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Shades of Crimson	By : Onileo Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 2074 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. My fanfiction is for entertainment only and is not intended for financial gain.

Chapter List
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Chapter 22
          The low rumble of thunder heralded the dawn as rain pounded the earth relentlessly. From under the relative shelter of a tree, Sakura pulled her hat up, watching as the others shifted around her, as restless as the sky overhead. It was muggy in addition to being wet, and she was sure the others were feeling just as suffocated as she was. Well, everyone except Kisame. The shark ninja was the only one standing in the open, hat off, face upturned toward the moisture falling from above.
          The conversation had been sparse at best, but it had dwindled down to nothing quickly. Aside from the occasional complaint from Hidan, the group waited for Madara in silence. A wave of irritation swept over her and she stuffed her hands in the sleeves of her cloak to trace Jashin's symbol on the inside of her arm. They had carved it there this morning, along with the matching one on Hidan's chest, and she had set a chakra barrier around them to keep them from healing. That way they could stay connected, no matter what happened. Plus, if Madara tried to use a genjutsu on one of them, they had a better chance of resisting it.
          She felt Hidan's irritation rise despite her soothing touch, and he shifted beside her. He glared at Pein and was about to complain again when four chakra signatures caught everyone's attention. Sakura immediately recognized Sasuke's, along with the rest of Team Hawk, as they swiftly made their way along the road, heading away from the village. "Where are they going?" she wondered aloud.
          "It seems that the five Kages have planned to hold a summit. It probably has something to do with the loss of the last biju. I sent Sasuke to... represent our interests at the meeting." Madara explained as he approached the group from the tree line.
          "Oh." she replied, even as she forced her face to keep an unassuming look. There was something in the way he spoke that told her he was lying. He was being too casual, too free with his information. Madara had lived a long time as a powerful shinobi, and she was sure he didn't get that way by running around telling everyone what he was doing. Had he ordered Sasuke to attack the Kages? Such a mission would be guaranteed suicide. And from the sudden twist of Pein's head as his attention was drawn to Madara, he had no idea that Sasuke was leaving either. The conversation she had overheard them having rose in her mind. The pierced ninja had been right. He was definitely up to something.
          Not that it really mattered. As soon as Naruto was safe, she was going to toss a really big wrench into his plans. There was nothing like a slight case of death to make things go awry. She let her eyes follow him passively as he stepped into the middle of the clearing and began forming hand seals. A wave of disdain passed through her and she instantly knew that Hidan was watching him too.
          As soon as Madara finished the last sign, the earth shifted, sinking until it formed a crude staircase that led straight down into the darkness. Sakura's eyebrow raised in surprise. They had a sealing chamber here? If that was the case, why didn't they seal the hachibi like this instead of projecting to a different location? But then again, with the danger of pursuit, it did make sense to get him out of the way as soon as possible. If the other cave was closer, it was the best choice instead. And as Madara himself said, it would take every spare drop of chakra to remove the kyuubi.
          She didn't have time to think about it further, because they had started filing down the stairs. Moving to follow Kisho and Kisame, Sakura started down the steps when she suddenly paused. Apprehension washed over her. For some reason she couldn't name, she didn't want to go down those steps. It was too dark, too close. What was wrong with her? She had never had a problem like this before. Pushing her unreasonable fears aside, she took a deep breath and continued on before anyone had noticed that she was stalling.
          Pein and Konan descended behind her and Hidan, with Madara bringing up the rear. As soon as everyone was below the surface, he closed up the entrance behind them. As the light waned, Kisame's chakra flared ahead of them. A small flame was soon hovering above his hand, lighting the path before them. No doubt it was a jutsu that Itachi had taught him, considering the fact that she had never seen him use anything other than water.
          The way back out was completely closed off now, and Sakura had taken only a few steps when panic hit her like a ton of bricks. Her chest constricted painfully as her heart tried its best to beat its way through her ribs. She couldn't seem to breathe properly, no matter how much air she gulped in. Her head grew light and she had to stop on the next step to keep from stumbling forward into Kisho. A cold sweat broke out on her body and Hidan began muttering curses behind her.
          His hands landed on her shoulders and he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Don't fucking stop, please."
          It was the desperate note in his voice that snapped her out of her dread and allowed her to focus. So, he was the source of it. Forcing herself forward, one step at a time, she continued. As she went, she concentrated on slowing her breathing and heart rate. It was difficult; Hidan's emotions kept forcing adrenaline into her system, but at last she managed it. His hands never left her shoulders, and as soon as she calmed, she felt him relax behind her.
          They traveled for several yards, and at last, Sakura could see the dim glow emanating from the sealing chamber. The pace quickened then, and soon she found herself standing bathed in refreshing light. The statue was already there; more impressive now that she was actually in the same room with it. Eight unseeing eyes stared down at her, the ninth one in the middle still tightly closed. Hidan released her then, and she went to stand by Kisho, who was studying the statue as well.
          "It's not an earth jutsu. Interesting..." he muttered, more to himself than her.
          "What is?" she asked. If he had anything she could use against Madara, it would help tremendously.
          He turned and looked at her then, his dark red hair falling into his eyes. "This statue isn't a statue at all. It's more like a body that has been petrified. You can tell by the slight variations in the surface. Not like a rock at all."
          Sakura looked back up at the statue. She couldn't imagine a creature this massive walking around under the open sky. It had probably terrified anything it came across. Or maybe it had been some kind of ancient demon, inhabiting the caves of the deep earth, filled with hot lava and sulfur. Her eyes landed on the chains around its wrists. Someone had managed to contain it, and probably killed it. But who had that kind of power?
          "That is interesting." she replied.
          "Alright, let's get this done." Madara said, looking at them as he walked to stand between the stone hands.
          Sakura and Kisho glanced at each other before moving to jump on their respective fingers. She could feel Hidan's contempt at being ordered around as he joined her on the right. In contrast, Kisame was nearly chuckling as he landed to her left. Konan appeared across from her; the blue-haired kunoichi's face a mask of contemplation. Pein stood on the thumb beside her, his expression mirroring his partner's.
          As soon as everyone was in place, Zetsu appeared, seeming to materialize from one of the darkened corners of the cavern. In his arms hung the unconscious body of Naruto. The plant ninja walked between the chained hands and unceremoniously dumped him on the floor. Then he turned and merged with the wrist on his left, appearing at the top of the pinky finger moments later. Anger tore through Sakura and she glared at Zetsu. Did he have to be so damned callous? Mismatched gold eyes returned her stare with a mixture of ambivalence and confusion.
          Sakura's emotion was given a voice when Hidan crossed his arms over his chest and spoke up. "Why don't you just beat the poor fucker with a stick and roll him down some stairs while you're at it?"
          Zetsu's eyes moved to meet Hidan's "It is none of my concern what happens to the jinchuriki."
          "As long as he remains alive."
          "Aww, Hidan-san. I never knew you were so compassionate. Perhaps the Zombie Chick is turning you into a human after all." Kisame broke in.
          "Jealous, Shark-face?" Hidan retorted.
          Kisame's eyes narrowed and he fell silent. Reading his partner's sudden change in mood, Kisho spoke up. "That was below the belt, Hidan-san."
          Hidan snorted. "Get off my case, you pansy ass cat-bitch."
          "That's enough, all of you." Pein commanded. "The personal issues can be sorted out later. Our goal is nearly complete and you need to concentrate."
          Sakura said nothing during this exchange. She was busy trying to keep her focus off of Naruto's body and on her plan. As soon as her chakra reached Naruto, she would divide it like last time. She would then go straight for the Kyuubi's chakra, and if her guess was right, she would be pulled into the place that housed the nine-tails' consciousness. There, she would attempt to get him separated from Naruto.
          If he refused, or if it looked like the jutsu would complete before she finished, she would use her connection to Hidan to signal him. Then he would physically break her out of the jutsu and they would attack Madara, interrupting the sealing and completing her task for Jashin. It wasn't a great plan, there was plenty of room for things to go wrong, but it was the best she could come up with.
          Hidan had disagreed with her at first, saying it would just be simpler to attack when the jutsu started and they were off guard. But if the kyuubi were removed, Sakura wouldn't have to worry about anyone else coming after Naruto for his demon. And the chakra drain would weaken Madara considerably, effectively killing two birds with one stone. The only downside was that they would be weakened as well, Sakura more so because she would have expended more energy than the others. After much debate, he finally relented, saying he didn't care how it was done, so long as the prick was dead when it was over.
          At last Madara settled into place and began the hand seals for the jutsu. Sakura formed a seal to steady her chakra as she began feeling the gentle tug at the soles of her feet. Forcing herself to relax, she allowed her chakra to flow downward, trickling out of her body in a steady stream. Time began to blur like before, and she focused her attention on the eerie blue cloud of chakra to keep her mind from wandering. It was hard not thinking about what Naruto was about to go through, or what would happen afterward. Not only did his life rest with her success, but the fates of the countless shinobi who would die if she failed and Madara started his war.
          And Hidan wasn't helping any. The more time passed, the more restless he became. So much so that she was beginning to wonder if they should have waited to do their connection ritual. There was no ignoring it, so she did the best she could to deal with the urges to fidget. When she was ready to throw all her shuriken, kunai and anything else not nailed down at him, he stopped. His attention had been drawn by the sudden decrease in the pull on their chakra. It was time to put their plan into motion.
          "Remember to keep your chakra steady." Madara reminded them needlessly.
          Sakura felt her way along her chakra as Madara guided the mingled energy toward Naruto. She forced herself not to wince as a strangled cry emerged from her friend and he was lifted into the air, head thrown back, body rigid. Concentrating harder, she forced part of her chakra away from the main mass, seeking the seal containing the nine-tails. It was further down than the hachibi's, located in his stomach. The net around the kyuubi was thicker as well, but Sakura could detect several areas that were weak or on the verge of tearing.
          Not wasting any more time, she held her breath and sent her chakra into the largest hole. As soon as she touched the nine-tails' essence, a chill went down her spine. It was much stronger than the eight-tails, and so malevolent it was all she could do to not resist as it latched onto her and sucked her into the darkness. It swallowed her up, suffocating her like the cave's tunnel never could, and just before she lost awareness, a hopelessness sharper than a blade cut through her soul.

          Sakura didn't awaken slowly, instead she was jerked into consciousness by a splash of nearly hot water hitting her face. The ground was shaking, and a high pitched scream echoed off of unseen walls. It sounded almost like a woman was being torn into pieces by a wild animal. Or a fox in pain. Snapping her eyes open, Sakura sat up just in time to see a torch fall from a stone column to fizzle in the water covering the floor. It was soaking into her clothes, so she climbed to her feet and tried to make out her surroundings.
          A sputtering cough from behind made Sakura spin around. Her eyes widened at the sight of Hidan, on his hands and knees, coughing hard as water dripped down his face. The entire front of his cloak was wet as well. He had evidently landed face down when he had been pulled here. Sakura frowned. This was bad. She hadn't counted on their active bond having this effect. Now there was no one that could pull them out if things went wrong. If she failed now, she was stuck until Naruto's death expelled her back to reality.
          When his spasms slowed, Hidan climbed to his feet. Noticing her presence at last, he ran a hand through his damp silver hair and glared. "Do you know how much it fucking sucks to drown and not die?"
          "No." she answered seriously. "What do we do now, Hidan?"
          He shrugged. "Find the nine-tails?"
          "But what if we can't do this?"
        "We will." He replied firmly, squashing her sudden doubt.
          Another agonized scream in the darkness pointed them in the right direction. Taking off at a dead run, they followed the sparsely lit path, slowing only when a tremor threw them off balance. They had only ran a few minutes when the columns widened and spread out, revealing a cage at the other end. The door was still closed, but many of the bars were bent and cracked from the upheaval. An eerie red glow drew their attention to the base of the door where Naruto's body lay in the grasp of a massive red chakra paw. He was unconscious, and it looked like the fox demon was trying to pull him into the cage.
          Another furious howl emerged from the other side of the door. Sakura rushed forward, trying to reach Naruto, only to be pushed back by the force of the chakra and another violent tremor that knocked a second torch down and made several cracks appear in the columns. Hidan caught her as she started to fall backwards, grabbing her by the arms until she regained her balance. An angry pair of red eyes appeared on the other side of the doors. Staring down at them, the utter hatred in the kyuubi's gaze made Sakura's heart pound. Steeling herself, she stepped forward and spoke to it.
          "Kyuubi. Please let Naruto go." she demanded, sounding much calmer than she felt.
          A glare was her answer and his paw closed around Naruto's body tighter. Then he started to tremble, and he howled again before he finally spoke. His tone was dark and obviously distrusting. "Why would I even consider it? You are brave coming here, human. Although, I'm not sure how you accomplished it. Only the strongest of the Uchiha Clan have managed to reach this place before."
          "An Uchiha has been here before?" Sakura asked, her thoughts immediately turning to Sasuke.
          "Several. Only the Sharingan is powerful enough to find this place. In order to get here, you must have had one's help."
          "Uchiha Madara is close by." she replied, considering the implications of his words. How much did the fox demon know? Could he prove useful against Madara as well as saving Naruto? "Do you know what is happening here?" she asked him.
          "Foolish humans, meddling with things they cannot control." he spat in disdain.
          "It's worse than that. Madara is using a jutsu right now to break your seal and pull you into some sort of statue. You have to let go of Naruto or the jutsu will kill him."
          "If I let go of him, I won't be able to fight back. As much as I dislike it, the kit is the only one who can keep me from them."
          "He'll die!"
          "Did you think I would care? For the past twenty one years I have been locked away here, doing nothing except for protecting this boy when he was too weak to care for himself. And whenever I do, he spurns me. You'll have to find a better reason than that."
          "How about, if you don't, we'll fucking kill you?" Hidan broke in.
          The kyuubi gave a pained laugh. "I like your attitude, human, but your words do not threaten me. I cannot be killed."
          "If you have to be contained, does it matter which cage it is? If you don't care about Naruto, why not let Madara have you instead? Let Naruto go and the jutsu will complete faster and your pain will end." Sakura said, trying to keep the desperate tone from her voice.
          "Fine words from Madara's puppet. Do you know what that statue actually is?"
          "Do you?" Sakura countered. She was trying to keep her temper in check, but the demon's continued insults were making it difficult. If there wasn't so much riding on this, she was sure she would be swearing him blue by now.
          "It is the body of the Ten-tails. Madara hopes to gain ultimate power by combining the biju in the original body and reviving it. I don't know what he plans to do with it, but he could destroy the world with a thought." Kyuubi answered her.
          "He's full of shit. Everyone knows the body of the Ten-tails was sealed on the fucking moon by the Sage of the Six Paths." Hidan countered.
          The fox demon gave a hollow laugh. "Such fools. You have no idea how much power the Elder Uchiha has, do you? It would be nothing for him to retrieve it. My old master has evidently hidden his talents well."
          "So why won't you help us? Wouldn't it be to your advantage to be more powerful and take revenge on us humans?"
          "Because, to become the Ten-tails with the other biju means that we will die."
          "But you just said-"
          "I said I could not be killed. What I mean by dying is that our consciousnesses will be destroyed. We will cease to exist as separate beings. Surely you can understand why I won't help you now."
          The image of the eight-tails rose to the front of Sakura's mind. He had been so desperate to survive, and how could she blame him? Her hope to save Naruto began dropping by the second. The kyuubi was a monster, a chakra demon, and he was holding a grudge against the humans that had imprisoned him. The chanced of him willingly risking his life now were slim to none. But she had to try. Naruto would not give up on her, and she could do no less for him.
          "Kyuubi, I know that you have no reason to trust me. But I think I can help you. The jutsu cannot be stopped. One way or the other, Madara will have you. If you will let Naruto live and allow yourself to be removed from his body, I will kill Madara before he can merge the tailed beasts and free you."
          The fox was not convinced. "How do you hope to accomplish that? I will be under his control once again, and if he decides to unleash me at full power, you will not survive. Not that you could in a match against Madara anyway."
          Hidan gave the nine tails a smug look. "Not even you can defy the will of Jashin-sama. We are immortal and cannot be killed either, retard."
          Sakura gave Hidan a glare for his insult. Aggravating an already wounded animal wouldn't do a bit of good. She looked back towards the fox only to find that his face had disappeared into the darkness. She was just about to sigh in defeat when his disembodied voice reached her ears.
          "You two must be the biggest fools I've ever met. But I would be the bigger fool if you are somehow right. I will release my kit. But let me warn you now. If you fail and the Ten-tails is reborn, nothing will survive. And my hatred of you will live on, even when my mind is gone. Immortal or not, I will hunt you to the end of existence."
          The biggest tremor yet shook the walls, making the water on the floor rise up in great waves. Large sections of debris bounced around and the bars before them groaned with the effort to stay sound. Hidan and Sakura were knocked down, and Kyuubi screamed in agony. But true to his word, his massive paw opened, and Naruto's body rolled forward into the water. A sucking sound filled the air and seconds later everything went black.

          "What the hell?" Kisame's voice forced its way into Sakura's awakening consciousness.
          "Are we finished already?"
          "The chakra connection has been broken." Zetsu said.
          "Something has happened." Pein stated matter of factly.
          Sakura opened her eyes to find varying looks of confusion on the Akatsuki's faces. She glanced over at Hidan to find him wiping one hand down his face as if he just woke up with a hangover. Then at the cloud of red and blue chakra that was slowly receding into the statue. The eye in the middle was opened fully, an unearthly intelligence shining from within. The jutsu had completed. Without waiting for everyone to recover, she jumped down to Naruto's body. He was still unconscious, but alive. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, she gave a silent prayer of thanks. Her relief was cut short, however, by a bone-chilling laugh coming from Madara. Looking up, she found him staring down at her, hands on his hips.
          "I'm glad you got what you wanted, Sakura-chan. But now I have an announcement to make. The Akatsuki have just completed my goal, which means that you all are no longer useful. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to let you go." he said with another laugh as seven pairs of eyes were turned on one bright orange mask.
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Shades of Crimson