The road, dull and lifeless, rested at the outskirts of the desert. Here white sand, not brown, covered the ground. In the distance a high wind blew along the ground, sweeping up the white sand into colors and bright skies.
Sasori glanced over his shoulder, his black gleaming eyes narrowing. "Keep up." He studied the group briefly before turning his head back to the road.
"It's been a while since I've been out this way. Does this place still have sandstorms?" Tayuya questioned, studying the horizon. Her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm talking the real heavy shit. Not just the little shit around here, right?"
"Of course," Soyokaze responded briefly. They clambered up the stone and rocks, glancing around the vast desert.
Tayuya scowled. She stared around at the desert. Well, fuck. Forget Hakubo or whatever; there's a strong chance of my dying just out in this desert. And the rest of us too.
Sasori stared steadily at the desert. "Don't worry," he said suddenly. He moved forward steadily.
Naruto rested his body against the blanket, his eyebrows furrowing. He leaned back on the ground.
"If something happens, just leave it to Naruto. He should be able to disturb the gathering of the wind chakra."
Naruto swallowed tightly. That's a lot of pressure. I hope he doesn't really expect me to pull off something that miraculous.
The sun dipped toward the horizon. Red light stained the hills, creating the impression of a blood-stained bone rising up above the abode.
"Stay alert. We'll take shifts tonight." Sasori pointed toward a bone-white rock protruding from the sand, pointing upward toward the heavens. "The desert isn't a good place for an ambush, but if the moon isn't out tonight an opportunity may arise."
Kōju sat down. Smiling, she rolled out a sheet on the ground. Sand blew upward around the light space.
Soyokaze set down a bedroll. They set about preparing a fire from tree twigs gathered before entering the desert.
Sasuke saluted sharply. Her red eyes narrowed. "Yep." Her knees folded, one over the other. Her hands rested against her knees.
"While we're on the topic, it'd be wise to prepare our strategy for the battle." Sasori sat down. He stared across the valley of darkness.
The final red rays of light cascaded downward, sealing the veil of night over the forgotten plateau.
Sasori's black eyes, doll-like, reflected the dull red light of the dying sun. He remained motionless and silent.
Sasuke lowered her finger. A spark emerged from the tip of her finger. The gathered twigs of cactus plants ignited in the heat of the chakra. Wispy flames rose from the sticks of wood.
"I should begin by saying that in the event of an accident you will probably die." Sasori glanced toward Naruto. "We are here to preserve the Tailed Beast inside Gaara. What happens after that is not our concern. Likewise, if someone falls on that mission, we leave them. This is what it means to be a shinobi. Follow my directives precisely, and we may have a chance at surviving."
Soyokaze blinked. Their blue eyes reflected the flames briefly, coloring the flames red.
Tayuya scowled. Her hands folded across her chest. She crossed her legs, one over the other.
Naruto stirred the flames with a stick, his face drawn. He looked upward, a nervous spirit within his worried expression.
Sasuke glanced upward, her red eyes narrowed. She studied Sasori briefly, her fingers steepled together.
Kōju frowned as her green eyes stared at Sasori silently. She removed some vegetables from her pack and began to cut the vegetables to pieces.
"Tayuya and I have the most battle experience, if I read the facts right. We're also physically the slowest, in comparison to you four." Sasori paused. "Bearing that in mind, we will deal with any immediate sentinels."
"How can you be sure of that?" Sasuke questioned. She studied the form with concern.
"I'm basing it on your marching pace." Sasori's eyes remained motionless, like a pair of buttons set into a blank face.
Tayuya nodded. "We do have the best fucking chance. And he's right; compared to you guys I'm slow as hell, and he's about my pace," she agreed. "For this kind of mission you need someone to fuck up the outside forces."
Sasori nodded. He turned his gaze toward the center of the camp. "Soyokaze is best-suited to the opening of the labyrinth."
Soyokaze's eyebrows furrowed. After a long moment they nodded, their blue eyes downcast.
Tayuya nodded. Hidden Sand, right? It must have been preserved through that history.
"Labyrinth? Back up." Naruto held up his hand. His eyebrow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
Sasori made a strange metallic noise. "I apologize. You're right. This will take some explanation." He shuffled into the center of the flame. "The extraction of Tailed Beasts can't be done just anywhere." He pointed into the darkness. "There's a certain set of. Well. You'd call them labyrinths, but some of them are buried underground or settled on flying spaces." He looked upward. "Each of them is shaped with four walls, a mystical representation of the power of the universe and binding. The interior is filled with complexity, rejecting order and society. It is a rejection of life."
Clouds swirled over the moon, shadowy and dark. The sky glimmered, bright and shining. The stars flickered and glimmered and sparkled in the sky, assuming an ominous cast in the crimson sky.
"According to Kūkyo-san, who was around long enough to remember most of them, there are somewhere between nine and nineteen labyrinths scattered around the Hidden Nations." Sasori paused. He gestured toward the distance. A cloud of sand glimmered in the distance, lit silver by the moon. "So that's the plan. In and out quickly. Don't engage in unnecessary combat."
"Wait." Tayuya raised her hand. Her brown eyes narrowed. She studied Sasori with concern.
Sasori's eyebrows furrowed. His body leaned backward, creaking mechanically in the sky.
Taking out a metal skewer from her pack, Kōju placed the vegetable pieces through the skewer. Liquid sizzled on the vegetables.
"Shouldn't we go through a simulation first?" Tayuya looked steadily at Sasori. "We need to get these fuckers ready for this kind of mission." She jerked her thumb at the four people sitting behind her.
"Plans change. Initial combat is the one time that you can't truly prepare for. Improvisation is best. Trying to predict what'll happen is completely worthless." Sasori sat down in the middle of the sand pit. Clicking sounded within the frame.
Tayuya frowned. She reached downward, touching the holes over the flute with two fingers.
"Well, I've overstated it. It's true that visualization can be effective, in specific circumstances. But to say it truthfully can improve combat results to practice a specific set of scenarios is absurd. Any shinobi worth their stripes has a very distinctive, unique style. As such, it's unlikely training against one of us would help, especially if the opponent is of a very different style."
"What about you?" Tayuya continued. "You're a puppeteer, right?" She pointed at the lumpish form on Sasori's back.
"My style is quite different from that Nara woman's. Not inferior, mind. But different." Sasori paused. "A twisted style like that relies on living human beings, and encourages despair in them. My way is more kindly. At least they die before they are used. Training against me would have no point. There's as little similarities between our ability to fight as between yours and, say, Itachi's."
A silence fell over the campfire. The flames crackled as the fire rose into the sky, smoke swirling upward.
Sasuke frowned. She looked up at Sasori, her shoulders tensing. "What kind of man is my brother?"
"He is who he is. I would guess your assumption is better than mine, knowing the details of your experience." Sasori paused. "I have never concerned myself with people. They are transient, immaterial. He more than most."
Sasuke blinked. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded, her face blank and her tone carefully even.
"I mean that Itachi has made far too many enemies to die peacefully. That much, and that much only, I know about him. An enemy understands their enemy best, always. I am but his comrade." Sasori fell silent.
Sasuke stared at the fire. The coals of the flames stirred, sparks flying up around the sand.
Naruto glanced toward Sasuke. I'm sorry, he thought. His hand reached upward, brushing across his temple.
Sasori studied the plains. "There," he said suddenly, pointing toward a whitish spot on the horizon. "There is one of the sentinels."
Tayuya glanced upward sharply. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the white-cloaked figure.
Naruto blinked. "Eh?" He sat upright, staring at the mountain, light pouring downward from the sky.
Faintly the clouds parted, permitting the moon to shine down on the mountain and reflecting the silvery light.
"And there." Sasori's button eyes glimmered. He stared at the "The ritual has truly begun. Until now it has been psychological preparation."
Violet strings of light pierced through the stone of the mountain, spreading upward and striking the clouds and coloring the sky. On the wings of the wind faint, conjoined voices sang, a sound as bizarre and horrific as any Naruto had ever heard. Whistling winds rushed through the opening in the side of the mountain. He covered his ears.
"What is that thing?" Kōju questioned faintly. "It tastes like bitter iron." She reached upward, touching her tongue with irritation.
"That is the Ritual of Nine Phantom Dragons." Sasori frowned quietly. "It is said to be capable of extracting any of the nine Tailed Beasts." He glanced briefly toward Naruto. "You likely won't be sleeping tonight. I didn't think it had an effect over so great a distance."
"I'll be fine." Naruto's body shivered. Sweat dripped down his face, dripping over his eyes.
Kōju frowned. She reached toward Naruto's shoulder, her fingers glowing with brilliant green light.
"Do not bother." Sasori raised his hand. "It is not something that can be affected by healing. It affects the soul."
"What happens to the person affected by it?" Sasuke questioned, her red eyes narrowing.
"They die. The Tailed Beast is extracted from their body." Sasori paused. He squatted heavily. "That is the fate of a sacrifice such as yourself."
Naruto shivered. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He gripped his hand into a fist. "What are you saying?" he demanded, shaking.
Tayuya looked downward. Her hand cradled her flute gently. Her brown eyes studied Naruto with quiet sadness.
"Is there a way." Kōju hesitated, then plunged on. "A way to painlessly remove a Tailed Beast?"
Sasori snorted. "No one ever bothered developing one." He hesitated. "I won't say it's not possible, but no one in two hundred years thought it was worth doing. To begin with these people are sacrifices." He looked upward levelly. "Thinking about something for your friend here?"
Naruto glanced upward briefly. His fist clenched, but his arm's muscle loosened as the hour passed.
"No," Kōju responded. She got up, sitting on the other side of the fire. The skewer turned over the fire.
Soyokaze stretched out one finger nervously. Their finger pressed against Naruto's temple. "Hm hm."
Naruto's eyebrows furrowed.
Soyokaze closed her eyes. She sang in a quiet voice, an echoing and plaintive tune.
Naruto closed his eyes. He felt a piercing pain striking the edges of his temples, but the brunt was slightly impacted by the gentle song.
"To be honest I'm concerned with this." Sasori studied Naruto's sweating face. "In the worst case it'd be unwise to allow him into the labyrinth even in daylight."
"Eh?" Kōju blinked. "Why?"
"I don't know whether simply being in the same location as this kind of technique has an effect on Tailed Beasts." Sasori paused. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be too worried, but taking the Nine-Tails would present a grand amount of power to Hakubo on a golden platter."
"I'll go," Naruto insisted, his face serious. "Whatever happens, it's my destiny. His and mine are tied together now." He stared at Sasori urgently. "We're both carriers. So if it's my fate to die, that's it!"
Moonlight poured down on the mountain.
Sasori sighed. "As you insist. We'll arrive tomorrow." He stared flatly at the desert. "Get some sleep."
A/N: This week was not a good week for writing, but fortunately it's a bit of a delay for information and character anyway. Next week begins the work of rescuing Gaara properly. Please enjoy!