Sakura thought someone was hammering her head when she gained consciousness. The pain in between her brows amplified as her vision cleared and she found herself staring at a grey cement ceiling. The cold sting in the air was a reviving slap to her senses as she hastily sat to notice her surroundings.
She was in a small dark room with barely anything save for the rug on which she was sleeping. Her mind raced with images of her capture, the bare trees, the witches, the net and finally, those piercing eyes. She tried to calm her rising anxiety and blink back the tears rapidly gathering in her eyes.
Why had she strayed from the woods, why had she followed them, why.., she thought despairingly, willing herself to hold it all in.
She stood up dizzily and ran to the door, pulling at it frantically but it wouldn't budge. She felt hysteria creep over her as she madly looked around the room for any means of escape but there was only a small circular window near the ceiling, letting barely any sunlight through. A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, refusing to budge no matter how hard she tried to reassure herself of her safety.
Acutely aware of her stomach crying in hunger, she slowly made back to the rug and sat on it. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting like that when she heard a voice from the other door.
"Check on her again, will you? It's been long enough", ordered a disgruntled voice.
The man who stepped through the door wasn't the man who has caught her. This boy with striking red hair was younger, barely an adult, and she briefly wondered how he wound up here. He blinked in surprise and hoarsely called out for his mates. "She's awake!"
The door opened with a bang as more humans walked in. She let her eyes scan over the members, four in total, her eyes widening when she recognized the last one, the one who'd captured her. All of them had weapons strapped on their waist and she sadly realized that escape wouldn't be easy.
She looked back at the man from the forest who looked around her age. His striking face was impassive, black eyes betraying no emotion not even recognition or wonder as the others were. He wore a black long shirt tied around the waist and black loose trousers, practical for fighting and he walked with an innate confidence. He didn't bother to approach her as he leaned against the wall and tucked his hands into his pockets.
Someone started speaking, and she forced herself to tear her gaze from him, to listen and not make a fool of herself.
"Do you know where you are?" The man speaking was huge, his hulking figure straining against his clothes and his broad face betraying his slight apprehension.
She lifted an eyebrow at the impertinent question, not bothering to deign him with a response.
His jaw hardened and he heaved an irritated sigh.
"Girl..."
"You captured me, brought me here." She spoke smoothly, cutting him off in a cool, mocking tone, desperately trying to impersonate her mother who was known for her
aloofness. "You tell me where I am".
The man blinked in disbelief and warily looked at the other men.
Slowly he began, "The more you cooperate, the easier it would be for you." He paused, as if struggling to find the right words for her.
"You're a witch. You will be be staying with us for some time and then..", he looked around, "you'll go somewhere else"
Irritation and hatred for their kind boiled through her veins, threatening to spill out any moment. She could barely conceal her disgust, leave it humans
to lay their hands on anything that wasn't theirs.
"Why did you capture me?", she bit out.
"You're a witch", he repeated slowly as if dealing with a cantankerous child.
"And what use have you of me?"
"There's a bounty on your head girl. We get commission for you and a hefty one at that."
"Bounty", Sakura repeated the word slowly in confusion, "for what?"
"Girl, do you not know anything", he growled in exasperation.
"We've been in search for your kind for ages, you're the prized ones, the bounty is unbelievable. The empire needs you."
The Empire. Sakura remembered bits from her classes on human folk, of her mother lecturing her about the ways of humans, their ways of governance and so. She could remember little of what her mother had said but she knew they were ruled by a King, the Emperor of Konoha, a powerful one who had usurped his father for the throne. Rumors had spread rapidly across the land of his ruthlessness, a skilled warrior and if she recalled correctly, he'd been successful in capturing neighboring empires and making them a part of his empire. His acts had earned him the reputation for one of the most feared Kings but his statesmanship had also made Konoha the richest empire in centuries. His acts were ruthless and precise, yes, but so similar to the witches that her mother had grudgingly approved of him.
"Why would the empire want witches? We- I don't have anything to give to you!", she cried in desperation. Surely, they couldn't be imagining her with powers, even humans would know that those days were long gone; the sole reason witches had fled into hiding. Also, the little they did have wasn't available to them since birth, they matured into them. Till the age of twenty, their powers simmered in their veins, burning, developing until on their birthday, they were able to manifest it. After that, witches spent years in training to control that. The powers varied from witch to witch, some had a higher range, some a tenth of a fraction but it no longer mattered as they never had any need to use it.
The man signaled the others to get out of the room, but the man she recognized still stood there in the back, look at her intensely. She couldn't stop glancing at him from time to time, wanting to see if his expression changed at all.
"There's a bounty for other reasons too", the man continued deviously.
"Your powers. You look barely old enough but nothing's easy, huh?", he continued, his eyes possessing a wicked gleam as he spoke.
"You're here for your powers, though I am curious to see them for myself. You have a week with us before we hand you, you know?" Something about the way he spoke raised goosebumps all over her. She might have underestimated him. He crept closer to her with a sly smile forming on his face, hand reach out to touch her face.
"You're a beauty no doubt though. Maybe we'll have other uses for you." He smiled to himself at his own joke as bile rose in Sakura's throat.
"You'll show us, won't you?", he whispered slowly, as Sakura sat transfixed, unable to get herself to move, eyes wide and unblinking.
Just as his fingers grazed her cheek, she pulled him forcefully, bending his fingers backwards and using his weight to pull herself up.
He shouted as he tried to disengage from her hold but Sakura had underestimated her fatigue. A wave of nausea swept over her as she starkly felt the need for nourishment. She only barely managed to catch his other hand that he'd drawn to slap her. She knew she couldn't match his strength, cursing her foolishness when she felt a strong hand sneak around waist and abruptly pull her back.
"Enough", the boy whispered.
Her heart racing, she struggled in his hold when the brute spoke again, "Sasuke, handle her..witch", and angrily stormed from the room, clutching his fingers.
Sakura had stopped struggling.. she'd found his name. Sasuke.
He let go for her warily and she turned to find him watching her intently. He was a head taller than her, his lean frame in contrast to the subtle intensity
that he seemed to barely leash. She felt transparent under his gaze, as if he could read all her movements and, in that moment, she understood he was the one she needed to be careful about. He was the dangerous kind.
"Get some rest while you can", he said and left the room.
The maddening witch behind the door was unlike any witch he'd imagined. The stories he'd heard since birth said that witches with their green skin, white hair and cunning hearts were nasty and repulsive creatures. She was the opposite. She looked ethereal; pale white skin with pastel pink hair with the most captivating green eyes that made it difficult to look away. However, he knew her fragility was deceptive, her raw, physical power would be a burden if they planned on keeping her. He could bet on her winning that fight against Jugo had she not been weakened, and he not stopped her on time.
He'd been aware of her glances throughout her interrogation, as if she was trying to figure him out.
He couldn't spare more time thinking about her though, he had pressing matters to take care of. Jugo had been acting on Orochimaru's orders when he'd baited her to test how far she'd been willing to go.
He smirked slightly, clearly she wasn't going to give them an inch.
He made his way through the bare hallways, looking for Orochimaru. He'd been against this capture since the beginning, considering it a waste of their time and resources but Orochimaru had been suspiciously stubborn on capturing a witch. Every child in Konoha had heard some story about witches, they were creatures of fables, their war with humans regaled near bonfires. No one knew, however, where they were. Many humans had spent their entire lives trying to find witches but they had concealed themselves exceptionally. A week back, Orochimaru had received information from a source that their concealments was wavering and so they had been dispatched immediately.
He knocked on the door twice and entered. Five years of working with Orochimaru still didn't help with help with the niggling voice in the back of his head that told him to be on alert whenever he was around. Orochimaru looked up from his desk, the years showing on his face. His lean muscular form on the other hand still rippled with power and experience as he sat back to survey Sasuke with a look of ire.
"She's not cooperating?"
"You sent Jugo to handle her, who would?", he huffed in amusement.
"Tell me, what do you think of her, would she be of any use?" Tawny and piercing, Orochimaru's eyes could have seared through metal but the young man sitting in front of him didn't flinch.
"She's an asset", the sarcasm was unmissable. He smirked before continuing flatly, "We have no use of her, she's barely an adult and shows no signs of power.
You're wasting time here, time better spent on other things".
Orochimaru leaned back further in his seat, eyeing Sasuke with a mix of amusement and interest.
"You jump to conclusions again. What if I tell you we have use of her?" He sighed seeing no emotion on Sasuke's face, though after five years he'd expected that.
"I know a way. I've been researching for years and their powers are potent and hidden. It doesn't matter if she's young ..I can manifest them early for her."
Looking at his dazed eyes, Orochimaru was clearly lost in his own repulsive fantasy and Sasuke repressed the overwhelming urge to curl his own lip in disgust. He should have known better, none of Orochimaru's ways were pleasant and Sasuke had seen a fair share of them. He knew this when he joined him willingly five years ago, but his reasons had been different. He'd always felt repulsed by Orochimaru's tactics, but he had more to gain from them so let the feeling pass.
Orochimaru continued, oblivious to the mood in the room, "Do you know who she's wanted by? Her buyer?"
Sasuke lifted a brow imagining some foolish young noble with too much time and money on his hands.
Orochimaru leaned in and whispered, "the King."
Authors Note: Thank you to the three people who left a review last time, you prompted me to write another chapter!
As this is my first time writing, I would really appreciate if you could leave a comment/critique/something you like or not so atleast I know someone out there is reading and hopefully enjoying this. :D
Thank you once again! :)