This hurts so much…

Karin bit her lip, clenching her eyes shut as she tried to ignore the dull throb in her veins. The shackles on her wrists rattled, the sounds grating to her ears. One would have thought that seventeen months of suffering would have gotten her used to this, but that was not the case.

Meanwhile, the automated syringes continued to extract her blood without pause or feeling.

At least they were machines, beings incapable of emotion. They wouldn’t know right from wrong. For all the pain the horrible machine and syringes connected to them caused, they didn’t compare to her silent captors.

What excuse did they have?

Maybe her mother was right— healing was in her blood.

She was born for it.

And now, she’d die because of it.

She considered the large room around her. There was a bathroom on the left, and a large window with sharp iron grills on the right. During the day, sunlight would flood into the chamber, and at night it would be filled with nothing but darkness.

As a little girl, Karin had been scared of the darkness.

Now?

The very notion was laughable.

Her first few nights inside this hell came to mind. She had shrieked and cried and begged and pleaded for someone— anyone — to save her.

Her plight went unanswered.

It had taken weeks before Karin learned to ignore the sensation. Ignore it like every other thing that had ravaged her life.

Even when her mother died, she hadn’t felt such helplessness.

No matter what she did or what tantrum she threw, it would be met with the same result. She would be knocked out and then strapped back into that dreadful machine.

And still, her captors would not speak to her.

Not a single word.

That might have been the most painful part of it all.

At the end of the day, Karin found that despite all her efforts, she could do nothing.

And so she waited.

Waited with nothing but the sound of her shackles for company. Waited as the scientists came in day after day, with new reports and tests and—

Karin sighed. She was spiraling again. She really needed to distract herself with something else. Her arms were starting to feel heavy anyway. Maybe if she could get some sleep…

But no, that wasn’t an option. She knew the schedule by now, it ran like clockwork. Every six hours, the machine would finish its cycle, the large metallic door in front of her would pop open, and two men dressed in white coats and rubber masks would walk into the chamber. They never uttered a word, and instead simply went around conducting their jobs with a machine-like efficiency.

They started by restraining her. A cloth gag would be forced into her mouth while they injected something intravenously into her body.

What happened afterward was anybody’s guess. She usually ended up blacking out for hours on end.

And then, when she woke up, she’d find herself in fresh clothing, lying on her bed, her arms bandaged up to the shoulder, her hair wet, and the feeling of utter violation pervading her soul.

The first few times it had happened, Karin had screamed and lashed out in anger and frustration.

Now, she had no more tears to shed.

Bursts of pain flared, but that would fade as her accursed bloodline began to heal her.

It always did.

Her bloodline kept her from dying. The white-coats kept her from living. She had contemplated suicide several, several times. And honestly, it wouldn’t even be all that difficult. Between the syringes, the large machine, and the shackles, there were dozens of ways to end this nightmare once and for all.

And yet she hadn’t.

She hadn’t yet chosen the easy way out because of a single reason. A stupid reason.

Hope.

In addition to healing, Karin was a sensor, and a ridiculously powerful one at that. She could easily spot and discern chakra signatures within the surrounding kilometer, and it was this ability that told her that she was on an island somewhere in the middle of the sea— far away from any and all communication.

It told her that the island was frothing with chakra.

It told her that said chakra belonged to monsters.

And yet, there existed a single ray of hope among it all. A single individual with warm, bright, incredibly large reserves of chakra. Sensing it with her ability was akin to bathing in the light of the morning sun. And this strange person lived there, on this very island. The island she was stuck on.

He moved around seemingly unrestricted, which told her that he wasn’t a prisoner. And yet, he had never come to the top floor.

Not once.

There were fleeting moments when Karin wondered if the mysterious person knew about her. Would he let her out if she could find him? What kind of person would he be?

She spent countless late nights fantasizing about him and other tired nights dreaming about him.

It was no exaggeration when she claimed that the dark fear of losing this ray of hope kept her from doing anything reckless and stupid. For a powerful sensor like her, this feeling of warmth was like a soothing balm to her broken soul. Like finding an oasis after being trapped in a desert for weeks.

With all the darkness this place was seeped in, with all the nightmares that tormented her dreams every night, he was the only thing that kept her steady. Kept her sane. Kept her from dying.

He was her salvation.

I wonder… Karin mused as her eyelids began to feel heavy. Will I dream about him again?

“I don’t want you to go.”

Tayuya tried to glare a hole through the ceiling. She was currently lying on Naruto's lap, the blonde running his fingers through her bright crimson hair. It led to many pointed conversations with her teasing him about having a hair fetish, much to Naruto’s consternation.

Naruto had the best reactions. Not taking advantage of them would’ve been a waste.

Though if she were honest with herself, Tayuya was a bit obsessed with his hair too— his mussed, stubborn blonde hair that merrily disregarded any and all attempts to be combed down. It amused her, but also grated on her nerves.

Not that she’d ever tell him that.

“That’s not really in our hands now, is it?” Naruto gently asked from above.

Tayuya scowled at the question, grumbling to herself as she turned over and buried her face into his lap. It didn’t help, but the sudden darkness made her feel better than when she was staring at the plain white ceiling above.

“...Sorry?” Naruto offered.

“I’m not mad, stupid,” Tayuya huffed. “Just… It's so unfair. Why do you have to leave?”

Naruto remained silent, his hand stroking her head in his unique, infuriatingly gentle manner. It was calming in a way Tayuya could never understand, and she’d be damned if he stopped doing it.

She let out a reluctant sigh.

If there was one thing that her life had taught her, it was loss.

The loss of her family, loss of her friends, loss of control over her own life.

The loss of her happiness.

Sure, she gained a bunch of stuff in return, like the overwhelming power of hosting that Thing and a village that took care of her every whim and treated her like royalty. But despite all that, she was always alone. Nothing good ever happened to people she got close to. None of the few friends she made were still alive.

It all taught her to follow one simple rule—

Don’t get attached to things. Learn to let go.

It was easier that way.

Except for now. With this guy.

Tayuya snuggled deeper into Naruto’s lap. She had most definitely broken her core rule here. She was nothing, if not attached to him. She didn’t even know how it happened. At first, he was just a kid she saw on occasion.

Albeit one with a scary amount of chakra.

Someone who was scared and lost, and needed to be shown the way.

Back then, he had been an annoying little twat. Now? She couldn’t imagine going back to the lonely existence she was living in before him. But Lord Orochimaru was going to take him away. And displeasing the man was something Tayuya never, ever wanted to do.

She once thought she knew the human capacity to destroy. She fancied herself as a demon.

And then she met Orochimaru.

He was no man. He defined the term ‘monster’, transcended it even.

And going against him would leave nothing but death and destruction behind.

“I— you— I just don’t— AARRGGHH!” Tayuya screamed in frustration, loathing herself for her weakness.

God, she was pathetic.

She had lived with Naruto for years now, but she had never been able to tell him the truth. The fear of seeing Naruto look at her in revulsion overcame her every time she mustered the courage to come clean.

She couldn’t fight against Naruto’s departure either, because that would tick off Orochimaru.

And she knew exactly what happened to people that displeased him.

Still, Tayuya couldn’t accept her master’s decision, because her own feelings were slowly killing her from the inside. She felt Naruto ruffle her hair. It felt incredibly comforting, yet all the more afraid of what she’d do without him.

“Tell me,” Naruto asked, his gentle tone calming her down. “Did the Master give you any new orders?”

Tayuya bobbed her head and murmured under her breath. Earlier, Sakon had arrived with a missive from the Lord. They were supposed to leave sometime the next morning for one of their bases in Suna.

She’d be stuck in that shitty desert while Naruto would be taken from her.

“What did you say?”

“I’m supposed to leave tomorrow morning for Suna,” she clarified, raising her voice. “Long job.”

“Oh. That’s… bad.”

Tayuya lifted her head and glared at him for the understatement. Did he really not understand what he meant to her?

“Maybe I can ask him to send me with you in—” Naruto began.

“NO!” Tayuya nearly shouted as she grabbed his shirt with both fists. “You have no idea how dangerous it is there. You aren’t coming with me. No way. No fu— further discussion about this.”

Naruto looked confused. “Then you’re fine with me leaving?”

Tayuya wanted to tear her hair out in frustration. Had this been any other person, she would’ve been swearing at them up and down the corridor, with cuss words that could make a sailor blush like a virgin bride. And that was assuming that she hadn’t already killed the person and set the entire place on fire for good measure.

But with Naruto? Not a chance.

“I’m not,” she replied in a small voice. “I don’t want you to go.”

“Then I won’t,” Naruto stated simply.

“Won’t— what— you!” Tayuya stared at him, flabbergasted at his expression before she finally managed to push out a single word out of her mouth. “How?”

“I’ll ask the Master. Nicely, I mean. Maybe he’ll reconsider sending me too?”

Tayuya suppressed a snort. She had always tried to keep him safe from the darkness of the cutthroat world around him, but she knew that even Naruto couldn’t be that oblivious.

“And what if—” Tayuya composed herself, “what if he says no?”

Naruto looked thoughtful. “Then… then we run away.”

Tayuya wanted to laugh. Laugh at him and his obliviousness. Laugh at the hopelessly confident expression on the teen’s face. Did he not know just how strong the people guarding the island were? Even if he had somehow ignored the Guren bitch, had he forgotten about the monsters that lurked beneath this island? Had he—

“He’s asked me to go to the top floor tonight,” the teen went on earnestly, “I’ll talk to him. The Master isn’t as irrational as you think. Mr. Yakushi spends so much time around him, and he seems pretty alright.”

Only someone that hadn’t met Kabuto on a mission would say something as ignorant as that.

Tayuya decided not to shatter the teen’s image of Kabuto. It wasn’t worth it, especially since he was supposed to leave with Kabuto the next morning.

Kabuto is good to him. That’s more than enough.

“I don’t think Lord Orochimaru is the kind to change his mind like that,” she began slowly.

Naruto shook his head. “Maybe with other people, but the Master never raises his voice around me. He’s actually kind of nice.”

It couldn’t be farther from the truth. And yet, Tayuya couldn’t exactly refute that statement. It wasn’t just the Master— no one misbehaved with Naruto. Even the ever-stoic warden seemed to develop a temporary un-bitchy façade where he was concerned. Not that Naruto knew that. Tayuya wouldn’t tell him either— The teen was the only existing shard of innocence in her world, and she’d be damned before she destroyed it herself.

“—times I wonder why he even does that?”

“Huh?”

Naruto scrunched up his face, looking down at his friend in annoyance. “You weren’t even listening.”

Tayuya giggled. She couldn’t help it. His puppy-eyed expression was just way too cute.

“Keep laughing, why don’t you!” the teen grumbled, making her laugh even harder, much to his consternation. Finally, he got so irritated that he pulled her towards him and began to tickle her relentlessly.

If nothing else, Tayuya thought, squirming in place as Naruto’s fingers danced across her waist, this is a good way to end it all.

Night befell the island sooner than Naruto expected.

The top-floor, unlike the rest of the fortress, had an entirely different style of architecture. Unlike the mostly spartan features decorating the other floors, this one looked like it was fit for royalty.

“Ah, Namikaze. You’re early.”

Naruto spun to his left at the sudden voice. Standing in front of him was the Master.

“Master,” Naruto began, inclining his head into a slight bow.

The Master raised a hand, pausing his motion midway, before beckoning him with a single curling finger. “Follow me.”

Silently, Naruto did just that.

A thin smile floated across the Master’s face. “You have something on your mind.”

Naruto’s brows furrowed as he looked up to match the Master’s gaze. “It’s nothing, Master.”

The Master’s lips twitched in amusement.

Naruto said nothing.

“I see.” The Master looked thoughtful for a moment, before abruptly changing the subject. “Well, come along now. We have a lot of things to do tonight, and perhaps I’ll tell you a bit about your own past as well.”

Naruto’s face glowed in elation. “Really?”

The Master smiled. It was quite possibly the most genuine smile Naruto had ever seen on his face.

He began to walk ahead, and Naruto hurriedly followed behind him. “Tell me Namikaze, what motivates you? What do you look forward to in life?”

Naruto stayed silent, his expression clouding with confusion. What did he want to do with his life? It was a question he had never thought to consider, having been seen by most as an object to be used.

For the white-coats, he was a test-subject. For Anko, he was probably someone she could get away with molesting. For Tayuya, he was someone that made her feel comfortable. For the Master he was—

“Do you know what drives me, Namikaze?” the calm voice interrupted his musings.

“What?”

“Jutsu.”

The Master’s voice was strangely reverent. Naruto could feel that every word coming out of the man’s lips was nothing but the absolute truth. Or, at least, what he believed to be the truth.

“I want to gain a true understanding of everything in this world. The first one to mix blue and yellow and understand how green came to be. I want to do something similar. If we extend the analogy here— blue is nature transformation, yellow is chakra, and red is the ability to manipulate it. Just as there is no end to the variety of color, there are thousands… tens of thousands of jutsu in the world as well.”

The Master glanced at Naruto, his gaze heavy and measuring.

“Can you comprehend the breadth of that dream?”

Naruto swallowed. He had some idea about what jutsu were supposed to be about. From his readings, techniques essentially had three requirements.

The first was the raw chakra reserves. Different techniques needed varying amounts of chakra, and one couldn’t perform a technique if they didn’t meet its raw power requirements.

The second was the Nature transformation. A fireball could only be produced by someone with fire chakra, a water bullet likewise water chakra, and so on.

The final component was control. The actual manipulation of the transformed chakra by which one gave their technique form.

The jutsu.

From what Tayuya had told him, jutsu were hard to learn, and most shinobi spent most of their lives perfecting the few they already knew.

“All the jutsu in the world?” Naruto started incredulously. “That would take forever and—” he covered his mouth immediately, cursing himself for the slip.

Orochimaru chuckled.

“I have no need for yes-men, Naruto. To hear an unfiltered opinion is refreshing.”

“Uhm…. thank you?”

Orochimaru lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. “I’m glad that you realize the magnitude of the time and effort required to fulfill my dream. But even so, it is beautiful. And surely one who understands everything can truly be called the Ultimate Being. That,” he looked down at Naruto, “that was my goal.”

Naruto perked up at that. “Was?”

The snake-sannin gave him a lop-sided grin. “Was. It took me decades to realize the futility of such a dream. The pointlessness. For all my talents, I am but a single man. I cannot keep up with the march of human ingenuity. Progress races faster than I can ever learn. As such, it is but a fool’s dream.”

“To do it alone,” Naruto surmised.

Orochimaru smiled. “I can see why Kabuto has taken a liking to you. You have a sharp mind, just like your father.”

“My father?” Naruto perked up. “You knew my father?”

A shadow of… something flickered over the man’s face. “I did. His name was... Minato. Minato Namikaze.”

Minato Namikaze. Naruto repeated the name within his mind, until he was sure he could never forget it.

“But I digress,” Orochimaru went on, dismissive of Naruto’s expression. “That is why I started to create something that could succeed where I couldn’t. To learn faster than I ever could. Grow at a rate unprecedented and unheard of. Something that would allow me to reach my dream— become a transcendental entity that understands everything there is to know in this world.”

Naruto stared at him, slack-jawed.

“So tell me Naruto Namikaze, what is it you truly desire?”

Naruto fidgeted, unable to face the man, or rather, at the blatant honesty he was displaying. There were several things he wanted. He thought about the sunrise he witnessed every morning, the one that made him wish to leave the island and see the world. He thought about the dungeon, wanting to ask for all sorts of answers. He thought about the island, the fortress, and the experiments that the white-coats ran on him.

And then a single image floated in front of his eyes.

Deep crimson hair. Sparkling hazel eyes. The way she smiled at him when she thought he wasn’t looking.

“I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t want to leave Tayuya. No matter what.”

The words flowed out of his mouth before he decided to say them. Naruto cringed at his own bluntness, but the damage was done.

“No matter what…” Orochimaru paused. “Determination. I can respect that. Tell me Namikaze, would you like to make a deal?”

“A deal?”

“A bargain, if you will. You give me a little, you get a little. If you make me happy, I’ll make sure that both you and Tayuya will stay here for a considerable future. What do you say?”

Naruto went still. He had heard enough about the Master to know one single fact.

What Lord Orochimaru wanted, Lord Orochimaru got. There were no two ways about it. But what did he have to lose here? His body shook with tension and anticipation, but his voice was crisp.

“What do I have to do?”

The Master’s smile threatened to tear his face in two. “It has to do with why you are here. Over the years, my precious army has netted me dozens of interesting… candidates that could serve as a host for my technology, allowing me to develop it further. Unfortunately, none of them have proven fruitful.”

A memory of the dungeon flitted in Naruto’s mind. It was a nightmare he’d never been able to forget over the years.

“All right,” he replied, putting on a brave face even as he internally shuddered.

“I have reasons to believe that you may be the best possible candidate for this technology. I want you to not fight the process, and willfully assimilate it into your body. Then run some diagnostic tests. That’s it.”

Naruto looked at the man flabbergasted. “That’s it?”

Orochimaru arched an eyebrow. “Did you expect something more stressful?”

Naruto vehemently shook his head. “No, just surprised. I’m sorry.”

Do not fret,” Orochimaru coaxed. “So, are we in agreement?”

Naruto didn’t understand what the Master could possibly achieve through such a simple agreement, but his gut told him it was anything but good. A part of him understood the reason why Tayuya had been so wary about his plans. He remembered all the warnings Guren had given him, too.

“I… I accept.”

But reservations didn’t matter anymore. The deal had been made. A bargain had been struck.

There was no going back.

“Hah!” Orochimaru chortled as he extended his hand to shake Naruto’s. “Then we have an accord.”

Naruto’s eyes never left the Master’s own slitted gaze, as unnerving as it was.

“We have an accord.”

I am a fucking retard.

Tayuya cursed under her breath as she raced out of the second floor.

How could she have been so stupid?

Lord Orochimaru had personally recruited her and her teammates among hundreds of others for several reasons, but magnanimity hadn’t been one of them. And more importantly, the Sound Four regularly collected new and interesting shinobi for their Lord, who would then drop them into the dungeon and have Guren analyze their potential.

Every single prisoner held captive in the dungeons was interesting somehow. It could’ve been a bloodline, or a unique affinity, or even just an impressive chakra capacity— it didn’t matter how, but they were all weird-ass freaks somehow. And despite all the torture and battle that the prisoners went through, one thing never changed.

Their deaths were never futile.

Lord Orochimaru was many things, but wasteful wasn’t one of them.

But even so, that bitch Guren got rid of dozens of bodies from time to time.

Then whose bodies were those? Why were they killed? And why was Guren— insufferable as she was, she was still important around here —in charge of something as shitty as garbage disposal?

It wasn’t a comforting thought.

But that didn’t make it any less true. Tayuya knew that the white-coats were always fiddling with someone or the other, and that the top-floor was reserved for the Lord’s personal experiments.

She knew all of this, and yet there was something fundamental she overlooked. A piece of the puzzle that never fit in her mind until now.

What was he going to do with Naruto?

“He’s asked me to go to the top floor tonight.”

But that begged the question, one that she never really thought about till now— or maybe she was too afraid to consider it before. Why had Naruto been kept imprisoned all this time? Why had the Lord called him to the top floor, the place reserved for his personal experiments?

...Was Naruto about to be experimented on?

Tayuya nearly fell over in shock when the realization hit her.

Everyone that died and were disposed of on this island once went through the Lord’s byzantine and sinister experiments. Especially if they were ever important enough to the Lord to reach the top floor. Their bodies were encased by Guren into crystals and then disposed of as shards into the ocean.

And was that— was that what he was going to do with Naruto?

No, he wouldn’t, Tayuya told herself. Naruto was never mistreated, ever, during his time here, and there wasn’t anything particularly freakish about him either, unlike the rest of the people in this shithole of a place.

Besides, Naruto had spoken to the Lord himself, who told him that he’d be leaving with Kabuto today.

Which meant they wouldn’t see each other anymore.

Was that why Lord Orochimaru was doing this? Because he knew Naruto was attached to her? It didn’t make sense— why that snake would ever care about her odd relationships was beyond her. She knew that Orochimaru was sadistic beyond measure, but the man was not petty.

At least, Tayuya didn’t think he was.

She didn’t know why, or what was going on, but something was definitely wrong here— Tayuya could feel it in her very bones.

And so she ran.

She dashed past the laboratories on the third floor, past the cubicles where the white-coats stayed, past the disgusting stench of chemicals and flesh. On any other day, this section would be filled with people, performing their strange experiments.

Now?

Now it was fucking empty.

The sinking feeling in her stomach grew with each passing second. Anxiety gripped her as her thoughts about Naruto’s condition grew more and more morbid. What if Lord Orochimaru caused him pain? What if he was put through one of those cursed seal experiments? What if he was screaming with unspeakable agony, begging for someone to come save him? What if he—

Somewhere far away, large ornate bells began to toll.

Not now. Please. Not now.

Without fail, the bells rang every time she began to lose control.

Every time she allowed her emotions to get the better of her. Every time she loved someone. Every time she was concerned with someone else’s safety over her own.

Every time she came close to being human.

Tayuya shuddered, feeling Him traverse past the endless cesspool of darkness that was her mind. He was clawing through the feeble barriers that tied her to sanity. She felt Him tightly grasp at her mind and soul, pulling her back into the abyss.

I HAVE SEEN THIS WORLD’S DEMISE—

It was difficult not to give in. To let death and destruction reign once more.

Until she was left with nothing. Left with no one.

Such was her accursed fate.

Please, Tayuya begged. Not now. I have to save Naruto. I have to— I have to save Naruto.

But the bells would not be unrung. First the smaller ones, then the larger one on the mountain top. Just like she remembered. The ones on the temple archway would follow next, waking up those that stood in the darkness, waiting to enter the mortal realm and—

“NO! NO! NO! NO! STOP RINGING!” Tayuya yelled her lungs out as she raced up the stairs to the top floor, skidding to a halt at the end of the corridor.

A large ornate door blocked her path, firmly shut.

But doors were easily opened. More important was the person standing in front of it, preventing her from getting to her goal. To him.

Tayuya inhaled. The air felt like poison.

...Fuck my life.

Unruly bluish hair tied down into a long, spiky ponytail fell behind her green kimono, painting the visage of serene beauty. A shallow façade that masked the savage bitch she actually was.

“Guren,” she muttered tersely.

“Tayuya...” the warden replied in a soft, indifferent tone. “It seems Lord Orochimaru was right, as always. He warned me you’d try to break into the top floor looking for the boy.”

A loud, alien humming began to reverberate throughout her body. They were coming. They had all heard the bell. It took all of her mental fortitude to keep the noise from affecting her. She needed to stay in control.

“And he sent his pet whore to stop me?” Tayuya spat.

Guren crossed her arms. “You are fortunate that Lord Orochimaru values your skills, otherwise you’d have been wiping the dungeon floor with that impudent tongue of yours.” A muscle in her jaw tightened. “Lord Orochimaru has instructed you to leave this floor and return to your room. This is a direct order.”

But Tayuya was well past listening.

“Why does he want Naruto?”

Guren raised her chin. “Lord Orochimaru has chosen him as his new test subject, you’ll see him tomorrow morning. Unless of course... he perishes.” Her lips curled. “Then, I will have to dispose of the body. Either way, you will be united with your lover come sunrise.”

Tayuya’s face hardened. “Naruto doesn’t have a bloodline, dipshit. He’s… he’s a civilian. Why is he—?”

The rest of her words were drowned out by Guren’s maniacal laughter.

She gnashed her teeth. Truth be told, she knew Naruto had chakra. Loads of it. But he had a seal on his stomach. A seal of Lord Orochimaru’s personal design, far more intricate than anything else she’d ever seen.

It wasn’t meant to hide his chakra. Instead, it was to keep him from using it.

Any of it.

“Civilian, she says. You bumbling fool, that child is the jinchuuriki of the Nine-tails, the most powerful and revered of the tailed beasts. You know what tailed beasts are, right? You’ve experienced one first hand, after all.”

Tayuya blanched.

She had the misfortune of encountering Roshi around a year ago— an event that nearly wiped out her entire team and crushed her confidence and sense of self-worth in the process. Being what she was, Tayuya had always believed her understanding of power to be superlative.

Roshi had proved her wrong.

She had strength, but what was the strength of a fledgling bird against the wrath of a hurricane?

She had power and skill, but what could a pebble do before the weight of a mountain?

A Tailed-beast’s steel teeth were larger than Kimimaro’s largest bone sword. Its tails could whip a storm into submission. Great chasms opened and lava flowed like rainwater. Winds howled and whipped till the world itself cried out in pain.

Tayuya had understood why jinchuuriki were feared and venerated in the shinobi world in the old days.

“Nine… Tails… Jinchuuriki?” she stammered.

“So, you do remember,” Guren was positively grinning now.

It was impossible. It was impossible. It was—

“You’re lying,” she snarled.

Guren arched an eyebrow. “Am I?”

“The nine-tails jinchuuriki is in Konoha. Everyone knows that. Its name is—”

“Sora,” Guren replied. “A fake. An illusion. Just like Konoha’s control. And yes, your beloved Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails. That is why the Lord has kept him here. Kept him tame. Until the right moment.”

All color drained from Tayuya’s face as she finally understood what Guren was getting at.

“Lord Orochimaru deserves nothing but the best. And tonight, we will see if the Nine-Tails is worthy of him.” Guren’s tone bordered on sycophancy. “Tonight, our Lord will either tame the beast completely, or send it to meet its creator. Either way, it all ends. Tonight.”

Tayuya didn’t answer. She clenched her jaws shut, gnashing her teeth. It took every bit of her willpower to not give into herself entirely. To not wholeheartedly accept the darkness that threatened to flood through her veins and let the monsters of the night tear the world apart once more.

Naruto… She told herself. Think about Naruto.

It didn’t help. Instead, the thought only made it accelerated.,

She could picture Naruto, not as the playful boy she loved, but as the jinchuuriki of the strongest creature in the world. His eyes had lost their innocent blue sheen. His face had lost its playful smile. Instead, fire burned in his eyes, his skin glowed with raw, corrosive flames, his heart twisted in infinite madness.

The sweet lovable boy she cherished was screaming, the monstrosity trapped inside him clawing away at his insides, tearing him apart into—

SWOOSH!

Her flute shot out of her dress and came spinning into her right hand. Tayuya stared at it in horror. This wasn’t her original weapon— the power emanating from her had corrupted the new instrument.

And finally, the bells stopped ringing.

Tayuya had found her answer. She had chosen.

The warden took a step forward. “I suppose I will ask the final question. Are you going to be a loyal bitch that obeys Lord Orochimaru? Or are you a traitor that needs to be put down?”

A tall bo-staff, made of pure crystal, materialized next to the warden, its apex tapered off into an ornate spear-head.

Guren was powerful beyond belief, single-handedly able to hold down the fort in Orochimaru’s absence. And yet, Tayuya didn’t care. She stared at her, a hypnotic smile etched across her face. It was a smile that appeared on the face of a predator before it tore its way into the heart of its prey.

A smile representing a false sense of peace, the calm before a particularly vicious storm.

A smile that would willingly let the world burn, and merely observe with a morbid curiosity.

And then, Tayuya began to speak.

“For years, I’ve held back its wrath. For years, I’ve hidden it away deep within myself. Even Lord Orochimaru knew better than to try to control me through seals.”

Guren frowned uncomfortably before conjuring a dozen crystal spikes behind her, ready to be shot at the slightest movement.

“Do you know why?” Tayuya’s expression was serene. “Because even your Lord knows that in front of those that wait in darkness, shinobi are mere insects. Trash that cowers in the presence of real power.”

She took a step forward.

“When they come, they devour the whole fucking world. They shatter reality like glass.”

The very air around her began to ebb and flow in odd directions, forming ethereal shapes.

Tayuya smiled savagely as she raised her flute to her lips.

“Do you really think your crystals can hold me back?”