xl: I'm enjoying these flashbacks. The plot should advance in the following chapter.

I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Thank you to everyone new that has started reading this story and have enjoyed it thus far, to the new people that have added it to their favorite's/alert's list I really appreciate the support, and for these lovely reviewers: MDA, mikethepokemaster, Tempestuous God of Valor-77, and Aries01xD (for the PM). Thank you for the feedback.

All I Wanted – The End of the World V

"We make believe, I've never seen your face, you neither mine

and catch my eye, don't register a smile.

You were more than just a friend, oh, but the feeling,

it never came to an end, I can't bear to see you.

I always thought it was a shame

that we have to play these games,

it felt like you really knew me,

now it feels like you see through me."

- - The xx, "Sunset"

( Part VIII )

Again, Hatsue thought and sank into the violet sea. Water rose high above her, creating a gigantic, frothing splash, and calmly the tower fell away like a violent cascade to ripple across the surface. She stared at the moonlit surface. The force that hit her back broke her spine. The pain surging through her was the one thing keeping her from passing out. She wished she had been rendered unconscious because she wasn't in the mood to drown.

What was that dragon child thinking?

Blinking slowly, her black hair floating all around her face, she wondered if Naruto would sense her where she was. Would he come find her? He said he could hear everything. Did he hear the conversation she had with that dragon? But if he had, he would have come for her. He would have taken her away.

Frightened as she was at his side, she never asked to leave it. She didn't know how she was supposed to help him. How could she draw out his human heart and dispel it of the demon energy that threatened to darken it. She wasn't enough.

Why couldn't she be enough?

Unable to hold her breath, Hatsue opened her mouth and water rushed inside quickly filling her lungs. It wouldn't be long now before she drowned. Blearily, she struggled to keep her eyes open and to hold onto Sasuke's gyoku. Her heart raced. The hard thumping seemed to rise to her head.

She felt the tight coils of her control loosening. Her body throbbed—sensitized to a shudder of numbing pinpricks—that made her fearful. A strain of terrifying thoughts perforated her mind. Was this what it was like to drown? The weight of her body seemed to have doubled while her mind had been busy racing. She didn't think she could move it if she wanted thanks to the numb spreading through her. She associated it with the cold, violet sea, but she knew that was a terribly wrong assumption. The fact that she tried to make sense of that made her feel quite silly.

Her heartbeat slowed to a quiet beat.

If she called for Naruto, would he save her without hearing her voice? He could hear everything.

Naruto.

— Her voice reached him like a ripple on water. The sound of it, low as a whisper, touched the caged human heart in his chest and made it flutter. So quiet was the murmur echoing from the back of his mind that despite its gentle tenor, it rang pure and silenced all the noise his heightened senses picked up naturally. He heard nothing else, just, "Naruto," and her presence vanished. The bespectacled mizuchi noted his distraction and questioned it, but he gestured him to continue to report his encounter with Sasuke and the others.—

Hatsue's eyes snapped open, pupils lengthening vertically and thinning to a black slit against a red backdrop. The surrounding water took on a different quality. Its violet shade sharpened. The light shining down against its surface was like a million neon glow sticks streaking along the water to create colorful, new shapes. The sea, which had initially filled her with a cold, terrifying dread, suffused her with tranquility. Warmth encased her tired, numb limbs.

Her heart picked up its tempo. The serenity that took hold of her shattered like glass and resulted in the feeling of being ripped apart. Her first experience with that type of excruciating pain resulted in the sudden burst of power that aided in her transformation.

It was happening again.

Naru—

He never came the first time. She called, like he told her, but he did not come save her. He made it seem as though he could find her no matter where she was. He spoke his words like a vow. Despite her knowing it was his demon speaking, he emulated the kindness and happiness with which Naruto spoke to her. It was very easy for her to forget that it was not him. Had it not been for her demon instinct, she would have not been capable to tell the difference. Regardless of her nagging instinct, she clung to her denial because she didn't want to acknowledge that she would never see him—the real him—again.

The demon would eat his heart.

She entered the cafeteria tugging on her gray cardigan and with wary green eyes surveyed the large room. The facility's cafeteria was roomy with enough space to hold over forty square and round tables that were spread out evenly with four chairs each. It contained a tiny café where one could purchase premade food ranging from sandwiches to bento. Beside the café was the servery, which ran from seven in the morning to nine at nine with round-the-clock cooks managing it and the kitchens that sat beyond a metal door with a square window.

Kabuto was paying for his coffee when he noticed her enter. He asked the man tending to the shop to include another small cup of coffee. The café's employee cast a cautious glance at Hatsue, aware by the grayness of her clothing that she was one of their two demon patients. Although, it was odd to see one of the tenryū in the building's main cafeteria, it wasn't strange that they would be around occasionally. The drugs that controlled their most dangerous ability—the skill to steal the souls from another—allowed them a little more freedom around the facility, though they were always contained within a specific block in case they needed to be sedated and returned to their room. People were more comfortable when there were mutants around and they were everywhere. Three followed her inside the cafeteria, remaining by the wall.

Regardless, Hatsue stayed a distance away, pausing halfway to where Kabuto stood in front of the cash register's counter. Once Kabuto received the second coffee, he took it to her.

Hatsue thanked him and took a sip, accompanying him to a table of his choosing. He took her to the square tables that sat up against the windows facing the acres of greenery surrounding the facility's building. Upon the grass lay evidence of the destruction she caused, though there were many helping hands in charge of clearing the debris, there were signs of it everywhere. The initial force of her transformation had created an explosion that ripped through the building vertically, sending chunks of the outer wall flying out everywhere. She looked, but turned away immediately. Discomfort tensed her shoulders.

"Thank you for the coffee," she said quietly, looking in the direction of the three mutants.

"No problem." Kabuto dug through his lab coat's pocket for the handful of creamers and sugar packets he stuffed in it after paying for his coffee. "Do you want any?"

Hatsue shook her head.

He dumped a couple of creamers and two packets of sugar inside his black coffee, mixing it. "Did the sedative not work? Would you like another dose?"

"No, the sedative worked," answered Hatsue. "I had a bad dream."

"A dream?" he asked, taking a drink from his coffee. Not enough sugar. He tore open another packet to pour into his coffee. "What did you dream about?"

"That it happened again," she started hesitantly. "I dreamt that I transformed. I woke up believing my control was slipping, but I—it wasn't."

He made a mental note to send her good dreams after she departed. She needed to sleep peacefully. He nodded. "Are you afraid of turning?"

Hatsue's green eyes widened a bit. "Afraid?" she repeated, voice faltering. She dropped her eyes to the brown surface of her coffee, holding the cup with both hands, the sleeves pulled up to her palms. "I…I guess I am."

"Why?"

"It hurts."

"And if it didn't hurt? Would you still be afraid?"

"Yes."

"And why is that?"

"Because I can't control what I do."

"Can you elaborate?" he asked, trying his coffee after adding a fourth packet of sugar. That was it.

"I remember when it happened and when I woke up after it happened, but I don't remember anything while it was happening," she said. "It feels like a whole chunk of my memory is missing. I don't know what I did. I just know that Sasuke helped bring me back, nothing more."

"Have you asked Sasuke about this?"

"No."

He sensed a little more from her response.

She lifted her eyes to meet his, startling him. "You're worried?"

He slacked on his control and inwardly cursed as he rebuilt his defense against her abilities. "Yes, I am. You are my patient. Despite your circumstances, I did promise to make your stay as comfortable as I could. I hope that I have."

Hatsue smiled softly. "You have offered me more kindness than any other human in this facility ever has."

Her gentle hand fell upon his, warming his skin. He felt a rush of heat flood his cheeks, his fingers twitched reflexively. Slowly, he turned his hand and brushed his fingertips along her wrist until he touched the softness of her palm. He drew his hand from underneath hers quickly.

He berated himself, wrapping his hands around his cup. He disliked the urge he felt to comfort her—to covet her power as he did and yet want her heart. If he acted on his desire to explore his own emotions and treated her kindly, tended to her emotional scars with gentleness and understanding, he knew that she might feel tempted to respond, but only because of the disappointment she experienced at the hands of her mate. In her eyes and in the depths of her heart, Naruto had cast her aside. The equilibrium bond that had tethered their hearts—fate had made him for her and her for him and it had consecrated their unity as soul mates—had a crack upon its once immaculate surface. His actions might have saved her from a worse fate, but they had hurt her deeply.

Disenchantment was poison to an equilibrium bond at its early stages. She could unconsciously reject him and defy fate, unnatural as doing so was it could jumpstart a painful process to an imbalance that would lead to an imperfect bond. An imperfect bond was far from a severed one, which was unheard of, but it was dangerous to have. For that reason, it was advised to all demons that have found their mates to complete their bonding process as quickly as they were able to avoid consequences. Imperfect bond or not, fate would not be defied. Whether the two soulmates spent an eternity hating each other or not, she made sure they were bound so tightly they could never come apart.

"Kabuto," called Hatsue, distracting him from his thoughts. He met her gaze and felt a wave of her demon energy rush through him, but felt nothing. "If I asked you a question, would you be able to answer me honestly?"

No. That wouldn't be likely.

"Yes," he lied.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?"

For a moment, he caught himself about to agree, but quickly corrected his words by twisting them. "Why would you think you make me uncomfortable?"

"Because sometimes I can feel the discomfort in you," she said. "Sometimes it feels like you are fighting against something. You have a lot of emotions inside you. Conflicting emotions."

Kabuto offered her a smile. "Conflicting?"

"Yes."

"That is interesting."

"Why is it?"

"I wonder."

"Is it my fault?"

Yes.

"No."

"I appreciate your attempts to spare my feelings," said Hatsue, rising from her seat. "Thank you for the coffee."

Kabuto got on his feet immediately. It was almost a reflex. "It is your fault."

Hatsue faced him.

"You're frustratingly confusing," he blurted. He normally had a filter for that sort of thing, but he felt compelled to spill it all. "And I am fighting against my own instinct to—"

Her eyes widened.

He inwardly cursed. He revealed himself. How could he reveal himself when she only asked a simple question, she had only looked—

She looked at him. She compelled him to answer her. He could see it now. Her eyes, though their usual penetrating green, had a long slit replacing the pupil. Why hadn't he noticed it before?

How would he remedy it? He couldn't force her into the laboratory downstairs to erase her memories. It didn't happen immediately. It took days and countless hours to replace each memory from her mind with new information. It was a long process and—

Angrily, Hatsue smacked his arm so hard he unconsciously winced, hand shooting up to the throbbing area. One of the oni mutants grabbed her by the hair and slammed her face into the ground, a loud bone cracking sound reached his ears.

"Release her," ordered Kabuto loudly.

"We are under specific orders to apprehend her if she attempts to harm any personnel," replied the mutant.

Hatsue struggled to move from underneath him, her nose dripping blood.

"Let her go," he repeated, composing himself.

Reluctantly, the mutant released her.

Kabuto reached down and took her arm, helping her back on her feet. He gestured for the mutants to leave them and one by one, each left out the cafeteria doors.

He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. "We can speak in my office."

"I'm not going to speak with you anywhere," she snapped, throwing his handkerchief at his face. "How could you do this to us? How could you stand doing this to us? How could you—?"

He took her by the wrist. "Follow me."

She zapped his hand away with a current of annoyance, but she followed him to his office regardless. Since her transformation, her abilities had been manifesting quickly. She was developing her three gifts and they were growing stronger. Tsunade would ask that Hatsue be put on stronger suppressants soon.

He hated that his mind was quick in seeking other things to worry over when he needed to think about what he planned to say to all of Hatsue's questions. He let her compel the emotions out of him and he revealed his secret.

Kabuto stepped into the bathroom in his office. There was a door across the double doors that led into his office. He beckoned Hatsue to him. As she approached him with dragging feet, he opened the sink's faucet to dampen his handkerchief.

"You won't get any answers if you throw tantrums," he told her. "Now, lift your face."

She snatched the handkerchief from him and pushed him away to stand in front of the mirror. "I can clean myself."

He smiled, amused, and leaned against the wall behind her. "Should you be so angry? You will eventually undergo treatment for your next release. Whether I tell you anything or not, you won't remember."

"Treatment is only temporary at this point. I remember as I become a monster."

"You'll remember Naruto as well."

She glared at him through the mirror's reflection.

"Maybe I'll stay away from him."

"Perhaps, that would be best."

Hatsue set the bloodied handkerchief on the sink, turning. "How do you live with yourself working with these people? How can you sit by idly and watch them torture other demons? We are all Otherworld beings, same as you and we don't deserve this—to be used, tortured, and experimented on. As much as I hate the mutants here, it must have been really shitty for them to betray all of Otherworld to survive whatever the Lotus Facility wants and I know half of those inhuman bastards really regret what they've done. But you—you've been here even longer than I have and you, you're just so blah about it, like we're not human too."

"You aren't human, you're demons."

"Demons should be allowed to live in peace, too," Hatsue snapped. "Why do we have to suffer because people can't understand that we're just built a little different or that we have a little extra of something? If we fall, we get hurt. We bleed the same. We are built to look just like them. We have the same capacity for emotion. Some of us feel a little more than others, but what does that matter? We're monsters to them anyway. We were all living together in peace at one point, sure, we all thought everyone was human, but people can get over a secret, can't they? If they mull it over for a bit and understand that it's not as bad as they made it seem. We could have helped them. You know how much I could have done with my gifts? Or Sasuke for that matter? We could have made a fortune out of his visions! See? We can be greedy too!"

Kabuto remembered thinking similar thoughts as a child. He actually believed even the remaining dragon species could overcome their differences with the Otherworld community, but they were just as despised among them as the whole demon race was with the humans. However, his thinking had been as naïve as hers currently was.

"Should you not ask yourself that question?" asked Kabuto. "You're willing to do anything to get rid of your power, aren't you?"

Hatsue was stunned to silence.

"We are as human as any human. If we are hurt, we feel it. If we are cut, we bleed. We have the ability to feel joy, sadness, and anger. We can love another." Kabuto paused, seeing the effect of his sudden quietness register in her pale face. He advanced towards her, watching her back into the sink, as he continued speaking, "Perhaps, we are capable of loving someone so deeply our souls are tethered together, never to be undone."

He put both hands on sink, fingers curling over its edges, and caged her inside his arms. "How are you different? Your physical capabilities far exceed a human's. You can feel another's emotions, experience their feelings, manipulate them, or give them new ones. You are so powerful you can make emotion tangible. You can create a corporeal body that allows you to move freely outside your own flesh and blood as if it were your real body. You are just as powerful outside your body as you are in it. And what else? What is your gift of the eye? Compulsion, isn't it? And apart from your high tier gifts, what does the tenryū blood allow you to do? You feed on the souls of others and draw strength from it. With a gyoku, your power is unlimited."

Hatsue stared at him defiantly, despite the softness in her green eyes. "That is different."

"Do you think that if you were human, Naruto would not have humiliated you like he did?" he asked. "That he wouldn't go find other women to please him the way you can't."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Becoming human won't stop him from doing it again."

"He's my mate and I'm—"

"—his mate?"

Shock widened her eyes.

"I know he's a kyūbi," said Kabuto. "I've known from the minute I saw him. Even with his father's inheritance, he can't hide that malevolent demon energy dwelling deep in his heart for long. You can say that being a kyūbi makes him privileged in a way. The Otherworld leaders are very invested in his future. He's the community's most desirable mate. So, why would he be with a tenryū? What makes you think that becoming human would make a difference? He is the last of his race. He needs to mate with a higher tier demon, one that will not shame him by birthing more tenryū. Your kind should not exist in this world. Have you any idea what comfort it is for the rest of Otherworld that you and Sasuke are here? They would have locked you in here themselves if they had known your race existed through the bloodlines of the Kikushita and Uchiha. They would have killed everyone with tenryū blood running through their veins if it meant they no longer had to deal with your kind. Do you know they killed every other dragon race in existence in fear of your emergence?"

"There were other dragons?" she asked tremulously, a tear rolled down her cheek.

"There were hundreds spread throughout the world and they were all hunted and killed. Why? Because they were monsters? And monsters are not allowed to find mates in rare, higher tier demons. Naruto will be given another mate when he decides to start a family. He will only continue to hurt you."

More tears fell from her eyes. She unconsciously grasped his wrist and a shuddering gasp escaped her. "W-Why are you doing this?" She released him. "You—"

Kabuto felt her demon energy in the air around him. She read his emotions and saw they were a mess. She probably saw that he was intentionally hurting her, but would she be able to see the reason why. Could she feel his anger and his desire all wrapped in one?

"Why are you saying all these things to me? I…I feel…" He reached up to press his hand against her cheek. She closed her eyes. All the muscles in her body tightened. "I can feel—" Her pale cheeks turned a deep red.

He thought it would be very easy to take advantage of her pain. Running his thumb across her soft cheek elated him. Touching her skin directly, not as her doctor, but as a man, was a fascinating feat to him. He never imagined the flesh of her face would be so soft or that her cheeks could turn such a deep crimson. He could smell the shampoo in her black locks and when he reached to pinch a thick lock of hair between his fingers, he found it to be less soft than initially anticipated. It wasn't rough, but it wasn't silky. It was an interesting texture.

Opening her eyes, she looked up at him and visibly swallowed. "Can you have feelings for someone that is not your mate?"

"Perhaps."

Were these the feelings one had for someone they truly cared for? Was he not in love with her power? Did he not covet it so much that he began to see her as what he coveted? It was a mistake. Fate was likely making a fool out of him.

"You do not belong with a kyūbi," he said, feeling a little winded. "You should be with me."

Hatsue gaped at him and her breathing quickened.

"Become my mate and I will take you from here." He fought against his instinct to speak those words. He wanted only her power. He was only using her. This was another clever ploy to distract her into putting her trust in him. "I would not humiliate you like he did." This was not his jealousy speaking. He did not hate the way she lit up at the sight of Naruto or hope that one day, her smile would brighten when he entered the room. He did not hate the way she fell in love with him all over again because he was only around to make sure the oni demon did their jobs. "I will love only you."

Everything was a lie. He wanted to become a tenryū with her power and Sasuke's combined.

"Stop," she whimpered, sobbing into her hands as she sank to the ground. "Please, stop."

Kabuto stepped away from her. He looked at her crumpled on the ground and something inside him clicked. He blinked, as if he were snapping out of some very real daydream.

"I'm sorry, Hatsue," he said, walking out of the bathroom briskly. He needed to get away from her.

The sound of her inconsolable sobs echoed in his heart long after her slammed the door shut to his office. In a moment of weakness, he reached to place a hand over his heart. He cursed her name.

( Part IX )

Sasuke felt Hatsue's presence go out like a light. "I can't sense her anymore."

Their four-person group had threaded slowly and cautiously through the snowy mountains to reach the violet sea that connected the three main continents within Otherworld. The Tenryū City sat high above the clouds. The only hope one had in reaching it was the Tenryū Tower sitting upon an island full of white sand. While they had meandered through the Kyūbi Mountains unencumbered, Sasuke had been warned of the presence of dark, menacing creatures that had been transformed after being trapped in Otherworld. They had warped and evolved to adapt to their dangerous new world, as not every being in Otherworld had been fortunate enough to escape in time before the Sages had sealed the Seam.

Tsume, Kiba's mother, had been able to disguise their individual scents by making them blend into their environment. Hiashi, Hinata's father, had steered them out of nests of those dangerous creatures. Jiraiya had cast a net around them to hide them from the Otherworld leaders and the Hunter clan. Sasuke had been tasked with guiding them towards Hatsue. Since Naruto had gone off the deep end, he had made it near impossible to track anyone through the thick layers of demon energy he spread throughout Otherworld, but any skilled tracker had the ability to find a person if they had the time to dig through his territorial bullshit. They had no time to waste doing so, so they took a shortcut. As Hatsue's brother half, Sasuke had the ability of sensing where she was and what her conditions were without Naruto jamming his signal.

However, at the moment, he sensed Hatsue had been hit by something powerful before a cold feeling spread through him. He stopped walking abruptly, forcing the others to do so as well. When Hatsue's presence went away, it wasn't because Naruto figured him out. This was something else.

"What is it?" asked Jiraiya.

Sasuke shut his eyes, concentrating on the feeling of where she might have been when her presence disappeared. It was a cold place, watery—"The sea." Eyes snapped open. He pushed past the others, following the direction of her last location. "She fell into the sea!"

"The sea?" called Tsume. "The water is poisonous."

"Wait," came Jiraiya's response, "does that mean she was separated from Naruto? She did it herself?"

"That does not mean we can let him run wild," Hiashi added. "Without Kikushita, our strategy changes, but not our objective. We are going to have to corner him and Jiraiya will try to repair his seal."

Sasuke continued running towards the edge of the island, prepared to dive into the poisonous waters to help Hatsue out. He suspected she was hurt. What if she was too hurt to swim? She wouldn't purposely hurl herself into the sea, not from so high up. Someone hurt her. Someone threw her into the waters. Sasuke feared it was Kabuto finally fulfilling whatever macabre plan he started back in the Lotus Facility. He probably didn't need her around if he already had a guard dog of Naruto's magnitude believing he was running this shit storm.

"We need to go directly to Naruto!" shouted Jiraiya. "Sasuke!"

Sasuke stopped, not turning back. "If you want to go to Naruto, go. I'm going to look for Hatsue. I didn't come here for that loser, I came for her."

"Our biggest problem is Uzumaki," reminded Hiashi, "as such, he should be our biggest priority. We should see Kikushita's sudden disappearance as a stroke of good fortune. With the two separated, we will be able to deal with him accordingly."

"Hatsue fell into the sea," he started loudly. "She could be—"

"She's also a dragon," interjected Jiraiya. "She is better equipped to survive this world than any one of us."

He wanted to believe that. Quite honestly, looking at everyone's serious and weathered faces, he noticed each one struggled within the environment. They were out of breath, sweating. Their energies were dwindling with every second he wasted. Yet he felt lighter, growing stronger every second they spent weakening despite the facility's drugs still coursing through his body.

"Can we assume Uzumaki threw her into the sea after absorbing her power?" asked Tsume.

"No, he would have definitely felt that," answered Jiraiya, gesturing to Sasuke, who inclined his head. "We don't know much about your kind, so there's no telling why you would suddenly feel her presence vanish, but I am certain that Naruto would think twice about separating from her."

"If Naruto was not the one that threw her into the water, he will be the one that will try to save her," said Sasuke, thinking this could work in his favor as well. "If we go to where Hatsue fell, we can ambush Naruto."

"We'd have to get there before him," said Hiashi.

"How do we know that he hasn't already arrived to the site?" asked Tsume. "If it turns out he wasn't the one that threw Kikushita into the sea."

"We won't know if we're early or late unless we make it to the sea," said Jiraiya. "Let's go."

Jiraiya ran on ahead. Everyone followed.

Tsume scented the poisonous waters of Otherworld several meters away, but Sasuke was the first to reach the cliffs. From the edge, he could see a large tower surrounded by white sand. It seemed small on the horizon and narrow as it shot up into a sky full of clouds. He breathed in deeply before he proceeded to scan the violet waters while the others caught up.

He blinked, lifting his eyes to the sky when he sensed a vanishing tendril of her familiar energy. Did that mean she was no longer there?

"How close can we get to the tower?" asked Tsume.

Hiashi stared at the ivory tower intently for several silent minutes. "Not very close," he answered. "We are barely safe at this distance, but we are going to need to take this risk if we hope to seal his demon energy."

Sasuke felt the ground beneath his feet shudder and a wind of forceful energy sweep through them. He didn't need to see him to know that Naruto was emerging from within the towers.

"He plans to dive into the sea," said Hiashi. "He heard her calling."

Jiraiya stepped forward. "We intercept him before he does. He'll hopefully be too distracted thinking about her that we might be able to gain the upper hand."

"I'll do it," said Sasuke. He wouldn't attempt against his life knowing that it would kill his mate. He was nowhere near strong enough to defeat him, but he could put up a fight.

The others nodded.

They jumped from the cliffs and landed on the bridge Jiraiya created from the water that connected the Kyūbi Mountains to the desert surrounding the Tenryū Tower.

Sasuke ran ahead, feeling his skin harden as it started to turn gray. As his demon energy coursed through his body, his body begun to feel even lighter. He reached the white sands surrounding the tower at the same time that Naruto exited through the arched doors. Naruto's gaze went straight past him to the others running towards them and understanding flickered in his blue eyes.

Sasuke saw Naruto's eyes change and tackled him to the ground, despite knowing his current strength would not be enough to detain him. He rose to crush his fisted hand into his friend's face, but Naruto caught it.

"Don't be an idiot, Sasuke?" shouted Naruto. "I'm trying to find Hatsue!"

Sasuke reminded himself not to be fooled by anything he said. He looked and sounded like the man he knew, but it wasn't him. The energy that flowed through him was corrupted. Naruto always read like a Sage, even back when he liked to pretend he was human. There was always a hint of Sage energy.

All his Sage energy was gone now.

Sasuke grabbed him by the throat with his other hand. "Stay away from her!"

Naruto's eyebrows knitted, his eyes darkened. "She's mine," he growled, and knocked Sasuke off him with a direct hit to the face.

Sasuke rolled several feet away, righting himself on the third spin and sprinted towards Naruto again. Naruto sent a torrent of wind in his direction. It hit Sasuke in the chest and the force behind it threw him into the sea. His back crashed through the surface of the violet water, the splash that rose as a result was white and frothing. It obscured his vision as the others arrived on the sands. The water wrapped itself around his body intent on swallowing him whole and as he reacted to the sudden cold with prickling skin, a vision invaded his thoughts of a horned boy. The boy's left temple was covered in white and gold scales. His eyes were silver and the pupil was a dark slit. He ran across empty, white hallways, his body encased in a golden aura. After taking many twists and turns, the horned boy came upon a hallway where a white-haired girl waited. The scales that ran down her right temple were black and silver. Her eyes were like the horned boys, but golden. The horned boy ran to her side, taking her firmly by the hand. After doing so, Sasuke's vision distorted. Their running figures elongated until they were suddenly transformed from children to adults. It felt like two timelines had suddenly merged into one.

The horned male guided the white-haired woman down a dark hallway when a cavernous sound reverberated through the hallways, prompting them into a faster sprint.

The two burst through a pair of tall doors that led into a staircase in the center of a gargantuan room. Together they climbed up the stairs two at a time until they reached a gilded chest and pushed it open. Two items sat atop the cushioned interior: a rose diamond pendant held by a silver chain and a long sword. The horned man took the pendant and quickly pulled it up against the woman's neck, hooking it as fast as his shaking hands would allow him, before drawing the sword from the chest.

"I can stop them, but you need to go now," the horned man stated, his voice echoing in the room.

The woman's hands shot up to his face, her flowing dress settling against her form, revealing the pregnant bump of her stomach. "I'm not going to leave—"

Holding his hand over her belly, he said, "These are the last tenryū. Our brother and sister halves have been slain and without them our lives are in fate's hands. These children are all that's left to ensure Otherworld does not crumble."

The woman's golden eyes filled with tears. "But—"

The horned man pushed her gently. "Go!"

And the vision left his mind. Sasuke blinked hazily, trying to see through the muddled waters. He had never experienced a vision of the past. He had only seen the future before that moment. He heard the sounds of a struggle beyond the water's surface and righted his body, swimming up. The rose pendant was Hatsue's gyoku. That woman was one of the tenryū that made it into Humanworld, but what about the other dragon mentioned in their history. Or had it been her children the ones that had made it to Humanworld? Had their history been warped because it had not been witnessed?

Sasuke broke through the surface, taking a big gulp of air. As soon as he did, a huge wave crashed over his back, the current dragging him under again. He caught a glimpse of something large bursting from the depths of the sea and made it up in time to see a black-scaled dragon dive straight for Naruto with a great roar. Naruto jumped out of the way. The dragon hit the ground face first and the sand kicked up like a geyser, swirling all around its glistening serpent form. Naruto did not anticipate the dragon's long, spiked tail whipping at him in midair, sending him flying backward and crashing into the sea. A huge splash resulted from the impact.

"Hatsue!" shouted Sasuke, swimming to the bridge above the water. He hoisted his body up over it. "Hatsue!"

Jiraiya, Hiashi, and Tsume ducked out of the way of a powerful swing of her tail. The three were wounded, some nursing more severe wounds than others, which further proved that Naruto was beyond saving.

Sasuke ran to Hatsue, reaching her side as she fell flat against the sand with a deafening roar. She sounded frightened. He expected no less out of her in her current state. She couldn't handle transformations when her body committed to them. She lost control in dragon form. She was moving around the sand like a fish out of water, whipping her tail back and forth.

"I'm going to force her back into human form," Sasuke announced. "You should get out if you don't want to get killed."

They didn't move until Sasuke put his hands on Hatsue's scaled body as he had so many years ago and begun to zap away at her life energy. His three companions made a quick run to the bridge, moving as far as possible as quickly as their tired limbs would carry them. Sasuke started to increase the amount he took from her knowing that his time was limited. If Naruto emerged from the waters, he'd come after them to steal Hatsue away again. They needed to be separated. That was what the whole plan was supposed to be about and he wanted to make sure that they fulfilled at least that.

Sasuke heard a splash in the distance followed by a wave of burning energy that knocked him away from Hatsue, who had finally stopped thrashing. If he could reach her, he could return her to human form. She'd be weak, but he'd probably be able to drag her away from Naruto.

Naruto dove straight at him, dripping poison water that looked to be sizzling against his skin and emitting steam. Sasuke rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet, charging lightning in his hand and rushing him. Naruto avoided Sasuke's strike and countered with a punch. Sasuke jumped away, Naruto's fist narrowly missing, but the charge of wind he imbued in the attack sliced through Sasuke's shirt, leaving a shallow cut across his abdomen. Sasuke growled. His movements were much quicker than Sasuke would have liked. It gave him little time to deflect some of the hits that were fortunate to connect. He wasn't even given the time to heal all of the little wounds.

Sasuke let loose a current of electricity that zigzagged violently towards Naruto. Naruto flipped backward for several meters until the current stopped. Sasuke crossed the distance between them. Naruto met him midway, hands fisted. Sasuke would be forced to employ all his elemental capabilities and hope it would be enough to gain some advantage over him. It would have been easier to steal his life force until it knocked him out, but he risked poisoning himself thanks to Naruto's kyūbi side.

Naruto grabbed him by the front of the shirt. Sasuke punched him in the face, but he was kneed swiftly in the stomach in retaliation. Sasuke withstood another blow to the chin that had him stumbling backward. He bit the inside of his mouth and tasted the blood as it flowed freely from the tiny wound. He spat onto the white sand.

"You don't need to do this, Sasuke," Naruto told him. "Hatsue is safe with me! You know I would never hurt her!"

Sasuke almost laughed. She attacked him. It relieved him to know that the very least her instinct was working. Sasuke's horns pushed through his temples and Naruto frowned, one of his kitsune tails waved into view behind him.

Fuck.

Which one was it? Naruto could use his nine powers including his higher tier abilities without the need of drawing out any of his tails, but their strength was limited. Sasuke had somewhat of an advantage before, but he doubted he could take him on if he decided to draw out more than that single tail. He would have to commit to a transformation, which had always been something he had been unable to control. Although, he was conscious during a transformation, he was never able to access any of his abilities.

Naruto swung his tail and the ground between them ruptured, white sand rushed to the center. It was another element.

Sasuke kept his guard up. He sidestepped the fault on the ground and ran towards him prepared to take him on with only his physical strength. Unless he was able to get close, he wouldn't be able to use his other element.

Naruto likely caught on to his strategy because he moved backward, trying to stay at a distance. Sasuke jumped towards him, aiming to deliver a swift kick to his head, but Naruto grabbed him by the foot and hurled him at the tower. Sasuke crashed through the pale surface, landing hard on his back and slid several feet across the sleek floor. Debris chased him inside, small stones rolled to a stop all around him.

Shit.

Sasuke raised his clawed hand over his face. His body was not his own. His bloodstream carried all the strange chemicals the facility injected in him and they were hindering his ability. He needed to redirect his attention to recovering Hatsue again. Focus on the more important aspect of their mission.

He jumped on his feet and brushed the dust from his clothes. Hatsue let out a thunderous roar that shook the ground. The sudden quakes almost knocked him on his back again. He steadied himself and rushed forward.

Jiraiya, Hiashi, and Tsume had returned. The old Sage's sorcery vibrated in the air, Tsume had two short daggers in her hands, and Hiashi had stood guarded. Naruto had another two tails as he rose from his kneeled position, wiping the blood from his mouth. But Sasuke's attention had gone to Hatsue.

He reacted immediately to the sight of Kabuto materializing above her from a cloud of white mist. The white-haired male noticed him, looked at him directly with golden eyes and offered him a victorious grin.

Sasuke sent a current of lightning towards him, but the mist surrounding him spread, engulfing Hatsue's serpentine form and his attack went straight through the cloud. As the mist lifted, they began to disappear.

He rushed forward, hearing Naruto shout after Kabuto. Sasuke reached for the white-haired man, managing to touch the coarse fabric of his coat before everything spun around him.

The mist enveloped him too, burning as it did.

Kabuto entered the lounge room where Hatsue sat flipping through news channels while waiting for Sasuke to be returned to her side. That didn't seem likely. Tsunade gave Orochimaru the green light to start testing out a new drug on him, so it was very unlikely that he would be returning to their shared room. Kabuto suspected Hatsue would be stubborn about leaving until he was back in her company. As usual, Hatsue was very attached to Sasuke after having returned to the facility and Sasuke was quite protective of her. He had gone as far as to threaten Kabuto about keeping his distance, not that it could be helped with his job.

Hatsue spared him a glance from her seat, but continued going through channels. She always said that she wished there was better programming since they were only allowed to watch old news reruns.

Kabuto counted the cameras in the room before turning to lock the door behind him. He made a small gesture with his hand and clouded every screen with mist that would seep into the system to disrupt the security in that entire floor. It would take the security team a while to restart the system and that would give him enough time to speak to Hatsue about what she knew.

She had not told anyone. The possibility that she would existed and it bothered him to know that all his hard work would come undone because he made a stupid mistake.

"I don't want your company," she told him, eyes fixed on the television screen. "Go away."

Kabuto took the remote from her hand and plopped down on the wooden table in front of her. "We have to talk."

"Are you afraid I'll tell everyone your secret?" she asked, whispering it.

"So you can understand my concern?"

"Even I'm not that cruel."

"I'm sorry," he responded.

"Go away now."

"We can speak openly."

"There are cameras everywhere and you want to speak openly. That's daring, doctor."

"The system is down. It should be fixed in thirty minutes, so we need to have this talk."

"What talk do you want to have?" asked Hatsue, pulled her feet up onto the couch. "What more do you have to say that you haven't already? I think you were very clear before."

Kabuto was not sure where to begin, so he raised his hand, palm up and channeled his power into it to produce a sphere of water.

Hatsue's green eyes lit up and she leaned forward, reaching to touch the floating bubble. She hesitated, lifting her eyes to him, seeking approval. He nodded.

She touched the surface and infused it with what little demon energy she had in her possession, increasing the size of the sphere. Water was her element, so she knew exactly how much energy to put into the bubble to preserve its shape without disrupting the flow.

"What kind of demon are you?" she asked curiously.

"Dragon," he answered, seeing her eyes widen with shock that both left her silent. "Mizuchi, a water dragon."

"So there are dragons left? Not all of them were killed?" she asked breathlessly, eyes watering from the excitement. "How many apart from you? Where are they hiding?

He almost felt bad about telling her the truth when she sounded so hopeful. "No," he said, making the sphere of water disappear with a wave of his hand. "We are all that remains of the massacres that took our kind."

Hatsue dropped her hands to her lap. "Did it happen as you said? Are Sasuke and I the reason that the other dragons were killed?"

Kabuto checked his watched. "After the Otherworld leaders were assembled, a Sage Kappa—"

"From the Hokkaido Facility?" asked Hatsue.

He nodded. "The Sage Kappa predicted the reemergence of the tenryū, but didn't offer specifics. You and Sasuke owe that man your lives."

"But it cost the lives of your people," she said slowly. She understood everything from what little he offered. She probably read it in his emotions. "We are the last dragons because he chose not to reveal our whereabouts." She dropped her legs on the ground and slid forward, unconsciously placing her hands on his knees. He felt the heat of her hand seep through the fabric of his pants into his skin and he hated how aware of her actions he was when she didn't even seem to notice. Even after he had humiliated himself by asking her to become his mate before he had come to his senses. "Are we the reason you are here?"

"Otherworld beings infiltrate facilities to regulate the amount of information that the humans learn," Kabuto told her. He preferred avoiding the question than outright lying to her because he was afraid she could read him. "We have to preserve Otherworld's secrets. Nothing more."

Hatsue took her hands from his knees and looked at him quite serious. "Then are you my enemy or my friend?"

He stood after another glimpse at his watch. "Our time is up," he said. "You should consider returning to your room. Sasuke will remain in observation for the rest of the day."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, I most certainly don't want to be your friend."

.

.

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( ...to be continued... )