's eyes closed. Blood trickled from Sasuke's mouth.
A silver-haired woman wearing a kimono of white with pink cherry blossoms embroidered into the lining stepped forward. Her silvery eyes flickered downward, studying the stones of the castle. Clawed feet stepped over the edge of the abyss. "Dear me. Quite the mess, indeed." She shook her head from side to side, stepping forward again over Naruto's body. "Well… Interesting. A pleasure to meet ya, Yuki Haku."
Haku's eyes widened. "Who… or what… are you?"
"Genkuro. Were ya more learned, ya might know that name as the personification of the mischief and darkness of the Kyūbi." The silver-haired woman stepped forward again. "On the other hand, I am not in need of yer name, or yer life's story. It is laid plain before me… a tragic death of your beloved mother at the hands of yer father. Yer abilities marked you, especially in Hidden Mist. Well, that's simple enough to fix."
"Fix? No! Don't come any closer!" Haku held out one hand warningly.
Ignoring the warning, Genkuro stepped closer, her foot trailing along the edge of the stone. "Isn't the definition of what that kid is a li'l interesting? You called him a monster earlier, so I figured you might want to know the truth about what he is and all that. The word 'jinchūriki' has two literal meanings. The first is of course sacrifice. The second is… medium." Genkuro glanced over her shoulder. "The idea bein' that, when necessary, the Tailed Beast would be summoned through the power of the medium; when not, the medium itself would act as the seal. A peculiar and refined sort of act. A cunning act… Well… At any rate, I can straighten those crooked little crossways of yours." Her eyes flickered momentarily red. "A woman who forced herself to become a man, because her perceived father wanted it. How very inappropriate."
Haku reached upward. "I'll bite my own tongue if I have to! Don't come near me!" She grasped the needles tightly. What is she talking about?
Genkuro sighed. "Well, yer young yet." She sat down, her body fixed in a meditative posture. Silver energy rose from her body, taking the form of nine tails rising across the body.
Haku's eyelids suddenly drooped. The air smells sweet... She swallowed tightly. Poison? Am I being poisoned?
Genkuro's kimono twitched. A tail shot out from between the folds. "There, there. Don't worry. Yer mother is dead, so… I'll become her and start from the beginning…" The tail wrapped around Haku's eyes.
Haku fell to the ground. She collapsed, silver energy and fire dancing across the edges of her skin.
"Still, it's a li'l surprisin' to believe that she could remain standing after exerting herself so hard," Genkuro muttered. She sat down. Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew a saucer of sake. She took a long drink from the flask. A sweet smoke rose from the wine. "Well, that kid probably ain't gonna be happy with my plan at all. Not one bit. But, well, what the hell kin you do? It ain't like she'd be happy with livin' without a good reason."
Yokaze gulped. "...Um..." she started, her hand raised.
"Ah. Hey, you." Genkuro turned, her eyes narrowing.
Yokaze swallowed tightly.
"You interested in drinkin' wine?"
"...I'm underage," Yokaze replied, swallowing tightly. I don't know how to respond to this...
Genkuro sighed. "Ah, well. Worth a try. Ya know, both a' them put their lives on the line for ya. Least you could do is help 'em out a little."
"...I don't know acupuncture, and..."
"Heh. Blood loss is probably the bigger problem right now." Genkuro took a sip of the sake. "Just bandage 'em up."
Yokaze coughed. "Uh, right away, ma'am." She reached downward, tearing away a scrap of cloth from one of the uniforms and wrapping the cloth around the leg.
Price
The forest filled with smoke. The mist rose from the ground, spiraling through the trees like sinuous snakes.
Nōtō's hands rose. "Summoning Technique!"
A group of large bears formed on the ground, puffs of smoke surrounding them.
"You can't find me like that." Zabuza's voice came from one of the trees.
Nōtō smirked. "It's been a long time since I've fought such a worthy opponent… But you seem to be underestimating me. My power is definitely not the same as yours. I learned from experience."
Zabuza's eyes narrowed.
"True. That mist of yours is pretty annoying. But you're dealing with someone with years of experience… The best way to deal with mist on a sunny morning…" Nōtō's hands rapidly shifted.
Zabuza's eyes widened.
"Is to burn it away. Flame Style: Consumption Technique!" A wave of flames rushed outward from Nōtō's palms. The mist dissipated.
Zabuza tensed.
The bears leapt forward. One seized on Zabuza's arm, ravaging the surface.
Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "So you really are the heretical priest. Well, what happens now?" The demonic shape around Zabuza's body rose. "I could remake it, but…" Zabuza shrugged. "There's no point."
"I have seen your heart… you truly cared about your honor, and your justice." Nōtō clapped his hands together. "Whether you worked for your village or not is irrelevant. I will see to it that you are properly buried."
"And… the kid?" Zabuza asked after a moment.
"She will be given a proper burial." Nōtō bowed his head deeply. "Farewell… Momoichi Zabuza."
Zabuza's head bowed. A single tear fell from his eye. "When I die… maybe I'll finally become a true devil."
Nōtō's steel glasses glinted. "A strange aspiration. But I will place my blessing on it." The hands formed the Tiger seal.
Zabuza fell to his knees. Flames engulfed Zabuza's body. The clearing lit with flames.
Sighing, Nōtō spat water onto the flames, his fingers rising in a series of rapid seals. The smoke dissipated rapidly.
The charred body fell to the ground, injured, damaged and quite expired.
"What now, boss?" one of the bears questioned shortly, its growling voice echoing through the clearing.
"We go and check on those two." Nōtō glanced up at the tower. "The strength of the Kyūbi's chakra doesn't seem to have altered…" Storm clouds rolled over the leafy clearing. Nōtō turned. He heavily strode toward the darkness of the castle.
"And Zabuza?" another bear, its coat the color of honey, growled in a mellifluous voice.
"You may attempt to bury him if you wish. Personally, I intend to leave that deed for a bit longer."
The bears nodded.
Too tired. A flickering light passed overhead. Nōtō stuffed his hands into his pockets. The rain pattered downward. "Strange…" By now, Miyama should have concluded her fight. That frozen gorilla of a woman is quite proficient in such arts. Perhaps her opponent is a bit stronger than usual...?
Price
The battlements filled with blood. Bodies of guards rested against the ground, blood spilling into the holes between the trenches. Stone crumbled under the impact of the blades, the strikes knocking away more and more of the surface.
Blow, counterplay, blow.
There was no art to Miyama's strikes, no grander design. Each strike was simply strong. Yet Mirai fell back, even with her foresight. Even her artful, dedicated swordplay could not reach Miyama.
The blades clashed together.
How long… has it gone on? Blood splattered across Mirai's front. I can barely see anything anymore… Who is this I see? In front of me, this…
Miyama cackled loudly.
I can't see anything… Mirai gripped the sword tightly, her hands shaking with lost blood. The fingers slipped on the deep blood.
The blade collapsed to the ground.
"Damn." Miyama scowled. She ran her finger across a white bird skull around her neck briefly.
Eh? "You… are letting me go?" Mirai questioned, her eyes wide.
"Yeah." Miyama's fingers flickered. The bloodstained flakes fell to the ground. "I got something to see the future too. A little bit, at least." Miyama smirked as she released the hilt of the blade. "I see us meeting again someday. Plus, your boss is already away, so there's no point in interfering with your life. You did your job. You held that line long enough."
This person… They're very unusual, after all… Mirai's face twitched, her expression still surprised.
Miyama smiled. Reaching downward, she picked up the blindfold. Her hand extended, blindfold in hand.
Mirai accepted the blindfold. She wrapped up her eyes. "Thank… you."
The battlements shook slightly.
Miyama turned away. She stared at the sky, her expression without facet or particular feature.
Price
A wall of stone rose across the ground. The edges of the stone glistened with water. Pores formed in the higher rocks, and occasionally more of the sea water slipped through.
Kōju stared upward. "That looks like the boundary." She ran her fingers along the edge of the stone. "There are more pore rocks. Also, the water level rose about in that tunnel…" She sighed. "Well, at least we know where Gatō went. We can request his presence from Hidden Mist later, as a criminal of war."
The ground trembled.
Kōju reached sideways. "Earth Style: Mole Technique." The wall gave in. Kōju swam through the solid rock, eventually emerging above the surface of the ground. "Goodness gracious! Is it really that time already?" she demanded, staring at the winds and sun. "Well, there's no time for it—" Kōju clapped her hands together.
A white flash flickered around Kōju.
Kōju groaned. "Owow." The flash dissipated. "I've definitely overused my chakra. I'll have to improve it some. Also, I need to work on rationing it, unlike certain teammates." Muttering, Kōju walked along the path.
The forest creaked. Echoing darkness filled the sky.
Kōju stared at the darkness.
Slowly, the castle came within view.