(I forgot to post this chapter on here)
You never ended up attacking Karin. It was unnecessary, and she hadn't done anything wrong to you. Or maybe not attacking anyone else who hadn't done anything to you after Killer Bee, or even after ending your sister's life—was a way of mending your own guilt.
You instead followed her back, and she led you to the location where Sasuke and Shisui were supposed to be, but it seemed whatever fight she had stressed over was finished.
"I could have sworn I didn't take so long!" Karin said exasperatedly, adjusting her glasses. "Those two... She bit back a groan as she looked toward the floor, "Right after I pinpointed Danzos location, those two sprinted off..."
You were silent, gaze turning toward her. "You can't blame them, can you? They're Uchihas, and he's practically their killer." You explained in broad terms. "No one could forgive their families killer, after all."
Karin looked toward you, a doubtful look on her face. She figured at first that the Uchiha and [Lastname] were nothing alike, but after thinking about it, they weren't different at all. "Well, I guess you aren't wrong, but—" Before Karin could get the chance to finish her sentence, the ceiling nearly gave in on the two of you. She covered her head with her arms as an automatic response to it.
It was a sudden thing, and you didn't have many defensive techniques too your disposal. You might have been able to register it and react to the falling of the roof caving in, but there wasn't an immediate Jutsu to your disposal to block it, or dodge and get you and Karin out of there safely. A part of you was willing to accept that, but there was another part of you that didn't want it to end here of all places
The sight of falling buildings was quickly replaced by sand.
Sand. A familiar sight to you, in the worst of places. You turned your head to the direction in which it came from so quickly, you could have nearly snapped your own neck.
"Gaara! What are you doing?!" A familiar blonde said in frustration. "That's the enemy you're helping, not some old friend!" You were hardly worried about what the girl had to say about you or this entire scenario, your eyes were locked onto Gaara.
Who in return, was staring right back at you. His face was still, unmoving as it always appeared to be, as not only the sand above you had dissipated, but the sand that had been above them had, as well.
Kankuro too had something to say to his little brother. "She's not only an enemy of the Sand now, but of the entire Shinobi world, Gaara." He tried to reason, "You should've let her die when you had the chance!"
Gaara didn't seem to listen to or consider one of their words for a second. His eyes stagnant on you, expression free of conflict. "I understand where you're both coming from..." He admitted, referring to his siblings, but the next moment, he was referring to you. "The darkness you saved me from... Is the same darkness you've fallen into." Gaara looked right into your eyes, and your own eyes widened.
"Even back then, as an enemy of the leaf, there were two who hadn't seen me as such. Be her an enemy of the Sand, or of the entire world, she is no enemy of mine."
There was a silence that filled the air after Gaara said those words—and you were especially caught off-guard by the tear that fell from his eye a few seconds after. Perhaps good karma did exist in the sense that it saved your ass years later.
You weren't sure what to do, you were stunned. Cornered into a silence that you weren't sure how to break out of. "I'll have no regrets for saying such a thing about a close friend of mine, either..." He finished off, lowering his arm.
"Gaara! What are you saying?!" Temari fumed, "I bet she'd try to kill you now if she wanted!"
"No," Gaara flat out denied. "If that's truly what she wanted, she would have done it. But that look in her eyes, I recognize it. It's the same look I had after finding a reason to truly live."
There was another flat silence, out of disbelief in many parts, but then there was Karin. "I've pin-pointed their locations. Let's go!" She grabbed hold of your wrist and began to drag you along with her quickly.
You didn't refute it, but you looked back at Gaara once more. To begin with, you had things to settle with Shisui—you weren't running off and separating from him yet another time. "Gaara," you called out. "Your faith in me won't be put to waste." And you were going to hold meaning to your words, you didn't plan on this being another empty desire or promise that you usually made.
And Gaara simply let you go. His words rang true when he said you were no enemy of his, and you weren't going to make his tears meaningless.
While following Karin, you had planted a few Kunai in specifically marked places. There was no true reason behind them besides preplanning a necessary escape. Another ceiling could collapse suddenly and this time, you would actually have a form of escaping.
"Karin, you don't have to get closer." You spoke to her, "You're more of the support type, you don't have to get into a battle." You told her.
Karin knew you had a point, which might have been a factor in her anger, but she reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but how are we even supposed to get through this wall? He's right on the other side."
You stared at the same wall she was talking about, "Seems it's been melted over. What kind of material is this made of?" You questioned, running your hand over the wall to feel it.
"Stone is my guess." Karin said, pushing her glasses up. "Whoever he's against obviously had a very strong heat-based attack..." She said. "I doubt you have anything that matches that heat, and—"
"There we go," You removed your hand from the wall, "It's opening up."
'What the hell!?' Karin mentally shrieked, pushing up her glasses in disbelief. You had melted the wall down, and with just the touch of your hand! She knew that you were the Jinchuuriki of the fire king, but this was a lot more heat than she suspected, even through your impressively large chakra presence. "Well, that works..." She mumbled, "I'll stay here... Just don't let Sasuke push himself!" She said.
"I can try." You said, putting a foot through the hole in the wall. "No promises, though." You ducked your head, and slipped through the opening you made. The first thing you noticed was the mist pouring through the room. You didn't have any sort of sensory ability, which is why you relied on Diaval for it. "Any ideas where they are?'
'Just follow the heat.' He responded.
"You and I both know I don't feel heat!" You responded, not in the mood for his smart replies.
'To the left, asshole.' Diaval answered truthfully this time.
You rolled your eyes, and followed the left side willingly. Diaval had been a deceiver before, but he had been genuine ever since you had Kaida put into you. Either, he was trying to impress the girl, or he thought there was competition for a vessel here. In fact, he was even more of a suck-up after Kakuju showed.
You rounded the left corner as Diaval had said, and you were met a womans back. She had long hair, and a blue outfit on and—she turned around, seemingly already knowing you were there.
"Just my luck I'd come across the infamous [Lastname] on the same day I did these two boys..." She had a smile on her lips, which she partly covered with her hand. "I'm sure there aren't many people who've had the chance to see two Uchihas and one [Lastname] on the same night..." You recognized the woman in front of you right now. Mei Terumi, the Mizukage after Yagura. She had been appointed as the Mizukage just a little bit after you left the Mist Village. "I can tell already that the Uchiha had fine men. And the women in the [Lastname] clan weren't bad, either. Such a shame you've all put it to waste..."
You didn't have an answer for her, so you instead opted to stay silent.
"A pretty odd thing for an old woman to say." Shisui commented.
"We have no interest in what you think, either." Sasuke added. It seemed like those two were getting along.
"Mmm, well that's too bad." The Mizukage stood from where she was, pressing her fingers against her lips. She blew the three of you a kiss. It was actually one kiss, but it produced three different molten rocks, that looked too hot even for you. This had to be what people meant by 'deadly kisses', you had never seen a Kekkei Genkai like hers, although you heard minimal details about it. Shisui moved toward you for whatever reason, blocking you from the attack you already planned on dodging.
Maybe ghosts couldn't die again, but they could be hurt, no doubt. And lava was bound to hurt. The thought of it left a bad taste on your tongue, you didn't want him to take the attack head-on. You didn't walk in completely mindless, you marked teleportation Kunai in a few places in case you got trapped, or in this situation, were about to be hit with molten lava. You grabbed hold of Shisuis arm, teleporting to the nearest Kunai you left behind, which happened to be right outside the wall Mei had melted to trap you all in.
"Dammit, Sasuke's still in there..." You let out a tsk of annoyance, letting go of Shisuis arm as you watched the wall close. "How annoying..." You sighed.
Shisui looked toward you, perhaps a bit embarrassed that you ended up having to save him instead, but he didn't comment on it. "I'll help Sasuke, you don't have to worry about either of us, M'lady." He said, a noticeably firm look in his eyes. "I can tell you have other plans, so I won't make you stick around here."
You hesitated for a moment, not sure if you were willing to leave him behind for what seemed the hundredth time now. But you had to decide, and you had to do it fast, so you nodded. "Just don't go jumping in front of lava again..."
Shisui nodded along, "That was just for you, M'lady." He explained, looking away from you. "You don't have to worry about me, I want you to think only of yourself right now. And what you really want." Shisui knew you well—which is why he was able to provide just the right words you needed to hear.
You nodded, keeping your gaze firm. "I get it, Shisui. I won't say I know the right thing to do, but I know what I want to do." You answered him. "And I can say for certain this time, that I'll see you later."
Shisui offered you a smile, "No doubt I'll come right back to you once this is done, M'lady. You'd better take care of yourself in the meantime, as well." You already planned on that much, if you died—you'd be forgotten thanks to the curse you inherited from your sister. Which passed onto all the ghosts she revived from the dead. Someone like Hashirama being forgotten would be pretty detrimental to the leaf.
You nodded at his words before you both went your separate ways. But this time, there was a sense of comfort that came with it, knowing that you and Shisui would see each other again no matter what happened.
Though, once you had ran off far enough, it seemed 'Madara' was already one step ahead. You knew he had the ability to appear and reappear wherever he wanted, some sort of teleportation technique that seemed a lot more complicated than simply 'teleporting' at that, but you hadn't expected him to suddenly appear, holding a kunai to your throat.
"It seems you've already begun to rebel." He spoke, his voice as deep and ever-threatening as it always had been. "That's too bad. More than you for than it for me."
You had obviously stopped running the moment he put that Kunai to your throat, no matter how surprising it was. "And just a few seconds too early, yet a few seconds too late."
You began to sweat, both at the thought of what he was going to say, but also at what he had already done. "You see, there were two people important to you that had come in search of you. Three, if you consider the blonde one into the factor. But I already told them the truth in which they could not handle."
"And what is that?" You managed to ask through a heavy heart, attempting to get a glimpse of him in your peripheral vision, but failing to do so.
"You've betrayed the leaf, and you've chosen your own path." He answered you.
"In a few seconds, I'm going to declare war on the entire shinobi world. You still have a chance to get this foolish rebellion out of your mind and come to your senses. Your life, as well as those of your teammates will be in danger otherwise." A part of you was nearly swayed by what he was saying, a nervous look settling on your sweaty face after his threats reached your ears.
"Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee, those are the lives in which you fear for, most." He clarified. Your lip tugged downward in annoyance, it was the same tactic—same people every time to get under your skin, and it worked every time. But it would be different this time, you wouldn't be the hopeless fool any longer.
"Right... And what did you tell them?" You questioned with earnest curiosity. "I mean what exactly, not just a vague answer."
"What else is there to say but the cold truth? You betrayed your village, you betrayed their trust in their time of need. How hard a hero can fall in a matter of seconds..."
You were silent, the sweat heavy on your face before you asked the next question. "And what did they say in reply? How did they react to my betrayal?" For whatever reason, you doubted that they simply turned around and left. Seeing Narutos conviction for saving Sasuke, and Gaaras trust toward you despite being apart for so long, it filled you with some sort of hope that your teammates wouldn't falter, either.
The man couldn't offer you a smooth reply, a silence befalling the two of you for just a split few second, but it was enough to let you know that whatever he was thinking of saying next would be a lie. Another lies of many others that he had made up just to get you to join his side and betray your own self.
Because you wore your heart on your sleeve, and everyone knew how dearly you held your teammates to your heart. But it wasn't just them, there were many in the Leaf and outside of it that you held dear to your heart. Many people you'd met along the way that you grew to care for, that Madara never began to consider.
'Take the hit,' Diaval suddenly spoke to you.
You didn't answer him out loud, but it seemed Kakuju or something had translated your own thoughts to him. Which was a simple; 'huh?!'
'He's bluffing. He won't kill someone as valuable as you.' Diaval clarified, letting out a brief chuckle. 'There's two possibilities here, you take that hit, or he used that Jutsu to phase through you.'
'But what if I actually die?! What then? Kaida can't revive me anymore, and I'm not sure if Kakuju can at all.' You thought back to him, 'This is high stakes, but I can't afford to die here. Not this time.'
'Well, you wanting to live is a first.' Diaval laughed, 'Though, I'm not surprised someone as gullible as you thought Kaida was the one to revive you the second time around. Every time you've died this far, I'm the one that brought you back to life.'
Your mind went blank for a moment as you processed it.
'You mean, when I was killed by the sand ninja, and by Hidan?' You wondered.
'More than just that.' Diaval answered. 'I lost count after your hundredth death during your fight with your sister, but I brought you back each time. Of course a power like that is sought after, not that I'm not already... Before you, I only brought someone back to life twice. You're lucky, you know that?'
'Awe, you care.' You responded.
'Shut up!' Diaval responded with haste.
'Hold on, all those times my sister killed me... those were real?' You came to the sudden realization with the way he had worded it.
'You didn't know? Of course they were all real. I can't believe you actually thought it was all Genjutsu. Though, I guess it could make sense, too. No one thinks they're truly capable of dying a thousand times, right?' He laughed.
'Anyway... are you gonna kill yourself or not?' He questioned next.
'Don't put it so bluntly...' you thought to yourself, bringing yourself back to reality after whatever excuse Madara had made up was over. It was a hard decision, deciding to trust Diaval and actually end your own life to get away from this scenario. You had done many things in your life revolving death—but actually ending your own life – or maybe in this case, taking it – was not a part of your list of experience.
You had told yourself you wouldn't be gullible either, and so easily swayed... And this was a really heavy gamble. Not only would you be losing your life, but everyone would forget you if Diaval was just kidding. But there was one piece of evidence that assured you he was being genuine. Diaval had never been the type who wanted to die.
So you'd take the shot. Quite literally.
You closed your eyes before you decided to go for it. Compared to your many deaths before this, it wasn't so bad.
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Y'all I made a poll on quotev but idk how to give copy and paste able links 😔
https://www.quotev.com/quiz/15729863/after-dark-questions
It's this tho😭