50alternates
Title:
Author/Artist: ohwhatsherface
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke x Haruno Sakura
Fandom: Naruto
Theme: other world, #49 snake
Word Count: 1007
Warnings: swearing; I forgot how to write SasuSaku; TOO MANY PLOTHOLES (OH WELL)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Hey guys! So it's been a looooong time. As in nearly two years. Sorry about that! I can guarantee that this anthology WILL be complete, however. Sure, it will probably take a very long time buuuut yes.
"Young ladies aren't supposed to listen to talking snakes, you know." Sakura eyed the sleek back serpent for a moment thoughtfully. "Even if they do speak very little…"
Nevertheless, Sakura plucked a shiny red apple from the tree and rubbed it clean with the folds of her skirt. The serpent slithered towards her, curling so that it could be at eye-level with her now seated form. Sakura raised an eyebrow and cocked her head at it.
"I've always wondered something," she murmured, holding her hand out to the snake. "What colour are your eyes? Sometimes they look red, but sometimes they look black – which, I realize, sounds silly, since red and black are rather far off from each other, but—"
"Both."
Sakura stopped fiddling with the apple and frowned. "I don't understand."
"You will in time," the snake said cryptically.
Sakura was not satisfied with that answer, however. "If I'm to help you regain your body don't you think I deserve to know more about you?"
All Sakura truly did know about her slithering companion was that he was turned into a snake by the great sorceress Tsunade nearly five centuries ago. The snake explained how Tsunade's mind had become tainted by the arts and when he learned of the black magic she was practicing, she transformed him into a serpent to keep him quiet. Sakura found the snake six months ago earlier when she was picking tomatoes for her grandmother. For whatever reason, Sakura was the only human who understood him when he spoke. And she didn't seem particularly frightened by the idea of a talking snake so he chose to remain by her side.
Then again, the snake mused, Sakura was an odd girl. She was very quiet around other people and kept herself confined to her grandmother's library most of the time.
"You haven't even told me your name," Sakura pointed out.
"Ssassuke," it eventually hissed.
"Sasuke?" she repeated. "I see…" Sakura ran her fingers along Sasuke's cool scales while staring intently at the apple. "So all I have to do is eat the Senju apple?"
"Yess."
There was silence as Sakura tried to understand why eating the apple would give her the ability to return Sasuke to his original form. Annoyed, she scowled at the snake. "I still don't understand!"
Sasuke inwardly bristled. Part of him wanted to give up on Sakura and poison the annoying girl, but he knew he would never be able to find another person with such magical potential – not for another century at least. He understood that it was necessary to stay on the girl's good side given she was his only hope, but in their six months of companionship, he noticed that sometimes she could be quite irritating. Relenting, Sasuke slithered over to the spellbook Sakura brought along – one that once belonged to Tsunade – and whipped at the pages to get to the one he wanted.
"'The Senju Tree'?" Sakura read aloud.
"Yess," Sasuke said. "Tssunade never had children. Ssince the main line did not continue the powerss of the Ssenju ssorererss returned to the Ssenju tree. But you are disstantly related to her. With that little Ssenju blood in your veins, you can inherit her magic."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "And I can reverse the spell on you."
"Exact—"
Sakura grabbed the snake just below his head, ignoring his tail whipping about. "Tell me the truth, Sasuke. Why were you really turned into a snake?" Sasuke hissed at her and his mouth opened widely as if trying to bite her. Sakura held on confidently, however. "You're Sasuke Uchiha, aren't you? The man who left the village in Tsunade's time to train with the Dark Sorcerer Orochimaru? Tsunade wasn't the evil one, was she?"
The snake merely hissed at her, violently whipping his body.
She smiled. "What exactly do you plan to do once you get your body back, Sasuke? It's been five hundred years. What do you want?"
His eyes seemed to glow red. "My freedom—" Sasuke was about to say something else when Sakura threw him at the Senju tree, watching silently as he fell limply to the grass. When he finally regained his bearings, he curled up and glared at her. He prepared to launch himself at her, but was stopped when he heard the crunch of her teeth digging into the apple.
He watched stiffly as green light gathered around her hands and she approached him. She touched his scaled head and suddenly all he could feel was pain – excruciating, agonizing pain, as though his skin was being burnt right off of him and his insides were being yanked from his body. Sasuke pulled violently at his hair as the hurt engulfed his entire being when it hit him.
Hair.
Hands.
He opened his eyes and looked down only to see flesh. To see limbs. His body felt stiff and sore but he couldn't have cared less – he had a body.
"I suppose I should thank you," he said gruffly. His voice was incredibly hoarse from not having been used for centuries. He raised his head to see Sakura looking at him with a mix of awe and embarrassment. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk; he knew he was a handsome man and it'd been ages since a woman last reacted to him in such a way.
Seeing his smug expression, Sakura scowled. "That won't be necessary," she replied. "You have an eternity to make it up to me."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me?" He tried to sound threatening and with how rough his voice was, any other person would have been terrified. Sakura, however, was not moved.
"You will never be free, Sasuke Uchiha." She flicked her hand and suddenly a glow appeared on his chest. Sasuke looked down at the luminescent characters right above his heart, recognizing them as ancient runes used by dark sorcerers for enslavement.
The gravity of the situation dawned on him and Sasuke growled menacingly. "You little bitch!"
Sakura smiled. "You're mine now."
fin
