Dark Play (a Naruto Fanfiction) by Seth's Kiss:

A/N: Hello again! Sorry it took so long but like I said, updates will be irregular, yet I shall try to post a new chapter within every month that has 31 days (it follows the plot for this fic but I won't say more), maybe even two chapters if we're lucky. That aside, I'm honestly and genuinely astonished by how many of you actually chose to read this fic, when I had only posted the prologue! I logged in a month after uploading it and was all like 'WHOA, THAT MUCH?!' Thank you to everyone, to those who've followed (more than 15 Follows, WOW!), to those who've read and to those who've put this on their favourites! In addition, a very big thanks to Octohoney (my very first reviewer) and Jourdana (my second reviewer)! Thank you guys! Please do enjoy the update everyone! On a personal note, I wrote most of this chapter with the Dead Silence music theme. It was chilling enough...


Responding to your reviews:

To Jourdana: Hello and thank you for your review! Fact is, your review gave me the boost necessary to finish this chapter (when I was moping before that, given that my laptop died, again)! Thanks a million! I'm so happy that you found a fic to your liking and I sincerely hope you'll enjoy the rest of it! Ah, and as for the brothers' relationship, there is actually a reason and a purpose behind it, which will be explained later. Hope to hear from you again!


Chapter 1: It Begins:

Cooped up within the warmth of her sofa and huddled between its large cushions, along with a thick blanket upon her knees, Sakura flipped through the late evening channels with the remote in one hand, whilst she had the other digging her spoon in the ice-cream crammed carton rested upon her lap, readying herself for another mouthful of swirled toffee and vanilla.

While leisurely savouring its flavour and letting it melt upon her tongue, she kept the spoon in her mouth, freeing her hand to readjust her reverberant glasses as she stared attentively at the TV, having halted her scouting upon stumbling on an interesting movie scene.

The young woman had never been quite fond of romantic films, however, were she to stumble upon them, she just couldn't help herself from watching, curiosity tempting her, envy burning at her. For though she had told Ino that love wasn't meant for her, there were times where she did long to have someone she could call her own, someone she could love unconditionally.

Whereas most of her surroundings were quick to fuel their love-life ever since she was in middle-school, Sakura was nose deep in her studies, turning down those who tried to get close to her, shying away from relationships and friendships. She would have actually been majorly friendless if it wasn't for Ino, Hinata, Neji, Lee and Naruto all butting in her life at some point and staunchly proclaiming themselves as her friends, not once taking no for an answer.

And she truly adored them for that, for given those five's status back at school so worlds apart from hers - back then, Ino Yamanaka was studious but also the head of the cheerleaders' squad; Naruto Uzumaki and Lee Rock were both amazing athletes, the first excelling in basketball and the latter in all sports but that; Neji Hyuuga and Hinata Hyuuga, because of their striking features were respectively known as the 'Stern Prince' and the 'Shy Princess' of their school, the five of them together adored and envied by all - were they anybody else, they wouldn't have ever bothered with her.

That aside, now that she was twenty-four, she regretted having rejected all those confessions she ever received, because when lost in the world of adults, being alone wasn't favourable.

Sakura didn't consider herself to be overly attractive, but between the stares she got outside and the flirting she received at work; she supposed that she did appeal...albeit it coming from the most peculiar type of men, some of them being way too insistent or far too pushy for her taste.

It was at times like this that one of her five friends, Neji, Hinata's older cousin, came into play, posing as her boyfriend. Given that he lived not far from where she worked, all she had to do was send him an 'SOS' text and, whether it was to accompany her home or stay by her side he would come straight over, until others got the hint. And given the fact that he was extremely talented at acting, everyone was convinced, not once noticing that he was gay.

A smile came to her lips as Sakura recalled when she had admitted to Hinata that she found her cousin cute, only for the one in question to overhear it before playfully making her realize that no girl ever stood a chance in attempting to woe him.

Ah. Her and her luck with men.

Brushing that last quite depressing thought aside, she turned her attention back to the TV screen and watched as the couple in the movie spoke sweet words to each other, with their foreheads leaned one against the other, before the guy tucked behind the girl's ear stray stands the gentle breeze blew around. Sakura blushed dimly as envious longing prickled at her again.

As she was rather raptly absorbed in the movie, she didn't notice, nor did she hear, nor did she even sense, the two figures enshrouded within the firm darkness, easily walking down the hall located behind her, making their way after entry, moving soundlessly like shadows, eyeing her with scrutiny as they went.

The only one to actually be aware of them was the young pink-haired's pet cat - a beautiful golden-eyed Burmese - curiously regarding the strangers that roamed through his mistress' home and letting out an inquiring mew, drawing the attention of the ones it was addressed to.

One of the figures then silently bent down to let a sole dark leather-gloved hand scratch gently behind the cat's ears, the little feline showing its appreciation by purring happily and rubbing itself against the person's black clad leg, whilst mewing again a little louder.

And, this time, it was loud enough for Sakura to hear and frown faintly, putting the television on mute as she called out softly: "Mittens (1)? What's wrong, honey?"

Being met with stagnated silence had never felt so unsettling to her as the cat didn't reply, which instantly set her on edge, for Mittens was a fairly loquacious cat, always answering present when called upon. And going quiet like that all of a sudden...

Whipping off her eyeglasses and throwing them on the coffee-table along with the ice-cream, the young woman got to her feet at once, sliding them in her furry white slippers, and rushed out to the hallway, peering around before clicking her tongue softly: "Mittens?"

Still no reply.

Her frown deepened as she padded mutely through the hall, heading in the direction she believed she had heard her pet cat mew, somewhere near the entrance door, when a series of shivers ran down her spine as an abrupt and rather glacial chill surrounded her, despite the heated temperature the house was kept under, given the winter season.

Wrapping her arms around her not so warmly dressed body - for she wore only a long-sleeved oversized beige jumper over a pair of knee-length dark grey stockings - Sakura's wide green eyes flitted over her shoulder towards the window at the other end of the hallway, only to see that it was wide open, allowing the draughtiness to freely make its way in.

Blinking in puzzlement, she hesitantly made her way over to the opposite side of the hall, and then, setting her hands on the windowpane, she peered out vigilantly, and yet was met with nothing but the darkness of the forest, the sounds of the night and the coldness of the air.

Shaking her head and drawing back inside, Sakura swiftly closed the window, turning the knob to lock it, before she thoughtfully tapped at one of the panes of glass with manicured silver-polished fingernails.

"I don't remember leaving this open" she uttered quietly to herself, frown still in place as she tilted her head contemplatively "Odd. Maybe the wind."

There was a rather pregnant pause in her every movement when she took note that, no, there was no wind in the dark cold night air outside. Not even the whisper of a breeze.

And it couldn't have been Mittens either, unless he somehow recently found a way to unlock the knob to a window.

She jumped out of her skin when the lights abruptly went out, leaving her almost completely in the dark if weren't for the moonlight beaming its way in, lightening up the now mostly black hallway of the lightless house.

The young pink-haired woman remained still and silent whilst her heart, due to the sudden startle, thumped so wildly within her ribcage, resounding out so loudly that it was the only thing she could hear, whereas her mind was racing with a thousand thoughts.

Once again, it couldn't have been the wind as it was nought. And the little village further downwards had its own source of endless electricity, so shortages were rare, nigh improbable.

Trembling where she stood, Sakura's breath hitched sharply with fear, a sole shiver ran down her spine as she suddenly felt a strong ominous foreboding gripping at her core, the kind of feeling that comes to one when they sense that they are no longer alone, that there is someone else, an unwanted presence beside theirs in their haven.

This, is exactly what crossed her mind upon the realization of the situation she was in: Sakura Haruno, age twenty-four and single, wasn't by herself anymore for this very night. There was someone else somewhere in her house. And she had locked them in with her.

Immediately pivoting where she stood, she ran down the wooden floor of the hall, aiming for the cupboard under the staircase that led to the upper floor. Reaching it, she pried it open and rummaged as quickly, and as quietly, as she could through it, squinting at the utter darkness whilst blindly seeking what she was searching for.

One of her hands then brushed against the object she was looking for so she swiftly pulled it towards her, only by doing so, the tug sent something metallic clattering loudly to the ground.

Horrified, Sakura stayed completely still, carefully listening around to see if the din hadn't alerted the notice of whoever was trespassing, only to be met with no noise at all, just silence.

Standing up upon shaky legs, the young woman cautiously made her way to the bottom of the staircase and, after a moment of hesitation, she slowly raised her head, her wide eyes riveted up at the dark up ahead, with the newly acquired object held out before her, clutched tightly within her white-knuckled hands.

The quiet was awful, unnerving, nerve-jangling, but she tentatively, with false bravado, called out clearly: "Who's there? I have a baseball bat! And I'm not afraid to use it!"

Sakura could have sworn she heard deep chuckling at her words, the sound echoing out as a pair, but as she looked round wildly and strained to listen, it was all eerily quiet again.

Swallowing hard as her searching eyes scanned around meticulously, anxiously, she spoke up again, this time with a faint tremor in her voice: "If there's no one real out there, then know that I do not have the emotional strength to deal with ghosts! So, GO AWAY!"

She was once again met with still silence, and she felt herself relax slightly. Maybe she was imagining things and just being excessively paranoid. Accumulated stress tended to do that, hence her break from work actually came at a perfect timing. So, the actual reality, apart from Mittens playing hide-and-seek, was that there was nothing wrong. Nothing wrong at all.

However, everything suddenly became horribly wrong the moment she completely let her guard down, her unyielding grip on the baseball bat slacking faintly, and it was more than enough for two sets of hands to take fully advantage of it, as they languidly emerged from the shadows behind her, sinisterly sprouting from each side, and soundlessly reaching out.

Sakura fearfully let out a shrill shriek that was swiftly stifled as she was grabbed all of a sudden from behind, a hand each firmly holding her wrists apart in the air, along with an arm wrapped strongly around her slender waist and the last hand clamping a piece of cloth firmly to her mouth. Whereas her makeshift weapon to fell to the floor, the young woman, panicked, desperately struggled to free herself from the unrelenting iron grip she was trapped in, kicking and twisting. It was in vain however. Her legs met only air and she just break free. Whomever it was that was holding her, were by far stronger than her.

Not only that, but there was an awfully unpleasant but powerful, suffocating smell weakening her, slowing her down, stinging her eyes, clouding her mind, the latter which barely managed to formulate the word 'chloroform' for her before her consciousness began fading away.

A slow, steady warm breath then touched her ear, sending tremors through her sagging body, before she even heard the voice: "Ghosts are nowhere near as worse as us. That's a promise."

To her however, it sounded more like a terrifying threat. And she hung upon that one thought as a firm world of darkness engulfed her and dragged her down and away into a deep slumber.

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Fair eyelashes fluttered faintly as awareness sluggishly crept its way within gem green eyes, before Sakura lazily took in her surroundings with her mind in slow motion, wondering how, when and where she had fallen asleep, her mind too fuzzy for her to recall anything as of yet.

As she sat up heavily and glanced around, she recognized that she was in her room, but there were two things that immediately struck her as odd.

The first was that it was abnormally dark: she couldn't handle sleeping in the dark ever since she was a kid, so she had a nice night lamp at her bedside that she ought to have switched on before falling asleep. The other thing was that she was still in her house clothes and that was something that didn't quite still well with her: no matter how exhausted she was, she would have changed into her night-clothes. What could have caused her to skip two of her most important habits?

It was then, that she all of a sudden became aware of the fact that there were total strangers right in her room, silently staring straight at her, causing her to go completely still with dread, as a recollection of what occurred prior to her having lost consciousness came to her.

Assessing them with wide scared eyes under the dim moonlight, she made out that they were two, quite similar in appearance and build, with one but a head shorter than the other. Their lustrous hair, just like their eyes, was dark black, clashing against pale skin, in addition to their clothes also being fully dyed in black (2).

In fact, upon first glance, they looked no different than twins dressed but slightly different (3), and yet, upon a closer look, one could tell that the taller one, with longer hair within a loose ponytail, was at least a few years older, shown by his mature features which contrasted with the other's boyish ones.

Though everything about them, from head to toe, clearly screamed out the word 'dangerous'.

As she continued to scrutinize them unblinkingly, remaining as immobile as she could out of fear that a mere motion on her part would be her last, the eldest's lips leisurely curved up into a smile that Sakura could only qualify as smoothly lethal, the danger lurking within hazed by his handsome features. However, his eyes, their eyes, two pairs of bottomless black orbs framed by thick dark eyeliner, held something that unsettled her even further than just their presence alone.

The taller of the two tilted his head faintly to the side as his smile widened slightly, before he spoke up, his voice deep, smooth, derisive, scathing, but also chillingly void: "Sleep well?"

"Who...Who are you?" attempted the young woman slowly in a soft whisper, not trusting her voice to raise higher than that in case it shook and gave out. She was scared enough and they could tell, but she still wished to hide exactly to which extent she was truly afraid.

"That's of very little importance" brushed off the young long-haired man with a casual wave, before he purred with an unnerving grin to his features "What's important, is that we really like your house."

Here, Sakura's brain came to a screeching halt, and she wasn't quite sure if it was because of his words or because of the tone within his voice, before she cleared her throat and worded out tensely: "My...house?"

"That's right. But since we'll be moving in, it'll be ours from then on" stated the eldest easily, using an eerily casual conversational tone, as if he were merely telling her of the weather "Do you understand, Haruno-san?"

She actually startled quite badly at that, her large green eyes going even wider: "How...? How do you know my name?"

"It's on your ID, duh" pointed out the youngest tersely with a flagrant roll of his eyes, and it nearly made her glare at him: he was making it look like he was dealing with an exceedingly dumb person. She may be slow sometimes, but she was not dumb and not stupid, far from it.

The eldest noticed the subtle and swift shift in her expression and that made his eyes light up for some reason as he shared a furtive glance with the other male, who soundlessly mirrored his interest, before they both smoothly schooled their features and the tallest spoke up again: "And according to your CV, you're a pre-med student, right?"

There was now an abrupt indescribable glint within those two's obscure obsidian eyes, a mean one, a dark one, which oddly appeared to coincide with her choice of career, and she couldn't help but shudder.

She took a while to reply as matter of fact, and when she did, her shaky voice was near silent: "Y...Yes."

The intruders maintained the suffocating silent staring for a while longer, before the younger of the two then feigned a soft expression, his wide smirk a dead giveaway to his insincerity: "Perhaps you can restore us to health then? We're very, very sick."

"O...Of course" stammered Sakura unsurely with a flustered frown, before slowly switching into medical mode before she realized it "What are you symptoms? Let me know so I can pinpoint your illness, and then administer the appropriate cure accordingly."

Silently, the two young men simultaneously arched an eyebrow each at her words, before they glanced at each other and grinned broadly, whilst regarding her out of the corner of their eyes, making her blink. It wasn't just in their looks, even their movements were flawlessly synched.

"Pinpoint our illness?" repeated the youngest with a mocking sneer and raised eyebrows, his expression causing Sakura deep discomfort all over again.

"And administer the appropriate cure, huh?" finished the eldest cynically while the other male shook his head and chuckled, before the taller of the two made a show of reflecting on the matter at hand "Hm...I suppose we should tell her. Don't you think so, Otouto?"

As his chuckles lessened, the younger of the two locked eyes with the other, and nodded once: "Yes, I believe so, Nii-sama."

Ah. So they were indeed related, two siblings, a big elder brother and a little younger brother.

"Alright then" conceded the elder brother with a lenient smile towards his sibling, before his expression darkened cruelly as he shifted his focus back towards the rigid young woman he was now slowly moving towards, speaking languidly as he went and pausing after every word "Listen very carefully, Haruno-san, since you were the one to ask. Our symptoms include: Insanity."

"Madness" carried on the other smoothly as he too gradually drew nearer to where she was shying away further up the bed, trying to maintain the distance they were attempting to close.

"Psychosis" declared the eldest as he swiftly took a firm, cruel hold of her ankle and managed to forcefully pull her back towards the edge of the bed, despite her struggles.

"Lunacy" uttered the youngest sibling while effortlessly blocking a stray yet well-aimed kick from Sakura directed towards his brother.

"Delirium" stated the taller one as he powerfully pinned the young woman's knees to the bed, utterly immune to her escalating distress.

"Hysteria" drawled out the youngest as he followed his brother's movements, quickly moving to get a vicious hold of her wrists, right as she began thrashing them defensively.

"Rage" worded the elder of the two as he bent over her form and tightened his grip upon her, drawing a small cry from her as she felt nails bite at her skin through his gloves and her tights.

"Malice" said the little brother as he locked eyes with his sibling, who merely smiled at him, before they both buried their faces within the crook of her neck, one on each side, whilst poor, petrified Sakura stared up wide-eyed at the ceiling, breathing and heartbeat erratic.

"Sadism" breathed out the tallest right against her ear, grinning manically as she shivered shakily, before he drew back a little and traced her jaw with his teeth, touching but not biting.

"Ruthlessness" smirked the younger brother as he nibbled at the young woman's earlobe, before he and his sibling abruptly pulled back, dragging her up with them into sitting positions, now framing her but no longer in contact with her, and yet, she dared not move.

"Depravity" added the eldest of the two sadistically as he slowly let his eyes roam over her suggestively, before speaking up again, smirking as she shuddered, visibly catching on "Also, we're..."

"Out of control and..." continued the younger brother impeccably, as if instinctively reading his relative's mind, whilst he drew faintly closer as if inspecting her with scrutiny, while she in turn merely remained stock-still, not even having the nerve to glance at him.

"...Completely out of our minds" completed the other with an intimidating sneer, his features contorting faintly and giving him the appearance of a dangerous predator ready to pounce.

"So tell us, Haruno-san, do you really...?" began the short-haired sibling as he titled his head slightly, his dark unblinking eyes never leaving her unhealthily pale, frightened face.

"Have what it takes...?" went on the long-haired brother with a broad, condescending smirk.

"...To cure us...?" they ended together, whilst raptly staring at her with conceit and contempt, a sole sceptical elegant eyebrow raised each.

Never had it been so hard for Sakura to breathe. She felt extremely close to hyperventilating, those two's words resonating stridently in her ears, all while smothering her, suffocating her. She could feel the abysmal 'symptoms' stifling her, permeating the air she drew in. She tasted their malevolent madness upon her lips and tongue, though they had yet to do anything to her.

She then abruptly realized what had bothered her within their darkened eyes: sheer dementia.

And for the first time in her whole life, she was unreservedly, utterly, purely, deeply terrified.

As she shook horribly, the siblings seemed to take deep delight in her fear as they fully pulled back, standing unhurriedly, with wide ominous smirks to their features as they looked down at her with dark crazed eyes, whereas the eldest lazily raised his eyebrows, and worded in a chilling whisper: "Feel free to flee."

Sakura didn't need to be told twice. Flinging herself off the bed and hastily getting to her feet, she ran like never before, dashing away as fast as she could, like she was fleeing a fire, like she was avoiding the plague, like she was running from a hurricane, like she was escaping from the worst of dangers ever faced.

Only, the younger brother was hot on her heels, a broad, terrifyingly psychotic grin upon his expression as he chased after her.

She let out a shrill scream when he almost caught her, his hand clawing out to grasp her, meeting the wall instead in the guise of a powerful punch as she threw herself out of his reach, gauchely catching herself just in time right as she nearly stumbled into the stairwell, before then making her way downstairs hurriedly.

Descending them three by three as quickly as she could, Sakura didn't have time to glance behind her and, when she finally was at the end of the stairs, she abruptly let out a sharp cry as she felt something painfully piercing the flesh of her calf, the sudden impact sending her crashing to the floor in a graceless heap.

Out of breath as she forced herself up, she swiftly looked down at her leg and saw a medium, but rather sharp-looking dagger, embedded deep within her limb.

Green eyes widening, she stretched out a rickety hand to retrieve it, wincing at she pulled it out with shaking difficulty, before then getting to her feet again and sprinting off, just as her pursuer got to the last step of the stairs, sharp black eyes riveted onto her faintly limping form.

Agony running throughout her leg as she propelled herself forward, Sakura breathed hard as she directed herself towards the kitchen, clutching the dagger tightly in her hands, hoping to defend herself with it, if ever push came to shove.

Skidding to a halt at the back of the counter and crouching behind it, the young woman tried to keep quiet by biting her lip hard, while tightly closing her eyes and leaning her head against the kitchen's stand.

Why, oh, why was this happening to her? How could this be happening at all? These sort of eerie events are supposed to occur majorly in thriller movies, right? And even if they were to happen in real life, there were plenty other people in the world to whom it could happen to, no? She wasn't actually wishing this upon others, but why did she have to be included within those unlikely of odds? This just couldn't be real. It wasn't...

Her breathing stilled when the soft sound of impatient leather-clad fingers tapping abruptly reached her ears, as they galloped upon the marble surface of the counter. She hadn't heard anything at all until that one noise, given the trespassers were able to move about like ghosts.

The very realization that her pursuer was in fact standing right on the other side of the kitchen stand shielding her from him, sent a chill right down to her core. All it would take, would be for him to peer over the surface, and he would find her.

Her fingers tightened around the dagger without her realizing it, as sudden grit temporarily over clouded her fear. She had to fight, to protect herself. She was weaker, true, but with the element of surprise, maybe, just maybe...

Taking in a profound, soundless inspiration, the young woman flung herself into a standing position, dagger armed and ready to strike as she stood facing the other side of the counter.

Only, there was no one there.

Wide eyes scouted their surroundings carefully, meticulously, as anxiety and bewilderment had her heart thumping and her mind racing at an alarming rate.

Sakura hadn't imagined that noise, and she could have sworn that she did feel someone's presence mere moments ago, so where...?

She screamed when, all of a sudden, a cold leather-gloved hand seized the back of her neck and slammed her hard against the surface of the counter, the violent impact cutting off her breath and causing the dagger to slip right out of her hand, before it clattered noisily to the ground.

Sakura let out a distressed whimper when the other laid down his whole weight upon her, pinning her firmly to the kitchen stand and leaving no room for her to break free. She once again took note that her opponent was far superior in strength than her, so struggling was in vain. It wasn't that she was giving up, no. After fervidly attempting to wriggle free, she could tell that she was going absolutely nowhere.

A steady, warm breath touched her ear, the chillingly, dark voice that followed sending goose bumps all over her skin: "You wanted to use my own dagger against me? How dare you."

Sakura, petrified, didn't answer. What could she have said? Besides the fact that her aggressor was making it sound like she was the one at fault here. Though she didn't word, dreading what it would unleash.

The hand upon her neck shifted upwards to her long pink hair and, grabbing it in a firm grip, tilted her head fully to a side, until one of her cheeks rested upon the cool marble surface of the kitchen counter, and the other was left exposed to something rather hefty and serrated.

Utterly horrified, the young woman choked on her breath as she recognized that the younger intruder was holding one of her kitchen's own knives directly to her face, while he smirked dementedly at her: "How about I used one of your own knives against you, hm? Carve that pretty skin of yours? What do you think, Haruno-san?"

Terror turning all thought incoherent, apart from the one fact that she had to save herself now, Sakura acted on sheer impulse, kicking out blindly as hard as she could, and, luckily enough, landing her hit straight upon the other's shin.

As soon as she heard him hiss out in pain and felt his hold on her relinquish faintly, she took it as her cue to promptly send her head reeling backwards, knocking it against his with a loud resounding crack, leading him to crash to the ground with a thud, groaning.

Stars of all sizes permeated her vision as agony swam around from within her skull, but she forcefully shook it away as she staggered out of the kitchen, one thing on her throbbing mind.

This was far beyond her. Sakura could somewhat defend herself, but not in any case win, that much was transparently clear. Therefore, she had only two options now: either to get out and run, or to hide somewhere and call for help. Meaning that she needed to get her keys and reach the door before the other caught her, or to get to a phone.

Right now, she had no idea where her mobile phone was and as for the telephone, with the electricity gone, it was utterly useless to her, thus leaving her with the other option.

Leaning against the corridor wall for support, the young woman painfully made her way to the front door, putting as much speed as she could allow herself to in her step. As she finally managed to reach it, she set her unsteady hand upon the handle to open it, only to blink in utter confusion when the door remained closed. It was locked? But, why...?

Oh, right. Given that she was still somewhat dazed, it had slipped her mind that she had to unlock it first. And in order to do that, she needed the keys.

Sakura stared numbly at the unoccupied lock, before her eyes flitted searchingly to the floor, panic slowly arising again. Where were the keys?

"Looking for this?" called out a deep, smooth voice scathingly, causing her to swirl around faster than she should have, her vision blurring again.

Shaking herself back to focus, the young woman peered through the darkness of the hallway, making out the outline of someone gradually walking towards her, whilst twirling something shiny around his finger, each spin making a jingling sound.

As he drew closer and became visible, Sakura felt her insides grow frighteningly cold. She had forgotten all about him. The older brother. And he was holding her keys.

She was very close to hyperventilating again, for she was officially a trapped mouse within her own her home as her golden cage, with two wolves blocking her only two exits from the corridor: the older brother was standing at the bottom of the staircase, and the younger one was surely still in the kitchen. Any room beyond that, obligatorily led to pass by the siblings.

The young woman, back to the door, shrank where she stood as the other carried on walking towards her, a derisive smirk to his lips, a terrible glint within his relentless, black eyes, until he closed the distance, now standing right in front of her, towering over, surrounding her, engulfing her in more darkness than the one of the night.

Devastated, she sank to the floor, head down, without realizing it, her legs giving in without her consent, yet no longer capable of supporting her upright, before she tentatively looked up at the other through her long pink bangs and, seeing that terrifying demented expression once more, she remained utterly rigid, far too afraid and exhausted to attempt anything anymore.

With excruciating slowness, he knelt next to her, holding out a gloved hand and using the back of it as to brush lightly against her cheek, chuckling when she tiredly but adamantly pulled away before any contact. He then touched her trembling jaw and trailed down her neck, her chest, her stomach, her thigh, before reaching her bleeding, injured calf and abruptly twisting his fingers sharply within the wound his brother's dagger had left earlier, eliciting a deafening cry of agony from her.

Shivering with glee at the sound, he smirked and leaned his face forward into hers, right after cupping her jaw again, not leaving her time or room to pull away: "You lose, Haruno-san."

Cruel cat catching her tongue, Sakura lost all capacity to even inquire on what the other meant, but before she managed to gather her bearings to ask, the younger sibling came storming towards them, an ominous expression to his features as he sent a murderous glare in the young woman's direction, causing her to recoil and quickly lower her eyes.

The eldest of the two stood up and appraised his sibling, frowning faintly at the sight of the other and questioning softly with concern: "What happened to your face?"

Though her earlier head-butting had missed his nose, it had still viciously caught the arcade of his right eyebrow as well as his right temple, rendering them both rather bloodied.

Narrowed black eyes softened as he locked them with his brother's, before they hardened again as he stared down with contempt at the young woman now curled up on herself, and whispered tetchily: "She has a little fight in her, and I wasn't expecting it."

"Oh? Kitty has claws then?" commented the eldest with honest surprise, an eyebrow raised, before a sinister smile split across his darkened features "Good to know."

"Hmpf" snorted the other, wearing a similar smile "So long as they're not sharp all the time."

Following those abstruse words, the younger brother suddenly lunged for Sakura and grabbed her violently by the hair again, making her scream both in pain and panic, before pulling her towards him, for momentum, and then mercilessly bashing her head first into the closest wall, hard, a loud crack echoing throughout the hall in the wake of the deed.

The blow was so excruciating, so overwhelming that she didn't even scream. It was as if her brain had underwent a system overload and was unable to transmit the necessary data to the rest of her senses. She briefly wondered if she had just summarized the definition of 'possible, if not permanent, brain damage'.

In the very few moments that followed, the young woman remained fairly disconnected, but still quite conscious enough to overhear the other two talk.

"Oh dear. That simply won't do" cooed sarcastically the perpetrator of her current condition as he roughly tilted her limp head backwards as to admire his handiwork, the large bleeding gash upon the far corner of her forehead "This needs to be taken care of quickly. Right, Haruno-san? Come along now then. Let's get that nasty wound disinfected, shall we?

Forcing her to feet by the unremitting grip he had upon her long pink locks, the younger brother unhurriedly hoisted her along with him, taking his sweet time, letting her stumble and sway, trip and topple, as they eventually made their way to one of the house's bathrooms - the one at the far end of the corridor on the same floor - all while the eldest followed, smirking.

Once inside the bathroom, the younger sibling allowed Sakura to slump sluggishly against him, as he pushed away the stray strands from her ashen face, loose from her ponytail long gone, while the eldest of the two moved towards the washbasin, opening the tap and clogging the drain.

Once the overflowing skin was gushing with water, the two held onto her, callously dragged her over to the basin and then, as they both knotted a fist each tightly within her hair, dumped her face first into the water.

Trepidation escalating to its highest peak, Sakura struggled to free herself, entering a panicked frenzy as she fought, twisting and turning under their steadfast hold, while forcing herself to recall not to inhale.

Licking at the exposed nape of her neck sadistically as she writhed, the younger brother let out a sinister, scorning laugh, taking immense, if not sickening, pleasure in her predicament, before he looked at his sibling and tilted his head with raised eyebrows: "Sanitized enough?"

Smirking loftily in turn, the eldest sibling offered smoothly: "Let's have a look, shall we?"

Pulling her out of the water and tossing her uncaringly to the ground, they stood over her and watched raptly as she choked and coughed viciously, expelling the very little but lethal liquid that she had accidently gulped.

She gasped out as the lower part of her face, jaw and cheeks, was brutishly grasped by a leather-gloved hand, the latter swiftly forcing her head upwards to meet the eldest sibling's scrutinizing gaze, as he roughly turned her face side to side as if inspecting her.

Too drained to resist, she let the other mishandle her while the younger brother leaned in, checking her forehead now cleared of bleeding, before he raised an eyebrow and worded casually, mockingly: "Looks all cleaned up to me. Excellent work, comrade doctor."

As the eldest chuckled at his brother's joking tone, the young woman pleadingly let out in a near quiet raspy whisper, her teeth clattering in exhaustion and with fear: "P-Pl-Please...Stop."

"Oh, what's wrong, honey?" sneered the youngest sibling scathingly, his features distorted under the unfocused blur of her vision, her conscious gradually slipping as she felt that she was about to pass out any second now "Tired? Already? Fuckin' pathetic."

"Be nice, dear" chided tenderly the older brother with no real reprimand in his tone, while Sakura noiselessly let herself slide to the floor, no longer even a quarter-awake "Just look at her. We keep this up, and we won't even get to play our full deck. I'd rather be satiated, neh?"

"Same" accepted the younger brother, wearing the same dark smile as his sibling, a smile filled with demented, sinful, vile intentions "It's been awhile since we've had such an exciting catch, so I guess you're right, Nii-sama."

Amused arrogance touched the tone of the eldest: "Aren't I always, Otouto?"

"Really not a single doubt there" chuckled the youngest in agreement, before he walked over and reached the not-so-awake girl in order to whisper ominously in her ear "Sweet dreams, Haruno-san. While you can still have them that is."

And the very last thing she heard before the nothingness utterly claimed her, was their joined, fully crazed laughter ringing darkly within her ears like an eerie elegy, dedicated just for her...

To be continued...


(1) My cat is called 'Mittens'. Don't judge me: I merely had no other ideas for the cat's name.

(2) Can you see it: Itachi in Shiki's full outfit, as in Shiki from Togainu No Chi? Faints into a pathetic heap, along with a profuse nosebleed, after Itachi then rids himself of the Shiki-coat...

(3) As for Sasuke, he's dressed in Mello's clothes (Mello from Death Note), only without the fur coat thing. I mean, Sasuke does have it too in this fic, but he is not wearing it in this scene.