Hello, and a much-owed apology for my hiatus! I'm not using this quarantine time to force myself to do much, but I certainly recognize a bit of an escape writing this fic can grant me, so I figure reading it probably will do the same for you. This is a very short chapter, but hopefully will get a pulse on those still checking in on the fic 3 I'm working on the next chapter already, I just couldn't handle knowing I've gone this long without any update at all. So please, read on! When you're done, a review is always kindly appreciated. I'd love to connect and also know how you're holding up during these exceptional times. Much love to you all!

CH 21

Her legs slid between the silken sheets, the chill of the untouched fabric refreshing as she stretched from her cocoon with Sasuke. She tried to clear her throat but found it was too dry to do so with any success. Slightly annoyed, her eyes cracked open and took in the gratuitous collection of candles still somehow burning on the cave walls around her. They weren't normal candles, she remembered, because they weren't back in her world. They were in his. Part of her was surprised to still be in the literal hellhole and expected to wake up alone in her apartment with the realization this whole journey was just a sick dream. She pushed an exhausted breath through her nostrils once she accepted that wasn't the case.

"Sleep well?" A deep voice behind her asked as a warm hand smoothed over the curve of her hip.

Sakura rolled back just enough to lean into Sasuke's chest and feel more of him around her. She took her time responding, allowing herself to recollect what had transpired between the two of them before she laid down to rest. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes tight shut with the mortification she only expected to feel after a drunken one-night stand, which that certainly was not...at least she didn't want it to be.

"My throat is so dry," her voice cracked.

Sasuke moved his hand to her throat, his fingers gently pressing onto her skin. "Hell is funny like that. You're without a mortal body here, but can still experience a certain collection of sensations."

When he pulled back his touch, she suddenly felt the relief of hydration. She turned over more to face her host and found herself slightly annoyed by how handsome he looked and wondered if he even slept. "Thank you," she whispered. He looked down at her through his thick lashes with deep red eyes that seemed unusually serene. There was even a gentle smile to match.

Sakura let her cheek sink deeper into the pillow as she continued to stare at the devil's face, wondering if the warmth emanating off of him could be something she'd get to bask in every day. Flashes of the turn of events from earlier crossed her mind once again and she felt her skin heating with a blush. The way his smile grew more cheeky and smug let her know his thoughts were in the same place.

"Something on your mind?" He teased.

She narrowed her eyes at him in response but realized the path of least resistance was all she had energy for at that point. "That was a lot, what we did," she admitted, knowing he knew exactly what she was referring to.

He softened his smirk and brushed a few strands from her face. "Do you regret any of it?"

Sakura searched his eyes for doubts as she reflected within herself to do the same. She couldn't help but smile when she witnessed what appeared to have been a glimpse of uncertainty. He was worried, she realized. Pushing herself up onto her elbow, she cupped his cheek and planted a kiss firmly on his lips. Whatever worry he had lurking inside of him, she hoped that would rid him of it.

"Hn, I'll take that as a no," he whispered, lacing his fingers in the tangles behind her head to pull her face back to his.

She melted into him, the attraction pulling her flush to him like an overwhelming gravity. His arms snaked around her in an embrace that finally convinced her to drop her guard and give in to the affection she craved and was struggling to accept that she deserved.

Sasuke slowly moved his lips against hers, making sure to fully enjoy the plush friction. He wanted so badly for her to be his. At that moment he wasn't exactly sure what that truly meant to him, but at the very least knew he wasn't willing to let go.

"Sakura," he purred as his thigh found its way between hers. He wanted to take her right then and there, feel himself sink deep into her and never leave...but he couldn't. He needed to restrain himself. They still had their journey to complete.

"Sakura," he said again, this time with a sober edge that made her pull back.

"What?" She asked, expression hazy with a cloud of affection and desire.

"As much as I want to continue from where we left off, this isn't the reason we're down here."

He pulled back with rarely exercised restraint and watched her eyes clear of their fog and fill with a self-aimed rage.

"Don't blame yourself, Sakura," he berated her. "I told you already, this place, me, the effects are impossible to resist. You're human."

Her eyes flashed at him.

"I can't accept that just being here has the ability to completely muddle my morals just like that," she lamented. "I hold myself to a higher standard than that."

The devilman raised an eyebrow as she stood to straighten her rough tunic out, her anger rising. "A higher standard than the limits of humanity?"

She jerked around to face him with tears brimming in the corner of her eyes. "I expect myself to at least be able to practice some self-restraint until Kiba's soul isn't writhing in agony!"

Sasuke didn't respond, nor was he all that surprised by her outburst. She was being tormented by what she thought was the battle between right and wrong, and he decided if he were to dive into that more, it should at least be back on the mortal surface and not in his sex dungeon.

"Then let's get moving. There is a secret passage that veins down deeper past those demons trying to find us out there," he explained gesturing back to the enormous door they had entered through.

The mortal woman sighed and held her forehead as though it would cool her temper. She knew she nor Sasuke were to blame, or at least there was no outcome worth pursuing by doing so. "I'm sorry, this is still just a lot to take in."

He smirked. "There's a lot more coming."

She watched as he then held a hand up and circled the space, the candles all dying down in a wave behind him. No sooner the flames were out, a passageway appeared across from them with mounted torches inside.

"This will lead us directly to the Third Circle," Sasuke explained from just beside the opening as the shadows still stained his face.

His mortal companion nodded with a brave step forward. "The Circle of Gluttony?"

"Correct," he answered as the scales slowly covered his face once again and his body took on more of his demon features and size. "Not all demons had secret alcoves like this and it grants us the luxury of not having to face the horde of them in the Second Circle looking for us."

Sakura shifted her weight and looked down to examine her feeble form by comparison to his. "What's the plan forward?"

He stepped towards her, now a few feet taller than before. He raised a claw and she tentatively wrapped her fingers most of the way around it. "The Third Circle won't be an issue, I had some close acquaintances there. But from there, we'll need to be fast and get to the River of Styx. Once we make it that far, I'll make sure we can negotiate space on the boat and get into the City of Dis -"

"Sasuke?" Sakura's voice interrupted.

"Hn?" He blinked down at her, only slightly annoyed.

"I need to thank you again for this. You don't owe Kiba or I anything for this favor, so...again, thank you."

His eyes softened. It wasn't the first time she had thanked him, but the sincerity was just as present as before. "This is the first time in a long time I've found a meaningful purpose in something," he said with a wistful tone. "I promise we'll save him and get you both home safe."

Sakura didn't know how to respond to that. She couldn't figure how she ever deserved to be on the receiving end of such a kindness, but knew the least she could do was make herself as little of a burden as possible. "I'm ready."

Over the months he had gotten to know Sakura, he learned she was someone who in no way, shape or form could hold a poker face. Her emotions were written across her face like a billboard and he could see her entire body straighten and harden for the ungodly journey ahead. They were, after all, not even in the Second Circle.

"It will only get harder from here, but just do as I say and everything will be fine."

She nodded.

The devilman walked ahead of her this time, his clawed wings tensed and ready to snatch her up if needed. The narrow and winding stairs of the tunnel took them hundreds of steps deeper into Hell. The walls were jagged and unforgiving to the touch with rows of sharp rocks lined like shark teeth. If she zoned out for even a blink and stepped just off center, those razor edges surely brought her back in no time. After a punishing amount of time had passed, Sakura was about ready to ask how much farther they had to go when the sudden wall of stench hit them.

"Ugh..!" She exclaimed, grasping at her nose and mouth immediately. "What is that!?"

"Just as I remembered it…" He muttered over the sound of Sakura gagging behind him.

The crumbly dirt stairs eased into an even narrower passageway where Sakura could feel her nostrils and throat burning with every breath. She clutched at her throat with one hand, silently begging whatever god or demon in existence to save her from the torture, and clawed at Sasuke's wing fingers with the other.

He turned and sighed, having not been looking forward to this moment the entire walk down. Something innate in him was tickled by the sounds of her suffering, but seeing her there in pure agony was unraveling him in the worst way. He had two choices: he could calm her down until her senses were fried and numbed out, or he could knock her out and carry her through.

Seeing him weighing some unspoken options, she waved him off as though telling him to pay no mind to her. She was being stubborn, what a surprise. "It's only going to get worse," he warned.

"I," she started with a shuddered breath. "I can manage." Her hands were on her knees for support as she tried to compose herself and not gag on the acidic air.

Sasuke was completely unconvinced, but his sick sense of humor justified the low risk in allowing her to exercise this stubborn streak. They were in a territory that was familiar to him at least, so he let her have her way. In fact, there was a hint of admiration for her determination.

He outwardly shrugged. He could always knock her out later. "Stay close," he directed as they continued forward as a faint light came into sight.

Sakura muffled her breathing and gags in the bend of her elbow and forcefully blinked the stinging tears from her eyes as the pair trudged ahead. She was going to persevere and prove she could handle Hell. She wasn't going to be a complete burden. The least she could do was hold back some vomit.

"Here," Sasuke's voice announced, pulling her from her thoughts. They reached the end of the tunnel and were standing a few yards back from would have appeared to have been the outside world she was used to, but the sloshing black muck at the opening was like nothing from her world.

She cringed as a new wave of bile crept up her throat. "What is that?" As the question left her mouth she immediately regretted it. Did she really want to know?

As if reading her mind, Sasuke shook his head. "It's best I not tell you." He turned to face her then and his demon eyes hardened as they locked on hers. "Once we enter the Third Circle there is a good chance my name will still hold some weight as a former Satan, but it's equally likely the remnants of Orochimaru's ranks may be lurking around and not so welcoming."

His shoulders, although no longer human, appeared more tense in that moment. She nodded but didn't quite understand what to expect ahead. Was he saying there was a chance they wouldn't be able to pass through? Would they be taken as prisoners until Itachi could release them? Would he even know?

"Sakura." The sound of her own name pulled her back. Sasuke still had a stern expression with the addition of raised brow.

"Sorry," she responded as she moved to stand close behind him. "Is...Is that stuff safe for me to walk through?"

They both looked down at the dark sludge inches from his clawed feet. "Hn," he ran a hand through his thick hair and glanced back at her. "I'll need to carry you, its purpose is to suck souls in."

With nothing else needed to be said, Sasuke gestured for her to lift her arms so he could pick her up. She held onto his shoulders as his arm effortlessly kept her pressed into his scaly chest. He was cold to the touch and without a pulse. "Ready," she whispered, though they both knew that would never be the case. No one was ever ready for Hell.

"Keep your eyes closed," he commanded. "No matter what, understood?"

Sakura just nodded and proceeded to close her eyes. She didn't need to ask why.

The first thing she heard was the sound of his feet submerging into the repugnant ooze. Her mouth mashed itself hard against his collarbone in the hopes it would keep her gagging muffled. Through her eyelids she could see the light growing brighter but at the same time was assaulted by a cacophony of the most tortured and pained moans gurgling beneath her. His steps were even, unaffected by the sounds that were immediately paralyzing her thoughts. It would have been enough to distract her from the stench, had there not suddenly been the addition of the sludge raining on them from above.

A few clumps skid down her arms and she gasped in pain as they left burning trails behind them. Sasuke clucked his tongue in annoyance - possibly at her, or just the circumstances she hoped - and shielded her with his wing. The pain slowly simmered to a mild irritation, but the moaning and sloshing grew louder. They were getting deeper.

Sakura's heart began to race as her mind scrambled together a frightening image of what she imagined her surroundings to be. She thought of the texts in Dante's Inferno, the endless abyss of bile and drowning souls, forever doomed to sink under the hail of shit and torment. She just wanted to be home, she wanted to be anywhere but..!

"Could it be?" A voice called from a near distance. "Sasuke?"

"Deidera," Sasuke's even-toned voice acknowledged, the rumble transfering to Sakura through his chest. She listened as this Deidera character approached them, the sludge loudly slapping and breaking as the demon grew closer to match Sasuke's stride.

"What a pleasant surprise to see that wicked mug of yours down here after all this time!" Sasuke kept moving along and Sakura silently wondered if this was a friend or foe. " I knew you would miss this place too much to call it quits. And, oh," there was a pause as both of them stopped walking. "Is that a fresh soul?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with." Sasuke started moving again but the sound of rushed splashes followed them.

"Don't walk away from me! What are you doing with that?" The voice was hardly a breath behind them when Sasuke suddenly whipped around and landed a kick onto the nosey demon trailing them.

"Eyes closed," he reminded Sakura as both he and her gripped each other tighter.

"What the fuck!" The demon yelled, smacking the sludge they were submerged in. Sakura could hear it grunting as it composed itself in the sea of the damned. "You don't run this world anymore, Sasuke! You can't just march through here like it's your castle!"

"Watch me," Sasuke growled, his voice suddenly deeper and darker.

They were moving faster now, so much so that Sakura could barely make out the sounds of Sasuke's feet breaking the mud. She could hear Deidera yelling for Sasuke to stop, that they wouldn't be able to get past - "I'm going to need to take a chance here, eyes stay shut."

She couldn't hear what Deidera was warning Sasuke about, but she was able to make a pretty solid guess soon after. His gait slowed down and the world darkened as though the night rolled in. Then there was the growl. And then another. And another.

"Cerberus, it is I, Satan from your Ninth Circle of Treachery. Let me through!"

The growling slowly dragged out until it quieted into a low rumble. "Sasukeee," its ancient voice growled from all three heads at once, "you are no longer our Satan, and that soul… It is from the Living..!"

Before she could even flinch, they were moving at lightning speed again as one of the heads lunged at them. There was a booming bark and exploding impact in the muck where standing just a split second before as one of the Cerberus heads lunged forward. The snap of its teeth and the gnashing that followed sent Sakura's heart racing to catch up with Sasuke's sudden rush to dodge another attack.

"I told you this wasn't yours anymore, cocky bastard!" Sakura could recognize that as Deidera again back in close proximity.

"You really must have lost your mind out there to think we of all demons would let such a treat like this slip away," a new voice bit out. There was movement from all around and it could only be assumed new demons had emerged and surrounded them. It could have been a dozen or a thousand, she wasn't sure at all but was entirely on edge.

It was a war waged against just the two of them and she knew she was not only to blame but dead weight as well. Sasuke dodged and fought off the screeching demons almost effortlessly while keeping her safe against him. The air around them was shredded by countless claws and she could feel the force of their attacks rush by from every angle. She could also feel him land his punches and kicks again and again. He was crushing them.

Until he wasn't.

"Mine..!" The demon hissed, latching its claws into the back of Sakura's tunic just as a barrage of others occupied Sasuke's defenses. By the time he swung down to grab her, the timely monster was already pulling Sakura into the acid mud below.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled. "Hold on!"

Every imaginable inch of her body felt as though it was immediately set aflame and starting to melt off her bones. She opened her mouth to scream from the excruciating pain but couldn't when the heavy sludge poured in and started choking her. She was being pulled deeper and deeper, Sasuke's voice growing faint as she heard him starting to chant in a language she couldn't understand at all. What she could hear, although still foreign, sent a violent, primeval chill down her spine.

"Stop, no!" That was all Deidera could get out before the unmistakable crackle of lightning washed out everything else. Through her eyelids, the blinding white light flashed. Just when she thought she was going to black out from the pain, she felt herself being pulled back up to the surface.

Covered in filth but at least out from the sea of it, Sakura began retching and threw up as much of the dark mud as possible. Sasuke was astonished to see her eyes were still screwed shut. He cradled her and tried wiping off as much of it as he could, knowing it was causing her such incredible pain. Despite his efforts, she was soaked in it.

"Please make it stop," Sakura weezed.

There was nothing he could do for her there and that helplessness was overwhelming. Stepping into action, he sprinted with her across the Circle to where the unconscious Cerberus was laying and leapt into the air to bound over the beast.

"They're all incapacitated," he explained quickly, having cleared the mess behind them. "I'm going to find you water to wash this off, hang in there."

"Where?" She managed to ask, gritting her teeth in pain. It felt like her skin was boiling to her bones and she couldn't bring herself to believe there would be water in Hell. The world grew darker once again.

"The River of Styx, we're almost there." She could hear and feel his wings extending before they lifted from the ground into flight. They were descending. Fast. The darkness was suddenly so thick again, she wasn't sure her eyes were still closed. She squeezed them extra tight just in case. "The only good from this is the cover the mud has given you. It will mask your soul while we pass through the Fourth Circle."

His even tone annoyed her. Did he not feel any sympathy for her? She knew he did, hence the massive attack directed at his own demons. Still, childish or not, it irked her. He wasn't human, he was born into a world of pain and suffering, so she knew this wasn't an extraordinary condition to witness for him. She wanted him to relate, she realized.

When it came to pain, didn't he already? In other ways? She thought back to his Sakura had hoped the pain would eventually numb her, that her soul's body would be so overstimulated that she would feel nothing, but that wasn't in the cards for her. That wasn't how this realm was designed. She was as tense as a body in riggamortus, unable to exist any other way under the straining agony.

As if on cue, the guttural grunts of the greediest beings to have ever existed blanketed over the sound of Sasuke's wings and Sakura's shaky breaths. Thunderous crashes exploded beneath them and Sasuke only glanced down for a moment to witness the souls slamming boulders into one another with no end in sight. It was when he aligned his gaze back at the path ahead that he missed the red eyes below looking up at him.

"We'll take care of it," Hinata assured her as Ino kept her face buried in her hands.

An hour earlier when Ino had called her, she knew right away something had gone horribly wrong, but she didn't expect anything remotely close to the bloodbath she and Naruto walked in on.

"I made some progress on the room," Naruto informed the pair from across the apartment. While his girlfriend calmed down Ino, he took on the task of clearing the pulpy remains of Gaara and ashes of Orochimaru. He lingered from a distance, not wanting to get any closer to Ino while she was in her current state at the time. He couldn't blame her, though. Even for him, a demon born to the Circle of Violence, found the situation to be gruesome. "Hina, can you come over here for a second?"

The raven-haired Witch took care when moving to leave Ino's side on the sofa and make her way to the scene of the demonic attack by Orochimaru. Sakura's body had since been moved to a long couch in the main space where Ino was to rest until her soul was returned from Hell, but Sasuke's remained in its original place in the other room. It was glowing with an aura of his energy combined with Ino's, casting an eerie light on the pool of blood that was left from Gaara's mangled corpse.

"Something isn't right with Sasuke," Naruto whispered. Pale eyes widened immediately and turned to the comatose man naked in the center of the room.

"What do you mean? Shouldn't Ino have felt something?" If Ino wasn't properly synced with Sasuke, she wouldn't know when to begin summoning him back to his human body.

The blonde demon shook his head. "I can sense a disruption. I don't think he's having as easy of a time getting around as he thought his arrogant ass would."

They stood there in a moment of silence, both unsure where that left them. Hinata knew anything beyond what had already been done was outside her skills and abilities. Naruto was anxious and annoyed by not being able to jump in and fight, his face creased with frustration. It was truly a waiting game.

"We'll have to just hope for the best, I'm afraid," Hinata sighed.

"What if," his voice perked cautiously, "I go back down and help him?"

Hinata's eyes could not have snapped wider. "Are you out of your mind?" He opened his mouth to respond but she continued. "You may still have some demon in you, but you don't know how that will play out now if you were to go. You said you can sense Sasuke is having trouble and he's not even fully human yet."

"But-"

"She's right, Naruto." It was Ino standing in the doorway. "We need to trust that Sasuke will make it back, and with Sakura."

"Can you sense him, Ino?" Hinata asked, examining the red aura settled around his body.

"Mhm, he's there. I can tell he's upset, but that's better than not being on my radar at all." She joined her friend's side. "He must have Sakura with him."

Lavender eyes closed. "Let's hope that's the case and it's not something else that has her."

Short, but eventful, no? A struggle for our couple in Hell and a check-in on our friends in the mortal world. I'd be curious to know how you're feeling about our Hell journey so far, as I'm still working on how much more content will take place there. Regardless, would love to hear from you to know how you're doing whether it's your first time reading SSD or if you've been on board since day 1. Take care of yourselves and stay safe! xoxo