. . . Tainted White . . .
~Chapter Numeral 7~
~True Master~
Wonderous white covered the animal in luxuriously delicate fur, while scarlet eyes lit up his form in a type of a morbid beauty that reminded her all too much of the boy next to her. However, the rabbit that stood between the entrance of the hedge garden had a crimson vest draped snuggly over his shoulders, while a puff-white paw let a ticking pocket-watch dangle precariously at his side.
The sight itself was an anomaly.
Sakura cocked her head to the side in curiosity, the image before her almost too strange to even consider a valid reality. Although, when Sasori suddenly spoke, his voice tainted with confusion, her realization of the clarity on the craziness, became abruptly real for her.
"Sakura," Sasori began, his small child brows scrunched in non-understanding. "Do you see that rabbit too?"
The girl in question snapped her head to the side, her jade green eyes wide in utter shock. She stared at the barely taller boy beside her, as if seeing him in a new light.
"Y-you," she stuttered, barely able to form words. "You can see him too?"
Sasori pursed his lips at her, clearly annoyed that he would have to practically repeat himself to her. His question he had asked before should have caused her to understand immediately. Apparently that wasn't the case.
"Yes, Sakura," he deadpanned. "I can see him clear as day, and apparently so can you."
The shock that marred her small, round, face became absolute jubilation. She grinned, as if she had just gotten the best gift in the world, and jumped on the balls of her feet, completely happy that there was someone she could confine in and tell her story of the absurdly dressed rabbit that she had been seeing for months on end! Oh, she had never been so pleased in her entire life!
Sasori did not seem to comprehend her sudden burst of elation, the meaning behind it escaping him. His gave her a sour look.
"What is it?" He snapped.
"Oh, Sasori!" Sakura sang happily, still jumping. "You have no idea how happy I am that someone can finally see the White Rabbit other than me! Oh! It's wonderful! Simply wonderful!"
"You gave the thing a title?" Sasori asked drily, before he mumbled to himself in disdain, "It's not even interesting either."
Out of nowhere, she gasped. "Oh no!"
Before Sasori could even grasp the meaning behind her change in attitude, the pinkette began to race into the hedge garden. Within a moment, Sasori was hot on her tail. He would not allow her to be alone in such a strange place, even though her oddities still threw him for a loop.
He didn't know why he had become friends with the girl.
He was dubious that he would even truly know either.
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Things shattered.
They were diminished by her hands as if they had never been there to begin with. They were crushed, never to be replaced again.
Shattered rock surrounded her, her breathing harsh, and her energy levels lowered. She fell to her knees in exhaustion, barely able to calm the racing beat of her raging heart. She could already feel the stars in her eyes, unconsciousness only a hairsbreadth away to reach for, but she fought it nevertheless.
She had known of the consequences when she had first begun, though they had seemed more like little tatters in clothes compared to the actual result.
"Why is it that you insist upon using that almost wretched power of yours?" Sasori asked curiously from behind her, the sound of his footsteps within earshot. He was probably only a meter from her. "I understand that it's indeed a powerful force, but it's quite consequensive in the end. Am I not right?"
Sakura gave a half laugh. "Help me up, and I'll explain."
Sasori did just that, albeit he had to help steady her only so that she wouldn't land back onto the dust-lain mountain rock.
She felt so tired, but she knew that Sasori was not going to allow her to proceed in rushing into a sweet slumber without a thorough explanation on her seemingly fruitless efforts to master her power.
She sighed at his bored expression. "It's simple really," she began, although Sasori did not seem to agree with her. "I have immense magic control since the Essence came into our lives, years ago, you know that well enough." He nodded. "Well, I figured that if I wanted to be strong mentally and emotionally, I needed to be even stronger physically, whether that meant using magic to help me obtain that strength." Sakura suddenly smiled then. "My mother used to always tell me to be strong in more ways than one. I think I answered her advice, albeit in a rather unorthodox method."
Sasori's brows were raised. "Indeed."
Her smile became bitter. "Besides, we need all the power we can obtain at the moment..."
He nodded once more. "In more ways that one," Sasori repeated.
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Smoke captivated the area in a dirty smokescreen, allowing Sasori to unleash his second ability. Puppetry had always been a relatively decent past time for him, however it seemed that decency wasn't in the Game's rulebook. How lucky for him.
A mad smirk danced along his face, pure satisfaction filling his entire being. So the secret past that went unknown to him was finally being revealed in small doses. He wondered if the visions were the key to defeated the King of Hearts.
Perhaps that would explain why the mysterious 'Timekeeper' is the solution to winning the Game. It would certainly make sense, but then again, why are there these visions in the first place? Oh, the absurd questioning that Wonderland seems to live off of...The horridness of it all.
When the smoke finally cleared, Sasori was partly veiled by a cloak that ruffled around the puppet he had just released.
He also noticed that he was back on the ground, free of the vines that were still tanged around Sakura. Sasori's jaw clenched.
"Meet my creation," Sasori announced slyly, his fingers itching to use his newest ability. "I would hope you enjoy him."
The man looked loathingly at him, clearly frustrated that he had not only gotten away from his growing vines, but on the offensive. "You will not escape me again, Rabbit!"
Vines lunged for him, but Sasori was too quick. His fingers slashed and fluttered, his 'Kaze' puppet dancing to a deadly tune of agility and madness. His gleaming katana sliced through the vines like butter, and flayed pieces scattered around him in piles.
The problem was that Sakura was still too far from him. He refused to even think of what the King of Hearts would do to her if he had her in his clutches.
He also had to discern who the man was. Which character was he? The spouting of endless vines was not a character ability, but a personal one. Then there was his clothes and strange skin. And then theres the vividly painted green for his hair... Was he the Lizard? Really there wasn't much to go by, unless he was the Mock Turtle, but usually they had water abilities with no affinities for life magic.
Still, it was only a hypothesis.
Then Sasori remembered. Before his had gone into the vision. The words 'iron' and 'sand' had made an appearance. Did it have to do with his puppet?
He threw his deadly puppet a curious glance. It's worth a shot.
"Then let's use it," Sasori mumbled to himself.
He felt a cord being struck at his sudden thoughts. Then, rising from the wooden mouth of Kaze, dark grey sand spewed outward in pools. It was iron, iron sand. Sasori pursed his lips.
He willed the sand into shapes, pyramids, cubes, cones, spheres and so much more. The Lizard's expression became shocked. With a single finger, he sent them flying like a dead-shot toward his target.
The thing about it, was that it was merely a distraction to search the through the seemingly ceaseless garden or vines for Sakura. Using a cube from the newfound iron, he sailed through the air, unknown to the Lizard.
His chocolate orbs trailed the ground for a puff of light pink, switching areas at a hundred miles a second. Vines and iron crashed into each other, captivating the ground in grays and greens.
"Where the hell is she?" Sasori mumbled to himself.
Then, he saw her. Trapped in a death-grip by the Lizard. She wasn't moving or conscious.
Dread hit Sasori like a bullet train, the mere thought of her being on the other-side of life was crawling onto him like a deadly disease that rampaged his very spirit. His eyes widened, and he felt his heart accelerate anxiously at the sight.
The sickening smile that captivated the Lizard's contorted face caused Sasori to fumble his puppet maneuvering slightly. His fingers also shook, unbidden by their usually impassive owner. Sasori did not like the situation he was in.
I refuse to let her die. I refuse!
Grim determination suddenly overcame him. He would win the battle if it was the very last thing he did. Sakura was not going to die on his watch.
He was high in the air, his eyes downcast and glaring at the Lizard.
He was going to win.
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Consciousness was a light in Sakura's darkness. It was like seeing a sudden spark of gleaming light in a suffocatingly dark tunnel. She refused to quit the quest. She would reach the light, and it would not slip from her grasp.
Finally, obsidian lashes began to flutter. Her vision swirled and blurred in and out in dark spots. She felt a sharp pain on her neck, and her breathing felt restricted. Only when her vision was getting back to their normal, the image before her shocked her.
The man stood, inches from her, grasping onto her neck with superhuman strength. She was lucky that he wasn't looking at her now, but at someone else with a devious smile.
So she had been knocked unconscious when Sasori's strings had broke! Then she recalled her earlier visions of past memory, the thought of shattered rock becoming clear. She felt the previous energy in her hands. The magic was rising to power. Her punching ability had been unlocked.
Even with her being barely able to breath Sakura smiled. She stared at the man. Oh, he had no idea what was coming his way.
She placed a magic-enhanced hand on his arm, crushing it while at the same time removing it from her neck.
A painful grimace marred his horrid face. "Y-your awake!" he managed out.
She saw the vines closing in on her, but before they could even get close, she plummeted him to the ground, probably shattering every bone he had. Cracks appeared on the ground surrounding him.
Time seemed to move slowly, for Sakura could locate pieces erupting violently from the ground. Her magic swirled and shook around her fist, glowing an electric green. She had never felt so invigorated. She was encompassed by green energies flowing with a vibrancy of shades and tints.
The man that laid before her, and observed her face in cold hands of dreadful pain. He knew he had been beaten, and yet he dared to even try to wield his magic to conjure more vile vines from the earth. He so dared?But even so, death was coming down to collect his wretched soul for the terrors of the afterlife. Sakura detected traces of blood cascading down his swamp-like lips, sliding down his chin like a waterfall.
He would probably end up choking on his own blood soon.
Through the whole time, Sakura remained expressionless and coldblooded. She didn't even care. He had dared to kill Alice. He had had the damned obligation of tying to killing her? It was absurd on so many levels.
Sakura scoffed in disgust.
"Y-you," the man managed out. "You will...fall to...the darkness...that taints you once pure...heart..."
"You so dare to insult me?" Sakura demanded, her energies blazing even brighter.
A blood-chilling chuckle somehow came out of his stained mouth. "It's...already begun..."
"Sakura."
A voice, one of dim emotion practically exploded into her ears, casting whatever arrogant whispers that came to her mind altered to her former personality.
Sakura dropped to her knees in realization. Jade orbs became wide in absolute shock. She was horrified at her actions. Terror rain down her veins, catching her in a cold hearth of unpleasant flames. She clutched her arms tightly, leaving welts where her nails trailed. She shivered involuntarily, while her eyes burned with unshed tears.
"Sakura," Sasori whispered, his voice level and calm, now at her side. He knelt down beside her, before he placed her in his arms and lifted her off the ground in one swift motion.
It was almost like the previous night in Wonderland. The only difference was that she was sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.
Sasori watched unimpressed, as the magic that they had used vanished and whatever magic that Wonderland used to clean up their battles became the school grounds they had been before. Things flew from their position to their correct placements, transforming into an identical version of the back-courtyard that it had perviously.
"Sasori!" Sakura wailed. "Why? Why did I do that?"
The Lizard had also vanished. To where, he had no idea.
The fact that Sakura had had an abrupt alteration of personality was indeed horrifying, and rather scary. To hear a girl that was utterly innocent become dark and uncaring was...Sasori couldn't even begin to describe it. Perhaps one could say that it was heart-wrenching. He didn't ever want to witness such a spectacle again for the rest of his days.
When he finally entered the school, people stared, gawking at the display of him carrying a sobbing Sakura Haruno. He loathed unwanted attention, however at that moment, all he really cared for was getting back to the rest of Alice's Company. They had some explaining to do.
Sasori didn't speak a word until he found Itachi, back in the student council office. The President's face was grim.
When they got there, Sakura's sobs were down to mere tears, but they still tore at his blackened heart. It was a dark day when battles occurred. It was another to see the love of his life murder someone with an endeavor of vengeance. Sasori himself was in a somber mood at the memory. He couldn't even imagine Sakura's pain though... She had done the majority of it unintentionally.
"Welcome back," Itachi greeted darkly. "What happened?"
Sasori shook his head. "I'll only explain if the entire Company is here, otherwise I refuse."
"If you insist," Itachi replied, with a slight quirk of his brow. He sighed. "We'll need to wait until school is over, however, now that we have Sakura, we'll have to relocate our base of operations again."
Sasori sighed as well. "That's fine, we don't want someone noticing our tracks after today."
At that time, Sakura sniffed, and slowly removed her puffy face from Sasori's shoulder. "You need somewhere to go?" she whispered softly, not moving enough to have the other two see her face.
"Indeed, we do," Sasori mumbled, a twinge of disdain in his tone.
Sakura kept her eyes closed, and merely held onto him. "I think...I have a place..." She felt the steady beat of his heart on her fist. It ever so slightly reassured her.
"Where?"
"My manor..."
Actually, that would be a rather ideal placement.
"Then it's settled," Sasori announced, a curt nod given to Itachi, who had heard the whole deal. "That's our newest arrangement."
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The rest of the school day went unknown to Sakura, who had fell into a deep sleep at one of the student council desks, happily escaping the dreamworld of Wonderland for a landscape of blackness. Small miracles, she supposed.
When she finally awoke, her eyes were blurry and crusted from the tears she had earlier that day.
Sakura was emotionally drained. She felt empty and without emotion.
She felt like a puppet.
Orange tints surrounded the room, warming the atmosphere only a little. It was apparently late afternoon. She lifted her head, her eyes practically unseeing.
"Ah! So you've finally awoken, my lovely Sleeping Beauty, yeah!"
Slowly, Sakura's faded jade eyes fell onto an excited cerulean. "Deidara," Sakura mumbled to herself, still feeling exhausted.
The elation that was on Deidara's face swiftly changed to dismayed at her deflated attitude. She couldn't really blame him.
"Hey, un..." he started as he came over to her. "What's wrong, yeah?"
Her brows knit together. "Wonderland."
"What do you mean 'Wonderland'? Did something happen, yeah?" Deidara grew frantic. "Why do you look so drained?"
Sakura felt a headache beginning to brew, and she groaned. "I suppose you didn't converse with Sasori or Itachi, did you?"
"Well no!" Deidara fretted. "What happened, un?"
Just then, the door swung open, revealing the Tweedle Duo. "Hey Kitty-Cat!" Hidan greeted cheekily. "Itachi just fucking told us that we have a new location for our 'base of operations', or fucking whatever."
Did he just call Deidara 'Kitty-Cat'?
Sakura didn't even have the energy to quirk a brow. She just sat there, staring at the three while Hidan and Deidara held a quick argument that Kakuzu had to break up.
"Do not disturb Alice while she is in the state she is in," Kakuzu ground out to the two. Sakura wondered if she had ever heard the man speak before that.
"Thank you, Kakuzu," Sakura whispered to herself.
"Your welcome, Miss Alice." Apparently he had heard her.
"Just fucking meet up with us," Hidan ordered to the blonde, as he and his partner were out the door. "Sasori is leading the way with his Ferrari."
Before Deidara even had the chance to respond, the door was slammed into his face. He slouched in exasperation before he turned to her. "Well, un, we'd better head out too."
"We're heading to my Manor, right?" Sakura asked for clarification. At Deidara's stare, she quickly told him. "I'll explain later."
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"You drive a motorcycle?" Sakura asked curiously. "How did you ever get the school to allow that?"
Deidara smirked at her, and threw an extra helmet her way. "Thanks to Itachi, I can have it on school grounds. It's nice to be friends with the Class President, yeah. Has its perks, you know?"
"Apparently so..." Sakura stared at the black helmet with a rising fear. She wasn't so sure about this.
"Un, this is in the real life time," Deidara told her. "It's not going to suddenly soar into the sky and fly on rainbows, yeah."
Sakura gaped at him, unknowing with how to respond to that. She went from the helmet it Deidara's lone eye with great reluctance.
"Unless you'd rather have me use my abilities and actually do that, un," Deidara suggested, rather content with that option too.
Sakura was on in nanoseconds, and held onto him like a last lifeline after she set the helmet in place. "I'm ready..."
She felt Deidara chuckle, clearly amused by her antics. "Alright then, let's go before we lose sight of the rest of the gang!"
The motorcycle flared with life, causing poor Sakura to yelp. She felt herself shaking, and tightened her hold on Deidara's back.
However, as streets past, Sakura was getting less anxious for the ride to be over. Slowly, she started to watch as the scenery changed from the hustle and bustle of Konoha, to the suburbs, to the more rural area where she lived. Manors of great beauty and history past her shaded vision, leaving an ingrained image of them in a different light than in the past.
She found herself actually laughing, literally laughing in happiness. She often forgot the feeling of laughter. Oh the lovely feeling it was.
Once or twice she had caught herself having a hand in the air, letting the quickly bypassed air whip at her bare-hand. She giggled at the intriguing feeling.
Someone's getting more brave, yeah. Deidara thought to himself with satisfaction.
Sakura saw that the sky was a mesmerizing light blue, with swirling pure white clouds just danced a marvelous waltz to the song of blowing winds. Light captured the vivid green grasses, while gleams shined brightly from them. The world was shining in utter radiance. It was wondrous.
If only her life could shine with such beauty. A saddened smile ascended briefly to her lips. At that thought, she laid her pink head on Deidara's shoulder and closed her eyes.
There was no need to dwell on the horrors when there was always a bright light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how small it may be.
She knew that if she could win the Game, then maybe, just maybe she would finally grasp that light and have it for herself.
All Sakura had ever wanted was happiness.
Happiness and unending love.
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The entirety of Alice's Company strode down the halls of Haruno Manor with an eye of curiosity and wonder. Sakura of all people certainly didn't seem like the type of person to be rich, let alone live in a divine manor that clearly had its history. They simply had no idea.
Sakura was at the head of the group, rather embarrassed about the shock her allies had. She walked down the halls, peeking behind her every few minutes at her group. Truly they were shocked. Even Itachi looked intrigued. The only one that didn't look completely bewildered was Sasori, whom had arrived late the other night, practically racing her to the gates of Wonderland. But even Sasori stole a few glances with fascination.
"So, un, are you like an heiress or something?" Deidara inquired with a grin, taking her other side that Sasori didn't occupy.
The question caused her heartache, but she pulled on a pained smile. "I probably would've been."
That threw Deidara for a loop. "What do you mean, un?"
She removed her gaze from the blonde, and closed her eyes as she walked along, wistful and longing. "My parents..." She began softly. "My mother was murdered when I was a small child, while my father had an another tragic type of death shortly afterward. Really, I'm the only one left in my entire family."
"Your an orphan?" Sasori questioned, stopping the rest of the group in their tracks. They had heard the whole thing.
Sakura nodded ruefully. "I am."
"No one else lives here?" Itachi asked, before he trailed off, deep in thought, "So you're all alone..."
"No one," she affirmed with the shake of her head.
"Your mother was fucking murdered?" Hidan burst out, aghast. "Did the damn person get caught?"
Sakura felt tears in her eyes, but not because of Hidan's rude questioning, but because of the memory of paint scattered across the wall, words of horror spread down, still etched in scarlet letters. The picture made her shiver. She would not have another panic attack like the night before. Not there.
"N-no," Sakura choked out. "The murderer still remains anonymous."
"What was the motive?" Konan wondered out of no where, budging and pushing people out of her way to get closer to the pinkette.
"In truth," Sakura sighed, holding back tears. "I have no idea. My money? The manor? Revenge on a past family member? However," she trailed off the words being sung in her mind.
Live shortly little blossom, I'll come back, my sweet.
"Sakura," Sasori broke her thoughts, startling her. "What is it?"
"However," she gulped again, tears falling for a second time that day. "Before the murderer left... He wrote... Something on the wall... In my mother's blood...!"
The Akatsuki were stunned into an alarmed silence.
Sakura covered her face in her hands before Sasori quietly pulled her into his arms. There was no need for her to feel alone when she had just revealed such a terrible secret. But, he remained expressionless. How terrible he felt for her, especially since he understood the death of a loved one so fully. Though, he couldn't sympathize completely. His mother hadn't been murdered when she died.
Konan mask of impassiveness broke, revealing her true emotions. She smiled bittersweetly, and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder, reassuringly. "My dear girl, what did the writing say?"
"Konan-" Deidara snapped, but at Konan's icy stare, he stopped.
"This could've been related to her being Alice," Konan snapped right back. "We need to analyze all the facts we have a conclusion on the matter."
"I do think you are going a little far, Konan," Yahiko spoke up for the first time. "We can address the matter later."
"Miss Sakura," Nagato addressed formally, startling the whole group into staring at him, including the girl in question. "I believe I have a method of projecting it to the minds of others, if you would like, instead of having it orally described."
"That would be even worse!" Sakura whimpered. "To have that scene engraved into all of your minds... Truly it is horrendous..."
"Memory's are important pieces to puzzles, they assist and guide us to a brighter, clearer future. This image you currently hide away from the world is a dark one, I have no refusal to that, however, holding it and never showing it light will only cause it to haunt you even more."
"You're sure it would work?"
"Memory revision and analysis is my specialty," he stated, before he bowed like a gentlemen. "I know how these things work."
Sakura was reluctant to answer, but seeing Sasori's eyes gleam with emotion, gave her the answer. "That's fine, although, perhaps it could be another day... I really don't want to revisit that memory in full at the moment..."
"As you wish."
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When Alice's Company finally settled into the leather seats inside the grand library, Sakura comfortably set herself down on the desk facing the rest of them, her legs crossed over one other.
Sakura was also beginning to wonder if she was burdening Sasori... He had helped her out more times than she could count in less than a day's time. She was sure she was also falling in love with him too. There was no question on that. It was sad that it would go unrequited too.
To ever even think of Sasori Akasuna, falling for a girl that practically bawls at the drop of a hat, was unthinkable. Oh, how embarrassing was she! She hated feeling so alone, so depressed, so...so...so unloved.
She didn't want to be scared anymore.
She didn't want to be so alone anymore.
The hole that her parents had left in her heart was like a dark ravin.
Then there was that man, that she had killed so horrifically. Sure, she was glad that she could now defend herself decently because of the new ability she had gained, but the emotionless way she had killed him! Why had that happened?
Were that man's last words really going to be her eventual reality in the future? The mere thought was enough to cause her to shiver.
She was not going to turn out like that!
She refused to allow Wonderland to transform her into something dark and murderous.
She was going to win the Game, and gain what she wanted.
Well, at least my intentions are pure.
She could only hope that the result would be the same.
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"Sakura."
She jolted, startled out of her deep thoughts. "Huh?" she blubbered. "What is it?"
Itachi smirked at the girl. Her reaction would be rather amusing indeed. "The Akatsuki, and I, your humble servants of Alice's Company, were merely wondering something that would involve our current arrangements."
Pink brows furrowed. "What would that be?"
"Like you the rest of us are either orphans or without living relatives. And since clearly the Game has become more of deathly deal with the devil, we all have a proposition for you."
"Just get to the point," Sasori said curtly, irritation coming off in waves.
This in turn, only caused Itachi's smirk to widen in volume. "We were wondering, if you'd allow us to stay here until the Game has reached its' end.
She gaped at him. "E-excuse me?"
Did she not delight in the idea? "We believe that it would be beneficial for you-"
Sakura cut him off, breathing heavily as she waved a hand dismissively. "It's not that I don't agree with you. In all actuality I agree completely with that proposition. It's just you kinda startled me with that that abrupt question."
"Then it's settled," Sasori mumbled, crossing his arms.
"So it has," Itachi agreed, looking absurdly satisfied.
That was how the Akatsuki started living in the Haruno Manor.
Sakura sighed exasperatedly. This was going to be a very dysfunctional family...
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Steps echoed inside the Clocktower, roaring in his ears. Gratefully, it was only the Dog, his yellow fur vibrant in the dark setting. He turned from the balcony, glancing blankly at him.
The Dog's tail waggled delightfully at the sight of him. The Timekeeper felt like rolling his eyes. That dope.
"What news have you brought me?" The Timekeeper inquired.
A bark echoed even louder, but the translation in his mind kept him from snapping at the Dog. The Lizard is dead now. Alice killed him pretty brutally...
The Timekeeper quirked a brow. How curious. To think that Sakura Haruno of all people would kill someone 'brutally'. It was startling.
"Anything else?"
Another bark. Yes, actually...And it's not good news for Alice and her Company, and certainly not good for you.
The Timekeeper's eyes narrowed into slits. "What is it?"
It's the King of Hearts, he intends on finding you. It's his current main goal. Alice will have to hurry, otherwise you'll be forced to be apart of the opposing side.
"That's at least, decent news."
The Dog whimpered. How is that, 'decent' news?
The Timekeeper smirked. "Because then the Joker would know his past, the truth of what happened to him, and would more than likely leave the King of Heart's hands."
What do you mean?
"Did you know?" The Timekeeper inquired deviously. "The Ace survived, and so did the Jack."
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. . . Tainted White . . .
Updated: April 20, 2014 (Sunday)
Author's Note:
Have I mention just how sorry I am? It's been way too long, I know.
I should update in one to two weeks with this story, since it's the only one I'm working on, until I complete it. I love this story too much to leave it for anther.
And aren't you happy for more mystery? I bet you guys can already figure out who the Ace is... And the Jack. As for the Timekeeper, it's pretty obvious, and so is the newly introduced, Dog. Give me your thoughts!
Also, did you enjoy the battle? And Sakura's partial revealing on her past.
Honestly my favorite part in this chapter was when Sakura was watching the scenery when she was with Deidara. It was just a peaceful moment in a dark world. Ya know?
Anyways, please review! I simply delight in their arrival!
Ja-ne!
-Cassandra
