Thank you once again to everybody who reviewed the last chapter. In response to Emilia's question about the poems at the start of each one, yes, I do indeed write them.
We have our first piece of artwork for this story everyone! SO exciting! One of my readers Aria very kindly took the time to create this masterpiece. I adore it and just love the catch-line too. Have a look here:
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Replace words with symbols. Link will also be placed on my profile page.
Many thanks again Aria, you're mega talented and I'm honoured and flattered that you chose to dedicate artwork to my story ; )
This chapter involves Sakura's first impressions of the Underworld so will be description heavy again. You have been warned!
Chapter VI
Flee, flee,
Sightlessly and in haste,
In endless, tormented circles,
Until all breath is spent,
And you know not which way,
The hallowed light went,
For in such a place as this,
There is no respite.
Sakura tossed a wild-eyed glance back over her shoulder as she burst into the grand entrance hall. He wasn't following her. She wasn't certain whether to feel relieved or apprehensive over the fact.
Don't think about him, a small, rational voice suddenly broke through the pandemonium of her thoughts. Just find a way out of here.
She complied. Rushing to the titanic doors, she pushed desperately at them with her palms, knowing that her only hope of escape lay beyond the mighty obstruction they posed. To her astonishment, they swung soundlessly and effortlessly open, as though they weighed little more than a feather. Sakura watched them part for a moment – and then darted through the opening.
She found herself standing in a porch-like structure constructed from the same black marble as the palace's interior, enclosed within a frame of sturdy balustrades. Set within the left and right hand corners were torches that blazed cool blue flame. The banisters separated directly before her, leading to a short set of steps that overlooked a stretching path, flanked on both sides by most unusual looking trees. They were tall and stately, growing at perfectly aligned intervals, their barks pure charcoal black, gently curving up to slender, graceful boughs that bore deep-hued, crimson flowers. Red, velvety petals were strewn across the stone-set ground, providing a rich burst of life in a landscape that otherwise seemed devoid of colour. Sakura turned her face upward to gaze at a midnight sky. Confusion anchored her in place; where was the moon? Where were the stars and the clouds? It was pitch black and impossible to make anything out.
She felt air stir strands of her hair and the loose ends of her skirt; saw it do the same to the deflowered petals on the ground, yet she felt no tickling breeze against her skin. Unnerved, Sakura hurried down the stairs and set foot on the path, forcing herself to keep her eyes ahead of her and not examine her surroundings in any further detail. The Carousel Guy- Sasuke, her mind hastily substituted, hadn't chosen to pursuit her immediately. That didn't mean that he wouldn't at all, and so she couldn't afford to waste time. The straight path seemed to extend forever, and she was near breathless by the time she finally glimpsed an ending in the distance. As she neared it, her eyes made out towering gates, wrought with strong, elaborate coils of iron. They glowed with soft, eerie blue-white light as if charged with some form of magical essence - which was, Sakura firmly told herself before incredulous panic could kick-in again, another impossibility. They were probably just built from giant cuts of glow-in-the-dark metals – however unlikely that alternative was, also.
In the middle of the enormous gates, carved into an octagonal, silver plate was a crest; a curved, red semi-circle, under which was a smaller white one, with something protruding from the bottom. A fan, Sakura realised. Then her gaze, which had been preoccupied by the imposing sight the gates offered, fell to focus on what lay beyond the barriers, and the blood froze in her veins.
Darkness and mist. Somehow the gates seemed to be warding the snaking tendrils back, for none dared to enter through the gaps in the iron. With a trembling hand, Sakura slipped an arm through a swirling coil, felt icy coldness bite painfully into her skin. She snatched her hand back with a startled gasp, cradled it over her pounding heart as her eyes tried to discern what was beyond the shrouded haze.
She couldn't see anything. Did she truly want to go out there? What was the only other alternative? Returning to the palace and admitting defeat to a mad stranger who had quite calmly admitted to abducting her? No. Anything was better than facing Sasuke again - even stepping into the freezing unknown. She'd have no chance at escaping if she remained in place like a sitting duck. And she didn't want to stick around long enough to discover exactly what her captor wanted from her.
The very thought of uncovering Sasuke's intentions caused a shiver of fear to bolt down her spine and Sakura resolutely made her decision. She reached out, curling little fingers around the large twists of iron. How could she hope to budge an even bigger pair of gates than the last ones? She looked pleadingly up at them.
Please open, she mentally pleaded. Please, let me through.
With a quiet hum, the crest above her glowed a pale blue and Sakura watched in gawping amazement as the gates parted silently outward for her. Blinking out of her stupor, she cast a hasty glance back over her shoulder, to find that the path was still, thankfully, empty – and then stepped over the wide, silver threshold. The gates swung shut behind her, closing with a resounding click, and the mist enveloped Sakura immediately, wrapping around her like a white cloak. She was overcome with terror, nearly stepped instinctively back toward the reassuring glow of the iron doors, just about discernible behind her, but forced herself to remain still. She had to find a way out of wherever it was that Sasuke had transported her to, and she could only do that if she remained focused.
Breathe, Sakura, she told herself, inhaling deeply. It's only mist. And so it was - cool damp, harmless mist. She edged along, with no bearing and no comfort, save for the crystal pendant which she clutched tightly in her right hand. Thoughts of her mother caused tears to prickle at her eyes. What she wouldn't give to see her again! To be amongst the safety of friends, in a warm place away from the foreign, disconcerting environment into which she had been plunged.
Thrice her feet stumbled, tripping over unseen cracks and ridges in the gravelly ground beneath her. She had wandered off the path she'd set out on, which was of little surprise given that her visibility was restricted so that it was utterly impossible to see beyond her outstretched left arm. It was difficult not to submit to panicked thoughts as she moved gingerly forward. Who knew what was lurking in the vapour around her? If she was heading straight toward a cliff edge, she would be oblivious to the danger until it was too late. Or if Sasuke had finally decided to follow after her, she would surely have no way of detecting him in time. The final possibility frightened her far more than the others, and she waved frantically at the mist, silently willing it to disappear. But it seemed to get denser and colder. She could feel the dampness against her skin and hair. Chilled to the bone, Sakura had no choice but to plough on ahead.
It seemed to her that she had walked for an age before the white haze finally, blessedly, began to clear. Relief overcame her when she was able to see the ground upon which she was walking again. It was grey and gravelly, strewn with small stones. Eventually, the mist cleared entirely, and she found herself standing in what appeared to be a yawning cavern. Spectacular, crystal rock formations hung high from the ceilings like sharp daggers, glowing eerie shades of amethyst. Sakura felt her jaw lower at the sight. Dull stalagmites of various sizes had shaped on the ground, snaking about the expanse of the hollow space like distorted figures. To her left was a jagged black wall, glinting with slightly lighter flecks of stone. Its rock face wound around, leading off to another section that escaped her perception. Attached to it at carefully placed intervals were sconces bearing torches that burned with the same blue fire she had witnessed crackling outside Sasuke's dwelling place. Apart from the stalactites, they provided the only source of illumination in the darkness.
Sakura released a quivering breath. The cavern was immense, sprawling out and disappearing into shadows beyond her field of vision. She had never seen anything quite like it in her life; it was an awe-inspiring natural landscape of magnificent proportions – but her numbed mind couldn't appreciate its hushed beauty. Her body was trembling so violently that she was certain she was going into shock. She hadn't quite known what to expect when stepping out of the cold mist, but it certainly wasn't what she had found. Why had Sasuke brought her to such a place? What did he want from her?
Maybe he's still angry, her mind, in stark contrast to her frozen limbs, was racing - perhaps a little too fast. Hysterically fast. I got on the ride after closing hours. I sat on his favourite horse. That must be it. The guy holds one hell of a grudge.
She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the thought. Instead she burst into tears, releasing small snivelling, weeping sounds as her composure slipped rapidly through her fingers like fine grains of sand. Behind her was the endless mist and Sasuke's dark palace, and before her was a terrifying unknown.
What was she to do? What could she do?
Fourteen missed calls. That was how many times Sakura's mother had attempted to connect to her daughter's cell by the time Ino's father had driven them back home. Her throat clogged with tears, Ino stared down at the caller ID screen as it illuminated once again.
Mother.
She had meant to answer right away. She had wanted to pick up on the second missed call. But she hadn't found the courage. Guilt gnawed away at her; what could she possibly say to Mrs Haruno that would lessen the blow of discovering that her only child had vanished into thin air?
Raising the phone slowly to her ear, Ino finally swiped the accept tab. Her heart was pounding and she felt sick to her stomach with dread and fear. But Hinata's fingers gripping her hand and the girl's silent, reassuring presence were a little comfort.
"Sakura!" Mrs Haruno's furious voice practically barked on the other side of the line. "How many times have I tried calling you? Where have you-"
"M-Mrs Haruno, it's me," Ino said hoarsely.
There was a tense pause. And then, in a completely different tone and one that caused Ino's blood to drain from her face, "Ino. Where is Sakura?"
Beside her, Hinata was looking anxious, her lovely features reflecting the negative emotions swarming within the blonde.
"Well, y-you see, Mrs Haruno; we were stuck a-and I was j-just o-on the phone-" Ino began to stutter, and sharply inhaled when Mrs Haruno's deceptively calm voice interrupted her.
"Where is my daughter?"
"I don't know!" Ino burst into a fresh round of tears, prompting Hinata to gasp in dismay. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, Mrs Haruno; I just t-took my eye off her for a second, and she-she just disappeared, I-"
"WHERE IS SHE?" Ino sobbed harder as the formidable woman's angry voice erupted loud enough for her father, who had been stationed by the doorway, to hear. Ever the picture of composure, he moved swiftly to his daughter's side and plucked the phone out of her hand, raising it to his own ear. Placing a gentle yet firm palm on Ino's shoulder to guide her to sit on one of the kitchen stools as Hinata desperately attempted to comfort her, Inoichi spoke quietly into the cell.
"Tsunade. I would ask you to refrain from yelling at my daughter. She's in enough of a state already without you-" he broke off, as Tsunade's voice thundered at him in response.
"Where is my child?"
"Please calm down. Sakura wandered into the woods. The police are doing everything they can to find-" he stopped, as the line abruptly disconnected. Scowling, he turned back to his daughter, who was weeping inconsolably. He felt a stab of pain in his heart. It distressed him to see her in such a wretched state. He knew how ridiculously attached she was to Sakura, how fondly she always spoke of her friend when she wasn't around.
'Sakura's an angel, dad. I think she's too good, sometimes.'
'I'm going around to Sakura's. She's so hopeless without me.'
His frown intensified. What could he do to aid his daughter?
The solution whispered in his mind. There was only one way to help. And to do it would mean tapping into something he had refrained from using for a very long time.
He glanced at the Hyuuga girl's distraught face, watched his only child's slender shoulders heave with misery, and made his decision.
When the tears had finally ceased, Sakura's feet carried her around the wall. Perhaps her decision to follow its curve subconsciously reflected her association with light as a source of comfort, even if it came in the form of unnatural blue fire. The rock face looped around to an equally endless expanse, beset with the same plunging rock formations. Except this time, Sakura glimpsed a clear separation in the stones scattered about the ground. A pale silver path was winding along, a glowing strip in the darkness. She turned to the torch behind her, trying to pull it from its sconce. Relief flooded through her when it lifted obediently into her grasp. Gripping tightly onto it as though it were an anchor rooting her to sanity, Sakura stepped onto the path and began to follow its route, hoping it would lead her to an exit.
For a long time she walked in a frightened hush, her wide eyes taking in the staggering size of the cavern. Natural slopes rose up at various intervals and boulders, some cracked and shattered, littered the place. Sakura was disconcerted by just how silent it was; surely there ought to be bats or other forms of wildlife in such an environment? But the only sounds travelling to her ears were the trudging movements of her feet and the throbbing of her own pulse.
She continued along the trail as it twisted and turned, and had just walked down a gentle slant when her eyes suddenly caught the glimmer of blue flame ahead of her. The direction it flickered from led away from the path. Reasoning that she could always retrace her steps to the silver route, Sakura began heading toward the light. As she neared, she found two torches mounted against mammoth boulders. There was a gap between them. Sakura hesitated fractionally, before slipping through the opening, raising the torch to navigate through the snaking space, keeping her left hand pressed against the cool rock-face.
Eventually she stepped out into another vast area illuminated by an eerie glow of light. Her eyes widened as she gazed at the new landscape before her. She had reached what looked to be a gravelly riverbank of sorts. Full-bodied, silver torches emblazoned with golden swirls were stationed around the perimeter of the land, crackling with the same strange blue fire. Shoots of what looked to be black grass grew sparsely and erratically out of cracks in the ground. Boulders large enough to sit on were scattered irregularly about. Sakura turned her face up to the roof of the cavern. It was impossible to define, disappearing into endless shadow. She was certain that the air felt slightly cooler and fresher – or perhaps it was only her imagination, her mind tricking her senses into believing that she was making progress, in some kind of twisted, desperate form of self-defence.
Placing her torch to rest against the rock-face, Sakura slowly walked to the water's edge and stared out at the quiet bed of liquid before her. She was disturbed to find that it showed no reflection when she leaned over to regard herself in it. It seemed black and bottomless in depth and limitless in span. A thick, sinister blanket of mist hovered in the horizon, blocking off a clear line of view. To her dismay, there didn't seem to be any boats about. And there was no way she was prepared to swim for an indefinite distance. Who knew what lurked in such murky looking waters?
Despair crept over her, causing her shoulders to slump in dejection. She understood, now, why Sasuke hadn't even bothered to tail her. There was probably no simple way out of the gloomy cavern. She was well and truly trapped, and his palace was the only place that offered warmth, the most comforting environment in an otherwise alien world.
But she wouldn't go back. She couldn't. The muscles in her legs were aching from walking for so long, and the soles of her feet felt bruised. Her flats hadn't been designed to navigate over such harsh terrain. She was hungry and overcome, and above all else, her kidnapper scared her. Of that much she was certain, though she knew little else of him.
Head bowed forlornly, Sakura glanced arbitrarily to her right and that was when she saw it - a small figure hunched by the nearest boulder. Her heart leapt as renewed hope sprung within her. There was someone else there! She hurried over to the form. As she approached it, she found that it was a woman with long, plaited hair, clothed in a dark tattered robe, huddled with her legs drawn up to her chest, her face buried in her knees. She was rocking and moaning as if she were in pain. Sakura's caring nature kicked instinctively into motion and without a thought she reached out to grasp the woman's shoulder.
"Hello?" she said softly. "Are you alright-?" Her breath caught in her throat as she watched her hand slip straight through the woman's clothing. She cried out in surprise, and leapt fearfully back. The woman didn't move, didn't acknowledge her presence at all - just continued to make agitated, distressed noises.
Trembling, Sakura backed away. Her hand had gone through the woman like she was a hologram. Or a ghost. Oh, God. She could feel the panic closing around her throat again, choking her. She had to be dreaming, stuck in a nightmare, regardless of what Sasuke had so convincingly informed her. There could be no other explanation – unless she was losing her mind. But suddenly her eyes were finding the outlines of other figures, all crouching and stooped over, clutching at their heads. Men and women of different ages and horribly, children also, rocking as if to comfort themselves. Sakura realised with rapidly mounting horror that there was something wrong with them – they didn't appear to be completely solid. They seemed – washed out, somehow. They were there – and yet they weren't. She thought she heard whispers in the air, spoken in a language she couldn't comprehend at first. Yet the harder she listened, the more the sighed, echoing words began to make sense.
'I'm not ready. Not ready to cross over. Not now.'
'Oh, Great God! Have mercy upon my soul!'
'If I hide here, they won't find me. They can't make me get on that boat. I'll die first.'
'This place. It's so scary! I want to go home to my mother.'
Sakura's left hand rose to her quivering lips. The woeful things she was hearing… did they belong to the ghostly people around her? She stumbled backwards, her heart beating sickeningly fast. What was this God-forsaken place? She was just about to turn away and flee, so petrified and unable was she to look upon the pitiful figures any further, when a sharp, female voice suddenly rang out, reverberating clearly across the hollowness of the area.
"Here they are! Hurry! Round them up!"
Sakura scurried frantically back to the gap between the colossal boulders. Peeking around the edge of the right one, she watched in alarm as tall, brawny men dressed in black leather marched down the bank like formidable soldiers. She swallowed as she glimpsed the gauntlets adorning their thick arms and weapons clipped to silver chains at their belts. They reached down and hauled the hunched figures up, some having the mercy to be gentler with the children and women, others not – and lugged them away. Sakura heard echoing cries and anguished screams, before all became silent once more. She released a shaky breath, watched it vaporise into nothingness before her eyes. She had no other choice. She would have to return to the palace and confront Sasuke, because the only other alternative was far too disturbingly horrifying for her to even-
Her breath hitched when a hand suddenly shot out, closing around her throat, dragging her out of her hiding spot. A whimper escaped her lips as she was slammed against the rock face with enough force to knock the air from her lungs. Gasping with fright, Sakura looked dizzily up to find herself staring up into a taller, bespectacled young woman's face. She was slender, had a choppy, uneven haircut - short on one side, longer on the other - and possessed stern features; thin lips and a hawkish nose set in a pale, oval face. She was dressed in a long, black, hooded robe. Her narrowed eyes appeared violet beneath the tint of blue light and she looked unkind and unsympathetic. Sakura instantly knew that she was in trouble.
"A castaway?' the young woman's voice was husky and she shook her head condescendingly, as though Sakura was an errant child caught doing a very bad thing. She grabbed a fistful of Sakura's hair, jerking her forward and began to walk, forcing the terrified girl to follow after her.
"Ow!" Sakura protested, trying futilely to disengage the cruel grip on her tresses. It hurt.
The young woman was talking on, paying her objections no heed. "They always think they can run. Idiots," she muttered, as if she were thinking aloud. "You'd think they'd figure it out once they see the boats, but nooo. They keep clinging to hope, that maybe it's some kind of nightmare. Well it isn't. Wake up and smell the coffee, humans."
Sakura's eyes widened. The hold on her head made it impossible for her to see anything but the stone-strewn ground. The reference to coffee was absurd, so at odds with everything she had seen and heard. It was such a normal statement, in a place that was anything but.
"All aboard," the woman mumbled "We're ready to set sail, captain."
The fingers in her hair loosened and Sakura was shoved forward. She stumbled, looking up to find that she had joined a queue of people who looked panicked and dejected. They were shuffling along, monitored by the intimidating men in black. Sakura gulped as she spotted a spiked whip in the grip of one bearded, mean-faced man. Then she noticed that another line ran parallel to the one she was in – but it was much shorter. And the people in it looked more relaxed, happier. Most were children, and a few elderly people. Sakura's confused eyes turned to regard the shoreline far ahead of her. Two large boats were partly docked on the pebbly coast. One was black, lined with skulls, and the other a pure, milky, glowing white, carved with feathers. Sakura was standing in the row that led to the ominous black boat. Her racing mind wasn't given the chance to piece what that meant, because somewhere in front of her, a commotion was breaking out. A middle-aged woman was trying to cross to the other line. She was hysterical, screaming and sobbing and begging somebody's forgiveness.
"No! Don't make me board that boat! I'm sorry! I didn't know he was married! He told me he loved me! I'm sorry!"
The bearded man's whip cracked. The woman screamed and fell back. Other people, inspired by her attempt, surged forward, and for a terrible moment there was utter disorder. Whips and spiked clubs swiped through the air, forcing howling people to return to their places.
Sakura had never seen anything so horrible. She backed senselessly away – bumping straight into the bespectacled woman who had thrust her into the queue.
"Hey, girl," she prodded her forward again. "Get back in line!"
"No!" Sakura gasped, whirling to face her with wild, glassy eyes. "Please, I-"
The woman raised her own whip, frowning down at Sakura as though she were a great inconvenience – or an insect that needed to be flicked. "Don't give me that bug-eyed look – it never works! You're dead, idiot! And you're getting on that boat!"
Dead. The word echoed in Sakura's numbed mind, ricocheting all over the place, leaving her head buzzing and her stomach lurching with sudden, awful realisation. Dead. The people filed before the boats – all looking as though they weren't completely physically there – were not living. Horror closed her throat, made it impossible for her to speak any further. She gaped helplessly at the glaring woman, watched unseeingly as the whip rose and began to fall down upon her. She waited for the sting of pain, hoped that it would somehow awaken her from the horrendous hallucination she had somehow fallen into back at the meadow – but it never came. Sakura blinked, found that a towering, broad-shouldered young man with what appeared to be orange-hued, spiky hair and wider, kinder eyes had seized the woman's slim wrist, preventing her from lashing her whip. He was cloaked in the same hooded black robe, and was staring down at Sakura with a look of concern on his face.
"Are you alright, Miss?"
Sakura released an astonished breath. Someone was talking to her. Kindly. She had the sudden urge to cry all over again, but bit into her lower lip, fighting the tears back.
"Juugo, you idiot!" the woman hissed, jerking her arm back and throwing a livid glare up at the youth. "What are you doing? The queue is moving! You know what the Master will do if he-"
"This girl isn't dead. Have you forgotten what a living human looks like, Karin?"
The woman, Karin, stiffened. "What?" she snapped, and then her eyes locked onto Sakura, and she peered directly into her face as though she were a curious specimen of sorts. "What do you mean she's alive? What would a living human be doing here?"
Her companion, Juugo, was staring at Sakura in wide-eyed fascination. "That light," he said softly. "It glows."
"Huh?" Karin scowled, her eyes narrowing into slits as she gave Sakura a quick glance over. She couldn't see any light. "What's your name, girl?" she demanded.
"S-Sakura," Sakura stuttered. "Sakura Haruno."
She watched in bewilderment as Karin lifted a hand and looked at her palm. It glowed with a strange, pale red light, revealing writing that Sakura couldn't decipher. It seemed to scroll up. She had what appeared to be a small tablet screen in her skin. Just as Sakura's overwhelmed brain was trying to process this unbelievable fact, Karin's frown turned into a look of genuine confusion.
"Her name isn't on the list."
"She's not dead," Juugo repeated. And then, "Our apologies, Miss. Please don't worry about the boat; you shan't be boarding it."
Karin lowered her hand and regarded Sakura coolly. "Where did you come from?" she asked, still wholly unsympathetic to the girl's plight.
Sakura slowly exhaled. A quick glance over her shoulder informed her that the queue to the white boat had all but disappeared. The one leading to the black one was still shuffling along, though it was gradually getting shorter.
"I woke up here," Sakura replied, hearing the unsteady wobble in her voice. She was certain that she was experiencing a delayed reaction to shock, wondered when she'd start freaking out and screaming until she lost consciousness again. Maybe blacking out would be the best course of action. Suddenly she didn't want to be awake.
Juugo and Karin exchanged silent glances. Then Karin said sarcastically, "Humans – living ones – don't just wake up here. This isn't a holiday resort."
Sakura felt her body starting to tremble again. Juugo shot a warning look at Karin, but before he could say anything else, Sakura whispered, "He brought me here."
Karin squinted, as if she hadn't heard right. "What?"
Juugo's eyes had widened further. He looked alarmed. "The Master…?"
"Huh?" Karin stared incredulously at him. "The Master? Why would the Master-" she broke off abruptly, and her face seemed to blanch in the pale blue light. "H-hey, you; I didn't hurt you, right? It was a misunderstanding – right?"
Sakura blinked at her unexpected change in tone. The Master. She had heard the maids in the palace mention the name too. They meant Sasuke. Of that she was now undoubtedly certain. She couldn't think of anyone else they would refer to who invoked such a fearful reaction. So she wasn't the only one who found her abductor utterly terrifying. Even his own subjects – for that is what the people standing before her seemed to be – were afraid of him. The fact only made her feel even more uneasy.
"Please," she entreated. It took a great deal of effort to get the words out, but Sakura felt she would go mad if she didn't learn the answer to the most pressing question on her mind. "I-I don't know where I am. What is this place?"
Karin snorted, her expression quickly reverting to one of derision. "At least the dead have an excuse to be thick. Your brain's still functioning, and you haven't figured it out?"
"Karin," Juugo said quietly. "This young lady is our guest."
His companion snorted at that. "She's not my guest. And we have a job to do, idiot. We've wasted enough time; Nagato's ferrying the next bunch of souls over right now." Flashing a false smile at Sakura, Karin finished sweetly, "Excuse us, Suckura."
"Sakura-" Sakura began to correct automatically, but Karin had already turned away and was stomping across the bank toward the opposite side of the coastline. Juugo lingered hesitantly behind.
"Sorry, Miss. The Underworld is such a busy place." With one final, apologetic look, Juugo offered her a timid smile, before following dutifully after Karin.
Sakura watched them go and her vision began to blur when her mind suddenly registered Juugo's parting words. She wasn't in a normal cavern. She was somewhere buried deep within the ground. Flashes of memory streamed before her eyes. The earth splitting open beneath her feet, her balance lost as she plummeted into the endless crevice of darkness. The images were marrying with what her bewildered eyes had seen since fleeing the palace. People who weren't quite there. Misty lakes. Mysterious boats docked at shorelines. People lining up like cattle to board them. Souls, according to Karin, who were making journeys to what was likely to be their final destination.
Sakura most certainly wasn't dead. Her erratically beating heart was proof enough of that fact. And yet Sasuke had chosen to transport her to this dreadful place, for reasons still unknown to her. Dread twisted like a knife in her gut as she acknowledged that there was only one true way for her to gain all the answers she so desperately sought. And that was to talk to him in person – the very last thing she had wanted to do.
A fearful, choked sob escaped her lips and her chest heaved for oxygen as she felt the ice-cold fingers of mindless panic wind around her once again. Suddenly she couldn't bear to stay by the river's edge. She couldn't stand the anguished cries and wails of the poor souls who were getting on what was so obviously the wrong boat. Without another thought, she pivoted away, returning to the gap in the rock-face, snatching up her still flickering torch and proceeding to flee back in the direction she had come. But her feet carried her blindly, and her eyes couldn't locate the silver path in the dimness. Sakura kept running and running, until her burning lungs screamed out for oxygen and her aching legs refused to carry her any further. Strangled with despair, she collapsed by a boulder, dropping the torch onto the ground. Short, hysterical gasps of air escaped her lips as she wept harder than ever, her shoulders wracking with every shuddering breath she took. She couldn't get the image of the ghostly bodies huddled by the water's edge out of her head.
"M-mother," she sobbed, clutching tightly onto her pendant, the only enduring source of comfort that had not been stolen from her. "Mother…"
Before the bell could even ring, Kakashi had opened the front door to stare down at an uncharacteristically glum Naruto. He stepped silently aside, permitting the youth to enter his apartment. Naruto slumped familiarly into one of the brown leather couches lining the spacious lounge, and Kakashi stood with his hands in his pockets, waiting patiently for the young man to speak. When he eventually did, his voice was hoarse and thick with emotion.
"She's gone, Kakashi."
"I know," Kakashi replied after a slight pause. "Tsunade just called."
Naruto's right hand clenched into a tight fist and lifted to press angrily against his forehead. "How could I have lost her?" he squeezed his eyes shut, mentally at war with his guilt-plagued conscience. "How could I have slipped up?"
Kakashi sighed heavily, before slowly replying, "We've been doing this for a long time, now, Naruto. Complacency is only a natural consequence-"
Naruto leapt to his feet, his eyes blazing indignant cobalt fire. "Bullshit," he raged. "It's not. This is Sakura-chan we're talking about. I was supposed to watch over her. But I guess I'm just as dense as I was back then, huh?" Releasing a bitter laugh, Naruto shook his head, suddenly lost in his memories. "Even after all this time, I still screw things up."
Kakashi's visible eye lowered as he was momentarily drawn into the recollections that Naruto was referring to; they had all screwed up back then, him most of all, yet Naruto still shouldered the blame upon himself alone. Then, noticing the satchel resting by the couch, Kakashi nodded, "Sakura's?"
The blond looked down at it and swallowed thickly. "We found it in a field. There were flowers all over it."
Kakashi met his gaze steadily. "Did you speak to the girls?"
"They're shaken up. They found her phone – nothing else."
"What did they say happened?"
Naruto shrugged. "Sakura-chan just-" he made a vague, waving gesture in the air, "disappeared into the forest."
"Has the messenger heard anything?"
Naruto shook his head. "He won't answer."
"Then find him," came the simple response.
The young man slowly exhaled. "I saw him just a few days ago; he had a sketch of a flower field. I thought it was nothing," he frowned confusedly at the older man. "Why didn't he tell us?"
Kakashi averted his gaze. "It's likely he found no meaning in it. Or perhaps it's a coincidence."
Naruto hesitated, dreading to ask the question weighing on his mind. "Who- who do you think did it, Kakashi?"
Kakashi sighed. "It's hard to say. It could have been anyone. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet."
Naruto's eyes lowered to the bag resting innocently at his feet. Shikamaru had offered him the exact same advice. But it was impossible for his mind not to overrun itself with worry. With every minute that passed, there was a chance that Sakura was falling into even greater danger. His heart hardened. He wouldn't wait around for clues to present themselves. He'd go out and find them, leave no rock unturned in his hunt to discover just what had happened to his dear friend.
"I'll keep this here," he muttered, referring to Sakura's bag, still loaded with her personal possessions. Kakashi nodded as he accompanied the youth back to the door.
"Locate Sai. I'll contact the others, see if they've heard or seen anything unusual. And Naruto," he added, as the blond stepped outside. Naruto turned sullen eyes to him, his face marred with pain. "We will find her. You have my word."
Naruto searched his gaze for a brief moment, before bowing his head respectfully and turning away. Kakashi watched as he walked down the path and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
Her greatest nightmare had come to fruition. Sakura had been snatched away - by a common criminal or worse - leaving behind no trace of her whereabouts. No leads for Tsunade to follow. The thought of the terrified child being locked away somewhere filled her with unspeakable fury. Her only comfort lay in knowing that Sakura was most indisputably not dead. The maternal tie she had with the girl was still intact; she could sense it deep within her chest - which meant that Sakura had well and truly been taken.
The blonde woman's fingers tightened around the glass in her hand. The golden, honey liquid it housed was doing little to soothe her agitated nerves – a first in all the long years of her existence. The wine of the Gods, indeed, she thought, her lips drawing back into a contemptuous sneer. She'd called for an urgent Council meeting that was due to take place within the next hour. But before she met with the other elders, she had one other stop to make. To the house of a certain foolish little girl who had sworn just earlier that day to keep her eyes on Sakura.
Tsunade's wrath and grief swelled, causing the glass to crack and shatter in her hand.
Sakura didn't know how long she remained by the boulder. She only looked up when all her tears had been spent. Her eyes stung and her head throbbed; she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and sleep, to forget every dreadful thing she had seen and heard since waking up.
The torch still flickered dutifully beside her. She reached out, seeking its warmth, was surprised to feel only coolness radiating from the flames. Even the fire here lacked heat. Snivelling, she slowly rose to her feet. Her legs wobbled, felt like jelly beneath her as she began to trail aimlessly to her right. Her gaze rested despondently on the stone-littered ground as she trudged along, head bowed, shoulders hunched. She walked on and on without having the faintest idea where she was heading. Her stomach rumbled hungrily and her parched lips thirsted for the soothing touch of cool, refreshing water. She was almost ready to give up finding the route back to the palace when a stripe of silver suddenly glimmered like a lifeline ahead of her.
The path glowed eerily as Sakura approached, seemed to thrum with strange energy when she stepped onto it. Swallowing thickly, she followed its course. Eventually it led her back to the cold blanket of thick white mist. With a torch in hand it was much easier to glimpse the faint outline of the path beneath her feet. At length she reached the towering, iron-coiled gates, which opened silently, as if they had been expecting her arrival.
Sakura stood hesitantly before the threshold, her heart beginning to pick up speed again. She had returned to the palace. If she had known what horrors awaited her beyond the mist, she might never have ventured out. She would have instead locked herself away in the room in which she had awoken and refused to eat or drink a thing until Sasuke released her. It was what she intended on doing now – but first she had to confront him. He owed her answers. The problem was, could she find the courage to speak her questions?
Taking a deep breath, Sakura entered through the yawning of the parted gates and walked back down the long, tree-lined path. When she finally drew to the steps leading up to the entrance hall her eyes lifted and her jaw dropped open. She hadn't taken the time to examine the building's exterior in her haste to escape, and so viewing it in its magnificent glory for the very first time was yet another shock to her overwhelmed system. Built entirely of black marble, the palace loomed before her, staggering in its expanse, boasting mighty, peaked towers and sweeping balustrade roofs. In the centre, hanging from the edge of one of the sweeping balconies was a large, black, square-shaped cloth bearing the same red and white fan insignia as the emblem on the gates.
The palace looked like something out of the pages of an archaic myth, majestic, enchanting, yet utterly daunting. Sakura tore her gaze away and hurried up the stairs. Again, the mighty doors parted for her, closing silently once she had stepped into the vast hall. Without allowing herself another second's worth of hesitation for fear that she would lose her nerve, Sakura headed directly toward the banqueting area. As she entered it, she found that the elegant brass candelabras stationed between the dishes on the table had been illuminated.
Warmth flooded the room. It was a welcome change from the dark, harsh, bleak coldness that ravaged the landscape beyond the palace's mist-repelling gates – but Sakura did not feel comforted. It was impossible for her to relax, for her eyes had come to rest at the farthest end of the sprawling table, where Sasuke was sitting with his elbows resting upon the arm-rests, looking every inch the dark and sinister king of the castle.
His eyes, of course, had locked onto her the instant she had stepped into the room. Firelight seemed to reflect off the bottomless depths, so that they glowed with tints of golden flame.
"You have returned," he remarked, and Sakura felt every muscle in her body stiffen as his sensuous voice settled around her. Had he been waiting for her all that time? With no clock in sight she had no way of knowing exactly how much of it had passed. She perceived a trace of smugness in the silky tones – as though he had expected her to come back; he'd had every confidence that she would, and that was why he had not even bothered leaving the dining hall.
Sakura remained close to the door, ready to make another run for it in case he tried anything. But Sasuke made no move toward her, remained sitting nonchalantly in place, a goblet held casually in his left hand. He gestured pointedly toward the opposite end of the table.
"Sit."
Sakura swallowed nervously. She couldn't allow herself to be intimidated into speechlessness again. She wanted answers. It was then or never, she knew. There was only one way of confirming whether everything she had seen was indeed a reality. Summoning what tatters of bravery she possessed, she slowly shook her head, declining his invitation.
"I want to know where I am," she said, keeping her eyes deliberately averted from his. She was pleased when her words didn't stutter as they had before, though the pitiful quiver in her voice was detectable even to her own ears. As an automatic afterthought, she added politely, "Please."
There was a weighty pause. Sakura was terrified that she had somehow made him angry by refusing to comply with his wishes, but Sasuke's voice was as flat and indecipherable as ever as he responded, "Eat. Then we will talk."
Sakura bit her lower lip. She could feel desperation swelling within her, seaming at the edges so that she was certain it was ready to burst. She feared its effect on her if it did. Why wouldn't he just answer her? Wasn't it distressing enough for her to wake up in a strange place without the need for him to continue keeping her in the dark over the reasons behind his actions? Tears stung at her eyes again. She hadn't thought she could possibly manage to cry any more. Evidently she had been mistaken.
Shaking her head again, she said in a near-whisper, "No, thank you; I'm not hungry."
It was a lie, a blatant one, and she knew he knew it. She knew it from the way she could feel his eyes blistering into her. Sakura had never felt so self-conscious, was sure that she looked a flustered state as she awaited his response with baited breath.
When it came, she wasn't quite prepared for it.
"Sakura."
Her name was spoken in a dark caress. It sent her heart leaping into her throat. His tongue elongated the first vowel, uttering it in a tantalising drawl. She barely managed to suppress the shudder that shot down her spine; his lips massacred the innocence of her name, making it sound positively sinful as it fell between them. She gulped, her mind reeling as her eyes froze onto his face in shock. How did he know what she was called?
And then another more disturbing thought presented itself – what else did he know?
Blinking stupidly at him, she managed to articulate with great difficulty, "H-how do you know my name?"
Again he nodded to the chair resting at the opposite end of the table from him. "Sit," he repeated.
Frustration bubbled within her, but although she was frightened and overwhelmed, her brain still retained enough intellect to recognise that Sasuke wasn't about to provide her with any information unless she cooperated. Ino, she knew, would have kicked up a fuss, ranting and raving until she was answered. Sakura didn't possess such bravery. Sensing that she was fighting a losing battle in terms of sheer will-power, she cautiously walked across to the unoccupied chair. Drawing it back – and trying not to let him see how heavy the damned jewel-encrusted thing was – she sat down, perching stiffly on the cushioned edge, shoving her hands into her lap. It was the only place she could hide away the fine tremors that plagued them.
Even from the great distance at which she sat away from him she could still discern the piercing, smothering intensity of his eyes. Just what was it about that fathomless gaze that caused such an amplified sense of alarm to run rampant within her? She had the urge to squirm beneath its devastating weight, had to fight to keep herself from fidgeting.
"Eat," Sasuke instructed next. Sakura gritted her teeth tensely. He was using arrogant imperatives. Clearly he was used to commanding others. She shook her head once more; she didn't want to eat. The food looked delicious, and she could feel her mouth salivating behind her clamped lips, but she wouldn't touch a single piece. Not until she got some answers. She raised her eyes to regard him, silently hoping that he would somehow understand that she couldn't possibly stomach anything in her current state. He seemed to comprehend. Setting his own goblet down, Sasuke settled back in his chair, in what she took to be a wordless invitation for her to speak.
"How do you know my name?" she asked again in a small, wobbly voice. Her heart pounded when he remained silent. She assumed it meant that he wasn't prepared to answer, and so she moved swiftly on to the next question. "What is this place?"
He blinked. "The Underworld," he replied concisely.
Sakura inhaled sharply. He had spoken the name like it was a completely normal location, such as a shopping mall or a warehouse. It wasn't. He expected her to believe that the people she had seen were really spirits of the deceased? That explained, of course, how her hand had passed straight through the ghostly woman's shoulder. But she still found it difficult and impossible to accept. And if it were somehow true, how and why did Sasuke live in such a disturbing place? Did she really wish to find out?
Dread was lacing through her stomach again. "Are the people out there really…" she paused, before licking her dry lips and forcing herself to finish, "…dead?"
Sasuke inclined his raven head slightly, signalling a yes. Sakura shakily exhaled, her hands moving to dig into the arm-rests. She needed something solid to hold onto; she feared she would otherwise faint.
"But you," she said dizzily, "you said I'm alive."
He nodded once in affirmation.
"Then why am I here?"
Sasuke reached out, lifting the goblet to his lips again. A sudden, frightful thought struck Sakura, causing her to blanch. Juugo had said she wasn't getting on a boat. But what if that was precisely what Sasuke was intending for her? Surely there was no other reason to account for him abducting her to such an awful place?
"You're going to kill me," her words came out as a sort of dazed, insane calm.
Something flashed across his dark eyes, a look that was gone as soon as she blinked. Slowly, he answered, "That is not my will."
Then what was? She could feel the panic rising again, wanted to scream at him, to demand that he explain himself. Civilised, law-abiding people didn't abduct others on a whim. Who did Sasuke think he was, and what gave him the right to subject her to such a terrifying ordeal? And just how in the world was he living in the midst of a cavern deep underground, which he also, by the way, happened to share with dead souls? How was that even possible, or logical? His 'abode' propelled the term 'haunted' to ridiculous new heights.
But Sakura was far too afraid to express the frustration and anger that was simmering within her. She couldn't confront someone who looked as intimidating as the raven-haired enigma watching her so intently from across the table. She was trying desperately to keep from breaking down completely before him, though she knew he was probably anticipating such a reaction.
Swallowing back her mounting hysteria, she ventured, "Please, I-I just want to go home."
Sasuke remained quiet, watching her with those penetrating, unreadable eyes. Growing restless, Sakura implored again, "Please, I'm sorry if I've done anything to upset you, but-"
"This is your home, now."
Sakura's mind whirred to a stop. For a long, horrible moment, she couldn't breathe. Her lips floundered like a fish, unable to form a coherent sentence. All she could manage was a staggered, strangled, "What?"
In response, Sasuke rose abruptly and fluidly from his chair, setting the goblet back down again. Sakura stood up in turn, tense and instantly on the alert, her eyes wide, her breathing rapid as she stepped away from the table. Panic tore at the frayed remains of her composure, ripping any lingering remnants to shreds. What did he mean this was her home? What was happening?
"You will remain here," he answered in clipped, dismissive tones. As if he didn't want to hear another word or argument over the matter; it wasn't up for negotiation or debate – but Sakura couldn't accept that.
Her heart thundered as hysteria overflowed and smashed into her like an icy tidal wave, enveloping her in coldness and triggering her to cry hysterically at him, "What do you want from me?"
In a flicker that was inhumanly fast, a movement that fractured the very air from Sakura's lungs, Sasuke blurred out of her line of sight. He reappeared just inches before her, and Sakura's mind registered his presence far too late. Her body froze in place, as she was smothered by the same crackling aura that seemed to ripple and pulse from his form. How had he moved so fast? How had he just disappeared like that? Her brain was spinning, and so was everything else she had ever known. Nothing made sense anymore. Her world had been turned upside down by the young man standing at such stifling proximity in front of her and she was powerless to help herself, powerless to escape.
Sakura's breathing arrested entirely when she felt the tip of a cool, calloused finger trace a path down her left cheek; a feather-light touch that sent a shock of electricity spiking through her, leaving her skin tingling with sensation. She only became conscious of the wetness that had spilled from her eyes when Sasuke's voice exhaled over her, "These tears change nothing. You are mine, Sakura."
Then, in a heartbeat, he had gone. Vanished before her, like an apparition, and Sakura was left standing in the banqueting hall alone.
Author's note
Please review! It'll make my day for real. Hope you enjoyed the chapter everyone.