Chapter Two: The Vatican's AX.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Trinity Blood!
Notes: Many of the religious quotes and the like in this chapter come from the preachers at First Family Church and the sources they draw on when organizing sermons: namely, MySpace and Face Book. Also, huge thanks to Nightwish, Sonata Artica, and Joan Osborne for their respective songs: Ever Dream, Victoria's Secret, and What If God was one of us? Also, props to Bloody Trinity Remix and Broken Wings, the opening and ending for Trinity Blood.
Sakura clung to him, her fingers digging into the thick fabric of his shirt. Her tears ran freely down her pale face.
"There, there, you're safe now." He said, gently wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
"Here." He stated, holding out a piece of bread and a bowl of stew.
She accepted them silently, balancing the food on her lap uncomfortably.
"You still haven't told me your name." She said, her eyes cast down.
"Abel Nightroad, traveling priest for the Vatican."
"Vatican?" She asked lamely.
"There'll be time for discussion later. First, you should eat." He stated.
She nodded numbly, spooning the thick liquid mechanically into her mouth.
"It's good." She said, smiling sadly at him, tears rolling back down her face.
He looked on as she returned to the meager meal, her shoulders shuddering.
For the most part, he averted his eyes; it was unlikely she wanted his sympathy and even less likely she wanted comfort in her acute grief. Very few would accept comfort in a moment so intimate…
He saw her shiver from the corner of his eye, inadequately protected from the late winter chill in the tattered garment she had managed to salvage from the torn cloth of her previous ensemble. He frowned, pulling off his own jacket and laying it across her shoulders.
She glanced up, slightly startled by the sudden motion and the kind spirit backing it.
"I've never caught a cold wearing that." He smiled, attempting lamely to cheer her up.
She tried to smile, but for some reason dissolved into tears. It reminded her so much of the times Naruto had given her his jacket or Sasuke had laid his spare shirt over her.
"I'm sorry." She sobbed, not even quite sure why she was apologizing.
He sighed to himself in his own helplessness; there was nothing he could say to comfort her. She had lost everything in a single, fell blow that she might never recover from. He knew, quite intimately, in fact, that physical wounds healed (some flawlessly), but emotional and psychological injuries rarely closed and always left ugly scars.
And then in occurred to him that, yes, there was nothing he could say…but there was someone who could. He knelt down beside her, taking her hands in his.
"Please, allow me to pray for you." He said.
"Pray…" She trailed of in shock at the perceptiveness of the gesture; naturally, she was familiar with prayer---they had many gods and goddesses and many looked over exclusively the men and women of combat…people like her who might not see another sunrise or set.
"Yes." He replied with a warm smile.
She nodded weakly, leaning against him slightly for support as he spoke.
"Our Father who art in Heaven, praise be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done here on Earth as in Heaven. Lord, I pray you would send comfort for this young woman. She is lost, Lord, and needs Your guidance. Allow her to forgive herself and to forgive those who have so grievously trespassed against her as You forgive those who trespass against You. In the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen."
"I've never heard it put that way." She whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You haven't?" He asked, slightly concerned.
But he thought better than to speak of religion at the moment; she had grown in a society and culture radically different from that of his own. There would be time for her to learn their ways, if she so chose, and to assimilate their teachings. But, as someone had so brilliantly quoted several centuries prior to Armageddon, "So many people are busy dialing four-one-one that they forget to respond to nine-one-one".
"I'm sorry…I'm so tired…" She mumbled vaguely.
"Don't be." He smiled, helping her lie down beside the fire, his jacket wholly covering her tiny frame.
He wondered away only briefly to find more logs and to make his reports back to Kate, aboard the Iron Maiden, now on route to rendezvous with them. And he always kept her in his sights, able to pin his eyes to her in an instant.
With a faint sigh, he flicked the radio receiver to 'on'. Naturally, Kate responded immediately.
"Status?"
"With respect to the mission, well."
"What's wrong?" Kate asked, her voice softening.
"We were too late, Kate…there was only one survivor." He sighed.
"The odds were never good, Father." Kate replied.
"That maybe true, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if we'd been a few hours earlier."
"We can't dwell in the past, Father."
He sighed; she was right, no matter how much he wanted to refute the claim.
"Would you patch me through to Caterina?" He finally asked.
"Certainly."
Her voice was replaced with a static hiss and a moment later, Caterina's voice filled the earpiece.
"Abel? What seems so urgent?" She asked.
"There was only one survivor." He replied.
"Unfortunate." She sighed in the same monotone that she frequently used when it was necessary to suppress her emotion for the sake of their mission…for the sake of possible peace between the races. "Return immediately to the Vatican with her. She can decide her own fate at a later time."
"Sister Kate is already on route." He assured her.
"Good." Caterina replied as she fell off the link.
Abel sighed privately as he pulled the earpiece off and slipped it back into his shirt.
His eyes flickered to her and he wondered how she had survived. She seemed so small and fragile, but knew the opposite must be true if she had lasted so long in the carnage.
But God worked in mysterious ways.
It was the thunderous roar of the airship that woke her; instinctively, she scrambled to her feet, chakra coursing into her fist as she eyes the behemoth. It was almost as massive as the floating city, last lineage of the Cloud nin.
"It's alright." Abel assured her, his hand coming across her shoulder.
"What is it?" She demanded.
"Um…well, it would be your equivalent to a commanding unit in an attack. That is our battle ship, Iron Maiden." He replied uncertainly.
Sakura stumbled back, bumping into him as it descended and a platform was lowered.
"I promise you're safe with me." He told her, stooping slightly to her meet her emerald green eyes.
She didn't know why, but she trusted him…she had trusted him from the moment his eyes had met her own…trusted him from the second he ordered the vampires away from her…from the moment his gun had been leveled in her defense…
She nodded, letting him help her onto the platform.
As it pulled up from the ground, she saw Konoha---but it wasn't a prospering village anymore…it was a dead, hollow husk, burned from the inside out. She knew, also, that the other nations hadn't survived…because she had heard their screams over the radio that had been in her ear. It was shortly before she saw Shizune die that she ripped it off, unable to take the vicarious torture.
"Good-bye." She whispered, tears streaming down her face.
Abel's hand came across her shoulder, squeezing slightly as he said a silent prayer for their souls.
And with that, they ascended into the belly of the ship. The thin light of light died away as the airlocks activated and Sakura stepped off.
"Father Nighroad." The acknowledgement accompanied the appearance of an attractive strawberry blonde from thin air…and who was about as solid as thin air itself.
Sakura's training kicked in instantly, her hands flying up in a release seal, "Kai!"
"Wait!" Abel cried, moving between them, "I probably should have mentioned that Kate is a hologram…a picture made of light and color." His hands came up in a gesture of placation, his smile sheepish.
"A…hologram…" Sakura trailed off with a sigh…she obviously had a lot to learn.
"Father Nightroad, what are our current plans for her?" Kate asked.
Sakura hissed to herself privately; she wasn't a child and if Sister Kate had a question about her, it should have been directed at her.
It wasn't until her other persona kicked (literally) some sense into her head that she realized Kate was likely trying to be kind: she probably saw a traumatized girl, not a warrior when she glanced at Sakura---she didn't imagined the oversized clothing Abel provided (kindly, of course; she was far from complaining, only stating facts) helped her overall appearance.
"I don't know, Sister." Abel responded, turning his blue eyes onto Sakura, "But I think she might have an idea."
Sakura smiled, grateful for his perceptiveness.
"I'm a fighter." She replied simply.
"Good." Abel said.
"What does she know of the church policies?" Kate asked.
Abel visibly blanched, coughing uncomfortably into his fist as he mumbled something, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose.
"I'm sorry, Father, what was that?" Kate replied dangerously.
"Um…well, you see…she had…uh, well…no formal knowledge or training…of any kind…"
Kate sighed, turning to Sakura and demanding to know how determined she was.
Sakura's instincts, beat down by the trauma of the last few hours, rose to the surface. There was one thing the kunoichi couldn't overlook: a challenge. It was that will that kept her alive since Sasuke and Naruto had both left her and Kakashi had forgotten her…only this time, they weren't coming home. She knew that…and some very tiny portion of her even accepted it---after all, how many comrades had she seen die before her eyes before the vampires ever got there?
And this was survival: she clung to the first semblance of normalcy that she came across---the potential for a life of combat…the only life she knew. And, selfishly, she clung to Abel, who reminded her of several people…though she couldn't remember who, because she didn't want to…it was still too painful, the wounds were still too fresh.
"More determined than you will ever be." She replied.
Kate, surprisingly, took no offense to this, but smirked knowingly as she began to pull up screens around the kunoichi.
"Memorize it. All of it." Kate stated simply, motioning for Abel to sit down beside her and coach her.
Abel watched in a mixture of amazement in horror and astonishment as Sakura worked her way through the texts, each imprinting itself firmly in the bedrock of her mind.
It wasn't even the ability itself he found as amazing as her ability to perform it: She had just lost everything she had ever known and loved, and yet she was memorizing ancient texts and learning passages in a language she didn't even know had existed until ten minutes earlier.
Then again, people did odd things when they were hurt so badly and so unexpectedly; he himself had mourned the death of his lover for more than nine hundred years before going briefly insane and then snapping back to himself.
But the river of denial flowed deep, and it seemed especially profound in her…in the way she shifted between inconsolable and completely fine, given he knew nothing about her outside of the situation.
"Uh…Sakura?" He began hesitantly.
Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had just been brought back from something unpleasant. Her head turned slowly to him, her eyes still on the screens even if it was plain that she wasn't paying attention for the moment.
"Yes?"
"I…uh…never mind. I'm sorry to have interrupted you." He replied, deciding better than to say anything for the moment.
She nodded, looking rather…disappointed? He really couldn't tell…
"Master…"
She blushed, realizing exactly what she had just said.
Abel blanched visibly, but nodded for her to continue.
"I meant…would you be my new sensei…uh…teacher?"
She knew she was being selfish again, clinging to the first person whom resembled the loved ones she had lost…but she knew she needed to…for her sanity's sake.
"If you would have me." He smiled back.
She smiled back, a tear running down her face; she couldn't help but feel she was betraying those she lost by moving so quickly to another.
'Shut up. This is necessary and we both know it.'
Sakura growled, suppressing the desire to drown out her split persona.
'Don't even start with me, Girly. We both know who would win.' Her inner self snapped.
Sakura sighed, silently agreeing with herself, in an odd way.
'I'll help you…' Her inner self trailed off suddenly, 'but I can't forever.'
"I know." Sakura whispered.
Abel's deep blue eyes softened at that and she wondered if he knew what she was thinking.
She fell asleep sometime around midnight in front of the holographic screens, Latin running through her head for a short time.
But only for a very short time…
The fire cleared to reveal the bloodless face and white, dead eyes of Sasuke. He moaned something guttural as he grabbed her wrist and yanked her close, her back to his chest, his cold tongue running across the curve of her neck.
"You left us."
She could just see him smirking in her mind, his tongue running along his lips in a sick rendition of Orochimaru.
"No!" She screamed, writhing weakly.
"Now you'll have to pay…in blood."
She felt his fangs prickle along her neck and she screamed.
Sakura bolted up, cold sweat dripping from her face and chest, the bitter cry still lodged in throat. Her breath came in ragged sobs more than gasps and she buried her head in her arms to stifle the sound.
For a moment, she just panted to regain her breath. But after that, she rose and walked past the screens to the single window overlooking the nocturnal forest below them.
Something flickered vaguely below them and she stumbled back from the sudden flash of brilliant blue light, pulsing in electrical waves.
"Sasuke!" She cried, pressing herself flush against the glass.
Then she turned, her back to the panel and she took a deep breath---he was dead.
"I'm going crazy…" She said mildly, massaging her temple.
She screamed as a hand came across her arm.
Abel stumbled back, tripping over a piece of equipment as he did. Sakura cried out again in surprise, trying to catch his arm. But he outweighed her by at least twice her own body weight and simply dragged her down on top of him.
"I'm sorry!" She cried out.
"It's no problem." He assured her as he tried to rise. In the end, it resulted in her legs slipping along one either side of his lean frame.
"FATHER!"
Sakura yelped at the sudden appearance of a furious Kate, whose eyes were literally burning with lethal intent as she stared down Abel.
"Sister Kate! This isn't what it looks like!" He yelled back defensively.
"Of course it isn't, you bumbling idiot!" She shrieked back as Sakura scrambled up.
Her gaze shifted back to the window and her mind wandered, catching bits of Kate's lecture ("immature pervert", "she may not know better but you do", "idiot" and the like).
She wondered, just vaguely, if anyone else had managed to survive…there were others stronger than she was in the village and even on her own squad…maybe…
She shook her head furiously, clearing the thoughts from her mind.
Sakura knew they had reached Rome in the morning from the sheer look of relief on everyone's face; they had made it home…
Home…
"Miss Sakura, perhaps you should clean up." Abel suggested gently from beside her.
"Agreed." Kate replied over the static that accompanied her usual surprise entrance.
Sakura nodded, allowing Kate to show her to the bathroom where someone had already laid out an outfit: a white, long sleeved top that fell to her mid-thigh and black pants with heels.
She showered quickly, rinsing her hair more than washing it before she dressed. She just left her limp pink hair down, deciding it wasn't worth it to tie back.
By the time she had returned, Kate was directing Abel to one of the lifts. She just motioned for Sakura to follow.
The kunoichi complied, standing next to Abel and gripping his sleeve for support as the lift jarred momentarily before leveling off and down.
It hit solid ground within a few seconds and Abel helped her over the rail, catching her as she tripped in the heels.
"Now, there's only one person you need to worry about: Caterina." He told her as she dusted herself off.
She nodded; working with powerful women was her specialty.
Abel flashed his badge as they passed security, assuring them she was his guest as he did.
As they walked, he briefed her as best he could, stopping several dozen halls down in front of a massive set of double doors.
"Are you ready?" He asked, "You are absolutely sure this is what you want?"
Sakura nodded---a life of fighting was what she had been born and bred for. She didn't regret it or harbor any bitterness towards it, but a life of combat was all she could imagine.
He nodded, sadly almost, as he opened the doors.
"Ah, Abel." Caterina stated, her eyes flickering briefly to Sakura.
"Caterina." He smiled.
"I see you brought a guest."
He just kept on smiling.
Sakura, looking at them, immediately felt like she was intruding on something private. But just as quickly, their knowing gazes broke apart and reality seemed to catch up with them.
"Abel, I received your written brief last night." She began, her eyes on Sakura, "However, I think it would be prudent if I spoke to her alone."
Abel nodded, exiting the room without so much as a backwards glance.
Sakura watched him leave, swallowing hard as she turned to Caterina.
"It's my understanding that you were the only survivor."
Sakura replied, "To my knowledge."
Caterina clicked her tongue in sympathy, "And what do you want from us?"
"I want to fight back."
"That's not my organization's only intention."
"I never said that was my only skill."
Caterina smiled in approval, her blue eyes glittering knowingly.
"And do you believe in God?"
Sakura hesitated. Did she? She had once believed in many gods and goddesses…but they seemed to die back in Konoha with everything else she knew. Did she believe? She wanted to; the idea was appealing to her---forgiveness for her wrongs, justification for her rights…salvation for her lost loved ones and the potential to one day be reunited with them.
"Yes." She finally said.
Caterina ignored the momentary indecision and simply looked at her for what seemed like an eternity.
"You seem sincere." The Duchess Milan replied.
"I am." Sakura assured her.
"Then let me issue this last warning: we will push you hard."
Sakura smiled at the woman so like Tsunade, at the memory of her former mentor, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Then welcome to the AX."
Caterina sat in office shortly after Sakura's departure, sipping at her tea.
She had never promoted someone so quickly; but the girl seemed sincere and there was something in her eyes that Caterina instantly liked: an unwavering inner strength and tremendous potential. There was no hate for the incident that had brought her to them, only a desire for an explanation, if the Duchess had gauged her right.
Besides, a certain silver-haired priest needed a new partner since the promotion of his former, red-headed nun.
It wasn't until she was walking down the marble adorned hallways and found herself horribly lost that the shock of the events of the previous twenty-something hours hit her.
Hard.
The resulting dizziness forced her against a marble statue for support, her hand clamped over her mouth as tears poured from her eyes. Violent sobs racked her body.
It was all gone…all of it…for good.
"What do we have here?!"
The shock of the intrusive voice momentarily pulled her from her sorrow and she jerked up, ready for a fight---she didn't know why, even. It wasn't in the least hostile: a bit older than Abel, his hand around a cane that he didn't seem to need, a pipe in his free hand.
"Ah! The new girl!" He stated, more to himself that her, it seemed.
She nodded, unsure of what else to do with that statement.
"Father William! Do not antagonize the poor child!"
He stumbled back from the hologram that suddenly materialized beside him, her fists balled at her sides.
"I'm doing no such thing." He replied.
Kate proceeded to give him a short, to the point, but fairly blunt lecture on the need for good etiquette and manners and the importance of not startling females who had already had a bad day. He even tried to defend himself for the first few sentences, but when it became clear Kate would simply drown him out with her own voice, he shut up, nodding in placation.
"Are you alright?" Kate asked, peering down at her as she finished the speech.
Sakura mumbled over her hand, again fixed over her mouth.
"What was that?" Kate asked, leaning down to better hear her.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Sakura replied.
"Oh!" Kate gasped, "Follow me."
Kate stood patiently outside of the door, listening to the girl's violent retching for some time. She was just starting to get genuinely worried when she heard the faucet in the bathroom twist one. Water ran for a time while, Kate assumed, she cleaned herself up. But when she still didn't emerge, Kate considered getting help.
After all, she was just a bunch of colorful photons with a human brain and spirit behind them. But if the girl really was in trouble, she wouldn't be able to do much than get more corporeal help.
"Sister Kate, may I inquire as to your current position? Today's agenda indicates you should be aboard Iron Maiden making necessary adjustments to the guidance systems."
Kate's initial annoyance with him quickly dissolved when she saw him.
"Father Tres!" She cried.
"Affirmative." He replied.
"Would you check on the girl in there?" She asked.
"Affirmative." He responded, pushing open the bathroom door, ignoring the gender designation sign. After all, he was a bunch of machinery pieced together with some organic tissue, he reasoned.
He emerged a moment later, supporting the sweaty and pale girl with one arm.
"Is she alright?" Kate asked.
"Lack of caloric intake combines with elevates levels of stress have resulted in a weakened system."
Kate sighed to herself, translating his words back into simple English: She was sick from stress.
"Recommended course of action entails rest and the intake of calories."
Kate was just about to respond when Abel interrupted her, appearing from behind them and asking what had happened.
"She isn't feeling well." Kate replied before Tres could go on a ten minute, analytical tirade.
"I am preparing to return her to her quarters." Tres added.
"Can I be of assistance?" Abel asked with his usual goofy grin.
"Yes. Please have some food brought up to her." Kate replied.
"Very well, then." Abel said, turning down the hall as Tres walked up the opposite side and Kate disappeared back into cyberspace.
She was awake, sitting up in her bed, when he came in carrying a tray of food…simple fare of bread, cheese, fruit, and milk. And she ate methodically as he watched.
She reminded him so much of himself, shortly after Lilith died; when he had locked himself in her tomb for almost a millennia, refusing himself food, water, and sleep and sustaining off the energy of the nano machines in his blood. He had nearly killed himself and it was only because of a band of marauding Methuselah that he survived.
True, he had taken in their blood to quench his thirst but he felt nothing as he did. It was simply automatic…simply numb. And it had been years since then until he allotted himself enjoyment in simple thinks like eating and drinking, hence, comically, his constant lack of funds.
But he had only lost one person…and he had time still to reconcile his sins and repent. But she had lost everything she had known…and her kind did age and die quickly, as Asta had once said.
"Master…"
"Yes?"
"Why did you save me?"
He smiled, "Because you have a friend in me."
Her head snapped up, her eyes finding his, widening at the truth behind his, tears running down her face.
'So much like…like Naruto…'
TBC
