I.
Adjusting his fingers over the smooth surface of his white and red streaked ANBU mask, Sasuke Uchiha surveyed the land before him with a methodical gaze. Standing precariously at the edge of a jagged cliff several kilometers above the bustling village, the missing-nin was pleased that the darkness of the night and the flourishing, tall oaks behind him concealed a majority of his appearance. The only thing that was left perceptible to the naked eye was his own glowing red orbs; a sight so unsettling that neither man nor creature would dare to approach him recklessly. Of course, the young avenger was always on high alert, because despite the powerful aura radiating off of his body, animate beings were curious, and oftentimes, stupid. For the individuals thinking he was an easy target to cross off their bingo books, his thinly sheathed sword attached to his hip quickly reminded them that he was not one to fall prey to the ordinary ninja's attacks, no matter how much time had passed since the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Pursing his lips, the Uchiha heir wondered how quickly he would be able to locate his charge this time. From his vantage point several kilometers away, Sasuke noted how enormous and densely populated this new village was. It seemed much more modern than the villages he was used to. Colossal structures of glass and concrete towered over the unsuspecting citizens, and the expanse of land boasted starkly different communities. Some seemed luxurious through the clean architecture and streets, while others seemed run-down and poorly managed. However, the center square area of the village was colorful and bright, electronic screens promoting the latest products and trendy fashions. The people seemed jovial and active, ignorant of the war that had just come to pass merely three years before. He and his team had saved the world, but they seemed none the wiser. He wondered if Konohagakure would soon prosper this way and if the people too, would eventually forget the threat to humanity that had been averted. Sasuke realized with slight astonishment that he didn't entirely mind the outcome.
Snapping out of his wistful thoughts at the sound of a familiar caw, Sasuke watched silently as he saw a family of crows take flight.
Reminded of his noble brother, the Uchiha's face hardened as he was reminded of the task at hand. He had a mission to fulfill, and Kakashi would soon be expecting a report of his developments.
When he had made the journey back to Konohagakure a week ago after his period of redemption, the last thing he had expected was to be sent back in the opposite direction for a tracking mission.
He had reunited with his best friend and former sensei at the Hokage's office, their expressions worried and grim. Initially, he had assumed that they had discovered another otherworldly threat from the Otsutsuki clan, but he blanched when he heard that their medically skilled female counterpart had all but vanished six days ago. A fortnight before his return to the village, the kunoichi prodigy had been sent out on a mission to excavate any information pertaining to the string of deaths that had been occurring from nearby villages. Apparently, she and the rest of the trained staff that had been sent to accompany her had reason to believe that the deaths were no accident. Naruto had looked perplexed when he informed him of the "biomedically engineered epidemic" that had started to spread throughout the land of fire. Besides the Fifth Hokage, it was a well-known fact that if anyone had a chance at determining what was wiping them out, it would be Sakura Haruno. Despite her role being reduced to "helper" in the war, their pink-haired teammate was a living legend in her own right. She had saved many lives and had proven to be useful in their battle against Kaguya. She was a fearsome Kunoichi, and Sasuke genuinely believed that no one was foolish enough to attempt to eliminate her; her pride alone would have proven to be a mighty foe.
Yet somehow they had. Her team had been located several days later, their bodies were strewn about in the Desert of Hot sand, their rotting corpses attracting the attention of vultures and hungry beasts. Some had managed to survive whatever had attacked them, but few were able to piece together an understandable telling of events, Ino Yamanaka being one of the few reliable charges that had been able to inform them of a comprehensible sequence of events.
The pretty blonde wept loudly for her best friend on her hospital bed, bandages making movement and speech difficult to grasp. Sasuke remained impassive as she retold her version of events, but his heart clenched deeply within his chest as she told him what happened.
" We had just obtained entry into the Land of Wind," Ino began, her eyes downcast and her mood forlorn. " There were seven of us. Sakura and I, and five personnel from Shizune's poison extraction team from the war. "
The blonde swallowed thickly, mentally preparing herself before she announced what had occurred. " We felt a sandstorm coming to pass. We had decided to seek shelter in a cave, for the time being, halting our journey there until it passed. In the distance, I recognized several other chakra signatures,"
Sasuke nodded briskly. He had forgotten that the Yamanaka woman was not only the head of her clan but also a capable sensory ninja.
" They were dark, similar in ruthlessness to the Undead Akatsuki," She added, referencing the death worshipper that had been blown to bits in the Nara Forest. " They wore long black cloaks and seemed to see right through us. The storm suddenly became thicker, and before we knew it, we had been swallowed. At first, I had thought it was natural phenomena and bad luck. We all had a few cuts and scrapes, some of us, sand in our eyes, but overall, we were unharmed. But, as I focused…." The blonde's eyes began to water. " I noticed Futako's body beside me, headless. Three men appeared before us. They surrounded us, and we fought our hardest, Sakura leading."
Sasuke was inwardly perplexed by the Yamanaka woman's story. He had no reason to doubt her, but if the threat was truly as deadly as she described, he worried for Sakura, who was supposedly in their captivity.
" But it didn't matter," Ino choked out a sob. " Nami, Ayaka. They were beheaded as well. Genji and Kaoru, then men on our team, were brutally tortured. Their skin was ripped apart, limbs stretched out for the sheer sake of entertainment," she winced, cruel memories flashing before her. " They were going to kill me next, I'm sure of it. But Sakura, she..she stood in the way. She knew.." Ino glanced down at her abdomen in regret. " She knew I was pregnant. She had been against my going on the mission, but I had insisted. I had barely realized it myself, but Sakura felt the tiny form glowing inside of me. For some reason, the torture stopped. They claimed they were bored with Genji and Kaoru. They would just wait for nature to take its course. But Sakura…" she swallowed thickly again, glancing up at the Uchiha and tensing once she saw his murderous expression. " …They liked how she looked."
" What the hell does that mean, 'they liked how she looked'?!" He had barked at Naruto shortly after they had departed from the hospital.
Ino couldn't progress with the details any further, the monitor by her bedside beeping so rapidly that other nurses had to get involved and ask him to leave. The woman was both distressed at the loss of her team and cherished friend, as well as the stress from the baby she carried.
He couldn't really blame the woman, but he had coldly informed Naruto and Kakashi that he had to be aware of the rest of the details. Something about Ino's last sentence didn't sit right with the Uchiha heir, and the short walk to the Hokage's office did little to quell his agitated nerves.
Naruto resisted the bait. Usually, he would have succumbed to his rival's anger, but Sasuke had every right to be furious. Sakura being taken from them and possibly not alive had scared the rest of Team 7 shitless.
" Sakura is a pretty woman Sasuke," Naruto reminded him quietly. " I know you never really bothered to notice over the years, but, she has had a long string of admirers. Rock Lee, myself, many of the men on her medical staff. Of course, she has many other qualities worth admiring, but she is remarkable to look at."
Sasuke didn't see the reason why Naruto had to interrupt his fierce interrogation with a positive perspective of their female teammate. Certainly, he had been mildly aware of her ethereal features and her slim curves as they got older, but he had been somewhat preoccupied with the idea of fulfilling his revenge for his clan to really take notice.
" What's your fucking point?" He growled, losing his temper.
" At the beginning, these men, these shinobi, they had set their sights in abducting Ino as well. However, Sakura pleaded with them to spare her, and one of them off-handedly mentioned that they did need a virgin to partake in their ritual to the gods, and since Ino is with child, she no longer qualified." Naruto slowly allowed the information to trickle forward, carefully watching Sasuke to gauge his reaction.
" What kind of ritual?" Sasuke inquired tightly.
He was unfamiliar with these cult groups, but he was aware they engaged in deviant behavior. They were not above cold-blooded killings, nor were they above brutal torture and non-consensual sacrifice.
" I believe that the ritual is a naked blood sacrifice. Once the maiden is stripped, she is carved out, the symbol of vengeful gods resting on her abdomen. Soon, natural disasters begin across the world, and with the final quake of the earth, a demon is supposed to surge forward. Apparently, he rapes the maiden, and she is then impregnated to give birth to other fearsome deities. She dies soon after her children are born, and it is only then she is granted release," Kakashi's voice was somber, drastically different from his usual playful tune.
" And you believe this?" Sasuke demanded. " What person would?"
To him, it sounded like utter idiocy. He could attest to gods existing in their realm, as well as unexplainable forces working against one another to bring peace and balance. However, the thought of demons and gods and sacrificial maidens sounded surreal.
" Whether it is true or not, we have to save Sakura from these sickos," Naruto argued.
" Who knows what these people will do to her!"
Sasuke inwardly agreed with his childhood rival.
" You have to go Sasuke," Kakashi instructed. " Only you have an impeccable sight that can lead to her location. We have to know if she is alive."
The Uchiha heir had briskly nodded, his jaw set in a tight scowl.
It had taken him five days to travel the large expanse of the Land of Lightning to finally reach one hundred kilometers of Sakura's location. Her chakra signature had grown warmer as he approached this new village, and he was grateful for his powers for allowing him to confirm her existence. He wouldn't forgive himself if he arrived too late. He wouldn't know what he would do if she died. He had cast her out as an annoying nuisance many times when they had been children, but now, Sasuke would give anything to hear her voice again.
Approaching the heavy entrance gates of the village, Sasuke shuffled in the pockets of his cloak to find proper identification. Of course, the data listed was entirely fabricated, but one could never be too careful. It hadn't been long since he had been on the opposing end of the spectrum, after all. To his bewilderment, the corresponding guards at the check-in post were absent. Refusing to acknowledge the gift of easy entry, Sasuke entered the village, quickly mixing in with the unsuspecting population. Luckily for him, the village was in full celebratory mode. Colorful stands gleamed in the night market, with various food stalls and attractions garnering appreciation from the citizens. Even his ANBU mask seemed commonplace amongst these ordinary people. Many people, adults, and children alike donned the animal-esque mask for decoration, gleefully shocking their friends or wearing them for novelty's sake.
Sasuke wondered how the group of dangerous men had brought Sakura forth into the village without causing a stir. Surely if the general population had been made aware of it, they wouldn't be carelessly engaging in the night time events.
Following the faint trail of Sakura's chakra signature, Sasuke cut through the crowd until he diverged along a path dotted with wealthy properties. Homes were gigantic and assets were costly; he recognized items that only feudal lords could be content with. In shinobi villages, items that were worth a lot were rarely purchased and put on display. Villages like Konohagakure were prone to fall under attack from rival lands, it would imprudent to not anticipate the cost of damages.
Some properties were quiet, and some were loud with shrieks of amusement and general camaraderie. Shrugging off the baleful feeling gnawing at the pit of his stomach, Sasuke trudged forward, until he was met with the sight of a luscious river. Jagged rocks threatened to injure the average person from a foot above, and Sasuke marveled at the glittering skyline across from him. He hadn't the faintest clue why he had been lead thus far; to his knowledge, there were no more structures that could contain his pink-haired teammate.
Suddenly, he felt it.
Similar to a baby's light and erratic wail, he felt her chakra spike with irritation. The vague sense he had been able to follow had largely remained dormant throughout the past five days. Perhaps she had finally woken up. His eyes narrowed. Just what could be so powerful that it made the strongest medical ninja of their time succumb so easily and for so long?
Swiftly moving across the water, Sasuke minimized the distance between them with rapid ease. His priority was safely obtaining Sakura and bringing her back to Konohagakure as quickly as possible. She may have just woke up, but who knew what those people had done to her in the meantime.
It wasn't difficult to pinpoint her location. Sasuke felt the rage of his pink-haired teammate erupt violently, her shouts of frustration audible from outside the compound in which she was currently locked in. The young Uchiha heir didn't allow his thoughts to waver to what compromising situation her captors could have subjected her to- he couldn't dwell on it without clenching his fists.
Swiftly entering through a window that had been left slightly ajar, Sasuke entered the seemingly unprotected two-story structure with ease. All the lights were off, and the hallways seemed narrow as he descended down to the source of the only light in the home; a faint bulb of yellow leading to a seedy basement. The stench of the underground area was hard to ignore. It smelled like ancient books, faintly musky but not entirely pleasant. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, his eyes narrowed at the sight before him.
The moment he had descended downstairs was where all the similarities of typical family homes had ceased. The basement was long and narrow, his steps echoing throughout the hollow room. He passed by what Sasuke could only assume were dungeons, as low guttural mutters emanated from the heavy, barred doors adjacent to him.
He made a mental note to notify Kakashi about this questionable town later. On the surface, the area might have seemed innocent, but Sasuke was no fool. There was a seedy underbelly to this town, and judging from the tale of events he had heard from Ino, they were more than willing to get their hands dirty if it meant fulfilling their sick fantasies.
Hearing the earth tremble before him, Sasuke dashed towards the danger vibrating throughout the structure. It rumbled threateningly, and Sasuke had no doubt that Sakura was engaged in combat with the men who had abducted her. His suspicions were confirmed the moment he reached the end of the bleak and dreary tunnel, finally coming face to face with an illuminated cave.
Unlike the path leading to it, everything in the room was visible and clear. Sakura was alive and kicking, her lithe body barely covered in scraps of shinobi bandages. She was in the very center of the room, panting hard, jade orbs darting analytically between the two foes that had her cornered on either side.
" You bitch," One offender had sneered, spitting out a mouthful of blood in her direction. He had several swelling lumps on his face, no doubt delivered through Sakura's fists. " You will pay for that."
" Says the person with lumps all over his face," Sakura jeered, smirking in defiance despite her own shallow breaths.
" We should have sacrificed you earlier," Another one growled, leaping forward with a kunai in his hand. " Lord Jashin would have been pleased with the sacrifice."
Dodging the kunai with some difficulty, Sakura mustered a laugh. " I know all about this supposed sacrifice," she informed the surprised trio. " It's going to be very hard to be able to sacrifice me."
Sasuke noticed the slight smirk of one of the captors. Anticipating his next movements, Sasuke quickly intercepted the deranged ninja from slicing off Sakura's head, his Sword of Kusanagi drawn and pointed dangerously to the man's temple.
Whirling her head to face him in shock, Sakura lost all of her former bravado.
" Sasuke-kun?"
He glanced at his teammate, his expression unreadable. He was partially annoyed with her for directing her attention to his presence instead of focusing on the matter at hand. There were still three unpredictable shinobi against them.
" Focus," He chided her, refusing to allow his relief to seep through.
" I know where they are," Sakura retorted evenly, twisting the wrist of the teleporting foe harshly without batting an eye. " I don't know why you've come. I could have handled this myself."
Sasuke's jaw tightened at her stubbornness. " You've been missing for five days."
" I wasn't dead. Just under a powerful draught." She scoffed. " Seriously, Naruto didn't have to send you a messenger bird and force you to come to rescue me. I could have handled it myself."
" I came on my own." He icily informed her, his irritation quickly beginning to form.
Gone were the days of unnecessary clinging and obsessive squealing that he had gotten accustomed to as a boy in the village. Even though he was certain that his looks hadn't faded despite what he had been through, Sakura seemingly couldn't care less. She no longer stuttered or questioned her own authority. She was solid and determined, something that Sasuke had merely seen snippets of throughout the war. He had assumed she had changed; everyone did, but he was startled to think that he might not know her anymore.
She sent him a hardened look of her own, despite the enemy inching closer to them. They didn't seem to cower at the sight of him. Perhaps they were ignorant of who exactly they were against. It wouldn't be the first time someone thought they could match him evenly in battle.
Contorting his face into a determined look, the enemy to the right of Sakura sent a blindingly-quick shuriken her way.
She caught it quite easily, and for a moment he was perplexed.
Sending the small projectile seemed almost laughable. Even a Genin could have captured it with ease. However, his confused ceased once he saw a spark form and explode in front of Sakura's face. Reeling back, the kunoichi grunted in annoyance and pain her hand swiping at the blood steadily streaming through the gash in her cheek.
The perpetrators chuckled, knowing something that they didn't.
Rubbing the blood on his hands, Sasuke noticed that the man who had thrown the shuriken donned an inexplicable injury. His right hand was burned, covered in welts that could only be received from a close encounter with an explosive.
Sneering in contempt, he smeared the blood over his eyelids and closed his eyes. He formed his fingers into an intricate and unrecognizable hand sign, left fist covered by his right hand, with both his index and middle finger touching the spot between his eyebrows. His murmurs were slow, menacing, and soon they became louder. Sasuke couldn't understand what he was saying, nor did he possess any notion of what language he was speaking. With a blood-curdling shriek, he stabbed himself with the sword on his side, laughing maniacally as he dropped to his knees.
Sakura winced beside him, similarly falling to her knees. She clutched her chest as Sasuke raced towards her.
Realizing what was about to happen next, Sasuke reached for her, his arms encircling her waist. He tossed her shaking body over his shoulder, heading straight for the exit of the questionable tunnel. Soon, the low rumbles he had felt when he first approached began again. The first time it had stopped, but now, he wasn't sure they were going to be so lucky.
Activating his Susanoo, Sasuke braced himself for the collapse of the compound. Bricks and concrete crumbled, furniture dropping around his vicinity like children's toys. He heard the wails and screams of pains from the other prisoners, and for a moment, he held a tiny bit of regret for not being able to free them. Watching the world fall around him like pieces, Sasuke was shrouded in darkness.
Another loud cry from the room they had left was heard, and with a final cacophonic sound, the quaking of the earth ceased. Emerging from the debris unharmed, Sasuke was at least relieved that he had managed to rescue Sakura, albeit somewhat miffed at the comments she had made when he had made his presence known. Turning to set her down on the ground, Sasuke's eyes widened in horror.
Instead of the kunoichi he had grown up with, it was the sight of carved wood in the tattered bandages she had worn that greeted him mockingly.
Feeling panic engulf his body, he quickly circled around the now crumbled compound, hoping she had been stuck in between the rubble. His Susanoo was impenetrable practically, and he had been certain that he had managed to carry her as he activated it, she was under his protection!
Yet, no matter how thorough he was in his search, he could not find her body.
She hadn't died, he could hear her breathing when he carried her!
Abruptly, the young Uchiha stopped.
He could no longer feel her chakra signature.
A/N: This chapter is somewhat of a prologue, so that's why it might be a bit short. I had to get the idea out the moment it had come to me.
Thank you for reading thus far, and please leave a review if you'd like. They serve as motivation for many writers on this site.
Thank You~
Tarra