Smultronställe
Chapter One
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They first met each other when she was five.
He was supposed to be helping the front gates with the crossing souls, but Gaara had came by and heavily persuaded him into coming with him to the world above on his nightly scare. Gaara had just been promoted to demon from being a first year creep monster. And tonight was his first mission.
So there Sasuke was, hiding under the bed of some little girl's bed with Gaara, waiting for the right time to strike. As his role as demon, Gaara was assigned to be the monster under the bed of some girl named Sakura and it was his job to scare her every night. As long as demons and creepers were able to scare the kids and give them nightmares, the more strength the realm of the underworld was. As long as these kids believed in them, they continue to exist.
It had been over an hour since she had climbed into bed and turned off the lights. At this moment, Sasuke was sure that she was close to the tips of slumber. And this was the time to cue their attack.
Just as he and Gaara began to creep out from under her bed, the front door the house slammed open with a bang and profanities began to echo up the stairs. Ducking back into their hiding spot, Sasuke felt the bed creak as the girl began to whimper.
Making eye contact with Gaara, he gave a confused look.
'Why is she already crying? We haven't even done anything yet.'
Somewhere downstairs, shattering glass was heard as more profanities were yelled. And then, they grew louder and footsteps began to pound on the stairs.
This simply caused the girl above them to cry even harder, so much that she began to get hiccups. And it was only then that Sasuke understood the situation.
Without much of a thought, Sasuke reached up over the bed for Sakura's bed and tugged her to the floor with a soft thud.. Before Gaara could even stop him, he pulled her underneath the bed with him.
Eyes widening, Gaara nearly shrieked, "Sasuke, what are you doing?"
Throwing his black cloak over the two of them, Sasuke told him to shush. And when the door to the bedroom slammed open, he motioned for Gaara to blend in. Then wrapping the cloak tighter around Sakura he willed the cloak to blend them into the darkness just in the nick of time.
The man yanked off the bed's comforter thinking that the girl was still in bed, but when he found out that she wasn't, another string of profanities left his lips. "Where is the worthless child?"
Dropping to the floor, the man ripped the bedding skirt up and made a blind grab for Sakura. "I know you're under here, come out you little bitch!" As he continued to yell into the darkness, Sasuke's nose wrinkled in disgust how humanly intoxicated the man was. This all but made him pull Sakura closer to him.
Sakura almost screamed out loud when the man's hand finally found her, but her scream was muffled when she realized that the hand was simply just passing through her, as if she was a ghost. Wide eyes filled with unshed tears looked at Sasuke in shock. All he did in return was motioned her to keep quiet.
After a few more attempts, the man finally gave up and left the room with a slam of the door and more profanities.
Once Sasuke was sure that the man had left for good and out of the house, he uncovered them from his cloak and crawled out from under the bed, with Gaara and Sakura close behind him.
The second time they met, Sasuke had once again sneaked away from the realm and from his duties to explore the world above a little more. Instead this time, his companion was not Gaara but Cerberus. In order to not attract too much attention, Cerberus had taken form in a pure black pitbull. Not like it really mattered though, since anyone that didn't have the gods' blood in them wouldn't have noticed his true form anyways, with his three heads.
Sasuke was on his way back, when they were walking passed an alleyway and Cerberus immediately went crazy.
Pulling him by his spiked collar to calm him down, Sasuke commanded, "Cerberus, down." Hardly ever to disobey his master's commands, Cerberus immediately sat down on his hind legs. But to Sasuke's absolute surprise, the pitbull looked at him, and began to whimper in response.
Raising a single eyebrow at the sudden pouting, Sasuke sighed. "Alright, let's see what is so interesting in this alleyway that you're literally pouting about it."
Before Sasuke could even release his hold on the collar, Cerberus was already heading high speed into the alley, pulling him along. And that was when Sasuke heard the cries and hands hitting against flesh.
Just as the boy's hand was coming down for another hit, Cerberus stood in front of the girl protectively and bared his teeth at the attacker.
"What the…" The boy cursed. Looking back at his little groupie, he asked, "Where the hell did this stray come from?"
At the mention of the word stray, Cerberus growling intensified.
Finally stepping out of the shadows and making his presence known, Sasuke cleared his throat. "I don't think my dog appreciates you calling it a stray."
Rolling his eyes, the boy snickered, "It's a fucking dog, what would it know. Are you offended that I insulted your little pet? What are you five?"
"No, but you might be. Aren't you a little too old to be picking on girls?"
"This is none of your business. It's an A B conversation. So stay out of it." Sneering him off, the boy returned his attention back to the trembling girl on the ground. Raising his hand, the boy began to land another hit on the girl.
Eyes narrowing, Sasuke could not believe this filthy thing called a human dared to strike the girl once more after cursing and insulting both him and his dog. Grabbing the boy by the collar, he forced him to make eye contact with him and instantly his eyes turned red, black tomoes swirling. Casting an illusion over him, the boy's eyes widen as he shrank away in fear, stumbling over his own feet and as he clambered back to his little groupie.
With a satisfied smirk slipping onto his lips, Sasuke then eyed his little groupie. Pointing his chin in the other direction, he shooed the group away, which they were more than grateful to do. Running away with their tails in between their legs and bumping into another, Sasuke couldn't help but snort at their lack of masculinity. Pathetic.
Now turning his attention to the girl that was being comforted by Cerberus, to his surprise, Sasuke crouched down next to her. It was then that he noticed something about her. She had pink hair. And there was only one person that he knew in his lifetime that had pink hair.
It was Sakura.
Motioning Cerberus to back away, he reached out for the girl, only for her to immediately scramble away from his reach.
Sighing, Sasuke said gently, "It's not like we haven't met before."
At the sound of his voice, and the familiarity of it, she looked from behind her hands. Seeing the way her emerald eyes gleamed in recognition, Sasuke reached out for her again. Helping her sit upright, he surveyed the damage that had been done, and it was quite a bit. Scratches decorated down the whole length of arms, and some marring her cheeks as well. Some of them even began to turn a light purple, signs of bruising. Beside her, the entire contents of her backpack were thrown everywhere, some flying away, some drowning in the rain puddles around them.
Taking his cloak off, Sasuke wrapped it tightly around her body. Then reaching into Cerberus's collar, he pulled out a lavender colored gem and pressed it into her hands. Closing his eyes, he focused his energy into it. And ever so slowly, he felt a burst of energy surge from his hands and all over her body.
They watched as fluorescent lavender lines covered her whole body, especially around her injuries. As they slipped and danced across her skin, they took away all of the scratches and bruises, leaving behind clear porcelain skin, as if her injuries never happened at all.
Sakura whipped her head up in surprise, her emerald eyes growing big. At this Sasuke couldn't help but let out a little amused snort.
Humans. They were so easily fazed.
The third time they met, she decided to sell her soul away to him.
"Why?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Sakura leaned back against the base of her bed. "Just because."
"You do realize that you're actually selling your soul away, right? It's not like you're selling away a piece of junk at a garage sale. This is your soul that we're discussing about." Sasuke told her sternly, arms crossed.
"I know…," she whispered back.
"Then why?"
"Why are you asking so many questions?" Sakura asked hotly. She didn't think selling her soul off would be such a difficult process. Wouldn't they be more than glad to take an unwanted soul? Sighing, she said, "I should have asked Gaara instead. He wouldn't have asked this many questions."
Snorting, Sasuke mumbled, "Like he could do something like this with his status."
"Hey!" she exclaimed, slightly offended by Sasuke's degrading comment. Gaara was still pretty nice to her, despite his occupation. "Don't make fun of him. It's not nice."
"Now that's a first, a human defending their own demon." Brushing off some invisible lint on his shoulders, he then walked over to her and crouched down to her level. Onyx locking with emerald, he looked at her intently. And in those eyes of her, he could see her reasoning.
It was just simply too lonely for her here. Abusive parents and constant bullying. From what he had heard from Gaara, she didn't really have any friends, or even just anyone close to her. And she didn't have anything she cared for either. She was just another being in this world. Her days went by in constant routines and with no purpose. To be honest, news of her wanting to sell her soul wasn't all that new. Gaara had mentioned it a few weeks ago when Sakura first asked him about the process.
Speaking softly, he asked, "Have you considered moving towns or starting a new elsewhere?"
At this suggestion, her emerald eyes widened, but then she looked down at her hands sadly. "No. But it's not like I have anywhere else to go or the funds to do it." Rubbing her hands together in a nervous manner, she asked, "Can't you just take it? I heard that it bounds me to you guys… Like a friendship contract. Honestly you both are the only people that consider me as a human being and treat me like one, ironically… "
Letting a sigh slip past his lips, he ran a hand down the back of his neck, a little bit frustrated. "Friendships aren't meant to be bought Sakura. Also, it's not as easy as it sounds. Selling your soul off will change the course of your entire afterlife."
"There's nothing for me in the afterlife anyways, so it doesn't matter."
"Are you sure about that?"
"No, but I don't have much hope anyways." Sakura said sadly.
Sighing, yet again, Sasuke reached inside his cloak and pulled out a black scroll. He then sat down next to her by her bed, shoulder to shoulder, and handed her pen out of thin air. Unrolling the contract, he laid it out in front of her. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Alright. Selling of a soul it is."
.
Even long after they had sealed the deal and Sakura had officially signed away her soul, Sasuke continued to stay with her. Although he was never much of a talker or liked small talk, he slowly found out that the more she talked, the more he enjoyed her company. It was strange, to find a sense of warm and comfort that was her. And as she continued to talk, he was pleased to see the light return back into her eyes and her cheeks flushed with color. But from time to time though, she would share with him her darkness. With those stories, the rosette tried hard to keep her tears at bay, but they came regardless. He shocked himself at how fast his fingers came to her face and wiped them away before they could even fall onto her cheeks. It was like his hands had a mind of their own. Sasuke has never done something like that before, he was surprised that his body even knew how to comfort.
So, there he sat at the base of her bed, his back against the sheets, with her head laid against his shoulder. After what was her fifth crying session, her body had called it quits. Her breathing had even out, although a little labored due to her stuffed nose. He honestly didn't anticipate something like this to happen, but it just kind of did. Usually selling of a soul was a pretty quick process, ten minutes tops. Yet, here he was still here, in her room, hours later. Sasuke didn't mind though. This was a nice escape from his world.
Looking out the window of her bedroom, Sasuke saw that the sun was already halfway gone. Taking that as a sign for him to leave, he carefully cradled her head in his hand and slipped another underneath her knees. He then carried her to her bed and tucked her in, making sure that she was secure and warm. Standing up, he took one last glance at her, taking her in. Then reaching into his pocket, he pulled out crystal pendant. There in the palm of his hand was her soul, glowing and swirling around in the sphere. Just like her eyes, her soul was a beautiful shade of jade.
It was then, at that moment, he promised to protect her at all cost. For without a soul, she couldn't enter into the afterlife realm. And a soul like her didn't deserve to go to hell. Closing his hand tightly around the pendant, he promised he would let her live as long as she could and to finally enjoy her life to the fullest.
As promised, Sasuke looked over her in secret. And sometimes when he couldn't watch over her himself, he would send Gaara to do so. But he only interfered when necessary. He didn't want to attract too much attention to the girl. And today was one of those days.
He was in the main hall, listening to dead souls and their confessions and requests for redemption. This was his fifty sixth soul and he wasn't really paying much attention anymore. Days like this just dragged on, even more slow than usual. Sighing, he took a quick glance at the file of the soul in his hands. Early death, 23. Cause of death, DUI. Had passengers with him but he was the only causality. Had a history of minor crimes done on campus, vandalism and under age drinking for a couple years.
"You're here to request for a recreation, correct."
"Yes, my lord. I've thought deeply about my actions and..."
"Request granted." Sasuke announced without much further explanation. Signing it off with a swipe of his pen, he motioned for the soul to go.
The soul had his mouth drop open in shock, but he wasn't the only one. The night guard next to him, holding the files, looked at him with wide eyes. Sasuke was never one to give grants to the soul's requests this easily. Ever since he came into reign, he ruled strictly. Souls were lucky if he granted even one of them a request. Most days, the number of souls that he granted was zero. But today, this was the third one to be granted.
Tripping over his legs to bow down low to the ground, words of gratitude spilled from his lips as the soul thanked the lord.
With a wave of his hand, he told the guards on the floor to take the soul away. "Alright, take..." And it was then, that he heard his name being called out in such a desperate manner and familiar tone, that he froze mid sentence to the shock of everyone in the room. Their lord was never one to falter in anything he did, he was a confident man and he was always sure in his ways. This sudden hesitation was not expected.
But he paid no attention to anyone else on the room. He focused on the voice that was calling out to him. Souls of all sorts, both in his realm and the world above always called out for him, for help or whatever it was. He usually tuned them out because it was too many and it got annoying very fast. This was an exception though.
"Please... someone, help me... Please... make it stop..."
Shutting everything else out, Sasuke focused harder on the voice. It was so strikingly familiar. As he continued to hear out the cries, the crystal pendant in his pocket, burned hotter with each passing second. Confused, he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. There in the center of his palm was Sakura's soul, burning and glowing fluorescently, flickering like an angry wildfire.
"Sasuke!" His head snapped up immediately at the cry of his name and that was when everything clicked. And in an instant, he disappeared from sight.
.
Over the years, since the day that she sold her soul to him, Sakura had seen him a couple more times. Each time, it was him coming to her rescue as usual. But then, within the past year, she had gotten a boyfriend and everything was pretty much wonderful. Until recently.
Sasori was everything she could ask for. He entered into her life just at the right time and saved her from her darkness at the time. He was kind and treated her in ways that she didn't know that she should have been treated. He made her feel special, very special. He gave her the love that she was missing in life and he gave her hope for the future. Being with him everyday, all day was all that she ever wanted.
But that all changed after they came past their one year mark. Slowly, the real Sasori came out and it terrified her. It started out with little things that she could deal with and then slowly he turned into an unstoppable monster. She tried to escape this harsh reality of hers again but it was truly impossible this time around. Sakura couldn't find the light at the tunnel anymore. She should have seen the signs earlier on in their relationship. Back then she was naive, young and in love; blinded by this so called love. She mistook his jealousy and anger when she hung out with her girlfriends as just him being over protective. He would nag at her at first, but then when he found out that sometimes her guy friends would hand out with him, he began the yelling and shouting. And sometimes, he would attack her, not physically yet, but emotionally.
After all those years of piecing herself but together and being able to stand on her feet again, just a couple screams from him had her falling apart again. He took away the confidence that she had, the faith that she held for herself and stabbed self doubt back into her body. His words made her even more confused that she was before. Was she even worth it?
And then is became physical when she began to deny things from him. That was when the true monster came out.
As a coffee cup filled to the brink with hot liquid came crashing into the wall to the left of her, Sakura scrambled backwards, screaming, "Sasori, stop it! Get a hold of yourself."
"Get a hold of myself?" He sneered back at her, nostrils flaring and his face turning bright red. "Who are you, to tell me to get a hold of myself. Who?!"
As his uncontrollable anger raged on, Sasori continued to smash things to the ground, sometimes even aiming it at her.
"Sasori, please! You don't need to do this. You're being ridiculous about such a small thing."
"Shut up woman. I have every right to be angry. You, who dare to disobey me and not follow my requests, you're despicable!"
Snapping her head up, tears filling in her eyes, she pointed a single finger at him, yelling, "Okay, first off. It is my body, so I have every right to decide what I want to do. You, on the other hand, have no right to force me into anything I am not comfortable with! We've discussed this many, many times before."
At this point, they were both face to face, breathing hard from their yelling matches. For a second, Sakura felt exhilarating. She had never done this before. For once, she finally fought back. She didn't know where the courage suddenly came from but she knew that she was sick and tired of this so called relationship of theirs and she wanted out. But that wonderful feeling was quick to dissipate as he looked down at her through narrowed eyes and jaws clenched. Then what happened next happened all too quick.
In one moment she was standing upright, facing him and then in the next, she was on the ground, cheek stinging. Before she could even fully register what had actually happened, the next hit came, followed by another. First, they were hard slaps and then they became full on punches. As he landed another particularly mean punch to her stomach, her body was thrown back against the wall, knocking her head in the process. The world around her spun as a metallic copper taste filled her mouth. Her body was so numb that she didn't even notice that he continued to pound his fists into her.
When she did come around again, she saw that Sasori had left her crumpled form on the floor and went into the kitchen, rummaging for something. In this moment, Sakura knew that this was only chance to escape. Emerald eyes moved to their front door but she found that it was bolt shut and she didn't have the keys anymore. Sasori has taken them away from her for awhile now. Regardless, she still tried to push herself up, hands pushing against the ground onto broken glass shards. They pierced into her palm but she felt nothing. The only thing on her mind was to get to the front door or a window, because maybe if she screamed loud enough, someone would hear her. With shaky legs, she managed to make it halfway to the living room window when she was yanked back forcefully by her hair.
Screaming, Sakura tried to force him away from her, but it was no use, Sasori was stronger than her, in every aspect. She blocked his hits a much as she could but he would always find another opening elsewhere to strike. And it was during one of these hits that she took notice of two things. One, there was a gleaming object in his hands. Second, she saw a dark shadow lurking in the corner of the room, holding a gold stopwatch in his hands.
By the time she returned her attention back to Sasori, it was a bit to late, he had already made a big gash on the side of her arm. Position the kitchen knife above him again, he made another aim, making her scream in horror. Was this it? Was this really how she was going to die?
Sobbing, she screamed out again for help, her throat hoarse. "Please... someone, help me... Please... make it stop!" Tears blurring her vision, she attempted to dodge another swing of his, only to have her head slammed against the floor instead.
"If you would have obeyed me, sweetheart. None of this would have had to happen." Sasori told her sickeningly as he drew the edge of the knife across the plane of her skin, leaving a bloody trail behind. "It was nice meeting you, Sakura…" and Sasori moved to make his final move.
And this was when she knew it was the end. It was truly the end.
Bracing herself for the pain, she made one last desperate call out in her head, "Sasuke!"
A rush of cold air crawled across her skin and a loud roar reached her ringing ears. A small whimper slipped past her lips when she felt the sharpness of the knife pierce into her skin. Sakura waited for the pain to intensify, but it never came. It felt like a small papercut.
Was she already dead? Was that why the pain felt like nothing? It would make a lot more sense.
Upon opening her eyes, she was prepared to face the pits of hell but she was surprised to see that she was still in the shambles of what she called her living room. What caught her by surprise a lot more was the fact that someone in a dark, billowing cloak had Sasori pushed up against the wall by his neck.
.
Sasuke felt an unbelievable amount of rage curse through his veins.
How dare this filthy thing cause harm to an innocent woman as such. It was revolting.
Gripping the redhead's throat even harder, Sasuke glared at the man. "Men like you deserve to burn in the pits of hell."
"Who the fuck are you?" Sasori spit out through labored breaths. Clenching his teeth, he bit out, "Put me down right this instant, you bastard!"
"You are not worthy enough to know of who I am." Sasuke returned, grip tightening ever so slightly. Eyes bleeding red, Sasuke locked eyes with the crazed man in front of him and in an instant, the redhead fell to a crumpled lump onto the floor. It was time that he experienced his own horrors.
Then turning around swiftly, he came to Sakura's aid. Shifting her onto her back and into his arms, he carefully slipped his hands underneath her head for support. As he did so, he felt the true blunt of the damage. Her pink locks were stained and matted red from her own blood. From her face to her legs, there was an endless amount of cuts and bruises. Pools of blood where everywhere in the room but the most at her left side, and it was growing at an alarming rate. Turning her head so that he could make eye contact with her, Sasuke was confused to see a small smile decorating her pale lips.
"You're on the verge of death and you're smiling. Have you gone insane?"
Lips trembling, she mumbled quietly, "...T-thank you…"
"Hn, I know." He told her with a roll of his eyes. Hastily surveying the damage once more, he allowed her to rest against his body as he dug around his pocket for the lavender gem. Quickly pushing it into her bloody palm, he forced the gem to activate its healing powers. He watched with a tight heart as the fluorescent lines covered her body and patched up all the damage that was done.
As he waited for the gem to do its work, he felt a dark presence beside him, without looking up he knew who exactly it was. "Speak," he commanded.
"My lord, I have received her death note and was here to collect her but…, it seems like that it is no longer possible…"
"And?" Sasuke questioned harshly. "Is there a problem with my interference?"
"..." The Grim Reaper kept mum.
With a wave of his hand, Sasuke ordered, "File it as a lost soul report. Have it first thing on my desk tomorrow morning, I will sign off on it."
Bowing, the Grim Reaper bid him goodbye and disappeared.
During his exchange with Grim Reaper, the gem was already more than halfway done with its healing process and Sakura had fallen asleep his arms. Seeing how her chest rose up and down steadily, he breathed out heavily. Then wrapping his arms around her body, he pulled her up close to him.
He was lucky this time too that he made it, especially with how the Grim Reaper was already present with her death note. She would have truly died this time had he not interfered. Sighing yet again, he was going to deal with a major headache of having to sign off a lost soul. Reasons and evidence for why a soul was not collected was going to be needed. And to complicate things even further, she didn't even have a soul to be collected to begin with. This is going to be a mess, Sasuke can just feel it. But after taking a glance at her sleeping form, safe and sound, he decided that it would be worth it.
It was his promise after all.
After her near death experience, Sakura had moved away from that wretched town, away from her hunting past. And it was the best decision that she had ever made. With nothing but thirty dollars in her pocket and a backpack of some of her things, she hailed down a cab to take her away to what would now be her home.
Here in this new town, she was able to rediscover herself and who she was. It was hard at first. Things like this were never easy. She only had herself to depend on. But slowly, she picked up all the pieces that was her and fixed herself back together. Now, a couple years forward, she was in her third year of college, working as a medical assistant, and living in a rather decent part of town. She made many new friends and her neighbors where exceptionally kind hearted. Just in general, the people here were nicer.
Ever since that day, she hadn't seen Sasuke since. Gaara still made his schedule visits, but she was seeing less of him lately. But she guess today was an exception, because as she passed by the mirror placed in the living room of her place, Sakura nearly had a heart attack. Because written in blood in scratchy letters was 'Remember appointment with Advisor at 3pm.'
Hands flying to her chest, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat, Sakura exclaimed, "Gaara! How many times have I told you to use the dry erase markers instead of some poor chicken's blood. You don't have to kill one every time to remind me."
Slinking out of the dark corner in her room, he smiled devilishly, "Oh, but that ruins the fun."
"When I die, I'm going to have a dozen chicken souls out to get me because you killed them in my name."
Shrugging his shoulders, Gaara said, "Maybe."
Handing him some cleaning supplies, Sakura pouted, "Can you at least clean up the mess you've made. I do appreciate your help in trying to keep me organize with my schedule. But," she paused briefly as she dug into her bag for another dry erase marker and handed it to him. "Next time, don't kill another chicken."
"No promises."
After making sure that he was going to clean up the bloody mess that he made, Sakura slipped on her shoe and made it out the door, not before yelling out, "I'll be back by 5 if you're still here."
.
"Sakura's usual?" One of the barista asked.
"Oh, you know it." Momo answered with a smile.
"Did you hear?"
"Hmm, what about it?"
"She has an meeting with her advisor soon for a letter of recommendation I think."
"Oh, really?" Momo raised a single eyebrow at her co-worker. Then taking a glance at the pink haired girl standing over in the corning, gnawing on her bottom lip and tapping her feet anxiously against the tiled floors. "Well then, looks like she needs a shot of charisma in her latte today."
Sharing a knowing smile with her coworker, Momo waved her hands over the steaming cup, whispering a short spell. Then closing it with the lid, she called out, "One ice latte, extra cream!"
Shuffling up to get her a drink, Sakura mumbled a quick thank you. Just before she left the counter though, Momo gave her a wink and whispered, "Good luck!"
Startled, Sakura froze for a moment and stared at her, lips a little parted. Then gathering herself together, she asked, "How did you know?"
""Tis the season, sweetheart."
Laughing lightly, Sakura nodded in understanding. Of course the coffee shop workers would know. They probably served about a dozen students before her, coming here for their daily fix of caffeine to get rid of the nerves. As she turned to leave though, she quickly dropped a couple singles into the tip jar. "Thank you again."
.
Not being able to help herself, as she left the advisor's building and walked down the front steps, Sakura did a little happy dance attracting some weird stares from the other students. It was turning out to be a great day. Her advisor agreed to writing her a recommendation and that was almost a guarantee placement into the program as she was an alumnae. Now that that weight has been lifted from her shoulders, she could actually enjoy the rest of her evening.
Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she scrolled through her contact list and pressed call. And in seconds of the phone ringing, the other person picked up, "So how did you do?"
"Why hello to you too," Sakura laughed.
"Alright, hello to you too Forehead." Sakura could just imagine her gorgeous best friend rolling those pretty blue eyes of hers. "Now answer my question."
"So impatient. But anyways, I passed. She's going to write me a letter of recommendation!"
"That's great, Sakura! See, I told you! You didn't even have to worry about a thing." Ino shouted back at her excitedly and in a told-you-so tone. "Honestly, I think you're like her favorite student. Secretly, somewhere, deep in that cold heart of hers, there's a little room for you. I heard that she doesn't even allow students to meet with her in person in regards to her letter recommendation. She just sends out a shit ton of emails saying no."
"That's a little exaggerated." Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes at her friend's response. Ino liked to never tell things as it is but rather make it so over the top.
"Okay, maybe just a tiny bit. Anyways, this calls for a celebration Forehead!"
"You're always making an excuse to go out drinking."
"Oh, you know me so well love. But I know this new bar that just opened down…"
As Ino continued to ramble on and decide on plans for the night, Sakura began to tune her out. Ino had a tendency to talk for a really long time. Once she tune her out completely, Sakura took a moment to take in the nice, autumn weather. They were well into the third week of the new season but it was only in the past couple of days that the weather actually cooled down. And as it got closer to the end of the day, the temperature dropped significantly. After having experience this a couple times now, Sakura thought that she would have known better and packed some extra layers.
A cold breeze slipped past her, blowing her hair all into her face. As she pushed her pink locks back and away from her face, she heard the distinct sound of heels against the pavement behind her. Glancing around, she saw that it was just another one of her classmates, who she bid goodbye to earlier as they both left the building. Guess the girl lived in the same area as she did, which wasn't all that surprising as many of the students had an apartment near her complex. They had the best rent and was the shortest walking distance to campus.
She felt her nose began to burn as the cool wind nipped at her cheeks. Sniffling, she pulled her sleeves down and wiped her nose. As she did so, Sakura felt an uncomfortable chill travel down her spine. Immediately she stopped and turned on her heel, but all that was there was the same classmate walking down the same street as she did. Feeling unsteady, Sakura pulled on the sleeves of shirt more and began to quicken her pace. She was probably being paranoid but for some reason she felt unsafe all of sudden, like something was out to get it.
The more she increased her speed, the more sweaty her palms got. At one point, she nearly dropped her phone, startling Ino on the other line.
"Hey, Forehead, are you okay? You sound a little out of breath…"
Subtly, Sakura held the phone closed to her mouth and cupped it, whispering, "I… I think someone is following me…"
"What?" Ino shouted, to which Sakura hushed her immediately. "Wait, what? Is there actually someone or are you just being paranoid?"
"I don't know, maybe a little of both?" Sakura frowned as she came to a stop at a crosswalk. The traffic light across the street was blinking red, telling her to stop.
Tapping her foot a little impatiently, Sakura took a glance around the area. Then looking at her watch, she was a little shock to find that it was well past five. What also shocked her was that it was strange that this area of the town was so vacant. Usually at this hour, students were all done with classes and where out and about, eating and hanging out. Just as the light across the street flashed the walking sign, she heard a click behind her.
At this moment, Sakura decided to take a look over her shoulder and it was a mistake.
.
Naruto's boisterous voice echoed against the tiled floors as they walked down the corridor. Once they reached the end, the guards opened the grand double doors for them, leading in the private meeting area. One by one they walked into the room, and as each one of them passed the threshold, the flickering of the energy of their powers fizzled out, making it deafeningly quiet. They had to have to come up with this restriction a couple thousand years back when Naruto and Sasuke got into a pretty heated argument and nearly destroyed the whole castle. In order to prevent anything like that to happen again, they had Tsuande put a chakra blocking seal on the room.
This was one of the few times in the year that Sasuke actually stepped foot in Naruto's realm. Sasuke only came when it was necessary, or else if he had a choice he wouldn't have came at all. As the Big Three, they oversaw many of the activities.
But most of the time, since it was Naruto spearheading all of the discussions, they often got sidetracked, which led to these meetings being hours upon hours long. It was about nine hours in that the the slacking began.
"So Sasuke, " Naruto began with a snarky smile, blue eyes gleaming with mischief.
And that this, Sasuke couldn't help but openly groan.
"I heard that you've been slacking on your job." Naruto questioned. "I heard that there's a Lost Soul floating around, first one of the century."
"Shut up."
"Oh!" The blonde exclaimed delightfully. "So, there is one!" Wiggling his brows, Naruto smiled, "Is it a girl? Is that why?" At the way that the tips of Sasuke burned red, Naruto roared in laughter, slapping his hands on his knees. "Oh my, have our dark king fallen in love?"
"That's enough, Dobe."
"Is it true then, since you're not denying it."
Shaking his head, Sasuke made his move to head out of the room first, ignoring the bickering of the other two gods behind him. Immediately as he past the threshold, Sasuke faltered in his steps. Alarmed, Sasuke searched out for Sakura's presence, but he felt nothing.
"Yo, Sasuke… are you okay?" He heard Naruto called out to him, but Sasuke didn't reply.
And then he tried to contact Gaara, but he didn't get an answer back. Just as he was about to remove his block on the request of voices to find her, he felt it. The moment he did, Sasuke teleported out of the realm without another word.
.
When Sakura had come around to her senses again, she felt incredibly numb. Her eyes felt heavy and she could barely keep them open. Groaning, she felt cold as the cool breeze danced across her skin but also warm as she felt something wet surrounded her. Each time she tried to move, her body wouldn't respond. Tiredly, Sakura closed her eyes again. Breathing heavily, she tried one more time to move her body, any part of it, but it was to no avail. With eyes half closed, she could see the outline of a dark figure heading her way. And then somewhere in the corner of her eyes, she saw her broken phone, that skidded across the asphalt flashing. Returning her eyes back to the figure coming towards her, she spotted a white note card in his hands.
The figure then approached her and laid a single hand on her arm. "I'm afraid that it's time. Sakura Haruno your time..."
Confused, Sakura couldn't put together what the figure was telling her. Every other word of his was barely audible as she felt the hands of darkness come for her, eyes becoming heavier with every second. Then when she couldn't keep them open any longer, she allowed herself to succumb to the darkness.
The second time that she came around, she was jostled awake. Unlike the first time, Sakura was able to distinguish her surrounds much faster and clearer. Numbness that she had felt earlier has disappeared. She felted liberated. She felt so at ease. This was the most peaceful she has been in a long time. Glancing around her, she found that she was on a tiny rowing boat filled with other people. There was a family bundled in the furthermost area of the boat, four of them in total. The parents held a protective hold over they're two kids in between them, eyes shaking with fear. Next to them was an old man, sitting down and staring at nothing in particular. Then sitting directly across from her was another family. This time a set of siblings, two brothers and their younger sister. The girl was crying hysterically while the brothers looked away from her, each one facing the opposite direction. And lastly, at the front of the boat was the familiar dark figure that she saw last before she went to sleep. He was steadily rowing the boat further down a river of some sort.
The more they traveled down the river, the colder it got as chilling shivers traveled down the back of her spine. The ominous sense that was overcoming her body was not welcoming at all. And it all made sense when ear-splitting and bone-shaking screams reached them. Eye widening, Sakura couldn't believe what was before her eyes. There were so many boats, like that one that she was sitting, littering the entirety of the river. And as they docked, guards in billowing cloaks practically man-handled some of them onto shore, pushing them roughly forward. She watched as they filed each person into a different lines; sometimes even breaking families apart. Tears came to her eyes as she watched a mother and son be ripped apart from each other, the wailing and screaming deafening. And before she knew it, it was her turn.
One by one, each of the passengers were plucked from their spot and hustled ashore. Her heart clenched as the the set of siblings were harshly separated. The brothers fought and screamed profanities at the guards when they yanked their younger sister away from them.
"No! Fucking give her back! You can't fucking take her!" The oldest one wrestled against the tight hold that he was in as he tried to reach out to grasp her back. But he thrashed even harder when the guard shoved the girl to the ground, hard. "Hey! Watch your filthy hands! She's a fucking girl, what the hell."
The more the brothers struggled, the harsher they inflicted pain on the girl, continuously shoving her and causing her to stumble over her feet. Her hands and feets were all bruised up and scraped mercilessly. Her face was all blotchy and red from the crying that she was doing. When she tried to reach out for her brother, one of the guards began to rise his hands at her to Sakura's absolute astonishment. At this point, her body acted on her own before her mind could even register it.
Sakura pushed her way through the crowd and rushed forward. Slipping in front of the girl just in the nick of time, she held her arms out in front of the girl, in a protective stance. She watched as the guard falter in his movement, but not before narrowing his beady eyes down on her. Then in a cold tone, he advised, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Lost One."
Her eyebrows came together in confusion. 'Lost One?'
"Move, this is not of your business."
"No," Sakura stated shakingly. She knew what was going to happen if she didn't move, but for some strange reason Sakura felt compelled to protect this girl. She needed to.
"I said move," he growled out at her.
"And I said no."
Then not more than a second later, Sakura felt her head snap to the side, her left cheek burning furiously. When he saw that she wasn't going to move, she saw him raise his hand again to strike. In the distance, she heard the loud growling and barking of an animal of some sorts, but for some strange reason, it sounded so familiar to her ears, as if she had heard it before. During the time that she was contemplating over this, the guard struck his hand down on her again, then again. As time continued to pass by the guard continued to pummel her into the ground with his fist and she automatically curled up into a ball, something that her body knew how to do on autopilot now, thanks to Sasori. With each hit, the cries of the animal roared even louder to a point that it was shaking the ground.
"Kai, I think that's enough." She heard a guard nearby whisper. "Cerberus is going to rampage, if you don't."
"Like that mutt knows anything."
"But it will alarm the King." The guard added, his tone laced with concern.
"As it should."
Immediately the the tone that was made up of so much authority and ice made everything around them freeze. Sakura listened as a deafening silence come over the entire area. It was so quiet that only her heavy and pained, labored breathing was heard.
Taking a peek through her messed up locks, Sakura watched as the crowd part ways for him. The guard that had dared laid hands on them was kneeling on the ground, visibly trembling. Then in the distance, she could barely make out a set of eye reds staring at her. But below each set of eyes was a wolfish grin, and that was when she knew why he sounded so familiar; Cerberus. At that sudden realization, Sakura couldn't help but smile a little. That pupper was always out to her rescue.
Her attention was pulled back to the situation at hand though, when the sound of footsteps against the gravel reached her ears. Then before she knew it, she felt a pair of hands wrap themselves around her forearms and pull her up. For a moment, they stood still like that, to make sure that she was stable on her feet. Then daringly, Sakura tilted her face upwards to make eye contact with her savior.
The moment emerald clashes with onyx, Sakura could barely suppress the gasp that slipped past her lips. As her eyes widen in realization, she watched as his lips curled up into a small smirk.
"Welcome to my home, Sakura."
{A/N}: And that's a wrap, folks. For the first chapter that is. Hope you guys liked this massive first chapter. This has been in the works for a couple of months now, and I'm finally satisfied for the most part to post it. This is my version of Hades/Persephone retold. Please excuse me for any errors or mistakes that I happened to miss. Also I have quite a few other works that I'm going to be posting in the near future, as well as updating current on-going fics.
Anyways, I'm excited to know what you guys thought! Leave a review down below and let me know!
