Trigger warning: blood, scenes of torture, death and sex
"No," Itachi muttered simply, hard eyes never leaving hers for a moment.
Always so fucking stubborn and arrogant.
"They are much too calm for my liking," noted Temari and she indicated to the other members of the Uchiha Clan, expression darkening with suspicion. "They believe you won't harm him."
He was trying to call her bluff.
But there would be no more warnings such as not pushing their luck with her or offers of allowing them to leave while they still could. No, Sakura had humoured them for long enough and all she wanted now was to return to her mansion with Gaara in tow, the pair of them trapped inside her bedroom until they physically could not continue.
She was so over the Uchiha Clan.
Growling hatefully, Sakura evoked a pained grimace when pinning Itachi's arms down with her knees, one hand pressing down on his chest and the other keeping his jaw locked, head tilting away from her.
"Don't," ordered Shisui as he visibly struggled to overcome the torture being inflicted by unseen assailants.
"What did I say about no longer taking orders from your clan?" she muttered, the disdain dripping from every word. Leaning daringly closer until Itachi could feel her breath on his neck, she nuzzled his throat and triggered his entire body to tense up from the natural reaction to her proximity. Whether it was a positive reaction or due to his survival instincts warning him of danger was unknown, and she didn't care to find out. "Do you remember all those times you used to secretly slip your blood into my drinks because you were scared your enemies would take me away from you?"
"Stop," came his muffled demand, glaring at her from the corner of his eye.
Yanking his head sideways so that they were once more face-to-face, she continued, demanding softly, almost intimately, "Do you remember repeatedly feeding me your blood from the vein once I found out about it? How we promised each other forever once I turned?"
Kankuro (who was well aware that he wasn't receiving as great an attack as the rest, to keep it from filtering through the link between them) was quick to knock Sasuke back when the youngest Uchiha tried charging at them and in his weakened state, there was little resistance. It appeared that compared to the agony her coven was dragging him through, Sasuke didn't even feel the backhanded assault that prompted the slamming of his body into the ground, although it did hinder his future attempts, unable to get back up.
"This can be our forever," she whispered tauntingly, drinking in the sight of those features up close once more and all the memories they brought back to the surface, reminding her of all the times she'd thought how unfair his beauty was. "You tossed me aside for the brother you love unconditionally, but now with our lives entwined like this, you can never truly be rid of me, which was what you always wanted once upon a time." Shifting ever so slightly and forcing him to fight back the instinctual grimace at the movement, Sakura settled herself over him more intimately, their bodies pressed tightly together, familiarly, excitement coursing through her as she continued toying with her prey. "I find it only fitting that you once more feed me your blood to keep enemies from taking us away from you, don't you?"
Glancing out at the clan that had once looked so proud and graceful, so undefeatable in her eyes, who were now nothing more than immobilised weaklings against her, Sakura licked her lips, relishing in the control she had over them, over him. He was completely at her mercy and it showed in the furrowing of his brow, those dark eyes seeming entranced by her own. Was he recalling their memories also? Did he feel anything towards it? Did he still love her, in some kind of twisted way?
Sakura prided herself on no longer feeling that love for him – she wasn't sure if there would ever be a day where she could even tolerate him, after all he'd done.
"T-The witch–"
"Nullified," Temari stated, her smirk vicious. "There is no witch alive that can go against Orochimaru's descendants. You should know that."
Green eyes narrowed at the constant struggling of Itachi's arm, but sensing no killing intent and genuinely feeling curious about what he would try in his feeble position, Sakura allowed him to tug it free. That curiosity shifted to full blown surprise at the tender, nostalgic way his hand swept through her hair, pulling it away from her features and reminding her of all those times he'd told her he loved her eyes and disliked when her hair fell into them. It was like a kick to the gut, one she vehemently refused to show.
Using the newfound grip on the back of her head, Itachi lowered her face closer to his, just barely able to move his own head due to her grip in order to expose his throat to her.
"Feed," came his soft murmur, much to the horror of his clan.
"Itachi–"
"Don't you dare–"
"You…!"
Shutting his eyes with a resigned sigh, he said, "For Sasuke's sake."
And it pissed her off because it was always for Sasuke's sake. Everything he did, from covering up her parents' murders to tossing her aside during the grieving process, abandoning their town when it was going up in flames because of them… It was all for that undeserving piece of shit and she–
Just as Sakura's demon eyes awakened and her upper lip curled with hatred, Gaara's hand clamped over her mouth, his eyes darkening when she looked to him disbelievingly.
Was he…?
Surely, he wasn't jealous?
"Test it first," he muttered in clear warning and looked down at Itachi distrustfully. "This is too easy."
How hadn't she thought about testing his blood first? Granted, she'd never intended to drink Itachi's blood, she'd merely thought it was a great way to torment him.
Seriously, where the hell would she be without Gaara?
"You're paranoid," he rasped, bringing her attention to the unintentional death grip she had around his throat.
Releasing him suddenly but certainly not creating any distance between them, Sakura assessed her ex-lover closely, sceptically.
"Why wouldn't I be paranoid around the man who so easily broke my heart and turned his back on me?"
With her being as powerful as she currently was, it only made sense that the Uchiha Clan would contaminate their own blood to prevent her growing any stronger, or perhaps using said blood for more spells. Then there was Madara's foreshadowing – if they were looking at contaminated blood – about the blood in her system being gone in a few days' time.
But to contaminate their own blood was… Doing so would undoubtedly leave them considerably weaker for an undetermined length of time, since Sakura had never met a vampire before who went to such lengths.
…Although that also explained why they didn't immediately go on the offensive.
She sat back on her heels, straddling Itachi's hips. The lone hand on his chest kept him pinned but even when that came away to bring his wrist to her mouth, Itachi didn't move or try to fight her.
How the hell hadn't she found any of it suspicious? Was she an idiot?
"Stop him if he tries anything," she asked of Gaara.
It wasn't until his nod of confirmation that Sakura looked back to Itachi, holding his impassive gaze and watching in awe as it was forced to make way for melancholy and a gut-wrenching weariness, like part of him had already given up.
Well, she was in awe for only a couple of moments, for the moment that poison hit her system, Sakura was tossing his arm away from herself angrily, retching and yelling out at the wretched scalding of her mouth and throat. It wasn't enough to do her any real harm (the only reason why she even tried was because of her coven having her back), but it was still agonising and left her clawing at her throat, leaving bloodied scratches in her wake that lasted longer than they should have.
Sakura couldn't even focus when Gaara dragged her away from Itachi, hand yanking her chin in his direction and prying her mouth open to see the damage for himself. Fortunately for her, he quickly provided extra strength by biting down harshly on his own wrist and shoving it into her mouth, glare venomous when it settled on Itachi.
"Vervain," he snarled, never taking his eye off their enemies. "They were planning on weakening you."
Shit, that was way too close. Had it not been for Gaara's general distrust of everyone and anyone, then she would have fallen prey to her own goddamn rage and bloodlust.
Mikoto's sharp cry of pain overshadowed the increased writhing and grunts of the rest of the clan, and including the loud thud of Madara falling to the ground once more, it all told Sakura that her coven had come to her aid and were creating an escape for them. Through squinting, pained eyes, she looked to her ex-lover in betrayal and part of her revelled in his collapsed form as he joined the same torture as the rest of his clan.
"Let's go," snapped Kankuro.
Had she ingested a substantial amount of Itachi's poisoned blood, she would have been considerably weakened and open to attacks, meaning the Sabaku clan would have been greatly outmatched and taken out (temporarily of course, but that was more than enough to flee). From there, Madara would have gone through with his warning of draining the blood from her system, no doubt keeping her locked away until he finally killed her.
Holy shit.
"Really, Itachi?" she demanded angrily once she parted from her lover's wrist, relief flooding through her alongside his blood. "You planned on capturing me?"
"You're… a m-menace," growled Madara hatefully.
A menace? Her? Like hell she was.
But just as Sakura stood over them imposingly with her demon side's eyes awakening, Kankuro appeared before her, glaring. "I said let's go."
They needed to. Before her coven reached their limits and were unable to help in slowing them down, because although the Sabaku clan were notoriously powerful, the Uchiha were not only older, but outnumbered them also. And although she was much stronger than them all, she didn't have even a fraction of the battle experience the rest of them did, essentially making her a newbie with subpar skills in comparison.
There was no use in having so much power if she didn't even know how to utilise it properly.
Nodding her agreement, Sakura stepped over Itachi without a care for his agony, still in a state of irritated disbelief at his plan.
He would have known that they'd plan to kill her.
He just didn't care.
"You know what?" Sakura called out just as they reached the door.
Storming her way back over to the bar, she smashed several bottles onto the ground and Mikoto's eyes widened with disturbed fear when Sakura proceeded to throw and pour more spirits over the room. Anywhere that would easily catch alight, she drenched, leaving the entire bar reeking of alcohol so potently that it burned their noses.
She then turned on her heel and grabbed the still-cleaning bartender's hand, dragging him along behind her and all but throwing him outside.
"Compel him into going home," she ordered of the Sabaku clan, seeing as she wasn't sure her compulsion could override Itachi's. "He won't remember anything about today. There was a mix up with the shifts and he never realised he was supposed to be here. Opportunists broke in seeing it was empty and did the place over."
"Y-You–"
Glancing over her shoulder at Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura groaned at his persistence and approached him, making several members of his clan yell out angrily when she tossed him carelessly outside too.
"I'd rather you were in here for this, but I don't feel like burning alive today." Then meeting Itachi's eye a final time, she muttered coldly, "It's about time this place burned to the ground. We can think of it as the final link to our past snapping."
Even in his sorry state, she admired Sasuke's determination to stop her from lighting the match, and Sakura made sure to reward him with a harsh smile when it immediately went up in flames, the bloodcurdling screeching of her enemies, of his precious family, trapped amongst it all.
"Wait! What the…? He… He's… I mean… You…!"
Her righthand woman was practically frothing at the mouth at the sight of the Uchiha before her, those stunning blue eyes standing out startlingly when veins protruded around them, bleeding the whites red.
"It didn't go well," confessed Sakura with a weighty sigh.
"You set the fucking place on fire," Sasuke spat at her, struggling relentlessly against Gaara and Kankuro's restraining holds. She wondered if the only reason the former didn't lash out like he usually did, was because of her life being linked to his. It was definitely knowledge to tease him with later. "With everyone inside, including Itachi, you psychotic fucking bit-"
Rolling her eyes, because he was really starting to piss her off, Sakura slammed her fist into her own stomach with everything she had, and Sasuke copied her wheezing and closing in on herself.
"Shut up," she groaned in a mixture of annoyance and pain. "We all know they'll be healed soon enough."
Ino stepped between them at that, expression furious. "Exactly. And they'll be coming for their ripper as soon as they're at full strength again."
Like she hadn't already taken that into consideration. Sakura wasn't an idiot – she knew that Itachi would stop at nothing to assure the safety of his little brother, even if it meant going against everything that he once believed in by tearing their beloved Konoha apart in the process.
He'd done it before, after all.
Did she have a plan in mind? Like hell she did. But she'd certainly bought them enough time to make one.
The Uchiha clan were persistent and extremely powerful, however, even they would refrain from jumping straight into battle after an attack like that. She suspected a few hours of unconsciousness on their part, followed by a necessary feeding frenzy in order to return to full strength – no, stunted strength due to the vervain in their system.
"The vervain will keep them from attacking outright," Sakura suspected aloud and spared a glance over at the raging Sasuke. Then, realising Ino didn't know what she was talking about, she told her, "They're all on vervain to prevent me feeding from them."
Huffing and folding her arms over her chest, the blonde averted her gaze, though muttered only half under her breath, "If I didn't hate them so much, I would've said that was a smart move."
"Now, what?" demanded Temari, undoubtedly wound up from having to travel alongside a livid Sasuke and his harsh mouth. Had their lives not been linked, then she knew the blonde would have beaten Gaara in beating down on him. "I refuse to stand in this whiny brat's presence any longer."
"Too bad," her lover sneered. "We are not giving up the leverage we have over them."
Keeping Sasuke at her mansion was too risky, although Sakura felt like the others wouldn't predict it due to said risk factors. What's more, none of them could actually step foot inside, but if he managed to get loose then it was game over for them, for he could either go for the owner of the mansion (his ripper tendencies would make finding one of very few humans in the building ridiculously easy) and grant access to the rest of his clan, or he could slaughter her coven.
Like hell she was opening herself up to a ripper being in her mansion and tearing apart her clan. She was already missing a good chunk of them because of the bastard before her.
What the hell were they supposed to do with him? Anything they did to temporarily put him down would inadvertently affect her also, including–
A suspicion shot through her suddenly and Sakura rounded on Sasuke, hand gripping the back of his head and locking him in place. She ignored the others as they stood in surprise, ignored Sasuke thrashing until the two men increased their restraining holds to still him and allowed her to sink her teeth into his throat, his low grunt in her ear unmistakeable even as he tried to hide it.
The sudden rush of powerful, clean blood told Sakura all she needed to know and she pulled away at the stinging of her own throat, though only once the suspicion was confirmed.
"His blood's clean," she told them all, wiping the corners of her mouth.
Sasuke snapped his teeth at her and amusedly (because seriously, when was he going to learn that he couldn't go against her?), Sakura slapped his cheek, smiling.
"Don't be like that, Sasuke," she taunted while pinching his cheeks, not caring for invading his personal space even as he continued to growl hateful slurs at her. "We're going to be stuck together for a while, so we might as well try to get along."
"Like hell–"
Locking his jaw to shut him up and tilting her head demandingly, Sakura muttered, "You're the one who tore my pensioner parents to pieces when they were trying to enjoy the start of their retirement. You have no right to be the one who's pissed about our circumstances."
Silence – willing silence.
Swallowing down the rage that attempted to start anew, she let go of him roughly and took several steps back, though her murderous gaze took considerably longer to finally drag away from his still form.
"So, we can't dope him up on vervain," Ino said thoughtfully, and Sakura was grateful for the distraction. "We can't forcibly desiccate him with a spell. If we use restraints, he'll break out of them – if we use restraints laced in vervain, it'll burn you too."
Yeah, she didn't really want to go through that again. Sakura had only experienced the scalding effects of vervain a handful of times in her unnatural lifetime – the incident in the bar was her first time ingesting it and she could tell it'd massively slowed her healing abilities and speed, because it wasn't until she drank Gaara's blood that she started to heal properly. Gods, she'd felt the burning sensation all the way down to her gut.
Grimacing at whatever thought was going through her mind, Ino said, "There's an old farmhouse just outside of Konoha."
Sakura frowned. There was one left? "I thought the guys we turned burned it down?"
"Oh, it's burned down, all right," she murmured and shuddered like she was recalling a horrible memory. "But there were basements, of some kind. Nobody wanted to go near them."
Kankuro's features smoothed out, but it was Temari who corrected firmly, "Don't take away the power those places held by calling them mere basements. They were prisons for slaves."
The trio would have been around for the worst part of slavery – worst part because to that day, there were still many who continued to experience oppression and modern day slavery – and Sakura could tell from the tightness of Temari's jaw and eyes that she despised all that she'd seen in her millennia, and that it continued to affect her.
Humming thoughtfully, she pondered the pros and cons of using such a place as Sasuke's prison. It was a safe bet that any and all chains would be rusted as hell and unusable by that point – no point in swapping them out for new ones either, since he couldn't be weakened and would simply break them.
"We can use a binding spell and a cloaking spell on the prison," Sakura proffered and looked to Ino, wondering if she could read in her eyes that she desperately needed assistance in picking which witches should join them.
If she could help it, Mitsuki wasn't going to step within a mile radius of Sasuke. It was making her skin crawl having the Uchiha so close to the mansion where the young boy was residing. However, after Mitsuki in terms of strength, she believed it to be Anko and Kabuto – they always seemed about equal, anyway. However, Kabuto was much too willing to delve into channelling Orochimaru and learning more about his ancestor, even when it left him open to possession, so that was another crossed out.
"Anko," she and Ino said simultaneously, then Ino added thoughtfully, "Guren-san and Yukimaru-kun?"
"What the hell are you–" Realisation had Sasuke deadpanning, eyes darkening on hers. "Orochimaru's descendants."
Glancing to him out of the corner of her eye, Sakura settled a hand on her hip, saying amusedly, "You can get rid of that look, ripper. I'll tear my own throat out before I lose a coven as powerful as they are to you, of all people."
"You really think you'll keep a leash on them for long?" he countered, sending her a smirk that she wanted to rip off his face with her teeth. To try and quell the homicidal urges he had her itching with, Sakura ran her tongue along her teeth to taste the last dregs of his blood, using it as a reminder of their lives being linked. He could piss her off all damn day and sadly, there wasn't much she could do about it. "Do not underestimate a warlock as powerful as Orochimaru. He has always been loyal to me."
Obsessed, more like. Unhealthily obsessed. From the stories she'd heard, Orochimaru had laid waste to anyone and anything to get closer to Sasuke, including his own coven. Those who'd survived had lived in fear, keeping themselves and any children they may have risked bearing cloaked to hide from him.
The issue with Orochimaru was that he hadn't only been obsessed with vampirism, since that strength wasn't good enough for him. No, he'd wanted an original's power all to himself (Sakura assumed that was where and how the original clans all found out to be protective of their powerful blood) without losing his magic in the process. Someone like Orochimaru would have known how to turn himself into an original (even though Mitsuki wasn't at his ancestor's level, the child's magic was so startlingly strong that he could also perform such a ritual), however, he was also obsessed with becoming the strongest warlock simultaneously. To lose his magic wasn't worth becoming an original, apparently.
Gods, what she wouldn't give to be a real original.
"You have no chance of influencing them into allowing – intentionally or unintentionally – a possession," Sakura retorted coolly, simply. Gesturing to the mansion with a tip of her chin, she instructed Ino, "Bring them out here, but warn them of the situation and to be on their guard."
Narrowing her eyes hatefully on Sasuke for a moment and making the Uchiha smirk tauntingly, she asked, "Should I bring anyone from the clan?"
Having three originals, three of Orochimaru's descendants and herself should be plenty, she plotted to herself, providing the Uchiha Clan didn't have any unlikely, problematic allies.
The only ones likely to dive straight into a rescue mission were Itachi, Shisui and Mikoto, simply because of their undeserving love for Sasuke and wishes to protect him. They were undeniably the most loyal of the Uchiha clan, sticking together unfalteringly throughout the millennia even when the others drifted. That meant she had to have a backup for a potential ambush.
"Only those who want to come," she surprised them all by saying, prompting her to roll her eyes.
While brutal at the best of times, Sakura was not entirely cold-hearted. Not only would several of her clansmen have to face a past they potentially weren't ready for if they joined them in securing Sasuke at the plantation, but there was a high chance that many, if not all of them, would die, once the Uchiha Clan reached the scene.
Sighing dejectedly at Ino's back, she turned to face her lover with a pout that had him smirking. "And here I was hoping to be having my way with you by now."
Sasuke looked between them in disgust.
She responded in kind with a swift punch to her own gut.
"His aura is gross," whispered Yukimaru, and Sakura only vaguely noticed the way he frowned in Sasuke's direction, shying away at the tensing of the Uchiha's shoulders. "Is it because he's a ripper?"
"Likely," came the quiet response of his mother figure.
Fortunately for her own sake and sanity, despite the link and Anko tethering Sasuke to herself with a magical, invisible wire, she was not bound to them. It gave her the ability to walk ahead alongside her lover, with his siblings and Ino bringing up the rear and those who'd volunteered to aid them from her clan, taking the sides.
The coven had taken several precautions to prevent their being discovered or Sasuke escaping (without weakening Sakura), ranging from cloaking spells to false leads in case his clan were already searching, to binding said Uchiha to Anko. She was the only one daring enough to put herself at such a risk, proving the moment Sasuke was set free that she could handle herself as she instantly brought him to his knees with a brain aneurysm when he attempted to vamp out of there (effectively taking her down also – Sakura was only slightly miffed that the other woman wasn't all that apologetic about it, leaving her pouting for several minutes).
Enough of her clansmen had dared to risk their lives for them to scatter around the forest that'd grown around what was left of the derelict farmhouse, allowing the rest of them to focus solely on imprisoning Sasuke and protecting the coven from outside intervention. She had to say, she was impressed by their loyalty.
"What happens when I desiccate?" questioned Sasuke in a drawl.
Oh? Was the ripper in him growing antsy at the notion of being locked away for an undetermined length of time? Honestly, Sakura wasn't all that concerned about him having blood while imprisoned – it wasn't like he could break out even at full strength.
"Who knows?" she shot back playfully. "Maybe I'll have Anko speed up the process so that we can find out sooner."
"I will happily oblige," Anko added with a vindictive smile.
The pout from earlier returned, their responses causing Temari to bark out a single laugh, accusing, "Sadist."
Her only reply was a wider, more vicious smile thrown over her shoulder that the blonde returned with equal ferocity.
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"You know," Sakura brought up conversationally to Gaara as they trudged through the forest, uncaring if the others could hear since they were also conversing with one another. She'd always hated travelling in silence. "We're coming up to our fiftieth anniversary."
The redhead glanced down at her in amusement, questioning in a low hum, "It has already been so long?"
Not nearly long enough, she knew they thought simultaneously at the meeting of their gazes, the flash of heat in his threatening to weaken her knees.
"Most humans don't reach an anniversary of such length," she quipped, smirking.
"Most humans don't live long enough for such a celebratory event."
It was clear in the way her clan were watching their interactions that they were in awe of the rumoured ruthless psychopath showing a different side of himself, and part of Sakura wondered if that irritated him at all. However, as much as she wanted to tell her clansmen to mind their own business, she didn't necessarily want to bring attention to their eavesdropping just in case Gaara did snap.
She murmured softly, intimately, in a way she knew would attract and keep his attention, "Well, then. There's only one real way for us to celebrate."
Intrigue had him drinking in her features hungrily. "How long do you believe you will last this time?"
"They're on about chasing one another again, aren't they?" groaned Kankuro.
"Shut up, idiot. Our baby brother is happy."
"Still," Ino said with a whistle of appreciation. "I've heard all about that game of cat and mouse – I wouldn't want to get in the way of it."
"Hyped up on this much original blood?" Sakura replied like they couldn't hear the conversations of the others. Her tongue wet her lips enticingly and she saw the immediate effect it had on her lover, saw how he inched towards her before forcing himself to overcome the powerful urge. "I think it'll be close to impossible for you to find me."
Playing those games with Gaara had been the wildest few decades of her life, that was for sure. Nothing compared to the thrill of being hunted down and attempting to evade a vampire as powerful as an original (it was probably where she'd honed that self-preservation skill that impressed Mitsuki so greatly). She'd been forced to create false leads and names, showing her willing brutality by leaving live injured bodies to distract Gaara when he grew too close to her. Although he was stronger, she'd learned to be cunning.
Now? With an original's powers?
"You are lucky that Uchiha is here," growled Gaara roguishly.
She could tell in his gaze that he would have taken out everyone there to get them out of their responsibilities, if only to jumpstart their game.
And it set her body ablaze.
Breaking the spell between them before it got too out of hand, Sakura scanned the area critically and took particular note of any odd tracks or damage to wildlife. Being so far into the forest left them at a considerable disadvantage, especially as the day wore on and the sun began to set. She already knew that it was going to be a full moon that night, the cold reminder flushing all arousal out of her system since that only meant on thing: werewolves.
They were their natural (or unnatural she supposed) enemy. To an original, they weren't too big of a problem, but to an ordinary vampire such as herself? Even with original blood in her system, a single bite would kill her in the most agonising way, drawing it out for a day or two while the venom coursed through her system.
Werewolves were superior in almost every sense, particularly when they were in full control of themselves when transformed. They boasted the speed advantage, even greater heightened senses (even being drawn to vampires and sniffing them out miles away), durability, and of course, the whole lethal bite thing. Vampires were stronger, but that was proven to be useless when they were facing faster enemies.
But…
If it was to ultimately bring down the Uchiha clan, Sakura was more than willing to face them.
Well, that and plenty of her clansmen had joined. If needs be, she would simply place them between herself and the werewolves (not including the coven and Ino, of course, for they were not expendable). The Sabaku clan were capable of holding their own, considering a werewolf's bite would not kill them, merely knock them on their ass for a day or two.
"We're close," Ino informed them all.
Flicking her hair over her shoulder to sensationalize looking back at him, Sakura offered Sasuke her most impish expression as she murmured, "I hope you're not scared of confined spaces."
The only one to enter the underground prison was Sasuke, although she did stand in the doorway to watch in morbid fascination as his rapidly growing ire responded to the delightfully entertaining claustrophobia kicking in at full force. By the time he attempted to rush the only exit, however, the temporary barrier was in place and upon collision, he was sent stumbling backwards, prompting Sakura to fight back the show of her second-hand pain.
She was confident in his being cloaked from location spells, but couldn't help sending Anko a curious glance at the sneaking suspicion the simple barrier spell would be all that kept him imprisoned (since it wasn't nearly good enough and any normal witch could override it). Her favourite kind of people were the types who got their shit done the fastest, and in that moment, the trio of witches joining her had not. They were hesitating. Talking amongst themselves.
"–worth a try."
"You talk to her about it, then," she heard Guren muttering in response, clearly trying to keep her voice lowered.
"Fine," came Anko's snap and by the time she turned to face Sakura, her eyes were rolling. Not even after realising that she'd been watching and listening most of the time dissuaded Anko from whatever she was plotting. "Do you have a moment?"
"Is there a problem?" she drawled.
Never one to be intimidated by her foul moods, Anko paid her dispassionate stare and itching need to get everything over and done with as soon as possible no mind. Instead, she gestured towards the doorway where Sasuke lingered like a bad smell, his hands digging intense indentations in the stone.
"I have a risky plan that involves him."
Risky clashed with her survival instinct too much to ever be a good idea, especially when said risky plan involved using the likes of Uchiha Sasuke more than what they already were. Already, Madara had proven he didn't give a damn about the younger man and would quite happily put Sasuke down if it meant taking her out too. If they made even more of a nuisance of him, then the others would certainly follow suit.
Still, for reasons unbeknownst to Sakura, she humoured the witch, asking, "What is it?"
"You said there are a few who are more loyal than the others," Anko repeated certainly, because they all knew there was extraordinarily little chance that she misheard or made any mistakes. "His brother in particular. What if we use Uchiha Sasuke to lure them out here?"
Incredibly, stupidly, dangerously risky. So much so that it almost gave her butterflies at the sheer recklessness of luring another original clan to the area that could be crawling with werewolves in just a few hours. Unless they went into it with their eyes peeled and fully aware of every tiny detail or every possible way it could go wrong, then Sakura knew she wouldn't do it. Not a chance. And like hell she was about to lose some of her greatest assets over a plan that she knew stood a high chance of not working in their favour.
But Anko kept pushing anyways, taking her silence and deadpan stare as a no, though refusing to accept it. "We could permanently seal away those bastards."
Goddamn it.
Rolling her eyes shut while inhaling deeply to try and fight back the urge to agree instantly, Sakura damned herself to the seven pits of hell. Those ridiculously heightened emotions were threatening to get the best of her, betrayal coursing through her veins and setting her blood on fire in the process. More than that, it threatened to steal her breath like a hand was shoved straight through her chest, bringing forth all those damned memories with the man who'd cast her aside so carelessly, who'd covered the deaths of her parents and turned his back on humanity for the sake of the monster she was holding captive. Gods, she just–
Keeping her eyes shut to hide how deeply it was affecting her, Sakura asked levelly, "You can do that?"
"We can draw on the full moon to boost our strength," Anko informed her with unwavering conviction, then spared Sasuke a side eye glance to take in the sight of his demon eyes glaring back at her. "Not only using the entire coven's powers, but the moon too, will make it an otherworldly powerful spell that no ordinary witch has any hopes in ever breaking." Smirking viciously and never taking her gaze away from his, Anko added hatefully, "Anything that walks into that prison will be sealed away for all of eternity."
Damn it, she hated herself for being tempted. No, not even tempted. Persuaded. Even while knowing it was a terrible idea and instinctively wanting to run a mile from the whole situation to save her own life, Sakura wanted that assurance that she and Konoha would never be bothered by the Uchiha clan again.
"If the room is somehow destroyed?"
"Wouldn't matter. We're only using the walls as a guidance, not relying on them to keep everyone boxed in. You can even leave the door open to watch them suffer, if that's how you get your kicks."
Green eyes drifted to take in the sight of Sasuke's rigid form and grinding teeth, features wonderfully furious and promising her a whole world of pain should he be freed.
Her tongue swept along her upper lip.
"Let's do it."
"I'll summon the others–"
Horror immediately took precedence over everything else. "What?"
Anko paused in turning away, eyebrow lifting. "We should all be present to perform a spell of this magnitude."
No.
Shit, what had she done?
"Calm down."
"Calm down?" she hissed, wary of speaking too loudly with so many vampires hanging around. "They're all coming, Gaara."
Forget the witches giving people aneurysms, she was about to give herself one and Sakura didn't give a damn if it was wrong of her to prioritise one above all others. She respected the whole coven, and of course protected them and wanted to keep them separated from the originals, but she could also admit without a shred of hesitancy that Mitsuki meant a hundred times more to her than any of those other witches, which was why she was so on board with an idea to take out the entire Uchiha Clan until it became apparent that he was tagging along.
His reply was simple and nothing she hadn't thought of already, meaning it only served to piss her off hearing it coming from him. "It is only to be expected, given he is the most powerful of their coven."
"The moment that ripper bastard sees him, he's going to know who he is and what that entails," came her hateful snarl.
"Then why are you allowing your weakness for him to show so blatantly?" Gaara questioned blandly. "Is the situation for the boy not dire enough without your dramatics and emotions added to it?"
Dramatics…
Growling lowly and closing the distance between them, Sakura glowered up at her lover furiously, not missing the way his eyes lit up with great interest at the display of defiance. "What if it was someone you cared about being put in such a position? Would it be dramatic then?"
"Yes," he replied, unperturbed. Gaara held her gaze easily before shocking her with a sudden grip to the back of her head. He switched their positions effortlessly and pinned her to the nearest tree without a care for how roughly he handled her, hips demanding in the way they rolled into hers. "Those I care for are not fragile beings."
She sighed, half out of pleasure, half resigned.
Lowering his voice considerably, until she could only just make out his words with his lips brushing her earlobe, Gaara continued, saying, "Neither is the boy."
Ridiculous. "You really think he can fight off an original?" she demanded just as quietly, hands grasping at his body in a show of her annoyance. Unsurprisingly, it only spurred him on and she was rewarded with a hiss of satisfaction. "He's just a kid."
"Who happens to be Orochimaru's direct descendant." Pulling back barely a few inches to meet her eye, he barely whispered, "I know nothing of magic, yet I could sense the intensity of his powers in the short time of standing in his presence. Better yet, over time, that magical ability will only continue to grow. He is on his way to already surpassing the likes of Orochimaru, who managed to run alongside Uchiha Sasuke for decades."
Why were his words having no effect on her? Why was nothing easing that intense knot of dread in her stomach? Damn, that kid really was deep under her skin. Had it been anyone else in his position, even if it was some other innocent kid, Sakura knew she wouldn't have thought twice about using them. She just wouldn't. Sue her.
Muffling the pitiful groan that escaped her into Gaara's shoulder, she took several long, thankfully uninterrupted moments to compose herself – or try to, anyway. All the while he covered her weakness to any nosey eavesdroppers by running his hands down her body, and she knew there were no intentions or need behind it because of the lack of urgency – no, not urgency. Emotion? Inevitability?
Sakura allowed her head to fall back against the trunk and searched his features in the hopes that it would help her bring a name to the word that was just on the tip of her tongue. But the smoothness of his expression didn't help matters, nor did the distraction of him leaning closer to bring his lips to her ear, making her insides clench at his short exhale that tickled her skin.
"The celebrations start the moment this is over," he whispered hotly, finally showing his true self in the promise behind his fleeting touches that left her aching with need, telling her exactly what he planned on doing to her.
Smirking, Sakura nipped at him just when Gaara moved in for a kiss, questioning cheekily, "Do I still get a head start?"
"With my blood in your system?" he shot back arrogantly, snorting. "You won't need it."
Just as she wondered whether they would have the time for a quickie at the very least, Ino was uncaringly interrupting them, telling Sakura simply to not make a big deal of it (knowing exactly how riled up she would already be), "The coven is here."
Keeping up the façade was difficult, and she was eternally grateful for Ino effortlessly keeping Mitsuki away from Sasuke under the guise of needing to go over the plan with the entirety of the coven, to ensure everything ran smoothly. If Sasuke was suspicious about their sudden secrecy, then he didn't show it. Couldn't with Gaara taunting him from the other side of the barrier and maintaining his furious attention.
"This will be easy enough with the full moon," Kabuto assured the rest of the clan.
"The only issue is the risk of werewolves – these parts are known to be crawling with them," added Karin. Folding her arms over her chest, she was one of many who refused to take their hoods down, ruby eyes too busy glaring around the surrounding area with an unsettling familiarity. "This is all reminding me of a vision I had a while back of us going up against a pack of them."
That was exactly what she didn't need to hear in that moment, although Sakura commended herself on hiding the emotions threatening to get the best of her. Even though she was suspicious of her apprehension over Mitsuki's safety ranking higher than her hate for the Uchiha Clan, she had a better handle over it all.
"That's where the clan and I will come into play," Sakura spoke up in a drawl, cocking a hip. The heels she'd spent the day in were long lost to nature, the sight of her babies covered in mud and blood and alcohol quite honestly breaking her heart. "We will act as a guard so that you can focus solely on the spell."
Golden eyes peered up at her languidly, belying the concern hidden behind his calm words that threatened to bring a smile to her features, "Even connected to Uchiha Sasuke, you are not immune to a werewolf's venom."
"So there's a high chance of it killing her?" demanded Ino, troubled.
"We can't say for certain."
More reason to turn tail.
For the first time in fifty years, Sakura instead chose to turn her back on her survival instincts to look at the bigger picture.
"It doesn't matter," she stunned them by saying resolutely. "If this is what it takes to take them down, then I'm in."
Growling at her stubbornness, Ino looked to the coven, questioning, "Can't you guys come up with some kind of cure for a werewolf's venom? You are the most powerful coven after all, right?"
Tayuya rolled her eyes, answering, "If we were syphons, then sure. We could've sucked the venom out of her system by drawing on the magical energy, but we're not."
"I don't think I've ever seen a syphon, or even heard of one since Orochimaru's time."
The blonde turned her back on them all and put more distance between them to try and compose herself, muttering angrily, "Damn it."
With little else to be said at that point, for they were simply wasting time if they did, Sakura escorted the coven to Uchiha Sasuke and his prison, schooling her features into a harsh, uncaring mask that screamed her enjoyment of seeing him so helpless. Claw marks marred the doorframe all around him and the Uchiha's features were undeniable livid, demon eyes set on Gaara's equally hateful ones until they shifted to hers.
"Now, now," she taunted. "You should be behaving yourself."
"Why?" he shot back in a sneer. "It's not like some poxy human prison sentence where I can and will be released early for good behaviour."
Shrugging in a what-can-you-do sort of way, Sakura ran a hand down Gaara's arm to distract him from his murderous glowering, tipping her chin towards the coven in a silent order for him to stay close to them, just in case the rest of the Uchiha clan launched some form of retaliation. With a low growl, he did so, easing the knot in her stomach somewhat by coming to stand at Mitsuki's side.
Of course, that instantly brought Sasuke's attention to the young boy, but there really was no escaping it and so Sakura merely resigned herself to his being discovered as he lowered the hood of his cloak, taking particular interest in the way Sasuke's features deadpanned at the sight of Mitsuki, unable to look away from those hauntingly familiar golden eyes. It was like all other emotions were shut down, leaving him to stand there limply in a state of disbelief.
"Orochimaru's obsession," Mitsuki stated, not asked as he held Sasuke's gaze unfalteringly.
"Yeah, I still don't get it myself," came Temari's muttered response, teal eyes rolling. "Of all the originals to choose from, he went for that guy."
Utterly stunning her, the young warlock shook his head in disagreement, saying, "It makes sense."
"How so?"
Sasuke's jaw clenched at the faint traces of surprise in Mitsuki's expression, and he only grew more unsettled when he said, "I can sense the difference in you from the other originals here."
"Shut up."
But he didn't. Mitsuki refused to and Sakura felt her heart leap up into her throat when he continued, "You're weaker."
Whirling around just as Sasuke launched himself forward, she bared her teeth at him, revealing the stake she'd kept hidden for that exact reason and pressing it threateningly to her chest. Instantly, it had him reluctantly backing down with a curling upper lip, barely stopping short of the barrier that would have caused him to fall back on his ass anyway. The only reason why she stopped the embarrassing spectacle he would have made of himself, was because she would have experienced the wind being knocked out of her also.
"What makes you weaker?" pondered Mitsuki curiously.
What made him so different from the rest?
Sakura's eyebrow quirked with similar interest to the young boy's, only partially listening to the conspiracy theories sweeping throughout the gathered crowd. Ranging from his ripper gene being to blame, to his being the youngest of his clan, she silently overlooked each possibility. It didn't really matter why he was weaker, although it did explain Orochimaru's obsession with him and his family's determination to protect him (well, mother, brother and cousin – the rest didn't care for him as much, if not straight up detested him).
"It doesn't matter," Anko spoke up over the rest of them, silencing everyone. "We need to start the spell before Karin's vision comes to pass."
"Vision?"
Tilting her head fractionally in the redhead's direction, she indicated for her to answer Sasuke's question. She did so with a stony expression, body rigid as that calculating gaze continued to rake across the clearing and forest, showing her anxiety for all to see and not caring in the slightest.
"Of the future. Sometimes." Shifting in her footing and dismissing Sasuke entirely, Karin muttered to her coven, "We need to hurry."
Mitsuki took the lead with the spell, coming to stand mere inches in front of Sasuke much to Sakura's internal horror. Even with the rational part of herself repeating that he couldn't get him, that Sasuke physically could not cross that temporary barrier, all she continued to think was it was just temporary. What would happen if it dropped for even the briefest of moments while erecting the new one? What if he used that split second to lash out at him?
Fucking emotions, she snarled. They were such a hindrance.
Back when she was a human, Sakura was the type to worry endlessly for her loved ones and any bond she created with another, was cherished deeply and with every fibre of her being. Those feelings were maddeningly intensified when transitioning and her only reprieve had been during those days with her humanity off.
It was so goddamn tempting to return to that switch, just for the duration of the spell.
"This won't hold me for long," promised Sasuke in a low growl.
"The dead cannot help you," Kabuto replied. Coming to flank Mitsuki with Anko on his right, they each placed a hand on the boy's shoulders, the rest of the coven fanning around them and beginning low chants. "Orochimaru was impressive but detested by the rest of our coven – both deceased and alive. Combined, we overpower him."
No fear or concern showed in Sasuke's expression as he kept his hard eyes locked on Mitsuki's.
Sakura risked a glance behind her at the Sabaku clan, swallowing at the charge of magic pulsating around the clearing, stirring up debris, powerful enough to tear leaves from their trees and creating a vortex around the coven, only growing in force when their chanting grew louder.
The young boy's pale hands rose and were directed at the prison and Sasuke, brows knitting together in concentration.
Warily, understanding that she was perhaps just a little too close to ground zero, Sakura took several steps back until she was by Ino's side.
The full moon shone down on them like it approved of their actions and was willingly allow the coven to draw upon its powers, its already wondrous glow the brightest she believed she had ever witnessed before, even with the fire illuminating the clearing and his prison. Almost as though he was having similar thoughts, Sasuke looked up at it in admiration but stunned her by the comfort that briefly flickered in his gaze before he shut his eyes, inhaling deeply.
She was much too old and cynical to think for even a moment that it was him resigning himself to such a fate, and so Sakura shut her eyes in concentration, listening intently to the surrounding area.
That was when she heard the first scream.
Instantly, Ino whirled around and was only stopped by Sakura's hand gripping her forearm. "The others–"
"We need to see this through."
It was like each scream that followed the first cut the blonde deeply as she continuously flinched, her expression darkening each time it happened. "They're dying!"
The unmistakable howling that pierced through the night instinctively had Sakura tightening her hold on her righthand woman, keeping Ino by her side despite the angered response. Even if she wasn't on original blood, her friend would never have been able to overpower her, and it showed in the helplessness of the blue eyes that begged of Sakura to let her go and help them.
"You'll die," she snarled back.
"You will all die," taunted Sasuke confidently, his smirk vicious.
His clan.
Holy fuck, his clan had ties to werewolves.
She could tell from the disbelieving understanding sweeping through the Sabaku clan that she was right. Something had definitely clicked in their minds, something great enough to make Temari, of all people, pale.
Rather than give into those emotions, she looked between her brothers, telling them, "Split up. We'll take out as many as we can."
They can't die, Sakura reminded herself.
Gaara met her eye, ordering in a low mutter, "Do not do anything reckless."
All she could do was nod in response, throat constricting at their vamping out of the clearing. All the while, the screaming continued but slowly, tortuously, faded away one at a time, replaced by tormented sobs or groans that told them the werewolves weren't finishing them off instantly. They were leaving her clan to suffer.
It was definitely Itachi's doing.
Their biggest issue was not knowing how many to predict or knowing if the Uchiha Clan had accompanied the werewolves. Was it a rescue mission where they would come for Sasuke, or merely a counterattack to inflict as much damage as they could?
"Sakura," growled Ino.
Instantly noting the difference in her tone and hearing that it was more than defiance, green eyes darted from blue to follow their line of sight, the scene before her making Sakura clench her jaw tightly. There was no longer a need to keep hold of her righthand man and so she released Ino, prompting her to stand before the coven protectively with a minute tip of her chin.
They were close, tearing through the forest and whatever was left of her clan effortlessly. From the sounds of it, Sakura could tell that some of them didn't even break stride to rip chunks from her clansmen (explaining why some were left behind to suffer), their rumbles and howls echoing in her mind nauseatingly.
"Finally," huffed Sasuke. He leaned against the stone wall, arms crossing arrogantly over his chest. "Took you long enough, dobe."
She would have to intersect them to ensure the spell wasn't disturbed.
"Like hell I'm leaving you–"
"Go, Ino," she ordered firmly, never for a moment taking her attention away from the snarling pack barrelling closer and closer and closer. "I have a higher chance of surviving this thanks to Sasuke. But you don't and I can't lose you. So go. Now!"
"Sakura–" Mitsuki tried, and Sasuke's eyes lit up with interest at the lapse in concentration that showed through the rest of the coven as they demanded he refocused on their spell.
Shaking her head determinedly at him and prompting him to silence himself with a scowl, Sakura wasted little time in spinning and charging into the forest, ignoring that pesky voice that hissed for her change her direction and run away not towards.
She quickly darted further east, fists clenching at the crunching of the ground up ahead. It wasn't until she sensed how close they'd gotten that she increased her speed to meet the pack head on, using her momentum to her advantage when punching their leader and sending him hurtling into a nearby tree. The rest of them came to an abrupt halt, but it wasn't until the leader was getting to his feet that they crept closer to her, their heads dipping and tongues licking at their lips menacingly.
The sight of their deadly saliva spilling from their mouths had her inwardly flinching, hoping and praying that being connected to Sasuke granted her the ability to overcome a werewolf bite.
Just until the unbreakable barrier was in place.
Upper lip curling hatefully, she strengthened her resolve and lowered herself into a defensive stance, muttering, "What're you waiting for, mutts?"
A/N - Oooof, Itachi's ace, or is it Sasuke's? Hmmm
Thank you all so much for the support so far! After the response for the last chapter, I thought you all deserved this update - well, that and I find writing this story therapeutic for some strange reason haha. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed it!