I do not own Naruto or destiny.

Hinata watched her carefully; she knew what was wrong with the older woman. This was after all, the funeral of her twin held for the awoken who had come to say their farewells. Ashura's face was slightly stoic in a sense, which confused her to no end. "Ashura?" Hinata called softly and Loki glanced over at his sister, who was swaying on her feet now. Her skin looked better than it had in a while, but Hinata wasn't blind. This had occurred overnight it seemed. Hinata was about to reach out to Ashura but Sasuke grasped her shoulder gently and whispered in her ear.

"Go after her.... Make sure she's ok." He said softly and she nodded, running to catch up to the white haired woman. They hadn't even had to board a ship to find her; she was in the outer part of the tower where Petra stood to give assignments for the queen when she came over. She had seen Ashura, Prince Uldren, Krux, and Petra standing near the edge of the area. Her eyes softened as she watched the encounter between the few.

"What would you have to talk to me about, half breed?" He spat. Ashura grit her teeth as she looked up at Prince Uldren she wasn't sure how to react to what he had said, but it was rude the way he had spat those words. "Fine. I will leave then." She said and he tightly grasped her wrist with one of his hands. Petra stared at her with her one visible eye wide. "Your highness?" She managed and he shook his head, causing Ashura to look up at him. The glow of his usually smug and annoyed eyes had dimmed and she could see the pain that resided there.

"Ashura..." Hinata called to her and the silver eyed woman looked at her with confused eyes. "I'm so sorry for your loss." Hinata said approaching her. "I'd lost her so long ago... Please don't." Ashura whispered, but Petra's eyes softened and she whispered something to Hinata, who blinked. She nodded and followed Petra. "Forgive me." Uldren said and she looked up at him with furrowed brows. "There's nothing to forgive. You've done nothing wrong." She said and he frowned deeper. "I suppose in your mind you don't think I've done me wrong. I've belittled you because I wanted to have my partner back, but I knew she'd never return, so when you did..." He began but his older sister pulled his hands from Ashuras wrist and placed her fingers on Uldren's lips to silence him. "Words are ammunition to destroy you. I suppose you should keep better check on the words you speak when in an area where one could be heard."

Mara looked over Ashura with a weary glance, but an elegant smile crossed her lips. "You look just like her at a first glance, but you're so much more." Mara said as she sat in her throne. "How so?" Ashura asked, her tone had an edge to it that the queen did not appreciate. "Your sister blindly worshipped my brother and myself, but sought no respect. You worship no one... Not even yourself... You worship none but try to protect so many..." Mara stated and Uldren watched her.

"My dearest brother tried to kill you... He saw her image and felt betrayed." She said and Ashura frowned, reaching into her pocket to pull the picture. She handed it to Uldren, who stared at it in a slight surprise. It was a picture of Loki, Kira and Ashura. "Learn the difference." She bit out and walked out. Krux followed her down between the small rivers of water in the center of the room and out of the room. "Prince has odd ways, yes?" She asked, towering over Ashura. "Yeah." Ashura sighed and thought back to the image she had shoved in Uldren's face. Ashura grit her teeth and stared at her reflection in the shining metal plate of her gauntlet. Warmth started over her cheeks and splashed against the metal. Loki had held such a brilliant grin, and Kira had held such a lovely smile... But... She... She herself had forced her smile. She reached up and smeared her tears across her cheeks, revealing a familiar aura that was embedded deep within her skin.

Her eyes flashed and she pulled the bottle of concealer out to cover the inky black aura beneath her skin. A soft touch startled her and the glass jar shattered against the ground, causing Krux to eye her oddly. Hinata held a caring look which caused Ashura's lip to tremble. "You're going to be ok..." Hinata said, grasping her hand tightly. Ashura's face scrunched up and a sob escaped her. An angry, deprived sort of sob that caused a river of tears to flow freely down her cheeks. Hinata pulled a cloth from her pocket and she wiped the tears from the older woman's eyes, smearing the new make-up away as she did so.

"I'm dying... Hinata." She said as she removed the contact lenses from her eyes to show the younger woman her unresponsive dull silver eyes. "I'm dying and there are only two that could save me, but I don't think either will. The difference between my sister and me? She was meant to live while I was meant to die." Ashura said and sat on the edge of the metal landing of the reef. Hinata frowned at her, but still sat next to her on the ledge. "You know... sometimes I think that too, but then I see Sasuke, Sakura, and Gaara and those thoughts vanish." She whispered and Ashura stared at her oddly.

"How exactly do you make those thoughts vanish? I watched her die. I watched Floyd die, he died for me... How am I supposed to rid myself of these thoughts when I myself refuse to let them go?" Ashura asked and Hinata smiled. "You fight them, you banish them... look at Prince Uldren... I have no doubt that he has seen some horrible things in his life, so just think... how does he keep himself held up?" Hinata asked her and Ashura blinked, her voice momentarily gone. "He found something to kill those thoughts. You should too. What is one thing you hold close, like a goal..." Hinata asked and Ashura fisted her hands tightly. "I'm going to avenge Andal Brask." She sneered and Hinata stared at her in confusion for a moment before she decided to ask. "The previous Vanguard leader for the hunters?" She asked and Ashura nodded.

"He was Cayde-6's best friend, and he was murdered." Ashura said and Hinata nodded. "I understand, just be careful ok?" Hinata asked and Ashura nodded. "And... when I said think of a goal... I didn't mean a vengeance. I meant something happy, like getting married or having children..." Hinata said and Ashura frowned deeply. "I'm never going to be able to have children... and if I ever did I would only be punishing them because as I said... I'm dying." Ashura said and Hinata shook her head at the older woman. "You're only dying because you're giving up." Hinata said and Ashura sighed even deeper.

"You just don't understand..." Ashura began but Krux placed one of her large feminine hands over Ashura's mouth ever so delicately. "Ashura sees darkness... but Hinata sees light, even in darkness. Maybe... Ashura should try and see the light too? Yes?" she asked and Hinata beamed up at Krux. "Krux gets it." Hinata said cheerfully and Krux ruffled Ashura's hair. "Ashura should try new hair, yes? Get nice mate." Krux said and Ashura began to laugh, and laugh until tears streaked over her cheeks. Hinata smiled at the laughing woman, but once Ashura looked back at her that laughter had turned back into sobs. "Everyone hates me... Floyd sacrificed himself for me... and Kira's death was my fault because I allowed her to follow me into the vault..." Ashura sobbed and Hinata's eyes softened and she hugged Ashura lightly.

"They all hate me because I'm weak, I'm annoyingly overconfident, and I have a bad attitude." She said, rubbing at her eyes once more, her voice trembling. "Now... I can guarantee you that that's not true." Hinata said and Ashura looked at her as she stepped away from her. "I always thought I was weak and absolutely useless, but... you see those people over there... laughing and having a good time? They are my family," Hinata said and pointed at Sakura and Gaara who were laughing while Sasuke was rubbing his eyes. A strange look flew through Ashura's eyes, but she turned back to listen to Hinata. "And we are going to go search for more of my family, because they are what always kept me going. We still have Naruto, Ino, and Shikamaru to find. "If you could help us with this... I think you would be a perfect part of our little misfit group." Hinata said with a smile and Ashura's mouth fell open slightly, her eyes wide in shock. "You... would actually want me?" she asked and out of nowhere Sakura landed beside Ashura and tossed an arm over her shoulder.

"Hey! What are y'all talking about?" She asked and Ashura opened her mouth to speak but Krux laughed lightly. "We are adopting Ashura." She said and Hinata giggled. "Oh? Adopting? You mean inducting her into the group?" Sakura asked with a smile and Krux nodded. "Sounds good to me." Gaara said and Hinata grinned at Ashura. "You should really get a haircut though." Kabr said and Mara Sov tapped Ashura on her shoulder.

"Your grace." The group echoed and they all bowed. "I seek Ashura for a while..." She said and they all nodded. "Krux, assist the tower where you can, but return home safe, my kell." She said and Krux crouched to one knee so Mara could trail her fingertips across her forehead. "Go speak with Eris... She will tell you exactly what you're going to need to do next." Ashura said and followed Mara to the loading dock.

Hinata smiled and waved her off, not wasting a second to turn and chase after her group. They were all crowded around Eris who was levitating the glowing green orb around her. "Ashura told us to come see you." Hinata said and Eris nodded. "She sent you into the right direction, young one. I sense your light... and it is so enticing and absolutely blinding." Eris said as she trailed her fingers over Hinata's fore head. "I understand why the speaker was so amazed with you and the power you hold." She said and Hinata smiled.

"It's not mine, but theirs. And once we have recovered every one of our friends, I hope their power will leave me so they can show you all just what it means to be strong." Hinata said and Eris shook her head. "I'm not talking about their power. I'm talking about yours, I can tell the difference." Eris said and Hinata stared at her in surprise. "That's beside the point though... once you have all seven of you send Ashura to me. I do not want to miss the show." Eris said as her orb circled Hinata. "She was right to send you to me." She began, and as she was going to speak once more, Cayde-6 strolled up and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Going philosophical on the kids, are ya Eris?" he asked and the distaste that crossed her face was visible to all, not that cayde-6 cared, though.

"Cayde. Remove yourself from me this instant." Eris growled and he shrugged his arm off of her. "Whatever, you and that stupid rock can go back to your corner for all I care. Emo corner." Cayde said as he tossed his hands into the air and shrugged. He was not expecting the orb to slam right into his face and send him sprawling to the ground. "What the hell Eris?!" he snapped and Eris offered a sinister smile. "I cannot control that of which is not of my will." She said and he flipped her off as he stood and made his way back over to where Ashura was standing, laughing herself to tears.

"Either way... before I was interrupted." She began and the group looked back to her. "There are three of you left and I know where each of them are. One lies within the ruins of the wakening, where the wizards are trying to bring Crota back to life. Before you can defeat the Wakers and destroy Crota's soul, you must first destroy the Fist of Crota. Once you kill the fist, the underlings will rise." She said and they nodded. "The Hand, the Heart, and the Eyes will need to no longer exist among the realm of the living." She said and they nodded once more, not understanding exactly what she was talking about, but they were following along. Once you defeat the underlings you must head to the cosmodrome and defend Rasputin. Sources say that without killing the underlings, you will not be able to kill the ogre that Omnigul is going to attempt to summon. Without killing the ogre, you cannot kill the wakers of Crota." Eris explained and they stared at her for a moment.

"What she means is that without killing the weaker ones first, you'll never reach Crota's soul, meaning you'll die." Ashura said and Eris nodded. "With each underling that you kill, you weaken both Crota and Omnigul." Ashura said and Hinata nodded, her eyes determined. "Omnigul has a Hunter, the Fist of Crota has a Titan, and the Wakers have another hunter." Eris interjected and the group exchanged glances. "So I'm going to say that the Knight has Naruto." Sakura said and Sasuke nodded. "I can agree upon that, that idiot could never be stealthy like a hunter." Sasuke said and Hinata giggled "And Ino can?" Sakura snorted and Sasuke sighed. "Well I guess after I died nothing changed then, huh?" he asked and she shook her head. "Not really, but things did change. Somewhat." She said and Gaara nodded.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go get them." Hinata said and Sasuke stared at her in a stunned silence, she was excited because she would get to see Naruto again. He felt a twinge of jealousy but he crushed that creature swiftly. "Come on, let's go Hinata." Sasuke said and offered her a hand. She took it with a smile. "We are going to seek out the Heart, the Hand, and the eyes. You two go kill the Fist." Sasuke said and the others nodded. "Sasuke why aren't we going after Naruto?" Hinata asked and Sasuke blinked down at her, but remained silent. "Be safe, Hinata, Sasuke!" Ashura's voice echoed behind them and Hinata turned to smile at Ashura, but saw that her hair was already different. Hinata giggled and turned forwards. "So she is trying to get his attention." She laughed softly, taking one last glance back at Ashura.

"What's so amusing?" Sasuke asked her and she smiled up at him. "She may just live..." She said and Sasuke furrowed his brows at her in confusion. "Live?" he asked and she smiled even wider. "Actually live, not just wander aimlessly day by day. Before they reached the docking area the intercom came on and everyone turned towards the ledge of the tower and either saluted with their right fist clenched over their heart, or their right hand above their eye. They were about to send Floyd and Kira off once and for all. Mara Sov levitated Kira's ashes high above the tower, an ethereal blue light engulfing the urn they were in. "Be free, my Bane of Wolves... Fight your last battle, and drift to sleep once and for all my comrade." Mara said and electricity crackled from the urn, followed by the void barrier seeping out around the urn to protect the guardians below from the lightning show overhead.

The lightning burst from the barrier and became a void that engulfed Kira's ashes, leaving a void to dissipate from the sky, lightning still sparking from within. Ikora stepped forth with Floyd's urn in hand. She unscrewed the lid and held the urn above her head. A flaming phoenix shot from within the urn and flew all around Kira's void and over all of the guardians. It halted overhead the speaker and his two assistants, only to bend backwards and begin to swirl inwards on itself, representing the nova bomb. The lighting void orb began to circle as the solar infused nova bomb did. They collided and created a beautiful light show. "Sometimes... moving on after death can be a beautiful thing." Hinata said and Sasuke nodded silently. He dropped his hand from over his eye as she dropped her fist from over her chest.

:-:-:-:

Sakura followed Gaara through the tunnels with a sigh. "Poor Ashura..." She sighed and Gaara turned to look at her with an odd look. "You're worried about her still?" He asked and she nodded. "She just had to see her sister and friend move on into the afterlife and she's still here, suffering." Sakura said and Gaara shook his head. "She's making herself suffer, but she's actually not suffering, she's just being pessimistic on life. She has both Cayde and Eris, not only that but she still has her older brother and her friends. She thinks she's lost, so she's forcing herself to suffer. She'll figure it out, right now we need to focus on getting Naruto." He said and Sakura nodded, a small smile crossing her lips.

"What do you think Sasuke and Hinata are up to right now?" Sakura asked as she shoved an acolytes gun through its abdomen. "Not a clue... hopefully sitting in wait for the hand to appear." He said and she nodded. "Well, let's get this over with shall we?" she asked and He nodded as he stepped down into the circular room of the cave where a small puddle resided in the center. Gaara hit his knees after Sakura had walked over to the puddle. Her eyes went wide and she struggled to catch her breath. She clutched at her throat, gasping for air as a heavy atmosphere fell upon the room. Deep amused chuckles echoed through the cave and Sakura looked up to see a knight standing over her, his blade raised high above his head. Sand came from nowhere and knocked the Knight away. "Sakura!" her ghost yelled and she looked at the ghost, its light comforting on her.

"As long as you stay within my light you can breathe properly." Wei ning said and Sakura looked to see that Eriana was shining her light on Gaara as well. "Alright, well, sit in my armor, I'm about to take this guy down." Sakura said and Gaara waved a hand through the air, causing sand to wrap around the Fist's feet in solid tendrils. Sakura smirked and slammed her fists together, causing a ripple in the air around her fists. "You screwed with the wrong lady!" She said with a smirk as she lunged at the knight and when her fist collided with his blade instead of him she was surprised. She realized then, that she couldn't run, and she couldn't jump.

It released yet another sinister laugh, but she continued her barrage of punches on the creature to try and weaken its defenses at least a little, but the only one getting broken down was her. She hunched over and tried to catch her breath, but the knight showed no mercy. Gaara rammed the knight, which made it stumble into the pillar to its right, revealing the crystal with a guardian within it, completely. "It's Naruto." He managed as he shoved Eriana towards the crystal. Sakura took a deep breath and did the same with Wei Ning. She rolled away from the knight as it lunged forwards and slung its blade down at her.

Sakura hit her knees, but not before she threw her arms up and placed a barrier between her and the Knight, who knew if he moved within the barrier, she would blind him. He stomped his foot and thrall began flooding from the walls. Sakura and Gaara set to blasting them back out of the bubble with their shotguns, but they were soon going to run low on ammo. Sakura fell on her rump and began breathing heavily. "I know, it's exhausting, isn't it?" Gaara asked with a frown as he circled their barrier with his sand and hardened it around them. "Maybe we should have asked Sasuke or Hinata to come with us..." Sakura said, as she slumped over within the sphere of sand.

A screech of pain echoed around on the outside, but Gaara did not drop his sphere. Instead, a swirling blue light lit up the inside of the sphere. "Hey Gaara, what the hell was that thing?" A familiar voice echoed into the sphere and Sakura's lip trembled as she lunged out and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, hey! Sakura! Gaara!" he said with a grin and she released him to help Gaara to his feet. "So what is this place?" he asked and she smiled and shook her head. "Long story." She looked over to the dead body of the knight to see a golden ghost dragging itself over its body. "Hey, Thalor, buddy... he's dead already... no need to t-bag him." Naruto sighed and Sakura snorted. "Crucible, I'm guessing?" she asked and the ghost looked her over.

"Honestly if I had my way I would find the bastard that killed me and drag my robot ass all over him." Thalor grumbled and Naruto sighed. "Figures you would get the overly psyched up titan from the crucible." Sakura sighed and Naruto grinned. "Ok, so what exactly is going on here?" he asked and she sighed and rubbed her fingers over the bridge of her nose. "Long story short, we have been brought back in a time where there are people who need us, odd creatures want to kill us, and even bigger odder creatures want to destroy earth." Sakura said and Naruto nodded. "There's always war... isn't there?" he asked and she nodded with a frown. "Sadly enough... But we need to contact the others and inform them that operation destroy the hands and the eyes is a go." Sakura said and they led Naruto out of the dark cavern.

"Oh, hey what is this blue thing and this purple thing?" Naruto asked and Sakura smiled. "Watch this." She said and she tapped the corner of the blue one to the fingers of his gauntlets and it sucked it within, then showed an image of a chest piece. "Tap on that on the screen." She said and the new armor wrapped around his torso and jutted out in odd angles, signature of titan armor. She did the same with the purple one and a judgment 8 formed in his grasp. "Ok... that's awesome, but what is this thing?" he asked and she sighed. "I was confused at first too... but it's what these people call a shotgun. It shoots small round pellets at one target, so if one pellet misses the others are more likely to hit." She explained and he nodded, not quite understanding, but showing he had heard and had a general idea of what it did.

'Gaara, you there?' Sasuke's voice came in over the comms and Naruto nearly crapped himself with excitement. "Sasuke!" he yelled into the comm and he heard Sasuke sigh deeply. 'I see you have found him, good. This means that we can take down the Hand and the Eyes now, correct?" he asked and Gaara nodded with a soft 'yeah'. 'Alright, you guys go take out the heart, it's in the refinery. She's a wizard.' Sasuke said and he nodded. "What have you guys been fighting off while we were suffering at the hands of the fist?" Sakura asked and Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'Those blades were getting in my way, but she wouldn't let me destroy them all... she said there were too many for me.' he sighed and Gaara chuckled softly. "Sasuke, there probably were... those blades are a huge issue right now." She said and he shrugged. 'I know, but to think they believe they could try and hurt her and get away with it.' Sasuke grumbled, but Hinata's irate 'I'm fine, Sasuke.' In the background barely registered with Naruto.

"Oh! Sasuke's got a girlfriend? One that's not Sakura?" Naruto yelled and Sakura punched him over the head. "I'm with you, you idiot." She growled out and he grinned up at her cutely, causing her to blush. "I know... I'm just surprised Sasuke has a girlfriend that can handle his bitchiness." Naruto said and Sakura sighed and shook her head. 'She's not my girlfriend you idiot.' Sasuke sighed, but shook his head. 'Anyways, I need to get going. The Hand crawled out from hiding.' He said and they all nodded and bid him good luck. "So what is this place like?" Naruto asked and Sakura frowned at him as they exited the dark tunnel.

"A wasteland..." she said and his eyes were wide in terror.

:-:-:-:-:

Hinata crouched next to the thrall hidden in the dark corner of the room. She held Sasuke's blade tightly in her grasp and with a swift movement she removed the thrall's head, setting of a series of shrill screams. Acolytes flooded from the surrounding rooms and Sasuke flipped his chokuto from its sheathe and sent lightning at each of them she watched as he swiftly spun and clashed blades with the knight. The hand of Crota. Hinata lunged to her feet and began taking out the surrounding acolytes that had begun flooding in once more. She spun and lit up the room with a backwards rotation.

Sasuke continued to exchange blows with the knight, but he was also watching her out of the corner of his eye. He was making sure she was going to be ok as well. She spun swiftly on her heel and lunged at the knight and he jumped away, allowing her empty palm to send the knight skidding backwards. "Let's get this over with quickly, how about that?" he asked and she nodded with a small confident smile. The blue aura of her chakra flowed out around her hands and created the lion fist. They both lunged at the knight at the same time and exchanged blows with the creature as it jerked in every direction from the impact. Hinata slammed her palms together and a white blade of chakra formed in her grasp. She nodded at Sasuke, who vanished from sight and reappeared on the other side of the knight, its body hunched over in one direction. Hinata slid forwards and spun her chakra blade right at the other side of the creature. She released the blade at the last minute and slid in a semi-circle, only to then stand and face Sasuke as the knight crumbled to the floor behind her.

Sasuke watched Hinata with prideful eyes as she stared up at him with an excited look in her eyes. "Very nice.." he said and ruffled her hair. She beamed up at him and he cracked the tiniest of smiles. "You know you don't have to seek my approval, don't you?" he asked and she blushed and began fumbling with her fingers as she twisted the toe of her shoe in the floor. "I'm not saying you don't have to try and impress me, I'm just saying you don't need to." He said and she looked up at him with a smile. "I... I just don't want you to think that I'm useless..." she whispered and he grasped her shoulders gently. "I can promise you one thing..." he said and she looked up at him in curiosity. "You're not useless... so don't ever think you are." He said and she smiled softly.

"You think so highly of me... and I don't even know why..." she whispered as she waddled along behind him, her fingers twiddling constantly. "Look here... I think so highly of you because against all odds, you survived. You fought for what you believed in, even if it almost killed you. You sacrificed yourself to try and save Hanabi... you sacrificed yourself to save Naruto more often than not. You are the type of person who would give until they had nothing left to give, and then they would still keep giving. I killed people. Slaughtered innocents... almost killed Naruto more often than not... and I killed my brother. I didn't find out the truth until after I had killed him." He said and she stared up at him as she walked by his side. "But..." she began but he cut her off. "I'm an awful person, I've done horrible things that haunt me in my sleep. I can never repay anyone for what I have done..." he said but she shook her head.

"I don't think you are a horrible person." She said and he stopped moving completely. "I know you aren't..." she said and she grasped his false arm gently. "This... this is how I know you aren't a bad person. When you lost your arm you helped Naruto save the shinobi world. You were angry, mistreated, and mislead... but you were never evil..." She whispered and he looked down at her with soft eyes as she placed her much smaller hand against his larger one. "You made my little bow happy, and I have no doubt my little girl loved singing to you..." She whispered as she gently released his hand. She beamed up at him and he couldn't help but wrap his arm around the back of her head and embrace her lightly. "I thought I was cursed to suffer for all eternity because I let you fall... I thought the gods were punishing me because I allowed your light to vanish..." he said as he released her.

"Come on, don't think like that... I wasn't that special." She whispered with a blush and he chuckled and jabbed the forehead of her helm with two fingers, just as Itachi used to do to him. Hinata stared at him with wide eyes, that touch was always so annoying to her and Sasuke as children, seeing as Itachi used to boop their foreheads like that all the time, but she knew exactly what that little touch meant. Her lips trembled and her eyes began to water as her shoulders began to shake. "Sasuke..." she whimpered and he chuckled at her tears. "I knew you would remember what that meant." He said as he peered around the corner to see if there were any Hive or Fallen around. "Even if you think you aren't that special, there are always people who think you are." He said and she nodded though she was still sniffling from inside her helm.

"Alright, Hinata... there are three acolytes here that we have to kill. I'm going to take out the one near the urn." He said and she sniffled loudly in response, causing him to chuckle lightly. "You're such an emotional sap sometimes, Hinata." He said and she hmphed in response. "You're mean for reminding me..." she grumbled and he shook his head in amusement. He summoned his void bow and released a single arrow at the acolyte in front of the urn. It disintegrated and three more appeared, but their life on the scanners of his gauntlets were the same of a major. "Alright, we gotta deal with these guys swiftly, alright?" he asked and she nodded. She equipped her shotgun and rushed at the first one she saw, while he rushed at one with his blade.

She killed hers and she turned to rush the last one, but Sasuke had wiped that one right off the cliff by using the one he had impaled on his blade. 'Hey guys, come in Sasuke!' Sakura called over the comms and Hinata smiled at him as he sighed. "Yes?" he asked and Sakura gave him a dirty look from the gauntlet screen. 'Ok, so... we've killed the heart. We are going to go ahead and take out the ogre, seeing as Gaara has filled his armor with sand, created yet another one of his outer armor of sand things, and found a bowl of sand. He's all sanded down.' She said and released a little giggle. 'But... yeah, we are going to go ahead and go save Rasputin. Eris had come in on the comms and she couldn't reach either of you.' Sakura said and Sasuke nodded.

"Alright, you three be careful, we are going to halt the wakening of Crota's soul." He said and he looked over at Hinata who nodded at him. "Check in at the tower when you're all finished." He said and they all voiced their approval of the plan. Sasuke's Sharingan eye began to spin and he offered Hinata is hand, which she took. They teleported all the way to the tunnels where Eris said the wakening was in progress. "Sasuke, are you tired from using that eye so much?" she asked and he shook his head, but he hunched over and grabbed his knee. She frowned and crouched in front of him, brushing his hair from his face. His eye was bleeding and she gave him a dirty look. "I just asked you if it was hurting you..." she sighed and he huffed. "Don't act all high and mighty now... you made me sob like a baby earlier." She said and he rolled his eyes, which hurt him once more.

She held her hand over his eye and the green chakra that flowed into it made him lean into her hand unconsciously. She offered a small smile when she pulled her hand away. "Better?" she asked and he nodded. "Yeah... thank you..." he said softly and she smiled at him. "Having a little girl made you nicer." She giggled and he sighed and rubbed his neck. "And I think having a son made you mean." He said and Hinata cocked her head at him with a devious gleam in her eye. "No... that was Himawari." She said and Sasuke blinked at her, but then he remembered that both Boruto and Naruto had been demolished by the little sunflower girl in the same day...

"Yeah... I remember that now." He said and she laughed lightly. "I hear them praying..." she said and he nodded and ran to catch up with her but an ogre fell from the ceiling. His eyes went wide as the only thing Hinata found herself able to do was stare up at the ogre as it was falling down on her. He lunged forwards, taking her down the hill with him on the other side of the ogre. "Are you alright?" he asked and she nodded. "Good." He said and pulled his blade, the electric current engulfing him as he took down the ogre with his blade dance. "Sasuke, can you use your bow to wound te wizards?" she asked as she pulled her ice breaker from her inventory. He nodded and shot one wizard with the bow as two rapid shots from the ice breaker were heard. That signaled the death of the first.

Hinata spun and threw a nova bomb at the incoming thrall that had crawled up from the sides of the bridge they were on. It wasn't a tall bridge, no more than three feet off the ground; but still enough for thrall to crawl up from under. They continued to take out another the same way as the first, until the last two both silenced their prayers and screeched in anger. They rushed at Sasuke and Hinata, trying to take each of them out at the same time. Hinata set free Toland, while Sasuke released Andal, who went right for the crystal in the back of the room with the shadow grey ghost hovering around it. Sasuke took out the wizards using his eye to teleport around the room, swapping places with the thrall until he could get a good vantage point to attach a grenade to each of the wizards.

He hit the steps panting and Hinata rushed over to him, but he pointed at the crystal that had begun to levitate and smaller parts revolve around it. "Take out his soul!" Eris demanded over the comms surprising Hinata, but causing her to nod and attack the large crystal. Sasuke called out her name and threw his chokuto to her, although it went to her left instead of right at her. She grabbed it, mouthed a thank you, and began pumping her chakra around the blade. The blade tripled in size and glowed like a pure beam of light. She lunged right for the crystal with Crota's soul in it and sliced right through it, but she didn't stop there. She didn't stop slicing at the crystal until the crystal shattered into tiny bits all over the ground.

The eyes from within the crystal narrowed at her and mumbled something, but she couldn't understand what it had said.

Sasuke's blade shattered in her grasp and she fell backwards into the water, only to be lifted up by the shadow master himself. "Shikamaru." She greeted with a tired smile. "Hey Hinata, Sasuke... long time no see, huh?" he asked and Hinata smiled at him happily. "Sorry about your sword Sasuke." Hinata whispered as Shikamaru helped her over to him. "Eh, its fine... who knows how old that thing would be now anyways. I suppose a new sword would signal a new start, would it not?" he asked and she nodded. "Well, let's get you two out of here before something bigger and meaner than a rock shows up..." Shikamaru sighed as he propped both of the guardians up. "Ugh... what a drag." He sighed and Hinata laughed lightly. "You and Eren sound just alike." She whispered as she fell from Shikamaru's grasp.

Someone else caught her and Shikamaru pulled Sasuke's small hunter knife on them. "Don't, worry... that's just Ashura. She's a friend." Sasuke said and Ashura smirked at the man. "Ah... new meat." She said tauntingly and he rolled his eyes from under his helm as she hefted Hinata onto her back. "Why aren't you wearing a helm?" Sasuke asked and she looked over at the weakened male. "Partial exo has its perks. I still have to use a respirator, but I'm similar to the Fallen in that manner." She said and he nodded. "I see." He said and she ripped open a package and held it over his eye. He screamed out for only a moment, but then his pain dulled away completely. "What the hell was that?" he snarled and she smirked. "A medi pack. Don't get too bad hurt and I won't have to use another one on you big guy." She said and he sneered at her from under his helm.

"Be pissy all you want, but does your eye still hurt?" she asked and he shook his head. "Alrighty then..." she said and he rolled his eyes.

:-:-:-:

The place was dark, dank, and musty and it smelled of bones, but he couldn't complain... this was his home. He knew the eyes of the one who had damned him to this dark now... he was stuck here until his sisters wrought him from the dark. They were close, he knew they were... he could hear their lullabies. Oh how he loved the sound of their death inducing songs...

"Raise me from this pit... and bring me the woman..."