Warnings: Assault, drug use
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Calm down," Kabuto offered a tentative smile, "Trust me. I learned my lesson last time." He absently rubbed his healed cheek. "You have some nasty strength for such a small girl."
Sakura relaxed the slightest bit, but didn't allow her guard to drop completely. After all, she knew intelligence when she saw it. This man wasn't to be underestimated. And despite his assurances, she was also quite aware of his habitual lurking. He appeared to keen on gathering information on everything and everyone. If she let anything slip, he would be the first to hear about it.
A bulky figure slammed drunkenly into Kabuto's back, sending him crashing into her. The water bottle dropped from her hand. Sakura cursed, wincing at the stinging in her back from where it slammed into the sticky bar counter.
Kabuto hovered over her, his glasses crooked. "What a jerk," he grunted, looking down at the pink haired woman. "Are you alright?" His gaze dropped to the leaking bottle. "I'm so sorry," he apologized immediately, "let me get you another drink."
"No, no that's fine," Sakura shook her head, "I don't need one."
"I insist," he implored, "as a replacement and apology for what happened last time. I shouldn't have crossed the line. It was unprofessional and arrogant."
Her heart softened a fraction, never one to hold a timeless grudge. Worrying her bottom lip, she looked back up at his earnest expression. "Well…," Sakura conceded the tiniest bit, chin dipping.
"Great," he sighed with relief, "I'll be right back." With that, Kabuto disappeared back into the crowd of people.
Sakura wasn't sure when, but the music had grown exponentially louder. More bodies were closing in around her, some trying to shove her aside while others laid hands where they really shouldn't. She elbowed a handful of "friendly hands" before Kabuto managed to struggle back to her. He was covered in sweat, most of which she guessed wasn't his own. The disarming smile he showed her was so different from their previous encounters that she wondered which one was the real him.
Either way, she would have to tell him this version was much more enjoyable. He held out a glass with bubbly gold liquid. "It's ginger ale," he shouted, barely loud enough to be heard over the music. "They're out of bottled water."
She nodded in understanding, sniffing the drink before taking a sip. Indeed, it was just ginger ale. Looking around the dark club, she wondered if Ino was still in there, or if she had already scampered off with some guy to a dark corner. Hopefully the former was truer than the latter.
A hand pressed against her lower back, coaxing her toward the edge of the dance floor. She gave Kabuto a questioning look and he leaned down again, lips hovering close to her skin again, "I figured you wouldn't want to suffocate."
Glancing at their former spot, she noticed that he was quite right. Hordes of people were now shoved against the counter, shouting their orders and flirting shamelessly. Smiling thankfully, Sakura allowed him to lead her further away from the crowd.
There were semi-circular pleather booths fit snugly into carved niches, darkly painted walls splattered with neon. Strobe lights flashed in and out, drawing characters and casting shadows across laughing and crying faces. Strangers were meeting for the night, finding heat in the shade. Smudged make-up and wild hair slapped Sakura in the face as they forced their way through thickly thronged halls perfumed with cheap cologne and rancid stomach acid. When he nudged her toward one of the discrete booths near the back, she gladly followed him. Anything would be better than hairspray stiff locks cutting her cheeks and barely veiled body odor.
With a relieved sigh, she sank down, taking another grateful drink from her glass. "Thanks," Sakura looked over at him, "for the drink and for getting me out of there."
Kabuto's shoulder shook with a laugh. "I didn't take you for a party girl," he remarked conversationally, sitting a polite distance away even in the intimate space, "so I was definitely surprised to find you here."
"Yeah," she sighed, watching her drink intently as it sweat. "My crazy best friend," her eyes rolled at the title, "thought I had to go out at least once before I graduated."
"Wait, you've never gone out?" The look he shot her was almost offensive, but she just giggled, feeling more relaxed.
"No, of course I've gone out before," Sakura traced the rim of her glass, taking another sip, "…just not like this. Parties and clubs aren't my scene."
"Says Miss-Protégé-of-Tsunade-sama herself," Kabuto teased.
Her smile was light, another laugh bubbling up. Yes, she must've juts overreacted that day in the hallway. After all, she hadn't slept for twenty-four hours. Anyone who got even a little forward would end up seeming like a threat. And perhaps she had gone too far with her uneasiness around him. Even Ino had noticed. Sakura brushed off the other girl's concern as she studied the friendly air around the young man. Surely they were both being too cynical.
So what if he had been showing up more recently? It wasn't so strange considering they did work in the same hospital and if Sakura remembered correctly, Tsunade was childhood friends with Orochimaru, which explained Kabuto's frequent appearances in their department.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
The question jerked her out of her contemplations. Blinking at him, she finished the last of her drink. "Why do you ask?"
Kabuto just smiled, eyes flashing in exasperation. "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"
Heat crept up her neck. "I don't, but I'm not interested in anyone," she shook her head. The air of comfort had rapidly dissipated, leaving her itching to get away again.
"Well, I'm interested," he was leaning toward her then, the once polite space separating them filled. His black clad thigh pressed against her bare one, a cool hand resting on her knee. Unlike the other people she had come across that night, when her nose caught his scent, a chill raced through her body.
He has no scent.
"I should probably go find my friends," Sakura scooted away, edging off the booth.
His hand shot up, clamping down on her arm. "We aren't done talking," Kabuto stated carefully, "The least you could do is hear me out, right? I haven't even told you what I'm interested in yet."
A part of her festered with guilt, but the other part was setting off warning sirens. The hand on her loosened slightly, coaxingly. Heaving a sigh, Sakura turned around to look at him. "Just another minute."
"Thank you," his shoulders lost some of their tension and he released her. "You have more potential than anyone I've ever met," he stated solidly, that clinical glint back in his eyes, "with your knowledge and aptitude, the impossible could become possible again."
Her vision blurred slightly, but she blinked it away, feeling surprisingly light headed. What was he going on about? Rubbing her eyes softly, she focused back on him, noticing that he was still talking. "What do you mean?" Impossible to possible…again?
"Children's stories are the most beautiful and the most terrifying, don't you agree?" His voice was too close then, a graze of lips against her jaw.
She pushed him back. "What are you going on about? Is this about my research again?"
"What else would it be about?" Kabuto laughed coarsely. His touch was bone-chilling as it rubbed circles into her arms. "I'm interested in your brain." Nevertheless, his inching hands rose higher, growing slower, intimate. Sakura tried to pull away again, but her body wasn't responding. "And so is Orochimaru-sama. With your work, we can achieve man's greatest dream."
She couldn't understand most of what he was blathering on about, but by the tone of his voice, she wouldn't like it. "Let go," Sakura yanked at her arms, feebly.
"Maybe you were expecting something else?" he leered, biting her neck lightly. "Our ride is on the way, but we have some time to kill. I wouldn't mind making the most of it."
Finally shoving away, she staggered, nearly falling over as she managed to escape the booth. The chunky heels Ino had lent her suddenly felt heavy and imbalanced. Confused, she grasped the wall for support, head spinning. Her mouth felt weird – as if it was moving too slowly to form words. Taking another step, her ankles shook, failing under her weight.
A strong, steady arm caught her before she could fall very far, and then another arm was hooking underneath her legs. "You're pretty naïve, Sakura," Kabuto murmured, playfully nipping the shell of her ear.
She flinched away, beginning to struggle against him frantically. Her voice caught, His grip simply tightened, carrying her into a back room, or at least, what looked like a back room.
Old furniture was stacked neatly against the walls and she felt herself being set down on a grimy couch as Kabuto slid the heavy metal doors shut, cutting off the strobe lights dancing down the hallway. A window behind her allowed some light from the night sky to leak in, but only enough to make out the shadowy form inching toward her.
"Why?" she managed, backing away from him.
"I didn't lie when I said you were cute," he mused, snatching her wrist and shoving her easily back down on the couch. "Besides, we'll be spending a lot of time together from now on. It's best if we become very well acquainted." He rolled the stretchy fabric of her top down, scarred, experimental hands groping her forcefully. "Mm," he licked up the column of her neck, "just as perky as they look."
Sakura gasped, writhing hysterically, knee jerking up. He pushed it aside, planting himself between her legs as he jerked the black material further down. A feral grin tipped his lips as he fingered the lace of her brassiere. "This is more feminine than I expected from you," he remarked casually.
Panic rise with adrenaline. "Get off!" She couldn't be sure how loud her voice actually was, but when her fist found a face, she knew there was still a chance. A grunt and then his hands were gone. Shoving him off, she kicked away the ridiculous shoes and backed up to the door, trying to figure out the locking mechanism blindly.
"Keep your hips parallel," he advised, lips hovering close to her skin, one arm gripping her waist as the other helped balance her raised leg. His hard body pressed to her backside like a sturdy wall.
Sakura nodded, fists tightening as she kept them close to her face.
"Relax your shoulders."
It was an unnatural shift as she realized that her shoulders were indeed bunched up. Carefully, she forced them down, wincing at the growing ache in them. Her center of gravity shifted and she wobbled.
Sasuke's arm tightened around her body, correcting her stance. "A proper roundhouse kick creates a straight line." He ran his hand up her thigh, over the curve of her hip, down the dip of her waist before pushing her shoulder blade gently down, improving her angle until she slanted at a near perfect 180 degrees, head hanging much lower than she had expected it to.
"Can you really keep your balance like this?" she prompted, wondering if the flush infecting her face was from his roaming hand or the fact that blood was flowing to her head, "Because I'm positive that if you let go of me right now, I'll topple over."
He scoffed, straightening her back up until both feet were firmly planted on the ground. Turning her around so they were facing each other, he pushed her shirt up. Obeying the silent order, Sakura gripped the edge of the cotton material, positive that her reddened face was not from the training.
"Tighten your abdomen."
Sucking in a sharp breath, she tensed, watching his calloused fingers press against the muscles of her stomach. Sakura silently reprimanded herself for letting butterflies distract her. Sasuke was being so serious and here she was losing her concentration because of some clinical prodding and poking.
Saying nothing, he continued his examination, hands shifting over to grasp her sides. The skin was soft under his touch and he smirked. Sakura blushed harder. "Hey! Stop making fun of me!" she huffed.
"You need stronger obliques to pull off a proper kick," he responded instead, thumbs rubbing affectionate circles into the tender skin. Fingertips brushed lightly over her ribs, teasing the edges of the sports bra. "Your core is good, though." Straightening up, he tugged her shirt back down.
A ripple of excitement rocked through her at the compliment. "Okay!"
The lesson seemed to cut its way through her dulled senses, reminding her that she could definitely get out of this situation. She just had to try. Muscles tensed, arms raised, she glared across the dark storage room to where Kabuto hovered in wait. Thudding music jarred her ribcage, but she ignored it, breathing harder as she blinked away the fatigue and numbness.
"You're a medic, Sakura," he pronounced, sounding slurred to her ears. "You should know what rohypnol can do once it starts circulating through your system. In a few minutes, you won't even remember your own name." His smile was even darker than the club on the other side of the door. "Just come with me calmly and we can forget about this." For now seemed to be the unspoken conclusion.
Calculating slower than she would've liked, her brain came to the conclusion that he was right. Anywhere from twenty to twenty-five minutes had passed since he got her that drink. However, the peak effectiveness wouldn't hit her for another hour and a half at the earliest.
She licked her lips, fists clenching. "Fuck…you." She spat, teeth grinding hard as she swung her leg around. Kabuto raised his hand lazily to block it. What she hoped was a smirk formed on her face as his eyes widened and the satisfying crack of contact floored him.
Falling backwards, she clambered back to her feet, shoving the door open with one last jerk. The force nearly had her rocking back again, but she pressed on before he could recover. The sound of his shouting followed her as she pushed through raging masses. Tangled bodies and flashing lights made her head spin more.
Exit…find an exit…
A bright red sign caught her eye and she blindly ran to it, pushing the door open. Fresh air slapped her senses awake and she breathed in deeply, stumbling through the dirty alley. Her bare feet traipsed clumsily through puddles of who-knew-what, but it didn't matter.
Get away…just get away…quickly…
Her knees buckled, palms scraping hard across asphalt as she tried to catch herself. Wincing, she crawled off to the side, gripping her bleeding knees as she tried to hush her breathing. The tin trash can she was pressed up against smelled deeply of vomit and sour alcohol, but neither of those things were as horrible as Kabuto finding her.
Scrambling for her phone, she quickly flipped it open, calling the first person that came to her increasingly hazy mind.
Only one face.
Only one voice could soothe her.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she listened to the dial tone.
"…Sakura." His deep drawl echoed through the device, broken by static but still so completely captivating.
A smile spread across her face, warmth flowering in her chest. The familiar weight of the charm against her hip drained the tension from her shoulders, reminding her that it was also still here. All of it was doused in icy realization though as she recalled what had just happened. Uncontrollable tears were leaking down her cheeks, quiet sobs slipping past the seam of her lips.
"Sakura, what's going on?"
She covered her mouth, suddenly feeling the urge to puke at the memory of vile hands grabbing at her. Pulling her knees closer, she buried her face against dirty thighs. "H-He was touching me, Sasuke-kun," her voice broke quietly, another quiet sob racking her frame. "I-I didn't want him to…he wasn't going to let me go." She shook her head, rubbing at her eyes.
"Who?"
It should've scared her. It would've scared everyone else. But all she felt was his protection – his warmth. Even from across the world, he could still make her feel safe. "Sorry…sorry…," she mumbled, sniffling. "The charges…they'll be high if we keep talking, right?" She was whispering again, leaning into the phone as if it might bring her closer to him.
"Tell me who touched you."
"Yakushi Kabuto," she whimpered, skin crawling at the very utterance, "he…he scares me. I don't want him near me, Sasuke-kun."
"Then come back to me."
Her eyes widened, heart stopping for a second. A sad smile crossed her lips. "You don't want me anymore," her voice sounded slow to her own ears, tone off somehow, "…I hurt you."
"…you're still hurting me."
She wiped her nose, growing sleepy. "How? You have all those pretty women around you…right? Ino tells me all the time how you're getting laid left and right," she wanted to laugh, but it only came out as a bitter sob. "I'm sorry...sorry for hurting you all the time," Sakura hiccupped, eyes falling shut, grip on the phone slipping.
"Dammit, Sakura, stop apologizing and just come back—"
"—Uchiha Sasuke-kun?"
The line stilled.
Kabuto stood over the unconscious girl, keeping a close eye on her as he waited for their pick-up. "This is Sakura's friend. I'll be sure to take care of her, so don't worry."
"Where is she?"
"Safe," he answered breezily, watching her chest rise and fall steadily. "Anyway, tell me more about yourself, Sasuke-kun. I'm sure a member of the red-eyed clan is a very interesting person." Kabuto leaned down, examining the bleeding scrapes on her hands and knees. "Sakura has been working diligently to uncover the origins of the Heaven's Eye."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Do you believe in legends?"
"What are you getting at already?" The irritation was evident.
Kabuto chuckled. "You're certainly impatient. It's a simple question. Do you believe in legends?" He smiled, leaning back against the brick facing the building. "Think about it. What if those stories weren't just stories? What if immortality was once obtainable but we have simply forgotten? What if the mighty Uchiha clan really did once control such a thing as the Heaven's Eye?"
He was met with silence.
"Just something to think about, Sasuke-kun," he murmured. "Now then, I better attend to Sakura-chan. Her wounds aren't looking too good."
"What—"
Beep…beep…beep…
