OBELISK:
Kingdom of Monsters
The House of Fire

Like always, her body in the dream world pulled itself back together enough for her so that the next time she entered into the dream she was more whole than she should have been for only one night's rest. She was still in pain, but when Sakura woke up, she found her legs felt more bruised than anything. She could stretch and bend them without lightning shooting up her spine. Her bed was warm and soft, but she was sick of it. She had spent too long living like a cripple.

Turning over in bed, Sakura pulled back the covers and folded her legs over the side of the bed. She felt her body pull like a weight into an upright position and winced at the fading bruises around her ribs and neck. Her body remembered what it was like to live in the salt and waves. The places where she once had gills were still sore, but it wasn't bad. She could breath, and that's what mattered.

Sakura pulled back the curtain and looked out. She was alone. Deciding that was a good thing, Sakura scooted as close to the edge as she could and then let her legs drag her body forward. She touched the floors and almost collapsed with the brand new weight on her legs. She felt like walking on stilts as she struggled to gain a steady footing. She grabbed onto the curtain and pulled till the flailing came under control.

Just like the little mermaid from the story, every step was a step filled with pain, but it wasn't pain she couldn't stomach. She had endured worse in her life. Staying stuck in bed would be worse. Waiting around for something to happen to her would be worse.

She reached the end of the room and paused at the door, trying the handle and finding it locked. Someone had locked her inside from the outside. Maybe someone expected her to recover and didn't want her leaving, or maybe it was their way of 'protecting' her.

She was still dressed in a nightgown and there was an empty tray beside her bed where food should have been. The water glass, however, was three quarters of the way filled. She reached for it, knowing it was on the other side of the room, knowing her hand wouldn't reach, knowing it was a childish gesture. The water in the glass rippled. A second later it was a coiling rope circling through the air to wrap and levitate in the shape of a perfect halo around her hand.

"That's new," she breathed aloud, moving her hand and manipulating the water.

Sakura eyed the lock and then waved her hand in its direction, imagining the lock shattering o being ripped apart by the water she controlled. The liquid twisted over itself before burrowing into the wood and metal of the door. A second later it froze, expanding and breaking apart the lock before returning to a liquid state that encircled her wrist.

"Not helpless anymore," Sakura said to herself, narrowing her eyes at the shattered wood and mangled metal. She might not be able to summon items out of her imagination, but there was more to being a monster than she was aware of. She could see things in the water and manipulate it. She could enchant listeners with her voice and who knows what else.

She flexed her wrist and the halo of water around her wrist became a spiked bracelet over her knuckles. She didn't need to afraid anymore.

She turned the corner and took a few more steps down the dark hallway when she felt someone ahead of her. She tensed and fell into a semi crouch, ready to brace against attack if needed.

"Do you think there is somewhere you need to be, princess?" a dark, dry voice asked from within the darkness ahead of her. She recognized the voice, even if she had a hard time accepting it as Itachi's. She had never heard him so cold before, at least not cold towards her. Itachi had never been her enemy, but that's how he felt.

"I'm sorry. Was keeping me trapped your job?" she teased, trying to sound light and funny. She didn't relax her stance, even though she smiled from behind her raised fists. Part of the water over one knuckle broke off and wrapped around her opposite hand. She know had two ice tipped fists if the need arose.

The outline of a figure became distinguishable in the darkness ahead of her, but she still couldn't make out his body. "Put your hands away before you do yourself damage. You were not in any danger where you were. Return and wait for Madara. He will be displeased if you are hurt or removed."

She didn't lower her hands. "Is there a reason you're such an ass in this life, or is this who you are this time around?"

Itachi stepped forward and she saw his pale face tipped at the corners with raven black feathers. His neck was glossy with slender folds that disappeared into his casually opened dress shirt. His hands were black and clawed. Red spinning eyes and petite fangs made him a monster unlike any she had heard of in mythology. Madara had looked similar but had long curling horns. Itachi's horns were miniature like stubs that poked out from the lines of his temple. There was a rustle and his wings shook loose feathers before folding again.

"Do not speak to me of such things." When he growled she saw teeth of a predator. "I am not to hear of what is beyond, sea witch."

"Fine. I don't know what you've been told or what your stake is in this whole mess, but I'm not going back into that room and you're not going to keep me from doing anything I want. Madara needs to know that while his company is not shunned, I will not be controlled by him. I need to find Kakashi for starters, and then I'm going to visit Obito and Toby."

Itachi's wings spread out, touching the ends of each wall. "That is not permitted."

"What? You're going to stop me with force?" She wanted to laugh. "You think Madara will allow that?"

"You will not be hurt."

Her fists came up in front of her face and the ice spikes grew between her knuckles. She tried not to think of Itachi as the sad boy in love with her in spite of his guilt from the last kingdom. She thought back to the first kingdom where he had watched her fight Orochimaru and take a knife to the stomach because of his betrayal. She thought of that Itachi and remembered how each world almost always gave her a brand new actor with new memories and a new personality. He wasn't someone she knew. He was the enemy now. He was keeping her from escaping.

Now, all she wanted was Kakashi and her freedom, but there was still the bigger issue of finding the Obelisk and moving on to the last gate and kingdom. She had already spent so much time in the Kingdom of Monsters. She needed to move on. She needed to keep going.

Itachi was a flurry of red and black feathers, but Sakura wasn't the slow thing she was supposed to be. In this world she had lost the heightened speed and skill that came with combat, but before she first dreamed of a cursed land Sakura had known how to fight with her hands. It was what she fell back to. Brass knuckles and street knives with Karin after school.

He reached for her and she landed on in his gut. It was solid and he was knocked back before a second hit bruised him further. He growled, more surprised than hurt. Itachi narrowed his already thin gaze and came at her again, aiming low and shocking her with unfurling of his wings as he came up. Sakura nearly tripped on her bruised legs, but didn't suffer damages. Itachi hadn't been trying to hurt her, only grab her. It was why he wouldn't win.

She roared and extended her fists and the ice became a whip of water that struck him across the face hard enough to turn his head, but not enough to leave a mark. She wasn't in it to hurt him either, and that was why she wouldn't win. She thought at least she might be able to trap him somewhere, freeze his feet down, but when he came at her again her water made itself a wall to stop his attack before she thought to control it.

Sakura blinked, preparing to recover with an ice tipped attack when something inside her snapped. She felt like a rubber band pulled too far. She came undone with a cry and her legs were dead things under her again. She felt all the parts of her break and suddenly she was fighting just to breath. There was blood on her neck and seeping through the white cotton of her nightgown. Her ribs were aching and she knew somehow that the blood was coming from her gills…the ones that hadn't been there when she checked earlier after waking up.

She looked up and saw Itachi's eyes widen. He was an arms stretch away from her, tense and crouched, ready to inspect her further. He hadn't been expecting that any more than her. His shock was genuine. Itachi's hand was still black, but the claws were shrunken to customary finger nails when he reached her.

The darkness around them grew.

"NO!"

A second later Itachi was thrown across the room. There were more feathers than before in the air, but these feathers were longer, fuller, messier and wilder than the smooth silk ones of Itachi's wings. Sakura looked up and saw Madara crouched over her. He touched her face with a trembling black hand. His thumb brushed over her lips and touched the blood that had escaped her mouth.

She saw fear in her eyes and felt her own heart jump. What was wrong? Was she dying? Why was she in so much pain and why was she bleeding all of a sudden? Itachi hadn't hurt her. It didn't make sense.

"She used magic she didn't have in her human form. Her body is trying to revert," Itachi explained from where he sat crumpled up against the far wall. Madara had thrown him hard enough to dent the wood. Without anything more, Itachi pulled himself up into a proper bow and touched his head to his hands as he folded himself on the floor in respect to his elder. "She should be fine."

"Shut up," the elder snapped. It sounded like paper ripping. Madara's voice was harsh enough to make her flinch. He saw her reaction and made a sound like a whimper in the back of his throat. Another hand caressed the side of her face. "I was only gone for an hour. What did you do?"

Sakura coughed, closing her eyes and turning her face away to spit the saliva mixed with blood away. Opening on eye she spied a spilled tray of fruit and toast a distance from her head. It was overturned and scattered. She wasn't hungry, but it reminded her of the lack of food left in her room.

"I was…hungry," she lied, closing her eyes. "And I wanted to see Kakashi." A little bit of the truth would save her butt when Itachi decided to speak up and share what she had said to him earlier about running away. Madara was too dangerous to not be careful around. She coughed again and felt her lungs fill with water and blood. She was choking on it.

Madara cursed above her. Gathering her into his arms and folding her body against his chest. She felt him kiss the crown of her head before speaking loudly over his shoulder to Itachi. "I'm taking her to my room. Bring Mei to me and tell her to not forget the medicine this time."

"Yes. I will see to it." Itachi was gone in a swirl of feathers.

Sakura choked on something in her throat and convulsed in his arms. She managed to push herself up and blood gurgled out of her mouth.

So this is what they meant when they doubted her recovery. Breathing felt like drowning.

"Don't try to speak, you'll only do more damage," she heard him say above her.

There was a subtle shift and she felt the pull of magic. They were somewhere new, a place too far removed to reach on normal feet. It was another bedroom, just as nice as she expected it to be, but colder with wide glass doors to a balcony and a fireplace large enough to crawl in. He growled and flames sprang up between the black logs on the stone set and warmth curled into the room.

In front of the fireplace there was a set of couches and on the floor lay a thick white rug that had once been a polar bear. He set her on the rug and pulled down another hide to wrap around her. It was softer than anything she had before, and instantly felt bad for dirtying it with the blood soaking through her nightgown.

"You truly were asleep when I left you," he murmured again, touching her face. "Why did you try to run away from me?"

Sakura stilled, fear creeping into her chest. He knew. Itachi had told him she was like this because she tried to use magic. Why else would she try to use magic, but to get away? He was Madara Uchiha. He would not be so easily fooled.

"No," he cooed into her hair, whispering the sounds wings make when they drift across a breeze. "No, love, no. Don't fear me. I don't blame you. Don't think I could ever blame you. You have no need to fear from me. Itachi should have known better than to frighten you."

She didn't want to, but she forced her voice to come out, she forced her voice to work. "You knew I wanted to escape. Why are you…I lied to you."

Her eyes found his and he smiled at her. It wasn't dark or cunning, his honest and soft and it made her want to melt. "No, you didn't. You just kept something from me, but love, why would I ever be mad at you? Even if you had run away, even if you had left me, there isn't a rock in this dream I wouldn't be able to find you under now that we're finally together. Not even the spinner of dreams can stop me now."

"Hayate," Sakura said, ignoring how frightened she wanted to be when Madara spoke of finding her no matter where she went or what she did.

"I know the bastard's Achilles Heel, and I'll tell it to you, too. It wasn't my secret in the first place."

"What are you talking about?"

Sakura tried to turn over in the furs but her lungs spasmed again and she cried out, falling back into her tears and Madara's arms. She heard him curse and then roar the name of the girl who brought medicine in a long needle. Mei came in a second later, nearly tripping to get in as quickly as she did.

Sakura couldn't open her eyes, but she felt the skinny metal in her arm and looked up to see the old fashioned syringe push something white into her arm. It looked like the blood they pulled from her tail when she had been a mermaid, but it didn't glow like her blood. This mixture was heavier, thicker, like whole milk or creamer.

"It will help you heal while keeping you human," Mai explained before pulling the needle out and boxing it up. She stood, bowed to Madara, and left before an entire minute had passed. The fire roared behind them and Sakura turned her face towards it. She could feel her neck tighten. When she reached up to touch it again she felt smooth skin. There were no scales or gills to speak of.

"What was that?"

Madara chuckled, and it was a heavy sort of sound that made her feel heavy. "I may not be the dreamer, able to pull matter from thought, but in this world I am just as powerful as I needed to be. It was the milk of an immortal calf. It is said to be a healing to humans. Doesn't work the same for us monsters, but I'm glad we found some use for it. How do you feel?"

"Silly?"

Madara smiled, humming in delight before leaning down and kissing the top of her head again. "You are precious."

"You mentioned Hayate, and you know about my-or what was supposed to be my abilities. I can't do that anymore. Hayate put a…a ban on my abilities. It keeps me from healing, fighting off toxins, and materializing my dreams."

"He enjoys his stories too much, he can get caught up in them and forget his place. I don't agree with his idea to limit you in such a way, even if it did lead you to me." Something made his eyes flicker and she could have sworn she saw him wince. "You should have never endured such cruelties at the hands of that brat. I will kill him the next time he comes out of hiding."

While he felt guilt she decided to ask her question of him. "Madara…are you truly not mad at me for trying to run away? You're not upset?" It was odd how he didn't seem to care.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. I would have been devastated, but I know it would be foolish to be truly worried. Itachi is loyal, and while I have reservations about his cousins, I know they will do as I ask when told, and they know to keep you safely hidden here. I am a powerful monster. There is little you could do to escape me."

Sakura still wasn't convinced. "You're not mad that I wanted to get away?"

He pat her hair down at his eyes twitched again with that flicker of emotion. He tried to laugh but it came out like a sad hum and he had to shake his head and look away. "Ah, no, I…I could never be mad at you, love; never at you. And…you haven't been around me enough to know me so well. I'd be just as loyal as Kakashi if you'd let me. I'd love you just as well as the others. Lay me at your feet and I would worship you." He kissed her face again. "I will treat you well. You'll come to know and love me as well. You'll never want to leave again."

"But I'll have to, eventually. Sakura turned over again so she was closer to him. "I'm dreaming all this up, remember? I leave every night and I'll need to go on to the last kingdom where I can destroy the curse. I need to find the Obelisk in this world."

Madara watched her but didn't reply. His eyes were red and black and pattered like pinwheels that never shifted even though the reflection of the flames were constantly shifting for him to reflect. She could hear him breathing as he stared at her longer.

"You can't." He finally answered, and it was as a whisper. "You'll die."

"M-maybe, but I can't stay like this forever. The-Madara, in the real world this curse is killing me. I'm not well. I'm not healthy in the waking world anymore."

"I can protect you while you're here, but it's almost assured that I won't be able to see you again if you pass from this Kingdom to the next Gate." She saw his eyes flicker and thought it seemed like he was remembering something that cause him to flinch.

"Madara?" She called his name once, scared to see his eyes wandering away into thoughts she couldn't comprehend. The stillness of his face frightened her. It wasn't what she was used to seeing except when she looked in the mirror every morning after waking from her nightmares.

He blinked and appeared to return to her. She held her breath until his eyes softened and his shoulders relaxed. He caught a short curl of her hair and twisted it over his fingers. When he spoke his voice was still distant, as if he was reeling it back in from a far off place. "I don't want to exist in this curse anymore now that I'm aware of it. I remembered all the incarnations for all the other actors that came after me. I remember all the broken worlds and all the sinful endings to their lives. I've seen it too many times. There is no end to this curse and that's the damnedest things about it. There is no victory. Hope only exists to hurt us all the more when we die and become this ghosts."

His breath caught and Sakura felt her heart snag on it. When he breathed out again she thought she would bleed out internally. He was preaching all her worst fears to her. All she could do was find his face with her hand and stroke the side of his cheek, trying to calm the shivers of a man remembering not one nightmare, but thousands. She didn't know how long he had been in the curse, but if he had seen dozens of actors, it sounded like he had been here quite a while.

Madara's words buried a dagger deep inside her chest that twisted with every thought and breath. It was the fate she feared so fiercely she never dared admit it to herself. No one had ever beaten the curse before, only escaped it. The curse had conquered all who opposed it. Sai had believed in her, but did she? Could she really do it? Was it worth it?

"It's hell, but with you here I can believe that it's entirely the opposite. I've never been drawn to a dream like this before, and it's not because you're the dreamer and I'm an actor, but because you're Sakura, the girl who perseveres and shines so brightly in spite of all that's happened to her."

His head bent low and she could feel his breath fan across her face. She couldn't look away from his eyes. "You're amazing to me, and I love you, I love you enough to follow you through time and curse. I love you enough to bend Hayate like the twig he is and write me into this dream. The other's wouldn't. Sai wouldn't because he feared my influence, and Kimimaro wouldn't take me off the shelf until you had graduated from his story because the snake would disapprove. Do you understand, love?"

Sakura shivered within the furs, knowing she wasn't cold. She had been desire before, this wasn't her first confession, but no other person had used words so skillfully as to make her feel naked and exposed and bodiless. She was undone by his confession and wanted to hide and become something he could no longer see. She shrank from his honeyed words, feeling the knife in her heart twist.

Just when she thought his feelings would kill her he broke off eye contact, turning his face away and shutting his eyes. It was like a spell had been turned off and suddenly Sakura could breath again. She had felt what he felt. The internal bleeding, that feeling was Madara's and somehow she had picked up on it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, still not looking at her. "I let myself be carried away."

Sakura touched her chest, feeling the place over her heart. It still pinched, but nothing like before. The emotional heartache she carried was dwarfed in comparison to his. "Is that what you feel?"

She barely heard him when he whispered his reply. "Sometimes." There was silence for a long time before he turned back to glance at her. "I was…carried away and lost myself for a moment. Forgive me, love?"

Sakura opened her mouth to correct him, to say that her name wasn't 'love' but 'Sakura.' As soon as she opened her mouth, though, she snapped it shut and pressed her lips together till they turned thin. She wasn't particularly found of the nickname he gave her, but she felt like he needed to have it. Madara felt like a very broken man hiding in an impressive suit that fooled everyone but her. Madara needed the nickname.

"Isn't this your club?" Sakura asked suddenly, convinced that changing the subject was for the best. "We're above your speakeasy, aren't we?"

"Oh?" his tone was teasing. "And how did you manage to guess that?"

"I'm quite good at guessing games." She grinned. "Also…I peaked."

He chuckled and his voice was dark again. He was less broken in that moment. "What a clever little fox you have become. Would you prefer the grand tour once your legs are well?"

She could tell that he was proud of his establishment. It made sense. From what she heard from Obito and Kakashi about Madara and his establishments, few could say they rivaled the head of the Uchiha clan. She nearly forgot who he was when he whispered confessions to her over the furs in front of the fire, but Madara was a monster and this was his kingdom.

Sakura turned over again and tried to move her legs. She felt the pins and bit her lips and closed her eyes, not wanting to cry out and startle Madara. She could move her legs, but she doubted she could walk far. She was no better off than she had been when she first tried to run away.

"When will I be better?" Sakura asked, looking up and back at Madara, not bothering to turn over. Her throat was open and exposed like a drawbridge, bent upwards as she turned her head back. He reached forward to pet the side of her neck with the back of his fingers. She shivered and he chuckled.

"Soon, I pray. I am most anxious to see you in your glory and hear your songs, though I admit to also dreading the day the rest of the world will see you and love you. Maybe I should beg you to stay here in these furs with me forever."

Sakura laughed. "Don't tell me you're jealous."

"Oh yes. I'm sick with it, I'm afraid." His hand moved from her neck to the skin behind her ear before finding another strand of hair to curl. "But to see you adorned in pearls and silks for a spotlight, I've heard stories and I thirst for the experience. I will have Mei bring more milk. You will be well before you wake from this cycle of the dream. If not now, then certainly by the next dream."

It was weird to hear someone talk about her dreams like they were a real thing. When she mentioned them to anyone in the waking world, she knew no one thought them anything more than unusual dreams that were not beyond the realm of what most considered to be normal. But when Madara spoke of her dreams, he spoke with authority. He knew what he was talking about and what she was going through.

"Do you remember when you first dreamed inside the curse?" she asked. The question came before she could stop herself. She was too curious to not ask.

His fingers were still in her hair, rubbing circles into her scalp that made her want to lean into his touch. "Ah, I do. It is one of the oldest of my memories. I remember my first dreams inside the curse, but little else beyond that. I have trouble recalling what kind of life I lived or where I was. I've been in the worlds of others too long." He paused, still massaging her scalp before adding something. "Though, I do remember I was someone who was in charge of other people. I inherited my power. I was a firstborn son, or I survived all my elder brothers. There was much bloodshed too. We were at war. My family survived, or maybe we won, I can't remember. I had no woman, and my mother died young. That is all I can recall."

"I think I saw the real life of one of the other actors before I came to this kingdom," Sakura said, closing her eyes and turning her head into his hand, loving the feel of his fingers in her hair. "I saw who he was before he came into the curse. He was a real person."

"We were all real people once." He kept massaging, adding another hand and turning her head to rest in his lap. "But if you saw his true life, the life before the curse, that means you will never see him again in the dreams. He can not be used as an actor anymore. How long have you been in the curse yet, love?"

Sakura closed her eyes, thinking back. "It was early summer when we went to clean the house and when I found the Obelisk in a box of my grandmother's things. It's late summer now, so it's been over a year. I don't know how. It seems like just yesterday I started doing this."

"This actor you will never see again, did not last as long as you inside the dreams. Role holders, or guides, like Hayate choose which actors to use for their kingdom and gate, but each actor can only be used a certain number of times before they grow too thin to maintain. There are many things that can make an actor thin. If they died early on in the Obelisk is one of them. If a person dies in the real world, their spirit is fainter in this world. Those who die within the Obelisk are more often role holding actors. There are always other reasons, though. Another could be how many times they were used, or how important their role was."

"Neji didn't have very important roles," Sakura murmured, thinking back to who he was in the Monarch Woods.

"I do not know the details of why he is gone, only the rules of the curse I have learned over the centuries. I will share what secrets of this world that I can. No one will be more valuable to you than I."

Sakura hummed, closing her eyes and relaxing fully into his hands. She felt at ease in his care, more so than she anticipated. She wanted to stay weary of Madara, her gut told her there was more to him that what she saw, but her gut also told her he had been honest with her thus far. He may not be the best thing for her, but Sakura knew that Madara, while powerful, was also a very broken creature. A hundred years of purgatory will do that to a person. The other actors were only so sane because they couldn't remember the centuries they've been manipulated and used.

Sakura felt a tug and knew the end of her dream was approaching. She had spent so long with Madara already. The fire was softer now, burning the last of the logs he had originally fed into it. Soon she would wake up in bed and start another day pretending she hadn't suffered emotional trauma in her dreams.

"Madara?"

He hummed in response, still massaging her head. Sakura loved the feeling, but she sat up on her elbows, pulling away and turning around.

"I want to do something, but don't take it out of context. I have to wake up soon, so I'll be leaving in just a bit."

She could feel the dream pull and she resisted, wanting to do this one last thing before everything went away. Sakura turned all the way around so the rest of her body faced Madara's. Drawing her legs up was painful, but she didn't do more than that before she could grab Madara's shoulders and pull herself closer. Before he could ask, Sakura kissed the corner of his face and then fell asleep in his arms.

Sakura never saw anything past the point when she fell asleep inside the dream, but if she could, she would have see a monster with black wings and twisted horns holding the sleeping body of a mermaid girl and crying silently into her hair, rocking slightly as his wings shook.

Into her hair he whispered over and over again the same phrase.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you."

.

"Something happened."

Sakura's smile dropped instantly into a frown as Sakura looked up at Genma with newly narrowed eyes. She had been dozing off, staring off into space again and Genma had caught her more than once with a soft smile. He seemed too pleased with her secret happiness to let her be.

"Tell me what it was, or who. You met someone, didn't you?"

"Where would I find time to meet someone new?" Sakura asked with a huff. "You're making up stories again."

"No I'm not. If I was wrong you would have just said 'no' and be done with it. You met someone, you did, didn't you?"

"Where is your girlfriend, she needs to reign you in. I'm trying to work here," Sakura growled, turning her body away from his and typing sideways into the spreadsheet.

She wasn't going to put up with him today of all days. For once since this stupid curse got to her she felt like there was someone she could talk to and recieve real validation from. It was different from keeping a secret, but just like keeping a secret, the absence of the weight once it became lifted was just as refreshing.

"Is it someone I know, is that why you won't tell me?"

"I just said there was no one, didn't I."

"You're seeing someone"

"I'm not," she snapped, clearly annoyed.

Genma skipped around to the other side of her desk, forcing her to shift in her seat again. "Okay, so you're not dating him yet, I can buy that. But I've seen that face before, I've seen that look a hundred dozen times before and it's always the face girls get when they think about somebody they like, girl or boy. You're hung up on someone, finally. I was starting to think you were asexual or something."

"And is there something wrong with that?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes and hoping he would drop it soon. "You have a different woman every other week, Genma. You're the one who's not normal here."

"Don't be such a prude, it's the twenty first century. Women are allowed to show off their ankles, men are allowed to be whores, it's the golden age of freedom, baby, and you're in love."

Sakura wanted to bash something heavy across his face. There was no end to it. Even if she denied it, even if she lied about it all, he was bound to catch her signing or staring off into space with that look in her eye again and that would start it all up again. He would never let her have peace about it, but that didn't mean she was going to give in.

Sakura screwed up her lips and glared at her computer, determined to finish as quickly as possible. She was actually looking forward to going to sleep tonight, and it reminded her of when she first started going to the Kingdom of Man and meeting with Sasori. It wasn't the same, she had been more innocent then, but the feeling wasn't totally different, either. She was looking forward to seeing Madara and hearing about his life and his adventures inside the Obelisk and-

"You did it again. I saw you smile. You were just thinking about him, weren't you?"

Sakura covered her eyes with the palms of her hands, groaning as she rubbed her tired eyes. She wanted to be done, but this was going to take longer If he made a big deal out of every time she thought about Madara. She couldn't help it, she thought about him a lot. He was going to never shut up if he called her out on smiling to herself whenever she thought of the elder Uchiha.

"Can you just go, please? I have work to do and I'm not thinking about a person or whatever you think it is. I'm just…ugh, I'm…is it a crime to just want to be happy and smile at work or something? Leave me alone."

"Has he asked you out, or do you think he is going to? What do you think the chances are? You need to let me know when you start dating."

"He's not going to ask me out on a date," Sakura grumbled, mentally rolling her eyes at the thought of Madara in such a position. She fell asleep in his arms and lived in his house. Dating probably wasn't even a thing in the late 1920's either.

When Genma didn't say anything she ventured a glance upwards and winced. The older male's face was split with a grin too wide to hold. She thought over her last few words and cursed. She hadn't been smart and now she was going to pay for it. 'Damn it.'

"So there is someone…"

"I'm going. This is nonsense," Sakura bit out, pulling up her purse and piling her things into it as Genma hopped back and forth on one leg and than the other. He looked ridiculous and he was only going to get worse if she didn't leave. She could finish her work when she snuck in tomorrow morning. She had a few hours she could make work. Genma didn't open, so she could avoid him then.

Sakura packed up her things and was heading out the front, ignoring Genma's chatter as he trailed behind her, asking questions and making silly comments about her sexuality and lack of love life and how proud he was of her. If she bothered to listen,and she didn't, she would of heard the made up scenarios he had dreamed up for her and the mystery man. He was more annoying than usual and she took that as a sign that his lady friend was getting ready to dump him. It fit with the pattern she had become accustomed to over the past year of knowing him.

Sakura got to the front and pushed the counter aside to leave when she saw Yamato staring at her with a drink in his hand, freshly prepared just the way she liked it. He was frozen in place while Genma rattled on in the background, oblivious to his friend and the hurt that was growing like a weed behind Yamato's eyes. She hadn't done anything wrong, but Sakura felt guilty for the way Yamato refused to meet her eyes while still staring at her. He had heard and misunderstood but there was no use in saying anything to clear up the misunderstanding. Yamato was her friend, but she didn't want to encourage anything more than that.

Sakura shook her head and turned back towards the front, ignoring both males. She still had two more companies she had to visit before she could go home. Today she was actually looking forward to finishing work.

Yamato didn't call out to her as she left, and she hoped that didn't mean anything bad.

She came awake in his arms. Sometime after falling asleep Madara had lowered himself down onto the furs alongside her and stretched out to put her between himself and the fire. One arm was stretched over her head and the other was draped over her waist where his fingers got caught on the corners of her hipbone. One of his legs had slipped in between hers and in the night she had hook her ankle around his leg to curl him closer for more warmth. His white dress shirt was opened all the way down to where it was tucked into his trousers and her had had slipped up to touch his skin in the night and that's how she woke up.

Sakura pulled her hand away with a muffled gasp, instantly feeling the difference in temperature from his body and the room around her. The moment made him react in his sleep, as he groaned through tired lips and buried his face deeper into her hair. He inhaled deeply before relaxing again. She could feel his fingers curl into her hip and knew he was trying to keep her closer.

Madara reminded her of a large dog, or an animal she could curl up with. Long strands of black silk stretched out around his head, some falling over his shoulder where she could touch them. He nearly purred at the feeling and snuggled closer. Sakura felt the air shift slightly. He radiated with a subtle heat.

"Don't leave me." His chest vibrated with the deep gravely voice as Madara curled around Sakura and raised his leg up between hers, pinning her in place. And rather than fight it Sakura felt her own body curl tighter around his, like it was the most natural thing in the world. She couldn't remember feeling pain in her legs before. She was whole and perfect with him.

"I won't," she whispered, smiling to herself. She wasn't supposed to be so happy, she wasn't supposed to feel good about anything, especially not something that came from her curse, but Madara felt right.

Madara groaned again and cracked open a single eye before squeezing both shut again and burying his head deeper into the fur and her hair. "Mmm 'st, too early."

Sakura giggled, stretching up so that she could kiss his chin. "Good morning."

He opened a single eye to look at her before closing it again. "I never dream anymore, so this can't be a dream," he breathed out. "But I don't believe I could ever be this happy." He grinned before pulling her tighter and kissing her face. "Ah, love, what have you done to me?"

She hummed in amusement, patting his hair again. "You were right, I do feel better. I can feel my legs again."

Madara made the effort to raise his head and look down at the rest of her body. Without shame he touched the side of her leg just below he knee and smirked when she shivered. The grin on his face was devilish and he shifted to loom over her. "Oh, have you never been touched by a man before?"

"I-I…" Sakura felt her face heat up as the sensitive nerve was touched. "I've had boyfriends before."

He sounded amused when he spoke through his grin. "Boyfriends? How quaint. I would never settle for anything so petty. Who has loved you before I, love?" He dropped his face lower. "They are nothing in comparison. Forget them."

Sakura licked her lips and turned her face away, remembering herself. She hadn't been serious with anyone yet, it just hadn't been a priority in her busy life. She was new to this next level, even though she was as old as she was and all her friends were more than just 'active' in the sexual sense. It seemed like just yesterday she was getting upset with her friends at catching her boyfriend holding the hand of another girl behind the lunch dumpster like the cheating trash he was. Now she was hardly dressed on a rug of fur next to one of the most handsome men she had ever believed to have existed, and it was all in her dream.

'And he said he loves me.'

Sakura pressed a hand to her heart and pushed herself up into a sitting position with the other. "I-I think I need to get dressed. I've been wearing this nightgown for too long. I'll start to stink and-and…I should get up."

His hand on her wrist kept her from moving, but she refused to look back at him. She didn't want him to see how red her face had grown. She thought he was going to say something more about her history, but Madara surprised her."It won't happen. In this world your body won't age or sweat or stink. That all depends on how you treat your body in the waking world." He sat up behind her and she felt him loom before another kiss was placed on her hair. "You always smell tempting."

His words made her shiver more than his kisses. It was impossible to stop him. He wanted to make his attachment to her obvious, so he shared it every opportunity he got. Sakura crawled forward and then stood, shaking slightly. She didn't look back at him when she spoke. "You're always going to be like that. What if I had someone in the waking world?"

"Forgive me if I make you uncomfortable," Madara intoned, rising behind her. "If you had a lover you wouldn't have fallen for Sasori in the first place, but even if you had, you're in a dream. Does that really need to matter while you are here?"

"It would to me."

Madara chuckled again, but when Sakura turned back to glare at him he was gone. Only feathers remained. A short distance away on the edge of the unmade bed a soft dress of white and peach was laid out. She crossed he room, stumbling only once, before picking at the dress and turning it over. She didn't care if Madara was still in the room, she changed out of her old gown into her new dress and did up the buttons. She didn't care what she looked like anymore, passing over the mirror set up for ladies to do their hair in.

She got to the door and turned the handle to see Madara leaning up against the wall, looking innocently human in a new charcoal gray suit and waistcoat. He grinned mischievously at her. "You like? You should have seen me back in the day when I wore a uniform. Officer Madara Uchiha made all the good girls swoon."

Sakura rolled her eyes and chuckled, hating how easy it was to feel like she fit when she was with him. "And what ever made you think I would be a good girl for you?"

Madara's grin widened. "I'm not wearing my uniform, am I?" He chuckled before turning to offer her his hand. "I promised you a tour, didn't I? It's mid afternoon now, but for us it might as well be early morning. We'll be open for business in a few hours. That gives me plenty of time to show off."

"You're terribly full of yourself, Madara. You know that, right?"

"Only for you."

Madara had every right to be full of himself. When Sakura expected to see a fancy establishment that doubled as a speakeasy, she hadn't expected to find something so elaborate or well hidden in the corner of his property. The entertainment room was massive, extending out into a wide floor with tables, booths, and empty spaces meant for dancing. It showed off the Uchiha standard to everyone who slipped in.

In addition to be a staple of luxury and high class, Madara's establishment was well guarded. Half a dozen Uchiha lounged in the shadows from the corners, all wearing police uniforms. Sakura caught sight of Itachi and when his eyes met hers she sucked in a breath and turned away, not willing to be caught in his gaze for too long. In this world he wasn't an Itachi she wanted to know.

"She the new song bird, boss?" one of the Uchiha asked, sprawled out across a table with a glazed look to his eyes. A shot glass was tipped over in his hands. He was older, not one of the young Uchiha who made up the bulk of what Sakura saw of Madara's family.

Sakura suspected if this Uchiha had been anyone else, Madara would not have been so pleasant in addressing the question, but it was probably because this Uchiha was going gray and his eyes were so far away that Madara grinned and inclined his head. "She is indeed. Will you be with us tonight, Tochi?"

The older Uchiha shook his head slowly, looking back at his drink before setting it down on the table top and folding his hands under his chin. "This place will be bright again. The boys are in low spirits after that last dead end raid. A good song will do them good and now's the best night for it with all these important guests coming." He looked up at Sakura and she felt like he wasn't truly seeing her. "Take care of them tonight."

"I will," Sakura answered back, not knowing why she felt compelled to respond. He had said something about the boys being in low spirits and she assumed he meant the other Uchiha men who were out on the police force. Or maybe it meant the rest of the Uchiha family, police officer or not. It made her think of where she had been before being abducted by Kabuto.

Sakura turned and looked up at Madara. "Will Obito be invited?" When he frowned she pressed further. "I know you don't want me to leave, but I feel like I have to see him and Toby, especially Toby. I haven't seen him since…" Her words didn't trail off, but her memories did. She hadn't wanted to say the rest, to say that she hadn't seen Toby since they last brought her into her room to watch them torture her while telling Toby it was all the little boy's fault.

"I doubt my young cousin would bring his son so late…" Madara frowned, staring at Sakura as she widened her eyes and held her breath. It was more than he was able to resist. "But I will extend the invitation and see if he is willing to accept."

"Thank you, that's all I'll ask for," Sakura said with a grateful nod of her head. She had been meaning to say more, to say something about missing Rin as well when a chuckle from the shadows made her turn.

A younger looking version of Madara emerged from another deep pocket of shadows. His hair was shorter, neater, but his eyes were just as old as the Uchiha's leader. "My, my, my, to hear my grudge holding older brother admit to something so easily, you must be the miracle worker I keep hearing so much about." He smiled easily and took her hand. "I am Izuna, pleased to meet you, Sakura."

Sakura took his hand robotically, getting caught up on the sound of his voice. She had heard his voice before somewhere, she just couldn't remember where. "I'm pleased to meet you as well." Sakura dipped her head again, lowering her eyes with respect to the new figure. "You said you were Madara's younger brother? I didn't know you had a younger sibling, Madara."

"I'm ashamed to be compared to Izuna, he is too good and to kind for me to compare with." Madara grinned. "He will actually be the one handling tonight's guest list, isn't that right, brother?"

Izuna shrugged with a simple smile. "It's good strategy to reassure your allies of your power after an incident as embarrassing as our last. Everyone is still shaken, but no one wants to admit it. A good party will put them at ease again and we can forget about how long it took to find our enemies or who we let get away."

Madara growled deep in his throat. "But only for tonight. I don't forgive and forget so easily."

Sakura hid her shiver. It would be a long time before she was able to feel peace again, if that was even a possibility in her future. The tortures she suffered under Kabuto were at the forefront of her reasons for the unrest and paranoia that stuck to her soul in the waking world. She closed her eyes and pretended she wasn't shaken by the memory.

Izuna waved his brother's words off. "It truly was not as bad as it could have been. The nest was largely eradicated, and the only ones we have to worry about are some no name gypsy girl and Kabuto."

"Don't underestimate Anko," Sakura said, opening her eyes and speaking up before she thought about keeping her opinions to herself. She swallowed the reflex regret and forced herself to say more. "She's not someone who was just tagging along. She had just as much authority and responsibility as Kabuto when I was there, and she was all the more dangerous for it."

Izuna blinked and tilted his head slightly to one side, observing Sakura with a more critical eye. She looked up to check, but his eyes were still jet black without a hint of red to trap her in the spinning she felt in her stomach. Izuna was Madara's brother, there was no doubt about it. There was something old and teasing about him. Before he was kind he was cautious, and Sakura was something new to him. He didn't know her like Madara did, so of course he wouldn't be as friendly, but the way he watched her was the way a stranger inspects fruit in a supermarket before buying it. He was looking at her like he was wondering if she was worth her price sticker.

"You…" he finally said, keeping his voice light. "Have you been debriefed on the events inside Orochimaru's mansion? While we wait for statements from the children, I think it would be good to get your words on the subject. Shisui should be free for a few hours."

Madara stepped in front of Sakura, blocking his brother's view of her. "That won't be necessary. She would have no knowledge beyond what she has shared with me that would be useful to our search. Shisui will be busy with other matters."

Izuna shrugged, recognizing something in his brother's tone that convinced him to drop the subject. "If you say so. Just please make sure you have something formally written down to keep on file. We will celebrate tonight, tomorrow is another day." The younger brother took a step away and then paused before turning back around like he had forgot something. "And speaking of which, will we be adding a singer to the payroll or should I cut her checks individually?"

'Is she going to be staying with us long term or are we kicking her out soon?'

Sakura had to repress another shiver when she thought about the meaning behind Izuna's civilly worded question. It didn't sound hostile, but something about it made her feel unwelcome. She was used to actors being a bit more friendly towards her unless she had done something to upset them or oppose them. To the best of her knowledge she hadn't insulted Izuna, so why was he making her feel so agitated?

"The payroll will suffice," Madara answered easily, not the least bit intimidated by his brother's tone. It made her feel silly for suspecting something. For all she knew it was left over jitters from her memory of Kabuto. "Tell the boys in the band to come early as well. Sakura is going to be practicing with them for tonight."

The safest place for her to be was in the glow of the spotlight on a stage above it all, shielded by a silver microphone stand that would work better than any bulletproof vest. The Midnight Speakeasy was a classy joint that was high brow in a way wholly different from how Obito's restaurant was. Midnight was fancy, but it was also dark and sinful and fast and seductive. Boys in the back kissed girls in places the light didn't touch, and show girls worked the aisles in glittering costumes leaving little to the imagination.

Madara was there. He was occupied with the words of another Uchiha and Itachi sat beside him at a table towards the back with some of the best protection from prying eyes and ears. Even so, there wasn't a table in the whole room that had a terrible view of the stage and there wasn't a corner dark enough that her voice couldn't reach.

The red curtain rose and she stood center stage dressed just as red in a body hugging dress flaring at the knees like a mermaid's tail. Her hands were gloved in black, fisted over her hips, and her neckline was low and complementary. When she turned her face to the side and closed her eyes the shadows made her a devastation of cleavage and swan pale skin. Her throat was naked, waiting to be touched, but when she turned her face to the audience her dark wine colored lips told a different story.

The piano sounded.

"Nice to meet you, where you been?" She closed her eyes and turned her head just enough. "I can't show you incredible things." She opened her eyes and found a gaze in the audience to trap. "Magic, madness, heaven, sin. I saw you there and I thought 'oh my god, look at that face, you look like my next mistake.' Love's a game….wanna plaaaaay?"

The band joined in and the lights lifted.

It was a fantastic feeling to sing so freely. She had three sets with the band before they did a solo number and played for the jazz lovers and swing dancers. Then she would come in for a fourth song and bow out. That's what they wanted her to start with, not knowing how her first night would go over or even if she would need her fourth set.

She didn't expect it, but at the end of the third set when she moved to leave the stage the reaction was quick and loud, begging for her back. The boy on bass had to run to the microphone and make a joke about spoiling the audience with too much of a good thing and angels needing a break. He calmed them down a moment later with the promise of her return.

Sakura kept to the shadows and looked out from her corner across the room, searching for familiar faces. She hadn't been able to see well with the spotlights all on her face, but from her new position she could make out the figures in the back and locate where Madara and his valued guests sat.

Pein was there with all his cousins sitting around on table in a booth piled high with expensive booze. A burly cousin in ginger hair had a girl on his lap and two of his other cousins were pouring shots. As Sakura suspected, neither Konan or Nageto were able to make it, even if Nageto was feeling better. Pein nursed a wide shaker glass with frost around the edges. It was nearly empty, and something told her it hadn't been his first drink of the night, nor his last. He was still staring at the stage with a far away look in his eyes. Maybe it was the booze, but he looked lost to the world.

She made a note to try and get to Pein before he drifted too much father and became incapable of distinguishing the individuals in front of him. But there was someone else she searched for.

Closer to where most of the Uchiha lounged, Sakura spotted a short crop of black hair and the petite figure of a child. Obito had made it, and he brought Toby with him. Slipping from the dark shadows Sakura skipped through the crowd, fast enough that the hands of hungry patrons couldn't catch her before reaching Toby's table. Obito saw her coming and smiled, standing up from their table to greet her. He waved and his smile was bright enough to flag her down. Toby still sat in his seat with his head bent, eyes shadowed by heavy curls of black.

"Sakura," Obito breathed, sounding relieved to see her again. "You're really in one piece. They say you were touch and go there, for a while."

"They exaggerated," Sakura chuckled. "I was always going to pull through. I've survived worse."

"I find that hard to believe."

He laughed, but there was such a grim undercurrent to their exchanged words it was impossible not to laugh. If they didn't laugh they would be forced to face the weight of what they actually said. No, it was better to just laugh and pretend they hadn't both played with death or the death of a loved one.

His grin faltered and Sakura saw the moment it became forced. Obito never stopped smiling, but the spark left his eyes. "I'm really glad, though, that you're fine. I was worried, especially after I heard about Kakashi."

Sakura swallowed and forced another smile. "Yeah, me too. They said they were going to let me see him in the morning. He's still asleep." She said it like it wasn't a serious matter. She spoke like there wasn't the possibility that Kakashi would never wake again.

"That's good to hear." They were empty words. Sakura could hear them echo with hallow ringings from inside Obito's mouth.

Sakura turned her eyes to Toby who hadn't looked up at her yet. His eyes were still shadowed and she doubted he would ever look up if she didn't call out to him. He had pulled away and withdrawn into herself. She took a step towards him. "Toby." He flinched when she called his name. "How are you doing?"

She waited, but he didn't answer. His father huffed from behind them, looking back and forth between his son and the woman he was ignoring. After a while Obito threw his hands up and reached to pull out Toby's chair. The young boy whined in protest but never looked up.

"You were the one who kept asking to see her. Sakura's here now so at least say hello to her. You wanted this." When Toby didn't move Obito huffed again and pulled his son out of his seat by the elbow. Toby jerked, reacting violently and Sakura flinched, remembering how the men would pull Toby into and out of rooms.

"Stop it!" she cried, rushing forward to break off Obito's hold on Toby. Obito frowned, but his look melted into sick understanding when he noticed the change in Sakura. She was shaking and white. She shook her head, swallowing before speaking. "No, it's fine. Don't…he…it was…it was bad, so it's fine if he needs more time before he can say or do anything. Please don't hurt him. He might still have bruises there." She whispered the last part so Toby wouldn't hear it.

Obito nodded grimly. "Thank you for understanding." He looked back at his dejected on and shook his head. "It's late and way past bedtime for the kiddo. I should take him back. We'll come again in a while. Maybe we can hear you sing again?"

"I'm sure." Sakura rolled her shoulders in the direction of the stage. I have another set I need to get back to. Toby, it was really good to see you again. I'm happy I could see you like this. Come back whenever you want." She almost added something more, something like, 'I love you,' but held her tongue. Maybe next time.

Toby nodded, but didn't look at her or turn around to face her as he hunched his tiny shoulders and started walking towards the back door where stealthy patrons were slipped in by way of hidden passageways. Obito leg the boy away with a light hand on the shoulder of his son , guiding but not steering. Sakura wondered if he knew, or if he only suspected what actually happened to Obito. Izuna said the children hadn't given testimonies yet. But maybe it was enough to see how Toby flinched or froze or reacted to things that never bothered him before. It was one thing for Sakura to go through such an ordeal, but Obito's son was so young. Toby was still forming and developing his conceptional understanding of the world. Even if he wasn't alive or wasn't real in the traditional sense, Sakura didn't doubt that he was still suffering.

"Your heart isn't big enough for the whole world."

Sakura turned at the sound of the voice and grinned. Pein was looking less intoxicated than before, standing on his own two feet with a causal posture as the weight of his body leaned against the wall. A thin, white cigarette dangled from his lips before he reached up to pull it away and exhale the smoke.

"Pein," Sakura chuckled. "I thought you were enjoying your drink. What are you doing here?"

The ginger skin walker blinked once before replacing the smoking cigarette at his lips and inhaling with a tired drop of his shoulders. "Ah. My family was invited as business partners, but I came because Kagami vouched for the event." He did things on his own time at his own pace. Eventually, he caught his cigarette between his fingers and asked his question. "How are you doing?" His eyes narrowed. "That's the true question here, isn't it?"

"You don't think I'm well?" Sakura asked with a laugh.

"I don't suspect it, no. You were tortured for a good long while by Orochimaru's men. But you're back here, on a stage again, singing for the smiles."

"It's familiar," Sakura admitted, keeping her smile up even if it faltered a bit. "How are Nageto and Konan doing?"

Pein held his cigarette between his fingers before taking a few steps towards her. He breathed out to the side and then took another step. He was close enough to reach out and touch her if he wanted to. "They're both grateful, as am I. You're welcome to visit them as I know they would love the company and another chance to show their thanks." He moved to breath in again but stopped, lowering his hand after thinking better of it. "Though… I must admit to being embarrassed. I sent you to them for help on your own set of troubles. Is no one able to help you?"

"I need to help myself this time around. I'm working on conquering my curse on my own for now." She smiled ruefully. "And I didn't expect it to be so easy. Cruses aren't things you can peel off like an unwanted bandaid."

Pein's storm gray eyes flickered to where Madara sat in a booth with a few other guests. He frowned at the picture before looking to Sakura again. "Heh, bandaids….that's really what your plan is then, and an your own? Madara isn't locking you up with a leash and collar? That's what it sounded like on the outside."

Sakura laughed nervously, wondering how much of a reputation Madara had to be weary of. Was possessive behavior an Uchiha thing or was Madara just special? Maybe it was both. She could understand if possessiveness was an inherited trait, but Madara's unique personality made that particular emotion ripe for cultivation. His flair for manipulating was unique and cultured.

Sakura ran a single finger under the strands that caught in front of her ear. She didn't miss how Pein's' eyes switch to lock on to the subtle gesture, but she didn't pay it any mine either. "Yeah, that remains to be seen. I haven't been well enough to move around until just this morning, but he's said I'm free to leave if I want. I shouldn't have to fight my way out."

"You can if you need to, and you wouldn't have to do something like that alone. I told you my family is in your debt, right?" He hadn't moved his hand and the cigarette dangled from his limp fingers. The smoke flinched and began to curl out in twisting streams that folded over into dragon that encircled his waist. Sakura watched the smoke dragons and saw that they were actually serpents, chasing their own tails to bite down and create the eternal ring. When she looked back up at Pein's face she almost caught the line that made up his baltic witch bands. The stories said he was more than just a skin walker. He was blessed and powerful in ways unique only to him. She didn't doubt he was someone not to underestimate.

"You said that, yes," Sakura said with a soft nod. She thought of the pier and the carnival set up along the waterfront. She had been there once with Kaami, but she hadn't been there long and felt the need to visit it again. "Do you know the boardwalk pier by Obito's place? The one with all the lights at night and the huge merry go round?"

He nodded slowly, as if preoccupied with remembering.

"Take me there tomorrow?"

The bud of something like a smile made his lips quirk. "Madara won't mind?"

"When I asked him about leaving he said he would take me, but it would, 'be in a few days time' when he was free. I don't want to have to wait." When she quoted the older Uchiha she dropped her voice to imitate his husky tenor. It was enough to keep the amusement in Pein's eyes.

"It sounds like you don't care who takes you. And here I was hoping it could be a date." He shook his head teasingly. "Why could possibly make you want to go to that pier of all places?"

Sakura shrugged, playing coy. "A feeling? Why? A girl can't have a little fun around here? I've nearly died so many times in the past week I think I deserve a break."

"And so you do." Pein took a long drag of what was left of his cigarette and then exhaled a coiling vapor that encircled his shoulders in a halo of dragons before dissipating.

"So you'll take me?"

He nodded. "Tomorrow evening, then. I will be here promptly."

Sakura felt her grin stretch across her cheeks. "Thank you! I won't tell him I'm going with you if that's what you would prefer."

"And why would I prefer that?" the end of his cigarette burned red between his fingers as he lifted his chin in defiance.e "He has no right over you. I could even court you if I wanted to. He'd not your father."

"That…wouldn't make things weird between you?"

"If it does that's his problem. I won't cower beneath him. "Pein closed his eyes, rolling the short stub of wrapped tabaco over his knuckles before lifting it to his lips for one last pull. When he opened his eyes again they were just as violent as the sea in a storm. She recognized them as the eyes he so proudly brandished in the Kingdom of Man. "You have one more set tonight, don't you?"

Sakura nodded, her grin growing. "Yeah, and I know what I'm singing, so stick around." She reached forward, across the short distance and pat the side of his face. He flinched a bit, but didn't pull away. He didn't seem used to the contact, but didn't appear to mind it either.

She was gone before she could see Pein's female cousin watching them from the shadows or the silhouette of Itachi leaning against the alcove's molding. She always had eyes on her, so what were two more.

Sakura took up her position off to the side of the stage and waited till the lights went off. Once the set was black she got into position in front of the microphone and waited for the lights to rise with the band behind her. They were following her lead and the melody was instantly recognizable. Scarcely a note was struck before Pein reacted in the audience, making Sakura grin.

She closed her eyes and remembered the taste of saltwater in her gills. She felt the feeling building and she stepped into the first few notes and sang the first few low notes. "The truth is….mmmmm…." Her eyes snapped open wide. "You've got me hypnotized… I'm feeling so obsessed with you. You left me paralyzed….. And now I'm stuck… You got me stuck…Oh."

She snapped her neck wildly to the side, caught up in the sound. She opened her eyes once again and looked out at the black shadows that made up her audience. Her smile was mischievous, and only part of her was playing a role for the audience.

"And the truth is you've got me hypnotized…"

Pein was in a state of bliss, but it was Madara, tucked way in the back, seated in a booth between a wizened Saratobi and his most loyal Itachi, who watched her with pinwheel eyes that started to spin.

AN:/ Madara. I love him so much.

It was longer but I think I only had like...two days in the dream for this chapter. I really didn't intend for this to grow so much, cause there's a lot more that needs to happen and I need to get better about getting to the point, (but I love the Madara Sakura fluff in this chapter, it's my weakness.) The pier is important, and a few more things need to happen before I start writing about the next gate.

My goal is to be done with the framework of this by mid October. I'll have a cute October themed oneshot out (not in the Obelisk series) and by Christmas I'll have another Peridot styled onshot. I won't start the last series until the new year. I think I need to give myself that time as a break. I'll get some other things done in the meantime. If my game plan changes, I'll say something about it. But when I post my intentions it helps keep me accountable.

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