Author's Note: All recognizable dialogue comes from Dragon Age Origins. Anything else is mine.

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"Well," Sakura says when it becomes clear the Guardian does not intend to return. "We didn't come all this way only to leave now."

"I am not even sure we could even if we wanted to," Kakashi says, and when the others display confusion, he points at the door through which they just passed. It has closed, and there is a blue sheen of magic rippling over it. "The only way out is through, I suspect."

"Who cares about that?" Naruto says. "We've just dealt with a dragon, what could be wo—"

Sasuke's hand snaps out, covering the human's mouth. "Fenedhis! Do you mean to jinx us before we even get started?"

"Yeah, Naruto, don't tempt fate," Sakura complains.

Naruto pulls away from Sasuke, shoving him roughly and sulking. "Sheesh, I didn't mean anything by it..."

"This place is ancient and eldritch," Kakashi says. "I would not be surprised if the very walls are enchanted, so watch even your words if you must."

They exchange wary glances and start forward—there is only one way to go, after all.

The archway they walk beneath leads to another old chamber, which at first glance appears to lead off into several directions. As they step farther into the space, it becomes clear that they are domed alcoves instead of pathways; at its end, a door. Fog and dust line the ground, and as they approach the centre of the room, shapes swirl into being within each of the eight alcoves.

"Ghosts," Naruto hisses, holding his shield closer to him as if it will defend against such things. The apparitions are colourless and without mass, and yet they hold shape as they hover in place, staring vacantly into space.

Gingerly, Sakura takes a step forward. Sasuke half expects the beings to attack them, but none of them move, not even as she crosses the hall and heads for the door.

"There's no handle or key here," she announces, glancing back at the others.

"It would seem our new companions might hold the answer to this conundrum," Kakashi suggests.

"Great. Breaking and entering advice from ghosts," Sakura sighs and approaches one image. "This is so creepy..." She stands before the ghost, that of a young woman with wide eyes and whose hair is held back with a strange headpiece.

"Er...how do we open the door?" she asks.

"The smallest lark could carry it, while a strong man might not," the apparition whispers. "Of what do I speak?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto demands.

"That is not the right answer."

"!" Sakura cries out in dismay, but the ghost's sudden keening wail almost drowns her out.

The shape vanishes in a burst of bright light. In her place, four swirling masses of dust whirl up in front of them, formless except for torsos that open onto their insides, ribs and intestines lined with jagged teeth. Clawed arms lash out at them, forcing the party to jump back.

"Ash wraiths!" Kakashi shouts, as one of them wafts forward, slashing outward with its clawed arms at Sakura. She jumps back, but instead of landing in a crouch, her foot slips in the moving dust behind her. She tumbles backward. The other creature slams into Naruto, who only just blocks the attack with his shield, while the two remaining wraiths charge Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Do not use flame!" Sasuke orders, nocking one of his ice-enchanted arrows. "It will be useless against these things."

He looses the arrow at the closest wraith, which avoids it by dissolving into an incorporeal cloud of ash before reforming. Sasuke's second arrow finds its mark, sailing through unprotected innards. The wraith gives an enraged shriek, before collapsing into nothingness, not reforming this time.

In the meantime, Kakashi's hands glow blue, and hundreds of shards of ice skewer upward into the other wraith, penetrating it like a pincushion.

"Kakashi!" Naruto barks, still grappling with his adversary. He knocks it backward with his shield, aiming in Kakashi's direction. Before it can avoid the blow by dissembling into dust, another blast of ice from Kakashi obliterates it into grey flakes of ashy snow. Beyond them, Sasuke hears an explosion. Sakura tosses another of her Freeze Bombs into the air, encapsulating her opponent within and rendering it little more than a grotesque ice statue.

The chamber goes quiet again, but for their laboured breathing. Through all this the remaining apparitions do not move or speak or show any sign of noticing the presence of the living.

The frozen ash wraith statue bursts, emitting another blinding swatch of light. This shines upon the door they tried to enter earlier, and a sound like a chain being pulled through a channel echoes around them.

The wraiths vanish in another burst of light, which shines upon the door beyond them. There is a sound like a chain being pulled, and a disembodied voice whispers in the chamber.

"I was Kaguya's attendant, and closest confidante. And to comfort her, I would sing. She sought the beauty in all life, and my singing brought her joy. But then she heard the melody of the God Tree and could no longer be lulled by simple songs."

"Songs?" Sakura wonders.

"Shh, Sakura, don't say anything!" Naruto hisses. "You'll bring more of those things down on us!"

"If that were the case, you opening your mouth would do the same," Sasuke says dryly. "I do not believe it is mere speech that wakes these spirits."

"I suspect you have to speak to them directly," Kakashi suggests.

"Songs...carry it..." Sakura repeats and after a spell, punches her fist into her palm. "Oh! A tune! I understand now—they're riddles." She points at the door. "To open the door, we need to solve all the riddles."

"Riddles from ghosts. How quaint," Kakashi sighs with the weight of a laboured groan. "Well, I imagine all of these individuals were part of Kaguya's life. Perhaps even her death."

"That would make sense."

"Analytical thinking is your area of expertise, Sakura."

Sasuke mumbles, "Best gag Naruto just in case."

"Oi!"

But Naruto keeps conspicuously silent as Sakura wanders to the next ghost, listening intently to the clue it has for her. A young man, who has horns on his head like the Kossith in the north. There is a gem set in his brow, and he wears a necklace of magatama.

"She wields the broken sword and separates the kings from tyrants," the ghost intones. "Of what do I speak?"

Sakura mouths the words to herself soundlessly, and then comprehension dawns.

"Mercy," she declares.

"Yes," the spirit says. "I could not bear the pain of my mother's corruption and suffering, and mercy bade me end her life. I am the penitent sinner who shows compassion as he hopes compassion will be shown to him."

This time when the brilliant light encompasses the chamber, no ash wraiths rise. Only the sound of another lock in the door being loosened.

"I believe that was Hagoromo, the eldest of Kaguya's sons," Kakashi muses. "He was of great importance to the first mages of this continent."

"Who cares who he was?" Sasuke says. "Let us get through this."

"Says the one who won't be doing the hard thinking," Sakura quips, a wry smile on her face. But she approaches the next apparition as gamely as possible.

The rest of the procession of ghosts and their respective riddles are handled successfully although it is time consuming. Sakura asks for their words, and answers after a moment of contemplation. Only once does she falter, near the end of the corridor.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," an angry-looking man in ancient imperial garb declares. "The debt of blood must be paid in full. Of what do I speak?"

"Vengeance," Sakura says eventually, eyes trained on Sasuke.

"Yes," the ghost speaks. "When news came to me that a foreign wench from the Land of Ancestors had killed my scouts, I hunted her down to show her the might of my kingdom. I am justice. I am vengeance. Blood can only be repaid in blood."

Sasuke shivers a little at this, the words hitting too close to heart. Was that not what brought him here? And yet, he realises dimly, the words the Guardian spoke earlier somehow diminish that truth.

Something has changed.

There is no time to dwell on this realisation, as the door they have been working towards finally opens. The stone doors scrape against the ground, leading them into another chamber.

This one appears to be better lit, and much larger.

"I guess that means we beat the first test," Naruto observes.

"Sakura beat the first test," Kakashi says. "No doubt we will all be tried before this is over."

Torchlight illuminates the path. Before them is another large, open chamber, with a central column as wide as the four of them standing abreast. The light and air current from beyond suggest both sides lead to the same location, but at the moment, the path is blocked.

A young woman stands there—a dwarf, Sasuke notes, based on her stature and buxom frame. She is blonde, with hair that falls over one eyes, and a mouth that curves into a sharp smile.

"Ino?" Sakura gasps.

"Hey, Forehead, what's shapin'?" the blond, buxom stranger says with a smirk. Her voice echoes in a manner that is not entirely human.

Sakura seems about to rush forward and throw her arms around the other woman, but pauses, remembering herself.

"You're not real," she sighs sadly.

"I'm plenty real. I'm just not actually here, am I?" Ino replies. "Can you blame me? There's so much to do these days. Just this morning I had to run from another bunch of Sasori's damned puppets. They want to take me apart layer by layer. I didn't even realise I had that many layers." She snorts and tosses her hair. "Did I mention they were real upset about the Proving thing?"

"You know I had to leave," Sakura murmurs sadly.

"That's the way it goes, isn't it? You can't afford to think of the past. You have to look forward." Ino's expression softens. "I'm proud of you for moving on...and also at the improvement in your taste."

Sasuke feels suddenly like the figure is looking at him.

"Ino...my parents...?" Sakura begins.

"From what I heard, they're alive," the other dwarf replies. "Right after you disappeared into the Deep Roads, they hightailed it surfaceside. Decided to become merchants on the off-chance you came out somewhere on the other side."

"Really?" Sakura whispers.

"That's what Ino hopes," the apparition says. "The truth of it is yet another quest for you to embark on." It turns to Kakashi, and suddenly its expression morphs into that of an older man with soft eyes and a gentle smile.

Sasuke suddenly has an idea of what the mage's face might look like beneath his mask.

"Kakashi..."

"I know you are not him, spirit," Kakashi says. "I made peace with my father's death during my Harrowing. He would not return."

"Perhaps...or perhaps you did not know him as you thought you did," the spirit with the face of Kakashi's sire suggests. "But you...you have come so far since I last saw you. The last vestiges of your shackled life in the Circle have all-but fallen away. You are free of the past and nothing will hold you back. Be strong, my son, and do not falter."

The mage's mouth works beneath his mask. "Such a thing was never in question."

"Only late at night and all alone," the man replies, and faces Naruto.

In his place, a man with a scar across the bridge of his nose looks down at Naruto with obvious fondness.

"Now, look at you," he chuckles. "You haven't changed a bit, Naruto."

"Iruka...Iruka-sensei," the human warrior chokes out. "I...I'm so glad to see you. Even though I... even though you're dead."

"Yes, I am. You know that I am gone and all your prayers and dreams and hopes for the reverse will not bring me back," the man says, with the air of one who is used to giving a lecture. "I know you must miss me, but my death and my life no longer have a hold on you. This is how it should be. Set your eyes on the horizon—your future blazes like a sun. Do not look back and do not falter."

When the apparition turns to Sasuke, he instinctively knows who he will see and that he cannot stop it. Still, it is physically jarring when his brother's face forms in front of him—the almost identical facial features that Sasuke sees in his reflection every day. On his brother's face, they are sharper and hollower.

"Hello, little brother."

Naruto and Kakashi emit badly hidden noises of surprise, but Sakura does not. She knows who he is. Sasuke's throat works uselessly, and he tries to will himself to speak.

"Itachi,"" he croaks. "Does this mean you are dead?"

Does this mean my search for revenge has been in vain?

"I am part of the Gauntlet and a part of you," the creature wearing his brothers face tells him. "Death is immaterial here, footsteps in the dust."

"I suppose you want me to say I regret trying to find you?" Sasuke snaps.

"Some things lost can never be found. Some mistakes never unmade," the false Itachi murmurs. "Those that survive must go on living. You have suffered enough, thinking that you could have changed events—that seeking me out will bring you closure. It is time to leave that behind, to move past the horror of that night."

"A horror you caused."

"Yes. No. Perhaps." The false Itachi inclines his head. "Whatever the truth, I envy you. You can go on to other things." His eyes rest on Sakura. "Things I can only dream of. But then, I always knew you would. Heed my words, brother, the next test is for you: to face who you are and who you were and decide which will live to see the day."

The apparition reaches for him, two fingers hovering before his eyes, the same way that Itachi used to do when they were children. Sasuke can almost feel them tap him on the forehead when the figure disappears.

Maybe next time, Sasuke.

He remains frozen for a long while, his entire body seized as if to ward off an attack, his brain puzzling over the words. The lump in his throat grows more painful by the second.

The world only comes back to him when there is a small touch to his wrist. Dimly, as if half-asleep, he looks down to see Sakura's fingers tentatively brushing the skin there. He meets her gaze, sees permission, and does not pull away when she wraps her hand around his, giving it a brief squeeze.

He is not one for overt display, and under normal circumstances it might bother him the way Kakashi's eyebrows go up and Naruto makes a noise of scandalised disbelief. But seeing Itachi in such close quarters, even if it was not truly him, stirs up far too many confusing emotions within him to name.

He is dizzy, angry, sad—

And his knees feel like they are about to fall out from under him. Sakura's grip is soft but promises the strength to hold him up should he fall.

You go on to other things. Things I can only dream of.

Sasuke realises in that moment that things have progressed further than he ever would have expected. Especially if, when called to lean upon anyone, his immediate preference is the small dwarven woman with the offensive coloured hair and eyes as brilliant as feladara.

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Translations:

Fenedhis – a common curse word; literal translation would be "shit", "fuck" or "goddamn"

Feladara - elfrootI tweaked some of the tests a bit for logic and plot purposes. In the game, the shadows of the past are only supposed to be the Warden, but I thought that was stupid, since the Warden usually goes in with party members. So I decide they all have to face their past. Because reasons ?

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