Naruto closes his eyes, willing himself to block out the world around him. It's a little difficult at first—Sakura and Sasuke are talking in hushed tones, and he's curious what they're discussing—Kakashi is breathing loudly beside him—Naruto thinks he might be finding it a little hot, and wouldn't it make more sense to take off that mask—?

"Focus," his sensei reminds him, and he supposes his wavering attention must be showing on his face.

"It's hard to do this when I'm not about to die," he protests.

Or when the damn fox isn't making mean comments at me!

But the demon is very obviously ignoring him at the moment in favour of his own anxiety.

"I could help motivate you in that respect," Kakashi offers, and Naruto splutters.

"Hey, no way! I can figure it out, just hang on a minute!" he yells, and redirects his efforts.

That's great! Say a bunch of nice stuff to me, and then threaten to kill me. Great job, sensei...

Centring himself, Naruto tries to imagine the dank, secret place within him where he first encountered the fox. Without the adrenaline of an impending death, it's harder to find his way there, but he is eventually able to block out the creepily rustling desert sand and the constant assault of the hot sun.

The blinding light on the backs of his eyelids seems to fade, replaced with a growing darkness, and the complete absence of smell and sensation fills him. When he opens his eyes—or, well, when his subconscious opens his eyes—he is in that cavernous hallway, dim light and shadows surrounding him.

The echoing growls provide guidance, and he heads down the familiar path to the cage. Upon arriving, he sees the giant fox there, pacing back and forth with a restlessness he has never encountered.

Naruto opens his mouth, the 'oi, you stupid fox!' on his lips before he stops himself. He figures it's probably not the right way to talk to someone he intends to ask a favour from, and so he switches tracks, tentatively stepping forward. "Hey...are you okay?"

The demon goes from distracted to dangerous in a split second. It snarls and jumps at the bars, hissing when they burn him, but not removing its giant maw.

None of your damn business, you insignificant sack of meat! he roars, teeth dripping and eyes gleaming with malintent.

Naruto cries out in protest, falling backward with a flap of his arms into the shin deep water that always fills this place.

"Oi! I'm just asking a question, no need to bite my head off!"

I'll do a lot worse to you one day!

"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto grumbles, pulling himself to his feet. He frowns down at the water. "Hey, is there any reason why this place always looks like a flood? Do you, like, drool in your sleep or something? Wait..." He blinks at the water, a horrible thought occurring to him, and stares up at the fox accusingly. "Is this pee? Am I standing in pee?!"

He jumps to his feet, doing a ridiculous goosestep move trying to get out of the water, alternatively raising his feet out of the liquid.

Don't be an idiot, the fox growls at him, unimpressed. This place is a manifestation of your subconscious, not mine.

"Then how do I change it so we can hang out somewhere that doesn't feel like a sewer?" Naruto whines.

Why? So you can pretend I'm not in cage? I prefer to deal in reality. And the reality is that your father locked me up in here.

"Yeah, and you killed him, so I guess things are square," Naruto shoots back, clenching his fists. He's always known the story, but it isn't until now that he has any direct, personal stake in it. "Did you kill my mom, too?"

She had it coming, the fox sneers. She was like every other human, trying to chain up a force beyond comprehension. Like this Uchiha bitch, messing about with the timelines. Humans were never meant to possess this power.

It's on Naruto's tongue to jump to the defense of his mother, but he needs to get the fox to work with him. And picking a fight over a woman he never met isn't going to help. Not right now, anyway.

"Yeah, well, the whole timeline mess is what we're trying to stop. And since you have such a problem with it, you could get off your ass an help!"

Okay, maybe not as polite as he could be, but the thing did just insult his mother.

I'm already helping, the fox sniffs. It appears in the future, I'm meant to roll over and bare my throat to an insignificant whelp like you. I wonder how much innocent blood you spill in the pursuit of bending me to your will...

"I'd never do something like that!"

So you say...

"Hey, how about instead of getting pissed off at me like all this is something I did – because I haven't' actually done anything –"

Yet.

" – we get the hell out of this giant sandbox and you go yell at Future Me?" Naruto shouts. "Or ask your future self what the hell's going on, I bet he knows more!"

It wouldn't matter. If I'm apparently meant to forget it again, I see no point in going through the trouble, the fox drawls, and turns around in his cage, showing his back to Naruto in what is clear dismissal.

"Wait – you mean you've got to lose your memory too?" Naruto asks, confused. "How's that even possible? You're made up of chakra...how can something mess with your memory?"

The fox turns its head, shooting him an irritated and exasperated look.

You really don't pay attention, do you? With that Sharingan of your friend's – the adult one – anything is possible.

"Hey...that's right! He could see you before, couldn't he?" Naruto questions. "No one's ever been able to do that before!"

The Sharingan sees chakra, and I am chakra. And with that eye of his – I haven't seen eyes like that since Madara...

"Who?"

Never mind. The point is, if he chose to, he could control me. The fox is quiet, calculating for a moment, and then an unpleasant snarl escapes him. Perhaps he's the reason my future self is so blindly bonded to you. He forced me to submit. Or maybe he's controlling you by controlling me.

"Hey! No way! Sasuke wouldn't do that!" Naruto defends his friend.

He's an Uchiha. They're all selfish.

"Maybe they are, but Sasuke would see that as cheating! You can't say you're strong if you have to hypnotise people into doing what you want them to! He wouldn't do that to me, and I wouldn't let him do that to you!"

The fox scoffs. Ah, yes. And you're about to tell me how you don't desire to possess all the power I can offer you without having to negotiate with me for it.

"I want to use my own power!" Naruto snaps. "And if I had the choice, I'd only accept yours if you wanted to lend it to me on your own. Which you have. 'Cos we'd be dead a bunch of times if you hadn't helped out, so I'm not going to lie and say I don't appreciate that! And it looks like we're still stuck together in the future, so maybe, somehow, we work it out. Maybe we even become friends?"

The Nine Tails stares at him for a full minute, and then erupts into booming laughter.

There are no limits to your delusion, are there? You're such a naïve kit, I will thoroughly enjoy watching your childish fantasies come crumbling down around you...and when they do, I'll be waiting.

Naruto crosses his arms and glares at him. "So does that mean you're going to get over your butthurt and help out?"

The fox shoots him a sinister grin. Very well. But only because I want to have a conversation with myself. Perhaps I can find a way to stop whatever happens.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Naruto mutters. "So you can sense where you are, right? The other you?"

Don't ask questions that you already know the answer too.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Fine. So what do I need to do to help Kakashi-sensei open the portal? I'm guessing it'll be different then when me and Sasuke helped him before?"

He'll need more chakra then before as he intends to cross with you all into his little prison dimension. And then out of it again. The Uchiha brat may not be a sufficient anchor within the chakra circuit. The girl can help, even if she isn't as strong as her future self.

"So all of us have to help him? And that'll work?"

Or it'll burn them all up from the inside.

Deep, booming laughter echoes in the chamber now.

"Hey, if anything happens to them, it means you and me are stuck here forever!" Naruto snaps. "And even if I give in and let you take me over, you're still going to be stuck in this giant desert with nothing to do. Forever."

You assume this dimension is empty.

"I...well...wait. Is it?"

How the hell would I know?

"You really want to take the chance?"

The fox grumbles and looks away. Sand is irritating anyhow.

But there's something thoughtful in his eyes, like he's remembering something, and Naruto suspects that isn't the only reason he would want to leave this place behind.

"Alright. So no burning up my teammates," Naruto reminds him.

Feh. Fine.

Naruto blinks at the agreement and opens his eyes, finding himself staring up at an expectant Kakashi. He grins and offers him a thumbs up. "He's in."

"For what price?" Kakashi asks carefully.

Naruto considers relaying his conversation, but somehow feels the fox might not want him sharing how upset he is. So, he shrugs, and rubs the back of his head, "He says he hates deserts."

"Hm," Kakashi replies, thoughtful, not necessarily believing his student, but choosing not to pursue it. "Alright. Then we should plan this out." He glances over to where Sakura and Sasuke are, opening his mouth to call them over, but then pauses.

"Let's decide what we tell them without mentioning the Nine Tails, hm?" Kakashi suggests instead.

"Yeah, okay," Naruto says, thoughtful. "He said it's going to take all of us anyway..."

Kakashi half-listens to him, while observing his other two students out of the corner of his eye. Despite what he told Naruto before, he can't help think that if this endeavour kills them all, maybe the future couple deserves a few minutes to themselves.

Sasuke, for his part, wishes Kakashi and Naruto would finish up whatever "secret" meeting they need to have. The idea that their sensei needs the moron instead of him rubs him the wrong way. It's been happening more often, but never so overtly as this –

"He's not going to replace you, you know." Sasuke glances up at Sakura, who is offering him a wan smile. "Kakashi-sensei, I mean. You guys have too much in common. You're probably his favourite student, even if he's talking to Naruto right now."

"Tch. As if I care," Sasuke retorts, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"You so do," she teases him.

He glowers. "What's it to you, anyway?"

Her smile disappears and she looks at her feet. "I just don't like seeing you upset."

Which makes his stomach flip uncomfortably, because he remembers what she said earlier.

"I would give anything to protect your happiness. Because...you are the person that is most precious to me."

He has never pictured himself as being important to anyone, and the idea is unsettling. He has no idea how to deal with it, particularly from someone as warm and caring as Sakura.

"Whatever," he mutters awkwardly.

"I know you don't like me," she goes on softly, looking anywhere but him. "And the fact that in the future we... well I know it must be confusing. And maybe you're not happy about it now, but – and even if I don't remember saying this – I can't imagine a future where I didn't do everything I could to help you achieve all your goals and make it so that you could be happy. I would do anything for you, Sasuke."

"Sakura, I...I don't..." he falters here, because there are literally no words that feel right at the moment. Even seeing their future selves with his own eyes has left him with more questions than answers, and trying to quantify that now is impossible.

"It's fine," she says, smiling in that way that even he can tell she's upset. "I just wanted to let you know, I'd...understand if you were disappointed is all."

She turns to edge away from him and Sasuke's hand snaps out before he is entirely aware of moving, fingers wrapping around her wrist to keep her there.

"I'm not disappointed," he blurts out as she looks back at him, eyes wide. He quickly releases his hold on her, as if her skin burns him. "And I don't...I don't dislike you."

"S-Sasuke?"

"I just...can't afford to like you right now," he continues awkwardly, wincing, because that sounds bad. From the way her shoulders slump, she thinks so too, and this is so frustrating!

How exactly is his supposed to put any of this into words?

Like the fact he'll never admit it out loud, but he gets a smug satisfaction watching Naruto constantly strike out with her. Or that a small part of him is actually flattered at how steadfast she is in her affections – every other girl that has liked him is fickle or easily dissuaded. How he's still utterly shocked at he kindness towards him and everyone else, and that maybe, despite his efforts to focus on more important matters, he does get a little jealous when someone else pays attention to her and makes her smile.

How it's both comforting and painful when she fusses over him, because no one has done that since his mother died, but he can't let himself accept it because it will make him weaker. He can't rely on that comfort, because it will keep him from achieving his goals.

Or even worse, if Itachi somehow finds out that Sasuke does care, what's to stop him from taking her too?

"Sasuke, I know you don't feel for me what I feel for you," Sakura tells him quietly. "But I can wait. Now that we've seen – now that I know, I can wait."

Sasuke makes an annoyed noise.

"You don't understand. It's not that I don't – right now I just –" He clenches his fists, utterly infuriated at his inability to finish a simple sentence. "This doesn't feel real."

"... What do you mean?"

"Even after meeting Sarada, even after seeing how the two of us..." he begins, haltingly, knowing that if it weren't for the situation they are in today he would never say any of this, "it doesn't feel real. This... future we're going to have, with us, and a child, and... and being considered heroes. None of it – I can't even imagine it."

"But Sasuke, you...you had that once, you must be able to—"

"And he took it," Sasuke replies fiercely. "And until I kill him, I can't think about anything else."

"Killing him won't fix things," she tells him sadly. "Revenge can't bring back what you lost."

"Neither will pretending it didn't happen."

"I never said it would!" she cries. "Sasuke, you know that's not what the future is, right? No one is going to – no one could – replace what he took. Is that...is that why...?"

"Why what?"

"Why you were so cold to Sarada," Sakura finishes, her words becoming more firm with realisation. "She reminded you, didn't she? Of what it was like, not being the only one. And she was giving you all this hope, even though you didn't want to have it. And with all that, knowing you still have to go after your brother –"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke insists stiffly. "Especially not right now when we all might die anyway."

"We might not though."

"It still doesn't change things. All of this might as well be genjutsu for all the meaning it has right now."

"If it's a genjutsu, why haven't you broken it yet?" she challenges quietly. Sasuke pauses at this, struggling to come up with an acceptable answer. She doesn't give him a chance, instead going on, "I think it's because you don't want it to be. Whatever you say about not being able to feel, I think you do. But if it helps –"

She suddenly reaches over and brushes her palm against his cheek, making him go utterly immobile. "What are you –?"

"A victim of genjutsu can break out of it if their chakra is disrupted," she informs him, voice even as if she's attempting to be casual.

A wrinkle appears in her forehead, and abruptly a warm, tingling feeling radiates from where she touches him through the rest of his body. Her chakra races through his own chakra network, and it feels like a soothing wave has broken over him. For whatever reason, that coolness does nothing to dull the flare of heat in his chest.

"See?" she says softly. "This is real."

"That...only works if it's someone outside the genjutsu," he says, trying to keep his voice steady and detached. He reaches up to pull her hand off of him, fingers wrapped around her wrist once more, but he delays from completing the action.

It occurs to him right then that her face is very close to his; much closer than acceptable distance, and definitely in his personal space. And getting closer.

He suspects with sudden, absolute intuition that she's going to kiss him.

He should be moving away. His initial, automatic reaction whenever Sakura gets too close to him, too comfortable and familiar, is to pull away, to dissuade her with a caustic remark. Right now, though, something like panic is rooting him to the spot.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

Maybe he should just accept it. She's going to be his wife after all. Obviously, there will be more of this in the future. And, alright, he may be sort of curious – but what if he's terrible at this? And what if the other two see – ?!

Which is, of course, the time when Naruto appears between them, scowling. "Are you kidding me?! The world is ending and Kakashi-sensei is about to do something really stupid and you guys choose now to play kissy-face?!"

"Augh! Naruto!" Sakura yells, face burning as she takes a swing at the blond boy. Sasuke's own cheeks are too warm, his heart beating more than it should considering he's been standing still.

Both get worse when he looks up to see Kakashi leering down at him through his mask.

"Don't say a word," he growls, trying to will his heart rate to fall back to normal.

"And you're going to stop me...how?"

Sasuke grinds his teeth and settles for watching Sakura throttle Naruto, pretending their teacher is invisible.

"That's enough, Sakura. If you knock him out, all of our careful planning will be useless," Kakashi calls.

With one final vicious shake that has Naruto falling on his backside, Sakura lets his go.

This is the last time he interrupts us, shannaro! Damn it! We were so close!

"What is the plan?" Sasuke asks sourly, avoiding her eye.

"We're going to form another chakra circuit," Kakashi explains. He raises a questioning eyebrow at Sakura, who nods; she's familiar with the technique, at least in theory. "I'm already running at my limit after everything today, so I'll need every bit of help you can give me. Sasuke, you're Sharingan will help me anchor mine. Naruto's got the chakra and Sakura, your control can help stabilise the transfer. This is going to be a lot more work than just a summon, so I need to know you can manage."

"Of course!" she agrees.

"Assuming I survive getting us through not one, but both portals, I won't be able to do very much," Kakashi goes on to warn them. "We're hoping to come out close enough to your Future Selves that you can warn them about Jikken, but after that, you get yourselves somewhere safe and wait it out."

The kids exchange meaningful glances, and Kakashi narrows his eyes. "Could you at least pretend you're going to follow my orders?"

"Why? Sakura's the one in charge," Naruto reminds him.

Kakashi sighs. "Today's just one of those days, isn't it?"

"It doesn't matter, let's get out of here," Sasuke says. "What do you need us to do?"

Soon, Kakashi finds himself kneeling in the sand, Sakura behind him with her hands on his shoulders. Naruto and Sasuke are on either side, both of them with one hand covering hers, the other fastened around Kakashi's upper arm. All four of them are connected, now, and Kakashi isn't really the type to pray, but if he were, this moment would be right for it.

"Does anyone have any last words before we try this?" Kakashi asks mildly as he begins to call up his portal. "There's a high chance we're all about to die."

"Tch. I wish we had a better plan."

"Yeah, but if we make it through, it'll be like the ultimate team-up, believe it!"

Sakura remains furious. "Naruto, if I end up being the only person on this team to die without being kissed, I will murder you."

ナルト

The creature's lethal claws move in a downward arc achingly slowly, and Sarada's shock muddled brain wonders if perhaps time itself hasn't slowed down for her after all. Nothing else makes sense—none of this makes sense—and she feels like throwing up again but her stomach is empty and she can't, she has to move, she has to do something –

Crunch!

The beast suddenly goes rigid, emitting an agonized scream.

A pale hand has snapped out, wrapping around the thick, blood-slicked wrist and clenching tight. There's the sound of grinding bone, and the beast snarls, bending backwards, trying to get away the vice like grip of unyielding fingers. Green eyes glint with as much menace as any Mangekyō Sharingan ever could as Mama staggers to her feet, gasping for breath from a ruined throat that is already pulling itself together.

"That actually stung a bit," she rasps, blood trickling from her mouth as she speaks. A black marking blossoms from the seal in her forehead, snaking down her face and neck, around her arms and beyond. "But you'll have to hit a lot harder than that!"

Mitotic Regeneration!

Sarada can barely comprehend it. She's heard that her mother could do this—Aunt Shizune told her stories when she asked about Mama's seal, but she's never seen it with her own eyes.

Mama tightens her grip on the curse mark beast, and blood spurts as she shatters its arm, throwing him across the span of the cave.

"Sarada...your mother..." Mitsuki murmurs, awe keeping him from finishing his sentence.

Sarada feels her trembling lips form into a relieved smile. "I know, right?"

A few more beasts manage to break through the barrier.

There is blur of blue light to the left, and for a moment Sarada thinks that Mitsuki is once more using his strange chakra powers. But he is kneeling by Konohamaru, trying to help him to his feet.

The whirling dynamo of chakra is actually Aunt Hinata.

"Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms!" she chants, blue flames flickering over her arms as she moves. The shape of the blaze in the darkness resembles lions, with gaping maws and teeth, and lashing out at a few stragglers. "Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms! Sixty-Four Palms."

She is a blur that is almost too fast to see, and all around her the creatures drop to the ground, like puppets whose strings have been cut. Some of them lie twitching, trying to move, but unable to.

At least until they're brought back...which, how is that happening?

"None of you will lay a hand on our children," Aunt Hinata says with a quiet promise that makes goosebumps rise across Sarada's skin.

"Go Mom," Boruto breathes, sounding completely surprised. Sarada can't blame him—he was passed out the last time his mother took such an active roll in a fight. She remembers watching in shock as Aunt Hinata faced off against the alien creatures that abducted Lord Seventh and even managed to injure her father.

"Hinata! Sakura!" Uncle Naruto calls, as the curse mark beings that Aunt Hinata just took out begin to do that same, jerking spasm that signifies they're about to be brought back to their previous condition. "Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine," Mama grunts, wiping smears of blood from her newly healed throat; her voice sounds a little rough. "But we could be fighting these guys forever."

"Save your strength for when we need it then," Uncle Naruto says, and closes his eyes in concentration. A moment later, Sarada jumps in surprise as a bright red film begins to spread across her skin.

"What the...?"

She isn't the only one, either.

All of the Konoha shinobi are suddenly wrapped in the strange, bubbling red energy. It looks like they are all on fire, the chakra an extension of Uncle Naruto's extensive reserves.

Sarada feels the bones of her arm reform and whatever other injuries her mother didn't get to vanish.

"The Nine Tails healing cloak will see to whatever injuries you all still have, and replenish your chakra," Uncle Naruto continues, eyes flitting to where his clones continue to deal with the beasts that are unrelenting even in the face of Mama and Aunt Hinata. "It's the best I can do for now, but it makes it easier to keep track of everyone while we figure out our next move!"

"It helps, but it won't stop a fatal wound," Mama says grimly. "And even my healing has limits, especially since I can't summon Lady Katsuyu here."

Sarada exchanges grim looks with Boruto and Mitsuki; they all know what has to be done.

"Teisōko has to be killed," Sarada announces, as two shadow clones are impaled nearby and disappear; almost immediately, two others take their place, maintaining the human shield around the Konoha shinobi. "Someone has to take her eyes and set her on fire. We think it's the only way to kill her."

"We?" Mama asks.

Sarada hesitates, unsure if she's supposed to say anything. It seems Konohamaru doesn't have the same qualms.

"Sarada encountered a past version of Itachi Uchiha," he tells them, causing the other three adults to startle in surprise.

"It was when Mama and I—past-Mama and I—got separated from the others," Sarada confirms.

"So that's why Past You was so jumpy," Uncle Naruto realises.

"Are you alright?" Mama asks Sarada.

"Of course I am!"

"He didn't...he didn't try anything...?"

"You remember that he was a good guy, right, Sakura?" Uncle Naruto deadpans.

Mama scowls. "I know he was. But back then, I didn't. No one knew. And he was very good at making people believe the worst about him."

They exchange dark looks that Sarada is definitely going to ask about after this is all over.

"What I don't get, is if he got pulled into this, why he didn't come and freaking help us," Konohamaru grumbles.

"He said he couldn't interfere because it might change things," Sarada reminds apologetically.

"He was right," Uncle Naruto says grimly. "If we were to lose him now, before all the rest happened?"

Mama doesn't seem much happier about this, but she nods.

"Alright. Naruto, you have to go."

"Huh?"

"If this Uchiha woman is so powerful that she can keep reviving the dead—if Itachi was worried about her, even Sasuke will have difficulty with her," Mama orders. "It's going to take you both, and lucky for the world, power-hungry gods are your specialty."

Uncle Naruto shoots her a wan smirk. "You're not coming? Last time it took three of us to take one down."

"Last time we didn't have kids to protect."

"Oi! We can protect ourselves!" Boruto snaps, and as if to prove a point he hurls a shuriken into the forehead of a nearby beast.

"Nobody's more aware of that then us," Uncle Naruto says, gazing down at his son with pride despite the circumstances. "It'll be the same as when we fought Momoshiki and Kinshiki. If all else fails..."

"We're your last hope," Boruto finishes.

"Right," the Hokage says, and backs away. "But I doubt it'll come to that , believe it! You guys hold the line here! Sasuke and I got this!"

He vanishes, although his clones remain in place surrounding them, still providing fodder for the curse mark creatures.

"Alright, Naruto might end up needing whatever chakra he can get, I don't want him using too much of it on keeping us protected," Mama says, considering the red energy surrounding her. "The sooner we get rid of these things, the sooner the original can focus."

"We can't kill them for obvious reasons, but perhaps we can corral them again?" Mitsuki suggests. "They wouldn't be dead, which wouldn't cause them to reset."

"That'd be like herding cats," Boruto grumbles.

"There has to be something we're missing," Mama says. "If whatever is resetting their bodies were just a generally applied jutsu, everyone within the area of effect would be touched by it. I wouldn't have had to activate my seal to survive."

"So, somehow they're being affected on an individual basis, with their own individual – resets, I guess – like a kind of infinite loop," Aunt Hinata guesses.

"What if it's like a circuit?" Konohamaru suggests. "As long as whatever is producing the energy to keep them going is accessible, they'll keep resetting."

"But if we can break it, we can stop them from regenerating and they'll stay down for the count," Mama realises, eyes gleaming gamely. "Hinata – can you see anything like that on them? Invisible threads, or...?"

The veins around Aunt Hinata's eyes become more defined as she stares out at their surrounding attackers, jaw set in determination.

"Nothing," she says after a few seconds, sounding frustrated. "There isn't any connecting chakra, or evidence of two-way transfer...wait." She narrows her eyes even more, gazing at the nearest beast. "There's something there...on the left ventricle of the heart...some kind of...sigil. It looks like it's been burned into the tissue somehow."

"That would have required precise surgery," Konohamaru says.

"Kabuto," Mama mutters under her breath.

"No," Mitsuki says. "Kabuto was likely under the same impression as my parent that Teisōko had died. He's not here, anyway. But I suspect Jikken is disturbingly good with a knife..."

"In any case, it's a start," Mama says. She shoots a grin at Aunt Hinata. "I'll hold them and you punch, and we'll take it from there?"

"I know it's a departure from what you're used to," she replies primly, and then glances over to her son's teacher. With a meaningful note in her voice, she says, "Konohamaru?"

"Got it, Mrs. Boss," the jōnin says, and begins to herd his students behind them. "Get ready, kiddos, we're getting out of here."

And then it's just a flurry of limbs and the sounds of battle. While Mama and Aunt Hinata test their theory on the nearest curse mark beast, Konohamaru leads his team through the ongoing skirmishes between the dwindling number of clones and beasts.

"Why aren't the clones replacing themselves?" Sarada cries out to Boruto as they duck an arm full of claws passing over their heads.

"Maybe he thinks Mom and Aunt Sakura have it handled?" Boruto counters, aiming a kick when a snarling face gets too close to him.

But he sounds worried.

"Or something happened," Mitsuki suggests, voicing Sarada's own fears.

She squints ahead, sees the path through which Konohamaru intends to take them. That way will bring them back to the mouth of the cave, out of the direct line of combat. She knows that's what her mother would want, is expecting her and her teammates to wait out the rest of the battle somewhere safe –

The red cloak surrounding her, slowly strengthening her arms and refuelling her chakra levels abruptly disappears.

She barely has time to consider the implication when Boruto lets out a sound like he's been punched. They exchange sharp, knowing glances, and then both of them veer left, forging a different path through the brawl.

"Sarada!" she hears her sensei yell. "Boruto!"

But they ignore him.

Because if Uncle Naruto has suddenly stopped protecting them, but Mama and Aunt Hinata are still fighting, it means something's happened to distract him.

They manage to get several feet up the rickety metal staircase before they are grabbed from behind. Expecting it to be an enemy, Sarada whirls around and aims a punch, only to pull back at the last second when her furious sensei glares down at them.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demands.

"Going to help!"

"No, you're not! Did you miss the part about your moms' wanting me to get you all out of here?"

"We can't take the chance that something goes wrong up there!" Sarada protests.

"You seriously think your dads' can't handle it?"

"And if something's wrong?" Boruto demands, standing beside Sarada. "Why's the Nine Tails chakra gone if they're handling it!?"

"It...it's probably just more challenging than he expected," Konohamaru hedges. "We have to trust that your father and Sarada's father have it covered."

"Until the battle is won, it is illogical to bank on a forgone outcome," Mitsuki points out. "Besides. The ultimate goal is to summon my parent's younger self here. If she is successful, and he is harmed in anyway, all of this ends. So if she does succeed..."

"Yeah! Someone has to protect old snake face if he comes through," Boruto agrees, obviously agreeing with anything that will get him up the stairs and closer to his dad faster.

Konohamaru studies each of his students' unflinching faces, and then sends a nervous glance over to where their mothers are still fighting.

Then he groans, shoulders sagging. "I expect expensive gifts on my grave once your parents' kill me, hey?"

"My parent isn't really the gift-giving type," Mitsuki replies pleasantly, which causes their sensei to turn so green Sarada wonders if there isn't some of Jikken's poison still in his system.

"Alright – if we do this, we do it smart! Everyone in formation!" Konohamaru barks. "We move quickly, and try not to get caught up in skirmishes!"

That's easier said then done, it turns out.

Several of the curse mark beasts, stragglers that aren't occupied with Mama and Aunt Hinata, follow them up the spiraling staircase, forcing them to fight as they go. Sarada can't help the elation she feels at being able to use her arms again.

The feeling of jaws breaking against her fist as she sends the curse mark creature careening through walls and falling off the scaffolding is heartening. Boruto and two shadow clones engage in his usual bait-and-switch techniques, while Mitsuku slingshots their enemies away from them.

Konohamaru attracts the most trouble, though, and she thinks it's purposeful. By making himself a bigger target to the mindless beasts, they leave Sarada and her teammates alone. Eventually, he and the creatures surround him begin to fight their way into one of the grottos off to the side.

"Go on without me!" he shouts at them. "Help your dads!"

Before they can argue with him, a wall of earth shoots up between them, walling him and his opponents off from the rest.

"Konohamaru-sensei!" Sarada cries, knowing that by corralling the stragglers in there with him he is buying them time, but at the cost of his own life.

"Come on!" Boruto says, pushing her farther up the stares, and she steels herself to keep on track.

He'll be fine. He is Uncle Naruto's student, he has to be fine!

The rest of their journey upward is thankfully free of conflict, and they make it to the top of the dome.

"Come on," Mitsuki says, motioning at a distant cavern that is almost hidden in the shadows. "It's through here."

They hurry through, creeping through a narrow passage, until they come to a small antechamber. It seems even smaller due to the sheer amount of technological equipment that has been crammed inside, and because of the gleaming, yellowish barrier that takes up the centre of the room.

And standing just outside of it –

"Papa!" Sarada cries, at the same time that Boruto yells, "Dad!"

As they dart forward, though, Mitsuki snatches them backward and snaps, "Careful! We're not alone."

He is looking beyond Sarada's father and uncle, an expression of loathing and fear on his face. Sarada understands why a second later when she follows his gaze.

Teisōko Uchiha is the stuff of nightmares.

The most immediately noticeable feature are her eyes. Not because of their Sharingan, however – and I've seen that pattern somewhere, haven't I? – but because someone has cut away her eyelids to ensure they are open at all times.

Blood is caked across her cheeks, old and black, staining the rest of her face and seeping into her mouth. Cracked and rotted teeth pull into a grimace. Her skeletal body is covered is pale, almost translucent in the harsh artificial light; she is utterly bare, with sigils tattooed across her skin.

No, not tattooed. Those were carved!

Silver white scars criss-cross the rest of her body; the oldest look like they are battle scars, but the majority of them appear to be left over from surgical procedures. Her head has been completely shaved, to make way for more chords and wires that seem to have been drilled into her skull.

Which explains why she's been restrained...

But it's not only by chains and manacles. Countless thick black electrical wires are fed into her at strategic places in her body – the largest chakra clusters, Sarada realises – and into the base of her spine. Likely it is tapped into her neural network. Other tubes feed blood and nutritional substances directly into her veins.

Jikken stands beside her. He looks worse for the wear – he's been clawing at his belly where Mitsuki sealed his chakra – but is beaming wildly at Papa and Uncle Naruto.

Who are utterly stationary.

For a moment Sarada doesn't understand why. Until she realises that they a frozen in the act of moving forward. Papa is crouched, arm by his side about to draw his katana, while Uncle Naruto is actually hovering in midair, like he was flying forward when he was caught up in...whatever the strange yellow energy is that surrounds the dais where Teisōko resides.

Sarada's eyes widen and she peers with her Sharingan, seeing that there are layers to the air she didn't notice before. Papa and Uncle Naruto are trapped what looks like a giant, frozen wave of energy. Beyond the barrier – at its epicentre – Teisoko and Jikken are protected and somehow still mobile.

Glancing at their feet, she sees that there is a similar seal to the one she destroyed at the bottom of the chamber; there is a gratuitous amount of dark red stains lining the ridges that she instinctively knows belong to Mitsuki. Wires and circuits have been nailed in a circle around it, likely to harness whatever power it is meant to produce, and ostensibly to protect the people inside of it from any outside interruptions.

"What the hell did you do to them?!" Boruto yells, face pale.

Only the woman's eyes move.

"I have done nothing," she replies, her voice like dead leaves or the rattling warning of a deadly snake. "They attempted to cross into my barrier of their own volition."

"And now they're trapped," Jikken sneers.

"Like flies in amber," Teisōko says mildly, like she's remarking on the weather. "Time bends for no man." She smirks, eyes flitting toward Sarada and her team. "It does not matter how powerful you are. If time stops for you, you can't use any of that power."

"And we can cipher it as we see fit," Jikken giggles.

The unblinking Sharingan flit to the clone, and something like disgust rises there. "Quite..."

She's not as impressed with him as he is with her...

"The last boost the boy and the goddess will need to open the door!"

He looks as giddy as a child on his birthday, utterly at ease now that his mistress is behind him.

"You can't do this," Sarada protests. "This will destroy more than it will fix!"

"The snake man's death is a test, one that must be performed before I to my former self," Teisōko says coolly. "Many wrongs will be righted, and when that is done, I will be free of my family." Then her eyes fall again on Sarada, then move to Papa. "Although it appears I may have to do some culling."

Jikken sniggers and reaches for a nearby console lever. "Farewell, children."

"No!" Boruto yells as the man pulls down on the lever.

There is a sputtering noise.

Sarada and her teammates watch in horror as the world begins to rip apart, the very air crackling and wavering at the seams. A portal opens directly in front of her, separating her from the frozen forms of Papa and Uncle Naruto. Jikken is poised, an expression of bliss on his face, fingers twitching with glee as he prepares to reach forward and grasp at his prey.

There's a sudden flickering of light, a sound like rushing wind, and then the portal is abruptly gone.

In it's place, four very familiar figures appear.

"Hey, guys," young Naruto Uzumaki beams, utterly ignorant to the chaos he and his team just appeared in the middle of. "Did you miss us?"

つづく

_____

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