Villains weren't supposed to keep their word.
They were supposed to make promises they didn't keep, lift hopes in order to watch with twisted amusement as those hopes were ground to dust. They were supposed to wear their evil around them as a cloak, always daring someone to fall into the trap of believing them.
Sakura had sworn she would never fall into that trap, but the wand in her hand said otherwise.
It was her wand, the wand stolen two months before after a skirmish to keep Naruto alive. She still couldn't remember how she lost her wand, how someone had knocked her unconscious for a brief moment long enough to steal her only weapon, but it was now back in her hands and vibrating with life. With magic. As if it had been waiting for her to take it back.
And she had taken it back by the brutal force she'd been taught. Shishou had always demanded physical perfection, claiming that her wand would and should never be her last line of defense. So when Orochimaru had given her the opportunity to take back her wand, Sakura hadn't hesitated using her fists to do so.
He'd told her he would see her wand returned. It was one of the promises he'd thrown out when bartering for her loyalty. Not that he really gave her a choice: join him and keep him alive or watch her entire team die slow, painful deaths. Add onto that the promise of her wand and the promise to keep Naruto alive and Sakura knew he'd never intended to give her a choice in the first place.
Sure, he claimed he gave her one. She could have simply ignored his demand and kept her head high, sacrificed her team, her friends, and her wand in order to keep her nose clean.
She knew better than to believe those lies, so she kept her mouth shut, did as he asked, and bided her time. Soon, he would slip up. Soon, he would give her an opening. Soon, she would be free. So until then, she would keep herself alive, she would keep Naruto alive, and she would remain under his radar.
Taking care of his heart was easy. A few protection seals, a couple barrier spells, and a healing touch once or twice every week kept it beating. Dealing with the wounds on his body was a little harder, but only because she was forced in his presence to deal with them. How he seemed to enjoy watching her do his biding silent and submissive as he'd demanded her to be.
Almost as if summoned by her own thoughts, a knock sounded on her door. She started counting. Five counts followed by another knock was a summons. Nine counts and a knock was a demand. Eleven counts—
The knob twisted as she breathed ten and her suspicions were proved correct when the door opened to reveal the face of the man she once loved. She still loved that face, still loved that man, but the man behind the face currently wasn't the one she'd known. The one she missed. Sakura didn't know where he had gone or if he would ever be back, but for so long she'd held out hope.
It was hard to remember that hope when she was forced to witness this dark moment of his life.
He didn't say anything, but then he never did. Simply expected her cooperation in silence, as he had since she first showed up. Sakura learned over the last six weeks that he wouldn't say anything even if prompted, so she kept her mouth closed and stood from the chair in her room.
Following him through the mansion had become something she was used to. According to Orochimaru, she had free reign to explore the wing she was staying in. She hadn't taken it, not since learning that while she was free to move around, she wasn't allowed any privacy. Her every move was watched and that task landed on the shoulders of the man leading her down the corridor. Were it a nameless guard, she might have explored anyway. Seeing him? She chose to remain in her room.
Sakura had already experienced Sasuke's silent disapproval enough to last a lifetime when they were kids. She held no interest in willingly experiencing it again.
Like every week, he led her down the expanse of stairs between the west wing and the north, across the courtyard underneath and through a beautiful collection of exotic greenery before leading her into the far end of the north wing. They moved downstairs this time, below the first floor, below the basement, and even further to the catacombs that had been built centuries ago. Sakura had no idea why Orochimaru preferred to meet with her in such dark, damp spaces, but she refused to ask. Withholding information she wanted was a game to the Dark Lord and not one she volunteered to play.
Sasuke continued until they came to a set of familiar double doors, where he pulled one open and waited for her to enter in a perfect imitation of the gentleman she once wished him to be. She swallowed the bitterness at the back of her tongue and moved in, her eyes finding Orochimaru sitting in his preferred chair with his right-hand man, Kabuto, standing at his shoulder.
It was always like this. The man put on a display as often as he could and — from the very few stories Shishou had ever shared — always had. Sakura wondered if the Dark Lord knew of her connection to his past self. Sometimes, she believed that to be the reason he chose her.
"Something new has occurred, my dear," came his slithering voice, his elegant hands moving to part the robe over his chest. "I am hoping you'll share with me what it is."
Something new? That usually didn't bode well when discussing health, especially when magic was required to keep said health, but Sakura kept her expression neutral. Giving away her hope that this something new meant his death would be displaying a hand that wasn't secret, but didn't bring anything good when acknowledged. She stepped closer of her own accord, falling into the role of healer before she began her work.
The holes had grown again, as they always did. Her weekly work was focused on minimizing the size and keeping them clean, even as they continued growing. But this was beyond her normal maintenance. The holes were no longer resembling the asymmetric shapes of wounds, but were rounding into perfect circles. Four of them, corners to a diamond that once protected his heart, but they were the same. Each and every one a mirror reflection of the other and appearing as an intentional tattoo on the plane of his chest.
"What have you done to them this past week?" she asked, leaning closer to peer through the open gaps.
"Nothing more than usual," he answered in his typical, aggravating way of giving no useful information at all.
Sakura's narrowed green eyes snapped up to those eerie yellow ones, her ire rising to the surface quickly. "It's not my health you put at risk with your games," she snapped. "If you wish to lie, then at least stop wasting my time."
Six weeks ago, she would have never considered raising her voice at Orochimaru. Even now, as the room chilled and backs stiffened, as his eyes flashed and his lips thinned, she remembered that underlying fear that always kept her from provoking him. But she ignored it. Doing his dirty work was one thing; having her knowledge and expertise discredited was something she wouldn't accept.
"You brought me here because you trusted my abilities," Sakura continued. "Either trust them or don't, it's no skin off my back, but I will not stand here and let you insult me by giving me half-truths that undermine my job."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed and she belatedly wondered if she had gone too far. Whatever he was hiding must be worth it if he really thought she would continue placating him. In anything else she probably would, but not in this. She had been trained too well and trained too long to let someone make a mockery of her healing abilities.
"Sasuke," he spat and it must have meant something because Sasuke took a firm grip on her bicep and pulled her back.
Sakura didn't fight. She moved easily, keeping her back straight and chin high as Orochimaru stood from his chair. "Next week, I expect you to remember yourself."
"It's not me that's lost sight of who I was trained to be."
Sasuke's hand tightened almost painfully. Another time, another life, she would have believed that to be a warning, but she knew better now. Maybe he was making sure to hold her in place for whatever wrath the snake decided to inflict.
Instead, Orochimaru surprised them all by smiling. "Ah, yes. I'm well aware of your path. Going from that sniveling, pathetic girl to the warrior standing before me, all thanks to the great Tsunade."
His words might be sarcastic, but even they didn't hide the respect Tsunade had earned.
"I'm sure she would be so proud to see where you stand today."
"She would," Sakura bit out, fighting the internal shame his words brought out. She knew they weren't true. Tsunade would take one look at her circumstances and know Sakura made the only choice she could, but it didn't stop the shame from spreading. And for that, she lashed out. "Jiraiya would be, too."
Sasuke jerked, pulling her into his chest and turning them just as a blast of heated air split and cindered the floor where she had stood. She didn't move, allowing the confusing actions of her once-teammate keep her guarded from the wrath she provoked.
"You," came a thunderous hiss that filled the room, "do not ssspeak hisss name."
"Then—" Sasuke's hand covered her mouth, stopping her words in their place.
"Shut up," he demanded quietly, the most he'd said to her in days. "Be smart."
Silence settled around them even as Orochimaru's anger pulsed over the air. Footsteps moved over the floor and she heard what must have been the calm, quiet murmur of Kabuto. Too soft to understand what he was saying, but slowly the anger was reigned in as Orochimaru regained control.
"Get her out of my sssight."
Sasuke didn't waste a single moment, shoving her in front of him and out the door. The dungeon door echoed down the corridor and Sakura hurried, desperate to get away from the musky, damp air. He said nothing, not a single thing as he escorted her briskly back up to her room. No words to the servants, not an utter sound to her, and she was surprised when he followed her into her room and closed the door behind him.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
He was angry. Livid, judging by the fire in his eyes. His face said nothing, his tone even less, but she knew him well enough to know what he was feeling behind that hard stare.
His hand slashed out in between them, cutting her off before she even knew what to say. "Whatever you're thinking, I don't want to know. Don't tell me, don't tell anyone, don't say a word. And don't risk your life like that again."
The door slammed behind him, rattling against the frame. He'd saved her life. Sasuke — Sasuke — had saved her life. It didn't make sense, not his warning or his words or his actions, nothing added up to the man he'd shown to be since her capture.
But she couldn't focus on that. Not right now when she discovered valuable information.
The Dark Lord Orochimaru had a weakness. A huge weakness, one buried so far underneath the surface, it shattered his illusion of control. A weakness she knew. Years with Tsunade meant years acquainted with Jiraiya and that didn't even touch on what she knew through Naruto. She had an advantage, a volatile one that could just as easily put her in the ground as it could work in her favor, but she had something.
Now that Sakura knew it, she had to figure out how to use it.
:D
It's a huge story, one that I didn't realize I was creating and it includes a whole lot of themes I normally don't write. (Slow burn, infiltration, mistrust, slow burn, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers-to-?, espionage, slow burn, escape, dark dark dark consequences for first escape plan failing, slow burn, betrayal, torture, slow burn, acceptance, redemption, and oh yeah have I mentioned slow burn?)
I have no answers for practically any of the questions I raised. Whatever is going on with Orochimaru's chest, I don't know. I want to say it's some bastardization between a curse mark and a Horcrux, but I can't say for certain.
As for Sasuke, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. He's probably some sort of long-con, undercover stint à la Snape, but gets in way over his head. If I go by my unedited, off the cuff idea, Sakura slowly finds out his plan over the course of months and she decides to help him out. (Actually, she sees it as the only way she'll get out of there alive and there's still a huge chance she won't even if their/his plan succeeds, but it's better than what she's doing.)
After her lashing out, Orochimaru pretty much revokes her freedoms - what little there are. He keeps her under his watch and he starts to teach her what he wants her to know and use. It's an effort to really twist her mind to do his biding because, let's face it, Sakura is the best medic the world has by the time she's an adult (canon and au) and she's an adult in this.
She eventually gets out and she eventually gets out with Sasuke, but what they have to do in order to survive is fair game and Sakura does not and cannot completely trust Sasuke until they're out and Orochimaru is dead. He has to finish his arc. I don't see this going through without both of them being compromised even more than they already are and - honestly - my favorite SS angst is when Sasuke has to watch Sakura suffer because of his actions. It's a little vindication moment for me to watch him watch her suffer what he puts her through.
Wondering why I added the OroSaku tag if this is a SS story? Because that's the alternative ending/plot line. (And could also be very relevant in the murky, dark recesses of the first option.) It could go one of two ways and I've been able to give thought to the SS one. The other? Man, that could be a fucking mind twist, but it could also be an incredibly long story about redemption. I know less about that possibility than the first one so I will just encourage you to let your mind wander.
I would love to see what other people could do with this. Please, if it sparks creativity and muse, have at it and tag me in it to read. :)
(Questions about the title? At the time of scheduling this to post:
- Average weight of a heart is 300 grams.
- 300 grams of gold is roughly $11,655 USD.
- $11,655 USD is roughly 2423 Galleons, 3 Sickles, 11 Knuts.
This journey for Sakura tests her strength, her loyalty, and her courage. As a Hufflepuff, her loyalty is easy, but who does she remain loyal to: her love or her heart? Is her identity worth what she keeps in that box? Is her life worth what she'll have to do survive? Add in that she's physically responsible for Orochimaru's heart, I thought it a poetic comparison.)
Let me know what you think!