VII - Shared Knowledge & Space
It'd been two weeks. Two weeks of Sakura trying to avoid him; two weeks of Sakura yelling at him to leave her alone; and two weeks of Sakura begging anyone, literally any other person in the house, to get him to leave her alone.
But to no avail.
Why?
Because Uchiha Sasuke was now her guardian.
Initially, Naruto, Kakashi, and even Neji had attempted to keep Sasuke away from her, telling him to back off and to quit "scaring" her. But, once they learned - rather quickly - that he was her guardian, they stopped offering to help. Something about it being more dangerous to get in the way of him than endure her annoyance and subsequent wrath.
When she begged Yuka to help her, she told her younger sister that none of them could interfere because it was the way of their vampire nature to encounter someone they felt compelled to protect.
"So... it's only for a time?"
"Well... no. According to the way the vampire counsel describes it, it's like finding your soulmate and being unable to ignore the call."
"Your soulmate?" She scoffed. They were sitting on the bleachers in the upper corner by themselves, watching as Naruto, Sasuke, and Temari practiced on the field. "Come on, Yuka. That's the stuff of fairytales and wishful thinking. Soulmates don't exist."
"Hmm... I don't know about that."
"And who is the vampire counsel anyway?"
"Well, all I know is that it's a group of elder vampires who basically rule over the vampire population. They have a lot of say in terms of what we can and can't do with each other and with humans." She looked up at the partially cloudy sky, shielding her eyes. "Though, not the most friendly bunch of people."
"Do you believe in their idea of 'soulmates'?"
"I do," she frowned. "Why do you think Itachi and I are together?"
"Because you have genuine feelings for each other? Because you've actually taken the time to learn each other and reach this place in your relationship? You really believe you two love each other because of some mythical vampire lore?"
"Give me an example of two people who haven't been compelled to be together based on this lore," a male voice said.
They looked to see Itachi climbing up the bleachers, his long hair freely swaying around him in the breeze. Sakura heard Yuka sigh dreamily before he approached and pecked her lips.
"Easy: me and Sasuke."
"Ah, but you're not a vampire," he stated. "If you were to be changed, it might be different. The pull works on both sides."
"You think I'd want to be changed into a vampire?"
"No, of course not," Yuka tried.
"I didn't ask you, Yuka."
Itachi didn't seem cowed by her glare, nor did his indifferent gaze waver. It reminded her of Sasuke's silence every time she tried to demand from him why he was following her, why he wouldn't leave her alone. It irritated her and she could feel her anger at their assumptions growing. "Well?"
"I said if."
"That doesn't answer the question," she simmered. "You both have clearly thought that I would want to be changed to be like you, right? Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if all of you have been talking about it."
"Sakura-chan, please calm down," her sister tried, grabbing her hand. But she jerked away.
"Don't think I forgot about how you're supposed to tell me what those documents said."
"The cipher is still working on them," Itachi said.
"Bullshit. I saw the two of you come back and talk with Kakashi and the others. You found out something and you won't tell me."
"As soon as we find out more information, I'll tell you everything. I promise," Yuka swore.
"Will you? Or are you going to protect me from the truth?" With that, she stormed away, heading for her Jeep.
That had been about six days ago. Yuka had tried to talk with her, offered to explain and involve her in the process. But Sakura didn't want to discuss things with her, much less see her. She knew how her older sister operated; Yuka was still the same person she was as a vampire she had been when she was human. She would offer to bring into the know, but do everything she could to make sure Sakura only got the bare necessity of information that would still keep her safe.
Today, Saturday, she sat outside in the backyard against a tree. Kaji lounged next to her, napping.
Sakura had already done a lot of thinking, trying to figure out what Orochimaru meant when he said that their father had agreed to give Sakura to him. The statement in and of itself already said a lot without needing to think about it. Her father, at some point before she was born or when she was young, had been in contact with Orochimaru and he agreed to give his second daughter and youngest child up. What he got in return, she wasn't sure.
And Yuka knew about it. She had responded, Sakura remembered that much. She said that whatever they agreed to wasn't going to be upheld by her. Documents be damned, Yuka knew something and continued to play dumb. Sakura really didn't want to resent her sister, especially after they had only been recently reunited.
But Yuka had to recognize that she wasn't a fucking porcelain doll.
"Yo."
She looked up, surprised to see Kakashi standing before her. "Kakashi-san, what are doing outside?"
"Feels nice to get out every once and awhile, even if it's to my own backyard." He sat next to her. "Believe it or not, I don't like staying sequestered inside all day."
She laughed. "You could have fooled me."
He produced a bag of chips almost out of thin air. "Thought maybe you could do with a snack. You've been out here for a while."
She took the bag, considered the large colorful letters that announced its yummy shrimp flavor. Honestly, who did he think she was? "Thanks. Unless Yuka set you up to this."
"Yuka can be meddlesome."
She scoffed, popping open the bag and munching on one. Okay, the flavor wasn't all that bad. "That's an understatement."
"But she comes from a place of love, you know."
"How would you know, Kakashi?"
He looked up into the shade of the trees. "Well... to be honest, your sister often tried to escape here so that she could go see you. But, because of the tests Orochimaru had run on her, she wasn't stable enough to ever be in your presence. She would have attacked you and drained you dry. She cursed Itachi for months for keeping her from you and hid in her room, just crying."
"...Really?"
Kakashi hummed. "She wanted to bring you here. She even begged us to go and get you ourselves. But, kidnapping a human from their home while not in peril... it's basically against our law."
"She could have sent letters."
"You would have come looking. Your parents, if they had found the letters, would have come looking." He reclined on the grass. "Once she was able to contain herself, Itachi would take her to go check in on you. Always from a distance."
"...Oh."
"I can only assume how difficult it must be for you to be in this new space with different people and suddenly your long-lost sister. But, perhaps, it might be best if the two of you spoke without trying to drown out the other."
"I... I want to. But... she..."
"Is it only her? Or is it you too?"
Sakura looked down into her bag of chips.
Yuka sat in the library, which took up a two-story section of the mansion in the east wing. She curled herself up into an armchair facing the window, but out of the reach of the sunlight. She hadn't put her sun protection on but, as Itachi had noted, she seemed to like living dangerously anyway. Her book rested abandoned haphazardly on the floor, eyes vacant as she watched the trees swaying on the property, her fingers tangled in her hair as she tried to keep it together. Yuka knew her sister was sitting outside somewhere with Kaji. And she really wanted to join her.
But her baby sister had been avoiding her.
And rightfully so.
After their argument on the bleachers, Itachi reminded her that her sister had every right to know what they discovered from the documents, whether they had all the information or not. In her attempts to apologize, Sakura had refused her each and every time.
And it drove her crazy.
When they cremated their parents and placed their ashes in the family shrine behind the house, she silently promised their parents that she would protect her sister. She would be a better sister now than she had been when she was human.
But she hadn't even been able to uphold that promise. After her sister rejected her for the fourth time, she stormed away and locked herself alone in her shared bedroom with Itachi, swinging between cry and her fits of uncontrollable rage. By the end of the next day, Itachi had forced his way in and found their room in complete disrepair. He had tried to calm her down like he had all the times before.
But it didn't work this time. She pushed him away and screamed that she wanted to be alone. When he tried to still calm her, she swiped at him, her claws tearing his clothes. With fangs elongated and eyes burning, she turned to face the corner and curl into a ball.
"Just go away, Itachi."
Yuka clenched her teeth, digging her fingers in her hair as she felt the rage building up in her again. This uncontrollable rage reminded her of her first days in Orochimaru's lab, unable to even remember her own name.
She thrust her hand forward into the sun, crying out as her skin burned and she yanked it back into the shade, panting as her now reddened hand shook. Burning herself like this usually helped to calm her rage; pain and fear usually taking over. But something about this rage couldn't be calmed.
And she was scared of what would happen this time. Her breath came in short pants, her lungs working overtime.
Suddenly, the door to the library creaked opened. Her head spun and she saw Sakura standing in the doorway. Her seafoam green eyes widened. "Imouto..."
Sakura looked down to the side, clutching something to her chest as she closed and locked the door. The rage had disappeared completely now as Sakura eased herself onto the couch across from her, engulfed by the rays of the sun streaming through the window. Without a word, Sakura opened her hand and revealed Yuka's sun stone protection, her obsidian necklace.
"Where...?"
"I ran into Itachi on my way up here and he asked me to give it to you." She looked her in the eyes. "But only after we talk."
"Of course." She tried to sit up straighter even while clutching her arms around her knees. "What do you want to talk about?"
"What did the documents say?"
Yuka sighed. "Sakura, I already told you that-" "Bullshit," she shouted. Yuka didn't flinch, but her shout made her hunch her shoulders forward.
"You're lying and you know it."
"I'm not lying."
Sakura tried to remember what Kakashi had told her before she tossed the bag of shrimp-flavored chips at him and strode inside. She supposed that the both of them had a bad habit of trying to deflect and drowning the other out. "Nee-chan."
Yuka looked at her from behind the curtain of her bangs. In this way, she looked tired, worn out. She hadn't seen her older sister in a couple days. What had happened?
"I need and deserve to know what those documents said. Even if they're not all finished, even if it's not about Tou-san and Orochimaru, it's about something with our family. And I know that you know."
They sat together in silence for a couple beats. Sakura was determined to stay locked in the library with her until she told her all that she knew.
Finally, Yuka sighed. "I wasn't lying when I said the cipher hadn't finished decoding the documents. But there's more in that folder than just a potential contract between Kizashi and Orochimaru. These other documents hold many other details that Tou-san hid beneath multiple layers of codes."
She released her legs, gently resting her feet on the cool wooden floor. Her fingers clenched into the cushion of the couch. "The first document is actually a scroll that outlines our family tree. I didn't think anything of it. I'd seen it before and didn't understand why it had been coded. But then I realized that the one I'd seen - the one out in our family's shrine - was not the same one that had been decoded. There are marks next to certain names near the start of our family line that disappeared and then occurred again for only a generation at a time."
Yuka could feel the rage building up in her against, only slightly tempered by the fact that Sakura had entered the same space as her. She grunted and doubled over, panting.
"Yuka." Sakura stood to go to her side.
"Stay in the sun," she yelled, struggling to look up at her. "Stay in the sun, please. For your own safety."
"Is this... because of Orochimaru?"
Suddenly, soft whispering crept into her mind. Unintelligible words that grew louder with each growing second. Yuka tried to fight it, never having heard it before. But she noticed her rage dissipating. She tried to focus on the words, trying to understand what it was saying. But it left just as quickly as it came. And her rage was gone. Not on the back burner, not simply contained.
Gone.
"Yuka?"
Slowly she sat up, releasing a breath. "The cipher determined that our family had a long line of descendents, some special that recurred. Because it was the same mark, it either meant that it was the same type of specialty, or it was just a marker for the individual who was special. Because not every person in the generation was marked. The scroll ended with the birth of our father and his marriage to Kaa-san. Based on the patterns of the markers, you, me, and Ichino are the next generation with this specialty."
Sakura's brows furrowed. "But... Ichino is missing. What if he's the one?"
"I agree and have thought about this. Because of this possibility, I don't believe that Ichino is dead." Her gaze hardened. "I don't have any basis or proof of this. It's just a hunch."
"But there are other documents to be deciphered, right?"
Yuka nodded. "The second document that she was working on had only been partially deciphered and it seems to be a journal entry from Tou-san. Thus far, it hints at a contract, but he spoke more of his fear that his siblings may be targeted in Orochimaru's anger for trying to persuade him from agreeing to... something. It wasn't clear yet."
Sakura clenched the stone in her hand. "Targeted? Like killed?"
"Yes. But, to be honest, I fear that since there are more documents to be deciphered, things will only get worse. And, if they do, we're required to share the info with Tsunade and the vampire counsel. If they deem that you're life is in danger, they may want to put you in confinement in their territory."
"Confinement in... do they do this with any human whose life is in danger?"
Yuka shook her head. "Of course not. But, because this has to do with Orochimaru, who has been an international criminal across all of our nations for decades, it's a bit different. Not that I or the others necessarily trust the vampire counsel. But we'll do what we can to make sure you're not completely separated from any of us."
Sakura watched her older sister for a couple beats before looking down at Yuka's feet. "Why didn't you want to tell me any of this stuff before?"
"I just didn't want you to get overwhelmed." She hugged her arms. "It's a lot of information to take in, even for me and I know some more things about this world than you do. I just… didn't want you to worry until I could get everything together."
Sakura scoffed but offered a soft smile. "Yuka-chan, we could have been overwhelmed and processed everything together. I know you have Itachi but, he's not your sister; he's not a Haruno. He doesn't understand what it's like to hear things about your family like this without being able to actually get the same information from them."
Yuka was hesitant to accept her words and smile. "But... I just didn't want you to worry. I... you're my imouto. It's my job to make sure you stay happy and carefree. I know that we've spent the last set of years apart, and I certainly have no right to step in like you need a savior. But I just didn't know how else to reconnect with you, Sakura."
Sakura stood and shuffled over to sit next to her on the couch. The action made tears gather in both of their eyes and their slowly pressed their foreheads together. "Everything takes time, Yuka."
"Yeah."
As they sat together like this, eyes closed, she noticed the whispering again, but much softer. If what the cipher had told her about their family lineage was true, then there were bigger things for them to worry about than just Orochimaru.
Yuka pulled back a fraction, her lips pursed as she tried to restrain a smile. "You smell like seafood."
Sakura sighed but grinned. "Yeah, blame Kakashi."
They giggled.
"Ino, are you in a relationship with anyone?"
"A relationship?" She pressed a finger to her chin, thinking. They were sitting in their Intro to Psych class, waiting for the professor to arrive. "I guess Sai."
"You guess?"
She waved her hand, smiling uneasily. "It's more... sexual than romantic. Sai's been through some stuff that makes being in a relationship emotionally difficult. But we're at least committed exclusively to each other."
"So, did you start… seeing each other because of... what did Yuka call it? She said something about there being a lore about soulmates between vampires."
"Oh, that." She rolled her eyes, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I don't know how many men have professed to me that I'm their soulmate based on that lore and it's not actually true. You have to feel the pull from both sides."
"Do you feel that with Sai?"
"No. I don't believe in that lore or soulmates in general. And neither does Sai. They're not real. Besides, even if it is real, people will just end up with someone who's not their soulmate. I'd have to believe in that bull for them to find me, right?"
"I guess."
Ino gave her a look. "Are you asking because Sasuke is always hanging around you? You know that's because he's your guardian, right?"
"Yeah. But, does everyone get a guardian?"
"Of course not. Come on. It'd be a never ending cycle of someone protecting someone else. The guardian role is a little harder to explain because there doesn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason to how people are paired up. I could say fate, but that would be too easy, kind of like the soulmates things."
"So, people who are 'chosen' to be guardians don't end up with the person they're guarding?"
"I don't think so. But someone like Asuma-sensei or even Tsunade-sama would be able to better answer that question. That kind of information is kept with the vampire counsel."
The vampire counsel. If class hadn't started, she would have asked Ino her opinion on this rather ominous yet currently invisible group of vampires. It was clear that Itachi, Sasuke and Yuka did not have positive feelings for them. And, it didn't seem like many of the others around her did either.
So, how does an organization in power continue to rule when their subjects have negative reactions to them?
After class, Ino invited her to come and sit with her and Temari for lunch. But, before she could answer, the blonde stopped and turned to glare behind them. "She's not in danger, Sasuke-kun. Temari and I got it covered."
Sasuke merely grunted but didn't move away.
"Don't make me track down Karin and sic her on you."
He glared at her and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking away.
"Would you really do that?"
"Only if he persisted. But don't let those mean Uchiha boys scare you. They're all bark."
They headed for the bleachers, where Temari had already taken up a corner for them to share. Sakura waited a couple minutes after pulling out a bento box Kakashi had made for her. "Where are the other girls?"
"Well, Hinata usually sits with Naruto on the rooftop of the business building, since it's the only one with rooftop access for students. Yuka and Itachi usually eat with the other 'professors' near the president's office," Ino said.
"And TenTen is usually in the basement of the engineering building, making weapons."
"Making weapons?"
"Yeah, how do you think we fight other rogue vampires who cause problems? With our fangs?"
The three giggled at Temari's jab but continued to eat their meal. Sakura was still convinced that their carried blood in their water bottles and thermoses. "What about Shikamaru, Sai and Neji?"
"Sai's probably drawing somewhere under a tree, Shikamaru was probably forgotten somewhere, and Neji... well we're not really sure. He doesn't really hang with us very much. He's probably reading a philosophical book somewhere."
"Did you expect that we would be sharing all our meals and time together?" Temari teased.
"No. It was just a question," she pouted, turning to watch the boys team practice soccer on the field below. As she watched, she noticed a man sitting at the bottom of the bleachers, with white hair and bright purple eyes. He would look back at them every so often, sipping on his thermos of water. After he turned around for the fifth time, Sakura asked, "Who's that? The guy with the white hair."
Ino rolled her eyes. "That's Suigetsu. He's not a vampire. But he's not human either."
"What does that make him then?"
"A fucking creep, that's what."
"He's not that bad," Temari said, rolling her eyes. "He's flirtatious; he's all talk and no action. Ino's just mad because he almost managed to make her swoon over him rather than the other way around."
"It's just not right," the blonde insisted, crossing her arms.
"To come back to her initial statement, there are supernatural creatures in the world who are also overseen and managed by the vampire counsel. Suigetsu has an affinity for water."
"He's not harmless. I've heard others talk about run-ins with him. He's dangerous because he has no village or country association." She leaned in close and whispered, "He's one of Orochimaru's earlier experiments and, when he escaped, Konoha took him in as refugee. Just be careful. We don't know if Orochimaru's been in contact with him since."
Sakura leaned back and, glancing at the white-haired man again, wondered just how many people Orochimaru had experimented on. There was already been a handful of people who had escaped or been in contact with him. For them to consider Orochimaru an international criminal, what did that mean about the extent of his crimes?
It was the last class of her day, studio art. She hadn't realized that she had skipped it the first week of classes and was still in the process of playing catch-up. As she crossed through the engineering building and the science labs to get to the art building, she noticed someone coming up behind her in the otherwise empty halls. Since it was evening, there weren't many students still left on campus and this feeling reminded her of when Sasuke had grabbed her.
Maybe it was him again and he was trailing her since he didn't get to trail her earlier during lunch.
But the person stepped around her, his strides longer than hers. And, just as she took note of his features, her eyes widening, he turned around in front of her, stopped her.
It was Suigetsu.
Neither said anything and he just grinned down at her, revealing sharp and pointed teeth. She tried to step to the right, around him, but he stepped with her. He did the same when she tried to move to the left. She clenched her fist.
"What do you want, Suigetsu?"
His grin seemed to widen. "Oh, so the little blossom knows about me, huh?" He stepped closer to her, making her step back. As he took another step towards her, he reached a hand out to block her in. She managed to duck underneath before he could trap her and quickly backed out of his reach.
He chuckled and tuned towards her again. "Come on, cutie. Stop avoiding me and just let me show you a good time."
Sakura only blinked and he had suddenly grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her in close. She tried to use her knee to attack, but he easily block. And, she tried to use her palm against his nose, but he saw through that too. Suigetsu leaned down quickly to try and kiss her.
But a hand shout out from behind her, pressing against his face. She looked back to see Sasuke pressing against her back, his other arm winding around her waist. "Back off."
Suigetsu released her, softly cursing the Uchiha man. But, when he looked again and saw the unsettling smile of Sai behind the both of them, he raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, no hard feelings, right? You know I wasn't going to do anything to her really."
"Sai, get Sakura to class while I deal with Suigetsu." He shifted her around and gave her a push towards the other male. But, as he caught her, she tried to turn and argue, "Hey, I should stay. Sai, let me go." But the artist was already leading her away while Sasuke and Suigetsu squared up.
"Sai, let go."
"Sorry. But I'm not interested in Sasuke coming after me too for angering him," he said with his fake smile still in place. "Besides, you're still just a human. What would you be able to do in that situation?"
Sakura kept quiet, not sure what she would have actually been able to do between the two. Sasuke looked like a man who couldn't be talked out of whatever he planned to do. And it scared her a bit to think of what he was actually capable of when fighting.
In her studio art class, which she was already late for, Sai leads her over to sit next to Yuka. Her sister's smile only lasted for a split second before she demanded to know what happened.
"What makes you think something happened?"
"It would seem that Suigetsu tried to corner your younger sister," Sai answered, making Sakura grind her teeth. "Sasuke was alerted by their link and brought me along as back up."
"Do I need to go and step in?" Yuka asked, already closing her sketchbook and standing. The professor was working on a project of her own while the other students were in various stages of drawing and creating.
"No. Itachi was already on his way."
Yuka bit her lip and sat back down, taking out her phone to text him. But, at the same time, she turned to her sister, a hand on her shoulder, and asked, "Are you okay? Did he do anything to you?"
"I'm fine. I'm just annoyed by people trying to manhandle me all the time."
"I'm sorry."
During class, since everyone was free to work to their own projects, Sakura was struggling because she wasn't actually good at drawing. She was good a creating needlepoint designs. But, actual drawings were difficult for her to conceptualize.
"Wow, you're terrible," Sai said, standing behind her. "Why are you even in this class? You should probably try the introduction classes instead."
Sakura growled and turned to grab him by the front of his shirt. "I don't think you want me to have to remind you, in front of all of these people, what my punch feels like." She curled her fist, knuckles cracking as she held it up in front of his nose.
Yuka reached between. "Break it up, you two. Sai, leave her alone. I've already warned you."
Sai straightened his clothes but otherwise said nothing about the interaction and left to go back to his work station. Sakura looked at Yuka. "Is it just me? Why does it feel like he's always targeting me?"
"I promise, it's not you. Sai…" She sighed and looked at the pale man. "Sai is just trying to figure you out. You're new and Sai's learned how to interact with the rest of us. He's just had a hard time socializing for most of his life."
"Was it because of Orochimaru?"
Yuka shook her head, combing her fingers repeatedly through a chunk of her hair. "Believe it or not, there a lot more people to be cautious of than just Orochimaru."
Sakura sighed as the wind whipped through her hair, the windows down and shades on. Kaji sat in the passenger seat next to her, hanging her head out the window, tongue out. She smiled as her companion turned towards her, sniffing and licking her hand, before leaning back out the window. She was honestly content in that moment to have her dog with her, having felt like she hadn't spent a lot of time with her lately.
The contentment lasted until she glanced into her rearview mirror.
And then her smile disappeared.
Sasuke sat in the back seat, arms crossed and without a seatbelt. Her hands gripped the wheel a little tighter, her annoyance from earlier creeping back into her shoulders.
Earlier, she had been texting her sister to tell her that she was going to out with Kaji, that she didn't need anyone to go with her. The mansion was surprisingly empty for a cloudy Saturday morning. Yuka told her that they were training away from the house, and to be careful.
I trust you to take care of yourself but I would feel better if you at least waited for me or Itachi to finish up.
Sakura was in the middle of telling her that she could handle herself when she responded again with, Never mind.
Initially, she thought her sister was retracting her statement, that she was finally giving Sakura the recognition she had been asking her in terms of taking care of herself like an adult.
But that wasn't the case.
Sasuke was leaning against the wall next to the garage door, arms crossed.
Ah. Yuka knew that Sasuke was coming to her.
He merely shrugged when she stood in front of him, fists on her hips. "Neither of us have a choice."
"I don't want you walking with me," she reminded him.
"I can walk where I want."
"Listen, if Karin is outside and just happens to be in the same place as us, I don't want her slashing the tires of my Jeep again. Or doing anything worse."
He rolled his eyes. "She's not going to bother you again."
"I don't believe you," she said, crossing her own arms and cocking her hip to the side. "As long as Karin sees you as belonging to her and sees me as a threat to your relationship, she's always going to be a problem. For me."
"Hm."
They arrived downtown at the outdoor mall and drove around to find a shady spot to park in. The weather was cooling down but she still didn't want to come back to a hot car. Kaji crawled over the middle console to jump out after her, though Sakura didn't leash her knowing the canine would stick close to her side. Sasuke climbed out afterwards, leaning back against the vehicle.
Sakura glared at him. "You can go do your own thing. I'll text you when I'm ready to leave."
Sasuke didn't move watching her.
Her frown deepened. "What?"
He straightened, reaching over to take her wrist. "Don't get yourself into trouble. Call me if anything happens or if anyone bothers you."
"I thought, as my guardian, you would already know if I was in trouble."
His eyes narrowed and his hold tightened. "Doesn't matter." He released her and walked away. As he walked around, she wondered where he kept his sun protection stone. But she was also unsure that he was actually going to walk away and leave her alone. Part of the reason she wanted to go alone was because she didn't want any of them to know what her real plan was.
To throw him off, she walked into the pet store. Kaji, with Sakura's allowance, ran directly for the toy section, sniffing and rifling through with her nose. Sakura laughed as she tossed some toys away and took some out, excited by them but also curious as to what other toys there were for her to play with.
But, as they played with toys and Sakura considered different things to buy for Kaji, she noticed that having her dog around meant being forced to interact with other animal owners. Before, she wouldn't have ever second-guessed who the person was standing across from her. The first dog, another German Shepherd, Kaji was so excited to meet her that they ended up immediately play fighting. Afterwards, Kaji became increasingly less and less social, choosing to stick more by her side, silently sniffing the other dog before backing off.
Sakura found herself wondering if the other person was human or a vampire. Or, were they something else, like Suigetsu? She'd always known that there were supernatural beings out there; or at least people who dabbled in the supernatural - the witches, the spirits, and so on. Those were things she had encountered. But she had never encountered actual physical supernatural beings.
And it was terrifying to her.
Because the second thought was wondering if any of these people worked for Orochimaru and Kabuto.
And that thought kept her from allowing her Kaji to interact with other dogs.
As they were leaving the store with her purchases, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out to see that Sasuke was asking where she was. She looked around, wondering if he was watching her from behind a bush or from another store that she couldn't see into. Rather than answering, sure that he already knew where she was, she turned to head over to the sporting goods store.
They made her leash Kaji, which she could thankfully just attached to her jeans. She made her way to the camping section, smiling as young children spotted her dog and came up to her, wanting to pet her. Kaji, in her social way, could not turn away from children, licking their faces and hands, and letting the youngest hug her. Sure, Sakura could question if these children were human. But, she just wanted to keep the innocence of children in her mind.
Eventually she found a suitable pocket knife to keep on her body. As she held the weapon in her hand, she recognized in this new supernatural world, she knew close to nothing and had no real training to protect herself. Sure, Tsunade had taught her how to harness her own energy into physical strength and to protect herself with that. But actual combat had never been in her brief but intense training. And with Orochimaru still after her for whatever reason, she had to be careful.
Sasuke may be her guardian, but that didn't mean he would always be able to be near. And neither would Yuka.
She rolled her eyes at herself. When did she see Yuka as someone who needed to protect her?
Sakura bought the pocket knife and immediately shoved it in her jeans pocket, recognizing that she wouldn't always be able to wear jeans. She sent Sasuke a text that she was ready to leave. As she unleashed Kaji from her pants and walked towards the Jeep, he responded, saying that he was already in the car.
And, true to his word, he was sitting in the driver's seat, bouncing his knee and gripping the steering wheel, though the car wasn't on. She came around to the door, the window rolled down, though he wouldn't look at her. "What's wrong?"
He paused, looked at her, and then climbed out, getting in the backseat while Kaji crawled inside the vehicle. "Just drive."
She huffed and climbed in, starting up the Jeep. But, as they drove back to the mansion, she could still feel his unrelenting tension during the drive. As could Kaji as she spent most of her time looking between her master and him. Eventually, she climbed into the backseat to lay her head on his lap. His eyes widened, looking up at Sakura in the rearview mirror. She only nodded and looked back at the road.
She was sure he wouldn't actually want to talk about what was bothering, least of all with her. But at least she could count on Kaji offering herself as a comfort.
In the garage, they climbed out but Sasuke quickly trapped her in the space between her open door and the seat. Sakura noticed his harsh breathing just before he wrapped his arms around her waist. Her hands find their way on his stiff shoulders, his face hidden behind his bangs. "Sasuke…"
"A pocket knife won't protect you."
Now she tensed. "You saw?"
He looked into her eyes now, face tormented. "You keep calling for me. I tried to ignore it. I did everything I could to ignore it. But I couldn't control myself."
Kaji began to growl softly behind them and he released her, cupping her cheek. Her eyes widened at the gesture before he said softly, "Stop making this difficult."
"Stop trying to resist it, otouto."
"Shut up."
"The more you resist it, the stronger the pull will be."
He paused, looking over at him. "Do you hear her calls? I can hear the calls now but I can ignore it because she's sleeping right now."
He shook his head. "Kakashi said that no guardian has ever mentioned hearing a voice. It has always been a pull or a gut feeling."
His brows furrowed. "So what does this fucking mean?"
"I don't know." He speared his younger brother with his Sharingan. "But you need to let go of the red-head. She will only get in the way of your duties."
"I already-" "Tell her to her face in no uncertain terms so she will cease her pining. Your job, your duty, is to protect Haruno Sakura. Not indulge in your baser needs."
Sasuke rode with Sakura in her Jeep on the way to university. It wasn't necessarily how he wanted to get there, especially after his talk with Itachi the night before. But Sakura had asked if he would ride with her, her cheeks warm. Thankfully, there was no pull, like Itachi talked about, but there was no voice either compelling him to say yes.
So why did he agree?
On the highway, Sakura finally sighed and said, "What is your relationship with Karin? Be honest."
He didn't say anything, trying to hide his surprise at her frankness.
"Look, I'm only asking because I want to set some boundaries if you're supposed to be my guardian but you also want to be with her. I don't want to get in the middle of your relationship."
"Karin and I are not a couple. I've said this before," he said gruffly.
"So… she's a fuck buddy?"
He crossed his arms, his frown deepening, and didn't answer. But he knew she would take his lack of response wrong.
"I don't really care who she is to you, honestly. But you have to recognize that you can't be 'responsible' for the both of us at the same time. I mean, you've been with her from before I showed up, so I have no right to demand that you choose me over her."
Still, he said nothing.
And that's where she dropped the conversation. He wanted to address it, but he wasn't sure that he would be able to contain all the emotions he was feeling. He wasn't even sure of everything he was feeling in that moment and knew, at the very least, that it would be unfair to unleash them all on her.
At the university, she parked near one of the dining halls and quickly came around to him before he could walk away. She stood in front of him, her face set. "I know you said that the pocket knife isn't going to be helpful to me. But… I need you to know that I bought it for when you are with Karin. I have to at least be able to stall, right?"
His scowl deepened and he reached into her pants pocket to snatch the blasted weapon before he stormed away without a word. He ignored her calling his name and followed Karin's scent. He would put an end to all of this now.
After her only class for the day, she grabbed a pre-made bento box from the dining hall and headed to her Jeep. She'd eat in her car while waiting for Yuka and Itachi, and then head home. They offered to drive home with her since Sasuke had to stay longer on campus.
Suddenly, someone shoved her against the side of her car, making her drop her meal. She turned to see Karin standing over her, angry and fists bunched at her side. Sakura groaned as she tried to stand. "I'm getting really tired of all you fucking vampires pushing me around and trapping me."
But then she noticed the tears in Karin's eyes and on her face, which she tried to wipe away although more kept falling. "Karing? Are you okay?"
"Shut up, you fucking bitch. It's all your fault. You took him away from me." She reared her fist back and swung.
But Sakura quickly slid down and managed to roll away. She reached in her back pocket for her knife and cursed when she remembered that Sasuke had taken it from her before he ran away. That fucking bastard. Karin turned and started to charge her. Fine, she would just try using her strength then.
As she charged up her own fist to throw, Sasuke suddenly appeared next to her, clamping a hand on her wrist and moving her so she stood behind him. His presence alone made the red-head slide to a stop, stars in her eyes. "Sasuke-kun, you… you're here. Did you come to apologize? I knew it wasn't over."
His expression remained neutral. "Stop your theatrics and leave both me and Sakura alone. You don't need me to remind you again that I was never yours."
"But… all that time we spent together…"
"Meant nothing. You were just conveniently there."
The stars faded from her eyes as his words sunk it and she took a couple steps back, the pain evident in her expression. But, as Sasuke prepared for more physical retaliation and name calling, she looked up at them, her anger more reserved and tempered. "This isn't over, Sasuke."
And then she left.
Sasuke slowly released Sakura's wrist and she moved to look at him. "Did you break up with her… for me?"
"Karin and I were never a couple."
She looked at where the woman had stood. "I think you need to really consider her words, though. You may have thought you weren't a couple but I don't think she understood that."
"So?"
"I think you may have been a little too harsh with her."
He frowned. "You're siding with her now?"
"No, but I just know what it feels like to get used by someone who you thought liked you too. You said she was conveniently there. Did you ever consider her feelings about your… situation?" With that, she turned to head back into the dining hall to get another bento box.
Whew! Long chapter but I'm already working on the next one. I'm going to keep apologizing for the long periods of time between updates!
Leave a review for me please and thank you!
