Chapter 151 - Arc 10 - Why Are You Still Here?

This chapter fought the shit out of me, which is a shame because it was pretty important.
A part of it was not knowing exactly what was going into it, which is something I can actually fix. I've been meaning to make a mind-map of this arc like I did the Chunin exam for kind of a while and I think it's finally time. Gonna do that.

Another issue is my fiance and I are going through some changes in how we do things. My entire creative cycle is designed around him so when we fuck shit up, I get fucked up. Adjusting is awkward, but I'm doing a pretty okay job.

Another part is just plain out, I've been really craving another project recently. I know I can't do two, I've figured that out. The "just do the other thing and the block will disappear" thing is a myth, so, I've gotta power through wistful thoughts and 'green other side' delusions. Or maybe do a oneshot of something.
Anyway, enjoy chapter 151.

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“Krkrrkkkggll-” The clacking sound of shadowy bones snapping with every movement the creatures make is enough to make Temari wince. There’s something absolutely terrifying about seeing something so far from human they leave uncanny valley entirely only to turn right back around and hit it from the other side. Their bodies are just human enough that if you approached them under the tree line in the pitch of night you might walk right up to them before you noticed anything was amiss. However, given just the little light of the moon, it is incredibly obvious. Just the slightest glimmer of illuminating truth and you are suddenly aware you’re dealing with something straight from a nightmare. It’s not even that the creature itself is that scary. Sure it fizzles and fuzzes and cracks in ways that would send any normal civilian right back to nope-land without any sugar, but she’s heard real bodies make those sounds many times. Even excluding the murder itself, Gaara has on more than one occasion brought a corpse home as his plaything for the evening. She knows exactly what having dinner with a rotting body in their father’s chair is like.

Well, okay, she’s never heard a corpse make radio fuzz but she’s heard a radio so even then it’s not that bad. A lot of fear is based on the unknown, so being well aware of the reality around them makes them seem almost docile and easy to grasp for her normally survival focused brain.

The issue is that they seem to literally be from nightmares. Their existence is fading and fleeting. They teleport, they spawn into existence half formed, they wisp and turn to shadows and grow from the corner of your vision with razor teeth and giant malformed eyes. They twitch and gnaw and claw at the ground when you view them from afar but when up close, they might just split in half because they can and slither at you with severed parts. They don’t seem to really exist in any fashion, and she’s sure that if she blinked they would change shape and space entirely. So believing that a little icky hair dye could possibly trick them just isn’t something she can do. Honesty in bold, this is ridiculous and she’d love to have no part in it.

Despite that refusal, despite her unwillingness to humor the dumb idea - shop description or not - she still dumps it over her head and grinds the goop into her beautiful blonde hair because of the saying ‘in for a Ryo.’ She left her brother behind to follow Sasuke over here, she’s not about to back out with a roll of her eyes now, that’d be ridiculous. Besides, the walk over the mountain would suck without his second coat. She’d rather die than walk home alone in the cold, no thank you.

“How come they aren’t noticing us?” She asks, walking by one that crackles and lets out a screech that sets her off balance. “It’s not actually working is it?” She waves in front of its face, and it ignores her. She makes a dumb face at it, and it ignores her. He looks at her with a very unexpressed impression, but she ignores him, reaching out and touching its liquid looking shoulder with probing fingers. She finds it’s more solid than it should feel, at least for a few seconds, before without even looking at her it somehow tugs her fingers into his shoulder. She watches her hand disappear into its ooze, but before she can react it splits in half.

Its shrieks fill the air, every individual severed chunk making a different gurgling cry of rage even as its body hisses and melts into the ground. A look to her side reveals that Sasuke’s katana is in his hands, and his stoic features hold a clear aggravation aimed towards her. Her fingers sting a little and she looks back only to reveal they’re fully covered in the goopy substance they purchased, even though she used all of it on her hair. Some of her arm is covered too. Meaning that substance was likely taken from or designed straight from them. “Did it just try to eat me?”

“Yes.” Sasuke says with a deadness to his tone which brooks no argument or playfulness. She’d, he reacted so fast, but a part of her worries she doesn’t want to know.

”You’ve dealt with this kind of thing before.” She asks instead. It takes her a moment to will the strength to jump out of her own fear and broach the topic, but she has to. It’s likely she’s staying in the leaf a while, which means he’ll probably be a part of her life for some time. All these experiences will paint their futures, and now that she’s sure Gaara’s not going to kill her in the morning she has the luxury of thinking about the weekend.

“Only in my dreams,” Sasuke says, “these things started showing up shortly after I joined the team with Sakura. The corpse on the ground finally stops hissing and starts bubbling instead. Sasuke reaches down to scoop up the few coins it spews out of its anti-material substance. “At first I thought nothing of it. Perhaps Itachi was sneaking into my room and messing with me at night to try and ward me away from making friends.” He pushes his sword back into his sheath, it’s sleek black metal flaring red with bright sigils as it’s snuffed out of sight. For a direct copy of Sakura’s evil sword given life inside this game and put into the last Uchiha’s hand, Temari can’t help but notice that it looks good in his grasp. He holds it like it belongs to him, and isn’t a mockery.

More importantly, the idea that his brother might have free access to him doesn’t seem to bother him. Not in any way she can detect anyway. “And now?” Temari asks, “seeing them here must be a shock if you’ve been seeing them for a while. I don’t think these exist back home.”

He shakes his head, “they don’t, I’ve looked.” He confirms her words while taking her hand and walking her through the horde. He doesn’t even let her have a full moment to grasp the horror she just almost encountered, if not for him who knows what would have happened. Could the goop actually eat her? Would it have devoured her whole? Could she have died in a split second? He slashed really fast, he had to have a reason to fear what would happen to her.

Him caring what happens to her like that makes her feel warm, she’s never been cared about before, not like that.

She finds her feet following him towards the cabin they’re sneaking up on. It’s always towards a goal with him. She can appreciate the dedication, but she’d really like to clean her hands off at least. “Now I think they’re a warning from an entirely different source.” He says grimly, as if that’s not incredibly ominous.

She’s not sure she’s ready to ask what that means, so she doesn’t. She takes a shaky breath and shakes the thoughts away instead.

“I think this is a Suna team.” Temari says instead as they get close to the cabin, “the fire outside is made using the sand method, I can’t imagine why any other country would have developed it and it’s a bit specific to have learned during the game so far. It uses the way sand has tiny rocks in it to create a grinder which just isn’t something a leaf Genin would think of.”

Sasuke nods in understanding before giving her a questioning look. There’s a twinge of guilt to her features, but her people or not, she’s more important. “Let’s create a game plan,” Temari mumbles, “while we wait for them to go to bed.”

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The bang of his office door slamming open would bother the Hokage if he didn’t know it was coming from quite a ways off. While he has several spying tools, he doesn’t need any of that to notice his student, a Jonin, and two fake Genin rushing for his tower from the forest of death. He even has a pretty good idea of what the conversation is about before they get to the tower. So he has a steaming cup of tea for each of them ready when they arrive, with his own touched to his lips the very moment the door handle smacks against his wall.

“Mebuki, Kizashi, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” He asks, waving the two senior ninja to the side in favor of discussing the intrusion with the lower ranks.

“The portal is open, why?” Mebuki asks before she’s even finished strutting over to his desk. Kizashi’s a little more cautious and seems to recognize the potential trap in the air while resting his back against the wall. He even does the good husband thing and fruitlessly signals to her, only for them to go unheeded. There’s rage in her steps and a flare in her eyes, and he understands why. He’d be pretty mad in her place, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to cow to her like her fellow Genin often do. “You agreed to inform us if we were ever invaded again, and it seems we’re under full invasion while I don’t have the slightest clue.”

Her hand slaps down on his desk with a demand for an explanation, and yet, the one he has prepared is unlikely to satisfy her. Instead, he decides to tell most of the truth. “Our agreement is to inform you if we’re being invaded, but we’re not, we’re invading.” His words clearly shock her, he sees the hesitance in her wavering expression and he watches as several facts click into place. He takes a sip of his tea while watching for the very moment reality registers in her gaze and shakes her foundation. The only issue is, it’s impossible to tell what reality she’s actually registered. You can lead a horse to water, you can even make it drink if you have the right tools, you can’t make sure it tastes the same exact flavor you desire. Maybe its taste buds are different, maybe its perception is slightly off, maybe it’s sick. Many different variables come into every single moment that involves another person and the processing of a scared mother just isn’t something he can fully prepare for.

There’s nothing he can do to persuade her to stop being afraid either, he doesn’t have her full perspective and that lack of ability to empathize means most of his attempts to calm her would likely just set her off. It’s times like these when he misses retirement. Despite Asuma’s trials and tribulations he’s never needed to fear for him nearly as hard as this woman likely is her daughter, and he’d like to respect that as much as he can. “You’re attacking the force that has my daughter?” She asks.

“Attacking is a strong word,” Sarutobi gives her a soft denial,, “but we do have shoes on the ground over there and aside from the occasional envoy there’s been almost nothing crossing over here. I cannot claim we are being invaded when every negotiation made between our people is in our benefit, and the only resource they’ve taken so far is dirty water from a blown up stream.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Mebuki’s lips twitch, “otherworlders are predatory, resource hungry abominations. That’s the entire reason they cross over, to steal what we have.”

“And the power needed to make the portal in the first place means they have what they need to make the attempt. Yes, I remember the lecture, but I must remind you that you’re here and I don’t remember the last time you stole something… outside of duty.”

“I don’t count.” She takes a step back, a sour expression on her lips and a waver in her eyes, “I’m from Konoha.”

“Where you’re from doesn’t change the fact that you have spent more time in another world than anyone else living in my village.” The Hokage reminds her of something she can never forget, he watches painful memories flare to life behind her eyes, and as much as he regrets bringing them up, they’re relevant here, “I recognized their envoy immediately because she reminded me of your scent. So let me pose a question for you instead, Mebuki, you know the portal is open. Why am I speaking to you right now when you could be halfway to your daughter already?”

“I don’t want to betray-” She starts-

“You’re afraid.” Sarutobi interrupts her. Palming his hands together while looking into her eyes. “You’re more fearful of what could be on the other side than anyone else because you know the answer. You’re afraid of getting stuck behind the lines again because this time there’s no Minato to save you. Worst off you’re afraid you’ll give up halfway as the memories become too much, and you’ll abandon her.”

He watches his Genin’s eyes close, and watches her pained expression. A frenzied animal exists deep in there, and he’s intentionally prying. “So if you’re too paralyzed to go get your own daughter, why would I tell you anything is going on when all we have is fear and assumptions to work with? Go home, Mebuki, and ready it for when Sakura comes back, she’ll likely need the same help you did. Not every battle has to be fought on the front lines, having someone to return to is just as important as you charging in.”

“You’ll tell me if anything changes?” She squeaks, unable to hold her anxiety in, not that he would ask that of her..

“I swear on Minato’s grave, I will inform you if I need you or if Sakura needs you.” The Hokage takes her hand in his, gives her a squeeze, and signals to Kizashi that he should leave with the suddenly fleeing woman.

“I’m too old for this.” Jiraiya sighs, holding himself up on the wall while Sarutobi nods.

“You and me both.” The commander says, sipping at his tea, “they didn’t drink theirs.”

“You told her to leave.” Kakashi reminds him. It’s easy to miss that he lacks his normally playful body language, he’s ready for war which makes it pretty obvious what he’s about to ask.

“I did, I guess that’s more for me,” he fakes a laugh while watching his ex-ANBU captain approach, “go on, tell me what you want.”

“I would like permission to go after my students.” Kakashi is blunt, his hands in his pockets as he walks up to the Hokage’s desk, only taking one of those hands out to take his drink at the older professionals prompting. “If Konoha is truly in no danger, I need to know so I can go.”

“She hates you, you know,” the Hokage says, “Sakura would rather have had any other teacher.”

“Then we’re in agreement,” the cyclops says through clenched teeth, “please.”

“You were too young back then, you have no idea what’s on the other side. What your mentor faced, what they faced.” Sarutobi says with a darkness to his tone that allows no illusion of safety, “you’ll learn more about him in minutes than you could your entire life studying him here. Are you sure you want to do that? You won’t like everything you find out.”

“My students need me.” Kakashi practically coughs out under the grim pressure of his leader’s gaze, “besides, who’s to say it’s the same place? There has to be multiple other worlds, right?”

“It’s explicitly not the same place,” The Hokage explains with a nervous twitch to his nose, his steeled expression cracking a little with fear of the unknown, “that’s what I’m afraid of… go Kakashi, if you must. There’s no need to find Mebuki, the portal will stay open. Just remember that for the moment we are friendly with the Dark Lands. Do not go in throwing out Jutsu and screaming about your students.”

The cyclops disappears in a puff of smoke, and the moment the silver haired boy in a man’s skin is gone, tired old eyes land on Jiraiya’s grizzled form. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“We’re both soft.” The Toad sage laughs under his breath, “you just let him go.”

“You did not go to the other side,” Sarutobi says, “let me be clear. Allowing him to go there was not the easy way out, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I do believe I will need a stress nap soon.” Even he didn’t go, he only read the reports, but those reports made him favor the ones from the war.

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The waver of darkness around his feet makes it hard to focus his eyes. Haku reaches up to rub them clear, only to find the fog taking up a good part of his vision is environmental. It disappears with his hand in the way, meaning it’s very real and very much a part of his surroundings. Purples and pinks, blues and oranges, colors meld and mix and even match between his fingers and he can’t help the feeling that he shouldn’t be here. Doubts invade his heart, chill his blood, and he knows he’s not welcome. He doesn’t belong, and the giant eyeball deep in the distance watching him tells him he’s being observed and found undesirable.

That doesn’t stop him. The glass floor beneath him shifts and shivers as if an animal in the cold. The brittle platforms look ready to crumple, and the gaze spying on him from the end of his journey is far from the only set of eyes watching him adventure through the void. He understands why Mebuki said he might want to run back. He also understands why he can’t allow himself a moment of hesitation. A simple look back shows that much of the glass he walked here on is gone, dissipated into the air at a constant rate that follows behind him. Should he falter for even a second he may find nowhere to stand. Would he fall forever? Would he hit another invisible platform? He doesn’t know, and he doesn’t want to know.

All he wants to do is go get Sakura.

Back in Wave, they saw two entirely different worlds. His, and Sakura’s crazy reality, so a little bit of duality doesn’t scare him. The path he walked before Wave wasn’t so dissimilar from this one. He saw no end to it besides the judging eyes all around him, and even the one thing he relied on most held him up with an unsteady gait that threatened to leave him behind if he dared stall for even a second.

While he fully understands her worries, If this is all Mebuki worried about, she greatly misunderstands his life experience. There’s a crack behind him and for the first time he hears his structure begin to quicken in its destruction. Icy chakra floods the glass beneath him to hold it in place just a little longer. He won’t have forever at this, but he doesn’t need it. For while he sees no door at the end of this tunnel, that eye gets closer with every passing second.

He’ll either be accepted or denied, and either way, he’ll have done his best for the girl who once left her comfort zone to take him in. At the time it had seemed so simple for her, but as he’s gotten to know her he’s learned otherwise. Reaching out to him took everything she has, it’s just that she doesn’t have a lot to give in the first place so her greatest efforts seem trivial from the outside.

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Silent footsteps lead him onwards towards his objective. Sasuke’s hand is held firmly on the hunger ripoff he’s unsheathed. He’s a little annoyed Sakura couldn’t give him a pair of knives or something, he’s not trained to use a katana and even if he was, it doesn’t work too well here. Getting into their cabin is easy, they clearly aren’t expecting a counter attack so quickly. Either they weren’t actually working with the other group that snuck over and therefore aren’t sharing the same mindset, or they’re careless by nature. It’s likely the former, given they’re Suna ninja and it’s unlikely there’s a lot of them in this game. Suna didn’t actually send that many Genin, which probably should have been a tip-off that something was amiss.

Not that anyone needed any more tip-offs that something was amiss. He sneaks into their room next, quickly finding himself standing over a girl around his age. Murdering a girl in her sleep doesn’t sit well with him, but he only finds his hand hesitating once the blade is against her throat. A part of him wishes this was easier. If Itachi had been more willing to kill them in their sleep the memories which stir within him might not have been so traumatizing. Flashes of him waking people up so he could stare into their eyes while he dug a kunai into their hearts shoot through his mind. Itachi slowly ground away the family and then did the same to his sanity, it causes him to shiver just being in a similar situation, and that causes the blade at this girl’s throat to shake as well..

He almost closes his eyes to fight back the pain that shoots through his skull, but he knows better, he keeps himself alert and it’s a good thing he does because he watches her stir. His left hand covers her mouth, and the blade presses down, drawing the slightest trickle of blood in a solemn threat to kill her the moment she makes a noise. He can see fear in her dark brown eyes, and he knows he’s taken too long. A thousand thoughts run through her head, and he’s sure none of them are flattering. “Shh.” He whispers, and he knows he’s not convincing. Who would actually be quiet right now? Sure enough she tries to call his bluff by throwing a leg up to kick him away, and with a flash of steel he finds himself holding his hand on the mouth of a severed head, staring directly into dead eyes as blood seeps into his clothes and stains the floor where his shoes rest.

Okay, there’s a vague possibility this is a little closer to what Itachi was actually doing and he screwed with the perception to fuck with him. It’s small, but there’s no doubt his older brother’s intent was to expressly traumatize him, and if it was understandably this scuffed it’d make perfect sense. What if Itachi was also hesitating and- he’s not justifying his brother’s actions. He takes a step back, unsure what to do. That was loud, the scrape against bone itself still rings in his ears. The sharpness of the cut grinds against his inner ear and makes his skin feel clammy and odd. A look at the other two rousing is enough for him to launch into action. “Temari!” He shouts, and before he’s even fully finished charging a giant gust of wind comes slamming through the wall, blurring his sight and starting a battle he really wished to avoid with this whole sneak in gamble.