Sasuke is not especially concerned with humans killing humans, but children are children regardless. They are too young to commit the crimes of their elders. No one who kills children should be shown mercy. He understood that as a boy when he was forced to bury the infants of his clan with his own tiny hands.

Much as he wishes to walk into their Chantry and fire every arrow in his quiver until they all die gasping, these monsters might have information the Warden needs. Though tempting and necessary, destroying them might invalidate the entire damned trek up the mountain.

"Sakura," Sasuke prompts when he is within a few paces of her.

She glances back, eyes blazing and her entire body still bristling with fury. Something in his own gaze must penetrate though. For several seconds they stand in front of one another, and then her shoulders slump and she sighs as if ceding the point of argument to him. He wonders, not for the first time, if dwarves can read minds, because her ability to divine his thoughts without him explaining himself is uncanny.

"So, now that we're not all murder-happy," Naruto says as he and Kakashi catch up, "should we sneak in around the back?"

"The building is cut out of the mountain side, there is no way around the back unless you want to climb through the trees," Sasuke replies.

"No. We're not walking on eggshells here," Sakura determines, slowly swinging her axe upward to rest across her right shoulder. To the unsuspecting eye it would seem as if she is simply stowing her weapon while they travel. Sasuke knows from experience that it just makes it much easier for her to swing on a moment's notice. "We may have to show mercy, but we won't do it quietly. The whole problem with this place is the quiet."

Kakashi and Naruto nod in solemn agreement, and the four of them set off the rest of the way. Upon reaching the Chantry, Kakashi waves a hand and the heavy iron and wood doors push open.

The shemlen temple looks the same as every other such building that Sasuke has ever seen, although it is perhaps draughtier than most. He has never understood the human need to be entombed within stone walls and arches ceilings, especially when the gods are already within nature.

The party strides up the centre aisle of the nave, and Sasuke casts keen eyes over their surroundings. The aisles of the Chantry are shrouded in darkness, but he easily makes out four armed soldiers lingering in the shadows. Up in front of the chancel, a crowd of people are gathered—fewer than he expected to be here. Eight villagers, judging by the homespun clothing, one of them a woman holding tightly to a little girl. The woman shakes with the resolve of someone acting against their instinct, and the child seems fearful and suspicious.

The wooden handle of Sakura's axe creaks as she tightens her grip on it.

Finally, standing on a step above the people is an old man with thickset eyes and a turban. He wears a rough version of the Chantry robe Sasuke has seen on the male clerics of the human faith and holds a staff that Sasuke suspects is not decorative.

Another sign that something is wrong. Given the Chantry's fear mages, one of their clerics would not be a mage.

The gathered crowd are either unaware of uncaring of the newcomers' approach. The man in the turban is gazing up at the vaulted ceiling, waving his arms as he speaks.

"We are blessed beyond measure! We are chosen by the holy and beloved to be her guardians. This sacred duty is given to us alone! Rejoice, my brethren, and prepare your hearts to receive her!" He raises his arms in benediction. "Lift up your voices and despair not, for she will raise her faithful servants to glory when her..."

He trails off, finally noticing that the four strangers have no intention of waiting in the wings while the sermon finishes. "Ah. Welcome. I am the Revered Father Mukade. I heard we had visitors wandering around the village—I trust you have enjoyed your time in Rōran so far?"

The elaborately casual, pleasant tone is too much for Sakura.

"Stow it!" she snaps. "We are all well past pretending this village is normal, hidden away up here."

"Perhaps," Mukade says darkly, "but staying hidden means staying protected. And we must protect Rōran and our charges at all costs."

"Charges?" Kakashi challenges. "Is that what she is?" He nods at the young girl. "Or is she the method you will use? I have never known the Chantry to resort to blood magic."

"We do not owe you any explanations for our actions. We have a sacred duty. Failure to protect her would be a great sin. All will be forgiven."

"You kill children," Sakura hisses. "There is no forgiveness for that."

"We do as the goddess requires for her care," Mukade dismisses.

"That's enough," Naruto says. "You and your followers will already pay for your crimes. But we're here on a mission to save a life. Help us, and maybe you can begin to redeem yourselves. Tell us where we can find the Urn of Sacred Ashes, and your end will be quick."

"You have come all this way chasing a myth," the old man snorts. "You will not find it here. And even if you could, your presence here disturbs the goddess' rest. You must pay for your sins." He steps back. "My brethren, you know what must be done!"

The guards Sasuke saw earlier coalesce from the shadows, weapons brandished—the same bone weapons that they have already encountered. When they go to raise their arms, however, it is as if the swords are covered in grease and the bows weighted down by a stiff wind.

Glyphs shine beneath them, Kakashi's fingers twitching.

"Oh, well, it looks like you picked some clumsy guards," the mage remarks mildly, as Sasuke raises his bow, while Naruto and Sakura brandish their blades.

"Do not underestimate the will of the goddess!" Mukade snarls.

That is when the villagers suddenly throw themselves forward, revealing beneath their rags daggers and hatchets made of the same bone as the guards' weapons. The woman backs away, shielding her child behind her in one corner of the Chantry.

Sasuke wastes no more time taking out the guards before they can recover from Kakashi's misdirection hex, while the mage darts forward to contend with Mukade. The cleric swings his staff around, revealing it as a magic tool just as Sasuke suspected. Naruto and Sakura field the onslaught by the villagers, but it soon becomes clear all is not what it seems.

The men move like marionettes, flinging themselves forward without bothering to guard against the bone-breaking weight of Naruto's shield or sword. Several pieces of bone—from the weapons and a man's jaw when he shoves his face in the way—embed in the wood before Naruto swings his sword even once. One of them throws himself in the path of Sakura's axe with such vigour that he knocks it from her hands, sacrificing his life to do so. The others close in on her, swiping and jabbing at her with their bone weapons.

Without her axe, she opts to use her bare hands, ducking and lashing out with fists and palms in an unfamiliar bare-handed technique Sasuke.

For all their odd fervour, the villagers are not well-trained, but they appear heartier than the average peasant. Despite several crippling blows—and even severed limbs—they continue to throw themselves at Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke puts an end to it, unflinchingly shooting an arrow through the eye sockets of each one.

Except they are still moving.

"What the hell is up with these guys?" Naruto demands as one of them, black blood trailing down his chin, tries to use its own arm as a weapon.

"Magic," Sakura says, throwing another over her head and knocking two others into a heap. "Some spell is controlling them." She makes her way over to where the village woman is huddled with her daughter. "Are you alright? If you can move, you and your daughter need to get out of here, before—"

"You'll not stop my child from being saved!" the woman screeches suddenly, eyes glowing with an unearthly reflective light as she takes a swipe at Sakura.

The dwarf jumps back, catching the woman's arm in front of her. A moment later, she juts her head forward, headbutting her hard enough that the woman falls back. She does not get up, and the child gives a cry and kneels beside her. For a moment, Sakura seems to pause, but then a wet explosion of sound rips through the air and the overwhelming scent of blood joins it. All the still struggling villagers drop as if their strings have been cut.

Kakashi now stands before the stain on the stone floor that was once Mukade. Sasuke's stomach twitches in minor disgust at the reminder that their mild-mannered comrade is also a dangerous apostate.

"They're dead," Naruto says, toeing the closest villager with his boot. "All of them."

"I think they might have been dead for days," Sakura says. "Except..." She moves to check on the child and her mother. "This woman's alive!" She crouches down to check on the woman, mouth pulling into a brief, downward grimace of pain.

Sasuke frowns at the spasm, and but rather than comment on it asks, "She was not being controlled?"

"N-no..." answers a feeble voice, and the woman's eyes open. "My husband..." Her gaze flits painfully to one corpse on the ground as Sakura helps her to her feet. "In the middle of the night...brought me here...made me bring Sāra." The little girl sobs. "He wanted to...he wanted..."

Kakashi comes over, placing a hand on the woman's temple. His palm glows, and the bruise across her face vanishes. A further moment of concentration and he nods to himself.

"Whatever control kept him alive, whatever took over your mind, is gone now, my lady," Kakashi tells the woman.

"Sēramu," she supplies. "Th-thank you."

Losing interest in the proceedings, Sasuke makes the rounds by the bodies, checking that they are truly dead. Though Kakashi's pronouncement is true, it makes him feel better to slit their throats as a precaution.

"You must get out of this place," Naruto tells the woman.

"But...this is our home!"

"I think it's been a long time since this place was a home..."

"Go for the sake of you and your daughter," Sakura insists. "Take whatever provisions you can and leave. Kakashi can draw you a map of a cave shelter on the way down, and as soon as the weather passes, get off this cursed mountain."

"I will," Sēramu says at last, determination hardening her features. "And you should take this." She reaches for her daughter, lifting a cord from her neck; attached at the bottom is a large, bronze disc with the symbol of Kaguya. "Mukade intended to soak this with my daughter's blood, for what purpose he wouldn't say. There's something important about it, and he wouldn't have wanted you to have it."

"It looks like a key," Kakashi muses, taking the medallion. "But not for a regular door."

"There's a hidden entrance in the antechamber," she says, "perhaps that's what it opens?"

"Perhaps..." Sakura says, squinting at the disc. "Or...it's for something older."

"Thank you for saving me," the woman says, bowing her head humbly. Then, with one last terrified glance, she scoops up her daughter and disappears.

A thoughtful frown on his face, Kakashi leads the group into the antechamber and says, "Give me a moment, I will find the door she spoke of."

"No need," Sakura says, moving carefully toward a section of the wall. "The stone here is newer than the rest of the building." She studies it a moment further, cocking her head to one side as he considers the stones, and then prods one with her right hand. "The mortar here is cracked, as if..." She pushes on one of the rounded stone, and with a creak, the door slides open, "As if it were used to being pushed!"

"You really know your stone, huh?" Naruto says, admiringly.

The door now opens fully, a back passage extends about half a kilometre ahead on an incline. From his vantage point, Sasuke sees a bright light at the end, and feels a blast of cold, suggesting it opens out on the mountainside somewhere.

"I suppose that means onward and upward," Kakashi sighs.

"Oh, just point me in the direction, I'll rip these bastards apart," Naruto growls, already heading for the antechamber.

"No," Sakura says quickly. "We don't know what's waiting for us there. Sēramu said more villagers, but it's more likely to be cultists. They could be preparing to ambush us the minute we leave this Chantry. And as for the ruin she spoke of...we don't know how big that place is, either. It could be as small as this building, or it could be something else. If it's a ruin from the time of Kaguya, it could have been built by the ancient of the Suna Empire—"

"Or the elves," Sasuke adds.

"—which means there could be passages that go on for days. If we're really unlucky, it could be a lost thaig that got cut off from Iwa," she finishes. "We need a lay of the land."

"You are right," Kakashi agrees, approving as always in the wake of Sakura's analysis. "But if it is not just cultists up there, but villagers too? You have seen the houses—there could be hundreds."

"So, you're saying we need a strategy," Naruto muses.

"You come up with that, then. Sasuke and I will go ahead," Kakashi begins, but Sakura shakes her head.

"No. If there's trouble lingering back here, a ranged fighter will give us time to make an escape," Sakura replies. "And if you're caught snooping up there, you need someone that can deal with any oncoming attackers while you're casting. You and Naruto go, scout ahead. Sasuke and I will hold the line here." She smiles weakly. "And he's not too bad at strategy, either."

It is not the first time she has complimented him, but the back of Sasuke's neck warms. He refuses to look at Kakashi.

"Hmph. I'm trying not to be insulted," Naruto grumbles, "But okay, I get it. You want your strongest fighter up front, right, Sakura?"

She smiles at him. "Right."

Sasuke's heart jolts, but it is not in reaction to her complimenting the human.

"Well, come on then, Kakashi, we've got work to do," Naruto insists, already marching ahead.

"If something should happen," the silver-haired mage begins, but Sakura shakes her head.

"Everything is under control. You'll be back soon and we'll figure out our next move," she insists, while Sasuke continues to scrutinise her wordlessly.

Kakashi may also sense something amiss, but he also trusts her judgement. After another pause, he nods his head and sighs. "I should go make sure the fool boy doesn't walk into a bear trap or something..."

He begins his trek up the snowy path.

Sakura and Sasuke watch them in silence until disappear out of the snowy exit, and then Sakura lets out a shuddering breath.

"What were you not telling them?" Sasuke asks quietly, and it would be a demand, but he is careful to keep his voice level. Sound travels in passages such as these.

"Don't make a fuss," she warns him quietly, turning to look at him, and he notices for the first time the way the blood has drained from her cheeks. She moves her left hand, which he realises now she has been holding very carefully in front of her.

Jutting out from just beneath the edge of her chest plate, Sasuke sees a jagged white piece of bone. Blood wells around the wound.

"I need you help," she tells him, teeth gritted in pain.