Quietus

by Seraphina Scribes

When first he laid eyes upon her, he thought her the very personification of spring. He watches, from the depths of shadow; waiting to steal her away from the land of the living. Waiting to make her Queen of the Dead. Hades/Persephone retold. SasuSaku/AU.

46. Chapter 45

Another quick update - and the longest yet so grab your tissues/a snack. Everyone, thank you so much for the amazing feedback of the last chapter! I'm so thrilled that you enjoyed the dramatic revelations relating to Kore/Sakura.

For those of you who were wondering, the Essence has rebirthed in one hundred and ninety nine vessels before Sakura, which makes her number two hundred.

Please make sure you visit the atmospheric links on my profile and listen to the tracks listed for the scenes indicated. The second in particular should hopefully summon chills, if you pace it at the stated moment!

Brace yourselves as the tension-loaded drama continues.

---

Chapter XLV

---

He speaks to me truths,

Which take in theft,

All I ever knew,

And all I possess,

Never had I thought,

In my heart or my head,

That I would find solace,

In the arms of Death.

---

"Perhaps they are settling the matter with a battle," Sai mused monotonously. "Though this makes little sense to me; is it not inappropriate behaviour for old friends to physically attack one another?"

Kakashi sighed tiredly. "That's precisely the problem, Sai," he replied in a resigned tone. "Sasuke no longer recognises Naruto as his friend. I'm afraid he now views the entire world as his enemy."

Sai, who found the entire concept of friendship a rather difficult one to comprehend, pondered this. In truth, he was just relieved to still be alive. He'd half been terrified that Sasuke would change his mind about sparing his existence and intercept him before he'd even reached the surface. Sakura had clearly managed to keep the Underworld ruler's wrath in check, however, and for that Sai owed her his life.

"He is late," the alabaster-skinned messenger commented, unhelpfully pointing out the obvious.

Unable to focus on the book he'd been reading any longer, Kakashi's lone-visible eye slid up to the clock on the wall. It had indeed already passed the two hour time restriction he'd provided Naruto. Torn between having faith and waiting a little longer before raising the alarm or choosing to act immediately, he rose from his seat, hands stuffed into his dark blue trouser pockets as he drifted towards the window.

We agreed two hours sharp, he reasoned to himself. I can't afford to take any chances when Sasuke's involved-

At that precise moment, a single knock on the front door caused both of the room's occupants to direct their glances towards the hallway. Without a word, Kakashi moved swiftly to the mahogany-painted door. Sure enough, the peep hole revealed a glum-looking Naruto on the other side.

As Kakashi unbolted the locks and let the younger man in, he immediately suspected that things had not gone well from the crestfallen manner in which Naruto trudged past him. The blond's head hung low, his shoulders slumped.

Closing the door, Kakashi followed him into the minimally furnished lounge.

"Naruto…?" he began questioningly.

His voice seemed to act as a trigger, for Naruto immediately began to tremble in response, as the strain of holding back his feelings finally overwhelmed him. A heavy, heaving sob choked its way out of his chest, a sound so completely broken that Kakashi felt his own heart sink.

What in the name of Olympus had happened in the Underworld? What was so awful, so completely terrible, that the ever-optimistic Naruto, who never ever gave up - even when stacked against monstrous odds - was reduced to such a pitiful state of miserable defeat?

It got worse; Naruto collapsed to his hands and knees on the floor, weeping in a manner Kakashi hadn't seen him do since learning of his parents' untimely demises.

Sai was greatly perplexed and mildly unsettled by such a disturbing display of open emotion and didn't know what to do or say. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut, leaving Kakashi to handle the breakdown.

The elder man knelt down, grasping Naruto by his left shoulder. "Naruto!" he exclaimed urgently. "What happened?"

But Naruto merely shook his head, unable speak. His words were swallowed up by the sobs assaulting his entire body, by the sniffles he tried so desperately to stem as he wiped senselessly at his nose with the sleeve of his jumper.

Behind the mask, Kakashi's jaw clenched. He wouldn't stand for this. This wasn't the Naruto he knew! No matter how grim the news, he never lost hope.

The silver-haired elder grabbed hold of Naruto's other shoulder and yanked him back up to his feet. When he continued to shed tears, Kakashi shook him roughly, trying to snap him out of his hysterical state.

"Naruto!" he admonished harshly. "Pull yourself together."

"Y-you don't understand," Naruto blubbered. "We're t-too late, Kakashi-sensei! We're too late!" he released a loud wail, wiping at his eyes with the back of his other arm, doubling over again as the force of his devastation crippled him once more.

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean, they were too late?! Had Sasuke harmed Sakura following Sai's visit to the palace? He blinked, refusing to give into panic. He wouldn't learn a thing if Naruto kept this hopeless snivelling up, that was for sure.

How to calm him down? There really was no other way, Kakashi decided, to get him to return to his senses. Tugging the blond back upright, he angled a firm smack around the left side of Naruto's head.

The pain seemed to make Naruto focus at last, for he hiccupped, his glistening, red-rimmed blue eyes, rendered a darker shade of cobalt from sadness, lifted to meet Kakashi's gaze at last.

"What happened?" Kakashi demanded.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he heard next.

"S-Sakura-chan," Naruto stammered, still snivelling. "She- she's eaten the fruit-" His voice broke off at the final word – a word that slammed into Kakashi with the devastating force of an overpowering tsunami.

The fruit! He could no longer hold back his alarm. No. He thought to himself in disbelieving horror. No!

Grabbing onto Naruto's shoulders with both hands, he shook him again.

"Are you sure? Naruto!"

"Sasuke said it himself!"

His grip on Naruto was almost crushing as Kakashi wrestled to remain unruffled. However, keeping his frantic thoughts from traversing down disastrous routes was proving difficult.

If Sakura had indeed eaten the Fruit of the Dead… the forbidden pomegranate of the Underworld… then it was over. She could never leave – and spring would never again bloom on the surface, for whatever duration was left of Sakura's lifetime.

Sasuke… His chest suddenly felt excruciatingly heavy with the knowledge of just how brutally vindictive the death deity had become – how low he had fallen to resort to punishing them in such a callous manner. Why? What have you done…?

Naruto's grief, meanwhile, was finally shifting to anger. "That bastard!" he exploded. "I'll kill him! I'll kill him!"

Kakashi withdrew his hands, thoughts whirling in an endless rush as something suddenly occurred to him. He felt a glimmer of optimism ward back the encroaching darkness that had been starting to pool into his mind.

He still hadn't listened to the full story. Perhaps not all hope had yet been lost.

"How many?" he finally asked.

"Wha-?" Naruto, his eyes still brimming with tears, failed to immediately understand the question.

"How many seeds has she eaten?"

Naruto blinked at him in dismay. "How many?" he echoed blankly. "I don't- Kakashi-sensei, what does that have to do with anything-?"

"I believe the number of seeds a person consumes corresponds directly to the length of time they must remain in the Underworld," Sai provided informatively, tuning back into the conversation.

Naruto's features twisted into a confused frown as his gaze moved from Kakashi, to Sai, then back to Kakashi again.

"Huh?" he exclaimed.

"He's right," the silver-haired elder nodded. "Now did Sasuke specify how many seeds?"

"Well, no," Naruto shook his head. "He just said she ate it, so I thought-"

"No," Kakashi interrupted, holding up a hand. "Unless we know for certain that Sakura has consumed twelve seeds, there could still be a way to get her back!"

"But Kakashi-sensei," Naruto exclaimed in despair. "He won't listen! Even after I told him about what'd happen if he didn't give Sakura-chan back-" he abruptly clamped a fearful palm over his mouth, knowing that he'd already blurted out far too much.

Kakashi froze; the sense of horror within him mounted considerably as he wondered just how, in Zeus's name, Naruto could have done something so reckless.

But that was precisely the problem; it was Naruto he'd sent down to the Underworld. Kakashi at that moment greatly regretted giving into the blond's insistent pleas to be the one to confront the Death God. He ought to have listened to his own instincts and ventured underground himself.

There was a tense silence, in which Naruto waved his hands in a desperate attempt to quell the fury he sensed brewing in his old sparring teacher.

"You told him what?" Kakashi murmured at length.

Naruto's heart drummed. He knew Kakashi's anger manifested itself as a quiet storm – which was exactly why it was so intimidating.

"I-" he stuttered, face paling at the stern look his elder was directing at him. "Kakashi-sensei, he made me! He said if I didn't tell him the truth about Sakura-chan, he'd kill her-!"

"How could you be so careless, Naruto!" Kakashi censured in frustration. "I warned you under no circumstances to mention the Essence!" He gestured with his hands. "Sasuke could be working in league with our enemy-!"

"Are you listening to me?" Naruto yelled, pulling at his sunshine spikes. "I didn't have a choice! That bastard threatened to kill her!"

Kakashi's jaw clenched. It was useless to argue and lose both their heads. That wouldn't help them - or Sakura. They both needed to calm down. Running a hand through his fine silver strands, he took a deep breath, finding himself once again forced to salvage the mess Naruto had created.

"What else?" he changed the subject. "Did you ask him about the missing phial?"

Naruto's eyes lowered gloomily. "No."

Kakashi's own rose exasperatedly to the ceiling as he struggled with his rapidly splintering patience. "Then did you discover the reasons behind Sasuke's actions?"

"No." The response was guilty.

"So in reality, you achieved nothing," an inappropriately smiling Sai pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Shut your damned mouth, Sai!" Naruto rounded on him. "You screwed up, too!" To Kakashi, he justified, "I didn't get a chance. He knew about the seal on the Essence, and he took me by surprise when he asked about it right away-"

Kakashi inhaled sharply. Sasuke had known about the seal already? How?

"This is bad," he muttered. "If Sasuke knows, then someone else must have told him, which means he isn't the only one."

"When I asked him, he said nobody had," Naruto informed him. The tears had finally ceased and he simply stood in a mixture of dejection and anger.

Kakashi's head was starting to throb from the burden of his troubling thoughts. Was it possible then that Sasuke had managed to find out on his own? He had always been a perceptive and clever deity – one of the most intelligent of his Clan, in fact.

Naruto, noting the stress lines on his elder's forehead, swallowed thickly. "I'll fix things," he began. "Kakashi-sensei, I'll make this right. I'll go see him again, and I'll make him understand. I'll use my fists this time to beat sense into him!"

Kakashi, however, shook his head. "We've tried doing it your way. You've done quite enough damage, Naruto. I'll take over from here."

"But Kakashi-sensei!" The blond protested.

"That's enough, Naruto!" Kakashi finally lost his temper. "We can't keep this contained between us anymore!"

Naruto's eyes widened. He couldn't accept what he was hearing. "No, Kakashi-sensei! We can do this!"

"I won't protect Sasuke any further," Kakashi met the blond's gaze squarely. "Not after what he has allowed to happen. Not when we don't know his true motives. And not at Sakura's expense!"

Naruto exhaled. "You can't," he whispered, horrified. "You can't tell them. Then he'll have no way of ever coming back to us…"

Kakashi turned away, ignoring the ache in his own heart as he stated gravely, "He never intended to come back."

---

The carousel's haunting melody filled her ears as the horse she sat upon rose and fell in a gentle, soothing rhythm.

But there was nothing calming about the way Sakura could feel her heart thundering inside her. She remembered this, when she had so foolishly clambered onto the enchanting ride – and she recalled with perfect clarity what had happened next.

When the horse drew to a stop, trembling butterflies broke out in her stomach. She knew who she would see standing by the control panel when she turned her head.

She knew who had come for her. She'd forever associate carousels with him.

Closing her eyes, she willed herself not to look. Perhaps, if she didn't, things would turn out differently.

It was already too late, however. When she lifted her eyelids again, she found that she was no longer seated on the horse. She was standing by the ride's control panel instead. Staring down at her hand lingering just beneath the STOP button.

She wondered what would happen if she pressed it.

"Sakura…"

Her entire body shuddered at the sensation of a warm breath tickling the strands of hair above her right ear. Her name was exhaled in a silken caress that sent an electrical tremor down her spine.

"You found me," she said, not really comprehending why she would speak such words. She only knew in her heart that she had inexplicably hoped he would – as much as she had dreaded his coming.

Steely arms slipped around her waist and she was drawn back against a warm, strong body.

"Come with me," he murmured, his voice pure seduction, brushing over her senses like alluring black velvet.

She told herself that she didn't want to - that he'd steal her away into the very shadows she had always so terribly feared - but her eyes were already closing in surrender. Her head rolled to one side of its own accord, as smooth lips ghosted sensually over the graceful curve of her neck, leaving tantalising tingles all over her bare skin.

"Yes," she whispered, the consent leaving her tongue automatically as her body seemed to melt against his.

'Yes' - the word reverberated deafeningly as black smoke billowed in, enveloping them both in the cloak of darkness.

---

Sasuke's pulse had begun to steadily increase. She was finally stirring and slowly starting to come back around.

He paced the room, uncharacteristically restless. Sakura would shortly awaken. Why did he feel so wretchedly unprepared? His mind was cycling through the same questions, over and over, driving him near-mad.

What should he tell her?

What part of the truth would he disclose?

How much of it?

Would he tell her nothing, to keep her blissfully ignorant, to protect her, the way Naruto had warned him she ought to be? Half of it, to lift at least some of the deceit that clouded her vision? Or a watered-down, full version?

Damn it, Sasuke internally cursed, completely frustrated as he raked a hand through his unruly raven locks. He had to make a decision - and fast. He already knew that he couldn't just tell Sakura everything, no matter how much he wanted to; there were some things that were just too dangerous for her to know, that would crush her – such as finding out about her impending fate – a fate he was going to do everything in his power to prevent from happening. She didn't need to know about the past vessels and how each body was condemned to dying young, he told himself fiercely. Not right then – that information would only startle her. She didn't need to suffer any more pain than what was truly necessary.

But neither could he remain completely silent, Sasuke knew. She was living a lie – and he couldn't simply stand by and contribute to the farce.

He could tell her about the parts she had already started growing suspicious about, he reasoned – such as the real identity of her mother and those she cared for on the surface. She wanted to know about the attacks, too; he could reveal the reason behind them, and simply avoid going into too much detail about the origins of Kore's Essence.

But what if his decision to tell her some truths backfired? What if Sakura became overwhelmed, and couldn't handle or process the reality of her situation? What if she became so upset, it triggered a more violent attack of sorts? Sasuke's heart skipped a beat at the possibility, a sensation that thoroughly unsettled him. Was he really prepared to deal with that, and any other unforeseen potential consequences?

Remaining ignorant and sheltered… or being informed and empowered enough to take her fate into her own hands? Which choice would Sakura prefer?

Sasuke already knew the answer. And he also knew he didn't really have a choice. If he was going to make sure that Sakura was the final, fully reborn form of the Spring Goddess, he couldn't keep her in the dark about everything any if things did go catastrophically wrong, then he did still have a last-resort - albeit desperate option - to reverse the potential damage of his actions.

If Sakura was harmed by part of the knowledge he was about to share with her, then he could give her a few drops of the River Lethe's amnesia-inducing waters. That way, she would forget once again.

The thought of manipulating her memory in such a manner, however, sickened the death deity. It was wrong on so many levels; tampering with her mind against her will, as well as going against the strict laws of Lethe's uses. He then angrily eradicated the unshakeable sense of guilt that followed merely thinking of involving the sacred river, reassuring himself that there would be no need to take such an extreme course of action – because Sakura was mentally stronger than all the other previous vessels the Essence had created.

Surely she would accept the truth and find a way to handle it.

He believed it. After all, Sakura had shown him great resilience already and proven to him, by her acceptance of his world and everything in it, that she was capable of adapting.

Still, there were no such reassurances for how she was going to react when he told her what she so desperately sought to know. Would she weep? Scream at him? Try to leave his Kingdom altogether? The thought of the latter caused his throat to burn. Sasuke braced himself as she released a soft groan behind him, steeling himself for the inevitable confrontation.

Sakura's eyelids fluttered open, a massive headache lingering at her temples. She blinked, momentarily displaced as she found herself staring up at a beautifully detailed ceiling. Sluggishly, her brain recognised and finally registered her surroundings.

Ugh. What happened…?

A few seconds passed – and then the penny dropped. No sooner had she asked herself the question, recollection slammed into her.

Sai's shocking appearance and painful departure.

Sasuke's terrifying rage.

The argument that had ensued between them.

Discovering that Sai was even more abnormal than she ever could have imagined.

And lastly, Sasuke's spinning Sharingan, singeing its undeniable command into her mind.

Sakura bolted upright so fast that she was briefly assaulted by a surge of light-headedness. She paid it little heed, too incensed to dwell on the way the room temporarily swam around her.

Why that- that maddening, infuriating jerk of a deity! He had knocked her unconscious, just because he hadn't wanted to answer her and left her asleep on an arm-chair!

How humiliating!

She turned her head – only to gasp as her eyes fell on the very same jerk she was internally venting about. He stood by the grand fireplace, gazing intently at the flickering flames.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed, immediately indignant. She thought she saw him tense at the sound of her voice – or maybe it was just her imagination. Too angry to care, she swung her legs off the side of the chaise-longue, intending to stand up. "I can't believe you sent me to sleep!"

But Sasuke clearly had other ideas. His head whipped around, firelight glinting off his smoky irises. In an instant, he'd closed the gap between them, just as Sakura had gotten to her feet.

His right hand clamped onto her left shoulder, pushing her firmly back down into a sitting position.

"What are you-?" she began to demand, lovely features scrunched into a cross frown as she attempted to resist and rise again.

"Sit down," he ordered, cutting her off curtly with a scowl of his own, the slightly increased pressure of his fingertips making it clear that he would not permit her to stand.

She opened her mouth to argue – but he shot her a warning glance. Then he surprised her by nonchalantly pulling one of the elegantly constructed, single chairs adorning the room closer to where she was seated, stationing it directly opposite her.

She stared at him in genuine bewilderment as he sat down on the plush velvet seat, his knees less than half a metre from hers.

An ominous and inexplicable sense of dread suddenly churned Sakura's gut as instinct warned her that this wasn't like Sasuke at all. He was sitting in a manner that reminded her of the positions doctors and nurses adopted in hospital waiting rooms whenever they had devastating news to deliver to the anxious families of terminally ill patients.

Her irritation with him evaporated, only to be replaced by something else entirely more disconcerting – nervousness.

"…" He regarded her intently, his quick mind working to find a suitable way to begin. He knew it was imperative to proceed with caution; he didn't want to alarm her at the outset – but Sasuke had never been one to mince or sugar-coat his words. Telling her a truth he knew was bound to upset her was going to be challenging for a god like him, who didn't know how to articulate things in any other manner that wasn't blunt.

Speaking tactfully had always been one of his older brother's countless strengths. Sasuke ground his teeth. Now he understood why he hadn't felt ready. He had only just digested the truth himself – and now was faced with the gruelling task of retelling fragments of it in his own way.

Tch. This was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated…

Sakura, meanwhile, was growing increasingly anxious. Why was he staring at her like that?

"Sasuke?" she searched his face for any clues about what he was thinking, finding it as unreadable as ever. "What? What's the matter?"

"You asked about ambrosia," he stated.

Sakura's heartbeat, which had been progressively increasing, began to pound as she was reminded of the question she had posed to him about her mother before he'd gracelessly enforced slumber upon her. Was he now offering to tell her? Shocked and suspicious by his sudden, open compliance, she began to shake her head uncertainly. What in the world had happened while she had been unconscious? What had made him change his mind about telling her, when he'd clearly been opposed to it enough earlier to knock her out cold?

Deciding not to push her luck, however, she replied, "Yes."

He blinked. There. She wanted the truth – and that was reason enough to tell her. He had to; she deserved to know. His fury at the injustice of her fate wouldn't allow him to let her bask in ignorance any longer.

Still, he felt the need to give her due warning.

"You want the truth," he continued.

Sakura eyed him with caution – as if expecting a sudden catch. "…Yes."

There didn't seem to be any strings attached, however. Sasuke's gaze locked with hers.

"What if you won't like what you hear?" he demanded. His eyes were hard, glittering like black diamonds.

Sakura swallowed. The nervousness within her was turning into a whisper of apprehension. He seemed to be testing her resolve – or giving her a final chance to back out at the last second. She wasn't quite certain which.

"I can handle it," she answered bravely.

"But can you accept it?" the death deity followed, watching her closely.

The apprehension intensified. Sakura almost faltered, breaking eye-contact. For an awful moment, she fell silent, as she sensed she was on the brink of hearing something that would surely change her life - forever.

Why else would Sasuke be giving her a forewarning, something he had never bothered to do before?

Finally, she replied, "If I couldn't, you wouldn't be telling me." Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him again, and said with conviction, "I'll take my chances."

"Hn." Sasuke's eyes briefly lowered. He'd settled for his starting point – but he would have to monitor Sakura's reactions carefully. He looked at her again.

"Did you see anything?" When she stared at him in puzzlement, he prompted, "While you slept."

Sakura frowned – this wasn't what she'd expected to hear first. What did that have to do with her mother? She sifted through her memory. She had seen something, she was certain – but she'd dreamt vividly about the carousel afterwards, which made the recollection vague and fuzzy. And she definitely did not want to think about the second vision that had followed – about the way she'd felt a certain somebody's lips brush so teasingly over her skin.

She fought back the blush that threatened to assault her cheeks. It had felt so real. To her mortification, the flesh over the right side of her neck began to prickle at the mere memory. Sakura was suitably furious at herself. Whatever was coming over her? She was already horrified enough to find that her brain was starting to dream up inappropriate, imaginary scenarios of herself with Sasuke. And this was definitely no time to be dwelling on it! It had just been a stupid, stupid, messed up, crazy alternate version of her mind's memory of their first meeting. That was all.

"I think I saw a forest," she replied, hoping he wouldn't notice her sudden embarrassment. "But I can't remember it clearly, this time."

So she still wasn't at the point of recalling dreams consistently on her own; this was reassuring to Sasuke. It meant she still had more time.

"Why?" Sakura leant forward slightly, curiosity vanquishing her brief spell of discomfort. "Did you find out anything new about what they mean?"

Anything new? That was quite the understatement. He'd found out everything.

"Your visions are memories," he repeated what he'd told her before.

Sakura held her breath. Had he finally gotten answers? "Whose?"

Sasuke hesitated despite himself. This was it; the moment that would begin to break the glass cocoon her surface friends and family had constructed around her.

"A deity's," he answered matter-of-factly – then paused. He needed to give her adequate time to absorb every detail he was going to disclose to her.

He watched as Sakura's eyebrows flew up in surprise – before knotting together to form a bewildered frown.

Had she heard him correctly?

"Huh?"

"The memories belong to a deceased goddess," Sasuke clarified.

Sakura gaped incredulously. "What? But that doesn't make any sense," she shook her head. "How is that even- why would I be seeing them?" she broke off at the peculiar look Sasuke angled her way.

She swallowed back the sudden dryness in her mouth. "How?"

"…" The truth loaded itself on the tip of the Death God's tongue. "They are contained inside a fragment locked inside you, Sakura."

He waited for the revelation to hit her – only to feel irritation spike within him as Sakura's expression morphed from one of open-mouthed befuddlement – to sudden, unexpected mirth.

Sasuke stared. She was finding this funny? It was anything but humorous!

"S-sorry," she burst into a short fit of giggles, trying in vain to suppress her amusement by covering her mouth with an apologetic hand. "But you should hear how ridiculous that sounds, Sasuke." She muffled a giggle again. "I mean, that's just completely…" her voice trailed upon witnessing the way the death deity's eyes narrowed disapprovingly at her inappropriate bout of laughter.

"That's just…" her muddled tongue couldn't complete its initial sentence. For that was when it slammed into her – a wave of suffocating, horrific realisation that promptly devoured any misplaced, lingering feelings of amusement.

He really means it.

A heavy silence ensued, in which she struggled to come to terms with what he was telling her.

"You…" she managed to whisper at last, her lips parting in abject alarm. "You really… aren't joking…"

His head shifted slightly to the right, the motion causing the earring in his left ear to glint – the confirmation she didn't really require that he had never been more serious.

Sakura slowly exhaled, fingernails digging into the edge of her seat. There was something in those bottomless eyes that made her heart start pounding even harder and faster. Suddenly all she could think about was the warning he had given her when she'd so boldly claimed she could handle the truth.

'But can you accept it?'

She swallowed. The sense of dread was growing progressively stronger. A small part of her pleaded that she had only asked about her mother. But a larger part knew it was already too late to turn back; the burning need to make sense of the outrageousness she was hearing absolutely prevented it.

"I-" she fumbled. "That's just- what are you saying? What do you mean a fragment of a goddess is inside me? That's just crazy! I'm human!"

"Yes," he agreed.

Sakura placed her left hand over her chest and released a shaky breath, more confused than ever. "Then why would it be with me? How could it be?"

This was the part where it was necessary for Sasuke to deviate a little from the truth. To protect her - to keep her from knowing about the previous vessels and the horror of Cronus's past actions. He knew that knowledge really would overwhelm her – and he couldn't allow that to happen.

"It chose you," he stated.

It wasn't a complete lie. The Essence had chosen to create Sakura in her present form.

For a few seconds, Sakura was appalled and rendered speechless. Just what in the world was he suggesting? She hadn't known what to expect – but it certainly hadn't been anything like this.

"Chose me," she repeated senselessly, desperately trying to keep her spiralling thoughts composed – but it was becoming increasingly challenging. A thick lump had formed in the base of her throat, and she was starting to feel increasingly restless and nauseous. "What do you mean- what chose me? What is it?"

"A fragment of Spring."

Sakura's breath stilled. Even as he said it, she was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Spring?" she said blankly, stupidly. "You mean- as in- the season?"

His gaze on her face remained steady in unspoken confirmation.

She had some mystical fragment that was somehow responsible for triggering spring time cooped up inside her? The very idea was preposterous. She'd never had any kind of special abilities while growing up.

Sasuke was mistaken. He had to be.

"No," she said faintly. "No. That's impossible." Recalling her science lessons, she went on automatically, "The earth's orbit is responsible for the changing in seasons."

Something flashed across Sasuke's irises at the glazed look in her eyes and he leant forward in his seat. As he had expected, she was withdrawing into a shell of denial.

"Think, Sakura," he urged her harshly. "When do your attacks happen?"

Spring, the answer reverberated thunderously in her skull. Deep in her heart, she somehow knew Sasuke wasn't lying to her. Why would he lie about something so terrible? The dots were certainly connecting. The only problem was that Sakura was having an awfully hard time accepting the full picture they were forming.

The so-called 'fragment' sharing her body was responsible for the pain she'd suffered every single year at the start of spring-time, for her entire life? It was responsible for plaguing her with memories that didn't belong to her?

The death deity could see the fine tremors that were starting to afflict her muscles. Perhaps he had revealed too much.

"Why me?" she whispered.

"…" Her sense of trepidation grew when Sasuke's eyes slipped away from hers.

"Sasuke!" she spoke louder, reaching out to grasp tightly onto his right forearm. Her eyes glistening with the tears he could see she was fighting to hold back, she near-pleaded, "Why would it choose me?"

Something twisted inside him. He couldn't tell her the honest truth. Instead he responded vaguely, evasively, "It can't survive on its own. It needs a compatible vessel."

A compatible vessel? Sakura's shock and devastation grew. She was some kind of temporary human container for a fragment that had lost its original form? She was sharing her body with an essentially parasitic entity that left her lungs gasping for oxygen whenever the spring season began?

The implications of that were too terrible to think about.

"Compatible?" she echoed incredulously. "What- it just randomly decided it wanted to live in me? Is that what you're saying?"

"…" Sasuke did not answer. He didn't need to.

An astounded Sakura wondered how in the world she, of all people, had come to be deemed a suitable host. The only thing she had in common with the spring was her name – and her exotic hair colour that matched the cherry blossom trees which bloomed at the start of the season.

Her brain frantically tried to put things into context. "Has it chosen others before me?"

Sasuke hesitated. He knew he was skewing the truth – making her believe that she was just a coincidental vessel chosen on a whim by the remnants of a Spring Goddess. But what choice did he have? He couldn't tell her she was the latest embodiment in a countless succession of incarnations that were doomed to die from the moment the sealed Essence fashioned them.

"Yes," he answered stiffly.

Sakura shakily breathed out, her hand slipping from Sasuke to return limply to her side. Her head bowed, and she squeezed her eyes shut, battling to keep from crying.

But she could feel the hot, wet tears prevail as they leaked from the corners of her eyes. It didn't make any sense! She was just an ordinary human girl who wished to become a medic. Why would a fragment of a spring goddess select her body as its home? She didn't have anywhere near the mental and physical strength required to carry such an awful burden, to look after something that was so decidedly beyond her in every conceivable way.

"No," she covered her face despondently with her hands, shaking her head. "I'm normal," she insisted desperately. "I've always been normal!"

Sasuke uncomfortably watched her. He had still to deliver the finishing blow that would send her world crashing into turmoil.

An idea suddenly entered Sakura's mind. Inhaling sharply, she looked up at the silent death deity again.

"Can it leave?" she questioned hopefully. "Can you take it out of me?"

Sasuke shook his head.

Sakura could no longer hold back a stifled sob as she lowered her face back to her hands.

No, she told herself. No! This wasn't happening!

First she had discovered that Sai wasn't wholly human – and now that she herself was carrying something divine that didn't even belong to her?

"I don't understand!" she exclaimed, squeezing her eyes shut. "I don't understand why it would choose me! I'm- I'm nothing! I'm nobody!"

But hadn't Sasuke chosen her, too? Sakura's heart lurched as an awful thought then collided into her. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place with an almost audible click.

Her mother.

The ambrosia.

Her breath hitched. Hunched forward in her seat, with her elbows on her knees and hands on gripping both sides of her head, her tear-brimmed eyes flew open as she released a quivering gasp.

"My mother…" she whispered dazedly. Her heart was now hammering erratically inside her, on the verge of bursting completely out of her chest. "The ambrosia…"

"Without ambrosia, it would become unstable inside your mortal body," Sasuke explained. "Your mother knows this."

Sakura's horror was complete – for she felt, with every fibre of her being, that it was undeniably true. She was suddenly remembering all the times she had woken up in the night, suffering from attacks that had become progressively more intense and agonising as she'd grown older. Had this fragment been inside her for her entire life? Had her mother done nothing to prevent it or help her? Had she known this all along – but never thought it important enough to actually tell her?

A thought even more dreadful than any other then invaded her mind with riotous force. Had her mother… had her mother been the one to place the fragment inside her?

The possibility was too horrifying for her to verbally question. Sakura's heart felt like it was being cut to pieces as the sharp blade of betrayal sliced through it.

Then Sasuke spoke the words that confirmed her greatest fears, words her mind had already tentatively entertained – but stubbornly refused to register. And with those eight words, Sakura's entire universe began to disintegrate.

"She has ambrosia... because she is a goddess."

Sakura gasped. Her mother's beautiful face drifted into her thoughts. Those warm, honey eyes. Her formidable temper. Her unchanging, ever-youthful features.

Sakura's chest ached for her. Her head throbbed as she found herself questioning how she could possibly be mortal, if the woman who was supposedly her 'mother' wasn't.

Was she even her mother at all…? Or was that just a lie, too? Was that why she had never been told about who her father was?

"No," she wept. She didn't know what was real and what wasn't anymore. She felt faint. Dizzy. Disorientated. She desperately wished she could snap out of the nightmare she was experiencing – but there was nobody there to comfort her.

Nobody but Sasuke, and the punishing truths she no longer wanted to hear.

"She never wanted you to know," the Underworld's King went on.

"Stop," Sakura whimpered. "Please, no more!"

"There are others," Sasuke went on ruthlessly, disregarding her request. Somehow he couldn't stop. He was angry - and every name he said next was emphatically punctuated with the force of his seething fury.

With each name, Sakura felt the walls around her, representing the life she had thought she'd known and loved on the surface, splinter and shatter further, throwing her mind and heart into the clutches of merciless chaos.

With each name, her heart lurched, as if being clawed to bloody tatters by vengeful, monstrous talons.

"Sai."

His face flashed in Sakura's mind's eye. The strange, emotionless artist.

"Kurenai. Kakashi."

She gasped again, close to hysteria. Her numbed mind struggled to register the familiar names.

Her college teachers.

"Shikamaru. Lee."

The lazy genius and the infatuated, thick-browed boy who called her his 'Flower of Youth'.

"Neji. Hinata."

The stoic Hyuuga and his shy, timid cousin – one of her closest friends. She thought of them – but suddenly it was like she couldn't even recognise them.

"Gai. Iruka. Shizune."

Other teachers. Her mother's best friend and head nurse at the hospital.

A charade. Her life had been nothing but a charade. Suddenly, everything she had believed in was slipping rapidly through her fingers, like fine granules of sand. The solid foundations of the world as she'd experienced it before meeting Sasuke were rocking violently and crumbling away, sending her plummeting into an ocean of darkness, helpless to fight against the rushing, murky tides that were pulling her under. She was drowning, suffocating from the intensity of the anguish that tore through her with unforgiving force, shredding her insides to pieces.

No more. She covered her ears in a hopeless attempt to block out Sasuke's voice. She couldn't stand to listen to any more! But she could still hear him, and when Sasuke hissed the final two names, it was like two iron nails had been driven straight through her heart, puncturing it beyond repair.

"Ino."

"No," she choked, rocking back and forth despairingly, sobbing uncontrollably. Her best friend. The girl Sakura trusted more than anyone else.

And then came the last one, spoken with such disgust, that Sakura's heart palpitated dangerously as it shattered into a million fragments.

"Naruto."

She saw laughing, bright blue eyes. A smile so bright it rivalled the sun itself.

"NO!" she screamed senselessly at Sasuke, rising to her feet. "You're LYING!"

He was up from his chair too in an instant as she tried to manoeuvre away from him, to leave the room entirely. She couldn't breathe, couldn't focus, couldn't think, couldn't anything. She only knew that she needed to get out, to get as far away from Sasuke as she physically could.

"Sakura-" he caught her left wrist, spinning her roughly back around to face him.

"I won't listen!" she panted, struggling to get away, her vision obscured by the tears that just wouldn't stop falling. She was out of control, emotionally distraught, close to hyperventilating. She wasn't anywhere close to her usual, rational self. All sense and logical thinking had abandoned her head, swallowed whole by the yawning jowls of hysteria and shock, her body fuelled purely by the ransacking, pillaging, violent cyclone of emotions running rampant through her.

"Let me go!" she shrieked hysterically, her skin recoiling as though his hand was a fiery shackle upon her. Suddenly, an unstoppable, blistering force sizzled through the sea of torment, leaving her breathless and stricken.

Rage. Suddenly, Sakura hated him, hated all the pain he had brought raining down upon her from the cursed second he had chosen to kidnap her into his kingdom. She hated him for making her question everything she had ever known, for all the conflicting, terrible things he made her feel. And more than anything, she hated him for taking away and completely destroying her final blanket of security, the one thing she had been clinging so desperately onto for the entire duration of the time she had spent with him.

The bitterness of loathing flooded all manner of coherent thinking. It swirled like a brewing, rising maelstrom inside her, boiling unstoppably, burning like acid through her throat until it crested to the tip of her tongue, where it was spat out like venom at Sasuke, in the form of three words that struck him stronger than any physical blow could.

"I HATE you!"

Sasuke's eyes widened marginally. Then he glowered down at her. She had wanted to know! Why was she taking out her resentment and frustration on him?

He didn't understand her. Once again, she was driving him absolutely crazy.

"You wanted the truth," he snapped indignantly.

Even as the words dripped angrily from his lips, he knew they were the wrong thing to say, that he wasn't helping Sakura deal. It was evident that she dreadfully needed comforting – but Sasuke didn't know how to do it. His heart raced fitfully inside his chest. He despised the disturbing feel of it.

The truth had pained her, as he'd expected. But never could he have anticipated this depth of anguish. Sakura had turned so deathly pale, that Sasuke was filled with a sickening sense of apprehension.

What if she couldn't accept it? What if, in his eagerness to make her hate them the way he did for keeping her ignorant, he had really pushed her too far? What if he had contributed to the very thing he feared most – triggering the start of the downward spiral that would end with her untimely demise?

No, he savagely rejected in his mind. It was just the shock and initial anger. She was stunned and upset, needed time to absorb it – and then she would handle it. In order to be the final form of Kore, she had to.

Feeling the senseless need to say something regardless, he uttered harshly, "They kept this from you, Sakura!"

"No!" she yelled at him again, her voice raw and hoarse with emotion. With a sudden surge of strength that caught Sasuke quite by surprise, she succeeded in tearing her wrist out of his grasp, before shoving her way quickly past him. "Leave me ALONE!"

It then struck Sasuke as she fled - sobbing inconsolably - from the room, that giving Sakura space was the only form of comfort he knew how to offer.

Swallowing back the bitterness in his throat, the death deity remained frozen in position. Something ached unbearably and heavily deep within his chest as three words reverberated in his head, ricocheting tortuously in his skull.

'I hate you.'

---

"That intolerable woman," Jiraiya muttered to himself in frustration, as he took refuge in one of the multitudes of caves that surrounded Konoha's mountainous borders. Tsunade was being a stubborn, unbearable shrew as usual, refusing to take any suggestion or advice he offered to her seriously.

She had always had the problem of thinking wine and women were the only two things he knew anything about. Although Jiraiya would never dream of denying that he most certainly was very well educated about those two particular things, there were also many other subjects he considered himself well-learned in.

Not that Tsunade had ever bothered to notice. She'd always been far too busy fawning over that inadequate lover of hers in the past – and had never gotten over his death.

Jiraiya frowned, the mask of careless mirth he preferred to display to the world all but non-existent at that moment. He wasn't going to wait idly around for them to summon a meeting with Danzou, first. He'd never quite trusted the man.

It was time for him to take matters into his own hands. With a little assistance from one of the few deities he could stand, of course.

"I got your message," he stated, as he immediately sensed the arrival of his companion. "It sounded quite urgent. It certainly isn't like you to panic, Kakashi."

The silver-haired man sighed, speaking the words he truly wished he didn't have to.

"It's about Sasuke."

A small, knowing smile curved Jiraiya's lips, as he mused aloud, "I was wondering how long it would take you to talk."

---

Despite the thick barrier formed by the solid double-doors and the mightily constructed walls, he could still hear the muffled sounds of her sobs. A scowling Sasuke prowled restlessly back and forth outside her chamber, agitated and impatient beyond his limits.

He had never felt like this before – so tense and on edge. He was certain he didn't like it. In fact, he positively detested the foreign emotions that were wreaking havoc in his body. But it was impossible to focus on his own feelings, when Sakura had locked herself inside her room for so long and just wouldn't stop crying.

He'd intended to give her time and space. He'd respectfully remained in the drawing room for as long as he'd been able to stand. Then his feet, of their own accord, had carried him to Sakura's room. Now he found that he couldn't leave, as if his ears were prisoners compelled to listen to her weeping.

Why wouldn't she stop? How was it possible for someone so small to shed so many tears? He couldn't understand why or how he was so affected by them, so uncharacteristically unsettled and put out.

The glowering death deity stalked noiselessly left once more, before swivelling back to the doors abruptly, raising his right hand to knock and signal his presence – only to catch himself at the final moment.

What was he thinking? She was clearly still upset. What good would it do if he entered the room, right then? He'd already heard several ominous thuds, clatters and crashes which signalled she'd hurtled objects about inside. Sasuke's rather accurate sense of intuition informed him that the next item had a near one hundred per cent chance of being aimed directly at his head if he dared to venture, unwanted, into her chamber.

Tch, he inwardly vented in frustration. The fingers that had curled into a fist with the intention of rapping against the doors tightened, as he found himself suddenly examining his still raised hand as if it didn't even belong to him.

And he found himself moodily wondering; since when had he even started to resort to knocking to enter rooms in his own palace? It was utterly absurd. At what point had he even begun considering such superfluous human customs?

He knew the answer. It was her damned influence. Sakura was making him think and do things that had always been inconceivable to him before, things that had always seemed so beneath his pride.

Sasuke yanked his treacherous hand back angrily and resorted to leaning against the wall by the doors, his arms folded unhappily across his chest as he glared sullenly down the stretching hallway.

Although his body remained tensely still, his mind continued to race. He didn't understand why he felt the near-maddening need to do something.

She was suffering like that because of the lies she'd lived on the surface, for which he had not been responsible. However, he was responsible for wiping away her ignorance and inflicting the pain of truth upon her.

'I hate you.'

His jaw clenched, expression darkening as the hated words came back to trouble him once more. All at once, almost against his will, he found himself gloomily thinking of all the actions he had chosen to take in his quest to keep Sakura in his world.

He might have smirked at his cleverness, before. At how well he had covered his tracks. But evidently, he hadn't concealed them well enough. The Dead-Last idiot of all idiots had somehow managed to work out Sakura's real whereabouts, after all. And it was clear that foolish Naruto and Kakashi were trying to resolve Sakura's situation themselves, without alerting the other surface deities.

That was just another of the many mistakes they had made when it came to him.

But instead of feeling smug about getting his way, as he might have in the past, all Sasuke tasted was an unpleasant bitterness at the back of his throat as he thought of the fruit he had fed to her with his own hand. And Sakura… she still had no idea of what it meant to consume six, harmless-looking crimson seeds.

He swallowed. Guilt was an emotion virtually unknown to members of his proud, majestic Clan. Sasuke had only ever experienced it in direct relation to being unable to prevent his family's demises - so he was at quite a loss to recognise the significance or the meaning of the strange heaviness that had taken stubborn post somewhere deep within his chest.

The heaviness urged him to act, to move; to do something, not for himself or his own gains – but for once, for Sakura's sake – even if indirectly. His chest burned from the thoroughly unfamiliar feeling. He wanted to fight against it, to shun it entirely – but then he heard her soft, broken sobs again, and found that he could not.

So restless and discontented was he, that when his mind suddenly put forward an alien suggestion to him, he gave it no second thought, and instantly moved.

---

For an immeasurable length of time, Sakura remained locked inside her room. She'd cried more tears than she thought were medically possible, until the rivers pooling from her eyes had run completely dry and her lungs had exhausted themselves from expelling every shuddering, broken sob they could muster. She'd alternated between bouts of hysterical weeping and fits of wailing rage, pummelling the unfortunate cushions on her bed one second - then hugging them tightly to her chest the next. Eventually she'd collapsed onto her bed, mentally, emotionally and physically depleted.

The wetness had long since dried on her cheeks and she had fallen still and silent. She lay on her right side, staring vacantly into space, her throat sore, her breathing shallow and her head throbbing.

The combined feelings of shock, rage and denial had faded away to leave only a dull, aching pain in their wake. Sasuke's words had recycled themselves in her mind, over and over and over again, tormenting her with the harshness of what she had finally – after a very long and lengthy struggle – accepted to be the absolute truth.

She knew it was true, for she began to remember little things that she had always dismissed as normal occurrences before. Back when she had been so naïve and trusting. Back when she had been so pitifully foolish and sightless.

Her mother and her friends had always been so outrageously – and Sakura had always believed unreasonably - over-protective. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever been out on her own before Sasuke had taken her. That was because she hadn't; at least one of her friends had always been with her. She'd just been too preoccupied with silly, teenage notions of friendship to notice that she'd never really had her own personal space. Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, or one of the others had always accompanied and chaperoned her outside her house. Her mother had never allowed her to fall out of their – or her- line of sight.

She'd always insisted that Sakura lock the doors at home. She'd given her a necklace that was supposed to protect her – although it had fallen short at foiling Sasuke. Sakura had always received strict instructions to never to open the door to anyone when she was home alone. And her mother would always consistently check on her.

And now Sakura knew exactly why. It wasn't just because she was an only child. She held something inside her, a fragment that belonged to a deceased deity, which had chosen her as its temporary vessel. How her mother had allowed it and how it had even come to be locked within her of all people in the first place were questions she still didn't have answers to.

She also had no idea how she could possibly be related to her mother if her body was mortal, like Sasuke stated, but her mother was not. Sakura had the oddly certain feeling that asking the death deity about it would prove fruitless. He'd been the immediate recipient of her hysterical breakdown – but she knew he wasn't the one responsible for the fact that she had a goddess's remnants inside her.

Only her mother could give her the real explanation she so desperately craved and needed.

She then wondered how Sasuke had found out the truth himself. Had he spoken to one of them? To her mother? Did he personally know Tsunade? The bizarre thought made Sakura's head ache more. It hurt too much to even think about it.

She closed her eyes tiredly. Nothing made sense any more. How could she ever go back to her old existence? Now, more than ever, it was impossible. All thanks to a certain death deity, who had come into her life and mercilessly flipped everything she'd known upside down – quite literally.

Her heart constricted as her eyes burned with the fresh need to shed tears that she no longer had the strength to summon. Sasuke. If she hadn't been abducted by him, if he'd never dispelled the blissful bubble that had been enveloping her for her entire life, then she would have been none the wiser.

She'd still be on the surface, living her ordinary life, completely oblivious to the real identities of those closest to her – and the terrible secret she harboured inside her.

Her left hand clutched above her chest. Where was it exactly, this fragment Sasuke claimed she held? Was it infused with her heart? She released a quivering breath, recalling the searing pains in her chest that corresponded at the start of every spring. What would happen if it were somehow removed?

Would she die?

She whimpered fearfully, curling into a tighter ball as she asked herself the same, excruciating question once again. Why? Why would such an awful power be stored away inside her? And why would her mother keep it from her, cover up and dismiss all the countless blood-tests and medical examinations as routine procedures?

The blade of betrayal cut her deeper than anything else. It was like a constant, unbearable sting. How did someone go about picking themselves up again, when everything around them, everything they'd believed in, turned out to be nothing more than a travesty?

Her eyes opened once more, the indignant anger of being misled by those she loved most slowly sparking back to life. Through the depths of grief and helplessness, a sudden flame kindled into being within her. And a voice spoke from one corner of her mind, with surprising force and intensity.

What good has it ever done you to cry? It demanded. What will it change now? You've shed your tears – now what are you going to do next? Stay here and hide forever, rejecting what you already know is true – or will you accept that you can't change what's happened, and get up and carry on?

She swallowed thickly. The strength she drew from the return of balanced thinking seeped slowly into her limbs, allowing her to stir at last. Carefully she sat up, turning her eyes to the fireplace, where they finally succeeded in focusing on the flickering flames.

I can't… I can't fall apart. Not now, she told herself fiercely. It's difficult, and it hurts so much – but if I've been able to deal with being in the Underworld for all this time, then I can accept and deal with this, too.

She had no choice. She had to handle it - because the alternative, to continue to weep and wallow in despair, was definitely not an option.

She'd learnt that lesson from Sasuke already.

Sakura released a slow breath as she bitterly tried to reassure herself that this was just another unexpected and unpleasant shock in a string of unanticipated incidences that she'd experienced within a relatively short duration of time.

The only difference was that it happened to be the most dreadful. It had stunned her senseless, swept the ground out entirely from beneath her feet, left her crippled for a long while and almost believing that she could never stand again.

But she would. She would. Sakura swallowed and slipped off the bed, planting her sandal-clad feet on the floor before rising. She sucked in another deep breath as she walked towards the warmth of the hearth. Now that she'd had the time to absorb everything, she could begin thinking more rationally, more objectively.

Surely her mother had her reasons for hiding such a burden from her. Surely her friends – the other gods – it was strange and testing to think of them as such – had their motives, too.

Sakura's mind then whirred to an abrupt halt as realisation suddenly dawned on her.

Suigetsu. Now she knew why he was helping her. Her mother had surely sent him to search for her!

She exhaled, working hard to keep her breathing steady, even as her heart began to increase its pace once more from the staggering weight of understanding.

He'd been so secretive about his intentions all along; was it because her mother had sworn him to silence?

That must be it! Sakura shook her head, anger flaring inside her chest once again.

Then something else occurred to her. Something more unnerving. If her mother had indeed asked for Suigetsu's help, then surely she had to trust him to some extent – didn't she?

If the Ocean God confirmed her suspicions the next time they communicated, then how did that change her situation? Would she then finally be ready to go through with their original, agreed plan?

However, the thought of stabbing Sasuke in the back at that moment, more than ever before, made her feel terribly sick.

She had asked him for the truth. He'd only given her what she'd wanted. And she was still contemplating doing something so deplorable?

How could she? But if she didn't, then how would she return to the surface and confront her mother and the others?

Sakura rubbed at her throbbing head. Everything was such a mess. She couldn't think anymore. She had to get out of her room, to clear her head – she had to get out of the palace. The need to do so was near stifling.

As she exited her room, she found Ume and Chizu waiting outside. Ume, who had been hunched in a sitting position against the wall, jumped up at the sight of Sakura.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Mistress! Finally you have come out!"

"Are you alright, My Lady?" Chizu's forehead was creased with concern.

"I'm fine." Sakura answered dully. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Where's Sasuke...?"

"The Master had business to attend to outside the palace," Chizu replied.

"He told us to look after you, and instructed us not to let you out of our sight!" Ume nodded anxiously. "Are you alright, Mistress? We heard you crying for so long…"

"You look awfully pale," Chizu reached out to take Sakura's hands. She gasped in alarm. "Goodness! Your hands are freezing, child!"

That was funny, Sakura thought to herself, as she didn't feel the cold at all. In fact, her entire body was oddly numb. The remnants of shock, she assumed.

"I'm fine," she repeated.

"Will you not eat something?" Ume pressed close to her side, as if trying to warm her. "You look so dreadfully pale, Mistress. The cook has prepared some delicious fresh soup just now. I could fetch you some at once?"

It had been a while since she had eaten anything, but any appetite Sakura might have had before had completely evaporated. The very thought of putting anything in her mouth made her feel nauseous.

"No thanks," she patted Ume's arm distractedly. "I'm really not hungry." She paused, before informing them, "I want to go for a walk."

"Of course, My Lady," Chizu nodded in understanding. "We can go to the gardens, if it pleases you-"

"No," Sakura interrupted. "I mean I want to go outside the palace."

"Oh," Ume shared a nervous glance with Chizu. "Hmm. W-well, Mistress. You see-" she stammered awkwardly.

"Our Lord has commanded us to ensure that you do not leave the palace grounds, My Lady," Chizu took over, looking apologetic.

Sakura clenched her teeth. Oh, he had, had he?

Well suddenly, she didn't care much for his instructions. She wanted to take Eos for a head-clearing ride – and she would be damned if anything or anyone stopped her.

Feigning compliance, she sighed. "I suppose we had better listen to His Highness, then." She said, offering a small – but false – smile.

Ume nodded, smiling tentatively back in open relief that Sakura wasn't arguing.

Sakura almost felt guilty. Almost.

"I'll just go to the stables, then" she shrugged. "But please – I hope you won't mind, I'd like to be alone with Eos for a bit."

The elder maid, however, hesitated. "The Master ordered us to remain with you…"

"I'm sorry," Sakura apologised. "I just really need to be alone, right now. If Sasuke comes back, you can tell him I asked you to give me space. I'm sure his horses will keep an eye on me for him, anyway."

Her maids shared looks of uncertainty – torn between their Lord's strict commands, and Sakura's wishes to be left in privacy.

"As long as you do not leave the palace grounds…" Chizu began unsurely.

Sakura squeezed both their hands. "Thank you for being so understanding," she expressed softly. "We'll go for a walk together later."

With that, she parted from them and made her way to the stables, where she found Eos waiting. The angelic-looking horse jutted her head eagerly over the wooden barriers at the sight of her mistress, neighing excitedly at the unexpected visit.

Sakura noted that three of Sasuke's mounts were also still inside – including Alastor. She immediately recognised the temperamental stallion from the manner he snorted smoke upon glimpsing her.

A young stable boy, clad in a faded brown tunic and baggy trousers, had just finished brushing all the horses' coats and exited the stable doors, a bucket and brush in his hands.

"M'lady," the freckled, ginger-haired youth bowed politely to her.

"What's your name?" Sakura asked. She was startled by how young he seemed. He looked no older than fourteen at most.

"Sora," the boy kept his light blue eyes shyly lowered.

"Thank you for looking after her," Sakura offered.

Sora blinked, clearly surprised to hear open gratitude being expressed to him from a superior. Unaccustomed to it, he stammered, blushing fiercely, "Uh- it- it's my honour, M'lady."

Sakura smiled at his endearing bashfulness. "Could you please saddle her up for me?" she asked.

"Of course, Miss," the youth set his cleaning equipment down and moved immediately to do as he was requested.

"Hey, there, little beauty," Sakura turned back to Eos as she waited, smiling as she stroked her silky mane tenderly. The sight of her trusty mount flooded her with immediate comfort. Sakura leaned in, resting her cheek against Eos's lowered forehead. After a minute, she pulled back, watching as Sora proficiently secured the reigns.

Now that she had seen how it was done once, she told herself she could do it unaided, next time.

"She's ready, Miss," Sora scratched the back of his head. The awkward motion reminded her vaguely of Naruto when he was embarrassed – and made a fresh lump form in Sakura's throat.

"Thank you," she said. "Could you give me a hand up?"

The boy obeyed without a word, joining his gloved hands together to give her a boost into the saddle. Once Sakura settled comfortably in it, she said to him, as she patted Eos's neck soothingly, "Please tell your Master when he comes back that I've gone to the bridge. He'll know where that is."

Sora nodded, standing aside to allow her to manoeuvre her horse freely. "Yes, M'lady."

With that, Sakura leant forward and whispered her desired location to Eos.

---

Sasuke stared aloofly down at the motionless form before him, one corner of his lips drawing back to form a disdainful sneer.

The fool wouldn't meddle again. He'd make sure of it. Reaching out, he placed the first two fingers of his right hand lightly against the comatose individual's forehead, acting before he could change his mind.

Release, he instructed.

---

Gai sighed heavily as his eyes examined the stars twinkling high above.

"Do you recall the days?" he lamented to the person sitting on the hilltop beside him. To any onlooker, they appeared to be father and son, for both shared the same, thick fuzzy black eyebrows, odd round eyes, strong jaws, and closed-cup, mushroom hairstyles. They also wore similar green turtle neck tops, trousers, and darker green, sleeveless, open, padded jackets on top. "When we'd look down from the heavens at the world below?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei," Lee agreed emotionally, his lower lip quivering. "Those were our glory days, indeed!"

"They are not lost!" The elder seraph suddenly exclaimed with gusto, punching a fist into the air. "We will reclaim them! Lee! Never give up on the Power of Youth!"

"I never will!" Lee promised. "I promise, Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!" His idol nodded approvingly, his gaze shifting back to the vast landscape ahead of them.

"I promise!" Lee repeated enthusiastically. "I-" he broke off abruptly. "GAI-SENSEI!" The younger of the two suddenly stood up, his eyes snagged by something he was certain hadn't been in the horizon ahead of them before. He pointed. "LOOK THERE!"

Gai was on his feet in an instant, as his gaze fell upon a shadowy figure some distance away from them, slumped beneath a cluster of trees that had only managed to sprout a sparse amount of unhealthy yellow leaves. They rushed forward, closing the gap quickly, until they drew to a stop beside the motionless form of an alarmingly familiar individual.

"GAI-SENSEI!" Lee gasped, kneeling beside the still body, surprise rendering his dark eyes almost comically wide. "This is- can it really be?!"

As if roused by their voices, the figure stirred, groaning as it began to regain consciousness at last.

Gai reached out, clamping a hand on Inoichi's shoulder.

"Inoichi!" he exclaimed, his genuine bewilderment momentarily dwarfed by the relief of seeing his friend unharmed. "Inoichi!" he shook him. "Can you hear us? Please respond!"

The pale-haired seraph grumbled under his breath, as he raised a hand to his aching head, "You're loud enough to wake the damned dead, Gai."

Instead of being insulted, Gai laughed loudly. Lee burst into tears, overcome with his emotions.

Beyond their perception, midnight eyes narrowed scornfully at the reunion.

How sentimental, he thought disgustedly. How completely pathetic and utterly pitiful they were – every single one of them.

As silently as a shadow, Sasuke blinked out of existence.

---

She'd forgotten just how spectacular the sight was. Sakura's eyes followed the rippling flow of the massive, cascading waterfall. As she had hoped, the unrivalled beauty of the crystal clear waters helped to soothe her frayed nerves and calm inner worries – even if only temporarily. As she leant her elbows on the top of the white-marble breezeway's exquisitely carved protective parapet and gazed at the tranquil view, she found her thoughts drifting to the last time she had stood on the very same bridge.

It seemed so long ago. So much had changed since then. She had changed. It was impossible to think of herself as the same girl she had been on that fateful day when she'd first woken up in the Underworld.

Unbidden, the memory of Ino on the phone to her hairdresser floated into Sakura's head. Ino, her best friend, the young woman she'd always considered the biological sister she'd never had, who she near-idolised – not that Sakura would ever openly give the blonde bombshell the satisfaction of knowing just how much she truly looked up to her.

Sasuke had told Sakura that Ino was an immortal. So which goddess was she?

What about Hinata? She couldn't imagine such a shy, timid little wall-flower possessing such great power.

Then her mind turned to Naruto. She thought of his twinkling blue eyes, of his goofy smile that was capable of disarming her even when she was at her most displeased with him.

Naruto…

Sakura's eyes began to burn with the familiar sting of fresh tears. Hadn't she used them all, already? But instead of being upset or furious at herself for another moment of weakness, she felt nothing except a hollow emptiness as a single tear rolled down her right cheek. She closed her eyes, willing herself to remain composed.

It was easier to command than do.

The ride to her destination atop Eos had passed in an adrenaline-fuelled blur. She hadn't had time to give into depressing thoughts, or to dwell on them as her mount had carried her, like the wind, through the diverse expanse of the Underworld. But after leaving her horse waiting by the entrance doors that led up to the breezeway, and venturing up onto the bridge flanked by two waterfalls, Sakura found that they were starting to creep back into the spotlight of her mental contemplations, despite her best attempts to ward them away.

Sakura's eyes opened automatically then – as if sensing the arrival of another presence. She exhaled, keeping her gaze fixed firmly onto the sparkling cascade ahead of her as her pulse picked up speed, immediately responding to his arrival.

Sasuke stepped onto the breezeway. He walked unhurriedly towards her, drawing to a halt a carefully calculated distance away, just beyond arm's reach. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his trousers, the cool casualness of his posture betraying nothing of the inner tension that was also plaguing him.

Together, they stared at the view for a long minute in silence.

The last time they'd spoken, Sakura had screamed at him to leave her alone. More than several surface hours had passed since then, and Sasuke wasn't sure what to expect. She certainly seemed to be calmer – but he remained cautious, waiting for her to make the first move.

Sakura was uncomfortably recalling her earlier breakdown, too. A sense of guilt flashed through her; she'd said things in the heat of the moment, yelled things at him without thinking. Her brain had been fogged by hysteria back then, as her riotous feelings had gotten the better of her.

Sasuke had only given her the answers she, herself, had requested of him.

She wondered if the fact that she had left the palace against his instructions bothered him. When the death deity did not mention it, however, Sakura assumed that perhaps he understood.

At length, she spoke.

"I didn't want to believe you," she whispered.

Sasuke's gaze also remained stubbornly locked onto the stunning scenery in front of them. He said nothing.

Sakura inhaled deeply, before going on, "Even though I knew, deep down, that you were telling me the truth… I didn't want to believe it." Her eyes lowered to her hands, resting flatly atop the parapet. Swallowing, she continued quietly, "I didn't want it to be true."

She looked back up at the waterfall again. "Everything I've known… all the things I thought I was so sure about…" she shook her head. "Everything's falling apart. I-" she broke off, swallowing thickly again, her eyes stinging more insistently this time - much to her dismay. She told herself that talking to Sasuke about it was a mistake. She'd only work herself up into a state once more.

But somehow, she couldn't stop. Talking was a way to sort through her jumbled emotions – though she doubted Sasuke was willing to hear anything else on the subject, given the way she had lashed out at him verbally earlier.

She had no idea how wrong she was. The death deity was listening intently to each and every word, his ears catching every detail over the steady sound of flowing water.

Sakura bowed her head. "I don't understand why my mother would keep all this from me…" She finally glanced at the death deity. He remained still, staring unwaveringly ahead.

A slight, sad smile touched her lips as she looked away from him again. "I guess I understand if you don't want to talk about it now," she said softly. "I just- I kind of lost it earlier. It's just so much to take in and I got so overwhelmed…"

She gulped. Why was her tongue finding it so difficult to articulate what she wanted to say? Sakura knew the answer. Her thoughts were all over the place.

"…" Sasuke's eyes shifted. His face, however, remained angled forward.

Sakura sighed heavily. After another long pause, she spoke again. "I don't really hate you, Sasuke," she murmured, by way of apology.

Sasuke blinked. He slowly and noiselessly released the breath he hadn't even realised his lungs had been withholding.

"It's funny," she added. "Because I know I should."

Sasuke's shoulders tensed at that. She didn't see the subtle change in their lines – her eyes were now lowered.

"I mean, you've turned my life upside down in every possible way. But…" she bit her lower lip for a second, before finishing, "…without you, I…"

His head finally turned left in her direction.

"Without you, I would still be living a lie," said Sakura. All of a sudden, the threatening tears welled up in her eyes, spilling free. Shakily, she ventured, "They aren't who I thought they were. None of them. And I- this thing I have inside me-" she placed her right hand over her heart. "This thing that hurts me- it scares me so much."

The troubling heaviness in his chest seemed to increase as Sasuke watched her. He wanted to step closer. But he didn't dare to bridge the gap. His limbs, hatefully, were once more weighed down by uncharacteristic hesitation.

"Will it kill me, Sasuke…?" she asked in a hushed voice. Her entire body was now shaking. "Will I die?"

"No," he finally spoke, his answer sharp. She flinched. Sasuke bit his tongue – before repeating in a less harsh tone, "No, Sakura."

She breathed out. His words were spoken with such steady conviction. And suddenly, she believed him. He held sway over death. He wouldn't allow any harm to come to her.

Closing her eyes once more, she whispered, "Everything's different now. I don't know what's real and what isn't. What to believe in. Nothing makes sense." Her voice cracked. "It's like I don't even know who I am anymore- who I'm meant to be."

Something suddenly shifted in Sasuke's chest at the sight of her, so slight, so broken. Then his feet were carrying him automatically forward to her, closing the space between them as he drew to a stop by her side.

He didn't think about what he said next. The words tumbled out by themselves.

"Sakura," he stated.

Her eyes opened, shining with the tears it unsettled him to see. They turned up to him, as her lower lip quivered.

"You're Sakura," he reaffirmed.

She exhaled.

I'm… Sakura. Her mind echoed. It was unexpected, but somehow, those two simple, yet obvious words helped to reassure her.

"That's right…" she gave him a tiny smile, so terribly pained, that Sasuke found his right hand lifting instantly in response – as if in a sudden trance.

"I'm Sakura," she agreed, her eyes welling once again.

When his fingertips brushed her left, tear-stained cheek, she did not move. The rushing waterfall around them had fallen away into a quiet hum, and suddenly all her eyes could focus on was the handsome god standing so close beside her.

Her tearful gaze trailed slowly over his face, marvelling as she glimpsed little details there she was certain she had never been able to distinguish before.

Such as the inexplicable shadows that seemed to darken his bottomless irises, as his cool palm cupped her cheek; such as the slight frown that weighed on his forehead; and the barely perceptible way the left corner of his mouth was tilted downwards – as if the sight of her, so distraught and unhappy, not only bothered him - but directly affected him.

And it was at that moment, standing together with the God of Death, on his mother's bridge, that it hit Sakura full force at last. Suddenly, she could see it, as if the river of her grief had washed away all the murky stains marring her past vision, leaving nothing but a pristine, transparent looking-glass that left her with unobscured clarity.

He cared.

A surge of unknown, unexpected feeling flooded through her - like a barricade had been lifted from within her chest - as the significance of what she was seeing cascaded through her entire body, leaving her completely astonished.

He had always cared. She had simply been too blind before, had never bothered to look close enough to realise just how much – until that defining moment.

The stark revelation only spurned more tears to fall. His eyes, which had been drifting slowly over her features, suddenly drew to a halt, finding a single point of focus.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. The fingertips at her cheek seemed to be directly channelling an electrical current into her nervous system. Suddenly she was trembling for entirely different reasons.

"Sakura," her name was whispered unevenly, as if Sasuke's own lungs were having a hard enough time catching oxygen as well. At some point, his head had bowed down towards hers. All Sakura could hear was the frantic thump, thump, thump of her thundering heart and the blood rushing wildly in her ears. Somehow, her body had angled itself towards his, pressed into the crook of his left arm.

His thumb stroked the silken skin of her cheek, as Sasuke instinctively found himself offering her the comfort he hadn't known how to earlier. Comfort he hadn't even realised he could offer. And somehow, as if by magic, it seemed to be working, for Sakura was leaning into him, her eyes fixed on his as if she was incapable of looking away.

His thoughts were in dissonance, but he couldn't tune into their disorder. All he could see were her bewitching green orbs, enticing him closer and closer.

Sakura would later be at a loss to explain what came over her next. Perhaps it was the desperate need for reassurance – and the fact that Sasuke was the only person available to give her physical solace. Or perhaps it was just that she was so exhausted, so tired of fighting all the time.

The usual warning voices that screamed at her whenever she'd found herself in similar scenarios before had fallen alarmingly silent. There was nothing but the waterfall and her heartbeat.

Subconsciously – or perhaps not – her head tilted back marginally, chin angling upwards. Even more treacherously, her lips parted slightly, releasing another unsteady breath.

Something flickered across Sasuke's midnight irises; he could sense her submission, feel it in the marked lack of resistance in her body – and it was the unspoken consent he had been seeking, for which he had been yearning, for so terribly long, to receive.

His heart thundered as he quietly exhaled in turn. Without a second of hesitation, he closed in to eliminate the short gap between their faces – and Sakura was all at once overwhelmed with warmth as his lips pressed lightly against hers.

He kissed her softly. Slowly. Sensually. Any remnants of fight that might have remained within Sakura seeped out of her bones as her body shuddered and seemed to melt into his. Her wide eyes remained open for a moment – before fluttering shut as she finally stopped struggling against the tide that rose over her, and succumbed at last to pure feeling.

A sizzling mix of fire and electricity crackled through her veins, leaving Sakura's mind reeling from the intensity of the unchartered sensations coursing through her. It was frightening, how instantaneously her body responded to him. Flittering butterflies burst free from the deepest pits of her stomach. His touch made her quiver, made her feel like she was plummeting from a great height. The gentle way his lips were moving against hers was chaste – but the reaction they elicited within her was positively sinful.

The feel of her softness against him, the sweet taste of her; Sasuke was burning… burning… and only Sakura could soothe the agony and put out the fire that was threatening to consume him entirely. He was completely disarmed, so out of his element at that moment by the exhilarating rush of what he was experiencing but he didn't care. Because this was Sakura who was in his arms and those were her trembling lips that were starting to move ever so slightly - and with painstaking hesitancy and tentativeness – against his. Her response was hardly perceptible – the kiss barely reciprocated - but he felt the difference all the same as her lips remained parted against his.

This time, he hadn't stolen it from her. This time, she had given him permission. And that changed everything.

With great reluctance, he broke the kiss at last, trying to maintain even breathing, even as his chest heaved. His left arm, however, stayed in place, holding her snugly against him. Sakura's cheeks were dusted pink, the colour restored to her previously pale skin. Her long-lashed eyes remained closed for a long moment, as the foreign tingles his touch ignited lingered. When they opened at last and fixed onto him again, Sasuke saw them shine with fresh tears.

He felt a constriction, a painful tightness in his chest at the sight. She was upset again – but why? He wanted to claw the disturbing feeling out – but it was no use. It wouldn't budge. These feelings were as new to him as they were to her; he was as crippled by the pandemonium inside him as she was.

The death deity could read the unspoken words in her expressive eyes; the way they seemed to plead with him as she shook her head slightly, as if in direct response to the uncertainty of what had just passed between them, as well as the unfamiliar, tormenting feelings his touch stirred to life inside her.

Please stop, they begged. He could see the fear in her eyes – because she believed that they were so different. That what he was doing was wrong. She didn't realise, however, that they weren't as unalike as she thought.

After all, he hadn't told her that she was the reincarnated form of a goddess.

Stop, her eyes implored.

A tiny, unhappy depression formed in one corner of Sasuke's mouth again as the fingers at her left cheek finally lowered. Stop? She still didn't understand. He couldn't stop. He had tried; for years he had battled and struggled and waged war with himself, trying to purge her out of his system. It was now more impossible than ever before, for she had somehow managed to ingrain herself within the deepest parts of him. But he could not speak the words to tell her.

He could not find them.

The death deity expected her to pull away. Sakura had immediately contemplated it, knowing she was foolishly allowing herself to be pulled deeper into the sticky mess that was tangling around her. But suddenly everything felt so out of her control, and she was so terribly drained by the emotional rollercoaster she'd experienced. The desperate need to cling onto something solid to keep her anchored, to keep her sane, took precedence over everything else.

Sasuke was surprised when she lowered her head instead, and buried her face into his chest.

Sakura listened to his heart pounding, as fitfully as her own; like birds in captivity the organs seemed to be, seeking to flee from their cages. And she knew then, even as another tremor of fear and uncertainty overtook her – even as she told herself what she had just allowed to happen was utter madness.

She knew, as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, as if to keep out the rest of the world - that something was happening between them - something was shifting and changing.

And they both knew it.

---

He had frozen in place, blinking incredulously in wide-eyed disbelief, his mouth hanging open in shock. For a long minute, he struggled to absorb what it was he had just witnessed, completely unable to accept it.

The sphere of water in his palm then abruptly scattered, the droplets spattering angrily in all directions in response to his rapidly escalating anger.

Suigetsu's hand lowered, fingers curling into furious fists as his amethyst eyes narrowed to form dangerous slits.

He had lived long enough to know precisely in which direction matters were unpredictably heading.

He would not allow it. No more playing the nice deity. It was time, he decided, for him to actively intervene.

---

Author's note

Wow. Another explosive chapter. Hope we're not a mush of drool at this point?

At last, the reciprocated SasuSaku kiss! To be fair, Sakura was vulnerable here, and she needed some comforting. Who better to give it to her than that sexy King of the Underworld?

I should stress that she responded very hesitantly and slightly. Think awkward first kiss. But don't worry, the time will soon come when she kisses him back full force. We're getting there!

I wonder what on earth Suigetsu has planned, now that he's seen them mutually smooching?!

Can we also talk about character development for Sasuke? He gave Inoichi back, because he was feeling guilty. For Sakura. Aw.

Sakura may be crying here, but it's not weakness; it's a normal response to finding out her life was a lie. She's growing too.

I would really LOVE to get your thoughts on this one. I know it's a lot to take in, but if you could take a minute or two to leave feedback, I'd love you forever. I want to know your FEELS!

See you next update. I'm not sure I'll be able to update as quickly as the last two times, but will as soon as I am able.