Chapter Twenty-Five: Shadows

Besides the shadows, under the darkness.. there you will find my heart.

-MistyAnnE_04

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Sasuke's POV

"Sir, the ANBU has the situation under control now.. only the Eastern portion of the village is damaged severely."

I smiled when an officer approached me. After dismissing the lad, TenTen called my attention. "Hey! Can you help me out here?!"

I gripped my katana and dashed to where she stood. On the way, I dodged every senbon needle the puppets were attacking me with. I looked at Sasori who had several bruises. He looked like a mess.

"TenTen, you go help Neji and Pein drive off the rest of the enemies.. Then, tell Shikamaru to lower the village under yellow alert."

"Yeah, yeah. You better pay me later for this!" She beamed and ran away. Well, atleast she's still energetic.

I sighed and glared at the beaten man in front of me. His chakra is at a critical level and  can say that we've already won.

"Almost half of your knights were killed. The rest either ran away or lost consciousness. Mr. Pein and Konan secured the village along with their army of rebels. Neji-san and TenTen supplied the arms needed. And lastly, my ANBU officers guarded the castle and made sure none of your troops harmed the Queen... game over, Sasori."

Before he could speak, I immediately punched him in the stomach, making the redhead hit a tree.

But instead of giving up, he looked at me menacingly and grinned as blood dripped from his mouth.

"What's a king, without her queen? What's a father without his daughter? You're wrong, Sasuke Uchiha....... you lose."

He fetched something from the depths of his pocket and showed me a crystal rock. With one hand, he crushed the object and slowly opened his coat, revealing a pile of paper bombs attached to his torso.

What the heck?

"Release."

My eyes widened...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

"Cough! Cough!" Smoked filled the surroundings. I couldn't see anything. Then, suddenly, a kunai came flying towards me. I almost failed to dodge the attack, resulting a small cut on my cheek. Blood dripped and a man emerged from the smoke.

His ANBU uniform visible.

"Beware of the shadows, King Sasuke." His deep voice easily made me recall his name.

"Genbo! What are you------"

He looked up the sky. The stars slowly making their appearance. It was night time.

"Your Queen.... is dead."

I froze.

"SIR SASUKE!"

Just then, Shikamaru came out of nowhere with Naruto and several other ANBUs. He had this angered look as he stared Genbo.

"That man's a traitor.. a spy in Konoha. He's one of those stupid knights that attacked us! He was sent to kill Queen Sakura!"

My heart raced at what the brunette said. My mind failed to register the events faster. But before I knew it, I ran towards the castle and let them kill the man who spied on the village.

Dammit, Sakura! Please be safe..

Third Person's POV

Deep inside the confines of crystal walls, a girl whimpered as her chains rattled with every movement she made. Daisy looked up and gazed through the small window that showed her a perfect view of the starry night sky.

"Mom.....Dad...."

She was pulled out of her reverie when the floor lightly shook. Soon enough, debris were falling from the crystal ceiling and the four walls that locked her up moved drastically.

"A-AAAAAAAAH!"

She closed her eyes and waited for a chunk of rock to fall on her when a voice called, "Hey! You can open your eyes now, Daisy-chan.."

The little girl thought she was dreaming. She never expected to hear his voice. No, certainly not in a situation like this. But when she opened her eyes, she saw a blonde haired boy, smiling at her.

"Ryokuuu!!!"

The young Uzumaki pulled out a dagger and tried penetrating the metal chains. "Dammit!" He cursed when none of his efforts seem to work.. Damn this shitty metal chains, dattebayo!

Out of nowhere, a small creature appeared with a set of keys..

The two both smiled at the squirrel before Ryoku yanked the keys and released Daisy from her chains.

The two-----with the squirrel--ran out the crystal castle as it's walls came falling down. The flooring cracked and everything seemed to be in a haze.

The moment they got out, Daisy who was in Ryoku's arms, saw the castle crumble down in a bigger picture. Crystal glass glimmered as it's tall towers fell down and kissed the ground. Shards of glass flew around the place like confetti would on an occasion.

A small sigh escaped her lips as she looked at her savior.

"Thank you... now, let's head back to Konoha."

Ryoku nodded with a grin and carried her bridal style as the squirrel rested on his shoulder.

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