"Kannon. Kannon, open up."
"Ugh..."
The Kurotsuki sat up and rubbed her eyes, wondering just who in their right mind was trying to wake her up at this time of night. A second glance at the window revealed no sign of sunlight anywhere, and with a small scowl on her face, Kannon swung her legs off of the bed and softly got to her feet, so as to avoid waking the sleeping toddler beside her.
"Yes?" Still in a daze, Kannon opened the door with a sour look on her face, scowling even more once she saw who was waiting for her. It was Gaara; however, it took her a moment to fully register the looks of panic and alarm on his face, and had to snap herself out of it to let it sink in.
"What's wrong?" she asked, slapping her hands against her cheeks as she read the concern on Gaara's face.
"You need to get to the village gate. Now," said Gaara urgently. "It's Amaterasu. Something's wrong with her."
"Wait- what? Why would she be at the village gate?"
"That's exactly what I'm wondering! Come on, let's go now!"
Without another word, Kannon rushed back into the room to grab her shoes, and reprimanded herself at the sight of Ayumi sleeping in bed.
"Wait! If Tera's out, then who's with Shisui?!"
"Naruto is there now," Gaara informed her, beckoning for her to come out.
"Then what about Ayumi?!"
"We can get a nurse-"
Kannon cut off the Kazekage with a wave of her hand, shaking her head at him.
"No," she said finally, grabbing him and pulling him into the room. "You stay here with her. I'll go alone."
"But-"
"Just do it Gaara!" hissed the Kurotsuki, feeling her body rapidly begin waking up at the realisation of just how severe the situation was. "Village gate?"
"Yes- be quick!"
"On it!"
***
Kannon could hear everything before she saw it.
People shouting, explosions, screams.
She flew through the rooftops of Suna as quickly as she could to reach her destination, where she ultimately was taken aback by the sight that greeted her. On the ground before her were several Suna shinobi, who were all focused on one figure that stood atop the village gate, leering down at them all. The wall itself had been barely damaged in that area; there was already a gaping hole right next to the gate, still smoking from the fire jutsu that had inflicted it.
As Kannon was busy analysing the scene and trying to find Tera amongst the fighting faces, a familiar sandy haired woman landed next to her, panting as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Temari!" exclaimed Kannon, leaping down to the ground with her. "What's going on here?! Where's Tera? She should be resting!"
Doubled over as she attempted to steady her breaths, Temari furiously shook her head and pointed to the cackling figure standing on the wall.
"She's- there- she's- crazy-!"
"Huh? That's Tera?! What's she doing?"
"I- don't know-"
Kannon squinted at the figure on the wall that was throwing attack after attack at the shinobi on the ground, disbelieving of Temari's words.
That can't be Tera...
It took Kannon several seconds to put the pieces together.
Tera's long, maroon hair was wild and unkempt as it flew around her, but even from where she was standing, Kannon could tell that something was amiss even about that. She wasn't sure if her mind was playing tricks on her or not, but she could've sworn that Tera's hair was rapidly whitening from the roots down, in a rapid descent.
"What the..." Shaking off her confusion and making her way towards the wall, Kannon grunted and threw her head back, yelling at her unstable cousin.
"HEY! TERA!"
Since Tera had been so focused on keeping away the shinobi who were attempting to climb the wall in order to pursue her, Kannon hadn't expected her to turn to her so quickly.
However, when she did, Kannon wished she hadn't opened her mouth.
The evil smirk on Tera's face slowly morphed into a menacing snarl, and she locked eyes with her cousin immediately.
Those aren't her eyes!
Kannon was astonished at the change of Tera's eye colour; it had changed from her usual deep azure to a striking icy blue, which pierced Kannon the longer she looked into them.
"You!" shrieked Tera suddenly, forgetting all about the Suna shinobi below her and focusing all her attention on Kannon. "YOU!"
"Me?" called out Kannon in bewilderment, unsure of what had prompted the unforeseen bloodlust in Tera's eyes. Still in her hospital gown and obviously suffering from the after effects of childbirth, Kannon figured that the blood that was on Tera's body right now was undoubtedly her own.
"You'd think I would get a rest from you after all these years!" hissed Tera, bending over and leaping from the wall. Kannon stumbled backwards as Tera propelled herself to the spot where Kannon originally stood, leaving herself vulnerable to the Suna shinobi as they regrouped with Temari and began a new plan of recovery. "Why can't you leave me alone?!"
"Um, I've only known you for a few months!" retorted Kannon hesitantly, indecisive on whether or not she should try to poke fun with this new Tera. Although she was certain that the woman in front of her was indeed Tera, the way she spoke made her doubt that it was the Tera she knew.
"You wench!"
Kannon was surprised as Tera lashed out at her with her fists, elegantly ducking and standing straight once more.
"Me?! What's gotten into you?!" exclaimed Kannon as Tera began rounding on her, a fire in her eyes that she had never seen before. By now, the whiteness in Tera's hair had reached more than halfway down her locks, and Kannon was none the wiser as to what was happening to her.
Does this have something to do with the darkness in her chakra??
"You're not sealing me away again!" howled Tera, regaining her posture before launching herself at Kannon, this time managing to get her hands around her throat.
With a gasp, Kannon managed to slither out of her grip, but not before a fleeting image flew through her mind.
In it, a woman wearing an ornately blue kimono with eyes as pale as the powder blue sky and hair as white as freshly fallen snow was screaming at her, much like Tera was doing to her now. The stark resemblance sent tremors through Kannon's body, yet she had no idea why.
What's going on?!
The world around her seemed to slow down as Tera attempted yet again to go at Kannon, this time using ninjutsu to get at her. Kannon knew what was coming; yet for some reason, she found herself incapable of responding in accordance. A fog had overcome her mind, and now she was slow both mentally, and physically.
Tera ran towards Kannon with no mercy in her expression, yet Kannon was still too rattled to even process what was happening.
"Kaze no yaiba!"
"KANNON!"
The Kurotsuki felt the brunt of Tera's jutsu as she was flung back several feet, but not before feeling the sharp sensation of blades running through her skin, each of which left deep marks.
As she was knocked back to the ground, Kannon looked up numbly at the night sky as the stars shone above her, contemplating what had just happened to her.
What the fuck just happened... I never taught her that...
"Kannon! Are you okay?!"
As Kannon had been sent tumbling down, Temari leapt in between her and Tera in order to protect her from any further attacks, pulling out her fan and opening it up to its full width. Realising that Temari was going in for the kill, one of her comrades called out, "Temari-sama! We can't harm her!"
Hearing this, Kannon made the effort to sit up, albeit in a daze and completely blank about what was going on.
"Kannon-sama! Don't move!"
"Temari... don't hurt her!" called out the Kurotsuki, oblivious to the damage that had been done to her own being. "She's not herself!"
"Holy shit- can someone please take care of Kannon?!" yelled Temari, after briefly glancing over her shoulder and getting a good look at the bloodied Kurotsuki sitting on the ground. Within seconds of calling out, two shinobi were at Kannon's side, doing their best to try and help her out.
"Okay, I don't know if you realise this Kannon-sama, but you've been torn to shreds," said one hurriedly, as she eased the disoriented Kurotsuki into her comrade's arms. "Don't move- it'll worsen your blood loss. Quickly, Ayato, we have to get her taken care of right away!"
"Ahaaaa, that makes sense," said Kannon woozily as she let herself relax in Ayato's arms. "Of course. That's why I'm like this. How bad is it?"
"Let's just say your clothes are in tatters and there's definitely going to be scarring... everywhere," said Ayato as he quickly began making his way back to the hospital, dashing away into the night and leaving the scene of the battle as soon as he could.
When Tera had gone for Kannon, she had gone with the intention of ending her life.
The jutsu she had cast allowed her the ability to cut into Kannon as if she were sliced bread, leaving deep gashes in her face and chest that were slowly starting to bleed out and stain Ayato's clothes as well as Kannon's own. However, the shock of everything that had just happened meant that Kannon remained oblivious to the severity of her own injuries, leaving all the worrying to be done by the shinobi who was in charge of getting her to safety.
"Yo, Ayato... Temari won't hurt Tera, will she?" asked Kannon as she felt the shinobi land to a halt and begin walking briskly.
"Of course not," he insisted, focusing on trying to get Kannon medical attention as soon as possible. "At the rate Amaterasu's going, her safety isn't the one I would fear for."
"Huh... she's a tough one, isn't she?" mused Kannon with half-lidded eyes, feeling herself rapidly falling into unconsciousness.
"Kannon-sama, Kannon-sama, stay with me!" urged Ayato, squeezing the weakening Kurotsuki in an attempt to try and keep her conscious. "Hey, we're here! Help! This is an emergency!"
Kannon squinted as her eyes were assaulted by bright light, and heard chatter around her as Ayato called out.
"Get her on a bed, right there!"
Within seconds, Kannon felt herself plopped onto a bed, and squinted even more as the bright white lights grew so bright they were the only thing she could see.
"Kannon-sama, don't worry, you'll be taken care of," said a voice, which she recognised as Ayato's. "I'm going to inform the Kazekage before returning to the gate. Where is he?"
"The family room on the sixth floor."
"Right. Look after her, will you?"
Slipping in and out of darkness and bright light, Kannon felt her head begin to ache at the two fluctuating opposites, frowning and trying to get her thoughts straight.
Huh...
The woman in the blue kimono made herself visible in Kannon's mind once more, but this time, she was aware of everything going on around her.
Kannon was now surrounded by a ravaged, barren landscape, and a quick analysis of her sides saw her flanked immediately by three other people, two men and one woman. One man had red hair with dark grey eyes, the other had jet black hair and eyes to match, while the woman had dark brown hair and a sharp, angular face. All of them looked so familiar to Kannon, yet she was certain she had never seen any of them in her life.
Behind each of them were rows and rows of shinobi she knew to be each person's family, but how or why she knew that, she didn't know. All were dressed in attire of days long passed, with armour and weaponry much less advanced than what was accessible today.
"Izanami! Are you and Asuka ready?!" asked the woman standing beside her.
"Ready!"
Kannon was taken aback as she answered the woman, nodding at the man who stood at the end of their line, clutching on tightly to what appeared to be two large scrolls with red strings wrapped around them.
All of them were dressed for battle- but what were they going to fight?
"Let's go!"
Her body moving of its own accord, Kannon found herself sprinting ahead with the three other shinobi towards an undisclosed destination. However, just like everything else, her body knew where she was going, even if her mind did not.
"Izanami!"
Kannon glanced at the raven haired man, who shot her a smirk.
"I hear Hiroki's been welcomed quite warmly by your family! Could this mean an Uchiha and Kurotsuki marriage alliance in the future?"
"Katsuo, that's enough!" called out the other woman sternly. "Can we all just focus on Sora? We only have one chance to do this, let's not mess it up!"
"Agreed!"
As soon as she said "Sora," Kannon could finally put a name to the person who was terrorising the Suna shinobi.
Sora... Sora... ah, that sounds familiar...
Kannon was thrown out of her trance-like state, and her eyes opened wide as she connected the dots. She ignored the nurses who were working hard to tend to her wounds, too caught up in her thoughts to care about what was happening to her body.
"Oh fuck! She's back!"
But... how?!
"Ah... I have to tell Gaara..."
Kannon winced as she felt the stinging pain of her injuries come to fruition, much to the chagrin of the people tending her.
"You have to stay still!"
A pair of hands forcibly shoved Kannon back onto her bed, making her scowl as she felt the fog that had previously occupied her mind slowly disperse. She was now able to recall her thoughts correctly, and looked up at whoever was closest to her.
"I need Gaara. Now."
Kannon sighed and lay back down, shutting her eyes as she tried to process everything that was going on. She thought that focusing on war with the Uchiha was the biggest of her problems- but now that a bloodthirsty, vengeance seeking spirit was on the loose and using her cousin's body as a vessel to achieve her goals, the thought of fighting them was child's play compared to dealing with Sora 2.0.
What would be the point of fighting the Uchiha if they were all going to be wiped out by Sora anyway?