OBELISK:
Kingdom of Monsters
The Man Made of Fire
"Feet don't fail me now take me to the finish line. Oh my heart it breaks every step that I take. But I'm hoping that at the gates they'll tell me that you're mine."
"Come and take a walk on the wild side, let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain. You like your girls insane. Choose your last words, this is the last time…. Cause you and I…"
She looked down and saw that his eyes were glass.
"…Oh, we were born to die."
Her dreams were a mess for two nights. She tried to make sense of them, but they were fragmented pictures from stories and fairytales. Nothing made sense and it was dizzying for a few minutes before she spent the rest of her sleep in a state that didn't recognize time. Her rests seemed to last less than a minutes but when she woke up a whole night had passed.
The third night was not like the two previous.
Sakura woke in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by wine colored sheets and rich mahogany. She stretched her hand up above her head and her knuckles hit the headboard of her four post bed before she pull her hand away. She was hidden from the rest of the world behind curtains of emerald green and goal embroidery.
She remembered how fine the house had been when Kabuto had her captive and she felt fear in her breastbone. She reached for the edge of the bed, twisting around and a jolt up her spine froze her in place. Her legs were lead weights under the covers and she remembered even more from the days prior. She had a tail last she dreamed. Was that still true?
The sheets came away easily enough, but so did the loose scales and white debris from her transformation. She was human again, with two creamy white legs that looked like they had never seen the sun. Her toenails were perfect and baby pink in a way she had never seen them before. Sakura reached forward to touch her legs and felt old skin peel up under her hand like dried gum. The remnants of her tail…it had taken her two days to turn back into a human and regrow legs, and by the feel of it, she wasn't done.
When she tried to sit up and pull her legs up nothing happened. She could feel her legs, she wasn't paralyzed, but it was like trying to move something that wasn't there. It was the most bizarre sensation. It was almost as if she didn't have any muscles in her legs at all.
"No," she breathed aloud, recognition dawning. Her throat ached with rawness but at least it was working.
If she had to grow new legs, the muscles still weren't built up. She was no more sturdy than a baby. She was practically crippled. Without her ability to summon or even walk now, the situation looked worse and worse. Nothing Hayate said about this being fair was true.
"Kakashi!"
Sakura pulled the covers back and forced herself to move from her hips. The edge of the bed was close enough for her to crawl towards. She grabbed at the curtains to pull them back before struggling to keep from falling forward. Her four post bed must have been mounted on several mattresses since she was higher than expected. If she fell from this height it might hurt something.
She thought of the fire and of Kakashi and how in her head she had been singing his song for him as the blood leaked out. She could still feel his blood on her hands. It wouldn't leave her alone. She had to get to Kakashi, legs be damned. Kakashi had to be alive. Hayate wouldn't be so cruel to her after all that she's suffered and lost. Kakashi couldn't be dead too!
Just as she predicted, she fell from the bed with a long thud and felt her ribs bruise. Maybe it would look nasty under her nightgown, maybe not. It didn't matter. Kakashi mattered. She had messed up again and as a result someone else was probably dead.
Her arms worked, and the rest of her body wasn't so heavy that she couldn't drag it behind her as she crawled across the floor to the door. The hardwood offered little friction and it was easy enough to make it to the exit. There was little else in the room that blocked her path.
Sitting up she reached for the door handle and tugged back, finding it locked. She panicked and tugged again. This time the lock gave out and the door swung open easily. She was halfway out into the hallway before her ribs pinched painfully and she felt the need to stop and catch her breath. There was something metallic in her mouth coming up from her throat and she pressed her lips, recognizing the taste.
Her legs weren't the only thing still recovering.
Too tired and broken to move, Sakura lay in the doorway, her hips angled across the threshold with her legs stuck inside and the rest of her body sprawled outside the room. Sakura felt the smooth grain of the hardwood under her hand and looked out over her arm to see how white her skin was in comparison to the rich cherry wood. Her whole body was pale, there was so little of her left in one piece, it felt like.
She didn't want this. She wanted to be strong again. She wanted to be able to fight again and hurt things and protect people. She had been powerful once. Now her abilities were pitiful and she was suffering for it along with Kakashi and who knows who else. If she had been strong when she first recognized Kabuto none of this would have happened.
Through the floor she felt vibrations and then seconds later she heard the footsteps. Someone called out her name in a panicked voice. She forced her eyes open enough to see through the lashes as a pair of shoes came to a sudden halt in front of her before his knees hit the ground.
Shisui turned Sakura over carefully and then lifted her onto his lap, keeping her head elevated. She looked at his face once before closing her eyes again.
"What were you doing?" He adjusted her so that his arms could cradle her closer to his body. "You could have seriously hurt yourself. You're still recovering and only just finished transitioning."
Sakura tasted the blood in the back of her mouth but kept her jaw tight as she whispered the words. "Where….Kakashi…?"
"He's alive, he's still unconscious but he didn't die. You can't do anything for him now and it would kill him to see you like this. We need to get you back to bed. Hold on."
He slipped another hand out from around her shoulders to cup the underside of her frail legs. He lifted her like she was nothing and carried her back to the bed. With his shoulder he pushed back the curtains around the bed enough so that he could slip Sakura in. She moved to grab the covers but Shisui was faster than that. She made a displeased sound and he chuckled.
"This is your first time waking up. I'll have to tell someone. What do you need. Can you handle food? I'll bring water."
Her eyes were still heavy so she shook her head before turning her face away and burrowing into the pillow. It was warm and her body wasn't, so she curled into it as far as she could. Shisui chuckled at the sight behind her until she coughed.
The sheets were already red, but it was still easy enough to see the darker splotches of red where they dropped. Sakura covered her mouth and more blood seeped through her fingers as another bout of coughs shook her ribs loose. She felt like a rattle.
Shisui was bat with a wet cloth to wipe away the blood on her face and hand before dapping at the stains to her bed. He pulled out an addition set of pillows and propped them up behind her head, so she hardly reclined. She felt better for it, but still wanted warmth.
Shisui was whispering hushed words into her ear saying things like, 'it'll be fine,' and 'that a girl,' and 'don't worry' among other things. When he pulled away his eyes stayed fixated on her, wide with worry. It wasn't what she was used to seeing from the more casual Uchiha. Everyone else called him cunning and sly. He just looked young and worried to her.
"I'm going to come back with a doctor and some water. If you can't eat solids yet I'll have them make a soup."
Not trusting her voice Sakura just nodded before closing her eyes agin. It seemed like only seconds, but minutes later she felt the approach of Shisui again with another person trailing close behind. A third person followed the duo and Sakura stiffened at how clear the presence felt within her. Her sense of perception was heightened for some reason. When she opened her eyes she could see their shadows through the curtains around her bed. The third one…the third one was new.
Shisui pulled the curtain back and a shorter Uchiha woman with perfectly pressed hair coifed at the neck leaned in to check Sakura's eyes before turning her head to the side and inspecting the bruises around her neck where her gills should have been. When the woman pressed against one of the bruises Sakura hissed.
"You're hurting her," Shisui exclaimed, reaching forward to stop the woman, but another hand held him back. Sakura turned her face around to see who it had been and narrowed her eyes.
"Let Mai do her job," Itachi intoned, his voice deep and smooth like the unexplored ocean.
Shisui's expression darkened. "You can let go of me, I'm not some wild renegade you have to watch out for. I wan't going to interfere."
"Hn. You should be grateful for the chance just to be here. Madara was very specific about how she was to be cared for, and his instructions included minimal contact with the other Uchiha until he could make an appearance." Itachi released his cousin and Shisui stumbled back a bit.
Though older, Shisui eyed his younger cousin wearily with evident respect. For where she watched, even Sakura could see who was clearly in charge between the two of them. Shisui nodded to his cousin and then averted his eyes. "I understand. You don't have to lock me out like Kagami or the others. Madara was pretty serious if he even banned Toby."
Itachi nodded once. "He was."
Sakura felt a tongue depressor press against her lips and opened up only to nearly gag when the wooden stick touched the raw part of her throat and triggered another coughing fit where blood painted her lips. The woman was quick to react and had a glass of water in front of Sakura's face to take. The younger woman drank greedily. When she pulled the glass away she felt strong enough to speak.
"Where is Kakashi, and the others? Who made it out?"
The woman named Mai moved away to prepare something off to the side so Shisui knelt down beside the edge of her bed, short enough that he had to stare up at her through his full Uchiha lashes. "You can't think of yourself, can you? They're all fine. We rescued Toby and the other children as well as the Kyubi brats from the pier. They were easy to find. Why did Kabuto have you separated from the rest?"
Sakura flinched, reaching out without thinking to cover the inside of her left elbow with her hand, remembering the needle that was inserted there one too many times. She remembered other things too, like the snakes and the tank where she almost always felt like drowning. She remembered the way they shredded her tail for scales and stole her blood. Then there was the way Kabuto tugged at her curse, peeling it off like an old scab only to have the whole thing roar in fury and backfire on him.
Itachi moved forward and touched his cousin's shoulder. "That is enough, you're scaring her. Such memories will not promote rest. Mai, do you have food for her yet?"
Shisui frowned, still looking to Sakura. "I'm sorry," he whispered, eyes wide with apology.
Sakura shook her head and felt the damp stands of her hair hit her jaw. "He was…it…they wanted my blood. They kept taking it."
"She's lost a lot of it too, she needs to eat in order to regain her strength. Move," Mai said, elbowing her way past Shisui to place a tray across Sakura's lap. "Can you hold a spoon?"
Sakura grabbed the spoon and turned it over in her hand between her fingers. "It's my legs that aren't working. My hands are fine."
Mai nodded before pulling the sheets back and looking over Sakura's legs while the girl in question ate. Itachi watched from a distance while Shisui attempted to scoot closer, throwing his elbows onto the edge of her bed and leaning forward. He grinned at her and Sakura felt self conscious.
"If I asked what happened, would you tell me?" she said.
"You should eat first," Mei interrupted, nodding towards the bowl of broth that was still steaming ever so slightly. Chunks of vegetables bobbed along the surface.
A second later Itachi spoke. "Madara will have that discussion with you at a later time. I will let him know you are awake. Shisui, you should leave once you are done. He will want privacy."
Shishu grumbled under his breath but didn't reply. Itachi didn't wait on a response and turned to leave before anyone could say anything to him. A minute later Mai dropped a cloth napkin onto the tray and bowed stiffly before departing as well. Once the sound of the door closing echoed Shisui turned her was a brand new smile that swallowed up half his face.
"…Don't trust you," Sakura muttered under her breath, feeling flames in her throat when she tried to speak.
His smile didn't leave his eyes as his lips curled into a boyish pout. "Aw, no, don't be like that. I don't know what Obito of Kagami said, but I'm not all that bad really. What did they say, anyway."
Sakura just shook her head before scooping up a spoonful of soup and leveling it with her mouth to blow on before sipping. It was still too hot and she pulled away sharply, dropping the spoon back into the bowel of broth and reaching for her water. Beside her Shisui made a soft cooing sound, like he was trying to shush her. She felt his hand brush the side of her hair. He was petting her.
Sakura set her glass down loudly and then turned to glare at the Uchiha. He wasn't in a uniform today, but his shirt and trousers were neat and flattering to his solid figure preserving his air of authority. "They said to be careful around you. I shouldn't trust you."
"That's a terrible thing to say without reason. They didn't really tell you why, did they?"
"You're dangerous."
"We're all dangerous, darling. We're monsters, don't you remember?"
Sakura looked away. She hadn't forgotten. She could still feel the hallow bones inside her legs and remembered better than ever what had happened to her in this world. Beside her, Shisui played with a wrinkle in the bedsheets next to her hip. He would glance up at her and the stare back down at his wrinkle, waiting for her to say something. When she didn't he sighed.
"Okay, I'm not asking you to trust me or tell me your life story or nothing like that. How about we just be friendly, eh? I won't hurt you. You can believe that at least."
Sakura eyed her soup, reaching for the spoon again. "Are you going to let me go back to Obito and Kakashi? Will you let me leave?"
He sat up stiffly. "You need to rest, you can't go anywhere now."
Sakura remembered what Kakashi had said about the nature of Uchiha, and of the dangers associated with catching their interests. Uchiha didn't share well, and were greedy bastards in many ways. Her hand stilled over the spoon, fingers wrapped loosely around the handle. "You're not going to let me go at all, are you?"
"N-not until you're better at least. Kakashi too. He's still unconscious but we have a specialist on staff here for the family. He's getting the best care a lycanthrope could ask for, and that's saying something. There aren't many people alive who could or who would help so special a patient. And we also needed someone with a background in marine monsters. How ever did you get on? They're so difficult to track down."
It took a moment more for Sakura to realize that Shisui was talking about her when he mentioned marine monsters. She was a mermaid. She was a monster.
"I appreciate that, Shisui," she answered, using his name purposely. He seemed to melt a bit at the sound of it.
She wasn't as powerful as she once was, now that she was crippled and bound by Hayate's rules, but she did have some abilities, and she was going to use them to their fullest. She was tired of being helpless.
She closed her eyes and lifted her spoon before dropping it back into her soup with a quiet sigh, her eyes fluttering and her head bobbing. Shisui was more than attentive. She felt his hand on her shoulder as he leaned forward.
"Sakura, are you alright. What's wrong?"
Sakura waited, counting her heart beats before opening her eyes again and meeting his gaze. "I'm tired, but I'm hungry. I want to just sleep."
"You can't, you're still weak from the blood loss. You need to eat to regain your strength."
Without further prompting Shisui too a seat beside her and grabbed the spoon from her hand. He scooped out a portion of clear broth without veggies and blowed on it before pressing the tip to her lips. She accepted it without further prompting and he filled another spoonful to repeat the process. Sakura let herself feel tired and it showed as Shisui spoon fed her bit by bit until the soup was halfway gone.
The heat was gone and now the broth came to her lukewarm and she knew she wanted no more so she turned her face away and nestled into the covers. Shisui chided her, but took the tray away so she could lay down without obstruction. She tried to stretch her legs out, but it was like moving smoke, there was nothing to grab on to and nothing she could use to move her legs. She strained, willing her legs to move and her toes to curl and something shifted, but then there was lightning racing up her spin and pain flaring up under her legs. She hissed and the recoil caught Shisui's attention right away.
"Don't move. You haven't finished growing back your human legs. This will take longer than what you're used to because of the blood loss. Shh, don't move, I know you want to but you have to rest or else you'll be on bedrest longer."
Sakura turned her face into the pillow, biting the side of her cheek and forcing her mind to turn over the pain. She wasn't going to die from this, she had to stop thinking like she was in pain. She was going to be fine, she was okay.
She heard Shisui chuckle and turned to glare at him, but found herself blushing when she saw what made him so pleased. She hadn't even noticed it, but apparently during her spasm Sakura had grabbed onto his arms and hadn't let go since. She jerked her hand back fast and folded it to her chest, looking away.
He voice was a grumbled, echoed and muffled by the pillows. "Fine, you can go now. I don't need your help anymore."
"Ah, I think it would be a better idea if I stayed here with you. We wouldn't want you to be alone in case something happened and you needed help right away, you know." He hadn't left the bed and was still sitting on the edge with one knee closer to her hip than the rest of him. When she looked to him he was still smiling.
"I want to sleep."
"Then you should sleep," he said in a voice that was almost a laugh. "Do you need me to tell you a bedtime story?"
Sakura just grumbled louder and snuggled deeper into her pillow.
"Mmm, but if you're asleep when Madara gets here he'll be pissed as punch with me. Ho, I wonder how much I care right now." He waited for her to say something, but all she did was peak out from her pillow and glare at him. He laughed in response and scooted closer to her. "Not very much. Alright, I'll tell you a story, but you have to stay awake to hear the end of it. It's a bed time story, yeah?"
Sakura groaned again and the laugh was quieter from him in response.
"No, now listen up. Uchiha have a lot of enemies, so they knew to have friends where they can and to treat these friends well, that is the Uchiha way. While still monsters, the Uchiha were not unjust in their own way. One of these members was a boy who went by the name Weasel. Weasel had many friends, more than the others, which was surprising because he was sort of an ass in comparison to his cousin."
"I swear to the high heavens if this is about you…"
"Shh, no, just listen. Weasel had friends all over, eve in Chicago where the streets were owned by crooked men and monsters just as cruel. Chicago is a windy city, I'm sure you know, and there's always moisture in the air. You open you mouth and breath in the great lakes until they grow brine on your bones. Itachi didn't much care for the city, but one of his best friends lived there."
Something teased at Sakura and she turned from her pillow to stare at Shisui again, feeling a spring inside her tighten.
"His friend was a shark of sorts and many men feared him for how powerful and ruthless he could be to those who hurt him and his friends. But as ruthless as this shark man was, he was also sometimes exceedingly kind. His kindness was best seen in the woman he feel in love with."
Something inside of her snapped. The smile was gone from Shisui's words, but they were still somehow teasing.
"He collected people to care for. Runaway boys who were really monsters, demons of the mist who were misunderstood, children with teeth and fins and knives. He cared for them all as best he could. There was one he cared for specially though. The siren who won his heart. She came to them with no other family and they made a place for her. At first it was magical, but the second they set her on the stage it was all doomed as surly as the days are long. It wasn't long before the shark wasn't the only one in love with her anymore, but others had a harder time keeping it to themselves. Apparently she had lost a lover, and that hurt still lived inside of her, so he knew better than to chase her in that way. He just wanted her close, that's all he wanted."
"The deadly game between hears went on for months, and then longer. Men would come from miles around to hear her sing and leave behind a bit of their hearts on her stage. Wolves, dogs, monsters, men, it made no difference. She was a terror in a wholly new way."
"Shisui stop."
"You don't want to hear the end of this story."
Sakura shook her head, closing her eyes. "I don't want to hear what you have to say. Don't say anything more. I don't want to hear it."
Shisui frowned, reaching forward to brush her hair back behind her ear. He let soft breath hiss between his lips and pet her hair down. "I'm almost done. I'm sorry. Don't cry for it."
"I'm not crying." She wasn't, but at the same time, she had no doubt that soon she would be if she felt like such crap much longer. She didn't want to hear about the story she hadn't truly been a part of. It was all Hayate's idea. None of this was real or her fault.
"She was happy, and they were happy for having here there. Good things never last forever, but the same can be said for bad things. They lived in peace for a long while and she grew from girlhood into something more. One day a man was honest with her and she was honest back. She couldn't love him and she was ashamed of it, so she left. The others were devastated, but there was nothing they could do. She needed to be safe. So she traded her bleeding heart in for a pair of broken legs and cradled the fears of a young boy when the world was breaking her back. She did wondrous things and was loved for it. As long as she would live in her long life, she would always be a family member to the Uchiha."
"That wasn't a story."
"I'm not done."
Sakura closed her eyes and pretended she was drawing the curtains around her bed and blocking out everything. She wanted a true rest for once. Nothing about this world was fair. "Shisui I'm tired, don't tell me anything more. I want to rest."
"If that is what you want." His voice was still soft while hers was hard.
"It is, please draw the curtains on your way out."
Shisui hummed, tracing the outline of her skull through her hair. "As you wish."
She felt the bed shift as his weight left the mattress. He was up and tugging on the curtains, making the brass rings jungle on the rod when she remembered something. Sakura turned suddenly in bed and Shisui froze, watching her. "Wait, you never said who it was who confessed to the girl."
"I never gave any of them names. It's a story, Sakura." He pulled the curtains back and she was alone again. With nothing else she could do, Sakura laid back down in the sheets and tried to sleep.
Maybe moments passed, but when she opened her eyes again the lights were lower and she knew time had passed. She could still feel the image of the poppies she had been thinking of only moments before still behind her eyes. She was nearing the end of her dream cycle. Soon she would be waking up for real in her world. She would be back to reality soon, but not yet.
She stilled as soon as she felt the hairs on the back of her arms stand on end. The air around her was ionized and primed for danger. She held her breath, sensing the figures beyond the curtains. There were more than two of them, but only two voices could be heard whispering back and forth. With her eyes shut tight in fake sleep, she strained to hear every word.
"When are you going to let her know?"
"I don't think that would be a wise option right now. I want to wait till Madara comes back."
"Why? He's not the one who will be making the decision for her. What does he have to do with any of this."
"He's the one I serve and the one who pays me, in case you forgot."
"You're disgusting. She should have a right to know this and make the choice for herself."
"I told you-we don't even know if she'll need to make such a choice. These types of recovery are rare. I don't know what will happen to her at this point because I don't even know everything that happened to her. For all I know they could have mangled her for life or just plucked a few toenails. It's too soon to tell. She could make a full recovery."
"But if she doesn't, what then?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Don't worry needlessly, just do your job and I'll do mine."
"But-"
"No. I don't ask so many useless questions. Who cares why Madara wants her so protected? Just do as you're told."
There were footsteps and Sakura felt a draft as a curtain moved from beside her. Someone was pulling back the curtains to look in. There was a dip in the mattress beside her and then the presence was beside her, pulling at her arm. Her sleeves were rolled up and she twitched when she felt the needle.
If Sakura had been sleeping she might have reacted differently, but Sakura made her spine a rod of steel and set her jaw to keep from reacting any more. A second later the metal was cone from her arm and Mei was rolling down her sleeve and buttoning it at the cuff so as to leave behind no evidence of her visitation.
The mattress eased up again and Sakura felt the weight leave and the curtain closes. The darkness grew beyond her eyelids and she risked a peak. There were old fashioned oil lamps dimmed down low at the end of the room casting the smudged shadows of two figures; one was tall and one was petite and slim as a rail.
"Is she going to be okay?" That was Shisui's voice. She recognized his outline.
"Sleep is the best thing for her."
"Even with a dream curse?"
"I don't believe that. It's something else. Whatever Kabuto was messing with, I doubt it has too much to do with her. If he was looking for a catalyst that would make sense since mermaids are so resilient, but that's all she is. You only like her cause she a pretty face with an enchanted voice."
Shisui's voice was hard and defensive, snapping quickly in retaliation. "That's not how it works. She has to be in her natural form to use her powers. She's human now, no enchantments."
"She may be human, but you're lost if you think she's not enchanting anyone. I've never seen so many Uchiha in a fit for an outsider. Not even Rin was so hot a topic." There was the sound of glass hitting glass and Sakura suspected Mai had picked up a tray with glass objections on top. That's what her shadow looked like it was doing. There was heavy sigh from the woman next, followed by her voice. "Move, I need to make another dose of this to give her tomorrow morning. My work isn't done."
"When will Madara be back?"
Mai's shadow was nearly gone, likely close to the door when her voice called out again. "A day…two tops. He won't hunt much longer if he can't sniff them out by now. He'll leave Kagami to it."
"…I'm going to stay here until then."
"Why are you telling me this? I don't care. I won't cover for you or warn you if he's on his way back."
"I don't think he would be too angry with me."
Mai laughed. "Believe that, boy. But he's an Uchiha. When have you ever met an Uchiha who wasn't possessive to the point of madness?"
There was the sound of the door closing next and Shisui's shadow moved to a far corner of the room. Sakura held her breath, listening for any clues, but all she heard was the creak of something wooden and nothing more.
Shisui was somewhere in her room, likely in the corner where Sakura had seen a fainting couch positioned from before when she tired to crawl her way out of the room. Shisui was likely sitting or laying out on the couch, closing his eyes, watching over her. If she moved, would he hear her? If he heard her, would he do anything?
Sakura never sought out those answers. The dream world was slipping away, unraveling on threat at a time before the whole fabric of her constructed reality snapped and fell away.
She woke up feeling hot. It was one of the last hot days of the year before everything quickly feel into chilled winds and late summer storms. There was a heavy sort of humidity in the air that made the moisture feel like a physical weight on her lungs when Sakura breathed in the morning air. It had rained again last night. The soil was still smelling of of it and the dirt parts of her driveway were mud puddles.
When Sakura came downstairs for a quick breakfast she found Karin sitting in a hair at the kitchen table. A pair of Starbuck iced chi teas sat in a holder in front of her face. She looked up once she saw Sakura.
"If I had known someone would be down here I would have bothered to put some clothes on, Sakura lamely commented, tugging at the extra long cami that just barely brushed her thighs. It was too hot and sticky for anything else.
"Have you seen Ino recently?" Karin asked in a hesitant tone.
When Sakura met her eyes the redhead glanced back at the cups like they were a scapegoat that would allow the wrath of an angry god to pass over her. Sakura was far from an angry god, but she did love overpriced chi teas from Starbucks. Sakura took one of the drinks and sat down before replying.
"No, she's super busy so we don' hang out much. We're on social media a lot though. She's actually with Ami today. They're doing a photo shoot. They both sounded excited about it, but I think Ami was the one who had stars in her eyes."
"You know I'm sorry, right?"
"And you know I forgive you, right? I forgive everyone, apparently."
Karin winced, reaching for her own drink. Karin winced for no one but Sakura. Not even her adopted parents could make her feel guilty for her actions the way Sakura could. "That's not such a bad thing. I mean…there are worse vices."
"Yeah," Sakura admitted after a pause. "I guess so." She took a drink from her tea and waited for Karin to speak again. It was apparent the redhead had more to say and would need time to build up the courage to say anything.
"I'm going to try to be okay with this from now on, but I don't know if I can. We're not…Ino and I never could get along and I doubt that is something we could do if our lives depended on it. But I'll be civil for your sake. I don't want to loose you."
"Karin, I'm not asking for you to be friends with Ino, if you can't than it's fine. Friendship isn't always easy and sometimes between people it's…not natural." Sakura winced at some of the memories from high school when Ino and Karin would get into spats. They were opposite elements in all the wrong ways. Two forces of nature out to destroy the same earth first in very different ways. "You don't have to be friends, but let me have this friendship without feeling guilty about it."
"I don't want you to feel guilty, I want you to be safe," Karin almost snapped before remembering who she was talking to. "Sorry. I just..people can be careless sometimes, even when they don't mean to be cruel."
"I think I've learned that lesson already."
"Have you?"
Sakura sipped her tea before replying. "Just because I don't harden and become bitter doesn't mean things didn't happen. We all live differently."
"Yeah, but everybody hurts, and you never share that with anyone. Not until after the damage is done."
When Karin looked up at Sakura over the edge of her tea Sakura felt pinned in place. Karin was saying something else, something that didn't have to do with Ino. Karin was saying she knew something, but wasn't about to call Sakura out on it. Karin wanted Sakura to offer up her story of pain willingly. In less clarity and with a shortage of details, Karin knew about what the Kingdoms were doing to Sakura. How could she not? It was more than waking up in bed covered in blood and dog bites and walking into thorn bushes in the dead of night with cognitive complications, Karin had always been watching Sakura. Karin would always know something.
"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered, finding she had no worthy answer to offer her friend. All she had were stories of dreams.
"Ami says you scream in your sleep sometimes."
Sakura looked up suddenly, eyes wide. Ami had never said anything to Sakura about it. When had she…?
Karin waved Sakura's surprised look off with a casual wave. "Don't look so struck, she wouldn't tell you if her life depended on it. She values your friendship too much, but she worries almost as much as me. What is making you so afraid?"
She swallowed something hard, knowing that even if Karin let it go this time, this would not be the end of the questions. It had almost been a year since she first opened the Obelisk. A few week from now would be the one year anniversary. She had assumed the curse would take up much less of her life after crossing through the Marble Gardens. She thought she would be stronger, better, faster, smarter than the other actors who suffered for years inside their twisted dreams. She had thought herself exceptional because Sai believed she was. But she was only a little more than halfway through and stuck in her struggles to progress any further. One year and this was all she had to show for it. Summer was wearing out. Soon it would be cold again.
"Karin…it's not something I can put into words."
"You're having nightmares. Look, I just did it for you."
"Karin…" Sakura closed her eyes. "They'er not just…nightmares."
After a pause where Karin waited for Sakura to offer up something more she spoke. "Night terrors?"
It was hard, but Sakura exhaled and let her body ease. "Maybe something like that."
"I want to hear about them."
Sakura's tea was still cold, but the chill that made the bones of her teeth shiver was gone. Now it was just pleasantly refreshing in her mouth. She distracted herself with the taste of the sugar on her lips before moving them in a way to make her words. "It started in a garden."
When she woke up in the Uchiha bed she could feel her legs again, and it was the only thing she could feel. Shock kept her from screaming out as a million and one needles seemed to be growing into the flesh of her legs in a process that was just as painful as it sounded. Sakura opened her hand and bit on her knuckle when she tried to turn one leg over the other. She wanted to cry it was so painful, but she didn't doubt there was someone else in the room with her. Shisui had been on the couch last she dreamed. Maybe he was still there.
This was too much like what she remembered of the Little Mermaid stories she read as a child, the original version by Hans Christian Anderson and not the happy retelling by Disney. In those stories every step the little mermaid took on her stolen legs woven from sea witch magic was like a thousand knives in her flesh. Yes, this was very much like what the stories said, only there was no way Sakura would be able to dance like this. The little mermaid had been able to walk through the pain and even dance. Not her.
Sakura sucked in a breath and held it before exhaling. She balled her fists into the sheets and pulled herself up into a sitting position. If she didn't try to move her legs it was fine. She could deal with the stinging when it was dulled. Walking would be an activity for later, if at all.
Within arm's reach there was a glass of water on the nightstand, just outside the curtain. She felt thirsty so she drank half the glass before remembering something she learned about herself. She had an ability she hadn't possessed before. She stared down into the water and watched it swirl.
'Show me Uchihas,' she thought, wondering what she would see.
The ripples spread out further than the limits of the outline of the glass and she could so much more than a fistful of clear water. In a moment she could see a mane of black hair and then another head of black, before it melted away and a new image of an Uchiha flashes in the water. That one lasted half as long before being replaced again and again. The pictures were disjointed and coming too fast she had to tear her eyes away and break the connection.
Asking to see all the Uchiha was a bad idea, it was too much. She needed to focus on one at a time.
"Kagami, show me Kagami." He was the one Obito had told her to be easy around. He was the one they trusted more so than Shisui, and it was apparent he had been kept from visiting based off what she overheard.
A second passed and nothing happened, but then the water rippled and there was a image growing out of the reflection, taking up everything. It was a setting, sparsely decorated with characters. Deep, expensive red and gold and black melted into everything before another layer of focus layered over the picture. Sakura saw the club room in more detail, noticing the gold and crystal chandeliers over the dace floor and the dim lights that kept the back booths barely lit. There were tables between the booths and the dance floor, and they had their chairs stacked up as another figure moved between them, cleaning with a broom. Another man went around placing things on the tables, dressing things up. They were preparing for opening. Sakura had seen this before when Obito got ready to open his restaurant, but his room had never been so large and so grand.
Shisui sat in one of the booths, slouching forward on his folded arms. One of his fingers lazily tapped the table topped as his gaze drifted off to something Sakura couldn't see. He seemed distracted. His gaze was unfocused, his posture bored. Someone passed and he looked up but didn't move.
A minute passed and Sakura was about to let the image fall apart when a new figure stepped into the setting. He was clear across the room, but Shisui reacted as soon as Itachi stepped through the doorway hidden between sliding walls.
Sakura recognized Itachi, after so many encounters and so many dreams together it was hard not to. But all Itachis were a little different from each other, and this Itachi was no exception. In the Kingdom of Man Itachi had been kind but distant, in the Kingdom of Beasts he had been soft and regretful and haunted by the memory of his other's betrayal. This Itachi…this Itachi was cold and biting, like snow on naked flesh. He wasn't even actually in the room and already Sakura felt intimidated into shivering. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't.
A second later Shisui hopped into the room behind Itachi, his easy smile in place. Both were wearing their uniforms and the gold badges caught the light just as well as the double breasted set of buttons. Shisui wore his cap crooked while Itachi carried his under his arm. His hair was as perfectly kept as all the other times she knew him, but his eyes were still dead. Something in her ached.
Kagami stood as they approached the table and Sakura saw the details of his uniform just as well. His shirt was a bit wrinkled and she guessed he had been there a while. She saw no sign of his cap as he came out from the booth and approached them.
"Well?"
"The only criminals left at large are the woman and Kabuto. Madara uncovered the blond who shot Kakashi and was feasting on him last we saw. I doubt he will be motivated to continue after tonight. You will have to take up the trail in the morning."
Kagami's eyes were hard as he pulled him up to his full height, and Sakura remembered he was the older of the trio. "We're letting them run." He was upset, but it wasn't evident by his tone.
"Yes, it sends a message. Kabuto is dangerous, but he is also in debt to a great many people, They will do the work we care not to. Also, the woman is cruel but of no consequence. She is nothing without Orochimaru."
"Even with Orochimaru killed, she will seek vengeance."
"She will try," Itachi smoothly countered, eyes half lidded as his interest in the conversation dropped. "She will fail. The blood has made Madara a sated devil. He wants nothing more than to perch, as do many of our brethren. What is the point of ruling a city if you're constantly fighting to keep it yours?"
"Is that your way of saying to give up?" Kagami asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he tilted his chin up. Shisui glanced between the two but Itachi seemed unfazed.
"I wouldn't know. I don't wear this uniform because I believe in it as you do. I only seek to serve the family. You have the night, Kagami." Itachi moved to brush past his elder cousin and Kagami reached out on a reflex, grabbing Itachi's arm.
"What about Sakura? I asked for the day off so that I could see her when she wakes up. I haven't had a chance "
"She won't wake up. She's regrowing the bones of her legs. The process is extremely painful and will keep her passed out until its completion." Itachi touched Kagami's hand and the elder Uchiha release as if stung. Itachi didn't seem phased by his cousin's reaction or the power he had. "Madara will be back once night falls. Go."
Kagami turned his glare to Shisui and the younger had the decency to look ashamed. "I've been banned from her room as well," Shisui admitted without meeting his cousin's eyes.
"But you were there, weren't you? You saw her, you know how she is. Does she know about Kakashi? What about Toby and Obito? Not even them?"
Shisui closed his eyes and lifted his head, pretending to sigh. "She's not in a condition to be entertaining children. Kagami, just drop it. You just have a silly crush and that's why you're acting like this."
"And you're any different?" Kagami's tone made Shisui flinch.
"No…" the younger Uchiha admitted after a while. "No, I'm not. But, I'm in Madara's favor, and I'm going to play with the card's I've earned. You had a chance to make the Uchiha name proud and you chose to side with the humans and their laws. Family at least will pay you back. What did your justice get you?"
Shisui raised his eyes his eyes and there was a hesitant challenge there. Sakura doubted he took such strong words against his cousin easily, but what she didn't understand was if it was because Shisui respected Kagami, or feared him in some way. Kagami was older, maybe that's all it was. There was a unique sort of tension between the two of them, like verbal conflicts weren't a common thing.
Kafami's returned gaze didn't waver. He wasn't intimidated by his younger cousin. "She'll run from you. Caged things don't learn to love so easily, if at all."
"At least she'll be alive and-"
Kagami was quick to interrupt. "And what? You'll have a shot, a chance at something? You think Madara will allow that? You're just as bad as the rest, we're monsters, not gods."
Something in Sakura snapped and she was unable to keep the image intact. It fell apart in a moment and seconds later she was blinking back the lights behind her eyes. She was back in her bedroom, the curtains were still drawn all around her bed and she was still crippled. The hand that held the glass was shaking terribly and she felt static running up and down her bones until her hand dropped the glass and what was left of the water spilled across her lap. It wasn't much and it would dry soon, but she wouldn't be able to look again.
Sakura breathed deeply. Her bones were growing in her legs. She tried moving them again and felt the pain. Yes, that made sense. Her bones were young and everything else inside her legs were underdeveloped and new. Yes, it made sense she was in so much pain.
Still, she didn't want to be incapacitated. She could be in pain all night ling, but she didn't want to be crippled. She didn't want to be anything less than what she was in the real world. She didn't want to be diminished. They were keeping her from seeing the others, now she knew for sure. They would keep her from Kakashi, even after she recovered, they would find a way to keep her restrained. They were monsters. She couldn't trust them.
She twisted in bed and the pain shot her down. She shifted her legs and then shifted again, provoking the jolts of pain. Each one was just as jarring as the first, but she as getting used to the pain. She would find strength in some way. Maybe she couldn't murder beasts and criminals with swords and guns, but she would find some way to be strong. She was the person Sai believed in.
Sakura felt the edge of the bed and curled her legs over the side before pausing. Her legs were still healing. She could stand the pain now, but if she tried to get up now she could risk compromising her recovery. That wasn't smart. She could be strong without giving up common sense. She would be strong in a different way, strong and smart.
Pulling the covers back, Sakura moved her stinging legs back into position and settled down. When she stretched out the pain didn't seem as bad, but it was still jarring. Whoever told the Uchiha that this would be enough to keep her passed out either didn't know anything or had lied. Whatever the reason, it wasn't good enough to keep Sakura thinking about it long.
She couldn't move, she couldn't use her abilities to see without a source of water, and there was no one coming to check on her anytime soon. Madara didn't want the others visiting her. There was no reason to stay awake, so she closed her eyes and tried to pass the time inside the dream with another dream of disjointed running images pulled from fairytales and fables. When she closed her eyes there was darkness and then there were poppies and stag men and druid stones and words twisted and twirled into a curling text across a cliff face. She felt the mist and something older seep into her bones.
When she opened her eyes she wasn't in the red and green poster bed, she was in her actual room, awake in the real world. Sakura stretched her legs and din't feel anything other than a bit of cramping from being tangled up in the sheets. She sat up in bed and then stood to move to the window. She was wide awake.
Something was wrong.
She wasn't supposed to be awake. There had been plenty of time left for her to spend in the dream world and her sleep cycle was nowhere near finished. It was hardly midnight. She had gone to bed maybe an hour and a half ago. It didn't make sense for her to be awake.
She moved to the window and looked out into the back of her yard. There were deer in her yard, dozens of them. Laying down in the center a trio of wolves dozed. One lifted his head and yawned before lowering his face again. The deer didn't flinch, but stared up at her with their reflective eyes, wide and unblinking.
"Sai," Sakura found herself whispering. "What is going on?" She wanted Sai to come back and explain things to her without being a cryptic ass about it the way Hayate always was. She wanted her friend to come back.
She touched the glass of her window. "Don't leave me alone like this."
The wolf in the center raised his head and suddenly the deer were at attention. There was tense second when even the insects held their breath before the spell of peace was broken and the animals took flight, spoked off. By the time she finished exhaling the deer were out of sight and not a trace of the wolves had been left behind. Whatever it meant, she doubted it was a good thing.
Something tickled her lungs and she coughed, feeling her ribs ache. She didn't feel well and wondered if it was because of the dream. Maybe she had been screaming in her sleep again. Maybe her body was finally breaking down from the stress again. Her mind was a mess. It made sense her body would follow.
Sakura took a trip downstairs, checking to see that Ami was still asleep, and helped herself to a hot drink. Not caring if it kept her up, Sakura pulled a package of instant cider mix from the pantry and stirred it into her mug of warm water with a stick of cinnamon. It was what she needed. Feeling the heat run down her throat past her lungs something felt lighter inside of her. She took her drink into the living room and laid out on the couch. She could watch a few re-runs of the Twilight Zone on TV Land or maybe I Dream of Jeanie, whatever it was they had on so late this time of year.
She never got to it though. The second her shoulder hit the couch a pull like gravity sucked her from waking into sleeping. She was falling again, harder and faster than ever before. This time was different. Something was wrong this time. Something wasn't right.
She broke on a gasp, sitting up. Her ribs were pinched like something awful had crushed her in its grip and her lips were dry. Sakura moved and felt the lightning in her bones. Her legs were still stabbing with pain, but since her earlier dream the pain was barely noticeable.
Something else in the room was far more noticeable.
All the curtains around her bed had been pulled back, and heavy moonlight painted the details in highlights of silver. The shape of his face, the flare of his wild mane, the curve of his feathered wings and the twist of his horns, all of it was etched in shadows of black and silver.
Sakura sucked in a breath and scooted backwards as far as she could before her back hit the headboard. Madara Uchiha was standing at the foot of her bed, monstrous in a way she had seen no other Uchiha be. His eyes were red and spinning but when he met her gaze the red faded to black, making him just like the other Uchiha.
But Madara Uchiha was not like any of the other Uchiha. To start with, his form was hardly human, from his elbows down his arms were covered in a black stain that ran all the way down to his curved black nails. They were not human nails, and his hands weren't human hands, but something else. The were birdlike and rough, frozen in rigid angles of a predatory ready to snap.
He was unclothed above the band of blank trousers, his chest solid and bare. Thought they grew out behind him, she could see where his wings would have begin. They hovered, half opened, behind his back. His neck was thick like a coiled rope and when she saw his jaw she knew she didn't want to look further, but Sakura had never been good about looking away and she knew then even before her eyes climbed up the rest of his face as saw the same black eyes that worshiped her as a saint in the confines of a long gone Russian city.
"This," he began with a voice like distant thunder. She felt ever word like a force from within. "…Is not the first time you have been wounded in my bed, is it not?"
"What are you…?" She remembered the time she traveled backwards from the Kingdom of Beasts to the Monarch Woods, trying to hide from Naruto. It was as he said. Once upon a time she had been bleeding in his sheets, wounded and broken. But that had been a different lifetime, that had been a different world. He had been an actor on another level. He wasn't supposed to remember.
'None of them are supposed to remember, but you are different, Sakura,' the ghost of Sai's voice echoed in her head. Madara was different from the others. Even the ones who remembered past lives. Madara was different.
"You're self aware," she finally breathed, eyes wide.
"Is that what you call it?" he asked in a rolling chuckle that built mountains under her veins. He watched her and titled his head to the side, never taking his eyes off of her. "I am one of the knowing. Does that mean something to you?"
"You know about the curse." It wasn't a question.
"I know many things." He dipped his head and the twisted, obsidian horns from atop his head were gone. His gaze cut through his long lashes at an angle that made her shiver. "I've been waiting a long time for this."
She remembered Madara from the last time she had seen him, back in the Monarch Woods. He had been someone of power then, a prince crowned to be king, and he held himself like one when she danced with him across the Russian floors. Now he was something more than a prince or a king. He was an emperor with blood soaked up to his elbows. There was nothing childish about him.
Madara ducked his head further and brought up his knee to push against the mattress. His body shifted to an angle that made all of the lines that made him up stand out. She saw where one bundle of muscle began and another ended. She saw where his flesh was stretched across the bones of his chest. She had always found collar bones mesmerizing, but his were exquisite.
He braced his hands on the bed and climbed forward, his wings expanding and then breaking apart. A flurry of feathers that never landed and his bace was left bare. Sakura could see where his shoulder blades pushed out in peaks and where his spine curved deep into his back, dipping below the band of his trousers. He crawled forward on his hands and knees and by the time he was close enough to touch her leg his hands were pale and human shaped again. He didn't move to touch her, and he didn't hover over her, but he was close enough that all he had to do was put in a little effort and he could have her pinned beneath him.
Sakura shifted, backing away from him and he pulled back just as well, not intending to invade her personal space even if his eyes refused to leave her form. "What do you want with me?" she finally asked.
His head turned slightly to the side so it looked like he wasn't staring at her so obviously anymore, but he was. She could still feel it. "I don't want anything from you," he whispered.
"Liar." The word came too easily to her lips.
"Yes, a part of me is a liar, the part of me that wants everything from you. But I won't listen to that part of me today. I will want nothing from you today because that is the choice I make of my own free will, for as long as I have a will that is free." He straightened his face, head shifting back. "My only efforts are for your safety and protection."
Sakura swallowed, caught up in all the questions she wanted to ask him, all the things she wanted to accuse him of. "You…how are you able to remember what happened in another world? How do you know about the curse?"
"What gain is there for me if I answer?"
"What do you lose by not answering?"
Madara hummed, reaching forward to touch the edge of her hand, running the backs of his fingers over her skin. "I'll settle for your good graces. I'm able to remember all that has happened to me so far because of your friend, the knower of hidden ways, made sure I was able to keep my memories." Madara withdrew his hand and turned it over in front of his face. A tarot card appeared out of thin air. Sakura saw a design of a woman on a throne holding a sword out before he turned the card over between his fingers. "After the night you left me, I woke up in a new world with this in my pocket and all my memories. I've been waiting and planning to receive you ever since, but Hayate kept you hidden because of his plans for the story."
"You even know about Hayate," Sakura said aloud, pretending she hadn't shivered when she heard how dark his tone turned when he mentioned Hayate. Sure, she didn't like the guy much either, but Madara's tone was something else.
His hand found her hair again. "Yes, I know many things. I know more than anyone else in this world."
"How is this possible? In the last kingdom some of the actors started to remember, but that was because of me…and it was a bad idea in the long run. Are you the only one, or will there be others? What about Itachi?"
His hand in her hair twitched, but returned to brushing back her tresses rhythmically. "What about Itachi? He knows nothing other than the story written for him in this play. I am the only one."
"It's probably better this way. Itachi was miserable with the guilt last time." When Madara didn't say anything in reply Sakura decided it would be a better idea to elaborate. "Itachi grew to be self aware towards the end, along with Hidan and Naruto's dark clone, that boy named Menma. It didn't turn out well for any of them."
"It rarely does, but I am different. I will not be so easily dominated by trivial emotions, you need not be cautious around me." He removed his hand from her hair and let his fingers brush the other shell of her ear. "I've waited too long for this to be weak for anything or anyone."
Sakura pulled her head back and turned her face away half an angle. It would be harder for him to touch her again. "I guess it is good for me to have someone I can talk to about what's really going on."
Madara's smile should have been soft, but on his face the thinly pressed lips and crinkled eyes made him look more like a plotting minx than a pleased adult. "I'm glad you see it that way. I've been waiting for you to come to me ever since the night of the dance. I want to speak of so many things with you. I want to know about your truth. What is your life like when you wake up from this dream? What is your life like in the true world?"
"You…you want to know about my waking life."
"It's a part of who you are, more than this role you play to please the curse."
Sakura was suddenly thirsty for words and couldn't help herself. She began to tell Madara of her friends and her job and the house she lived in since last year. She told him her story of how she came to be cursed and what the first few dreams were like for her. When he asked her, she even shared stories of what happened to her in the first kingdom and how that changed her life in the real world.
She told him the story of the Marble Gardens, and how stone grew inside her the longer she stayed stuck in the rose maze.
She told him the story of how she bound herself to a gaggle of angry american greasers in a time period he would never know, and about how she fought with knives in her battles against rivals without faces as well as the dream killer himself, Orochimaru. She even mentioned the way Sasori died for her and what it did to her.
She told him of how she came into the Monarch Woods before she met him, how she appeared on a mountain top and rescued a wolf pup that would grow up to be a beast more loyal than nay other in the Russian woods. 'I lost him, just like I lost Sasori before.'
Sakura told Madara about the Kingdom of Beasts and of how she apprenticed under two master swordsmen to learn the ways of the sword in preparation for her battle to come. Then she mentioned Menma and the others who took her in and began to remember from the last time they saw her, a whole kingdom ago. When she was describing their self awareness, it was obvious that Madara was interested in hearing what she had to say, and she suspected that was because what she had to say was different from what happened to him.
Her voice pitched and her throat tightened when she got to the part about killing Sai, but she shook her head and closed her eyes before retelling her story on the TeaLion Express and how each car on the train came with a unique world of problems and monsters. She spoke of how she maneuvered colonial India and the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion in China with trial and tribulation. She even told her about the bees.
Madara listened intently, hanging on each of her many words. He never seemed to look away from her and would often reach out to touch the side of her leg through the covers whenever he had a comment or question to ask. He seemed honest in his interest and by the time Sakura felt the pull of the dream world tugging on her she felt so much lighter.
She had found a form of freedom in being able to tell someone everything without having to lie or edit her story for the sake of seaming sane. She could tell Karin, and there had been times when she shared parts of her dream with Karin, but Sakura had never admitted to believing in her dreams, and she never mentioned the curse. With Madara she didn't have to worry about that. He already knew, and on some level, he already understood. He had been a dreamer once before, a long time ago when the Obelisk had still been lost in Japan.
There were thin, invisible strings tugging at her, but Sakura resisted, stretching her dream out as far as it would go.
"Tell me about you, Madara," she said.
His eyes were a dark black, but somehow they still sparkled with delight, making his whole face seem bright. He touched her knee thought the covers and she felt it this time. She was regaining feeling in her legs more and more.
"I would love to, but straining to stay will only wear you out before waking up. You should return rested. Go now, I will not leave, and tomorrow we will speak again. Tomorrow, you might even feel well enough to sing for me." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek with hushed lips and she felt heavy again.
When she woke in the real world Sakura decided she liked Madara and wanted to stay close to him. But at the same time, she forced herself to admit he was the most dangerous ally she had ever accepted in the entirety of her time inside the curse. He would be her greatest help and her greatest weakness.
AN:/ Still hella busy, still hella want to write this. (I love it, but work is bitch with its hours.) Madara is my favorite sinimmon roll on the breakfast menu. He's a little devil, and Sakura might be fine with him now, but he is an Uchiha, so yeah...more good stuff to come. So much more good stuff to come. He's my favorite to write, oh my gosh guys, once she starts walking, guys, guys, omg guys, I'm legit excited about this.
I need sleep.
As always, please review and tell me what you think. I love hearing from you and always appreciate the comments. I check my stories religiously for reviews because they always make me happy. Thanks!
Vesper Chan