Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 62 Evernight

Sai soared the sky on one of his painted birds. It was hard to see anything in this darkness, but he kept a careful eye on the shinobi below him, so he could warn them if any obstacle would get in their path.

The Inuzuki dogs fanned out in three different directions, so they could search a larger area. The chakra signature was quite clear and Sai remembered it from long ago when Danzou had still been his master and had sent him on a mission to find Orochimaru.

And even though Kabuto had changed his DNA with a few horrid experiments, the underlying nature of his chakra was still there and not even that hard to follow. It seemed Kabuto didn’t make any secrets about his whereabouts.

Sai’s eyes landed on Zoraya Nara, who was running a few feet below, and then shifted to the others. Anko, Kankuro, Haru Inuzuki. He hoped it would be enough to take down Kabuto.

“Sai, you see anything from up there?” Kankuro asked.

“Not yet, but he should be close. The signature is quite clear.” He steered his bird a little higher and spotted their target at the same times the dogs got his scent.

“There!” all of them called in unison.

The shinobi on the ground changed direction and increased their speed. Sai stayed a little behind. They had agreed he would follow later, when Kabuto was distracted, so he could attack from the sky.

We’re going in,” Anko informed him, “get ready Sai. And prepare for anything.”

***

The eerie eye above her head never faded, never blinked. This was what Madara’s Moon Eye Plan was going to be like? This controlled world of fake cheerfulness? Now that she knew she was in a genjutsu, the happiness was rather creepy and she could notice the flaws in this make-believe world.

There was a night sky, but the world was still light. She was aware of the lack of wind and temperature. It wasn’t cold. Nor hot. It was just nothing and after a closer investigation, every sound was rather hollow.

She had to escape from here. The only question was how she would pull it off. There had to be a way. Itachi wouldn’t have given her the blade if it meant she would get trapped too.

‘The Sakegari Blade…’ She lifted her hand and studied it. She had pierced Madara’s eye with it the moment he cast a genjutsu. Had the two attacks clashed somehow? That would mean they were still connected. Perhaps she had understood wrong. Maybe it had never been Itachi’s intention for her to seal Madara. When he himself had used the blade last time, he had used it to seal the part of Orochimaru that was still inside Sasuke, not Sasuke himself. It could be that he had only wanted her to seal away Madara’s Sharingan. If she would break the connection, would she return to the normal world? What about the tailed beasts? She was vaguely aware of their chakra flow, but couldn’t locate it. ‘One thing at the time,’ she thought and took a deep breath. Slowly she envisioned the Sakegari Blade to take form and let go if it. But before she cold, she was thrown to the ground and felt disturbance in her chakra.

Taryn gasped and opened her eyes. A cold wind hit her and she shivered. The sounds were overwhelming and for a moment she couldn’t focus.

She crawled to her knees.

Not far away, Madara was on his knees as well and he held a hand over his eye. Blood was seeping through his fingers and his breathing was heavy. “Damn you Taryn,” he growled, “when did you acquire that sword?”

Taryn scoffed and grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She suddenly noticed someone else beside her and glanced up at Sasuke. His hand was still outstretched. Had he pushed her and broken the jutsu?