This is exactly what I did not want to happen! I get swamped in all the time consuming crap and hair losing stress of school and then it takes me forever and five years to update! I'm really sorry about that, but I will still try to update as soon as I can, but-unfortunately- the boredom of school comes before the joy of writing my fanfics, and-as much as I wanna- I'm not gonna put school second to that. So please work with me, I'll try the best I can. But you can count on the fact that I won't just stop writing. If I ever take breaks like this is for a good reason.
Also, before we get on to the story, I realized I accidentally left out a line in chapter 18. After the flashback, it's supposed to say: (Sakura couldn't help but smile to herself. "If only Ai were here to see this. I've definitely got to tell her when she brings my dinner tonight.") Sorry about that one! Anyway, thanks so much for your patience and here's your reward!
Thanks for the reviews! I'm almost at one hundred! (It makes me feel so giddy! XD)
Disclaimer: Eye Donut On Narootoe.
Sakura woke up all alone in the big room. Four girls had come and gotten Kakashi, Sasuke, and Neji much earlier this morning. Sakura was asleep when she heard the sound of heavy chains dropping to the ground. When she opened her eyes, she saw four unfamiliar girls over where her teammates sat. One was carrying the locks from the chains and the other three were each dragging her teammates, whose bodies were motionless, atop thick, tarps- apparently so it'd be easier to drag their bodies to whatever destination they were headed.
Of course, Sakura didn't just sit back and watch. She immediately began yelling and thrashing around and demanded to know what the hell was going on. But the girls said nothing, and all morning long Sakura was violently kicking and screaming. She didn't stop until Daijiro came in and knocked her unconscious because according to Yoichi, she was 'giving the whole house a headache'.
Now that she'd regained consciousness, she was tired and didn't feel like moving at all. She wasn't sure if she'd received one of Daijiro's injections after she was knocked out, but it sure did seem like it.
The door slid open and Seion and Hisui walked in.
"It's time, m'lady." Seion said somberly as she came into the room.
"Where- where are my teammates?" Sakura asked groggily but firmly.
"There's no time for that now, m'lady." Hisui said hurriedly as she unveiled a key and unlocked Sakura's chains.
"What are you two doing?" Sakura asked.
"Preparing you for tonight." Seion drawled as she focused her attention on gently injecting some sort of clear fluid into Sakura.
"What is that?"
"Lord Daijiro's antidote mixed with a little vitamin-like formula of his that'll give you a little strength. You'll be able to walk again by tonight." Hisui told her as she and Seion carefully lifted Sakura up.
A loud groan escaped Sakura's mouth as a result of a mixture of relief and pain as the neglected muscles of her body were finally being used. "What time is it now?"
"Eleven thirty in the morning. The ceremony begins at nine o'clock tonight, so we'll have just enough time to get you ready."
Sakura said nothing, but looked at the two with questioning eyes.
"Your wedding?" Seion reminded Sakura with a look that said 'how on earth could you forget'.
"We've got to bathe you and dress you and fix you up and feed you and give you body time to start functioning properly, so we need to start now." Hisui explained.
"I..."
"Shhhh. It'd be best if you didn't say anything more." Seion warned Sakura as she and Hisui half carried half dragged her body out the doors.
It was the first time Sakura had seen any other part of the house besides that one room. She thought to herself that it was a good thing she didn't try escaping through this way, because the house was huge. There were so many hallways, staircases, and doors that Sakura knew she would've gotten lost within a few seconds. Seion and Hisui however seemed to know exactly where they were going and walked quickly to get there.
After a while, they turned down one hall that seemed never ending but eventually led to a large open room, undoubtedly the center of the house, and it was bustling with activity. They were about twenty girls either cleaning or running back and forth to attend to whatever duties they had been assigned. Some of them seemed unscathed others had welts and cuts on various parts of their bodies.
None of them said a word, but each of them secretly looked at Sakura with various, unreadable expressions in their eyes. Seion and Hisui continued on as they led Sakura to a staircase which made an open circle around the room.
Seion turned to Sakura and said, "You'll need to walk up these stairs Lady Sakura. It's so we can help the feeling in your legs return faster."
Sakura said nothing, but quietly obliged as she slowly and a little painfully raised her numb legs with each step. By the time she was done climbing all thirty-three, she was exhausted. But Seion and Hisui wouldn't stop and they just led her along the narrow hall from the stairs, overlooking the room below. They went all the way to the middle before they stopped.
Hisui slid the door open and the three stepped inside.
"This will be your quarters from now on m'lady." Hisui told Sakura.
Sakura started to open her mouth to say something, but she was silenced by the fear in both Hisui and Seion's eyes, begging her not to say a word.
She reluctantly closed her mouth and looked around the large room. There were burgundy silk sheets on the round bed in the middle of the room, and a sheer black canopy was suspended above it. Everything else in the room went along with the color coordination's of the bed, but there were very few things in there.
"He probably doesn't want me to try to turn anything in the room into a weapon I can use against him. The woman-beatin asshole." She looked at the widow in the far side of the room and noted that it was too small to try to escape out of.
The three walked across the large room to a closed door on the other side. This time Seion slid it open. Inside sat Eikou at the bath, which she seemingly just drew because the steam was evidence that it was still hot.
"You can undress now, or would you like to stretch first? Whichever you decide, your bath is ready m'lady." Eikou was now saying.
Sakura slowly started stretching as she looked back and forth between the three with a raised eyebrow. She purposely took an extremely long time- forty five minutes. She could tell by the look on the three's faces that they were wishing that she'd hurry up, but that just made her go even slower. When she was finally done, it was twelve fifteen in the afternoon.
Obviously the girls didn't feel safe enough to talk with Sakura like normal- she realized that when they kept referring to her as m'lady again. Also, it was evident that Sakura wasn't even safe enough to talk with them like she normally did. When she tried to ask them questions, they quickly silenced her and Seion nor Hisui still hadn't answered her question about her teammates whereabouts from before.
There was some way to be able to communicate with the three, and Sakura knew that all three of them knew how, they just wouldn't say. So, she decided she'd secretly provoke it out of them. After her nearly forty five minute stretch, she decided to take a ten minute 'cool down period' as she so delicately put it. She saw Hisui and Eikou impatiently watching the clock oddly placed inside the bathroom and laughed secretly to herself.
It was now almost twelve thirty and she still hadn't even done what she came in the bathroom for in the first place- to take a bath.
"You know what, my legs still feel a little wobbly. I think I'll go walk around the room a bit." Sakura smiled innocently as she left from the bathroom and began an agonizingly slow walk around the bedroom. Sakura smirked as Seion desperately held in an agitated sigh. Then she walked every inch along the perimeter of the room as she slowly trailed her fingers across the wall and the few various objects along it. Even though the room was big, it took Sakura way too long just to walk around it.
When she finally got back to the bathroom door, she just smiled sweetly and told the three, "I think I'll go around again."
All the three could do was watch in stifled annoyance as Sakura took her sweet time on her walk. She even stopped and just stared out the window for about fifteen minutes as she 'marveled' on the beautiful sight below, which was just grass, not even one flower was down there. By the time she had completed both laps, it was twelve minutes after one. How Sakura managed to take over forty minutes to walk two laps around that room was beyond her, but she was glad she did; it just added fuel to the fire she was trying to start up.
"I'm done now," she smiled pleasantly to Eikou and Hisui who were standing tiredly at the door. Seion was sitting in the bathroom at the tub with her head in her hand.
"Are you ready now, m'lady." Seion said exasperatedly.
"Mm-hmm." Sakura chirped as she slowly walked to the tub and dipped her hand in. A frown appeared on her beautiful face.
"Is something wrong…m'lady." Hisui asked, the agitation now becoming evident in her voice.
"Weeeellllll……" Sakura started. "It's just this bathwater. It's so cold now."
"When Eikou ran it for you it was hot. You detours must've cooled it off. I'm sorry." Hisui said without a bit of remorse.
"So you're saying that it's my fault that my bathwater's cold?" Sakura asked, forcing slight anger in her voice.
Seion sighed and walked over to the tub and plunged her hand in. "The water feels fine to me m'lady." She sighed.
"To you it may, but I'm going to be the one taking the bath. I need the water to be hot otherwise it won't work!"
Seion let a very tiny scoff escape her mouth. Then she once again plunged her hand into the water and pulled the plug out of the drain. She walked back in disbelief towards her friends and the three of them stood at the door. Sakura sat on chair at the vanity that was on the wall parallel to the one the tub was on and just looked at them with an innocent, yet evilly intended, smile on her face.
When the water finally drained out, Eikou once again went to the tub and refilled it with hot water. The four sat in silence except for Sakura who happily hummed a merry tune to herself. Minutes later, when the tub was full, Eikou shut the water off.
"There you are Lady Sakura," she sighed. "A hot bath."
Sakura stood up from her seat and walked towards the bathtub flashing Eikou a million dollar smile as she passed by her. She once again trailed her fingers through the water, and once again a frown appeared on her face.
"What is it now, m'lady?" Hisui almost cried.
"The water again. This time it's too hot."
"But you said you wanted a hot bath Lady Sakura." Eikou scoffed.
"Not so hot as it will burn my flesh right off the bones! I need a cooler bath, now!" Sakura pouted.
"We can't waste water like that m'lady or else we could get in trouble." Eikou tried to reason with Sakura.
"Fine, fine," Sakura sighed. "I suppose I could just sit here and wait for it to cool down."
Eikou and Hisui sighed and Seion buried her face in her hands as she whimpered out to Eikou, "Just go change the water."
Eikou sighed as she walked once again to the bathtub. Sakura made her way to her seat at the vanity, and airily sat down. She sat and hummed in the mirror until Eikou once again finally called her to the tub.
"It's finally ready now Lady Sakura." She sighed tiredly.
Sakura slowly stood up from the chair and nonchalantly made her way to the tub yet again. She performed the usual routine of testing the water. Behind her, she secretly smirked as she sensed the three nervously waiting for her response. She straightened up from the tub and sighed.
"Ahhh yes, that's perfect." The three let out a relieved sigh behind her. "Now for me to get undressed."
"Lady Sakura, why didn't you do that before?" Hisui groaned.
"It didn't occur to me," Sakura simply stated.
"But if you knew you were taking a bath, why didn't you undress?" Seion asked with a groan.
"Why didn't you remind me?" Was all Sakura said back as she ever so slowly began to undress. She heard Seion sigh and bang her head against the wall behind her, and she chuckled lightly to herself, fueling the girls' agitation.
After finally undressing, Sakura slid into the water and closed her eyes and sighed. Then she looked at the clock that read 2:05 and sighed aloud, "My, my where does the time go."
Hisui, Seion, and Eikou walked together towards the tub where Sakura sat.
"Alright, we'll tell you what you wanna know." Seion said in a barely audible whisper.
"Thank you!" Sakura sighed back, matching her pitch low, with Seion's.
"You know, you can be really…difficult when you wanna! I just don't understand how on earth you can manage to take over three hours to just get into this tub! No offense!" Eikou whispered to Sakura.
"None taken. Manipulation is the common element that flows through all women's blood!" Sakura laughed back. "But anyway, first thing's first: where are my teammates and Ai?"
"Your teammates are still alive. They've been called by Lord Mitsuo, I'm not sure why. They probably went ahead to the site where the ceremony will take place." Seion told her.
"Huh?"
"Yeah," Hisui said. "Your teammates are gonna be there as 'guests of the bride', I suppose it's the final part of Master Yoichi's torture. After the ceremony, they'll be turned over to Lord Mitsuo, and…well…you know the rest."
"Yeah I know, and that's not going to happen. But why would he let them come to the ceremony anyway? I don't understand."
"Well…so they can watch helplessly….as Master Yoichi…takes you." Eikou fiddled her fingers nervously as she told Sakura this.
"Excuse me?" Sakura asked with a scoff.
"Well," Eikou continued. "Supposedly they'd just have a commitment ceremony in front of the elders of the clan-you know the brothers and sisters of the former chosen one- in addition to the siblings of the new chosen one, but since it's only those three left, my guess is that Master Yoichi's just gonna skip the ceremony part and go straight to the part where he…intimately lays his claim on you. And apparently, your teammates…will have to watch this."
"That's sick! No fuckin way!" Sakura yelled standing in the tub.
"Shhhhh!" the trio hissed simultaneously.
"It's what must be done." Hisui said sadly after Sakura had sat down.
"To hell with that! I can guarantee you three none of that will happen!"
"Sakura, please don't talk like that here. It's not safe." Seion warned.
As much as this situation bothered her, Sakura didn't want to dwell on it mainly because she knew Seion was right. She had no clue who was listening Besides, she had just about all the information she was going to get right about now, and that was just about all she needed. She still needed to focus on her escape plan anyway.
Yet there was still one thing she needed to know. "And Ai?" she asked. "Where is she?"
Eikou, Hisui, and Seion were real quiet for awhile. It looked as if all three were about to cry.
Moments later, Seion finally managed to whisper. "Sh-she's…..dead."
"What!?" Sakura shrieked. The trio didn't even try to silence her this time.
"It-it was Master Yoichi," Eikou whispered. "He-he said….he said that she'd told you too much…That something was going on with you two…and he didn't like it. So he…he…."
Hisui was crying softly now as well were the other two.
"How-how could he know that?" Sakura asked feeling her face burn up.
"There are very few things that go on in this house that Master Yoichi doesn't know about." Hisui said sadly.
Sakura sat speechless in the tub with her mouth agape. Ai was dead! That bastard Yoichi had killed her! Sakura felt her own tears building up in her eyes, but before they escaped with her building rage, they heard an irritated voice from inside the bedroom calling out to them.
"Hisui! Eikou! Master Yoichi wants for you all to hurry up! You're running behind!"
"Alright, alright, Nikano we're comin." Seion called back to the servant girl in the bedroom without even turning her head. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "We'd better hurry."
"Oh and Seion!" the girl, Nikano, called out once more after hearing the redhead's voice. This time, her voice was softer as she said. "Master Yoichi…wants to see you."
Seion's eyes widened, and the three heads in the bathroom turned towards her.
"Very well," she said trembling ever so slightly. "I'm coming." She stood up and made her way out the bathroom.
"Be careful Seion, please." Hisui whispered out to her, this fateful scene all too familiar in her eyes.
Seion gave a small and unconvincing smile back as she told them, "I will. Don't worry about me." And with that, she and Nikano exited the room.
"What on earth can he want with her?" Sakura whispered fearfully after the two girls left.
"Nothing good from the way Nikano sounded," Eikou whimpered, and she and Hisui hurried to tend to their orders and prepare Sakura, fearing that their names could be called next.
It was now five o'clock. After her bath, Sakura took a nap. It wasn't in her original intention, but once she got out of the bathroom and sat down on the soft, comfy bed, it was all over. Eikou and Hisui didn't wake her, but decided to let her sleep instead. Why? She didn't know-but honestly she didn't care because that was the best nap she'd taken since she got there.
She sat silently alone in the room for about ten minutes, thinking to herself. She had a general idea of how she was going to get out of this mess, but it wasn't perfect yet. She really needed to know the condition her teammates were in health-wise before she could finalize any details. But since that was, of course, impossible, she was forced to waste time thinking up numerous different plans for numerous different situations-which unfortunately cut her individual planning time down considerably.
Thirty more minutes passed, and Hisui slowly and quietly walked in the door.
"Ah good, you're up. I'll be right back with your dinner. I know you're starving-you haven't eaten all day." Then just as quickly as she came in, she left.
Sakura said nothing, but reluctantly found the strength to lift her heavy body and get up from the bed. Then she lackadaisically walked towards the window and peered out, distantly looking down at the nothingness called grass that was there below. She sighed heavily; today was not going good.
She was snapped from her thoughts, when Hisui entered the room with another servant girl as well as Sakura's food.
"Here you are m'lady." Hisui bowed to Sakura as she set her food down on the nightstand beside the bed. The formalness of her speech told Sakura that it wasn't recommended to chat like usual, so Sakura just nodded her head and walked to the bed.
"Thanks for the help Akina, you can go now." Hisui told the young girl standing timidly behind her. Akina nodded and bowed down to Sakura, stuttering a fearful goodbye before she departed from the room.
Hisui chuckled lightly when the young girl left and then she turned to Sakura.
"She was so nervous about meeting you, I thought she would just about faint from being in the same room as you." Hisui told Sakura. "Anyway, are you hungry now Sakura? I sure hope so."
Now that the casualty between them was back, Sakura took that as a sign that all was back to normal. Now she could ask Hisui about her strangely cheerful behavior. Not that Hisui was a gloomy girl, it's just that-according to Ai's stories-Seion and Hisui were best friends; knowing each other even before the both were captured and taken into this harem hellhole. And one thing Sakura had observed about the four girls who she'd seen the most of was that: Eikou was the quiet motherly one who preferred staying in the shadows and always seemed to constantly worry about her friend's safety, Seion was the outspoken tough girl with the heart of gold and a surprisingly deep and compelling personality, the late and beloved Ai was timid and soft-spoken but extremely loyal and trustworthy and dependable in any situation, and Hisui was typically quiet but unafraid to speak her mind when necessary and she was completely devoted to the ones she cared for and although Eikou worried the most, Hisui was the one who seemed to react the worst.
This, in combination with her extreme closeness with Seion, is the reason Sakura was so concerned with her suddenly cheerful disposition. She didn't want to upset Hisui, but the curiosity was burning her insides to a crisp, and eventually, she succumbed to it by asking Hisui about Seion's whereabouts.
"I-I'm not sure." Hisui told Sakura after she'd asked her. A cloud of gloominess seemed to suddenly pollute the clear skies that were just recently surrounding her. Sakura began to regret asking Hisui and apologized to her for it.
"I'm really sorry, Hisui, it's just that since you were so happy, I figured that Seion was alright. I didn't mean to get you all upset again."
"No, no, it's alright. Look Sakura, I'm not entirely sure where Seion is right now, but I'm bound by words not to kill myself worrying about her."
"Bound by words?"
"Yeah…. you see, Seion and I grew up in the same village together- it was a really small one, not even worth mentionin. When Seion and I were really young, a bad plague hit the village. Unfortunately, Seion's father, mother, older brother, and one of my older brother's as well, were fallen victims of the sickness. I still had my parents, three brothers, and two sisters left, but Seion had no one- the only family she had were taken by the plague with the exception of a grandfather who wanted nothing to do with her. Me and her were always best friends, so my parents had no problem with taking her into our home and raising her as their own.
"For about seven years we all lived together in peace until one evening, Mitsuo and a couple of their goons were passin through. I'm not really sure what exactly happened. I think one of Mitsuo's men were passing by a nearby street market and decided he could just take what he wanted without paying. When the vender stopped him, the guy got angry and a fight broke out between the two of them. Angered by the visitors who had just come into our peaceful town starting trouble, the villagers got really upset. Then a chain of anger sparked among the people and it's like suddenly it was an all out war. Mitsuo's men were outnumbered, yes, but our people were out skilled. Not sayin our village was full of weaklings, it's just that the skilled, highly trained fighting style of Mitsuo's men overpowered the street brawling savagery of ours.
"News spread like wildfire and all men were called to do battle; my father and brothers among them. That was the last time I saw them, because when Mitsuo came back and saw what was going on, he was pissed. In a fit of rage he killed all of our village's men fighting in that war without breaking a sweat. He even killed his own follower-the one who'd started the fight-because he said the guy knew they didn't have time to get sidetracked like this. The fact that Mitsuo so could so easily slaughter all these people without even trying hammered fear into the hearts of the women, elders, and children, who now alone made up the village's population. Mitsuo called for his men to leave, but supposedly one guy said that it wouldn't be smart to leave witnesses like this, so Mitsuo told them to go ahead and finish the village off, but make it quick because Yoichi was waiting. And that's just what the assholes did. They killed without mercy. Some of the pigs even raped the women in the village; my mom and sisters were some of them. She told me and Seion to flee, so we did.
"We hid behind a fallen street cart for what seemed like hours as we listened to the anguished cries of our fellow villagers. Then once it seemed like it was all over, and we were safe, the men came trotting down the road leading out the village. One of them accidentally bumped into the cart, moving it a little. That was when he saw Seion's hair, since it's bright red, it's pretty hard to miss it. So he pushes the cart aside and is smirkin and sayin to his pigheaded friends, 'Lookie what we got hidin here. To fine lookin wenches, and young too. About your age Lord Mitsuo.' So Mitsuo comes over to where we are and me and Seion are like piss scared cause we're starin at this killin machine. Then we hold each other real tight and beg for our lives. Mitsuo just looks at Seion, I don't think he even noticed me.
"He kept starin at her and starin and then she got impatient and yelled out to him 'If you're gonna kill us do it already dammit!' So Mitsuo looks at her some more and then he smirks and turns away. He called out over his shoulder for his goons to bring us with them but don't hurt us…yet. They knocked us unconscious and when we woke up, we were here, and that's when Seion made me promise her that no matter what happened, I would live on in her honor if I could, and I wouldn't kill myself over the grief of her death. I promised her this and she returned the promise to me. That is why, even if it hurts, I gotta keep that promise Sakura. I gotta keep smiling."
Sakura sighed deeply. She didn't offer words of consolation, because like Seion, they didn't do much to help Hisui. "I gotcha."
Hisui smiled at Sakura. "Thanks. Now c'mon and eat your food. We gotta get you ready after this."
At six thirty, Sakura was joined in her quarters by Eikou, Hisui, the girl Nikano, and yet another new girl called Miki. They carried a expensive looking silk kimono that was colored the same black and burgundy wine color as her room with matching slippers and a bag with unknown objects inside-later reviled as a brush, comb, and other things like that. The kimono was beautiful, but the purpose for which it was to serve, wasn't. However, as against the whole thing Sakura was, she offered little resistance. Especially after being secretly forewarned by Eikou that Miki wasn't one to be trusted, seeing that she was the newest addition, and determined to get in as good as she could with Yoichi-hoping to get on his good side and save herself some pain.
Of course every other girl knew this was futile and that Miki had unknowingly committed herself to being Yoichi's permanent rat- whether he was kind to her or not- for the rest of her life here, which is why they were all so wary of her.
So because of Miki's presence, Sakura had to get dressed and prepared in the uncomfortable silence as she would if she truly viewed them as her 'slave girls'. The five said nothing to one another.
Once, Miki attempted to start a conversation. "Are you excited about your wedding Lady Sakura?" she asked innocently as Nikano rolled her eyes. The question seemed simple enough- a yes or no being sufficient-but Miki's true intentions for asking the question weren't clear to Sakura and since she trusted Eikou and had no trust in the least in Miki, she decided not to answer the question with one of those answers, therefore saving herself possible future pain if Miki was going to go back and squeal.
So, she pasted a smug and annoyed pompous scowl on her face and turned her nose up at Miki and scoffed, "Do you dare talk to me?" Miki's face grew bright red and she shamefully and repeatedly begged Sakura to forgive her. And to this, Sakura gave a halfhearted sigh and told the girl, "I suppose I could…this once." Then with a lazy wave of her hand, she dismissed the matter. It took all of Hisui and Eikou's self control to not erupt in laughter at Sakura's, once again, superior acting skills.
From that point on, not even Miki tried to start up a conversation. And Sakura was dressed in record breaking silence. The four girls were slow and careful, since there nothing more to do, they could take all the time they wanted. Sakura was in no rush either, so she made effort to speed up the process.
But outside, the sky began changing colors, and was quickly shifting from the reddish-orange that tie-dyed the sky, to the dreaded bluish-black that imminently coming. Thankfully, Miki had been called away to her other duties, so that was a load off Sakura's mind. Nikano left as well, but for reasons unknown. Hisui and Eikou still remained, but, though they sensed Sakura's latent distress, they offered no words of consolation to her, only because they knew there was nothing to say. Instead, they sat in silence and watched Sakura gazing distantly out the window. She didn't talk, she didn't move. She just stood there seemingly in a trance.
The sun was setting, and the sky was losing the little light it seemed to hold on desperately to; as if it were on Sakura's side. Then, in the sky over the horizon before the window, Sakura saw the fully round moon becoming clearer and clearer. Then, the sky became dark and the moon and the stars glowed a melancholy glow. An unspoken, yet obvious, thought hung thick in the air: the time was drawing near.
Suddenly, a loud bell chimed throughout the mansion. Eikou and Hisui turned their heads towards the closed bedroom door. Sakura remained at the window and continued to stare outside as if she hadn't even heard it.
"Sakura." Eikou sternly told the despondent, pink haired, zombie glued to her spot at the window. "We have to leave now."
Sakura didn't move.
"C'mon Sakura. If you disrespect Master Yoichi by staying here or being late by as much as one second, things will be much worse than whatever you're imagining will happen if you leave now." Hisui said to Sakura. Only Sakura didn't respond to her either. She remained in her trance-like state as if the words of the girls had fallen on deaf ears. It was quiet and tense for a moment until the bell resounded again.
"Sakura please!" the two girls begged simultaneously.
That's when a small smile, barely even visible, graced Sakura's lips. She had done it. She had finally finished her plan-and without a second to spare. She'd spent all day at that window, planning, and was completely tuned out to the outside world. Only just now, could she hear Hisui and Eikou pleading with her to leave, saying they would be late if they didn't go. She didn't want that to happen, there was no room for error, and everything had to be precise.
She turned to them and began walking to the door. "Let's go."
The two were baffled by her sudden change of heart, but nodded, and they all walked out the door- Hisui and Eikou leading since Sakura didn't know the way. When they stepped outside, Sakura looked down over the stair rail to where the center room was at and saw that there were about twenty girls down there- all were on their knees and bowed down to Sakura when she stepped out. Sakura rolled her eyes in disgust at this, but she said nothing and quietly followed Eikou and Hisui to the destination.
They walked down the stairs and then, instead of going the way they came from when they brought Sakura from the room she was chained in, they went the opposite direction. This didn't concern Sakura at all, a certain location was not required in her plan-she just needed space and her teammates. As she followed the two girls, she instantly committed the path to memory.
Although she was certain her plan would work, Sakura couldn't help but be a little nervous. However, she didn't try to fight it. If she approached Yoichi in such a bold and confident manor, he'd surely be suspicious. So for that reason, she embraced her nervousness and used it to her advantage.
The walk was long and quiet. Hisui and Eikou finally stopped at a door and then opened it, revealing a long flight of stairs. "Great," Sakura muttered inwardly and a tad sarcastically. "He sure is no considerate husband-making me walk up all these stairs. I'll be sweating buckets when I'm done!"
She took a step forward, but Eikou held her hand out stopping her. Sakura was about to ask what was wrong, when four of the brother's henchmen appeared, carrying some sort of chair squarely enclosed in a black veil, on their shoulders. Sakura just watched as they stepped up to her and set the seat on the ground. Then it was quiet as they waited.
"What the hell?" Sakura thought to herself, but eventually, she realized she was supposed to get in it. She crouched down and adjusted herself inside. Once she was set, the chair lifted and the men, following behind Hisui and Eikou, carried Sakura up the long flight of stairs.
When they finally reached the top, Eikou and Hisui opened the heavy doors and stood aside as the men carried Sakura out onto a huge, flat, concrete part of the roof. The cool night air mixed with her anxious emotions chilled Sakura to her bones. The men carried her about to the middle of the platform, then set her down. In front of her, Sakura could see Yoichi through the black veil. He was standing there and she could feel the heavy lust his body was exuding. This caused her nerves to begin feverishly jumping again, but she couldn't just run away now-she was so close. Hisui and Eikou approached the chair and pulled aside the sheer, front flaps signaling for Sakura to come out. Sakura sat still for awhile out of fear and nervousness. Then, she noticed Yoichi started to seem irritated and typically, she wouldn't give a rat's ass, but right now, she needed for everything to go smoothly, so she took a deep breath and slowly stepped out.
The lustful smirk on Yoichi's face was enough to make Sakura cringe, but she didn't, however the nervousness and slight fear was clearly seen in her eyes and she made no attempt to hide it. Slowly and fearfully, she walked to Yoichi. He just stood there and watched every delicate step her body took. Sakura wasn't sure where exactly she was to go, but she figured that her best bet would be to keep walking until she got to Yoichi, which she did.
She stopped in front of him and kept her eyes glued to the ground. She stayed like that for awhile-afraid to speak-until Yoichi firmly, but gently, place his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. This he leant down and demandingly captured her lips in his. The kiss was deep and oddly enjoyable, but it was more so demanding and rough. When he pulled back, that kiss told Sakura exactly what he was telling her without him having to say it: 'she was his and his alone, no matter how she didn't want it'.
After that, the two stood silently together beneath the stars for a few seconds. Then, Yoichi turned Sakura around to face the moon behind them.
"After tonight," he told her in his deep, smooth voice. "You'll belong to the strongest and deadliest man to ever be born into this pathetic world. We will have everything at our fingertips. With me as ruler, your every wish will be granted- you'll want for nothing. But do not fail to remember: you belong to me. You are under my control. If you fail to remember this fact, it will be the biggest mistake you will ever make in your life. As well as your last."
Sakura unintentionally let out a small gasp. She looked up towards Yoichi, who like always had an apathetic expression on his face, but he needed no scowl or any other menacing expression for Sakura to get the idea.
Her eyes flooded with fear and she tried desperately to suppress it. Right now, she needed to be as calm and focused as possible in order for her plan to succeed. She needed to be thinking clearly and completely confident in her abilities. But when Yoichi looked down at Sakura and locked those beautiful hazel eyes with her shinning green ones, a wave of fear flowed throughout her body. She found herself trembling slightly, and tried to look away, but, like always, she couldn't, so when Yoichi finally looked off-sure that he got his message across loud and clear- she was relieved beyond words.
Then, she thought to herself that she could've sworn that holding eye contact the longest was like a sign of dominance, but not in this case. The dark, quiet Yoichi seemed to speak with his eyes and actions as opposed to with his words. For Yoichi, locking with the gaze of any person foolish enough to even look him in the eyes gave enough of an ultimatum to drive the opposing force away, because the malice, hate, power, strength, and darkness that composed him was evident in his eyes. After all, the eyes are the window to the soul, and Yoichi's was dark and deadly.
Sakura waited in silence and turned back towards the door because that was what Yoichi had done. Then, Hisui and Eikou walked over to Sakura and stood beside her, to her right, and Yoichi looked to one of the men who'd carried Sakura in. The man nodded and walk to the door and opened it.
Then he and the other three men left down the stairs, leaving Sakura with that menace Yoichi, and Eikou and Hisui-who'd she'd rather not have there because she didn't want to get them involved in the plan which she was about to unfold. The man left the door on the roof open, so once he got to the end of the stairs Sakura could hear one of them call out, "Lord Mitsuo, Master Yoichi is ready. You can go ahead and do it."
Sakura's heart sank. Weren't they supposed to be bringing her teammates up to the roof with them? Now it seemed as if Mitsuo was going to stay inside and just finish them off down there. That ruined the entire plan! There was no way she could let that happen! But luckily, before Sakura could react, Yoichi spoke.
"I thought you might like to see your little friends one last time, so Mitsuo will be bringing them up here. Although, they will be so disoriented that they probably won't even realize what's going on. Still, I'm sure we'll put on a decent show for them."
Sakura glared at Yoichi, which she instantly regretted doing, but he only gave a conceited smirk back and told her in a small chuckle. "You only make it worse on yourself." And this time, she kept her comments to herself.
Multiple pairs of footsteps were heard from the stairs. They were coming. The plan was about to begin. But what came through the door stunned everyone on the roof-even Yoichi's eyes seemed to widen in the slightest.
Mitsuo walked in first, leading the people behind him on a heavy chain. The other footsteps, they didn't belong to Yoichi's goons, they belonged to Sakura's teammates. Mitsuo continued to walk in as if nothing was wrong and he led Kakashi, Sasuke, and Neji towards the side of the roof where he made them sit; and the three were seemingly happy to oblige. Then he stopped and looked at Yoichi and Sakura.
"What am I late or something?" he asked jokingly because of the way all four were turned towards them and staring.
"Mitsuo," Yoichi growled. "What the hell is going on?"
"Huh?" Mitsuo was confused. "What are you talkin about bro?"
"Why the hell can those three walk? They should be full of Daijiro's poisoning by now." Yoichi continued glaring at the confused Mitsuo.
"Theeey were…and then I gave them the antidote…just like you told me to."
"Why the hell would I tell you to do a thing like that." Yoichi was seething, but he wasn't yelling yet.
"I-I don't I was only doin what you asked me to. I figured you wanted them alive so they could know what was goin on when they got up here. Besides, when I tried to ask you why should i give 'em it you got all pissed and said it was none a' my business and to jus' do what you told me to."
Yoichi pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger and closed his eyes. He stayed like that as he sighed heavily and asked Mitsuo, "What antidote did you give them?"
"Well lets see" Mitsuo said, holding the chain in one hand as he absently began counting on the other which ignited yet another sigh from Yoichi. "There was the one to get rid of that nighttime sedation, then there was the one that was supposed to strengthen their body-you know like the one your bitch got, and they got the antidote or whatever you call it for their dehydration, then I had to give them the injection that turned off their chakra 'cause you said you didn't want none of the three of them to use those two little kekkei genki things they got, then I had to give 'em an injection that kinda made 'em drowsy 'cause you said you wanted them to be able to walk, but they couldn't be able to put up a struggle, and I think that was it. Oh, and then I had to get Daijiro to turn their response and reflex system completely off from their brains. I mean their all helpless, but they can see an' hear an' walk short distances like you wanted."
Sakura's mouth was agape. What the hell was going on here! Her teammates should be incapacitated.
Yoichi stood unwavering, not even bothering to open his eyes, but his anger was boiling, and that was evident. Sakura watched the tight clenching of his jaw and was afraid that his teeth would shatter from the force. "You want to tell me when it was that I told you all this stuff Mitsuo?"
"Uh, it was last night-y'know a last minute thing. I had to hit Daijiro up for just about every concoction he had and he was kinda pissed but he did it anyway."
"You're a damn fool, Mitsuo." Yoichi told Mitsuo looking up at him.
Mitsuo became nervous. "Wh-what did I do wrong? I was only doin what you asked me to. I-I swear I didn't do anything else."
"You've been played for a fool." Yoichi said the muscles in his body now relaxing. He seemed a lot calmer.
"What are you talking about?" Mitsuo asked furrowing his brow. "You're the one who told me to do all this. You-"
"It seems to me," Yoichi interrupted with a dark smirk. "That the Soul Stealer has come into play."
The chain Mitsuo was holding fell to the ground, and his young face turned pale. Beside her, Sakura heard Eikou and Hisui gasp and she turned to face them, both seeming scared out of their minds. Her teammates were completely out of it because of whatever it was Mitsuo did to them. They were basically walking zombies. Sakura had no clue what was going on but was trying to figure out. The only one who seemed unfazed by this was Yoichi.
"Y-you gotta be wrong Yoich. I-I mean h-he wouldn't. I-it wasn't him. It couldn't be him. Could it Yoich? I-I-it was someone else right? Right Yoichi?" Mitsuo seemed almost hysterical.
"Oh no Mitsuo, it's him." Yoichi was still smirking. "Seems to me like someone has been meddling-stealing my identity. There's only one person who can do such a thing that not even a ninja of your or my caliber could detect." He turned towards the door still calm and smirking. "So the Soul Stealing Ninja has come into play, has he now……Daijiro?"
Sakura gasped. Then she turned towards the door where Yoichi was now staring with a smirk. Against the open door frame, leant Daijiro, a menacing scowl on his face.
He stood up straight and took a few steps forward, never breaking eye contract with Yoichi. He stopped and the wind blew fiercely as he called out in a low and threatening voice. "My Brother, your plan ends here!"
Ooookay! Hope that one satisfied ya! Things get pretty interesting from here, so stay with me! I'm not making any promises, but hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long to update.
I think that's all for now. Read and Review please!
See ya soon! xoxoxoxoxo