Isle of Flightless Birds

by kyliEisMC2

In a world where angels and demons war. A befriended angel and demon chanced upon a mortal. She became a part of their life in different ways. To Naruto she was a friend, to Sasuke she was so much more. But mortals are fragile creatures born to die. Yet, there she was, centuries later, standing in a club and looking at him as if she had never seen him in her life. AUAngel&Demon.

29. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Fool Me Once, Shame On You

Present Day:

Sakura was stuck in a limbo between feeling guilty and convincing herself that what she had done for the mortal was good. Kakashi had worded it as such and he had never been one to sugarcoat the truth. What he said was plain and simple facts, it had made sense to her sorrowful heart. But later when she tried to believe that her actions were in fact for the greater good, it felt like she was lying. In fact, she would almost rather just take the blame of the mortal's demise and deal with the shame and consequences instead of being stuck with an emotional pendulum. She had enough of her emotions swinging back and forth because of Sasuke, she didn't need more.

As always, Times Square was busy as ever as they made their way down Broadway. It was late now, the sky was darkening as those dressed in nightlife attire began to dominate those dressed in business. Just as the clock of the paramount building came into sight and they crossed over to walk down the meridian, Sakura came to a halting stop as those around her continued moving at a rush.

Pedestrians pushed past her, bumping her shoulder as they grumbled at her for damning the flow of the foot traffic. But their dark looks, rude gestures, and mutters all went ignored. Everything around her was ignored as it became a jumble of white noise and blurry movements. Her vision became unfocused and as the crowded street continued to move without her, she was struck with the sensation of being stuck in a time lapse, where everything was at a high speed but her. Soon the sounds of New York became muffled and dulled as the sound of her heart beat seemed to be all that she could distinctly hear.

The sensation gave her a unique and focused concentration amid the chaos around her. Without it, she was not sure if she would have even noticed. And while she was grateful for the warning, she was also filled with an anxious unease as dread washed down her spine and made her shiver.

She could feel it. The pull.

It was tugging away at every nerve in her body while the sealed portion of her mind seemed to pound within her head, begging to be released. But as desperate as that deeper part of her wanted this feeling to be true; the broken, beaten, and weary parts of her cried out with sorrow.

No, she pleaded within herself. Not here, not now.

Her first instinct was to break down into tears. Today had already taken its emotional toll and she was not sure if she could deal with him right now. Not now when all she wanted to do was to submerge herself beneath the warmth of a bath while she let her body be relieved of the aches in her muscles and her mind to shut any and all thoughts. Where she could cry to her heart's content and the tears would not be noticed. She knew she was vulnerable right now, she knew that she was weak. And she did not like that. She could not trust herself to make rational decisions in such an emotional state.

Swallowing down the urge to break down in the middle of the crowd, she spun around, eyes vigilant and searching. The three men she had been walking with were completely oblivious to her halt as they walked on towards their destination. But she could not bring herself to say anything. Not yet, not until she knew for sure.

As her heart raced, she did her best to ignore the distracting pounding within her chest as she tried to concentrate on the pull. Focussing on the teather, she honed in on the source of the tug until the crowd parted and her eyes fell upon a dark haired man standing just meters away from her.

Her pounding heart skipped treacherously and her legs nearly made a move to walk towards him. His dark eyes were fixed on her, rich with a luster that held an air of promises and dark desires that she wanted to see fulfilled. His absence had been noted over the past couple of days, but until this moment, she had not realized just how much his presence in her life made a difference. It was intense, nearly suffocating, and given the dark smirk that curled onto his lips, he could see what she was feeling, what she was wanting.

A group of passersby crossed between them, blocking him from view and when they had moved out of the way, he was gone. Disappeared as if he had evaporated into thin air like an apparition. With alarm her eyes began to search the area, scanning for the smallest glimpse of spiky black hair with a hint of a blue undertone. As she searched, the hope of actually wanting to spot him or not, eluded her. Did she want it to have been just her imagination or did she really want it to have been him?

After she was certain there would be no spotting him, she shook her head. It had been a long day, she was tired and most likely had mistaken someone else for him. And besides, why would he want anything to do with her after how she had dismissed and pushed him away? She turned around, her almost crestfallen gaze lifting from the cigarette and gum wrapper littered sidewalk, only to stop short.

It was Sasuke.

Standing before her, only now just feet apart.

"Sakura," he said, his tone rich with fervent calm, as if nothing in the past few encounters had gone wrong.

His hand rose in either an offering for her to come closer or to close the distance between them himself. Whichever it was, she was not given the opportunity to find out as she felt her body being jerked back and away from his grasp. The soft smile that had adorned his face contorted as a snarl escaped his lips and loathing took over his features.

Sasuke watched as Kakashi pulled Sakura behind him. "Sasuke," Kakashi said in a sharp tone. "I thought we had an understanding? You were going to keep your distance."

Sasuke's dark eyes flashed from where Sakura was peeking out from behind Kakashi's barrier, to look at the grey seraph. His lip curled. "Oh, we did." His eyes drifted back to Sakura. "But I changed my mind. I can do that, you know-" his eyes flicked to meet Kakashi's single grey eye- "free will and all."

"You're still outnumbered Sasuke," Kakashi protested. "Please, just walk away and I will overlook this."

His dark brow, with perfect curvature, rose. "Oh will you? How...benevolent of you," he mocked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "You certainly have changed over the years. If I were you, I would keep that new found angelic ego in check. Your pretentious bull shit sounds more like arrogance than altruism. And you have to be careful with such things, your pretense has made you ignorant."

Kakashi narrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"I am not outnumbered," he revealed, just as Karin and Suigetsu appeared behind him.

Sakura found it within herself to look away from Sasuke and take in his companions that had appeared at his side. The first was a woman, her ruby eyes an obvious indicator of her seraphim blood, even without the large amount of teal chakra that was easily flowing from her. She was standing right next to Sasuke. As she practically breathed down his neck, she glared at Sakura from over his shoulder. It did not take a mind reader for Sakura to know that this woman despised her.

Moving her attention away from the glaring red head, she looked to the other person who was standing to Sasuke's left. As soon as she looked at him, his predatory face moved into a sharp toothed grin. He gave her a wink, his purple eyed gaze hinting at a familiarity between them.

Sakura blinked at him, perplexed by his actions.

Strapped to his back was one of the largest seraph blades she had ever seen. He shifted, whispering something into Sasuke's ear and the sword glinted in the sunlight. At the flash of light, Sakura was suddenly struck with a familiarity of the situation, as if she had seen that same metallic glint but under a different light at another time. Her eyebrows drew together as her head tilted to the side in perplexity. However, any thought into the matter was lost when Kakashi shifted uneasily and she was reminded of what was happening.

Sasuke smirked at the slight unease his companions' appearances seemed to have on Kakashi as well as Naruto who had appeared with Sakura's dark haired mortal friend. Even the mortal looked uneased. The Uchiha's eyes glimmered with mirth at his blonde rival before letting his eyes trail back to Kakashi.

Kakashi swallowed hard. "Sasuke," he said quietly, almost pleadingly. "Don't. Don't do this," he said with a shake of his head. "Not today. She's been through enough today already."

His words brought about a hesitation and Sasuke's eyes drew down to where Sakura was standing, half hidden behind Kakashi.

Her thin arms were wrapped around herself as if giving herself a comforting hug and she was not as put together as she usually was. Her jeans were ripped and frayed in places that were obviously not purposeful. And they were stained, dirt and something of a dark maroon that looked too much like dried blood to ignore. While her shirt looked clean and crisp, it was ill fitting and was nothing that he thought would be found in her wardrobe. Her pastel locks that always looked so soft and smooth, were matted and frazzled as if she had been running around all day. A smattering of dust, grime, and whatever else New York had to offer in dirtiness, covered her skin in patchy spots that she had obviously tried to wash off without taking a proper bath. When he looked closer to the smudged dirt, he noticed the half healed bruises and fresh pink scars that marred her skin. Evidence of injuries that he knew were not there the last time he saw her, but could not have healed as much in the short span he hadn't seen her.

Upon seeing the injuries, his eyes moved up to her face as if he expected the answer of how such injuries and distress came to be. She seemed to evade meeting his gaze for a moment, but as if unable to ignore his penetrative stare, she eventually lifted her eyes to meet his dark gaze. Emerald locked with obsidian and he looked at her, really looked at her. And that is when he saw it. A slight emptiness and hollow sorrow. There was something weighted in her gaze and the way she held herself, it was defeat.

Something within him stirred in agitation. This, this was exactly why she needed to be with him. Obviously Kakashi and Naruto were failing to provide what she needed, what he could. He was stronger than ever before and he had power, resources, everything he needed to insure that look he was seeing now, would never shadow her face.

There was an unnatural stillness before Sasuke opened his mouth, his words bringing an icy dread to those facing him. "I think i've waited long enough, my patience has grown tiresome and it is plain to see that you two are incapable of providing what she needs."

Sakura watched as Kakashi's hand twitched, a sign that he was uneasy. That action caused the dam that was already holding back the overwhelmed feeling to begin to crumble. But mixed in with that was the smallest twinge of annoyance towards Sasuke. Kakashi and Naruto took plenty of care of her. And as much as the outcome of her earlier fight had crushed her, she could not help but feel a little pride in her actions. She had gone up against an Akatsuki. Gone against one by herself and won. Did that not win any merit in the fact that maybe she did not need anyone to provide for her? Had she not provided for herself? But then again, Sasuke did not know of this...at least she did not think so. Surely he would not be doing such a thing if he did.

Sasuke had certainly prepared, Kakashi thought to himself. This was not just a coincidental run in. "Sakura," Kakashi voiced in a low tone, not taking his eyes off of Sasuke and his accomplices. "Take Sai and run."

Sakura did not immediately move to action, her eyes were still set on Sasuke. Stepping back she kept her eyes on Sasuke and she was hit with nostalgia. It was just like in the alley way, she was walking away, about to turn her back on him, denying him once again. But there was one difference. His eyes.

They were not asking her to stay. Instead they were demanding that she go with him, he was not giving her a choice. He didn't want her to accept him, he wanted her to submit. Those same eyes narrowed for a moment as he looked at her, as if reading her thoughts. Then his hand flicked forward in signal. That motion was like a starter gun for a race, setting everyone into action.

"Sakura, go now!" Kakashi barked as the red haired and sword wielding seraph surged forward.

Sakura did not delay. She grabbed Sai's hand and began to run.

---

Running through a mass of any type of being was not easy. Running through a mass of human beings was particularly difficult. Their slow reaction times and greater interest in seeing what the commotion was, instead of avoiding such clamor, was severely irritating. And while Sakura usually looked down on the action of pushing and shoving, she rigorously plowed her way through the crowd. Running into shoulders and knocking others over, she pulled Sai through the crowd as they fled the scene.

That is until she ran smack dab into a mortal that did not even budge. She looked up to be greeted by a mountain of a man, his flaming orange hair standing out like a beacon over the ocean of pedestrians around them. Sakura mumbled out a quick apology and moved to step around him, only to have a vice like grip clamp down on her shoulder.

Sakura spun around, expecting to see Sasuke or one of his other earlier companions. But instead she was greeted by a wall of broad chest. Slowly, her eyes moved up to find that it was the same unnaturally large and bulky man that she had just run into. He was a colossal of a mortal, and his grip was unnaturally strong. But there was something else about him, something in his eyes that told Sakura that there was something wrong, something not normal. His soul, while certainly mortal, was old. Too old. Combined with her paranoia that Sasori had instilled within her that anyone could be non-human, no matter how mortal they seemed, it caused her to move into action.

Grabbing the man's wrist she manipulated her chakra, twisting it she forced his grip off of her then sent a high kick in his solar plexus. The mortal was sent into the crowd of pedestrians, knocking several over while a wall of them closed in to make sure he was okay. She did not wait to see if he was injured, she had other concerns.

She spun around, her eyes dashing around for an escape as she reclaimed her hold on Sai's forearm. A bright glint caught her eye and she turned to look at its source, her heart pounding rapidly only to realize it was just the building nearby, covered in glass and reflecting the last light of the sun as it set. Green irises ran up the tall length then a shout behind her caused her to glance back.

It was the red haired woman and shark toothed man from earlier. They were busy helping the orange haired mortal up and immediately, Sakura felt relieved that she had acted on instinct and attacked him. They were interrogating the giant who, despite his large stature, shrank into himself like a defenseless animal. Finally, his eyes shot up, locking with Sakura's for a moment before he lifted a treacherous finger. The gesture caused the other pair to turn around, their eyes searching for a moment before landing on her.

Sakura's grip on Sai tightened even more as she bolted. Not willing to delay or linger, she sprinted for the large building. At its entrance was a steady flow of late night business workers flowing out of the multiple doors, all too preoccupied and absorbed in their own lives and work to have any civility for anyone else. Sakura sent out a courteous influence, causing everyone to stop and move out of the way and let her pass. One man opened the door and held it for her as she dashed through, dragging Sai along with her. The moment they passed through, she lifted the influence and the mortals went straight back to their self oriented habits.

She paused for a moment in the lobby, the click-clack of shoes across the tiled floor echoing all around her. It was almost deafening in her panic as her wild eyes moved around the vaulted ceiling, taking in the sunlight that flowed through the high wall of windows. On the other side of the lobby was a large front desk where a lingering front desk woman stood to greet and direct the few people that were coming for late meetings. Beyond the desk was a security checkpoint that led to a line of elevators opening and closing as people loaded and unloaded.

Automatically she made for the security line, sending out another influence to make the security guards lenient and forgiving as she and Sai passed through the metal detector. It let out a loud chirp and lights flashed but she kept going. Heading towards the elevators, one opened its doors to let out a pair of women in tailored power suits and Sakura shoved Sai through the threshold as soon as they stepped out. She jabbed at a random numbered button before stepping back out. Keeping her hand in front of the door to prevent it from closing, she looked at him urgently.

"Get off when you arrive on that floor, then find a bathroom or any place to hide. If I am not back in twenty minutes come back down, catch a cab then go to 1136 on 5th Avenue. When you get there, go to the front desk and tell them you are there for Yamato. Tell him that Kakashi sent you, he will know what to do," she quickly relayed. "Do you understand?"

Sai nodded and Sakura made him repeat the address before she moved her hand and let the doors close. There was a shout and she whipped her head around to see the three henchmen enter the building. Sasuke was nowhere to be found but she did not wait to see if he would show up as well, she moved on, dashing to the stairwell.

The door let out an awful squeak as she wrenched it open, most likely from lack of use given the otherwise pristine building. As it shut behind her, she began to race up the stairs, taking two, sometimes three, at a time as she pushed chakra into her feet to go faster. Upward she climbed and when she heard the unmistakable sound of the door being opened on the bottom floor, followed by the sound of feet in pursuit, she spurred on faster.

---

Karin was right behind him when he nearly ran over Jugo laying on the ground. Suigetsu stopped abruptly and looked down at the big guy. He crouched down to help him stand but the colossus was too busy trying to catch his breath to stand.

"Hey big guy, what the hell happened?"

"Unggg," he groaned. "Girl...huff, huff...attacked."

Suigetsu looked at him in confusion. "The girl did this?"

A scoff came from above them and they both looked up to see Karin standing next to them with her hands on her hips and foot tapping impatiently. "Where is that pathetic mortal? We were driving her right towards you? You should have easily grabbed her, you big stupid oaf!"

Jugo looked sadly down at the ground and clutched his hands. Suigetsu sneered at her. Sure he was not fond of the neanderthal, he was a pain in his ass and his pacifist dreams annoyed Suigetsu, but nobody insulted the blockhead but him. But that was not the main reason he was annoyed with her. He could see Jugo was losing his grip on reality, and they could not afford to let their kumbaya singing hulk go rampage on them, at least not yet.

So much for all those years, sitting in scratchy robes and chanting with monks if he lost control after just five minutes into the mission, Suigetsu thought.

He needed Jugo to stay within controllability if they were going to accomplish this mission and be on their way. From working with Sasuke in the past, Suigestsu knew that Sasuke did not give up until his goal was complete. And there was something about this one in particular that Suigetsu just knew if it was not done today, they would be forced to remain until the job was done. And he was not sure he could tolerate a screeching Karin, an 'om' chanting Jugo, and for sure not a pain in the ass Sasuke that had more than just a stick shoved up his ass.

"Hey take it easy on him!" Suigetsu snapped up at her before looking at the giant man, who looked like he was on the verge of either melting into a puddle of tears, or bursting into a flaming rage. "Hey big guy where did she go?"

After a few breaths, Jugo slowly looked up and his eyes scanned the area for a moment before pausing. Slowly, he lifted a finger and pointed. Suigetsu followed his direction and almost immediately he spotted her, her hair was like a beacon in the crowd.

Immediately the girl took off like a rabbit being hunted and Suigetsu was to his feet in an instant as he began to push his way through the crowd, calling out to his companions to hurry up as he took off after her. He lost sight of her for a moment but then caught a glimpse of pink just before it disappeared into the tall building nearby.

He turned to see both Karin and Jugo not far behind him, the both of them looking around, obviously not having caught sight of the girl's escape. "This way," he instructed, moving forward towards the building.

The crowded entrance way was an annoyance but eventually he got through and came to a shortstop, Karin bumping into him.

"You dumb flounder!" she screeched. "Why the hell did you stop?"

Suigetsu turned around. "Have you ever heard of surveying the layout you bimbo?"

"They're mortals you chowderhead! What are they gonna do? Push you?"

Suigetsu rolled his eyes then scanned the area. And then he spotted her, right in front of the elevators before she took off towards the end of the hall. He did not even bother saying anything, he just moved, expecting Jugo and Karin to follow. If they didn't, well that was fine by him as well.

---

Sasuke stared darkly at Kakashi and Naruto, his eyes narrowing.

He had meant for them to engage with Karin and Suigetsu when they went after Sakura, giving him the opportunity to pursue Sakura himself while they were preoccupied. But of course, Kakashi and Naruto had a knack for not letting things go according to plan. They were always at the center of things being sabotaged.

"You're just going to let them chase after her, just so you two can have the satisfaction of stopping me?" He questioned.

Naruto's fist clenched. "Sakura can handle herself," he burst out. "Even if they catch up to her, she could whoop their asses–"

"Naruto," Kakashi said quietly, cutting him off with a warning look. He looked back to Sasuke. "Call off your hounds, Sasuke. Let Sakura be and leave here now."

Sasuke's lips twitched in a smirk.

Kakashi took a step forward. "For once in your life stop being selfish Sasuke," he growled. "This is more than just trying to keep you away from her. There are things that we cannot risk. Things that if others knew, could very well put her in danger."

"Explain it to me," Sasuke replied. "Tell me these things, then I will help. You know when it comes to her safety there is nothing I wouldn't do?"

"You want to help?" Kakashi remarked. "Then stay away like we asked. Prove to us that you can be trusted and then maybe later, we can allow you to see her."

"Tch," he scoffed. "You herold a lot about a great deal of nothing, Kakashi. Something that I have come to see that all you blessed do. You desiguse yourselves as angels of light, preaching your higher than thou knowledge that you claim to have. But you see, you speak of things being complicated and confidential. But to me, it's a simple matter of your kind acting as you always have, always trying to make things more complex than they really are. So I am done playing by the rules of heralding angels that are nothing but hypocritical fowl. I was done a long time ago. I just never had a reason to correct it. Now, I do."

With that, he blurred and vanished. Immediately Kakashi and Naruto took off after him. Through the streets they chased him, occasionally catching him in a short lived battle before Sasuke slipped out of their grasp. This continued for a short while, but it did not take long before they were coming to a stop at the end of a less busy street and where his trail disappeared.

"Shit," Naruto murmured, nursing a particularly deep wound on his forearm that had been caused by a shuriken, "when did he get so fast."

Kakashi shook his head, his breaths labored from a cocktail of exertion and panic. "I don't know, but we need to forget him for now and find Sakura, before he does. We need to get her back to the heavens."

---

There was no wonder mortals never used the stairs in these skyscrapers.

She had only reached a third of the levels and already she felt her muscles burn with each step. It did not help that her energy levels were already low to begin with and as much as she was struggling to keep moving quickly, she was certain she was slowing down.

Her echoing footsteps and rushing breath as it was recycled through her lungs was all she could hear. Which is why, when she reached the landing of the twentieth floor and moved to ascend to the twenty-first, she let out a scream of surprise when someone grabbed onto her leg, causing her to tumble down onto the stairs.

She caught herself enough to control her landing but still felt the ledges dig into her hip and side as her elbow hit the tread hard enough for a tingling shock to radiate through her arm. Ignoring the signals of pain her body was sending out to her, she twisted around and was greeted by the pale haired and jagged toothed seraph. His eyes gleamed at her with the predatory hunger of a shark.

"Gotcha," he smirked. Sakura immediately began to squirm around, trying to free her leg from the hand that was digging into her calf. The shark seraph let out a bark of laughter. "It's no use little mortal, you may have bested the big guy but he's a big softie. Cries anytime a butterfly gets its wings bent," he gave her a dangerous look. "But I am not so kind. I don't care if you are a little weak mortal, I am not as gentle."

Weak.

That word was beginning to grate on her nerves like a mill stone grinding wheat. She was tired of feeling weak today, she was tired of being underestimated, tired of being targeted. She looked into the violet eyes of the shark seraph, noting the lack of mercy in his expression as he began to pull her towards him and climb over her. And as the arrogant and victorious glint shinned in his eyes, something within her snapped.

She was done, fucking done.

"Oh yeah," she growled as he continued to climb over her, "neither am I."

She brought up her foot and slammed it into the middle of his chest, not bothering to even care if her chakra manifested in the power she put into it. The seraph flew back and crashed into the wall of the stairwell landing below her. The smooth wall caved in at the impact sending white powder into the air as a large dent was formed in its plaster.

Gods it had felt good, but as much as she wanted to linger and continue to vent in this new found lust of violence, she felt the exertion of chakra take its toll as the weak feeling began to settle into her body. That, as well as the echo of his companions only a few floors below, had her turning around and sprinting up the stairs again.

As she made her way up, flight after flight of stairs, her mind whirled. Where had that come from? She had never been one to take satisfaction in violence. When it came to sparring, she had always been one to hesitate and undercompensate. Too afraid she might actually hurt someone. But today, in that moment, something within her had broken. She was becoming broken, altered, changed. It was overwhelming and she was unsure as to how much more she could take. A fact that worried her as she had a feeling today's emotional strains and toils were only half over.

---

It took a moment for Suigetsu to finally catch his breath and he felt like he could now truly relate to the mortal saying 'gasping like a fish out of water'. The girl packed a punch...or in this case a kick. Now he understood why the big guy had been so startled.

"What that hell are you doing?"

Karin's shrill voice did not help. Rubbing at his chest, which he was certain would have a nice bruise, dead center in the morning, Suigetsu finally managed to take in a breath. Automatically he regretted it as a sharp pain escalated the deeper his breath went.

"Shit, I think she cracked a rib!" he exclaimed, more to himself than anyone. But Karin heard.

"You mean the mortal did this to you?" she said with mocking disgust. "Seriously, what is wrong with you guys? She's a pathetic mortal and you two can't even manage to hold onto her?"

He looked up at her. "Shut the fuck up Karin. Let's see you take on one of her roundhouses and see how you handle it. I'm telling you that girl isn't normal." Which would explain why Sasuke found her so intriguing, but this he kept to himself, there would be no sense in sharing such a thought with Karin. That red headed psycho could never believe that her precious Sasuke could have eyes for anyone but her.

"Well she's getting away!" Karin screamed, kicking past him as she started up the stairs again.

Suigetsu let out another string of curse words as he managed to stand. He could hear the girls footsteps echoing down to them and it sounded like she had already cleared four more flights. Damn she was fast, he thought, looking over to where Jugo was standing next to him, looking timid and torn between helping him and following after Karin.

"Common big guy, let's go," he said, taking an ascent and wincing each time his right side was jarred just a little too hard on a particular step.

---

She had broken many of the rules today, and as Sakura found herself bursting through the door when she ran out of stairs to climb, she realized she had broken another two of Kakashi's rules.

Rule #9: Always have a plan.

Rule #11: Never get cornered, always have an escape.

She had not meant to end up here but really she had not meant to end up anywhere in particular. She had just meant to lead them away from Sai. In this she had been successful. Unfortunately, in her need to keep Sai safe, she now realized she had forgotten about her own escape.

The echoed thunder of furious footsteps reached her ears and she turned back around to face the doorway leading into the stairwell. Plan, always have a plan! She screamed to herself as her eyes began to dart around.

Her earlier bravery that had been spurred by her irritation had dissipated in the last half of the climb up the stairs, leaving her feeling panicked and indecisive. Did she stand and fight or did she flee? The possibility of them spotting her was risky but fighting them without revealing herself would be impossible as well.

Her eyes fell onto a screw driver that had been left behind by a maintenance worker. Snatching it up she moved towards the door. Just as she grabbed the metal door, those in pursuit of her appeared. It was the red headed girl first, her face pulled into an ugly sneer as she looked back at Sakura standing above her.

Sakura moved quickly to slam the door right in front of her face. Pressing herself against the door Sakura went to jam the door with the screwdriver but before she could get it secured, something slammed into the other side and it cracked open. Digging her feet into the cement she pushed her body against the door.

She was winning, she had nearly gotten it reshut when she heard the woman shout out, "Jugo!"

Sakura's eyes widened. She needed to get this done fast. Slamming the door with all her strength it latched shut and she grabbed the handle, keeping it from being twisted as she readied the screw driver. Positioning it in the crack between door and frame, she wedged it in, jamming it shut just as a heavy body slammed against the other side with the force of a battering ram.

Sakura stumbled back as the door shook. Heart racing against her chest as she was unsure of the hold. The screwdriver seemed to be holding well, but the hinges were a whole other factor. She needed to move, she needed to get out of here. She had stalled them yes, but it would only be a matter of time before one good hit would bust the door wide open. And she couldn't just wait around for Kakashi and Naruto, there was no telling what was going on with them. Where were they now? Had they dealt with Sasuke? Were they still dealing with Sasuke? Did they even know where she was?

She turned away looking for a fire escape and realized, this was a sixty story building, there was no fire escape. The only way down was through the door she had just jammed. However…her eyes glanced up, maybe down was not the direction she needed to go. There was one alternative option, and with the door blocking her from view, no one would see, even if they sensed her chakra, there would be no way for them to connect it to her. Her pursuers knew there were other seraphs with her, they could think it was anyone else.

She looked back at the door as she listened to the arguing behind it. Curse words and insults flowed from the two seraphs on the other side, while the grunts of the giant of a mortal sounded each time he slammed his body against the metal door. Already the door was beginning to bend as a dent formed in the middle at the point of impact.

Turning away she prepared for take off. It was now or never. If she didn't go now then there would be no escape without revealing herself. And she had already made enough mistakes today. She wouldn't mess this chance up.

Only she already had.

As soon as she spun around, she collided into a chest. Arms wrapped around her instantly, clamping her arms down and limiting her mobility. But she didn't need to look up to know who it was. In her panic to secure the door and form an escape, she had failed to notice the small tug that had been pulling within her. And when he spoke, it only confirmed it.

---

They found themselves going back to where they first separated and began to take their original course to Yamato's, hoping that Sakura would have done the same. Kakashi took a deep breath while lifting the bandage over his eye before slowly opening his gifted eye, sharingan blazing he focused on everything around him, looking for any signs that would tell them what direction Sakura had fled with Sai. His eyes searched purposely as they walked, that is until he came to a sudden stop and his eyes drifted.

He stared up at a tall building, his eyes running up its length then moving back down to the front door. Just as his eyes settled on the glass entrance way, he caught sight of someone exiting the building. The familiar aura of the mortal soul told him who it was before he was even fully in view.

It was Sai, looking slightly dazed and completely alone.

Kakashi was in front of him in a matter of seconds, despite the heavy traffic that was brought with the start of the weekend nightlife of the city. "Where is Sakura?" he demanded, ignoring Sai's startlement at his sudden appearance followed closely by Naruto's at his side. "What happened?"

Sai shook his head. "I do not know," he answered. "We split ways. She said to hide and wait for her but if she did not show up in twenty minutes, I was to leave and go to Yamato's. I know I should not have, but I waited twenty-two before leaving. I thought maybe she wouldー"

"Where did she go?" Kakashi demanded, slightly abrasive.

Again Sai shook his head, to Kakashi's annoyance.

"Ummm, Kakashi…" Naruto sounded, causing Kakashi to turn around to see Naruto staring straight up the building. "It's Sasuke, I found him…"

Kakashi's head snapped up, his eyes focused on the sky and then his heart dropped. He could make out the essence of three separate chakras. Two of them were frenzied and agitated. And as savage as those ones were, they did not disturb him. But the third one did.

Despite the familiarity of it, the aura it produced at the moment almost made it unrecognizable. Kakashi could hardly remember the last time he had seen it so calm. One would think such a subdued signature was not dangerous, but there could only be one reason why Sasuke would be so tamed.

Sakura.

Sakura was up there.

While he could not read a single trace of her chakra, Kakashi just knew. He looked to Naruto and without a word, they were both shooting up the side of the building, disregarding the usual protocol of taking flight in such a public area.

---

"Sakura," Sasuke seemed to almost sigh into her hair as she felt his head bow forward.

His hand came up to pet the back of her head and a cold sensation ran down her spine at the contact. There was something off in his voice. It wasn't how he always said her name before. It wasn't sultry like when he seemed to almost purr her name as he looked at her with eyes of deep desire. It was not fondly like when he looked at her as if she were a pleasant dream coming to life in his reality. Nor was it full of unspoken promises that made her feel safe, as if nothing bad could ever happen in his presence.

Instead there was an unhinged sound to it. Rather than protective, it was possessive. Instead of fondly, it was obsessive. She didn't feel safe. She didn't feel like she naturally belonged in these arms as she had previously felt before. His arms felt like a cage, trapping her in without an escape. It was like in her dreams with the two different Sasukes. And this Sasuke was the dark one. The one that terrified her. The villainous one in her nightmares that dragged her deeper into the suffocating abyss of the dark water.

She tried to move but his hold tightened as he pulled her impossibly closer. "It's all right, I have you now," he rambled on, making Sakura wonder if he was talking to her, or reassuring himself.

"S-Sasuke," she managed to say. "Please let go...you're scaring me."

The vulnerability within her voice seemed to pierce through his near transic state of possession and waken him into reality. He could feel her trembling against him and then he began to register the loud banging and cursing that was taking place behind the rooftop entrance, and it hit him. Of course she was afraid.

While Jugo wished to be a gentle creature, he was what nightmares were made of when he lost control. Karin, while perfectly capable in her skills, had obviously held some resentment towards Sakura, and she had an inability to let personal vendettas from mixing with her work. And Suigetsu, Suigetsu was just as he seemed. A verousicious tiger shark that went into a frenzy at the first drop of blood. And they had all chased her down like a pack of wolves, driven by his command. It was not how he meant this to play out, but it had, and now, he had her in his arms. So there really was no room for true regret.

Slowly he loosened his hold, giving her some space but he still retained a gentle hold on her. "Sakura," he said, his tone taking on a clearer tone, easing her slightly more. He brought a hand up and caressed her hair. "I am sorry, but I had to. They were keeping you from me and you don't belong to them. They have no right."

His words bothered her. Kakashi and Naruto were her comrades, her friends, and her family. She didn't belong to either of them, she belonged with them. But the way Sasuke spoke, it was as if to infer that she had just been found and kept by them. That they had claimed ownership over her. When really she was owned by someone else. He spoke like a bereft person who had come to revoke the law of finders keepers.

"Sasuke."

The possessor of said name stiffened. Sasuke's grip on Sakura tightened as he reeled her in, tucking her into the nook between his arm and side as he turned them to face the one who had addressed him. As they shifted, Sakura felt the leathery brush of his wings on her arm and against her back as he tucked her into him more securely. Once he had turned them fully, Sakura caught sight of Kakashi. He was standing on the raised edge of the building, Naruto standing next to him.

Once he had their attention, Kakashi stepped down from the wall. His knees bending to absorb the high step before he walked closer. The cloth that usually covered his left eye was raised, exposing the red swirl that was so similar yet different to Sasuke's eyes. He looked at her closely, his gaze holding hers for a long moment, as if to convey some sort of message before roaming to Sasuke.

A sharp sound came from Sasuke as he sucked his teeth in annoyance. "I thought I lost you," he said. "Seems next time maybe I need to incapacitate you before taking my leave."

Sakura shuttered in his arms at the tone of his words. It suggested that his methods of incapacitation went beyond just temporary. She tried to shift slightly in order to shake off the unnerve, but his hand around her waist tightened even more.

"And what makes you think there will be a next time?" Kakashi taunted, almost as if he was baiting him, trying to make him angry. And judging by the way Sasuke's fingers dug into her, it was working.

Sakura looked at Kakashi wide eyed, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but she was distracted before she could even start to form a theory. From the corner of her eye she caught a movement coming from Naruto as he attempted to catch her eye. Subtly, she looked at him and realized what was going on.

With the smallest of hand signs, Naruto conveyed a message to her, all the while his eyes stayed locked on Sasuke, watching him, making sure Sasuke was staying distracted by Kakashi. She heard Sasuke give a reply to Kakashi, but his words went unregistered as she read the hand signs that Naruto was flashing at her. As soon as he finished, Sakura noticed his blue eyes flash to her and she gave the smallest of nods that she understood. Now, she just needed to wait for the right moment of opportunity, which came almost too soon.

With a loud bang, the rooftop entryway door busted from its hinges and crashed down onto the ground with a loud clatter of metal, causing everyone in the stand off to pause and look to where Suigetsu, Karin, and a towering Jugo emerged from the stairwell. All but Sakura. While Sasuke looked towards them, Sakura took advantage of his distraction.

She shoved him away, the force of her escape causing her to fall backwards but she quickly rolled away when Sasuke turned back to her. He moved several quick steps but stopped when she managed to stumble up to her feet and reach Naruto and Kakashi, who helped her stand.

Together they stood in a small group as Sasuke's cronies fell into an obedient line behind him. Sasuke's eyes, which had bled into his sharingan in anger, looked sharply at them individually before they fell back onto Sakura.

"Sakura," he instructed. "Come back over here."

Unable to manage any words, she shook her head vigorously.

"Sakura-"

"She doesn't want to go with you Sasuke," Naruto cut in, causing his former best friend to set his sharp gaze on him instead. "Can't you see that she is scared?"

"Only because you brainwashed her and filled her mind with ideas that I would be dangerous." His eyes snapped back to Sakura, softening slightly as his tone did the same when he addressed her instead. "Sakura, remember the stories, remember what I told you," he said.

Long ago...there lived a young maiden...she crossed paths with a creature…he was a demon of the underworld...he belonged to her, and she to him…

His words echoed in her mind as she looked at him. Taking in his features, her green eyes ran across his face, his shoulders, his tall frame. It was all so familiar to her in the sense that she had become accustomed to him over the weeks of their frequent meetings. At least that was what she thought, but no, it was deeper than that. That familiarity had been there the first time she had ever laid eyes on him. However, as her eyes wandered back up to meet his, he spoke again, and anything that she had been even partially convinced of, was shattered.

"I can see it in your eyes. I know that you can feel it within yourself," he said when he was certain she remembered. "You belong to me."

There it was again, that phrase. That claim that she belonged to someone. Not belonged with, not even just belonged. But belonged to. As if she were a possession not a person. And it was that kind of mindset that did not sit well with her.

"But I don't though, do I?" she suddenly said in a terse tone. "Not really. I have no memories, no recollection, no proof. All I have are stories, stories that could have been inspired by anyone and written by anyone. For all I know they are just whimsical fantasies with no history or truth." She bowed her head as she shook it from side to side, when she looked up, her eyes had taken on a hardened expression. "I don't belong to you, nor anyone for that matter. I don't remember you. I don't know you at all. And the same goes for you. You know nothing about me."

Her words seemed to hang heavily in the air, just like the heavy storm clouds that had managed to sweep over the city over the course of time. A strong wind had picked up after the evening darkness overtook the sky, bringing in a muggy breeze that fired one's nerves with an electric energy. It was that exhilaration that one could feel deep down in the marrow of their bones, right before a storm. A dull rumble announced the start of it all, followed by the light pitter patter as large water droplets began to spot the heated cement of the roof.

As if the storm controlled his mood, or his mood controlled the storm, Sasuke's face slowly darkened as he continued to stare silently at her. She could see his mind working, he was contemplating, rolling her words over and over. But while she could see the mechanics of such things, she didn't know what he was actually thinking. Only that he was calculating and forming a plan. One that she had a feeling she was not going to like.

His head turned to the side as he tilted his face towards his comrades behind him, and in a low voice, he spoke to them.

The rumble of thunder covered his words but the moment it had died down, Sakura did not need to hear his words to know what he had said as they all moved in an attack. She moved to ready herself, but before she could even take a stance, she felt herself being yanked back again.

Kakashi shoved her away from him just before pulling out a small seraph knife and flung it towards Suigetsu who was running towards them. As soon as he had thrown the knife, both he and Naruto spurred forward as Sakura stumbled and rolled by the force of Kakashi's shove. Sliding across the smooth pavement that had become slick with the rapidly falling rain droplets, she let out a hiss of pain as the skin of her arm was removed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She spared the new abrasions a single look before moving to rise, using the ledge wall to push herself up. When she had managed to get back to her feet and turn to the scuffle taking place, she froze.

Karin and Suigetsu were latching onto Naruto's arms as the blonde seraph wriggled around, trying to throw them off. He almost freed himself until Karin managed to wrench one of his hands behind his back and Suigetsu withdrew his massive seraph blade and held it to Naruto's neck, forcing him to still as the razor sharp metal grazed his skin. She saw a line of blood shine and drip down his neck just before she looked to find out why Kakashi was not helping him.

The answer was simple, he couldn't. Not when he was pinned to the ground by Jugo and Sasuke. The massive mortals' heavy body was holding Kakashi's leaner form while Sasuke gripped his gray wings at an awkward angle. Sasuke sneered down at the older seraph as Kakashi tried to free himself from the weight on him. As she took in the vicious glint in Sasuke's face, Sakura's last shred of hope for the day was eviscerated and again she was reminded just how poorly the day had been.

"Stop it!" She screamed. "Don't hurt them!"

Sasuke paused, his red eyes flashing up to her. For a moment he stared at her, their eyes locked and Sakura refused to look away until he was releasing his hold on Kakashi as he let Jugo take over by himself.

On a good day none of this would have happened. On a good day, Naruto and Kakashi could have easily overpowered their captors, even with Sasuke not being distracted. At least that is what she believed. But today was not a good day. Today everything had gone wrong.

They were at a disadvantage. Sakura had been useless, constrained by the rules. And Naruto and Kakashi had been at a disadvantage by being forced to put her first and already having their chakra levels depleted after their chase of a battle with Deidara.

It was not fair, none of it was fair, but as Sakura was now realizing, Sasuke didn't play fair. He played to win, to get what he wanted. And she now understood how he had managed such great feats. While evil and vile, they had been impressive and now she knew why. Now she knew how he did it.

He found weaknesses and exploited them.

"Have you finally come to your senses?" His voice had an eerie way of being easily heard despite the pelting rain and rushing wind that roared along with her heart. "Or Are you going to keep running away and hiding behind their wings?"

Sakura's eyes stung as the realization of what was happening hit her. Kakashi would never forgive her, neither would Naruto. They would be punished by Tsunade for sure. But what other choice did she have? Punishment was better than perishment. Because while she had hoped Sasuke was not what she had always been told, she was being awoken to reality. The recollection of Naruto returning home with his wings halfway torn off played in her mind. Sasuke had done that then, what was to stop him from doing so now?

"Do you promise not to hurt them?" Her voice was frail and she wondered if her words could even be heard, but she could not bring herself to speak any louder.

With slow, methodical steps, he began to close the distance between them. Coming to a stop halfway between herself and his leverage he was holding against her, he extended a hand out towards her.

"Come with me, Sakura," his voice was alluring, every syllable pronounced with care and laced with temptation to respond to every wish that voice commanded of her. "Come with me, and they will not be harmed today."

Sakura took a single step towards him as her hand twitched at her side to take his, then she was halted.

"Sakura," Kakashi's panicked yell broke the spell and she managed to tear her eyes from Sasuke to the silver winged seraph.

With a spur of strength, he twisted with an agility that Jugo could not keep up with, freeing himself out from under the giants crushing weight. As soon as he was free, he threw his knee into the stomach of the man. As soon as he separated himself from the man, Suigetsu was on him, abandoning his hold on Naruto in an attempt to restrain Kakashi.

This only left Naruto free to quickly begin to resist his own captivity as he thrashed about, trying to get out of Karin's hold. Sakura watched as Kakashi reached over Suigetsu's shoulders to grab hold of his wings. The demon let out a roar of pain and Kakashi paused in his moment of having the upper hand to turn to Sakura.

"Go!" He cried.

Her head began to move side to side in panic. How could she leave them?

Jugo, having recovered from Kakashi's attack, wrapped his trunk like arms around Kakashi's arms and torso, distracting him for a moment. She watched as Kakashi struggled for a moment before he managed to flip the giant over his head where he landed on his back. She could feel the weight of his impact in the ground beneath her feet as the orange haired man landed flat on his back. But again he was attacked from behind as Sugietsu jumped onto his back, wrapping his arms around his neck. Kakashi spun to face her again, his hands grasping onto Suigetsu's as he struggled to pause in his scuffle.

"Sakura," he said as firmly as he could as he wrestled to free himself of Suigetsu. "Forget the rules, forget us, just go!"

Tears were falling down her face as she looked at him. She shook her head. "Kakashi please," she begged.

Please don't make me do this. Please don't sacrifice yourself for me. She was tired of people always putting her first. Tired of always somehow being the center of it. She was tired of being the one at fault, but never being able to take the blame.

Kakashi thrashed himself free, throwing Suigetsu off of him where he slammed against the brick wall. He turned back around to Sakura, his sharingan eye swirling wildly as he glared at her.

"Sakura! For the gods' sakes go!"

She let out a choked sound, her eyes grazing over Sasuke who was still standing at the halfway point, looking at her with a strange expression. Then she spun around and began to sprint.

Her feet splashed in the forming puddles where the falling rain was being collected and at full speed, she leapt onto the high edge. Her hands braced on top of the brick work as she swung her legs up and half rolled, half jumped right off the side of the building. Arms spread wide and not a single drop of hesitancy in her movements, the building's solid structure was replaced by over two hundred and fifty feet of air between herself and the busy streets below.

.

As she cleared the wall, a horrified scream filled the air. It sounded like someone having their soul ripped from their body with a pair of tongs pulled straight from the furnaces of hell itself. Tortured and pained, horrified and distraught. But as gravity began to play its part and her body began to free fall through the air, the tormented scream was drowned out by the rushing wind as she plunged down towards the streets below.

---

He heard the scream, he felt the scream as it wrenched from his throat, but he still did not register that it was he who was making the noise. His body was moving before he could even acknowledge what had just happened. All he could process was the image of her running across the roof, leaping to the wall, then disappearing over the edge. What had she been thinking? What had Kakashi been thinking? Were they so desperate to keep him away from her that they would resort to her death itself? Were they that committed to punishing him?

He was over the edge before he could really contemplate such thoughts or ideas. All he could think of was getting her. Getting to her before it was too late, before she was taken from this world for the second time.

He dove head first, his eyes searching until he caught sight of her already halfway down. His stomach dropped and his wings snapped to his body, propelling him faster as he made himself as aerodynamic as possible.

He watched as her arms and legs flailed in the air, her drop not as graceful or controlled as his, but it worked in his favor. The wind resistance her body was catching kept her falling body from building up a momentum that exceeded his. They were a quarter of the way down to the ground when he reached out and grabbed around her middle. His wings snapped open so quickly it was like the crack of a whip as the leathered wings caught wind like a parachute.

But his hold on her did not last long. She twisted around in his hold, her hands and legs bracing themselves against his torso before she pushed herself away. It was like an explosion had erupted between them as a burst of green flashed between them and he was sent hurtling away from her.

His back hit the building hard where he bounced off the window, the shatter proof glass cracking before he began to tumble down. Disoriented and confused, Sasuke wildly looked around until he caught sight of Sakura. Her body twisted around like a cat falling through air, thirty feet from impact.

Eyes growing wide, he surged forward, rocketing towards the ground as he stretched his arms out.

She was twenty feet from the ground when it happened.

It was like the comet's tail trailing behind her as a green stream began to leak from her then a flash of smokey light erupted from her back as the T-shirt she wore split open as a mess of black feathers emerged from her back. They snapped open and tilted and before Sasuke could even fully take in the pair of wings she wore. She had veered up towards the sky, he watched her soar past him and took in her face. It was conflicted and torn, but all he seemed to be able to see was the ebony feathers that framed her body as she sped past him.

Sasuke was broken from his astonishment as he suddenly registered the speeding traffic that was below him. Instantly he pulled up just before he crashed into a taxi car roof and was immediately forced to veer sharply to the left to avoid flying straight into the side of a large delivery truck. Haphazardly he maneuvered out of the traffic and came to an ungraceful landing on the sidewalk.

Mortals screamed and startled as he staggered to a stop but they all went ignored. Instead he found himself staring blankly at the building wall that he had just barely managed to keep from running into as his mind struggled to process what the hell he had just seen.

Wings. Black feathered wings. On Sakura.

But that was impossible. Mortals did not have wings.

And then the flash of green colored his thoughts. Chakra. Chakra that had not been his, it looked nothing like his and it had not come from him, it had come from her. But how...the pier, back when she had first run away from him. He had thought it a glitch, he had written it off...and then he thought back farther. Back to when it all began. On that first night he had come to New York and ran into Naruto and Kakashi. He had sensed a third signature. A green and warm signature that he had never seen but had felt a familiarity with it. And then it hit him.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide and he turned around, his eyes fixed on the night sky above him. His sharingan blazed wildly as it searched the stormy skies and finally, in the distance, he found it. It was frenzied and distressed, and disappearing quickly. He felt a yank in his chest and suddenly became aware of the familiar pull that he had always associated with his internal compass to Sakura. It was pulling, tugging, prodding him to take action. To move forward, in the very same direction as the green chakra that was disappearing far into the sky, begging him to go to her. To go to Sakura.

But there was a problem.

That was not Sakura. It looked like Sakura, it sounded like Sakura. And oh how he had wanted so badly for it to be Sakura. But now, he realized. He had been played for a fool. Tricked and deceived. It was worse than hiding Sakura from him.

His eyes narrowed as a burning rage ignited within him. Sasuke had met a lot of cruel creatures over his centuries. Many of them during his time living in the underworld, but a surprising many of them had been on the earth's surface. A staggering amount of those souls being humans. It was nearly disturbing just how naturally selfish and cruel those mortal creatures could be to each other. It almost made the work of demons too easy. However, of the evils and low things he had seen in the worlds he had traveled, the joke that had just been played on him was the most cruel and despicable thing he had ever imagined.

He was supposed to be the monster but now he was beginning to understand who the real monsters were. They called themselves angels, painting themselves as the guardians of light.

He had thought his monster slaying days had ended when he killed the basilisk that was Orochimaru, but in this moment, he was willing to go back to his old ways. After all, he was an avenger.

---

She felt as if her wings were going to give out at any moment and she would plummet down to the earth. Rain poured like a monsoon, weighing her feathers even more and making her muscles ache as they strained to keep her in flight.

Rain drops mixed with tears as they ran down her face, nearly blinding her as she did her best to race back to the portal. She could see it high above her, like an opaque window in the dark clouds, it was the faintest of lighter color as the always perfect weather of the heavens shone through and contrasted against the raging storm in the mortal realm. It was like a lighthouse beacon, guiding her safely home in the storm. But it was still a good mile away, so he stayed low in the air, not worrying about being seen as she blended with the night sky.

It was perhaps the one upside to her dark wings, they were perfect camouflage for the night, especially during the darkened storm. Unfortunately, she was not the only one with such stealth.

It was like being shot down by a missile. One moment she was gliding above the tree line of the park below and the next, she was crashing down to the ground when something hit her from the side with a force so strong, it stunned the breath out of her. She hit the soppy ground hard with a crunch and slid through the muddy marsh that was usually a field of well manicured lawn when there was not a monsoon flooding the park.

She tried to take in several gasping breaths but each attempt only brought a burning pain to her side. Clutching a hand to her side, she pressed on her ribs gently in an attempt to alleviate the pain so she could take in a proper amount of air. Her fingers of her other hand, as well as her knees, sunk into the mud as she supported herself to rise to her hands and knees. Her wings weighed down on her as she tried to lift the heavy appendages free from the mud. But the pain that radiated in her side caused her to stop. She took in a couple of shallow breaths, then decided to retract her wings instead. The process was excruciating as they shifted and slid beneath her skin. When it was all done, she was left panting heavily as the rain continued to pour onto her bare skin where it was exposed from the torn shirt that was barely hanging on to cover her body. With her hand still pressing to her side, she let what little chakra she had left to try and mend her rib, she was only half way done when she ceased all actions.

Any worry of broken ribs, torn shirts, and muddy wings was lost to her when she heard something shifting not far from her. Looking up she caught sight of a pair of muddy wings rising from the ground as the outline of the person in which they were attached, seemed to recover from the impact of falling to the earth. Like her, he let out a grunt as he first got to his knees and tried to catch his breath. But it seemed his landing had not been quite as damaging, as not long after, he easily began to rise fully to his feet.

His dark hair hung in front of his face as water dripped from it steadily. When he rose his head, muddy streaks began to run down his pale skin. He was an image of black and white with the exception of his eyes. Scarlet red and glowing with a heated gaze of hatred, anger, and uncontrollable rage. He staggered to take a stand, seeming to not have quite fully recovered from the landing. He let out another grunt and took a firm stand. A whip like sound cracked through the air as he snapped his wings, ridding them of the mud that clung to them as he straightened fully.

Not once did his eyes leave her and not once did she dare even blink as she stared back at him. He took a step forward, his left leg slightly limping as he strode forward.

A bright flash of lightning appeared just behind him, and for a moment, he was nothing but a silhouette. It was like the effect of a strobe light, the moment the electrical illumination had flashed and gone, it was as if he had teleported instead of walked towards her. When the thunder rumbled its echo, he was standing before her.

It was as if the stormy skies were led by his dark mood as he towered over her and another flash of lightning lit up the dark clouds above them, painting them an eerie violet as they glowed with electricity before dimming again.

Sakura's whole body began to tremble as she started to crawl away from him, trying her best to keep the distance between them as he took each step. Unfortunately, her side burned with each movement and her hands and feet slipped almost any time she tried to move backwards, making her progress slow and futile. And all she earned was more sharp pain.

It was the flash of his face that she had caught each time the lightning illuminated their surroundings that had her so fearful. If it were not for the pain in her side to distract her just enough, she would have been sniveling in the mud.

"What did you do to her?"

His cold and hollow voice was what made her freeze in her efforts to retreat more than the confusion.

"W-who?"

She had never seen someone move so quickly. She had heard tales of such speeds, Naruto had recounted countless tales to her, telling her of his father and why his skills had earned him the name of the yellow flash. She had often thought Naruto had exaggerated as he always did, but even in her wildest imaginations, she had never conjured anything even close to what Sasuke did. She had not even been able to blink fully before he had grabbed her and slammed her against a large boulder that had been previously ten feet behind her.

Her cry of pain was drowned out by the feral growl that escaped his scathing teeth as he dominated over her like a starved wolf over a rabbit. "Sakura!" he barked. "What did you do to her? Why do you have her body? Were you working with Orochimaru? Did he put you up to this, thinking that when the time came that he needed to deliver you that he would have you come in and imitate her?"

He let out a laughter that was full of sadistic irony.

"Oh and you almost had me fooled didn't you? But too bad you're several decades too late," he added darkly. "Orochimaru is dead. I killed him, which makes me wonder why you are showing up now. What do you get out of this?"

Sakura was utterly confused. "I-I don't know what you are talking about?" she stuttered out. "I have never even met Orochimaru."

He narrowed his eyes. Her words almost sounded like she was speaking the truth, but then again, she had him deceived before. A fact that he did not take lightly. His brow twitched in annoyance as he tried to search for how any of this could be possible. And it made him wonder, who else knew, or didn't know?

"Kakashi and Naruto, do you have them fooled as well? Is that why they are so protective of you?" he questioned rapidly, not even giving her a chance to answer. Not that she could. "Did you seek them out or did they just happen to cross paths just as you did with me, and you figured you would use them?" But the ludicracy of what he was saying hit him and he shook his head as it fell forward to his chest. "Who am I kidding, of course they knew. Why else would Kakashi have told you to jump off the building, because he knew you would not die.

"So tell me, did they give it to you after she died?" he demanded, his head snapping up as he leaned in so close that his breath breezed against her skin. "Did she no longer hold any worth to them after she died and they thought she did not even deserve a proper burial? Did they just abandon the corpse when they fled to the heavens, leaving it alone for a worthless piece of shit like you to find her and possess her? She may have been dead but it takes time for some souls to finally leave a body. I bet you thought you struck gold when you stumbled upon such a pure soul didn't you?"

Again Sakura shook her head, her eyes wide with frantic urgency to understand what exactly he was talking about. "I-I don'tー"

He slammed her against the boulder again, this time his hand came up to her throat, pressing down on it very slowly as if to prolong the satisfaction of her airway being cut off.

"I went back!" he bellowed. "I went back to retrieve her body, I was going to revive her, but I couldn't do it without the body. I excavated that mountain side looking for any kind of grave and I found nothing," he screamed. "Not a single trace of her as if she had never existed. I had trusted them and they let me down."

His hold on her neck grew tighter causing her eyes to go wide as her hands went up to try and pry his fingers away. Her feeble attempt did not even seem to register to him as he continued to loom over her. Another strike of lightning with a loud rumble followed almost instantly behind.

"I should have known," he continued, more to himself now, than to her. "I should have known when they refused to tell me where they buried her that they had done something." He let out a laughter that made the hairs on her arms raise. It was unhinged and unsteady. "They accuse me of falling low, and yes, I sank low, but now I see. They sank even further, didn't they. I at least had reasons for what I was doing!"

It finally hit her as to what Sasuke was rambling about. He no longer thought that she was Sakura, his Sakura, the mortal Sakura. He thought that she was just a random seraph. One like Sasori, who claimed a body and possessed it, possessed her mortal self. Not only that, but he thought Kakashi and Naruto had given this body away as a part of a plan. As some twisted way to torture him.

"S-sasuke it's not-"

His hold tightened, limiting her airflow even more. "You do not speak! I have had enough of your lies to last me eternity."

"Ple-please," she begged. "I swear...I had no idea. I never meant anything, I never meant to mislead you. I was just try-trying to find answers," she strained to say as he pressed even harder. "P-please, Sasuke, I-I don't want to die, I'm not ready to go yet. Please believe m-"

She was cut off when he blocked off the airway in her throat, causing a gagged sound to finish her plea. A flash of lightning cracked above and in that same moment he was holding his own crackling blue lightning. It screeched over the rumbles of thunder as he raised a chidori charged hand. Her fingers clawed and feebly tried to pry his grasp on her neck free as her wide eyes stared at the blue electricity in his hand. But her attempts only caused him to strengthen his hold, determined to not let it go until she was nothing but a limp corpse.

He looked at her, looked into her eyes, ready to watch the life drain from the abomination that she was. But the blue hued illumination of the crackling heat in his hand, showed him her face all too well. Within it, all he saw was pain, sorrow, fear, and a plea for mercy. As his hand crushed against her windpipe, he didn't feel powerful. Instead it felt shameful. It was like trying to take pride in pulling the wings off a butterfly. Sadistic and unnecessary.

He was reminded of a long ago time when he had seen this face being illuminated by this very same type of light.

Sakura would have been ashamed. His Sakura, the one that shared the face and eyes of the woman before him. It was just too much, too similar. Watching her struggle beneath him was like watching her die all over again. Only this time it truly would have been his fault. And as much as he detested the fallacy before him, he found his chidori dimming in one hand and his fingers of his other hand loosened against her rain slicked skin.

He let out a cry of anguish and frustration as his hand slipped from her neck, grasping onto the scraps of her rain soaked shirt as he slumped forward. She took in a horrendous gasp as she coughed horsley next to his ear but he did nothing. He could do nothing. His body was numb and unable to move. His eyes burned and a warmth trickled down and mingled with the cold rain water. There were many things he recalled over the years, many things he recalled from that night long ago. But one thing he could barely recall was grieving. Truly and properly expressing her loss.

He remembered the feelings, remembered them beginning to surface and manifest. But he had suppressed them so quickly and bottled them for later. His denial had never truly let him believe that she was gone. There had always been that hope, that goal that he would bring her back. By the time he realized that Orochimaru had been lying to him, he had hardened himself so much that he had not even found an ounce of remorse. He had just ended the snake then moved on without a thought.

But now, now it was as if he were back two thousand years ago with her loss still fresh, only this time he could not suppress it.

At first he was alone. Leaning forward as his body trembled, his forehead pressing against the boulder as he pressed himself closer. He had nearly forgotten about the girl sandwiched between himself and the rock until he felt trembling hands hesitantly touch against his back, then they slid farther as her thin arms wrapped around him and he felt her head tuck into his chest.

"I am sorry," she sobbed. "I am so sorry I can't remember, that I can't be her for you. I never meant to hurt anyone. You, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasori, the mortal…" She let out a sob. "I never meant to kill the mortal, I didn't know he would die too. I didn't think about him. I am such a horrible person for begging for my life when earlier today I ended one myself.

"I know I do not deserve this second life," she was rambling, she knew this. She knew he didn't care about what she had to say and knew that she should not be saying such things. But that did not stop her, she continued, "I didn't ask to be made, I didn't choose this. I did not know what you were, and never did I think of how this would affect you. I was selfish. I just wanted answers. I just wanted to know why, who, and how this all came to be."

Her rambling nonsense, while making no sense, sobered him from his moment of weakness. He stepped away from her, wrenching himself from her embrace and loathed the way a part of him mourned the loss of contact. He could hardly bring himself to even look at her, too worried about what weaknesses may arise again.

She isn't her, he reminded himself. She couldn't be.

As soon as he was separated from her, she fell down to the ground, her knees sinking into the soggy grass. He looked down at her with a hard expression. Her usually vibrant hair hung in darkened sections as the rain continued to beat down and soak them both. Another bolt of lightning caused Sasuke to look up at the sky. As the sharp fork of electricity erupted, Sasuke stared up at the falling raindrops with a hypnotized stare, his sharingan catching every singular drop as everything seemed to slow down.

The rumble of thunder that followed broke the spell as the sky went dark and the sound of pounding rain increased. He brought his head back down as his eyes fell onto the woman before him. She had stopped her babbling nonsense, but it was impossible to tell if the drops running down her face were a continuation of tears or just a result of the collected rain. He regretted it the moment he locked eyes with her.

Before he knew it, he was falling to his knees as well. There was a squelch as he landed, causing a small splash of muddy water to spatter on his pants and her. A particular drop landed on her lip, causing his eyes to be drawn to the spot of mud which seemed to go unnoticed by her. He couldn't bring himself to look away as his eyes traced the outline of her lips.

"I promise," she said in the smallest of whispers. "This body has always been mine. It was the one I was born with. I did not steal this face. And I did not know it meant anything to you when I first met you. That meeting was not purposeful, I was in that club for other reasons."

"How?"

The word slipped from his lips. He was not ever sure what he was even really asking. How was this possible? How did he move on? How was it that he felt drawn to her?

His eyes fell down from her lips to take in the long column of her neck. The pale skin was already marred with the start of bruising from where his fingers had clenched around it and he frowned. The image was disturbing and automatically he lifted his hand to touch her, as if to try and rub the markings away. But he stopped half way when she flinched away from him.

His eyes flashed up to meet hers and he was greeted with fearful retraction. She was looking at him with wide eyes that were filled with horror. As if he was some kind of monster that had just crawled out of a swamp.

If he were rational at the moment he would understand why. He would have made the connection that she had every reason to be afraid of him given what he had just attempted to do only a few minutes ago. But not a single neuron in his mind was rational at the moment. They hadn't been for a long while now.

Then it dawned on him again, he had been falling for the same foolish trap, thinking that this was his Sakura. But she wasn't. His Sakura never looked at him as if he were a demon. She was just a mockery of the real thing, some sort of doppelganger that the fates had thrown at him to torture his already tortured mind.

Sakura was frozen as she pressed herself against the rock, staring at his face as she tried to read what was going through his mind. There was so much conflict and turmoil that any fear she had earlier was lost as sympathy, and the need to heal, took over. And soon she found that it was her turn to reach out to him and just like him, she only managed to get half way before his own had stuck out to slap hers away.

She retracted her arm back and hugged it to herself as she looked at him. The moment she met his eyes, she regretted it.

He was looking at her with a pulled disgust and hatred that struck into her core. It was like an invisible hand was reaching deep within her and hollowing her out, leaving nothing for her to keep for herself.

"Sasu一"

"Leave," he growled. When she did not move immediately he slammed his fist into the ground. "I said leave!"

Sakura shot to her feet, the pain in her side from her injured ribs not even enough to compare to the pain she felt deeper within her. But still she did not leave immediately. She stood still, staring down at him, finding that she was unable to leave.

His head tilted up as he glared at her, his red orbs glowing brightly as if fueled by his anger as he looked at her. "I said to fucking go!" he roared, pointing a finger as if to cast her out of his sight.

She was not sure why it hurt so much but burning hot tears began to seep from her eyes. "Sasuke," she said with a sorrowed whisper.

"Don't," he warned, pointing a dangerous finger at her. "Don't you ever say my name. Don't you ever come near me again, because the next time I see your damnable face again, I swear to all the gods, Sakura...:" he stumbled over the name, it had just come out so easily- "or whoever you are," he corrected, "I will not be so merciful. I will finish what I almost did tonight, and the next time I won't hesitate. Because you are not her. No matter how much you try, you will never be her."

He heard a sob escape from her but then she was gone. And with her absence, whatever was holding him up, crumbled and he slumped forward. His forearms landed on the ground as his fingers dug into the muddy ground. Not even caring about the swampy mess he was practically bowing in, he let his forehead fall to the ground as well as he struggled to breath.

The images of her final facial features plagued his mind and caused his body to rise back up as he tilted his head up to the sky and let out a cry that was soon drowned out by thunder. It was as if the skies were crying out for him and as soon as the earth shaking rumble died down, he let himself fall backwards as he laid in the mud and let the rain continue to wash over him, as if in hope that it would somehow baptize him of every remorseful thing and free him from the torment of his sins.

But baptism was for disciples and saints, not demons like him. And somehow he found dark humor in this. A humor that escaped his lips as he laughed out loud in a tone that lacked any genuine comedy. Instead it was a cynical laugh at the irony of it all. As it died down, the construed humor he had found faded away, leaving his face blank as he stared up at the dark clouds above with his arms and legs spread out across the sopping ground.

He was not sure how long he stayed there after she had left. It could have been minutes or hours, his body was too numb and his mind was too weary to register trivial things such as time. But with the passing of such insignificance, things began to slowly trickle in. Flashes and words of things that had been said or occurred. And with his mind calmer and not quite so full of so many things, he was able to actually focus and comprehend what exactly Sakura had said when she had been babbling.

'I am sorry. I am so sorry I can't remember, that I can't be her for you. I never meant to hurt anyone. You, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasori, the mortal…I never meant to kill the mortal, I didn't know he would die too. I didn't think about him. I am such a horrible person for begging for my life when earlier today I ended one myself.

'I know I do not deserve this second life. I didn't ask to be made, I didn't choose this. I did not know what you were, and never did I think of how this would affect you. I was selfish. I just wanted answers. I just wanted to know why, who, and how this all came to be.'

Most of this still did not make sense to him but there were certain phrases and things she said that he could not let go. I am so sorry I can't remember. What did she mean, couldn't remember? Remember what? I know I do not deserve this second life. What second life? The one he spared just earlier, or a different time, a different life? I didn't ask to be made. What the hell was she talking about? I just wanted to know why, who and how this all came to be.

His mind played her words over and over again. The more he thought about it, the more he became fixated on her. It was the exact opposite of what he wanted to do but it was impossible to ignore. He was becoming obsessed with her, but for different reasons than before.

What had she meant by saying she was made? At first he had thought she was referring to her actions, that she had been made to deceive him. But the phrasing was not quite right. Instead, it was more as if she was talking about the actual action of being created. But created into what?

He sat up suddenly, a muddy squelch sounding as he pulled his body from the indent in the ground that had been made over the course of time he had lay there. Bending his legs he rested his forearms across his knees as he pondered deeply. He thought about Kakashi and Naruto and the way they had been so protective of her...as if she was the real Sakura.

But why? Were they just looking for a replacement for the missing void that he had felt after all these years? That thought was dismissed almost immediately because they could never know that hollow and empty feeling.

For thousands of years he had held a bitter hatred for them. Them and all seraphs because they never understood. For centuries they had dedicated their efforts to try and make him see reason, to see an error in his ways, but never did they try to even understand his pain. Kakashi, Naruto, even his own brother had refused to try and understand, always just calling him foolish and wayward. And all the gods knew Sasuke had tried to make them.

One time he had nearly ripped Naruto's wings from his back as he tried to convey the wrenching pain of loss that he had felt. For what better loss would it be for him than to have his wings clipped. To lose the freedom and life that flight brought every seraph, to have it ripped from him forever. It was not even the same type of loss, Sasuke would have gladly traded his wings if that was the price. But at the time, it had been the only thing that he could think of that would even be half of the loss that he felt within himself.

But now...now as he analyzed and weighed the evidence, he was beginning to think that perhaps there was a way for them to see reason. A way to make them pay for every time they had interfered with his efforts to bring Sakura back. And the irony of what form their loss would take was all too sweet.

The seraph girl was obviously precious to them. And it was time that they finally learned what it was like to lose her. Then maybe...just maybe...he would not be alone in his misery.

---

"Explain to me why you are standing here, empty handed of any mortal and why I have just lost my most useful spy?"

"He was exterminated, yeah."

"What do you mean exterminated?"

"As in dead as a doornail, beyond the grave, gave up the ghost, yeah," Deidara answered with an unremorseful shrug, as if the death of his partner did not bother him a bit. Then again, they never had seen eye to eye. Their differences of what art was and was not, were polar opposite. This was one of just many of their disagreements. "As in someone destroyed his vessel and now he is dead."

Madara leaned forward on the couch to deposit the accumulated ash on his cigar onto a silver tray. "And you just expect me to believe that the mortal you left him with killed him?"

Deidara let out a bark of laughter. "That's what I'm trying to tell you, yeah. That girl is no mortal."

Madara's eyes shot up to him. "What do you mean not mortal."

"I mean," Deidara began, "is that you sent us off to capture two mortals but that girl, she's not a mortal, she's a seraph."

Abandoning his cigar, Madara stood and moved from the couch, over to his desk. "You are certain?" He asked as he came around to sit in the large chair, pointing to the empty one in front of his desk for Deidara to sit.

Deidara nodded as he lowered himself into the chair and Madara leaned forward, resting his elbows on the mahogany surface of his desk as he steepled his fingers in front of his face.

"Tell me exactly what happened," he instructed.

Deidara let out a heavy sigh of exasperation. A daring action given the devil who he was addressing. "All I know is that I left him with the girl while my ass was being chased by two seraphs. I managed to get away while he got killed by a fairy." He let out an unkind laugh. "Guess we now know which of our arts was the superior."

Madara did not share in his humor. "You saved yourself and lost your target. Yes, your methods are so superior," he said mockingly as his eyes ran across his missing appendage, a battle wound from Kakashi. "Now tell me how it is that you know this girl is seraph."

"I saw her using chakra, yeah," he answered. "After I got those other two off my tail, which I remind you, was no easy feat. That Kakashi has truly mastered his Sharingan like a real Uchiha." Madara's lips curled into a sneer at his comment but he said nothing as Deidara continued. "Anyways, I go back to meet with Sasori to find the building practically razed to the ground and that little fairy seraph is pouring out chakra, healing everyone's wounds while they bury Sasori's vessel and have a fucking memorial for the mortal like he is some fallen comrade!"

Madara stiffened halfway through his explanation, the last part falling on deaf ears. "You mean the girl has healing powers? Like a Senju?"

Deidara shrugged. "I guess, yeah. I was never around when the Senju was more than just Tsunade so I don't know what that power looks like. Since when did the Senju start making a comeback?"

Madara was asking himself that very same question. It was his belief that the woman had sworn off any romantic attachments. Then again, you did not have to have a romantic partner to produce a child. But would Tsunade do such a thing? Did she have a child and passed down her gifts? Or was there something else at play? What exactly was Sasuke's involvement in this? Did he know anything about the girl's true identity? If so, that meant he needed his nephew even more.

His dark eyes flashed to Deidara who was still babbling like the idiot he was. "Bring her to me," he instructed, cutting Deidara off.

"Huh?"

Madara's brow twitched. As gifted as many of his men were, there were too many imbeciles in his following. "Bring the girl to me. I don't care how you get her or what you do, I just want her alive."

Deidara nodded and stood. "Sure thing boss," he said, too lightly for Madara.

"Deidara," he called as the blonde turned towards the door, causing him to look back to his master. "Do not fail me this time. I will not be tolerant nor forgiving if you fail me."

Deidara's cool calm faltered and he swallowed. Giving a stiff nod he began to make for the door but was stopped when the door burst open with a force that caused it to hit the wall, leaving a dent in the drywall as it ricocheted with a metal twange. Through the threshold appeared Sasuke with a Kakazu trailing behind him.

Kakazu gave a bow. "I apologize my lord, I tried to stop him but—"

Madara held up a hand, silencing him. "It's fine," he said calmly as his eyes trailed to Sasuke. He gave him a wide smile. "Family is always welcome anytime. You can leave us," he waved the guard away before looking at Deidara. "Forget about your little chore, you have lucked out. I have a feeling our plans are about to change."

Deidara gave him a questioning look but dropped whatever inquiry he had on his many tongues from a single look from Madara. Instead he gave a nod and left the room. Leaving the two Uchihas alone to talk in private.

As the heavy metal door was shut behind them, Madara took a moment to take in his nephew.

Sasuke stood still, his charcoal eyes staring at him with a darkness that would make most people cringe away, but Madara was only intrigued. His hair was plastered to his face and around his neck as water dripped from the ends that stuck out with untamable defiance. His clothing was soaked and caked in a palate of blood and mud that stained the black jeans and shirt that were torn in the places that he bled from. A pool of water was forming beneath him and as he stepped towards the desk. His gait possessed the smallest of limps as he left a wet trail of footprints behind.

Despite his disheveled appearance, Sasuke was an image of dominance as his chakra flared with a vehemence of anger and rage. As Madara basked in the aura of the storming chakra that flowed from Sasuke with unbridle, he felt a pang of nostalgic jealousy.

It had been a long time since he had felt his own chakra so alive and dominant, to the point that it was almost suffocating. It took everything in Madara's control to not show the hunger for such wildness. Long ago his own chakra had been just as omnipotent, but these days he found his passion and motivation dulled by time. It was just another sign that he had spent far too much time in the mortal realm, it had made him weak.

"You said you wanted my help in exchange for a favor," Sasuke began, cutting right to the chase.

"Not one for pleasantries before getting straight to the point," Madara commented before a grin came to his mouth. "You have changed Sasuke. You used to beat around the bush and I would have to draw out your true intentions. Quite a change."

Sasuke ignored this. "Do you want my help or not?"

Madara raised his brow. "Do you not even wish to know what it is that I have planned? What I will ask of you?"

Sasuke was partially tempted to give in and ask. He did not like diving in without knowing the full consequences of his actions. He had learned that the hard way. Then again, rational and learned lessons were the least of what was on his mind. He wanted revenge, he wanted Naruto and Kakashi and all the blessed involved to pay for the trick they had played on him.

"Your goals have never been a secret," Sasuke commented. "You want the blessed to fall and the fallen to rise."

"Oh," Madara let out. "I would like to think that my plans and ambitions are more imaginative than that," he defended, but Sasuke made no reply. After a drawn out silence, Madara continued. "And what is it that you wish for?"

Sasuke's eyes took on a maroon tint as his Sharingan began to manifest just beneath the surface of his irises. "There is seraph in the heavens...she does not belong there," he intoned, thinking of the pair of black wings that had shimmered wetly in the storm.

Unable to hide the humor of how things were playing out, a wide smile curled onto Madara's lips. Some would say what he wanted to do was blasphemous and would bring the wrath of the gods upon him. But given how fate seemed to be neatly putting his plans into action even better than he imagined, he could not help but wonder, if it was fated for him to not be punished by the gods, but to join the gods as one himself.

"And if I get you this girl, what will you do in return."

"Anything," Sasuke replied. "I will do anything."

Madara's smile widened even more. "Well then," he began. "Perhaps it's time we extend this little family reunion. Tell me Sasuke, how are your dear old mum and dad?"

---

Whew, that was the longest chapter yet. Hope you all liked it. Sasuke now knows...at least knows she is a seraph anyways. And of course we have Sasuke being Sasuke and finding blame for everything and getting mad. Madara is too interested. And poor Sakura just wants a break T.T

Thank you all for your support. I love reading your reactions and thoughts about this story! Next chapter I will try to get done as quickly as possibly but with the summer and everything that's going on it gets a bit crazy. If it takes too long you can find updates on my tumblr which you can find under the same user name, I try to post there every once and awhile.

Until next time, Take care! Stay safe! And keep being excellent!