MEDICAL STRAWBERRIES

Chapter Ten

Can you see me now?

Sakura stared at the ground as her arms were strung up in the air by chains. The cold iron stung her wrists. The chains were draining her charka and she couldn't call upon her once monstrous strength. Slowly she lifted her head and looked around at the room she was in. It was a large room that resembled an ancient shrine or temple. The air felt humid, probably from the water that flowed under the spa. She tried taking a step forward, but realized that her ankles were chained to the floor. Sakura was being forced to stand with her body in an x and she was powerless to stop it. She gritted her teeth, ready to shout out for help, but reminded herself that it may be dangerous.

"Think," she whispered to herself. She had to think as hard as she could to get out of this situation, but her mind was blank. All she could think about was the current mental state that Ino was in. She didn't remember her. She had hit her and thought nothing of it. Then again, Sakura had punched Ino right in the face when she was first caught in the genjutsu. "I'm not even sure if it is genjutsu," she mumbled to herself. This was something else...something stronger.

She heard the door open and quickly glanced up to see someone walking into view. When she saw Yasu she immediately jerked against her chains. "You," Sakura growled, but the woman only laughed.

"You know, I think we may have finally found the proper person for the ritual," Yasu voiced as she walked closer to the girl and grabbed her by her jaw. "Your hair is so pretty and pink. Is it natural?"

"Fuck you!" Sakura snapped.

"Temper, temper," Yasu voiced as her hand released the girl's face. "You know there was one other person who I had wanted to use the ritual on long ago...girls with redder hair work better."

Sakura was trying to stay calm. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Shizune and Tenten find her. "Those women...all of those women who came to this spa...what did you do to them? How did you do it? There aren't any men here."

Yasu laughed, which irritated Sakura even more.

"That's where you're mistaken," Yasu cooed.

Masculine chuckles slipped into the room causing Sakura to quickly jerked her body, trying to get a better look. There were five men slowly stepping out of the shadows like hungry wolves. "They were here the entire time?" Sakura nervously asked. Yasu didn't stop laughing as the men took their positions around the girl. They didn't step toward her. Instead they moved their hands to form the sign of the ox. Yasu moved past one of those boys and stepped directly in front of Sakura. "Are you scared?" she taunted, but Sakura didn't say anything. "Aren't you going to scream for your friends?" Sakura glared at that woman.

"Shinobi do not scream for help," Sakura spat causing Yasu to violently slap her. She slapped her so hard that Sakura's lip started bleeding. Even with the pain, Sakura didn't scream for help. So Yasu continued to beat her until her own hand was beginning to hurt. No matter how much pain Sakura was feeling, she didn't scream for help. Yasu started laughing toward this as she shook out her hand. "You're exactly what I need for the sacrifice and the ritual will be completed," Yasu said excitedly. "I'm getting hard just thinking about it."

'Hard...?' Sakura thought as she looked towards Yasu very puzzled.

"You didn't know?" Yasu asked and slowly slid open the flap of the very long kimono and there Sakura was able to see that their inn keeper was really a man. She was speechless and it hit her just how serious this entire situation was. "But of course you won't live long enough to tell everyone this. No, my dear, we're going to play with you, then use you for the gateway and finally the ritual will be completed. After all, this is the ultimate resurrection technique. Something stronger than you have ever seen before. My charka will stretch as far as your pieces are scattered."

"I never sensed your charka..." Sakura said softly.

"That's the beauty of this ritual. After it's complete, I will have charka. I will no longer be one of those incapables!" Yasu chuckled. "I won't be considered the weakest link of my family and my clan will once again be restored."

"How do you plan on completing a jutsu this large without any charka?" Sakura asked.

"I have the help of a kunoichi," Yasu answered simply.

"Ino won't be much help," Sakura taunted. "Let her use even a little ninjutsu and she'll break out of her trance."

Yasu only laughed and glanced back over his shoulder. "Princess, are you ready?"

Slowly Hinata walked into view and Sakura's eyes widened. She had never seen Hinata like this before. She was so beautiful that Sakura wasn't even sure if she could blink. Then that's when she remembered that Ino kept saying that she was looking for a princess. She was forced to remember that Ino and Hinata were suddenly becoming closer as she was being pushed in the background. They were trying to get rid of her and there was no one here to save her.

Sakura fought against her chains trying to break free but with no success.

Hinata brought up her hands just as the men had, however before the ritual could begin, she suddenly voiced, "Yasu, what about the strawberries?"

'Hinata's voice...seems different...everything about Hinata is different,' Sakura concluded as she stared at her teammate. Hinata's expression was blank. She hardly blinked and didn't seem nearly as innocent or shy as before. The girl standing there in Hinata's body was bitter and cold.

"They should be coming, my Lady," Yasu answered.

"Good," Hinata replied.

"Hinata-chan," Sakura called out. "Hinata-chan what happened to you?!"

"Don't talk to me as though we're friends," Hinata coldly answered, never once putting down her hands. "Sakura...you are a very selfish person and you don't deserve anyone. You are cruel and abusive and short tempered. You're shallow and self-centered. It's not fair that the Hokage plays such favoritism to you."

"I...I'm not sure what you're talking about," Sakura began, although she was nervous. She felt as if there was a gun placed to her head, but it was a jutsu. Hinata...was planning on using whatever strange jutsu that Yasu had against her, and her teammate didn't seem to have any remorse.

"You're being controlled!" Sakura shouted.

"No!" Hinata snapped, "You're only mad that I finally found my voice! I finally found the courage to speak out against people like you!"

"Hinata...please...open your eyes," Sakura begged, but Hinata wouldn't listen.

"When you see me, Sakura, what do you see?" Hinata suddenly asked.

"What...what do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"What do you see!"

Sakura flinched, however hesitantly answered, "I...I see a sweet, kind girl. I see someone who's typically shy, but underneath it all...you're a really good person."

"But you don't see me as your competition," Hinata concluded.

"Competition...for what?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto has always looked at you. He's done so much for you!" Hinata growled.

"Naruto...Naruto's my friend," Sakura awkwardly replied.

"He's loved you so much and you did nothing to deserve it!" Hinata shouted.

Sakura was stunned, not by what Hinata said...but the fact that she yelled. Yasu started laughing from how amusing it all was becoming. 'Don't you like her much more like this?" Yasu laughed, but Sakura couldn't find her words. Instead she continued to stare at Hinata in disbelief that two of her teammates were being mentally controlled like this.

"You already ruined my chances with Naruto...I won't let you take Ino from me as well," Hinata vowed. Sakura could hear pain behind all of the anger in Hinata's voice. Sakura parted her lips to say something but stopped when she heard the sound of someone enter the room. Her eyes trailed over to the entrance to see Ino. Her heart was rapidly beating in her chest. She was scared, excited and nervous all at the same time. She wanted to cry out Ino's name, but couldn't find her voice.

Then that's when she saw that Ino was carrying a bucket of strawberries. They weren't any strawberries but the jeweled ones that they saw before near the springs. Hinata then turned toward Ino and carefully tilted her head to kiss the lips of the other. Hinata...too shy for physical contact, was kissing another girl. Sakura wasn't sure if she was awake or not. Her eyes were tearing up. She felt silly for crying now, but she couldn't stop her vision from blurring or the hot tears from rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't even wipe her eyes. Hinata took the bucket from Ino and walked over to Sakura so that they were standing right in front of each other.

"I'm the better person," Hinata told her. "I always have been the better person...as girls like you always made fun of me."

"I never did anything to you," Sakura said as she forced herself to smile. "Hinata...I thought we were teammates...this isn't the way of the shinobi..."

"Don't I deserve a happy ending?" Hinata asked, "As long as you're around...I will never be happy...why didn't you just go after Sasuke?"

"Sasuke? He...he doesn't like me," Sakura managed to say, trying to stay calm, adding little awkward laughs here and there. "He never did and I came to terms with this. I can't force...what's not there, you know?"

"Princess, talking won't avenge your suffering," Yasu spoke up, so without anymore hesitation Hinata shoved a strawberry in Sakura's mouth. The pink haired girl tried to spit it out, but Hinata forced it down her throat. The other girl gagged and choked a bit, but the little strawberry somehow went down.

"More," Yasu instructed, so Hinata continued. "Remember Princess, with every strawberry, the closer you are to achieving absolute happiness!"

Hinata was crying as she continued to force Sakura to eat the strawberries. Her tears were a mixture of frustration and anguish as everything she had bottled up over the years was finally crashing down. In her mind there was the voice. Hinata wasn't sure where the voice was coming from, but it comforted her. It urged her to continue. This voice continued to whisper to her that as long as Sakura continued to live then there would be girls to make her experience this personal hell that she was trapped in. She deserved to have her grudge avenged.

Sakura's eyes rolled back as she was having a difficulty keeping up with all of the strawberries. She couldn't explain how they able to go down her throat, unless they really were unique. There was a special quality that made the pieces of jeweled fruit slide down her throat as if it were nothing but pudding, but that didn't stop the pink haired girl from gagging and choking.

Sakura pulled together all of her strength and suddenly bit Hinata's fingers before crashing her forehead into hers. Hinata held her hand, but also winced from the pain she was experiencing in her head. At that moment the ravenette believed it was hopeless...even with Sakura bound, she wouldn't achieve the happiness that she wanted. She would never be counted as being desirable, strong, intelligent or anything special. She was the little ghost that floated in the background.

"She's calling you weak..." the voice whispered in her mind. "She doesn't think that you and her are equals."

Hinata continued to stare at Sakura as she continued to cough and gag against a strawberry that was lodged in her throat. She didn't say anything as the voice whispered, "Are you strong enough to fight?"

"Princess...why are you doing this?" Ino suddenly asked causing Hinata to immediately glance over at the blonde. "Tell her that it's for the greater good. Tell her that there has to be sacrifices!" Hinata couldn't say anything, she just stared at Ino. She felt like a child; a very scared child who was about to get in trouble. "Tell her or I will." Hinata didn't want to say anything. Her feelings pushed her to the point where she tightly hugged Ino. "All I wanted was for you to love me," she sobbed. "I want to be loved by someone. I want to be someone's most important person. You make me love my body and feel beautiful. Ino-san, you make me feel alive. More alive than I've ever felt."

Ino slowly wrapped her arms around Hinata's body and the raven haired girl blushed and nuzzled her face down into her shoulder. She was so shocked that she said it. She was able to confess it. Love confessions were always so difficult for Hinata. Her heart was fluttering, her face was hot, but she felt happy. She had never felt happier.

"Do you love me too?" Hinata suddenly asked.

Sakura, while breathing hard, managed to focus her attention on the two. Her felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Her stomach was twisting in knots. "Ino," she whispered, before crying out, "INO!"

The blonde's wandered over towards Sakura. "Bunny-chan," she whispered.

"Ino," Hinata spoke up, causing the blonde to look back at her. "What's so special about her?"

"I...I don't know," Ino admitted with a light laugh. "I met her only today."

Sakura's grew wide as she felt her entire world shatter. Only today? She didn't understand how that was possible. How could Ino forget everything they had been through. They grew up together. They chased boys together. They tested their strength against each other. They became talented kunoichi together. How could she forget all of that?

Sakura looked towards the ground and lightly laughed. "Hinata...you say that you feel pain...you know what it's like to be bullied...to not feel beautiful...to not have any friends...I...I know what it's like too," she admitted before looking towards the girl. Her green eyes were glossy from the tears that were slowly trickling out. "I was teased...everyone made fun of me and said that I was ugly when I was little," she admitted. "I believed them. I didn't have much of a fashion sense...my mother wasn't a fashionista...I guess. Ino helped me...she helped for me to see that I was something special. In the academy, I wasn't a genius. There wasn't anything special about me. I don't have a blood trait or a famous clan. I was on a team with Sasuke and Naruto...and was always falling behind. I always needed to be rescued...and was constantly getting captured...like now..."

Sakura kept her voice calm, although it was difficult. All she wanted was for Hinata to hear her. To understand her. "I have really small breasts and my forehead is still too big...but...that's okay. I'm okay...and if you love Ino...I guess...I guess it can't be helped...I'm okay with that too..."

"You're lying," Hinata said to her, however her voice had changed once again. The person who was speaking was the one that was hidden in the back of her head. It was that unfamiliar presence that Hinata couldn't describe. That new found confidence that suddenly swelled within her. "You're lying!"

"I'm not!" Sakura protested. "I understand what you went through!"

"You know nothing," Hinata growled and she moved her hands once more to the ox formation. "I call upon the spirits beyond the veil...hear my cry and bring back the one who had departed from this earth too soon. I offer the life of this girl in exchange for Lilith. Give her back to us!" Then very quickly she went through the hand signs used for the jutsu. Ox – Bird – Dog – Rat – Ram – Monkey – Horse – Hare – Ox. She then pulsed her charka towards Sakura and the men who surrounded her followed suit. Energy connected the five men, so that there was a star of charka on the ground and Sakura was directly in the center. Energy shot up around Sakura and the girl started screaming as her body was trying to be transformed into a gateway. She couldn't say anything, but only scream. The charka shot up through the ceiling, through the upper level and out the roof.

"It'll only be a matter of time before the other two find us, princess, please don't break your focus," Yasu told her as he picked up a katana that was hanging from the wall. Hinata didn't break her charka focus and the fact that she already had a high level of charka made her the perfect candidate for pulling a complex jutsu like this.

"See Hinata, you're being avenged," the voice echoed in her mind, however for Hinata it was strange. She knew what she was doing, but she was watching it from the background. She was an outsider in her own body, but if she accepted this new persona as her...then maybe she would finally feel comfortable in her own skin? She would finally feel...beautiful. "I know what would make you feel better Hinata...I know what would break Sakura until there was nothing left."

"When the jutsu is complete, the five of you can have what's left of her," Hinata commanded. This earned perverted chuckles from the men.

Ino clinched her fist at her side. "Princess...this isn't like you," she whispered.

"What are you talking about, this is everything I wish that I was," Hinata laughed. The portal was becoming larger. A hand reached out of the portal which was located in Sakura's chest.

"Please stop this, she hasn't done anything to you," Ino said a bit sterner.

"Quiet," Hinata commanded.

"No!" Ino snapped, "She's only a bunny!"

"Then why do you care?!" Hinata questioned as Sakura continued to scream in agony. More of the person's body that they were summoning was being revealed.

Ino moved to shove Hinata, however Yasu slashed his blade down between the two girls to keep the distance. "Ino, step out of line and you'll have to be punished," he threatened, "Maybe we'll start with cutting that pretty hair of yours."

"My...hair?" Ino repeated. At that moment she had flashbacks to the chuunin exams when she cut her hair in order to take the upperhand in her fight with Sakura. Slowly her gaze shifted over towards Hinata and she softly asked, "Hinata...why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? Standing up for myself?" she laughed.

"No...doing this?!" Ino snapped before looking towards Sakura who never once stopped screaming. Blood was beginning to leak out of Sakura's nose, eyes, ears and mouth. She wasn't going to survive. "STOP IT!" Ino commanded as she rushed over towards the pink haired girl. When she tried to rush past the guys she hit an invisible force field. "SAKURA!" Ino screamed. Then a head pushed its way out of the portal and Ino found herself completely stunned. The girl had hot pink colored hair, lined with various curls. Her skin was deathly pale. One of her eyes were silver while the other was green. Her devilish smile revealed her fangs.

"Salutations," she greeted before blasting Ino back with some kind of strange energy, causing her to hit the back wall. She started forcing herself futher out of Sakura until she was standing there on the ground. The jutsu ended and Sakura suddenly fell limp, as her entire body weight was soon supported by the chains.

"Very soon Hinata-chan, I'll need the other half of my essence," she cooed, "But first, that wish. Remember that moment when you were in the bath, I temporarily granted it for you, because everything that touches this spa is rooted with my charka. It's apart of my entire being. I can grant you a wish. What is it that you want most of all."

"Most of all?" Hinata asked before taking the moment to think. Part of her wanted to wish that she could always be confident. She wanted to wish that she was popular and desirable. She wanted to be someone special. Before she could ask for anything, Shizune and Tenten rushed in.

"Get away from Hinata-chan," Tenten commanded as she prepared her scroll.

"Get away from her? Now why would I do that?" the mysterious woman questioned. "After all, I can give Hinata-chan more than anyone else had ever offered her."

"No way," Tenten gasped.

"Hinata move away from her!" Shizune stated rather seriously. Hinata took a few steps away from the woman, but suddenly positioned herself in a battle ready stance. "All anyone ever did was look down at me," Hinata told them, however that strange tone was once present in her voice.

"That's not true!" Tenten argued.

"Prepare yourself!" Hinata shouted.

"Tenten," Shizune whispered, "You need to hold Hinata off while I try to rescue Sakura."

"No, I can't fight Hinata!"

"Tenten, you're a kunoichi, it's your duty," Shizune reminded.

Tenten wasn't sure what to do. She didn't like the idea of having to fight her friends...there had to be a way to get through to Hinata. Something was controlling her. That didn't answer her question though...

Should she fight...? Or should she not...?

OoC: Oh my goodness guys, another chapter completed! I hope you like it! It's definitely darker than the earlier ones, but I have to bring in that angst, y'know? lol Okay what I'm going to do is actually take votes on whether or not Tenten should fight Hinata. Like I'm very tempted, because your reviews do influence what direction I decide to go in. I hope everyone's been having a very Happy Valentine's Day and Femslash February! I've already started coming up with ideas for my next Yuri fanfiction. I really think it'll be something with Sasuke and Naruto's mommies, too cute. Review!