Everyone, I can't apologize enough. I lost sight of what was important in my life for a long time. But, I'm back. I haven't abandoned you guys or my stories. I've decided to finish Stand by Me first, and move through my other fics as I go along. I'm planning a Monday update schedule. Meaning, depending on when this one goes up, you'll receive a new one the following Monday.
Ok, here we go lol.
Stand By Me
Chapter 28 – Until it Hurts
"Undress these beautiful lies,
Blind me with animal eyes,
Carve your heart into mine, carve your heart into mine.
Brush me with venomous lips,
Tear me to passionate strips,
Stir up the beast inside, stir up the beast inside.
Take me for all I'm worth,
Touch me until it hurts."
It had been two weeks since Sakura had met Sasuke in the woods outside the battle for Kumo. Two weeks in which she'd loved him, lost him and hated him. Or maybe the hate was directed at herself. For loving him, trusting him enough to let him have this power over her that would allow him to betray her so horrible. In doing exactly what he'd promised he wouldn't.
Sakura heard the heavy footfalls echoing on the walls outside her room and she stilled, knowing exactly who it would be on the other side.
"Ah, Sakura-chan."
Sakura looked away, bile rising in her throat. She forced the shake out of her hands by clenching them tightly, refusing to show him any weakness.
"Come now," he said with a tut-tut-tut of his tongue, and then she felt a cold thumb on her chin. Sakura reacted, pulling a fist back and punching up, coming up empty once again due to the weight on her wrist. Chakra Shackles.
"Don't touch me." She sneered, still very boldly looking away.
"Is this any way to treat the man that's keeping you safe?"
"Keeping me safe?" she mocked, her voice dull and void of any emotion. "Maybe captive would be a better term." And finally, she turned her glare on his snake-like eyes. Orochimaru.
He seemed wholly amused by this, smiling sweetly at her, his hand reaching out again, this time managing to cup her cheek before she smacked his hand away defiantly.
"Orochimaru-sama." Came the voice from the doorway and Sakura's head snapped up. Kalika.
"Team B is ready to move out, shall I deploy them?"
"No." Orochimaru snapped. "Wait for me." He stood, and with one last look at Sakura, swept out of the room.
Kalika's hand reached out for the door, but instead she scratched the back of her neck, a very conscious action, before she pulled the thick metal door to a close. Sakura listened to her footsteps echoing down the hall and disappearing before she relaxed.
Her chains rattled on the floor as she turned over in the cot. Her back to the door, but again, a deep sleep wouldn't come to her. Because she didn't deserve the peace of the Void. This was her prison. Chained by the Uchiha himself. And it had been her own fault. She'd gotten in too deep…trusted too much.
-FLASHBACK-
Team Sakura reached point B by nightfall and they split up with no parting words. Sakura went west, intending to make a quick circle of the perimeter, to ensure that Madara wasn't hoping to block them in. The woods seemed eerily clean of Shadow. It's almost as if Madara was assured of this victory. Sakura clenched her fists and sped up, she was eager to see the battle. They couldn't lose Kumo. It was their last sign of hope. Without it, everything would be lost. Her heart felt so heavy that she needed to stop and catch her breath.
"Sakura,"
She let out a yelp and spun around.
The dark figure stood in the shadow of the leaves, but she knew his voice.
"Sasuke."
He stepped into the moonlight and he kept coming closer until he was against her, and even then he went until she was pressed against the tree.
His dark eyes stared into her's. Burned into her's.
Sakura, despite her anger and sorrow, felt herself heat up under his intense gaze. Sasuke reached up, and pressed his fingers into her lips and then dragged them down, down her chin, down her throat, down her chest – igniting a fire under her skin. He stopped right over her heart. "Do you trust me?" he whispered, his voice rough.
"Yes," she said lowly. She knew it was crazy, but she did – then again, right at this moment – she would do just about anything for him. Sasuke's hand seemed to be shaking as he dragged it back up to her throat and then around to the back of her neck. Sasuke pulled her up and her feet arched her up of their own accord. Their lips met. Desperation and heat shifted between them, Sasuke's nails dug into her neck subconsciously and Sakura's arms twisted around his shoulders, pulling him against her. Sasuke's free hand reached down, gripping her thigh and lifting it to his lip. Sasuke let out a groan as their hips met and her held her even closer. "Sakura," he hissed softly, trailing kisses down her jaw and into her neck. Sakura arched into him, her skin felt like it was on fire, under his touch, his caress, his lips, his tongue. She was so hot, everywhere. It was almost painful, but she wanted Sasuke to touch her until it hurt. To love her until her hurt.
He was intoxicating, powerful, enigmatic, an untameable addiction. The feel of his lips, wet and warm on her neck, dragging down, lower and lower. His hands, over her sides, hips, thighs, fingers digging in almost painfully, as if he didn't want to let her go. As if he wanted nothing more than to be inside her, and Sakura in her deepest, shameful heart would have let him have her, despite everything that happened. His betrayal slipped deeper and deeper into her mind, into the darkest corner until all that was left was what she was feeling now, in this moment with him.
That was when the explosions sounded. Sakura hadn't heard anything, but the ground beneath them shook violently. Sakura's head, which had been moved back to give him access, slowly turned. Smoke. Black, heavy smoke was rising from the battlefield. And fire. Her senses came back to her in a rush and she stiffened, her instinct screaming that this had been him. Keeping her here, for whatever reason, was to distract her. The last shinobi resistance was on that battlefield!
"What have you done?" she screamed, shoving him away so hard that he stumbled back. Sasuke face was still and clear of emotion as he stared at her.
"What was necessary."
For a moment, Sakura was so outraged that she actually thought she might attack him but then she turned, sprinting towards the battlefield. Sasuke wouldn't let her. Of course not. He appeared in front of her, sword drawn.
"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Sakura,"
Sakura made a feral sound, almost a growl, low in her throat. How dare he?! Her friends were dying on that battlefield!
She screamed his name, the tears in her eyes spilling over as she rushed at him. Chakra laced her punch as she hit forward, but he wasn't there anymore. Sakura spun around, glaring into his dark, dark eyes and finally, truly, feeling her heart break.
"Your emotions are a weakness in any battle. You can't win against me, Sakura."
"Don't fuck with me!" she screamed, grabbing his shirt and yanking him towards her, but Sasuke leapt back. Sakura sent kunai flying at him and Sasuke slashed them away with his katana easily.
"Sharingan." It was said in such a clam way, that Sakura almost hadn't heard him and she had no time to look away. Her eyes widened and were trapped in his. Sakura felt her knees give in and she dropped to the ground. Sasuke stepped towards her quickly, his eyes narrowed as he stared down at her.
"Fight me…you coward." She said weakly, staring up at him.
"I wish you'd never gotten involved, Sakura." He murmured, a cold hand reaching out to brush the cursed seal on the back of her neck. "Sleep." He commanded, Sharingan spinning and Sakura gave him one last hateful look before her lids closed.
-end flashback-
She'd woken up hours later, away from the battlefield with Orochimaru staring down at her. Sasuke hadn't returned to wherever she was. Or if he had been, he certainly hadn't visited her cell.
Sakura opened her eyes, staring at the manacle on her wrist. The stone in it had a green glow, meaning it was sucking her chakra as she was producing more. If only she could get them off, then Sakura was certain she could break her way out of this place. Sakura reached up, cringing as the chains made a horrible scraping sound against the floor and slid her hand over the cursed seal at the back of her neck. The last place Sasuke's fingers had brushed. For a moment, Sakura saw Kalika at the door. Touching the back of her neck. Sakura's eyes narrowed and she pushed herself into a sitting position. Had Kalika been sending her some kind of message, was the cursed seal the key to her escape?
Sakura had refused to activate it because that had been the reason for Orochimaru's insistent visits. Idly, Sakura wondered how she would even go about turning it on, when a soft knock sounded on the door before it was pushed open.
Elani smiled and came inside with a platter of food. "I've brought some dinner."
"Thank you," Sakura said, out of habit alone and Elani set the platter down on the small table within Sakura's reach. The girl gave a bow and turned to move out of the room, "Elani, wait a moment."
"I'm not supposed to talk to you," Elani whispered.
"I just have one question."
Elani paused and Sakura took her opportunity. "Has anyone ever broken out of these shackles?"
"Yes. Orochimaru usually put them on anyone who survived getting the cursed seal." She said and the scurried out of the room.
So that was the key, to activate the seal.
The lock slid into place and then Sakura heard Elani's soft whisper. "Don't eat the soup."
Sakura's eyes slid to the platter, she reached out, plucking the soup up and bringing it to her nose. The smell was delicious, but Sakura couldn't pick up on anything strange. Sakura threw a drop into her palm and set the soup back on the platter. She pushed chakra into her hand and right before she felt the familiar heat, the shackle sent a shock through her. Sakura gasped, almost spilling the soup, but she grabbed her wrist with her free hand and tried again. This time, ignoring the shock and focussing more and more chakra to her hand, the manacle was set to absorb everything but the more she forced, the more small bursts escaped through until finally, the soup turned purple. She flicked the substance onto the floor. It was a sensory type technique that Shizune had taught her, originally meant to identify poisons, Sakura had adapted it to expand over drugs as well. This, it turned out, was a sleeping agent of some kind. Which meant Orochimaru didn't want her to activate the seal just yet. But why? Why would he want to delay what he'd been pushing for two weeks?
Slowly, the answer dawned on her. He wasn't here.
Sakura smiled, a trickle of a hope rising in her chest. This was it. If there was ever a perfect time to escape, it was now.
x-x-x-x
Naruto stared at Bee's back. It had been two whole weeks and he hadn't heard anything. Not from Baa-chan, Sakura or even Sasuke. No one had contacted him to tell him how the battle went. Bee denied hearing anything, so a part of Naruto automatically wanted to assume the worst. Maybe after Konoha's destruction, a part of him had become paranoid. But he had never been good at sitting around and waiting for the enemy to come to him, so this was torture. He rubbed a hand down his face. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling inside of him. That something happened. While he was stuck here.
"Naruto," came the growl from inside him, and it was almost enough to make him calm down.
"Kurama? Do you feel it too?"
The fox was quiet for a long time before he spoke. "That sinister chakra is close."
Naruto tensed.
"The feeling we had was not that something happened, but rather, still coming."
Naruto looked up, his eyes meeting Bee's. Both of them realized it at the same time. Madara was coming to where they were.
"How did he find us?" Naruto demanded, "This place was supposed to shield us."
Gyuuki spoke through Bee. "It was. Somehow he's found a jutsu to see through the barrier."
"Killer Bee-sama, Naruto-sama," one of the shinobi guarding them stepped forward, "If he is really coming here, we should get the two of you to safety."
"No," Naruto pushed himself to his feet. "I say we meet him and settle this once and for all. This time, for sure," Naruto clenched his hands into fists.
"If he's found a jutsu to see through even this barrier there will be no more places to hide." Gyuuki said and then turned to the shinobi. "All of you need to clear out. You'll only be in the way if we get serious." He left the part where Madara would probably kill them as hostages unspoken.
"W-We'll find the Raikage and report this immediately."
Bee waved them off and Naruto turned to him. "Why did you allow that?"
"Because there's a chance my brother is already dead."
x-x-x-x-
Sakura braced herself, she knew she only had one possible shot to see if this would work. If it didn't…she would have no alternative but to cooperate with Orochimaru. But she wasn't ready to admit defeat, not yet. With a deep breath, she forced chakra along her spine, up, up, up. Shocks began to vibrate through the shackles, shaking through her. But she'd felt worse – channelling Sasuke's Chidori had nearly killed her. Her chakra finally reached the cursed seal. Sakura felt a heat spread over her neck and for a moment nothing happened. And then everything went dark. She could feel her legs moving, getting up, the shackles falling from her and when she reached the door, her vision began to light up and Ino was in front of her. In the Void, but she wasn't asleep. This was so different than it had been the previous time. Something was wrong. Sakura let out a cry, curling in on herself as waves of pain wracked through her.
"Sakura? Are you ok?"
"No!" she whispered, panic gripping her heart. Sakura covered her eyes with a shaking hand, and continued staring into nothingness. She could feel her legs move, her arms deal out punches, her chest rattling with laughs. This wasn't supposed to happen. The pain intensified the longer the cursed seal stayed active. Sakura coughed, tasting the blood in her mouth.
"Sakura!" but it wasn't Ino's voice. It was Kalika's. A hand grabbed the back of her neck, slamming her down onto the ground. Something cold spread over the seal and Sakura could feel herself calming down. The cursed seal slowly twirled back into itself, the cold of Kalika's suppression snapping it into place. Sakura moved her hands from her face. Ino was staring down at her with worried eyes.
"What are you still doing here?" Sakura whispered.
"Where have you been?" Ino shot back.
"I don't know. I've been having dreamless nights." Sakura waved a hand, "Ino, you don't belong-" before Sakura could finish her sentence, she felt it, the familiar pull.
"I'm waking up," was the last thing she said before she was yanked back into her body.
When Sakura opened her eyes, Kalika was standing over her. "This is worse than I thought."
"What is?"
"The cursed seal was fully compatible with my jutsu, and worked wonderfully when your own chakra systems stilled, but alone – it's completely incompatible with you."
Sakura swallowed. "What does that mean?"
"It means," she sighed, helping Sakura into a sitting position, "that we need a plan B."
"What was Plan A?"
"The cursed seal I gave you is immensely powerful. Rivalling even the Uchiha's. But your chakra is completely mismatched with it. When the seal is activated, your chakra and the seal's chakra are essentially fighting for dominance. I assume," Kalika said, tapping Sakura's diamond-seal on her forehead. "that it has something to do with this."
"Most level 2 cursed seals have some…Sharingan resistance. The plan was to have you reach level 2, and hopefully aid Sasuke in trapping Madara."
"Trapping him? With what?" Sakura asked, knowing he had the ability to move through anything.
"A barrier, designed by that brat himself. It's supposed to deactivate any Sharingan used within its limits."
"Is that why he brought me here?" Sakura demanded. "Couldn't he just have spoken to me?!"
"That's not it. Sasuke learned something about our enemy," Kalika said darkly, "Something that makes our situation – the situation in the entire world so much worse."
To Sakura, that meant nothing. There was nothing that could make her forgive Sasuke. Not this time.
"So? What will you do now? Are you planning to keep me here?"
Kalika lifted an eyebrow, "No, do what you like."
Sakura stood. "I guess I should thank you,"
"Please, don't. Just try not to get yourself killed,"
Sakura turned away, rushing into the forest. "I can't promise that." She said, knowing Kalika couldn't hear her, because for the first time, she wasn't running after Sasuke. This time, she was going straight for the person she should have gone after in the first place.
x-x-x-x-
Naruto looked over a Killer Bee. "Dead…?"
"Kumo is lost." He said, the rap tune in his voice falling away. "Madara invaded Kumo, not to capture it, but to kill the Raikage and he would only let Kumo go over his dead body. I suppose that's what makes my big bro so cool."
"That old man…" Naruto said, unwilling to believe it.
A chuckled snapped both the Jinchuuriki's heads up. Madara stood just a few feet in front of them. The wind blew through his cape, fluttering it around his legs. He stood close. Close enough to kill even.
"That old man…is dead," he said it with so much pleasure that Naruto began shaking with anger. "And soon, so will you be. The full moon is coming. I can't fail again."
"I won't let you win! Not again!"
"You don't have a choice. Uzumaki Naruto, you will be an annoyance to me no longer," Madara paused, looking over them. "Now, which one of you will go first?"
Naruto clenched his fists. Get ready, Kurama.
"I suppose both of you think that rushing in together will be wise."
"Let's go, Naruto!" Bee yelled, taking off and Naruto was right behind him.
Madara gave a laugh, allowing them to advance, before he formed quick hand seals. "Katon: -" he was cut off by the ground breaking away beneath them.
The three of them were thrown back and for a moment, Naruto struggled to get his bearings, pushing himself up. Dust rose up around them, making it hard to see but it began gradually blowing away.
Madara's laugh was loud and daring. "Wonderful! This is perfect. You've finally come to me."
Naruto looked up to see twin pigtails blowing in the wind. "Baa-chan…."
"Who's dead?" came the growl from behind them and Naruto spun around.
The Kage had arrived.
They came forward, creating a barrier between the Jinchuuriki and Madara.
Tsunade helped Naruto up. "You've done well, Naruto. You will be a great Hokage."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Baa-chan-"
The Hokage leaned down, placing a kiss on his forehead. "Go, Naruto, to the Valley of the End. We will hold him back for as long as possible." She gave him one last smile before turning back to the Kage.
Naruto and Bee stood still, watching them once again, take a stand.
"GO, BEE, Naruto!" the Raikage yelled, and Naruto took that reluctant first step back and then another, until he was running, his eyes still behind him, on Tsunade's back. On Gaara. The Tsuchikage, Mizukage and Raikage. He clenched his teeth, finally looking forward.
The final battle was about to begin. This time he wanted to do it right, he didn't want anyone to die. Yet, somehow, he couldn't shake the horrible feeling that Tsunade's words had been a goodbye.
That's it for chapter 28. In my original planning for this story, it was only about 28 chapters, which later changed and then changed again. I've finally settled on 30 chapters. So this fanfic will be finished in the next few weeks.
Please let me know what you guys thought, I was a bit worried the entire time while writing this that it would be really horrible…-.-
Reviews are loved guys :D
Zana-Lee
xoxo
