Sakura was curled in a cocoon of quilts on her parents' bed. She could feel Kaiser's body pressed onto her feet. She was sweating like crazy but felt like she couldn't get warm inside. 'If Kaiser hadn't have been there…' She shook herself deeper into the comfort of the blankets and decided that she needed some company.
There was a thunk as someone tried to enter the house. "Sakura! Open up, its me!" Ino's bright blue eye peeked through the window beside the front door. Sakura moseyed her way over and slowly opened up the door for her friend, unsure how to tell her of the havoc that had happened a mere hour ago. Thankfully she didn't have to, upon entering, Ino immediately noticed the drops of blood that were left on the floor by the escaping attacker. "Are you hurt? What happened here?"
"Someone broke in… And…" She looked up at Ino, not able to say anything more. Ino stroked the bruise on Sakura's cheek and then hugged her. "You sounded weird on the phone, so I brought my pajamas." Sakura smiled and squeezed Ino's sturdy form.
They watched movies and laughed. Things were just as normal as they'd ever been, yet it felt so surreal. It was as if her outer casing was doing the laughing for her, and she was hollow on the inside.
"Okay, that's enough about my minor crush on Chouji when I was three!" Ino giggled. The times they were laughing at seemed like a different life all together. "How are you feeling? Are you able to talk about it now?"
"I…" She looked down at Kaiser.
"You have to let it out, Sakura, or else you'll end up holding on to it forever." Ino pressed a hand onto Sakura's shoulder.
She frowned and opened her mouth to speak; she really wanted to tell her friend what had happened, but there was a blockage of words caught in her throat. Her mouth was sucked dry of any moisture it contained and she swallowed. "Well..," she looked at Ino, but turned back away when the missing moisture from her mouth built up in her eyes. "I came into the hallway, I thought it was you again." She coughed out a sob, then sniffled it back and continued: "he tried to grab me, and I avoided him somehow... Then he grabbed my hair." She held her hair at the back of her head to demonstrate. Before she continued with the tale she brushed an arm across her eyes in a failed attempt to dry them.
Ino grabbed Sakura's wrist, and Sakura looked at her. "Sakura, you have to let it all out. No matter how painful." Ino shrugged a smile at her.
Sakura nodded, looking down at her wetted sleeve, and pushed on. "He forced me onto the ground," Ino's jaw dropped, "so I threw the phone at him for a distraction."
"That's my girl!" Ino beamed at her with reassuring fists of victory.
Sakura couldn't help but smile, even though tears slid down her face. "I unlocked the door for Kaiser," she gestured to the sliding glass door, "but he pulled me away before I could open it. And then—" That was when his hand had intruded, and when she thought she was done for. Her tear ducts became reservoirs.
Ino was on the edge of her seat, her eyes already angry from expectation. Sakura burst into sobs and the dams of her eyes overflowed and soaked her cheeks. "I thought he was going to rape me! Maybe even kill me, Ino!" Ino's arms were wrapped around her so tightly that she could barely move, but the sound strength was comforting.
It was a few minutes before Sakura's cries trickled down into sniffs and exhales, and even longer before she decided she wanted to move.
Ino released her. "Wait, have you called the cops yet?"
Sakura soaked up the water on her face with her blanket. "No..," she shyly eyed Ino.
"I can't do it for you!" Sakura's eyes grew larger and it looked like she was about to lose it again. "Alright, fine! I can call them for you, but just this once! I swear, Sakura, you'd be hopeless without me."
Ino pulled out her phone, "but!" Sakura looked at her. "You have to promise me something." She promptly nodded to Ino. "Promise me you won't let this creep ruin your opinion on guys. Just because this guy was a total scumbag doesn't mean that you should start fearing men, okay?"
Sakura slowly nodded. "I promise."
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(Spoiler alert!: If you don't read the manga chapters you'll probably want to skip Sasuke's dream sequence!)
He was a ninja, just like his brother before him. The new eyes his brother had bestowed on him were finally set in place in his sockets. The trade was a good one, and he could feel their power combined with his own.
Even though his brother was killed by his own hand, he was now pursuing him through the trees. Itachi's signature crows shot out at him to delay his advance in an attempt to keep him from entering through the barrier after him. Sasuke burst through the illusion of crows and his red eyes spotted the crack in the forcefield where Itachi had squeezed through.
Upon entering the cave, it was discovered that Kabuto was to blame for the resurrection of the dead. He had summoned many bodies from the grave in order to create invincible and skilled soldiers for battle. Itachi had come to put an end to the technique. Sasuke joined his older brother.
If they ended Kabuto's life, the jutsu would continue. So, they had to take control of Kabuto's mind and force him to do it willingly. Their eye techniques created ethereal warriors that could encase them in a protective energy, as well as attack. Kabuto countered by transforming his skin into scales to resemble a snake/dragon.
The battle raged as there were snakes and blades swung around. Kabuto had the upper hand, he was a talented medic and had a wide rang of jutsu gained from Orochimaru.
Itachi charged into close combat to lure Kabuto into his trap, and succeeded. Kabuto's mind was trapped in an infinite loop, and was no longer in control of his brain. The jutsu was ended, and Itachi's final moments of "life" were fast approaching. Sasuke didn't want to lose him again, but knew there was no other way.
Itachi's form was dwindling away, and he paced his fingers at the back of Sasuke's head and pulled their foreheads together. "No matter what happens to you from here on out… I will always love you."
He could still feel the pressure on his forehead, and thought that perhaps the world he was living in now was the real dream. Sasuke gently opened his eyes with a desire for the dark eyes that he had spent cumulative hours studying in photographs, the eyes that he could barely remember having life inside. Instead of meeting the eyes that were similar to his own, he saw a yellow hue staring back at him. He tried to blink them away in his daze.
Orochimaru crooned, "good morning, Sasuke." The coloured red lips grew into a smile.
"Get off." Sasuke shoved his boss away and dragged himself off the couch. "I'm going to shower." His barefeet patted against the hardwood, and then tile. He brought the door to a click behind him and sighed. It felt like it had been years since his brother had passed away, even though it wasn't even a full one. He grasped at the fabric on his back and pulled it over his head, then dropped his arms down with another hefty exhale.
His eyes hooked on themselves in the mirror. He observed the slim figure, and the trace of his firm muscles dressed in pale skin. He looked strange, though, like he didn't match the image of himself above the sink.
He shook the stray thoughts from his mind and finished pulling off his clothes. He stepped into the shower started the water. The cold splattered against him before the warm water rushed through and began to soothe.
It was okay to let his tears run in the shower; they were washed away with the current, however, the feel of them still stained his cheeks. He wiped his face and turned to grab the soap when he noticed something: a single eye peering through the crack at the end of the curtain. It drew back without delay, and he heard the feet scurry out of the bathroom.
He stared in disbelief at the now empty space. He scowled and hurriedly washed up. When he was perfectly rinsed he jumped out of the shower and whipped the towel around himself. Then he charged out into the livingroom where Orochimaru was politely perched on the couch.
"Listen, Orochimaru. I don't care if you think you're entitled to my body by letting me stay here: stay out of my personal space. I will beat up my boss if I have to." The cross-dresser smiled slyly, "I like your spunk."
"Shut up." Sasuke returned to the bathroom and threw on his work uniform. He could hear Kabuto bitching about his attitude to Orochimaru on his way out the door.
Hello Everyone! Okay, so this one was a bit of a downer, but it must be done! Let me know if you want to see more of something or if anything is unsatisfactory and I will work on it.
