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Chapter THIRTEEN

Deidara glanced over at Kisame and his team from Kiri as they neared their separation point. He knew the Sevenswordsmen were a rowdy bunch, and the fact that he could not hear their voices from so close worried him just a little.

Did they know something he did not? Or was it simply due to the presence of the Goddess who flew ahead of them?

The relay of patrols had let them know that there were no massive moves by the Zetsu, and the reports appeared overall true as they arrived at the split point with no sightings of the enemy.

The Swordsmen uttered quick farewells before they were off. Deidara could see the fort in the distant, merely a speck in the horizon.

"A lot of humans have died there," Sakura said, and he looked up to see the Goddess reaching out towards the structure.

"It's been a defense point for a long time," Kakashi said. "It's what bought us time to strengthen our stronghold."

Sakura hummed. "A lot of Zetsu were born there too," she said unsympathetically.

Deidara could not stop his mouth from dropping open even as Sakura reached out towards Sasuke. The raven wordlessly picked her up, and they shot up into the air.

"She isn't very empathetic, is she?" Kakashi said airily.

Naruto stretched, then seemed to notice how they all had frozen up. "She's a Goddess," he said in a reminding manner. He almost sounded apologetic. "She was just making a point."

Travel was a little more uncomfortable after that. Utakata had heard stories about the Goddess, and he had a feeling a part of him had come to expect her to be on their side.

They might be fighting a common enemy, but that did not mean she was on their side.

He sensed the strong chakra signatures in the distance, which he immediately found strange because they were in the air, and he still could not see whatever was letting it off. He narrowed his eyes against the wind, but he could not catch a glimpse of whatever may have been triggering his senses.

He had been subtle, but it appeared Kakashi had noticed. The Hatake looked up. "Do you sense anything?"

Utakata knew Kakashi was a skilled man, one of the most valuable of their forces, and he also knew there was nothing gained from keeping anything suspicious to himself. "I sense two chakra signatures in the distance." He pointed. "But I can't see anything, and my range doesn't go on forever; I should be able to see whatever or whoever it is."

Their bird suddenly dropped into an almost-nosedive. Utakata lowered himself into a crouch to grip on the clay creature. He peeked over and saw Sasuke shooting towards the ground at an even more neck-breaking speed.

"What's his problem?" C asked. The bird straightened itself above the ground, and Utakata saw Sasuke land gracefully on his feet. Deidara landed them soon after, and he watched Sakura hop out of the raven-haired Guardian's arms and onto her feet. Naruto had been waiting on the ground, and he ruffled the Deity's hair.

Kakashi shrugged. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

Sakura spun around to face them. "It appears we are not the first ones to arrive," she said.

Utakata felt Kakashi's gaze on him. "Are they Deities?" He asked.

Sakura smiled at him. "Yes," she said. "You can sense them?"

He felt the gaze of the rest of the party turn towards him, and he nodded. "I can," he said.

The chakra of the Guardians' had been overwhelming, but this was nothing like it. It was as though an entire world's worth of chakra had been condensed into a single spot.

Sakura smiled. "I must admit, I am not surprised," she said. "We will travel the rest of the way on foot. It would be a pity to miss them."

Utakata did not think the Goddess would be missing anything anytime soon, and he also did not think he could miss it if he tried. Still, no one said anything as expressions turned wary.

Right ahead, between them and their destination, were not one, but two, Deities. Sakura had been friendly so far, but they had no way of knowing with the newcomers without actually meeting them. His teammates appeared to have been following his thought process, and C was the first to speak.

"Are they friendly?"

Sakura eyed the man thoughtfully. "We were on the same side against Kaguya," she said. "It has been thousands of years since we last met. We have all been in exile." She smiled. "Do not worry, they will not hurt you."

Naruto stepped up behind the Goddess. Sakura accepted the hand held out to her, and Naruo scooped her up into his arms. "We will be running," she called. "I trust you can keep up?"

Their travel speed on foot was significantly slower than before, and from the way Naruto had easily kept up with them from the ground it was obvious the Goddess and her companions were slowing down for them.

No, the Guardians were slowing down for them, who knew what the Goddess could do? C eyed the pink hair he could catch glimpses of once in a while. Naruto's broad shoulders hid her rather well.

"There."

C turned away from the Deity and towards Kakashi, before following his line of sight. He winced and instinctively raised a hand towards his face as something reflected light sharply into his eyes.

"What is that?" Deidara asked.

"It is a castle," Sakura's voice was surprisingly clear despite them traveling at high speeds and the softness he had come to associate with her. She said something to Naruto, who raised a hand and slowed down. Soon, they were all skidding to a halt. The blond let the Goddess down on her feet, and she began walking towards the large structure.

Soon, C saw that she was right, it was a castle, made of what he could only assume was mirrors. It had spikes jutting out of it all over the place, and he could say it was not the friendliest castle he had seen. He could also see something approaching them from the direction of it.

Sakura raised a hand, directing them to stop, and they all watched in stunned silence as the mouth of a large bridge stopped a little away from them. Now that it was this close, C could see that the material was not mirrors, but ice.

"He is already aware of our presence," Sakura murmured. She paused for a moment in thought, then stepped up onto the bridge.

C saw Sasuke and Naruto glance at each other, then followed her. Left without much choice, C followed his teammates as they too stepped onto the structure. He instinctively grabbed onto the rail as the bridge began to retract and hissed then he burned his hand from the sheer cold of it.

Strange, he hadn't felt the cold from the ice all despite being surrounded by it. He raised a hand to heal himself when soft fingers wrapped around his calloused hands and Sakura was peering at his palms. He jerked back in shock, yanking his hand out of her grasp.

Sakura did not seem to mind, or perhaps she did not notice. "Hand," she said, her own held out.

C stiffened, but before he could make a choice, Sasuke had appeared behind the Goddess. He put a surprisingly rough looking hand down on her shoulder and pulled her away.

"Sorry about that," Naruto said, softly. He then turned to join Sasuke and Sakura as they talked hushedly among themselves.

An uneasy silence settled as the bridge continued to bring them closer towards their destination. C turned away, momentarily distracted, as the castle came into clear view.

It was impressive, to say the last. It looked like any massive castle, but what took his breath away was that it was actually made of pure ice.

"It is not that difficult."

C turned towards the voice to see that Sakura had once again stepped up behind him. He watched her glance at his hand. "You are a healer."

It was not a question, but he nodded. "Yes."

Sakura hummed, then turned back to the gates that were getting closer and closer. "It is not that difficult," she repeated.

"What isn't?"

Sakura gestured at the castle. "If you can control your hands, you can move them, if you can control ice, you can mold it to your will."

"Are one of the Deities that of ice?"

Sakura smiled. "Perhaps."

Moments later, the bridge came to slow stop, and Sakura stepped off of it. The gates slowly opened as she stepped up towards them, and Kakashi followed the Goddess as she confidently stepped through. The inside appeared much more simple than the outside and Kakashi soon saw that there only appeared to be one room within.

A throne room.

With someone seated in the throne on the far side.

The white-haired man had the same aura as Sakura, and he looked up with disinterested eyes as they stepped up to him. "Haku called this my castle of loneliness," he said. "What do you think?"

"Are you lonely?" Sakura gestured over her shoulder, and Kakashi took it as a signal to stop. Naruto and Sasuke looked ready to protest, but they did not, and Sakura continued the last bit of distance towards the God before them alone.

"Of course not," a voice called, and the third Deity hopped down from where he had been perched overhead. "He has me."

Sakura stopped a few steps away from them. "Kimimaro, Haku."

"Sakura."

Kakashi guessed the one on the throne was 'Kimimaro', and the other one to be 'Haku'. He watched, alongside his companions, as Sakura stared them down. The two males met her gaze unflinchingly, and just as the silence was getting a little too uncomfortable, even for him, Sakura spoke up.

"It has been a while," the pinkette said. "How have you been?"

"We have been fine, thank you," Haku said.

"Let us get to the point," Kimimaro said at the same time.

Haku glared at Kimimaro. "Why are you always like this?" He asked.

Kimimaro scoffed. "That is my question for you," he retorted. "You are like this when she is around."

Sakura smiled. "And the two of you never change."

Kimimaro turned back to her. "Time is an unknown concept for us."

Sakura hummed in agreement. "That does appear to be the case."

"Are you referring to the hag?" Haku's smile was deceptively pleasing.

"Kaguya, yes."

Kimimaro sighed. "You plan to fight her?"

Sakura hummed a second time. "We agreed to stay away from human business," she said. "Kaguya's appearance makes it our business."

"Maybe if you make it so," Haku chimed in. "I believe many of us planned to stay out of her way."

"Have you considered the effect your decision to interfere will have?" Kimimaro asked.

Kakashi could not see Sakura's expression. Her tone had not changed, once, throughout the conversation and he had a sudden feeling the light words being exchanged was leading to something much, much more meaningful.

"I am not asking anyone to stand by me," Sakura said. "It is you who wished to see me."

"He just wanted to see how serious you were about all this," Haku chirped, smiling. "We all know he planned to step up regardless."

A surge of killing intent seemed to cut through the growing tension. Blocks of ice manifested from nowhere, intercepting the white pointed things that erupted from the ground. "That is enough, Haku."

Ice gathered behind the black-haired God, forming pointed projectiles. Kimimaro did not even look over, but Kakashi could see the way the arm resting on the throne tense ever so slightly. Sakura slowly raised her hand. "Indeed," she said. "That is enough."

Haku frowned as he turned to look at her. Kimimaro narrowed his eyes before he closed them. "Of course," he murmured.

"Only because you ask," Haku said. The ice exploded and vanished.

"I assume you are aware of my plans," Sakura said, like the previous threat of a fight had not happened.

Kimimaro nodded. "It is obvious." He glanced over her shoulder, acknowledging them for the first time as his eyes raked judgingly over their forms. "Why are you with them?" He asked. "I can understand your reasons for getting into contact with them, but what are your reasons for bringing them with you?"

"They do not trust me," Sakura replied easily. "It calms them to be aware of what I am doing."

Haku huffed. "And they do not worry you will kill them?"

"I do not know of human worries." Sakura's tone was dismissive. "I do what I must, they are free to accompany me."

Haku shrugged, appearing to no longer care. "So, how far have you gotten?"

"All the hosts have been located," Sakura replied. "But that is all the clues I have."

"Do the ruins hold answers?"

"That is what I hope to find out."

Haku tapped his chin. "I will go with you," he said. "That was my plan to begin with."

"As will I." Kimimaro looked much more begrudging than his fellow God, but he, too, looked sure of himself.

Sakura nodded. "Have you heard from the others?"

Haku skipped down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of her. "Jugo asked for our plans," he said. "Once we relay our decision, he will join us."

"The idiots headed out to find you." Kimimaro followed at a much slower pace. He scoffed. "From the way you have come here without them, I assume they missed you."

Haku laughed. "How unfortunate."

Sakura turned away from them. "Haku, God of Ice," she said. "Kimimaro, God of the Dead."

Kakashi realized with a start that she was introducing them. The two Gods turned at their names and eyed them over once again.

"I do not care for their names," Kimimaro said dismissively. "Let us head out."

Haku looked surprisingly apologetic. "He is not very good in crowds," he said, as a way of explanation. "Forgive him."

Kimimaro completely ignored the God of Winter. "What is the delay?"

Sakura smiled. "Nothing," she said. "Shall we head out?"

"Mangetsu! Mangetsu, you listening?"

The God of the Moon took a calming deep breath and turned around. "Yes, Suigetsu, I hear you loud and clear."

His brother, Suigetsu, God of Water, skidded to a halt beside him. "Sakura is heading to the ruins," he said.

Mangetsu eyed the orange bird that had settled itself in his brother's hair. "I see," he said. "That explains why she was no longer at the human base."

Suigetsu glared out at the distance, where the humans had built themselves a stronghold. "What a waste of time," he muttered.

"Has Jugo made contact with her yet?" Mangetsu turned away from the human construction and began walking.

Suigetsu shook his head. "No," he said. "Her position was relayed to him by Kimimaro and Haku."

"So they got to her first."

Suigetsu shrugged. "Seems like it."

"And what are their plans now?"

"Not sure, but Jugo said he was going to go after them, so I'm assuming they've come to an agreement." Suigetsu kicked at a rock. "This reminds me of the old days," he said. "There were more of us, sure, but it was always against Kaguya."

Mangetsu nodded slowly. "The reason behind our reunion is not what I wished for it to be."

Suigetsu hummed. "True," he said. "But we get to see Sakura again!"

Mangetsu sighed and shook his head in exasperation as his brother quickened his pace. "Come on," he called. "Let's go save pinky from the cold dead duo."

ONESHOT:

Dream Eater

Gaara x Sakura (Written for the GaaSaku Fanfest on Tumblr)

Sakura merely exists as a devour of dreams. She eats for fuel and lives each day just as she had the day before. Gaara had an abusive father. Even when he is gone, nightmares of raining fists continue to haunt him. As the darkness continues to try and welcome him, the boy desperately holding on meets the girl who had long lost herself. Oneshot. DreamEater!AU

Join us on /bHw6Ddh (discord) :)

Darque: I'm back in Japan, and Uni is in a week D: I am so sad.

Raven: You do nothing during your holidays.

Darque: I game! And draw! And write stuff!

Raven:...Right...how about studying?

Darque: ? What's that?

Raven: .

Darque: Well, yeah, school sucks.

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