Gasp. What's this? An early update? Before Christmas? Enjoy, people. Thanks for your continued support everyone, and remember to keep checking the deviantart group page for new artwork/updates/sneak peeks.
Please excuse any typos/errors. I try to weed them out, but my human eyes might miss a few.
Chapter XXXVI
Unchained is Truth,
That struggles to fly,
The cruellest of binds,
That keep her prisoner,
In abandon – confined,
The key that goes without a name,
Twisted by the wear of time,
Rests from whence it first came.
In His trembling, open palm.
Alastor returned them to the palace speedily. After dismounting, Sasuke had whisked an unconscious Sakura into his arms and carried her to her chamber. He presently sat on the bed beside her slumbering form, watching as her chest rose and fell in time to her steady breathing. Her apricot cheeks were flushed, and it suddenly struck Sasuke how extremely young and fragile she looked.
He reached out, brushing his fingertips along the silken skin of her jawline, unmindful of the gentleness behind his gesture. It was strange, he thought absently; how he had never really given much consideration to her age. She had turned nineteen in his Kingdom and it had only been a few years earlier that she'd been a child by mortal standards.
To Sasuke, she was still, in many ways, a child; one on the very cusp of womanhood – but she was afraid to take the final, irreversible steps that would allow her to burst into full bloom.
Afraid…? He reconsidered. No. Sakura was more mature than others her age, and more than ready to grow up. She had only been denied from fully doing so.
Her mother had smothered her. He wondered how Sakura would react when she realised that she had been stifled by the very people she loved and followed so blindly. They had kept their world hidden from her – the very same world into which he had stolen her away. Once again he tried to fathom why. Had they thought her incapable of accepting the truth?
It had taken Sakura time, but she had managed to adjust to his realm. Now she was fully functional in it and no longer doubted anything she encountered. He dismissed the notion. Tsunade could not have possibly withheld information because Sakura was unable to process it.
So there was really only one possible conclusion, only one way that justified their actions. They had lied to the girl to keep her safe. Sakura would only require protection if she possessed something of great value. Sasuke knew who their greatest enemy was, but that deity had long been confined to the sky, bound to the ruins of a once resplendent Kingdom, forbidden from descending to the world of mortals.
He smoothed aside a stray lock of hair that had fallen over Sakura's eyes. What of the contaminated blood sample he had acquired? What did Kabuto ultimately intend to do with it? And how did Sakura's mysterious recollections and episodes fit in with everything?
A thought suddenly occurred to Sasuke. The memories Sakura could not possess - what if they had somehow been suppressed? He was not able to access her mind in her dream states – and that was something, as the governor of death, he ought to have been able to do easily.
As his mind raced, his pulse also began to pick up pace. A complex seal surely had to be blocking him from connecting to her deepest subconscious. It made terrible sense; a seal so powerful and advanced in its intricacy, that even his eyes could not detect it.
It was a difficult concept to digest. Sasuke had always been a practical god; his Sharingan was capable of seeing everything. If he could not see something, then it likely did not exist. Or so he had been raised so proudly to believe…
He rapidly scoured his knowledge of complex seals, recalling a number of memory inhibiting techniques. But each one had a weakness and was capable of being reversed by the Sharingan. There was no permanent technique he knew of, to completely steal away a person's memories. Only Lethe had the power to do so.
Drinking from the river washed away all remembrance – including events from past lives ahead of reincarnation. But for that to happen - for a soul to be sent back to the land of the living – they would have to pass through the Underworld's gates first.
In the countless ages that had passed since he had prematurely ascended his Kingdom's throne, the Death God had only ever sent back one soul.
Sakura's spirit had never passed through his realm. And he knew for a fact that she had never drunk from Lethe's amnesia-inducing waters. That also did not explain the perplexing block on her mind; just attempting to tap into it sent a jolt of blinding pain zigzagging straight through Sasuke's skull.
He drew his hand back, gazing down at her serene face. There had to be a seal. The seal was seemingly weakened when she drank ambrosia. But ambrosia was also the only thing that kept her 'episodes' at bay. It seemed to have a contradictory effect on her – paining her with phantom visions of an era long gone - yet it worked to suppress the agony that assailed her at the start of Spring.
Spring. The growth of new flora on the surface had stumped since he had taken Sakura. It had been over two months, and the surface was unnaturally fruitless for the time of year. Plant life was struggling to bloom.
Sasuke's heart was now pounding, as he finally allowed himself to really consider what picture the fragmented pieces he had collected formed when placed together.
There were two possibilities. He would have scoffed at them before, for the only wise, powerful deities capable of performing such higher order rituals had long since departed.
Hadn't they?
It disturbed Sasuke that he suddenly could not feel entirely convinced.
One theory was that Sakura was a goddess who had been stripped of her abilities. However, the very idea was preposterous to Sasuke. He would have remembered her – and she would not have been born again as a mortal. There were goddesses who had parted with their active gifts – like Hestia and Aphrodite – but Sakura was not the same.
The other, more likely and troubling explanation was that she possessed mortal blood, had been born and raised as a human – but housed what was left of a deceased goddess's soul. What if Tsunade – for desperate reasons still unknown to him - had sealed the remnants of a goddess inside Sakura to keep it hidden? What if those remnants were in a constant battle to take dominance over the mortal vessel into which they had been so forcibly locked – resulting in Sakura's distressing attacks?
Sasuke released a low hiss through his teeth. While it was possible to seal deity souls within human shells, it was also exceptionally hazardous. In most instances, the human spirit was completely overcome and then devoured. The body, unable to house a divine soul, soon succumbed to poisoning and delirium, wasting away into nothingness.
Naruto had mentioned the 'essence of Spring'. The death deity frowned, trying to recall any remembrance he had of a past Spring Goddess. Demeter, as she had been known back then, had governed over the harvest, but who else had there been…? His brain kept drawing blanks, unable to flag up any other name or face. The more he tried to dwell on it, the more his mind felt like it was straining.
He had seen the photographs of Sakura as an infant and a child – but had never spied pictures of her father. He had always assumed that her father had been a mortal. Now it struck him as extremely odd that Sakura never asked about the man who made up part of her heritage.
Sasuke rose quietly from her side, turning away to pace agitatedly before the crackling fireplace.
Was she really Tsunade's daughter at all? If she was, then at least part of her blood would be immortal. She would be a demigoddess. But she wasn't. When Sakura was hurt, she bled. She tired like a human, needed sleep like a human. If she was mortally wounded, she would die.
But there were other things about her that were not so human-like. The mystery of her soul. Her uncommon proficiency in chakra direction. And of course, the maddening recollections of Hades.
What was she seeing in her dreams? Did she see other gods and goddesses, too? Why was it only that name she remembered? And if ambrosia alone was capable of triggering the dreams, then what had caused her to lose consciousness in the Plains of Judgement?
Past memories, he realised. Nothing can hide there.
But Sakura had not arrived on the plains as a deceased soul. She ought not to have been able to recall lost memories as a living human.
Unless- unless the goddess's remnants – which were arguably deceased - had somehow been stirred into activation in the plains…
Sasuke stopped, staring wide-eyed into the flickering flames.
If she did indeed hold the spirit of a deity, then that explained the memories. It was also a possible factor for why Tsunade and the others had chosen to shelter the girl. For she would surely not react kindly to knowing that she'd had a divine essence sealed inside her against her choice and knowledge. An essence that needed to be concealed from watching eyes who were seeking it – and likely the power it commanded.
Sasuke exhaled. It was a wild, insane theory. He shook his head, raking a frustrated hand through his raven hair. He had always been complemented on possessing an exceptionally sharp mind – but at that moment he wanted to switch his damned thoughts off. He could scarcely believe the idea he was entertaining – and what unsettled him even more greatly was that it seemed to make such awful sense.
He needed confirmation, of course – but if it was the truth… what, then, would the implications be for Sakura…?
The unpleasant sensation brewing like an ominous storm in his chest was unexpected in its intensity. It made him angry, watching Sakura suffer for reasons she did not even know or understand. He wanted answers, but Sakura had a right to know them, too. Tsunade, he knew, was the key. She could confirm why Sakura had the strange episodes, episodes that left her gasping for air and doubling over in pain. She could tell him why Sakura had recollections of names far beyond her life-span.
A soft moan caused his thumping heart to skip a beat. He spun on his heel to find Sakura stirring in bed. In four long strides he had returned to her side. Perching on the plush mattress's edge, he placed a hand onto her left shoulder and shook her gently.
"Sakura."
"Hmmm…" she hummed, turning her face away from him. She sighed, and appeared to doze again.
Sasuke blinked. He had been waiting, quite murderously, for her to wake up what seemed like forever. He was absolutely not about to permit her to lounge in extra minutes of luxury. He shook her again, this time more insistently.
"Sakura. Wake up."
"Mdooonwannaa," she mumbled.
"What?" he scowled and leant forward to listen more closely.
"Mnooooo. Dun wanna. Not wake up for school. Huh."
Sasuke stared at her. Then he shook her again.
"Open your eyes," he ordered sharply.
She tried to roll onto her side, but his firm hold prevented her from doing so.
"G'waaay," she groaned. "Mdontwantbreakfast."
Sasuke's jaw clenched in open irritation. The hand on her shoulder tightened as the final threads of patience swiftly unwound from the extremely short yarn he possessed. He was just about ready to throw all courtesy out the window and yank the annoying girl up-
"Go awaaay!" she whined. Without warning her right arm flew up and swatted the air viciously – cleanly striking the right side of Sasuke's jaw. He blinked in surprise - then glowered down at her. As he reached out to jerk her up by her shoulders, her right arm flailed between them once again, as if she were trying to swat aside an intrusive insect. With an angry hiss, he grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head.
She struggled in semi-sleep, muttering incoherently underneath her breath.
"Wake up," he bit out, willing it with his mind. "Now."
Sakura's eyelashes fluttered, before finally opening. She blinked, looking disorientated. Her green eyes were darker than usual, heavy with the leftovers of sleep. Then she realised with a heart-wrenching jolt that she was in bed, and Sasuke was leaning over her – far too close – and he was holding her right arm in an iron grip over her head.
It was enough to chase the last cobwebs of drowsiness out of her head.
"Wha-!" she gasped, her chest heaving as she found herself immediately breathless in the face of his proximity. Heat shot to her cheeks, as she tried – in vain – to wrestle herself out of his hold.
"Sasuke-! What are you doing-?"
"You hit me." His irked glare was so heated in its intensity that Sakura was certain her head was ready to spontaneously combust.
Her lips parted as she incredulously registered his words, half relieved, half flabbergasted. She had what?!
A part of her was utterly mortified – even if she had done it unconsciously.
Another part, a secret part she wanted to shove into oblivion at that very moment, inwardly rejoiced, whispering that she ought to have done it a lot sooner, and it was a pity that she hadn't been able to see his reaction to it.
When he finally released her and sat back to give her space, she bolted upright and floundered, "What?" She spotted the faint red mark just below his right cheek - and gaped at him.
"I'm so sorry-"
"Be quiet," he snapped, cutting her off abruptly. Sakura gulped, twisting the silk sheets anxiously between her fingers as her mind finally caught up. They were back in the palace, in her bedroom, and she was still wearing her beautiful silver gown.
Sasuke did not look pleased. She had a funny hunch, however, that his less than jolly mood was only partly due to her accidentally slapping him in the face whilst asleep.
Then it hit her. They had been in the Plains of Judgement. She had seen the angels. The last thing she remembered was having a terrible headache, and then-
Sasuke's dark eyes were watching her searchingly. She could see the tension coiled around the muscles of his chiselled jaw.
Before she could attempt to say anything else, the death deity demanded, "What do you remember?"
Sakura's gaze lowered and she swallowed as she strained to answer. "I… I remember hearing voices. You said they were the memories of spirits…"
Sasuke waited. His hands, by his sides, were tightly clenched.
Sakura shook her head in puzzlement. "Then I heard another voice. But… it didn't sound like it belonged to a soul."
The Death God stiffened, unprepared for the possibility of Sakura actually recollecting. He leant forward, peering at her closely, urging her to continue as his pulse accelerated once again.
"And?" he prompted impatiently at her silence.
"It was weird. Different." Sakura met his eyes. "It was like I was hearing it from right inside my head."
"What did it say?" Sasuke pressed.
Sakura's brain hummed vacantly. She raised a hand to her forehead, rubbing when it ached with increasing intensity as she attempted to recall what she had heard.
"I-" she frowned, her thoughts feeling oddly fragmented. "I don't remember. My head hurt and then I must have passed out…" her voice trailed off.
There was a long silence. Sasuke was the one to finally break it.
"You were dreaming."
Sakura slowly exhaled. A dream…? It was as though she was on the verge of recollection – but every time she tried to grasp at its tethers, the memory evaded her again. Like an old movie she had watched long ago – and forgotten.
She touched her throbbing temples, both bewildered and worried. "What's happening to me…?" she whispered.
Sasuke regarded her silently for another minute – before rising to his feet. He began to pace away from her, as if he were lost deeply in his own thoughts. She looked after him expectantly - surely he had the answers to all her queries.
He stopped before the fireplace. With his back to her, he said shortly, in a tight, curt voice, "You spoke again of Hades."
Hades. Once more, the word stirred something in her mind, a fleeting rustle. It was almost tantalisingly familiar - but it disappeared as quickly as the passing of a transient breeze – there one second, gone the next.
"Hades," she repeated, staring at her palms, hoping that repetition would somehow help. It did not. She was struck, however, by how darkly alluring the name sounded when uttered aloud. As though it held a mysterious and mighty power.
Her gaze lifted to rest on where Sasuke was still standing, so quietly and still by the hearth.
"I don't know why I would say that name," she said, genuinely bothered by her lack of ability to explain why she was speaking of someone with whom she was not even acquainted. "I don't know who that is."
She did not see Sasuke's eyes lower and close briefly. She saw only the curling of his fingers, as they formed tense fists.
The crackle of the flames dancing hypnotically in the fireplace was the only sound that punctuated the long, suffocating silence that ensued. Sakura's blood was rushing in her ears. Something about Sasuke's extended wordlessness and standoffish body language was prickling her skin with uneasiness, making her feel edgy and nervous. She pushed the covers back, and slipping her legs over the edge of the bed, feeling the need to move, to do something. Anything.
Then, just when she was contemplating whether or not to go to him, the death deity spoke. So quietly – as if he were speaking more to himself - that Sakura almost missed what he uttered completely.
"It was my name."
Sakura stared at him in astonishment. Had she heard correctly? But she knew, as the crushing silence yawned to an endless chasm, that her ears had not misconstrued. She leaned forward, still perched on the mattress, her fingers digging into the luxurious bedding.
"I don't understand," she began uncertainly.
Sasuke did not respond. It was as though he was suddenly not listening to her at all.
Not knowing what else to do, Sakura stood up, and ventured carefully, "Sasuke?"
Her call seemed to snap him out of his private reverie. Blinking, he expanded briefly, "When different races die, new generations assign their own names for deities."
She considered this. It made sense – that throughout the ages, different faiths and tribes of people would use altered names for what was ultimately a single - and the same - divinity.
So Hades was such a name? Which civilisation had used it – and what had happened to those people?
"But Sasuke is your real name – isn't it?" Sakura pressed, curiosity gnawing away at her.
Sasuke was silent. Every god had a given name - one bestowed upon them at birth, in much the same way humans did – but the true name of a deity was personal to them and their immediate family only. It was considered arrogant, blasphemous and a great sin for a human to utter a god's true name – as if they were familiars or equals of sorts. They had kept their names hidden from mortal knowledge throughout history and adopted the names created by humans.
Hades had been the first name humans had used for him, coinciding with the time of his birth and by which he had been worshipped during a significant phase of his life - a time that had initially been the most glorious for his Clan. But it had ended up being a name that he wished he could eradicate entirely from his history – along with every cursed thing that had happened whilst he'd borne it.
After the calamitous event that had occurred, however, everything had changed. Their temples had been destroyed and eroded, until they no longer existed – and neither did the names they had carried for so long. They discarded them and the surface gods, their powers inhibited and fuelled by the desperation to blend into their enforced mortal surroundings, reverted to their original names, finding no further cause to keep them secret – because humans no longer believed in them as deities, anyway.
Sakura wondered why he was not answering. A whirlwind of questions was spinning furiously in her mind; if Hades was an old name mortals had once used for him, why was she muttering it in sleep? Why couldn't she ever remember saying it? And why didn't he use the name anymore?
He turned to regard her steadily, answering her question with a statement of his own.
"Your name."
She blinked, confused and caught off-guard.
"What?"
"Sakura," he drawled silkily, slinking away from the fireplace with the grace of a black panther prowling toward her. "Is that your real name?"
"Of course it is," she frowned, folding her arms automatically across her chest as he drew nearer. "Sasuke-" she tried to direct the query back at him again, but the God of Death, who had stopped immediately before her, was carrying on.
"Who named you?"
Sakura stared at him. Was that a trick question? A joke?
"My mother," she said confusedly. "Sasuke, what's-?"
"Not," he interjected, "your father." It wasn't a question.
"No," she swallowed and looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. She never talked about her father to anybody and had given up asking her mother for information about him many years earlier. But Sasuke, she reminded herself, was a deity – one who had made it clear that he did not judge the living.
Somehow, that reassuring fact made it easier for her to breach the sensitive topic.
"He walked out on us two months before I was born." Shaking her head, she added, "You know; I've never even seen a photograph of him." Hugging herself, she finished with conviction, as if seeking to convince herself, "It doesn't matter. We've never needed him."
"…" Sasuke watched her. He said nothing to that.
Sakura glanced back at him, eager to change subject. Frowning again, she said perplexedly, "But why would I be saying that name in sleep? How could I know it? That's just impossible."
His charcoal eyes searched hers unwaveringly. When he answered, something in his tone caused little prickles of alarm to surface on the bare skin of her arms.
"Is it, Sakura…?"
Her brain felt like it had turned to incoherent, sticky mush, making thinking clearly exceptionally difficult. She was having phantom dreams and apparently speaking a name that humans had assigned to Sasuke long ago – certainly long before her time. What was going on? What was even more alarming was that the god standing before her did not seem to have a direct explanation, either – unless he simply enjoyed spinning circles of deceit around her.
No, she dismissed. He was not deliberately weaving confusion over her. She knew it. There was no mistaking the tension in Sasuke's shoulders. He seemed edgy. Bothered, even. It made her feel even more nervous. He was always so cool and collected – so in control.
"Maybe," Sakura clutched wildly at straws, "I was just echoing the memories of the souls in the Plain, somehow."
Immediately, he refuted the idea. "You cannot. You are living."
"Well how long ago were you known by that name? Maybe I just heard it somewhere. Maybe-"
"No," he cut her off sharply. "This is no coincidence."
"But I can't remember," she raised her hands to her head in distressed despair. The need to solve the baffling mystery was chomping away at her. "Why can't I remember what I'm dreaming about?"
Another weighty pause hung between them. Then, without warning, Sasuke turned and moved toward the double-doors.
"Rest," he said curtly – and left the room.
Sakura blinked, surprised by his hasty exit. That was it? That was all he had to say about the matter? Before she could reconsider, she moved impulsively to hurry after him, pulling the doors of her chamber back open. She wasn't thinking about her actions. She only knew that she felt oddly restless – and she did not want to be alone at that moment.
She needed answers.
"Sasuke! Wait!"
He was already nearly halfway down the stretching corridor, but did not halt at her call. She had to run to catch up to his long strides.
"I told you to rest," he muttered underneath his breath, but his words seemed distracted.
"I'm fine now," Sakura insisted, as they continued further down the velvet-carpeted hallway, passing ornate marble statues. "Where are you going?"
He did not respond. Sakura struggled to match the swiftness of his gait, clutching onto the longer over-skirt of her gown to prevent her feet from catching the chiffon material and stumbling.
Sasuke's mind was too busy working away to dwell on the fact that the foolish girl had chosen to trail after him. He had tired of the goose-chase he'd been caught up in for so long. He was going to find out the truth – once and for all.
They passed the polished marble pillars that heralded the plush landing of the royal staircase. Sasuke seemed to glide noiselessly down while Sakura had to watch to make sure she did not miss a step. They descended onto the grand entrance hall and Sasuke headed straight to the throne room.
The wide-eyed awe Sakura would have otherwise experienced seeing the vast, glorious chamber once again was significantly dampened by her preoccupied thoughts. The lengthy walk down the central strip of carpet to the raised dais that supported the imperial throne seemed to pass in a flash. The death deity ascended the platform's steps and moved to the cloth-covered table by the stained glass panels behind the King's seat. Sakura, who had just stepped up onto the dais, saw him lift up a gracefully fashioned helmet, black with coils of icy silver.
It seemed to glow with a mysterious power. She had the inexplicable urge to examine and touch it.
"What's that?" she questioned inquisitively.
He seemed to remember then that she was still behind him, for he turned to her, his dark gaze as fathomless as a black ocean. He crossed back to where she was standing by the throne, and placed his left hand atop her petite right shoulder.
"Stay here," he commanded, his tone making it clear that this was as far as she could go.
Frustration crested within her – and she hoped that Sasuke could see it flare in her eyes.
"But where are you going-?"
With a single, firm push – one that was surely gentle by his standards, given the destructive power she knew flowed through his veins - he forced her back – straight into the regal chair. As she fell into it, Sakura was struck by just how spacious (and comfortable) the throne was. Funny, how she had never really noticed that when Sasuke had occupied it before. She blinked up at him, momentarily speechless, her heart pounding with disbelief – and something else – as her brain came to terms with the realisation that she was sitting in a king's – a god's – place, the place from which he judged her kind.
The hand at her shoulder lingered as he took in the sight of her tiny frame, dwarfed by the imposing splendour of the throne. Then he drew back. Before Sakura could say or do anything else, he lifted the helmet to his head – and promptly vanished from her sight.
"This is-" Gai was shaking with emotion. "This is- UNACCEPTABLE!"
"I can't believe it," Kurenai echoed softly.
"Unnatural," Iruka shook his head. "He must be stopped!"
"If there are more like this – if this is an experiment in its early stages – then we must act now," Asuma agreed.
They were seated around the assembly room's round table. A stunned silence had initially followed Tsunade's announcement and Shizune's demonstration.
Kakashi scratched his silver head thoughtfully.
"So, this junior doctor has been working at your hospital all this time," he sighed tiredly.
"I can't believe it," Ino near-shrieked. "I remember Sakura mentioning him, but he seemed so ordinary."
"Is that any surprise?" Shikamaru remarked. His tone was almost bored. "Of course, being in league with Orochimaru would make him a natural at concealing his true intentions."
"Son of a bitch," Asuma's hands curled to form angry fists. Kurenai placed a comforting hand lightly on his tense arm.
"Even with his uncommonly high IQ level, he could not have created this alone," Jiraiya spoke loudly from where he was seated languidly in his chair. Tsunade's grip on the phial tightened and she had to force herself not to snap at him to be quiet. "Orochimaru has clearly been whispering forbidden secrets into this human's ears for a while. In any case, two clear options stand before us."
"We destroy it!" Gai exclaimed immediately, slamming a fist atop the table. "We find his lab and destroy everything in it!"
"We already raided his basement," Shizune answered. "There were only two samples there."
"He could have more at another location," Kurenai argued.
"So we find them!" Ino gestured. "We track him and we get to the bottom of this before that freak can carry out any other twisted experiments."
Tsunade released a bitter sound – not quite a laugh. "That snake is watching his every move," she reminded them.
"Then we track him from a distance," said Shikamaru.
"A fine idea," Jiraiya approved. "I'll send my toads immediately."
"We don't need your help," Tsunade bit.
He waved her words off. "In denial as always," he dismissed.
"But if Orochimaru catches on…" Iruka began uncertainly.
"What have we to fear?" Asuma demanded. "Kabuto has likely already informed the serpent of Tsunade and Shizune's visit to his home."
"It seems only a matter of time until he knows," Shikamaru added. "If he doesn't already, that is."
"You say the other phial vanished?" Kakashi sought confirmation.
"Just like that, into thin air?" Iruka blinked.
"Yes," Shizune nodded. "Unless its contents spilled onto the grass and were lost."
Kakashi was silent. A thought was trickling prematurely into his intelligent, quick-witted mind – a thought far too troubling for him to articulate.
"What does he mean to do with these- these Zetsu freaks?" Ino shuddered. "You'd think they were trying to build some kind of an army-"
"Yes!" Iruka cried. "That's exactly what they must be doing!"
"It's almost like what happened before," Kurenai frowned softly. "When they tried to poison the world… except this time, they're using tampered samples of blood to create unnatural warriors."
Tsunade ground her teeth. "There might be a trace amount of her blood – it's too contaminated to identify clearly. That bastard must have kept a small sample from the war."
"You're sure Kabuto hasn't obtained a direct sample from you?" Shikamaru pressed. "You're absolutely positive?"
"None of the phials are missing," Shizune affirmed. "I checked them all. There was no way he could have accessed them directly, and Sakura's blood – if he managed to take a sample from her – is not capable of activating anything in its current state."
"Then HOW could he have created these monsters?" Gai wondered aloud.
Silence met his question.
"We'll watch him," Kurenai vowed, her slender fingers closing to form angry fists. "From a distance – I'll summon my buzzards and report back as soon as they discover anything." She rose, indicating that she intended to act immediately. Asuma followed loyally after her.
"Stay sharp," Jiraiya warned as they reached the door. "I have a feeling Kabuto, Orochimaru and Suigetsu are not the only ones we are dealing with, here."
"Who else could it be?" Ino stared at him in dismay.
"Someone stealthy indeed." Jiraiya mused. "Now, we must find the blasted missing sample."
Tsunade glowered at him. "We told you, the phial disappeared! You make it sound like locating it will be so simple."
"With me on the case, it will be," he flashed a broad, cocky smile at her, prompting her to roll her eyes in unimpressed disgust. Then, locking his twinkling gaze with Kakashi, Jiraiya winked cryptically as he rose, "Let us go for a little walk, Kakashi."
Kakashi's sole eye glanced toward Tsunade. She seemed uncomfortable with the proposition, but nodded tersely.
'We're done here for now. If that idiot tries anything stupid, tell me immediately,' she communicated in his mind.
Kakashi nodded briefly back at her, before rising to follow after Jiraiya.
"A fine, clear night, is it not?" Jiraiya commented, as they teleported way beyond the base's protective enclosures, alighting atop a hill overlooking a field. The grass, which ought to have populated the natural expanse generously given the season of year, was brown-yellow and stumped in its growth. A perpetual reminder of their troubles.
"A little chilly," Kakashi admitted, directing his attention up to the starry sky.
"That is to be expected," Jiraiya said. Then, "It's been a while since we last conferred. What have you been up to all this time, Kakashi?"
Kakashi, who had anticipated this query, shrugged. "I've been keeping my ears open."
"And what have you learned?"
The silver-haired man hesitated despite himself. A part of him wanted to confide in Jiraiya. Unlike Tsunade, he had always thought highly of – and trusted – the man's counsel – despite his many, glaring faults. But another part whispered in warning against acting prematurely. He could not vouch that Jiraiya would keep the information secret – and neither could he predict the elder's reaction.
"You clearly know something, to be deliberating so much over your answer," Jiraiya turned to him, his slanted eyes keen.
Disclosing part of the truth was better than speaking a complete lie – and Kakashi knew that Jiraiya could see quite easily through deceit.
"Naruto didn't listen, as usual," he confided quietly. "He ignored my instructions and tried to gain Sasuke's cooperation but-" he sighed heavily again. "Let's just say, things didn't go too well."
The old hermit's grey eyebrows lifted.
"Have you informed the others of this?"
"No. They'd skin Naruto alive for acting without their permission and endangering himself."
"But he is obviously still alive," Jiraiya pointed out.
"Yes," Kakashi nodded.
"He is in one piece."
"More or less," Kakashi mumbled.
"Then we could argue, could we not, that things went quite swimmingly?" Jiraiya grinned.
Kakashi shook his head. "If I hadn't anticipated his irresponsible actions and arrived in time to aid him..." he trailed off. There was no need to finish off his sentence. The implications were as clear as glass.
A stretching silence followed.
"So you see for yourself at last, just how much your old sparring student has changed," Jiraiya remarked.
"Yes," Kakashi acknowledged quietly.
Jiraiya turned his eyes to the stars in turn pensively. "Young Hades was always a smug, swaggering peacock in his fledgling years, wasn't he? But he was never truly diabolical. He now seems more similar in aura to-" he stopped here, more for Kakashi's sake than anything else.
"Cronus," Kakashi finished dully.
"Strange, is it not?" the hermit pondered. "How the cycle continues. Hatred and hunger for absolute power – and the madness that ultimately consumed him - was what drove Cronus to do the things he did."
Kakashi's gaze darkened. "Sasuke has not fallen quite that low."
"Not yet, perhaps." Jiraiya said pointedly. Then he added directly, "I believe he has a hand in all of this. That damned stubborn shrew won't hear a word that comes out of my mouth, but I will not be deterred."
Kakashi's pulse began to pick up pace. He said nothing. He dared say nothing.
"I know it does not please you to hear it," Jiraiya went on, mistaking his friend's silence for unhappy pain. "But we cannot continue to ignore this."
Kakashi was quiet for a long minute. Finally he said, very softly, "No. I suppose we can't, after all."
The position atop the dais allowed her an unhindered view of the great throne room in all its unadulterated grandeur. Her seeking, dazzled eyes kept taking in new, fabulous details around her, from the glinting veins set in the impeccably constructed columns and marble flooring, to the resplendent finishes of the elaborate, high vaulted ceiling. Even the rich swathes of bound curtains on either side of the royal podium were outrageously luxurious. But Sakura sat stiffly in the throne that was far too big for her slight frame, unable to relax the tension in her body. Sasuke had told her to stay – but had he literally meant in the King's chair?
She couldn't. It felt so- so wrong. Sacrilegious, somehow.
That's not the only reason, accused a voice in her head.
Sakura, however, was prepared to hear no more. She squirmed and then wriggled out of it, leaping away as if its majestic brilliance had scalded her skin. The further she stepped away from the throne, the more the tension melted away.
She turned to the cloth-laden table. One other item rested upon it – a two pronged spear. Gleaming pure silver, the pointed ends looked impossibly sharp. Its hilt was matte black, set with decorative crimson stones at the end of the long pole. There was an inscription, scrawled elegantly in silver runes belonging to a primordial language that was unfamiliar to her. Sakura exhaled appreciatively. It was an elegant, beautiful and deadly weapon that seemed to radiate raw power. Her fingertips suddenly tingled to touch it, to feel the cool kiss of metal beneath her skin – but surely she would be breaking some forbidden rule if she did so. Surely Sasuke would disapprove.
Candlelight glinted off the slicing tips – and the allure was much too strong to resist. She drew closer and reached out, hesitating for only a fraction of an instant before running her right hand lightly over the long, slender hilt. It was probably far too heavy to lift, she thought, as she tried to close both hands around it.
She was right. The spear did not budge a single inch under her tugging. It was almost as though it were glued to the table. Pouting unhappily, Sakura gave up and turned away.
'Touching a King's toys? Not very wise, young Sakura…'
Sakura tensed and yelped, looking around her in surprise. It took her a bewildered few seconds to realise that the voice had come from inside her head – rather than around her. It sounded vaguely familiar. In fact-
The voice cackled and with a leaping heart, Sakura finally recognised it.
'Then again, I suppose that our handsome young King can never stay displeased with you for too long... eheheheheheh!'
'Goddess Chiyo?' Sakura thought out hopefully.
'Well. You remember.'
'How can I hear you, when you're so far away from me?' Sakura asked silently.
'Do not be so surprised, young one. I watch the crossroads. The very air responds to my will.'
'But-'
'I do hope you enjoy flying.'
Sakura's eyebrows drew together at the arbitrariness of the statement.
'Huh?'
The only response she got was the sudden appearance of a glowing yellow circle at her feet. The arcane symbols around it began to spin ferociously, and a howling whirlwind rushed up, funnelling around her, sending her hair whipping into disarray. Sakura, her feet leaving the floor, did not even have time to scream.
When the world finally ceased its stomach lurching rotation and Sakura was gently deposited onto a soft pile of blankets on the solid ground, her nose was overcome with the heady scent of brewing herbs and spices. There was something almost reassuring about being back in the golden dimness and warmth of Chiyo's snug hut again. Sakura sat up, gasping, pushing her windswept tresses out of her eyes.
"I definitely don't like flying," she wheezed.
Chiyo chuckled at her. She looked the same as Sakura recalled her; the deep lines in her aged face, the short hair, the acute bright eyes.
"I see young Sasuke has been treating you well," the goddess remarked, taking in Sakura's healthy appearance. "You now have a mode of transportation."
Sakura looked down at her hands, clasped neatly together. She did not know what to say to that. Because the truth was, Sasuke had ensured she was well-fed, warm and safe – and he had given her extra provisions, too. Unexpected provisions.
"You wonder why," Chiyo rasped on. "And yet, you know the answer. The question is, whether you can accept it."
Sakura swallowed. It seemed wrong to question a goddess as ancient as Chiyo was – but her discomfort at the topic they were breaching made her blurt, "Why did you bring me back here?"
Chiyo stirred the cauldron by the hearth beside her.
"It is you who called to me, young Sakura," she croaked. "I decided to heed your call."
Sakura stared at her, nonplussed. She had called? When?
"I don't remember-" she began, flushing with embarrassment. She seemed to be forgetting an awful lot. "I'm sorry, Lady Chiyo, I don't think that I-"
"Perhaps not consciously," Chiyo interjected, raising the wooden spoon to her thin, cracked lips and sipping from the bubbling brew. She scowled and continued to stir. "It is your subconscious that has requested my aid."
As Sakura's brain tried frantically to process this, Chiyo went on unhurriedly, "But as always, my assistance does not come without price. You have many questions, young Sakura. Some I may answer. Others I will not."
A silence followed, punctuated only by the flames and the sound of thick, boiling liquid.
"What is the price?" Sakura finally asked. Even as the question left her lips, she regretted it.
"A single lock of your hair."
Sakura's lips parted as she raised a hand self-consciously to her hair. That was it? Was that really all Chiyo asked for in return?
"That's all you want?"
The crone eyed her with gleaming eyes. "Do you wish to offer me more, young one?"
"No-" Sakura fumbled. "I mean- it seems like nothing."
"Not everything is always as it seems," Chiyo commented mysteriously.
Sakura hesitated. What if giving the goddess some of her hair resulted in horrible consequences, like- like being turned into a snail, or worse, some other unnatural creature?
Don't be ridiculous, Sakura scolded herself. But she couldn't shake off the sudden feeling of uneasiness that had settled over her.
Sensing her uncertainty, Chiyo beckoned her forward.
"Come closer, child."
Sakura rose and moved to her.
"Sit," the crossroad deity gestured to the ground at her feet, and Sakura lowered herself onto it.
"Lady Chiyo-"
"Chiyo will do," the old deity grinned toothily. "You do not call your King 'Lord', after all."
"He isn't my King," Sakura corrected automatically.
"Nor am I your Lady – though he is more your King than I your Lady, and less my King than you his Lady."
Sakura stared up at her. What? She thought, baffled. She'd lost the meaning of the words somewhere along in the mystifying sentence.
"Try my brew. It will soothe those little nerves of yours."
"I'm not nervou-" Sakura began.
"Silence," Chiyo narrowed her eyes at her like a disapproving grandmother, drawing back the wooden spoon. For a terrible moment, a flinching Sakura feared she would be smacked with it. But Chiyo simply prodded the large eating utensil toward her.
"Drink."
Now Sakura really was nervous. It was strange, how she felt both comfortable and edgy at once in the presence of the goddess. Obediently, she drank – and very nearly spat out the bitter concoction. Terrified of offending the deity who was gazing expectantly down at her, Sakura fought nausea and gulped it down.
"It seems to be missing something," Chiyo mused, reading her face perfectly.
"Some sugar?" Sakura dared to suggest.
"Sugar," Chiyo repeated, as if the word was alien to her. "Hmm. Indeed. Perhaps I ought to throw some Sakura in?"
Sakura released a startled gasp. Chiyo blinked – and then cackled.
"Eheheheheheheh!" she reached out and laid a knobbly hand atop Sakura's head, very lightly. "Fear not for your life, child. Young Sasuke would hardly relinquish it to an old hag like me!"
Sakura managed a watery smile. Chiyo was even more frighteningly unpredictable than Sasuke! Or perhaps that was because she did not know the goddess well enough to anticipate when she was serious or joking. Sasuke, in stark contrast, never joked.
Whatever she had put in the horrid stew, however, worked like a charm. Sakura felt pleasant warmth overtake her body, relaxing the tension she had not even realised was present in her shoulders.
As she stirred the brew some more, Chiyo spoke on, "A lock of hair – and in return, I shall answer one question of yours."
Only one? Disappointment filled Sakura. The crone chuckled, as if reading her thoughts.
"Greed for knowledge is still greed, little flower."
"I'm sorry," Sakura apologised. Then she nodded, and snagged a silky lock in between her fingers. "Alright. Here."
Chiyo set the spoon aside and turned her full attention to Sakura – who was trying hard to ignore the way the fluffy tawny owl in its open cage was staring so unblinkingly at her. She dug into the pocket of her time-worn, wrinkled cloak – and drew out a small pair of clipping scissors.
Reaching out, she took the lock in Sakura's hand – almost gently – and snipped a small portion off. Sakura felt a strange sense of melancholy as the strand fell away. She watched as Chiyo slipped the hair in a leaf-like wrapping – before placing it safely in her robe pocket. Patting it with satisfaction, the crone flashed another unnerving smile at her.
"What knowledge do you seek, little flower?"
Sakura had lots of questions – too many, in fact. The realisation that she could, in theory, have anything answered, dawned upon her, and for an instant, she was struck by its magnitude. A train of thoughts whirled through her mind – all the possible queries she could pose to the wise deity who was extending what Sakura knew for certain was an extremely rare opportunity.
She could ask about the secrets of the world. She could ask for knowledge that philosophers had dedicated their entire lives to discovering, knowledge they had spent countless centuries trying to acquire; knowledge that people had likely been killed over in the past.
But in the end, there were two queries that burned more brightly than any others. They scorched inside her skull, demanding the resolution Sasuke had not given her.
Meeting Chiyo's eyes, she disclosed, "I'm having dreams I can't remember. I speak the name 'Hades' in sleep - Sasuke said it was his old name - but how can I know that?" Shaking her head, she added, "And what happened to his family?"
Chiyo's eyes drooped low.
"You ask two questions - both of which I will not answer," her voice was quiet.
Sakura opened her mouth to protest that she had been promised a single question of her choice – but the goddess continued before she could say anything else.
"However… you may perhaps find what you seek within the Orbs."
Orbs? Sakura stared at her, uncertainly. "What are they?"
"The Orbs are oracles of ages long past. Mirrors spun from the endless threads of time itself. If you choose to gaze into them, not even I can foresee what they might reveal to you, for every eye is shown a different path."
It sounded ominous. Sakura's heart had started to pound to a slow, almost sickening rhythm. The ends of her fingers were tingling.
"Some knowledge, child, is best left unknown. Untouched." There was something foreboding in Chiyo's tone.
Looking into perilous time mirrors was a terrifying notion. Sakura swallowed apprehensively.
"Will I be in any danger if I look into them?" she questioned.
"Encountering a void in time will cause you to forget what the other Orbs revealed to you. A small inconvenience."
"Is that all?"
"It is as I told you. I cannot foretell what the Oracles will reveal to your eyes."
There was a lengthy pause – in which all Sakura could hear was the rushing of blood in her ears and the echo of the crone's warning.
Some knowledge, child, is best left unknown. Untouched.
Could she really go through with it? Even when the goddess of the Crossroads herself could not predict what she would see?
What if Sakura's mind couldn't cope? Was it a good idea to tamper with what she knew for sure Sasuke would never permit her to access?
But if there was somehow a way to shed even a little light on the darkness clouding her mind…
"Well, little flower," Chiyo's voice came to her again. "Will you look into the Oracle?"
He slunk like an indiscernible shadow through the night, his left hand resting atop the hilt of his sheathed sword as he manoeuvred fluidly through the trees. The building he sought was just up ahead. Sasuke flash-stepped forward and closed the remaining distance between himself and the high front gates in a second. He slipped past the flimsy barrier they formed, to the front door, where he edged left, peering into the illuminated double-glazed windows.
Tsunade had returned home and was seated on the sofa, staring down at a framed photograph in her hands. Shizune joined her, setting down twin mugs of hot beverage on the coffee table. Then she moved to the window and drew the curtains.
Sasuke scoffed. As if that could keep him from seeing and hearing them. A heart-beat later, he materialised into the house, lingering by the wall that separated the living room from the entrance foyer. There he listened intently, waiting for them to speak something – anything - of Sakura.
He did not need to wait for long.
"Please drink, Tsunade-sama," Shizune spoke softly. "It will help to soothe your agitation."
"She almost looks the same," Tsunade's response was low, as she tenderly stroked the image of a smiling Sakura in the photograph she held. "But sometimes, when I look at her, she seems so different."
"That is to be expected, Tsunade-sama," came the gentle reply.
"She was stronger before. I-" Tsunade swallowed, confiding in her companion the truths that were closest to her heart – that she shared with nobody else. "Perhaps I raised her too sheltered. Perhaps, if I had allowed her a little more freedom… then none of this would have ever happened."
"It isn't your fault," Shizune's voice was hushed. "What happened before – what is happening now – you could not have prevented it. Not unless you'd held her prisoner in her own home-"
Tsunade's tone turned angry. "Maybe I ought to have done that! I would not have lost her for a second time if I'd kept her right under my nose at all times!"
"She was always closely guarded by the others. You could not have done things any differently-"
"I made the same mistakes! I let the others watch her! That bastard Jiraiya is right. Maybe I should have listened!"
"She is still alive, Tsunade-sama." Her friend tried in vain to calm her. "We have not lost her-"
"Damn it." Tsunade seemed not to hear. "Damn it! It's been over two months, Shizune. Two damned months!" She drew a shaky breath as her composure rapidly began to splinter. "She could be locked away in a cell, cold and hungry. Unconscious at this very moment! She could be crying, calling for me, and I can do nothing for her. What if she-?" she inhaled sharply. "What if her body has been-?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Had any other deity stolen Sakura away, then Tsunade's fears would be completely justified.
"Stop it," Shizune exclaimed in alarm. "Stop torturing yourself. Please. Sakura is alive. We will find her."
Tsunade exhaled. "No," she muttered. "No. If this was a simple trade, that bastard would have contacted us by now. Whoever has her doesn't mean to hand her back."
"You mustn't think like that-"
There was the sound of glass clattering. Sasuke heard Shizune's alarmed gasp, and could guess what had happened. Tsunade, who had always been known for possessing a notoriously short temper, had likely knocked the hot drink off the table.
"WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK!" she erupted. "MORE THAN TWO MONTHS HAVE PASSED, AND I'M NO CLOSER TO FINDING MY CHILD!"
The only sound that ensued directly after was the ragged intake of breaths as Tsunade released a choked sob.
Sasuke's gaze lowered to the ground. The image of Sakura's wistful eyes in Elysium floated behind his vision. The memory of her smiles as she had turned her face to the phantom sunlight caused something to shift – albeit slightly - deep inside him. Furiously, he shoved the recollection away. If Tsunade had truly cared, if Sakura had meant so very much to her, then she would have never allowed the girl to vanish for even a second beyond her watch.
Especially if she had 'lost' her once before. This information had him intrigued – but he still did not know enough to understand what they were talking about. Just what had happened to Sakura in the past?
"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune's voice was tearful.
"I can't," the other woman mumbled, covering her face forlornly with her hands. Sasuke had to lean forward to catch the words that followed.
"I can't sustain the life on this earth alone. My power isn't enough. It never has been. Nature calls for the one who can sustain it. And the more persistently it calls, the more she will feel it." Her voice thick, Tsunade continued miserably, "If she isn't given ambrosia in time, she will suffer, Shizune. Without the correct dosage, the essence will begin altering her blood chemistry. She will start seeing things, the things I swore I would never allow her to see. If I am not there to monitor her, it will begin to poison her."
The air in Sasuke's lungs stilled. Every muscle in his body froze as he stared at the banisters on the stairs, horror tearing like a rip-tide over him. The only thing he could palpably feel was the disconcerting thump, thump, thump of his heart slamming violently against his ribcage.
So it was true. Sakura really was the one who sustained Spring – or at least, housed the essence that did. He exhaled a disjointed breath. He had known it. He had predicted and anticipated it, and yet-
And yet it made hearing the reality no easier to stomach.
Beyond the numbing shock something else was brewing – something malicious and dreadful - a deep-pitted, uncontainable rage, stemming from somewhere deep inside his gut. Slowly it expanded, until it coursed through his entire being, like white-hot lava searing through his blood, until it finally found its home, settling in his chest where it bubbled away like a tumultuous volcano, on the verge of unleashing the full extent of its devastating fury.
Tsunade had locked an essence that was capable of poisoning her daughter, if not monitored correctly? Why would she do such a thing? What could she mean by it? Couldn't she have found any other vessel? What kind of mother would endanger the life of her own child?!
And Sakura. Poor, sweet, wretched Sakura – she had no idea. She naively assigned her attacks to a mysterious medical condition.
He imagined how she might react, if he told her of the reality that he knew would frighten her senseless. He imagined how betrayed she would feel – whether she would be able to absorb and accept her situation at all. Now he could see, all too clearly, why they had kept everything shrouded from her.
Sakura had the equivalent of an unstable time-bomb ticking away inside her – a bomb that activated in springtime – and its clock could only be steadied and 'reset' with carefully measured doses of ambrosia. It was something he could not diffuse or remove from her; for how could he access something he could not even see?
Sasuke barely registered that he was near-shaking from the force of his wrath. He wanted- he wanted to tear Tsunade's head right off.
"She cannot see," Shizune's voice was now a whisper. "The seal will prevent it-"
"So he told us." Tsunade sounded angry again. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Who were they talking about? Who had placed the seal on Sakura, if not Tsunade?
"But it cannot stop her blood from altering. And her human body cannot survive the change without-" the blonde woman broke off abruptly, inhaling deeply. "Whoever has her… whoever is letting her suffer… I'll rip their heart out. By Zeus, I'll crush them to pieces."
The long silence that ensued informed the death deity that the topic of conversation was over. His pulse still thundering, Sasuke noiselessly took his leave.
Author's note
I do plan to update again (hopefully) by Christmas time. This was plot heavy – the next one will have more SasuSaku moments.
Leave your thoughts if you like. Thanks for reading.