I barely have any time to write these days, which saddens me greatly. Anyway, this is a bit of a transition chapter where both Sasuke and Sakura come to terms with new/major information about each other.
Thank you so much to everybody who took the time to review the last chapter. I really appreciate it, and hope all the new readers who have added this story to their favourites and alerts can find a minute or two to leave their thoughts, also.
Chapter XXVIII
And the pendulum doth begin its swing,
Ever nearer, to the zenith of things,
To the dreaded time of reckoning,
When the silent will speak,
And truth bears fruit,
From seamed tongues,
No longer mute.
The stars twinkled in the midnight sky, like tiny jewels glimmering unattainably in a glorious canvas of darkness. Kore released a wistful sigh as she gazed up at the wonderful array of constellations, every single one unique and weaving its own tale, honouring heroes and those chosen by the gods to live eternally in the heavens. Gold-green eyes settled on one particular cluster of celestial matter shining exceptionally brightly, and Kore smiled absentmindedly to herself. It was without a doubt Zeus's latest masterpiece. A hunter of sorts, she could make out, holding a slender spear. Now to which blessed mortal was that sparkling arrangement intended to pay homage?
Her train of tranquil thought derailed as she recalled her birthday the previous day. After Apollo had returned her to Zeus's palace, she had been collected by her mother, who had led her to a surprise feast and a spectacular celebration prepared in her honour. The festivities had continued long into the night. While she'd had a thoroughly delightful time, Kore had found herself uncharacteristically distracted in the company of her loved ones. Aphrodite had noticed it immediately of course, and Kore feared, so had her eagle-eyed mother. But whereas Aphrodite had chosen to confront her about it, her mother had not. Not yet.
Kore had defended that she was merely feeling a little overwhelmed by the realisation of finally coming of age by goddess standards, but Aphrodite had shot her continuous knowing looks throughout the evening, the kind of looks that had made Kore thankful that the heat in her cheeks had been cloaked by the dimness of nightfall and the concealing glow of firelight.
But while she could perhaps mislead the others around her, if only for a little while, Kore knew she could never lie to herself. Her mind was completely and utterly fixated on the enigmatic young Hades. She did not know how many times she had replayed his parting words at the forest's edge in her head. And every time she did, her heart would flutter a little, as a bird flapping its wings in restlessness.
She sighed, and the flowers in the moonlit field surrounding her sighed into the air with her. The grass beneath her reclining form was cool and comforting, but did not relieve the strange warmth throbbing inside her chest as she contemplated the potential reason behind feelings that were wholly unfamiliar and new to her.
Was this what love felt like, then? A charming blush slowly bloomed into being across her cheeks as she shyly allowed herself to entertain thoughts of the much celebrated emotion. Was it even possible that she was so hopelessly smitten with Apollo's handsome friend already? Surely it was wrong for her to feel so intensely for him? For her breath to catch in her throat and her legs to feel like they were ready to buckle beneath her whenever she caught sight of him? To feel like her insides were on the verge of melting whenever he happened to flick a piercing, heavy-lashed glance her way? But such was the nature of gods and goddess, or so Aphrodite always told her. They loved passionately and quickly – and then moved eagerly on once the flames of their lust had been quenched.
Perhaps that was the case for the Goddess of Love and her abundance of suitors. But Kore did not just want an inconsequential fling. She wanted a romance that would span eternally for the duration of her existence. Other gods and goddesses would not understand her desire, she knew. Why settle only for one love, they would argue, when deities could enjoy lifetimes with many different playmates, immortal, human or otherwise?
But that had never appealed to her. She wanted to give and dedicate herself completely to one god and one alone. Wasn't that what true love was? Being together with a sweetheart, forever, until all time was spent?
Kore knew that in order to attain happiness she needed to be absolutely certain about who she chose as a prospective suitor. And so she was puzzled by how her heart could have seemingly settled with such swiftness on Hades, when she knew next to nothing about him. It wasn't just his looks, she told herself fiercely. He just appeared so different to the other gods she had heard so many awful tales about, even though he shared some of their attributes; he was undeniably confident, certain of who he was and made absolutely no attempt at concealing his belief that he was superior to everything and everybody else. Every look screamed contempt, as if he had been raised to believe he was a mighty prince. But at the same time, unlike other young deities, he did not seem to hold an interest in anything around him. He made no attempt to converse, and anything she had heard him say was usually a challenge or insult directed at Apollo.
Those qualities were unpleasant, but it had been his unexpected words to her, and the tone in which they had been uttered, which had snagged Kore's undivided interest. Hades radiated raw power and masculinity – and yet he was reserved and kept to himself. Despite this, he had offered her his good tidings. He was undoubtedly a contradiction. And Kore had always loved solving puzzles. The very prospect of unravelling the darkly brooding god's mysteries set her pulse racing.
Maybe that was why she was so inexplicably drawn to him. He was the physical manifestation of everything her mother had ever deemed forbidden to her. He certainly looked like the kind of god who was followed around by trouble. He was probably no good at all for her.
She shook her head incredulously. Wasn't she getting ahead of herself? Permitting herself to think such things, when she knew for a fact that her mother would never consent to even meeting Hades! And foolishly assuming that Hades was even interested in her. A god as beautiful as he was could bed any goddess he wanted. Why would he settle for one as inexperienced and sheltered as she was?
Her spirits slumped briefly, and the heads of the flowers around her drooped in turn. But a voice in her head then whispered girlishly that Hades had taken her wrist. Had wished her a happy birthday, in his own aloof way. Was that not special? Maybe, just maybe, he was interested. A tentative smile touched her lips as hope flourished to life within her again.
She needed to find out more about him. Was he a noble god? Who were his family? And just what was his connection to the Underworld?
A flicker of uncertainty trembled through her. Perhaps Hades merely had to lead people down to that dreadful place. He didn't necessarily dwell there.
But if he did, what would that mean for her? Even as she asked herself the question, she knew the answer. It meant that she would have to forget all about him. She would pass him off as an immature infatuation – even when she was convinced that she would never again meet a deity quite as intense and alluring as Hades was.
She sighed wistfully once more, whispering her secret wish to the heavens, making sure it was lost amongst the flowers before it could travel up to the sky and fall upon any listening ears.
"Hades…"
The internal turmoil instigated by the word Sakura had sighed into the air was immediate and devastating. The force of Sasuke's heartbeat was enough to plunge his whole body into the violent clutches of chaos as he stared down at her slumbering face, his eyes locked raptly onto her rosy lips. As if awaiting the next whispered offering, or an explanation of the previous one. But Sakura remained soundly asleep. Behind her eyelids, her eyeballs were moving rapidly in their sockets, indicating that she was still dreaming. The Death God scarcely dared to breathe as he reached out to press his right hand upon her forehead. What had she seen? What was she seeing at that very moment? So many questions were hurtling through his mind at light-breaking speed, ricocheting around the most important and pressing demand of all - how could she possibly know that name?
The shock afflicting his body was numbing. What had possessed her to utter it? His thoughts were a jumbled, buzzing cacophony of bewilderment. The sound of a name that had belonged to a past long gone was unexpected, and the level of disturbance within him left Sasuke uncertain of how he was supposed to deal with such a startling revelation. The desire to shake her awake and interrogate her was overwhelming as he almost frantically sought a plausible explanation. What if the ambrosia was responsible? What if it was affecting her so adversely, that it was triggering visions that did not belong to her?
Sasuke swallowed as he came to terms with the only other possible and much more likely explanation. That the wine was, in fact, making Sakura access something that potentially existed within her – but was normally dormant. Something that only appeared when she consumed an intoxicating amount of ambrosia.
Realisations were suddenly clicking into place, pieces of a puzzle he had been trying to assemble ever since he had first laid eyes on her, and Sasuke found himself quite unprepared for the rapidity of their aftermath. Sakura had something inside her that caused her pain, which could be relieved by a very carefully controlled dose of ambrosia. He knew she was more sensitive to ambrosia's effects than humans ordinarily were. And now, after she had swallowed too much, she seemed to be receiving visions that belonged to his past.
What did that mean? What else could it mean that she knew the name Hades? Suddenly, Naruto's words were flooding back to him again, and all the suspicions he had been harbouring about Sakura began pointing to one conclusion and one alone. Something he had previously considered an impossibility given her mortal blood chemistry and shell, and the fact she had grown and been raised a human. He had seen the pictures of her as a child in her bedroom on the surface. And yet she had spoken a name that was far beyond her time.
His palm pressed to her forehead, and he closed his eyes, seeking to access the contents of her mind - only to be answered by a blinding flash of white and a searing pain that caused him to snatch his arm back and clutch at his own temples.
What… he thought, wincing as the wave of pain flared before rapidly diminishing. What is this…?
Even as he asked himself the question, he knew the truth. It only further highlighted the reality that there was much more to Sakura than he had initially allowed himself to believe. The fact that he couldn't see what she was dreaming suggested that something was blocking the connection between their minds.
A seal, he exhaled, as he stared, wide-eyed and troubled, down at her. A seal had to have been placed on her, the same seal that was responsible for keeping whatever it was inside her, safely contained.
Which meant… which meant Sakura potentially possessed memories that had also been locked away, memories that not even he could tap into. Memories that had been sealed with the intention of keeping even a god's prying mind out.
But what manner of seal could do that? Who had placed it upon her? And why? Why could the eyes of his bloodline not detect evidence of any kind of seal on Sakura?
Sasuke's heart thundered as understanding washed over him like a tsunami wave, too forceful to deny any longer. The seal was invisible to keep whatever it was she had hidden from Madara. Wasn't that what Naruto had essentially spelt out to him? That Sakura had something that needed to be kept secret? Only a very complex and specialised lock could succeed in deterring that god's attention.
As he continued to gaze at her, the death deity realised he had gotten much more than he had bargained for when he'd chosen to take Sakura for his own.
A soft moan escaped her lips, and she seemed to be in discomfort. Sasuke could stand it no longer. He sat on the bed, reached down, and shook her insistently until disorientated and unfocused green eyes cracked through the gap between her eyelids.
"Sakura," he called sharply. "Wake up."
"Unnh…" she responded incoherently, her eyes fluttering shut again. Sasuke noted the deep flush to her cheeks and pressed a palm to her forehead again. She was burning. A typical sign of ambrosia intoxication. He could see her pulse racing erratically in her neck and lowered his hand to the centre of her chest to calm its frenzied rhythm. She was breathing rapidly, as if she couldn't draw enough air into her lungs. Angry at the state she had gotten herself into, the death deity mercilessly gripped both her arms and yanked her up into a sitting position, mentally willing her eyes to open.
They did, and Sakura stared at his face unseeingly for a moment. Then her head sagged to her left and he had to grasp onto her shoulders to stop her from falling back onto the bed again.
"Sakura." He turned her face toward him. "Look at me."
"Mnooo," she whimpered, her eyes trailing upwards. "Goway. Go away. Oh…"
Sasuke gripped her head with both hands and ordered more forcefully, "Look at me. Now."
Her eyes finally turned to him, and she blinked, as if her consciousness was finally coming out from behind a heavy, hazy cover of cloud.
"Wha…?" She blinked again, looking distressed and muddled. "Sa…Sasuke?"
He felt the tension in his shoulders relax slightly as he acknowledged that she wasn't so far gone that she could no longer recognise him. He waited, internally agitated, for her to slowly regain her bearings, monitoring her closely. Her previously unfocused eyes were now suddenly awake and bright, indicating that the ambrosia was still running rampant in her bloodstream. As his hands lowered from her head, he braced himself, prepared for any abrupt alterations in her mood. Those who became drunk on the wine of the gods fluctuated between periods of extreme lethargy and faintness, and unnatural alertness and hyper-activity. There was no predicting what Sakura would do under the influence.
Sakura gradually became aware of the fact that she felt rather strange. Like her entire body was buzzing with an odd sort of energy that made her feel compelled to get up and move. She turned her eyes to Sasuke, to find him watching her cautiously. Then she realised that he was sitting on her bed. Her heart began to pound again as little recollections trickled through her brain, snippets of what had happened to her not yet quite forming together to provide a complete picture.
The training dome. Her sword. A goblet in her hand. Sasuke's face, scowling at her. Sasuke's face even closer, warmth around her body. And then…
She couldn't really remember much else. The edginess in her body bubbled inside her chest, and she shifted in her sitting position, resting her weight back on her hands in a manner that was familiar and open. A small part of her whispered that this wasn't right. She never sat so casually in Sasuke's presence. But the voice was drowned out by a louder one that told her she had nothing to worry about. How could she worry when she felt so exhilarated, so in control?
No sooner had she thought that, when an unexpected bout of nausea suddenly overcame her. She drew a deep breath, trying to ward it back.
"What did you see?"
She blinked, turning her attention back to the death deity.
"What?"
"You were dreaming," Sasuke clarified. "What did you see?"
Sakura stared blankly back at him. "I was…?" She shook her head. She couldn't remember dreaming.
"You spoke a name," Sasuke pressed, leaning forward. Then, watching her closely for any trace of a reaction, he stated emphatically, "Hades."
When Sakura merely gazed back at him as if he was talking in another language – which, given the root of the name, Sasuke supposed he was – the Death God felt his frustration flare. Sakura showed no recollection whatsoever of having sighed the name. But he had definitely heard it. He knew that he had. After all, a god's ears heard everything perfectly.
Sakura felt something stir in her mind, a delayed reaction to his words. Hades. Where had she heard that before? But the fleeting moment of recognition quickly vanished and all that was left was a dull void in its place.
"Who…?" She shook her head again perplexedly. "I don't know what you're talking abou-"
"Sakura," he clipped, reaching out to clasp her right arm, drawing her body forward toward him again. "You test my patience."
She winced, struggling to disengage his hold on her. But it was useless. His grip was as firm and merciless as iron. Alarmed, and still battling to fight off the sea of nausea that was now threatening to drown her, she exclaimed again, "Sasuke, I really don't knowwhat you're talking about-"
To her dismay, the death deity remained steadfastly unconvinced.
"Do not play games with me," he hissed.
Confusion, hurt and anger splayed inside Sakura, temporarily giving her the strength to shove aside the feeling of being sick to her stomach. She was the one playing games? She almost laughed bitterly at the irony of his words. They seemed to trigger a response in her, one that had been lurking beneath the surface, begging to be unleashed since the day she had first encountered him, after waking up in his world.
He had the nerve to accuse her of such a thing, when deriving his own form of twisted entertainment was all he had been doing since abducting her?
"I'm the one playing games?" she echoed incredulously, raising her eyes to meet his as she continued to tug at her captive arm. Maybe it was the remnants of ambrosia wreaking havoc on her system, or maybe it was something else, which prompted her to fire back boldly, "You dragged me down here, away from my home! You're the one keeping me here. The only person playing games is you, Sasuke!"
Something flashed in his midnight irises at that, and he glared witheringly back, snapping, "If you desire the surface so much, why not leave?"
His heartless, mocking question caused something to sever within her. Her patience, perhaps. He knew perfectly well she didn't know how to exit the Underworld, and they both knew that he would never allow her to escape, even if she did. Wasn't that what the shackles around her ankles were for? To keep tabs on her - like she was some sort of pet, bearing an owner's collar?
She'd had quite enough - enough of being belittled and intimidated, enough of submitting to his every command. Sakura's emotions were atypically aggravated by the alcohol in her system, to the point she could not control the fire fuelling them. Spurned into action, she saw red - quite literally - and surprised Sasuke by succeeding in tearing her arm out of his grasp at last.
Chest heaving, she cried, "Maybe it's time I did go!" The words tumbled out without any thought. She knew they were wrong, that there was a reason why she ought not to have said them, but she couldn't for the life of her remember what the important reason was. And so, with that declaration, she jumped out of bed with a surprising burst of energy and marched straight toward her bedchamber's doors like a fatalistic soldier, meaning to wrench them open and storm out with her dignity securely intact.
Except that wasn't exactly how it happened.
Strong fingers snagged her left wrist, halting her mid-momentum and jerking her back around to look up into swirling crimson eyes. Sakura caught her breath, startled. She had seen those irises a few times, and had learnt from previous experience that their appearance never boded well for her. In the next instant, Sasuke had yanked her forward so that the front of her body collided into his. Sakura's heart hurtled into a frenzied rhythm as a steely left arm wound around her waist. She could feel the muscles coiling with tension, as Sasuke turned that dreadful stare full-force onto her, and snarled in plain rejection, "No."
No? A stream of colourful expletives deployed themselves on the tip of Sakura's tongue, words that would have surely caused Naruto's jaw to drop and Ino to cackle in triumphant glee - words that were long overdue, which did not typically exist in Sakura's polite vocabulary - and she was just about ready to tell Sasuke exactlywhat she thought about his misplaced sense of ownership and possessiveness - when a fresh assault of dizziness suddenly caused the room to spin violently. The adrenaline coursing through Sakura's veins fizzled immediately out of existence as a tremor overtook her, making her legs buckle beneath her.
"Wha- what's happening to me?" she panted, clutching onto Sasuke for support, when she had been fighting against him just seconds earlier.
Sasuke fumed down at her pink head for a moment, before winding his other arm around her and muttering, "You are intoxicated."
"But I only had a few glasses," Sakura squeezed her eyes shut. Surely she hadn't had more than three or four? Then again, her memory of just how much ambrosia she had consumed was misty at best. "How long does it take to wear off?"
When Sasuke remained silent, Sakura felt a quiver of uncertainty. Had she done herself some permanent damage? Her vision was becoming cloudier and cloudier by the second, and the nausea was mingling with an unpleasant burning sensation in the centre of her chest. She wanted to curl into a ball, but even the thought of moving made her stomach churn.
"Ugh..." she groaned, burying her face instinctively and unthinkingly into the solid wall of Sasuke's chest.
Sasuke scowled in displeasure. The annoying girl had clearly had even more wine than he had initially thought. Ordinary rest would do Sakura no good. He recognised the symptoms of ambrosia inebriation all too well. She would suffer in agony for days before the alcohol finally left her bloodstream. If he allowed her to remain as she was, Sakura would begin to experience fitful episodes and hallucinations. She would essentially be a danger to herself.
He had the power to heal wounds and reverse life-threatening injuries. He could stop the advancement of malicious ailments. Curing an overdose of ambrosia, however, required a special kind of medicinal brew. A potent mixture that only one other who resided in his realm could provide.
Perhaps the old crone could shed some light on all the questions he had racing through his head, too – although Sasuke didn't hold much hope of her enlightening him.
Without another thought, he swept a semi-conscious Sakura up into his arms, and flickered out of sight.
Hinata twiddled her index fingers anxiously together as she stood before the front door to Naruto's apartment. A quick glance back over her shoulder informed her that Neji was waiting dutifully outside the car, his arms crossed over his chest, ready to spring into action and to her defence in the blink of an eye. Her guardian gave her a single, encouraging nod. Drawing strength from the gesture of solidarity, Hinata turned her attention back to the door. She wondered whether she was doing the right thing, whether her decision to share what they had learned from Sai with Naruto first was the correct one. But she had chosen to once again listen to her instincts, and they had told her to inform Naruto before she disclosed details of Sai's latest vision to the elders.
She rang the doorbell, her heart pounding as she nervously awaited a response. When a minute of silence passed, Hinata pressed the button again, listening carefully for any sound inside. All seemed still. What if Naruto wasn't home? Could she really hold to herself what she now knew until she saw him again?
She looked at Neji again, who raised questioning eyebrows, and was about to inform her seraph that Naruto was probably out when the sudden sound of a lock unbolting made Hinata jump and whirl back around to find a very subdued Naruto staring dully at her.
"Hinata," he greeted quietly.
Great concern flooded through her, as she began softly, "Naruto-kun. There's something I need to tell you- that is… if you are busy, I could perhaps come back-"
Azure eyes shifted and noted the presence of her guardian parked up on the kerbside behind her, before Naruto stepped aside and motioned for her to enter. "Come on in."
Her stomach knotted itself in a hundred places as she stepped inside and heard the door close behind her. The instances in which they had ever been alone – truly alone – were few and far between and were almost always interrupted by the arrival of others. She hoped with Neji on standby, however, that this time they would be permitted to talk in peace. As Naruto followed her into the reception room, Hinata turned worried eyes to him.
"Are…" she began, momentarily faltering as those beautiful eyes rested on her again. "Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto, who had returned to his apartment only an hour earlier, sensed her anxiety, and forced himself to plaster a smile onto his face. He didn't want to make her worry. He had always hated making her worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine." At her uncertain look, he insisted, "Really, Hinata. Guess I'm just tired." Eager to change the subject, he prompted, "Have you guys heard anything new?"
Hinata nodded, and Naruto gestured for her to sit down by the low table, before taking his seat on the floor opposite her.
Fidgeting under the focus of his undivided attention, Hinata retold her and Neji's decision to follow Sai and all that they had seen in the park. Then she informed him about the new vision Sai had told them he'd received of Sakura, locked up and dying. All the way throughout her recount, Naruto remained uncharacteristically silent, which increased Hinata's sense of uneasiness. Her instincts were telling her that something definitely wasn't right with Naruto, and it saddened her that he did not seem to feel like he could share his troubles and confide in her. She had no way of knowing that Naruto's silence was his attempt at keeping her from getting involved in the revelations he had found out for himself, for the sake of her own protection.
When she finally finished, Naruto said, "Have you told the others yet?"
"No," she replied, her voice hushed. "I felt… I felt you should know first." Averting her eyes, she added awkwardly, "I-I know how important Sakura is to you-"
Her heart leapt to her throat when warm, gentle fingers suddenly closed around the left hand she had wound around the scented candle placed on the table's top. She had been fiddling with the decorations on the side of the ornament, but her hand immediately fell away as Naruto's took it and said very quietly, "Don't tell them yet."
As he lifted his eyes back to Hinata's face, he saw surprise etched on her beautiful features. He expected her to be confused. After all, he barely understood why he had decided to speak the words himself.
"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned perplexedly.
Naruto averted his gaze again. "Where's Sai now?"
"We dropped him back at his apartment…" she shook her head and added bewilderedly, "Naruto-kun, shouldn't we let Tsunade-sama know?"
"Sai's visions have been wrong before. Let me speak to Kakashi first." Naruto clarified. Meeting her clear-grey eyes once more, he went on, "Please trust me on this, Hinata. Tell Neji too. There's something I need to be sure about before we let everybody else know. Please." His fingers squeezed hers firmly, as he entreated, "Promise you'll keep this between us for now."
There was no doubt in Hinata's mind that something serious was going on, something that was clearly upsetting Naruto to a great extent. Why else would he ask her to keep the information from Tsunade, who had the right to know about Sakura the most? A fleeting stab of guilt rushed through her. But then her eyes fell to their hands, joined together over the table. They fit so well together – as if they had been forged for one another.
Naruto was asking her to trust him. She knew she could do so with her life. How could she possibly refuse his appeal when she could hear the desperation so clearly in his voice? He had to have good reason to make such a serious request of her.
Biting down on her lower lip, she looked back up at him again, read the silent plea shining through his expressive eyes. And her heart melted, as it always did.
Silently, she nodded her vow.
The overpowering scent of fermenting potions hung thickly in the air as Sasuke pushed aside the heavy leaf curtain and stepped into the central den of Chiyo's cave. The old crone looked up from her position, bent over the open stone hearth, her eyes crinkling with open interest as she spotted Sakura's motionless form, cradled snugly in the death deity's arms.
"Back so soon, little King?" she warbled. "And with your pretty Flower, I see..."
Disregarding the term of endearment, Sasuke cut straight to the chase. "She is intoxicated."
Chiyo nodded in immediate understanding. "Her mother's daughter, indeed. You are here for a potion to stem her suffering, I suppose?"
"Treat her," Sasuke instructed.
Chiyo offered a crooked, secretive smile and answered slowly, "My services will cost you this time, young Sasuke."
Sasuke opened his mouth to remind her that she resided in his realm, and he was under no obligation to give her anything, when Sakura released another soft, pained moan. Thinking twice, Sasuke glared back at the ancient goddess, and urgency prompted him to quip, "Name your price."
Chiyo stared back at him, her curiosity snagged. The fact that Sasuke was agreeing without so much of an argument suggested to her that he cared for the girl's wellbeing even more than he let on. Taking the time to mull carefully over what she would ask from him in repayment, she gestured to the straw mattress by the wall.
"Lay the child there," she stated, and watched as Sasuke did so, setting Sakura down on the worn blanket. Chiyo keenly noted the unexpected gentleness of his actions and the way the Death God's left hand lingered by the girl's head for a moment, before he stood up and turned to face her again, his eyes like charcoal, glinting hard.
"Well?" he pressed impatiently.
"My terms are that you do not interfere and that you allow me to heal her alone. You will not collect her; I will return her to you at my convenience."
"I will not leave," Sasuke responded sharply, and was answered with an amused chortle.
"Such devotion… but if that is your decision then we have nothing further to discuss, Sasuke."
She could tell from the tension she perceived in the Underworld King's clenched jaw that he was struggling to keep his short temper in check. Agreeing to her request meant that Chiyo would have the opportunity to speak with Sakura in absolute privacy – and Sasuke did not take kindly to the fact that he would not be around to monitor what the old hag might choose to disclose to his captive. Witnessing his evident displeasure, Chiyo chuckled again, a hacking, hoarse sound that seemed to rattle her lungs.
"Ohohohoho! What's this? Afraid of a little conversation between women? Fret not, little King. She will be returned to you, renewed and whole."
But Sasuke wasn't prepared to consent without enforcing his own set of terms. "You will reveal nothing to her."
Chiyo shuffled over to Sakura, and Sasuke moved protectively and automatically in turn, wary of letting her get too close. Despite the crone's reassurances, he did not wholly trust her.
The old hag leaned on the stick in her grasp, the firelight from the hearth dancing across her dark eyes. "You have already gone to great lengths to ensure she cannot learn of the past," she remarked thoughtfully. "One would question what it is you fear her discovering. Or perhaps you fear what it is you will discover, should she learn too much."
For an uncharacteristic instant, Sasuke hesitated, his expression mirroring his inner uncertainty as his gaze darted from the goddess, down to Sakura, before rising back to Chiyo. The implication behind her statement only made the need to unravel the mystery of Sakura all the more imperative. His face grew steely again as he demanded coldly, "What is she?"
Chiyo clucked her tongue disapprovingly, as if about to verbally reprimand a child. "She is one who will wither without light. The longer you keep her here unbound and forbidden, the greater she will suffer."
Sasuke's heart thumped as he considered her words. "She spoke of Hades in sleep."
Chiyo's eyes lowered and she remained cryptically silent, as the death deity continued, "That memory cannot belong to her. She was born mortal. Her blood is mortal."
Even as he was speaking, Sasuke's mind was racing. The possibility of Sakura housing a reincarnated soul had already presented itself to him, but he had almost immediately dismissed it. He would have known. He was the one who facilitated the complex and delicate process of reincarnation, after all, and he was the only deity with the power to authorise it. For reincarnation to occur, a deceased soul had to enter his realm and pass judgement in his throne room before he decided whether or not he would award it a second chance at life. And he was absolutely certain that he had never come across Sakura's soul before. He would have surely remembered if he had. He retained every single detail about every single soul that had ever entered his Kingdom. Nothing ever slipped by his watch.
But then, how else could she have whispered the name? Unless- his breathing stilled as the only other possible explanation struck him with all the sureness of a lightning bolt - unless Sakura was indeed human, but, at some point during her infancy and childhood, had had the remnants of a deity's powers sealed inside her for safe-keeping, by either Tsunade or another elder god. Fragments that were responsible for whatever it was she had dreamt, remnants that an over-indulging consumption of ambrosia triggered into activation inside her.
It was the only other explanation that made sense, and Sasuke was quite unprepared for the anger he experienced as the logic of it began to set into stone. If that was the case, where did Sakura the human end, and where did this parasite deity essence begin? Was the light in Sakura's soul her own, or was the sealed deity fragment responsible for it? How was it possible that he, who had been imbued with the ability to see every soul for what it was worth, was not entirely certain when it came to Sakura?
An unexpected and foreign sensation that could only be likened to nausea settled in the deepest pits of Sasuke's gut as he realised that there was only one sure way for him to discover the truth. By ending the girl's life and extracting her soul from its physical shell. But if he did that, and then resurrected Sakura, who knew what would become of her? Would she be the same? Or would there be unforeseen consequences to tampering with the unknown that slumbered inside her?
Chiyo, who had been watching him very intently, decided that she had spoken enough. "The child is in need of my immediate attention," she grumbled, drawing Sasuke out of his mental cyclone of disturbing revelations. As an afterthought, she added, "She will not be harmed, little King. You have my word."
The finality of her tone made it clear that she would say nothing more on the subject of Sakura. It was just as he had expected, but the fact that Chiyo clearly knew more than she let on and chose to keep quiet about it only aggravated Sasuke's sense of exasperation further. His eyes lingered on the girl's pain-contorted face as Chiyo bent over her. The old crone paused as she perceived his reluctance to abandon Sakura's side, and cast him a silent glance which defiantly communicated that she would not begin until Sasuke left them alone, as she had requested.
Clenching his teeth together, Sasuke remained obstinately in place. He did not want to leave Sakura, but Chiyo would not treat her otherwise, and the only other alternative was to take Sakura back to the palace and let her writhe in an excruciating state of pain for several days. The latter option was utterly unacceptable; he could not allow it, and reasoned that he would have to find out what Chiyo said from Sakura later, and alter her memory if she was told too much.
Irritated that he was being forced to concede for Sakura's sake, Sasuke sent the ancient goddess one last chilly glower, before flickering wordlessly out of sight.
Sakura was floating in a warm and fuzzy place. The pain had long since vanished, and for a blissful while, she felt at peace. Then the pleasant warmth began to turn to a heat that throbbed achingly deep within her chest, a heat that quickly became unbearable, and caused her eyes to fly open as her lungs heaved to catch oxygen.
"Even now, the ambrosia lingers, fighting to undo what only True Death can reverse," an unfamiliar voice commented from beside her. For an awful minute, a confused Sakura could make out nothing through the bleariness of her vision. Then something sickly sweet was poured into her mouth and she spluttered, trying to cough it out when it caused tiny tingles to surface all over her tongue. But her jaw was clamped shut and held firmly closed by strong, bony fingers, and her head tilted back in a way that compelled her to swallow the strange liquid down. As soon as she did, the hand at her chin fell away and as the concoction travelled down her throat, Sakura found that her sight slowly began to clear.
She blinked groggily as her gaze found the underside of what looked to be the ceiling of a cave, attached to which were unfamiliar-looking, exotic trinkets. Why did her head feel so heavy? She wasn't in any pain, but the sensation of being displaced and out of her element was somewhat disconcerting.
"Sasuke…?" she managed to whisper. Where had he taken her? The last thing she remembered was trying to leave her room, and then… then everything else was an incomprehensible blur.
A laugh that Sakura could only liken to the cackle of an evil old woman reached her ears.
"Eheheheheh! You will be returned to your handsome King before long, my child."
Her handsome king? Sasuke was in no way her king - or hers at all, for that matter. She blinked, and tested that her arms and legs were still in operation by wiggling her fingers and toes. Everything seemed to be working. Slowly, she sat up – and immediately wished she hadn't when the world spun violently on its axis. Her stomach lurched, and she doubled over, groaning.
"Ugh…"
"Young ones nowadays, ever hasty," the voice clucked admonishingly.
Sakura gingerly lifted her head, waiting for the nauseating vertigo to pass. When it finally did, and her vision settled once again, she took in her surroundings in fascinated disbelief. She was in a cosy-sized, circular cave with a fire blazing in the middle of an open stone hearth, above which was suspended an actual cauldron. Steam bubbled from it, evaporating into the air, and her nostrils caught the strong whiff of a strange, head-spinning aroma that smelled of brewing herbs coupled with something else Sakura couldn't quite place. There was another smaller fireplace ahead of her, an open cage attached to the low ceiling, with an unblinking, fluffy owl in it, and, just by the straw mattress she was sitting on, a stack of wooden puppets strewn messily on the dusty ground. Piles upon piles of thick leather-bound books and an assortment of peculiarly shaped glass bottles, jars and wooden bowls also littered the area. A scrawny dog lay sleeping on the other side of the cave. She also glimpsed a cracked stone fountain like structure, from which no water ran. A quick glance behind her revealed a long, willowy curtain which she supposed led out of the bizarre looking space. Then her gaze focused in front of her again.
Where was she? And where had Sasuke gone? Her watering eyes finally adjusted to the lighting and her heart jumped into her throat when she suddenly noticed a figure hunched in a small wooden seat by the smaller fireplace. Above the stranger were twin torches, which threw shadows onto the mysterious entity's face.
"Who are you?" Sakura managed to ask after a few seconds of uncertainty.
"I have had many names, child, and seen many lifetimes. But you may call me Chiyo, Goddess and Protector of the Crossroads."
Sakura was unable to keep an astonished gasp from escaping her lips. She was in the presence of an actual goddess? She didn't dare to move, and kept her eyes fixed on the woman, as she questioned next in a near-whisper, "What is this place?"
"This den is my abode," Chiyo answered, her voice unhurried and gravelly. "Deep in the heart of the Underworld, where I watch the unfolding of all things." Chiyo shifted at last, and turned toward Sakura, whose eyes widened as she found herself gazing up at an aged face that possessed a wealth of deep lines and crinkles, framed by straight grey hair that reached proudly set shoulders. Her features were wise, almost grandmotherly – but her dark eyes were bright and alert, and shone with unnatural keenness. Sakura didn't know why she had the sudden urge to lean down and prostrate before this goddess, who was clad in a thick grey cloak. Instead she remained in place, a multitude of questions bouncing around inside her skull. Why had Sasuke left her alone with this deity?
As if reading her mind, Chiyo stated, "The ambrosia was poisoning your body. Sasuke enlisted my aid to administer a potion to clear the wine from your bloodstream."
"Where is he?" Sakura needed to know. She would not have expected Sasuke to leave her at all, and found his unanticipated absence somewhat unsettling.
Chiyo smiled a crooked smile. "In exchange for my aid, I sent the little King away. Do not fret your pretty little head; you will be returned to his palace, at my convenience."
Sakura's lips parted. Sasuke had been sent away? But nobody sent Sasuke away. He ruled the Underworld, and took orders from nobody else. Unless- she stared at Chiyo. Unless this old goddess was somehow more powerful than he was, and he had been forced to leave in exchange for having her healed?
"You mean… he can't see us now?" Sakura began, a little ray of hope sparking into being within her. Somehow she instinctively felt that this goddess bore no ill will toward her. She didn't know exactly how why - maybe the comfort of seeing another deity, and a female one at that, had something to do with it. "He can't hear us?"
"That is correct," Chiyo nodded. "I have long desired to speak with you, but our handsome King would not otherwise consent to leaving you alone in my presence. I should be grateful for your choosing to consume so much ambrosia – in this way we may talk uninterrupted."
"Thank you," Sakura said earnestly. "Thank you for healing me."
"Do not thank me just yet, young Sakura. I will require repayment from you, in turn."
Sakura's sense of gratitude and relief deflated a little at the words. Nervously, she ventured, "What kind of repayment?"
"Merely the answers to my questions," Chiyo replied. "Those who have lied to me in the past have lost their tongues. Answer me wisely and truthfully, child."
Sakura swallowed. So much for her misplaced sense of not being in any danger. Suddenly she wished that Sasuke was with her. But then she reasoned to herself that as long as she listened carefully and was as honest as she could be, she would be fine.
"I'll be truthful," she promised quietly.
Chiyo nodded, regarding her thoughtfully as she placed her weight on the knobbly stick in her hands. "Then we shall begin with how much you remember."
Sakura shifted her position on the mattress, and shook her head in confusion. This wasn't starting off well. "I'm sorry. How much do I remember about what?"
Chiyo ignored her question and ventured with her own. "Tell me, where were you born?"
Sakura found this an odd question. Surely deities could tell that just by looking at a human? Nevertheless, she offered, "In Konohagakure."
"Who is your mother?"
Sakura's heart ached as she replied, "Tsunade Haruno. She's a senior consultant at Konoha Central Hospital."
"Who is your father?"
Sakura averted her gaze. The subject was touchy one, and she didn't usually like to discuss it, mainly because she knew so little. "I… I don't know who he is. I've never met him. My mother never told me much about him, only that he left us a long time ago. She won't say anything else."
When she looked up again, Chiyo was frowning, almost disapprovingly. Then the look quickly vanished.
"What is your age, child?"
Again, Sakura was struck by the obviousness of the question. "I'm eighteen," she stated, uncertain as to where all these enquiries were leading.
"Hmm," Chiyo shook her head, as if this wasn't what she had wanted to hear. Then, almost to herself, she muttered, "Everything is as it was intended." While a puzzled Sakura was trying to figure out just what that might mean, Chiyo abruptly switched subjects, and what she said next caught Sakura completely off-guard. "You fear Death. And yet you find yourself more and more inexplicably drawn to its King."
Sakura wasn't prepared for the almost violent way her stomach twisted in reaction to the words. What in the world was the old crone saying?
"I'm sorry," she began, instantly on the defensive, "I don't think-"
Chiyo continued on as though Sakura had not even spoken. "Do you deny this?"
Sakura opened her mouth to argue that she didn't have to deny what wasn't true to begin with, that Sasuke was a heartless god who did nothing except terrorise her, but she recalled what had happened to dishonest people before, and swallowed thickly. Because the truth was, beneath all the fear, she was curious too – curious and fascinated that he had chosen and wanted her. Her heart was racing as she bit down on her lower lip anxiously, forced to confront, at that very second, the multitude of emotions that just one heavy glance from Sasuke evoked in her.
After a minute, she cautiously answered, "Death isn't what I thought it would be like. He's not how I expected a god to be." Battling back the sudden heat in her cheeks, she added, "I just- I want to learn more about what-" she hesitated, before amending, "-who he is." It was futile to attempt pretending otherwise. The reality was that she did want to know about Sasuke's history, who his family had been, and how he had wound up in charge of the Underworld.
"You wish to know of his past." Chiyo mused. "To what end, child?"
The bluntness of the question left Sakura speechless for a moment. At last she shook her head. "I don't… I just want to understand." Looking down at her hands, folded neatly on her lap, she realised that the need to understand was fuelled from the desire to obtain a sense of closure, a justification for his actions and treatment of her. If she understood Sasuke's character better, she could make better sense of everything he had chosen to do in relation to her.
Chiyo's to the point reply caused Sakura's heart to jump to her throat in alarm.
"Such a wish is questionable. Why desire to understand the one you intend to betray?"
Sakura's heart thundered. Her throat suddenly felt terribly dry and the immediate panicked thought that rushed through her head was that if Sasuke had any way of hearing what had just been said, she was as good as dead.
But Chiyo once again read her mind. "The words you speak here cannot be overheard, child. In this den, my power surpasses Sasuke's."
"I don't-" Sakura fumbled, stunned that the goddess before her knew with such certainty of the conspiracy Suigetsu had persuaded her to partake in. If she knew, then wasn't there a strong possibility that Sasuke did, also? After all, didn't gods know everything? But if he did, why hadn't he chosen to confront her or to do anything about it? Or was the plain fact of the matter that Chiyo was able to perceive more than Sasuke could in his own realm? Did it have something to do with her title as Goddess of the Crossroads?
"I don't want to betray him," she whispered fiercely, her pulse galloping at sickening speed. "If I knew for certain that he plans to let me go eventually…" her voice trailed off. She couldn't bring herself to say the rest. If I knew that he planned to let me go eventually, I would never have agreed to Suigetsu's plan.
Sakura lowered her head, her eyes stinging with tears. "I just want to see my mother again. Please… can't you help me?"
Chiyo turned her face to the burning fire behind her.
"I watch the threads of the Fates unwind. I do not interfere with their course."
Sakura sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes widening as stark understanding dawned upon her. This goddess could see the future. She knew precisely what was going to happen. Sakura rose from the straw mattress, and walked around the boiling cauldron. She approached Chiyo, and sat down by her feet, next to the comforting warmth of the fireplace.
"Please," she pleaded. "Please, I need to know. How long is he going to keep me here?"
Chiyo's eyes turned to regard her. After a pause, she answered, "You must choose your own path, Sakura."
The goddess watched as the girl's desperate expression quickly gave way to crestfallen despair. Her face lowered, and her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Chiyo stared down at her. Something about the child's depths of hopelessness and dejection tugged at strings of pity slumbering deep within her, and in a moment of rare, maternal compassion, Chiyo reached out a hand and lightly brushed the top of Sakura's silky head.
"Perhaps I may offer you something else to ease your woe."
Sakura looked miserably up, her eyes brimming with tears, which Chiyo could see she was struggling to contain.
The goddess's eyelids drooped and she was silent for a long while, as if she were giving something deep deliberation in her mind. When she spoke again, she turned her face to look into the flickering flames of the fire once more.
"In an age long past, transpired a great conflict and war of power between those who dwelled in the sky, and those who dwelled beneath the surface of the earth. The sky dwellers oversaw the affairs of the living. Those underground commanded the affairs of the dead. The result of their battle gave way to a premature apocalypse, one that threatened the very existence of humankind."
Sakura's eyes widened as her brain slowly digested the deity's words. An unexpected ray of hope kindled to life in her heart and she held her breath, scarcely daring to believe that she was on the verge of being given some much needed clarity.
"Those who dwelled beneath the surface of the earth met an untimely and cruel end. Only one was spared, the youngest of the underground dwellers, left alone in a cold, silent world, devoid of light. On that darkest of days, a prince, unprepared, became king."
Sakura released a trembling breath of disbelief. Sasuke? Was Sasuke the sole survivor to whom Chiyo was referring? She had never once even stopped to consider how Sasuke had become the God of Death, never once contemplated Sasuke's feelings about ruling the Underworld. She had always just assumed that it was a job he had willingly chosen and gladly did, a job that afforded him ultimate supremacy and superiority over all living things. But hearing Chiyo's account of a past that was wholly alien and unknown to her made Sasuke seem more a victim of circumstance than a merciless, unfeeling perpetrator.
Her numbed mind raced to process this new information. Frantically, she tried to reign in the confusion and pandemonium of her thoughts, tried to place structure to the reality-shifting revelations as she came to terms with just how ignorantly she had been raised. Sasuke had apparently been part of a clan that had been in charge of the Underworld. She recalled the red and white uchiwa fan she had seen displayed proudly in his palace and its mighty front gates, and a puzzle piece clicked almost audibly into place in her brain. It was his family's crest. She was absolutely certain of it.
His clan had perished, and he had been left alone to pick up the pieces. To rule, according to Chiyo, way before his time. Feared and loathed by everyone and everything, with only the dead for company.
Sakura swallowed down the bitter lump in her throat. She felt sick. How very bleak and terrible and lonely an existence must it have been? Was that why Sasuke was so brooding and distant? Because he had lost everything he had ever cared about once before already?
Even as she attempted to answer those reflections, more questions sprung forth in her mind. Who had been the driving force behind his family's extermination? And why? Why would deities seek to destroy each other for power? Didn't every god command limitless power anyway? Or had she been completely deluded in her belief of that, too? She suddenly remembered Sasuke's livid reaction to the burning shrine room. It had frightened her at the time, but now she could understand it. Accept it, even. The portrait was likely all he had left of what she supposed had been his most immediate family.
He felt things. Just like she did. Perhaps even more acutely, deep beneath that icy exterior of his. After all, he was a higher being.
Why did that realisation leave her feeling even more perplexed and upset, even more staggered?
Then she dizzily found herself wondering when all of this had even happened. Why had only Sasuke been spared? What role had he served before his family's fall? What had become of the sky gods? Why hadn't these events been recorded in history? Why did nobody on the surface speak about it, and why had none of her teachers ever mentioned it in class? Where did she come into all of this, and what did this newfound knowledge alter for her? Did it really change anything? What would Sasuke do if he realised she now knew? How would he react if she tried to talk to him about it? Would he be angry? Her heart trembled. She didn't think she could keep the fact she knew a secret, not when it was already shedding a different light on aspects of Sasuke's personality and forcing her to reanalyse his behaviour toward her. So many questions, and yet she could tell from the way the old goddess was looking at her so solemnly that nothing else would be answered for her. Chiyo had already revealed enough.
"It is time for you to return to him," the goddess stated, raising the stick in her hands.
"No! Wait- please!" Sakura exclaimed desperately, clutching at the tails of the goddess's long cloak in sheer panic, not yet ready to return when such a devastating bomb had been detonated upon her. She felt even worse than she had before Chiyo had given her the unanticipated history lesson. Even more troubled and confused. How was she meant to interact with Sasuke now? What did she do next? Would she meet with the goddess again? "What do I-? What if he asks me about- what should I do?"
"You must make your choice," Chiyo answered, and chuckled at the horror that crossed over Sakura's features. "Eheheheheheh! Yes, your path is an interesting one indeed, little flower. If you listen closely, perhaps you will find that you no longer have cause to fear it."
What? What in the world did she mean? Sakura opened her mouth to protest, to ask the questions her pounding heart knew only Sasuke could now answer – but Chiyo had struck the base of her stick into the floor. The cave around Sakura was already fading away in a whirlwind of blinding white light, and when she felt the ground fall out from beneath her, her consciousness plummeted along with it.
Author's note
Yeah. Major revelations this chapter. Nearly thirty chapters in, with the foundations all set between them, we're moving on.
If you find any typos or mistakes, I apologise. I haven't proofread the second half of this chapter, and will edit it later accordingly. I just wanted to get this out as soon as possible.
Let's face it. Proud Sasuke wasn't about to open up about his past anytime soon, and with him finding out more about Sakura, it was only fair that she got a little something back. I should stress that she had only scratched the surface of his past here. But this paves the way for some further development between them, and possibly some much needed ice-breakers at last?! It won't be smooth sailing between them from here on out though, don't be fooled for an instant! More like, even more drama time!
Just as planned, says Chiyo. Any theories on why she chose to disclose this history? Kukukuku.
Just to be clear, Sakura is NOT just suddenly going to feel all sorry and lower her guard around Sasuke because of this. But this will help put things into better perspective for her. Poor girl has been so out of the loop. How do we think Sasuke's going to react when he realises the meddling Chiyo has done?! And what on earth is Naruto up to?
Next chapter will feature the long awaited dance scene. Kindly consider leaving feedback on this one, and I hope to see you next update, people!