The perpetual storm hanging heavily over the underworld was exactly where Sakura expected it to be. That constant thunder rumbling in the distance, lightning racing through the clouds like veins, it was all the same. It took three steps down the palace stairs for her to notice that something was different, though.

Two of the thick, grey clouds had parted to let the golden rays of sunlight beam down on her. It's warmth was like a slap in the face and she stumbled, nearly falling back on the stairs as she lifted her face to the sky and winced from the light. Turning her hand over, she let it shine down on her palm and while she wanted to scoff in disbelief, she was still far too angry to feel anything but the flames of her fury.

So he had kept to his word.

Fair is fair, after all .

Rolling her eyes, Sakura clenched the material of her skirt in her fists, lifting it off of her feet and hurried down the steps. She didn't know where she was going, just that she wanted to be as far from him as she could be. Something told her that no matter how much distance she kept between them, the effects of his kiss would linger within her for a long time. Even now, despite how furious she was with herself for letting it happen, she couldn't deny the sense of longing, that irritating craving she felt for him remained, loitering just beneath the surface of her anger.

Sakura wanted to scream, wanted to hit something, anything to get these feelings out of her mind and body. How could someone so horrid and wretched make her feel this way? It didn't make sense. He had to have tricked her somehow, poisoned her mind or entranced her with his powers.

That was the only explanation she would accept. Entertaining the idea that there was a single chance, a minute possibility that all he had to do was stand near her and plant the idea in her head to make her give in so easily was out of the question. She may have been a fool, but she would never give in to him. Not again, anyway.

At the bottom of the steps, Sakura came to a stop and frowned at the passing sunbeam that seemed to be following her. The clouds overhead would part and let the sunlight she had asked for shine through. She had asked for this, but had it been worth what she had given for it?

Lifting her head, she looked to the swamp stretching ahead of her in the distance. The same grey skies covered the area and the mist settled along the ground and through the trees, obscuring the heart of the marsh. Sakura knew if she were to venture inside once more, she would more than likely speak with the goddess that inhabited the swamp. And while she wanted to beg her for more help, she was in no mood to talk to any of the gods.

What she needed was a quiet place to sit and think and just be alone. No deities, no invisible lantern carriers. Turning on her heel, she stared past the palace to the east of the realm where she had been led to the knoll of dead trees. It had been where she planted her first seed and now that she had sunlight following her every move, she would just be alone there.

It was a journey to make it there. The realm of the underworld was far larger than she had ever imagined it would be. If someone had asked her to picture the underworld before she had the chance to see it for herself, she would have envisioned infinite oblivion. The thought of an endless nothing would have frightened her before. Now that she knew what it was truly like, she didn't know which she would prefer.

By the time she finally made it to the knoll and trudged up the hillside to where she had left the circle of stones around the seedbed, sweat was rolling down her back. The sunlight she had been gifted-no, that she had earned-had followed her the entire way, providing her a warmth that she hadn't been expecting. At the top of the knoll where the copse of black, gnarled trees stood like the crumbling, derelict statues, the little seedbed was waiting for her.

It felt like days since she had been here last but it had only been a few hours. Or, maybe it had been days. Time passed so differently here. She wasn't used to it. With no day or night, her bearings were disoriented and despite not sleeping well and spending most of her day traipsing about the underworld, she wasn't tired.

The dinner she had consumed seemed to have erased any exhaustion she had felt. Or maybe it was the exhilaration of the kiss still lingering in her.

Sakura lifted her palms to her eyes and pressed them there, hoping to quash any memory of it that stubbornly remained. Why? Why had she let it happen? Why had she wanted it to? Frustration mounted more with every second, mingling with the spots dancing behind her eyelids. And through them, she could see the god in her memory, standing before her, the length of his silver hair falling over the black robes covering his shoulders. Why did she have to like the look of it and want to touch it?

A noise lifted in the back of her throat, filling it as she trembled with rage. All the fury brewing within her reached the boiling point and she wrenched her hands away from her face. Sakura opened her mouth and let it all out with a scream that nearly drowned out the boom of thunder passing overhead. She didn't stop until her throat felt raw and the beat of her pulse filled her ears.

When she sucked in a breath and opened her eyes, she realized with a start that almost sent her tumbling back down the hillside, that she was no longer alone on the knoll. But it wasn't the god that frustrated her so much standing there, staring at her. In fact, she wasn't quite sure the figure was a god at all.

It was a woman, tall in stature with pale hair that fell in waves down her front, covering the curve of her ample breasts, but no horns topped her head. The only feature Sakura could see to separate the woman from a mortal were the pointed ears poking out from the flaxen strands. Stumbling back on her heels, Sakura clutched her chest and felt the rapid thump of her heart beneath her palm. The woman tilted her head to the side and blinked her blue eyes.

"Are you alright?" She asked, her voice light and slightly higher pitched than Sakura had been expecting. "You were screaming."

"Yes, I'm...fine. Y-you scared me. I didn't expect to see anyone."

"Clearly," the woman said with a soft laugh. She folded her arms over her chest and bunched the strands of hair that hid her nakedness. A loosely tied skirt of gossamer circled her hips and hung low to the ground on one side. "You must be the mortal girl Hatake allegedly stole."

"He did."

A pale eyebrow lifted over the woman's blue eyes and she took a single step on bare feet, leaning forward to get a better look at Sakura. "All this fuss over you? From the way Jiraiya talked, you'd have thought the moon and stars were made for you."

Two things raced through Sakura's mind. First, she was slightly offended by what the woman said. Sure, she was some otherworldly being and quite beautiful, but Sakura hadn't ever been so insulted without actually being insulted outright. The second thing she thought of was Jiraiya and the way he had left the palace to chase after the nymphs. Realization clicked in her head and she pursed her lips, staring at the woman.

"You're a nymph."

"What were you screaming about, anyway?"

"Nothing." She was quick to answer the nymph and knew it the moment she saw the flicker of intrigue passing through her blue eyes. Sakura quickly looked away and crossed her arms over her chest. "I just wanted to be alone."

"So you can scream until your lungs shrivel up?"

"Maybe," she snapped, cutting her narrowed gaze back to the nymph. Why was she so interested in her anyway? "If you don't mind, I have something to take care of."

The nymph didn't step away or move. She simply let her gaze drop to the circle of stones on the ground between them. "To tend to your...garden."

"Yes, actually. For someone who doesn't think I deserve all this fuss, you're awfully interested in everything I'm doing."

With a sniff, the blonde rolled her eyes and lifted one of her shoulders in a shrug. "As plain as you are, your presence here is more interesting than entertaining the messenger with endless wine and orgies." She raised a hand and brushed it through the air with a look of dismissal. That word, orgies , brought a rush of warmth to Sakura's face and she quickly ducked her head. "If I have to see him naked one more time, I'm going to leave the realm forever."

"Can you do that? Leave the realm, I mean?"

Again, she was too quick with her response, too quick to look up at her, the look in her eyes pleading and the nymph noticed it immediately. The flush lingering across her cheeks at the mention of the orgy brightened under the woman's scrutiny. "I'm tethered to no realm but this is my home. If you think I'll help you escape, you're mistaken."

"Well, can you leave me alone?" The question left her lips in a rush and she hadn't meant to snap so angrily at the nymph, but her patience was wearing thin and the sunlight beaming down on her back brought a new layer of sweat to her body. With a sigh, she ignored the nymph's presence and lowered to the ground, sitting on her knees near the circle of stones.

Above her, the storm clouds split and the sunlight lit the mound of dirt before her. She wasn't sure how long she would have to sit here for the seed to absorb the light, but she was prepared to spend the next six weeks here if that was what it would take. No matter how sweaty she got. Anything to get out of this cursed realm and away from these beings and deities that cared so little about her.

To her utter frustration and annoyance, a pair of hands came down to the ground near the stone circle and pale, yellow hair pooled around them. Sakura sighed and lifted her head to peer at the nymph. She sat on her hands and knees and looked down at the seedbed, her blue eyes narrowed and brows pinched.

With her hair hanging to the ground, her breasts were uncovered and the sight of them pulled Sakura's attention before she could stop herself. Again, warmth pooled in her face and she raised her face to the sky, blinking up at the sun. "Do you always go around without clothes?"

Had this nymph traipsed about the underworld like this in front of its archon, exposing her naked body to him? Did he mind? What a stupid question. Sakura rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. Of course he wouldn't mind. The god may not be as debauched as the messenger, but after having him strip her, touch her, and kiss her, she was beginning to think the two weren't so unalike.

"I'm wearing clothes," the nymph said with a humph, sitting back on her heels. Her hair split around her naked breasts and Sakura kept her eyes trained on the broken section in the clouds above them, lit around the edges by the sun.

"On your waist, but not-" she waved her hand toward the nymph's chest. "-What if someone sees you?"

"Then they'll be blessed by the sight of my breasts. Are all mortals such prudes?"

At this, Sakura lowered her head and dropped her jaw in offense. She crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at the presumptuous being. "Are all nymphs so easy?"

"You're blushing at the sight of me yet you have breasts of your own. Do you not look at your own body?" She leaned forward and reached between them and to Sakura's surprise, the nymph curled her middle finger around the material of her dress and pulled it to the side. In a flash, her breast was exposed and she quickly slapped her hand to her chest, shoving the nymph's arm away. Sitting back on her heels once more, the blonde laughed. "I suppose not."

"Of course I look at my own body! It's mine after all! But I shouldn't be forced to look at yours or forced into anything else for that matter!" Sakura's voice grew louder and louder as she spoke and by the time she sucked in a breath, she was back on her feet, glaring down at the figure before her. "Why can no one in this rotten place just let me be? If it isn't that bastard forcing me to kiss him or you forcing me to look at-"

"You kissed Hatake?"

The question instantly stole all rational thought from Sakura's mind and she blinked down at the nymph in surprise, unaware she had even revealed anything at all. Her lips clamped shut and she blinked, forcing herself to think quickly. Nothing came to her mind. Nothing but the memory of that devilish smirk on those pale lips seconds before they captured her own. She shut her eyes and shook her head though it did little to relieve her of the tormenting image.

"No," was all she managed to say and even then, it barely came out as a whisper.

"Yes, you did." The nymph climbed nimbly to her feet and cocked her head to one side, her blue eyes searching Sakura's face as a slow smile stretched her pink lips. " Ohhh ," she cooed, folding her arms once more over her bare chest. "Now I understand why you were screaming all alone up here."

Sakura took a step back and blinked at the woman, shaking her head as if answering a question that had never been asked. A need to defend herself, to explain that it wasn't just a kiss and it certainly hadn't been she that kissed him , but no matter how much she opened and closed her mouth, nothing came out.

With a small smile curling her lips, the nymph took a step forward and reached for her once more. Sakura flinched and attempted to swat her hand away but she was surprisingly quick and managed to close the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Ducking her head to look right into Sakura's eyes, the nymph once more reached for her, curling a strand of tangled, damp hair around her middle finger.

She brought it to her face, right beneath her nose, and inhaled deeply, her eyes closing as she took in the scent. There were no words in Sakura's mind anymore. It had gone completely blank, too stunned to function properly and all she could do was blink and watch the scene unfolding. When the nymph opened her eyes, the cerulean color swirling and flickering with the light piercing through the clouds, she grinned.

"You're pure."

"What?" Sakura asked in a single puff of air.

"You've never been touched. Were Hatake's lips the first to have ever tasted yours?"

Though she knew she should snatch her hair out of the nymph's hands, to slap her for being so crass, she did nothing but stare in horror. Has it been so obvious? Did every deity she came in contact with know every secret she thought was hidden safely within her? More importantly...did he know?

Blinking the questions from her head, Sakura felt herself nodding. "Yes."

"Was it not enjoyable? I've heard rumors of Hatake's prowess . Unfortunately, he doesn't play with us." The nymph crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her nose in the air, obviously perturbed by that fact. Her gaze drifted down Sakura's body, taking it in, judging it with a single glance. "Though, I wasn't aware he played with mortals either."

"He doesn't...play with me." Just forcing those words out of her mouth left a bad taste on her tongue and she wrinkled her nose. "I don't want anything to do with him."

"The scent between your legs says otherwise."

Sakura's eyes went wide and she snapped her knees together, dropping her hand to press into the center of her thighs. There was a scent? Curse her body for reacting to him without her knowing! Why could it not sync up with her head and loathe him the way she wanted it to?

The nymph's airy laugh felt as if it were more mocking her than amused by her and the flush of fury hit Sakura so forcefully she nearly stumbled back. With lips pursed into a tight line, she spun on her heel and marched away from the irritating fool. What did she know anyway? Just because her body had reacted to that kiss, didn't mean she truly wanted anything more from him. No matter what other imbeciles assumed.

"Where are you going?" The lilt of the nymph's call-still holding onto some of that mocking laughter-curled Sakura's hands into fists and no matter how badly she was dying to turn back and snap at the imbecile following her down the hillside, she didn't. She kept her face forward and stomped through the tall grass, ignoring the dirt path she had walked earlier.

The palace was back to the east and the absolute last place she wanted to be right now. Stumbling through those dark hallways, disembodied lanterns leading her to him again. It sounded like a nightmare. Then again, her reality was already a nightmare.

"I'm going to follow you, so you might as well tell me." The voice was right behind her and Sakura bristled at its nearness. Stupid nymphs and their lithe, quiet steps. She crossed her arms over her chest and kicked her way through the dry stalks of grass, all brown and brittle, ignoring the tiny cuts to her toes as she hurried.

"I'm looking for water," she snapped without glancing at the figure to her right.

"For your seeds?"

"Yes, for my seeds! How else do you expect me to make anything grow without sunlight and water." And speaking of sunlight, the constant beam of it shining down on her was starting to feel more like a curse than a gift. It tinged the tops of her shoulders pink and warmed her forehead and nose.

"You're going through so much trouble," the nymph started with a flippant sigh. "Just to avoid the way you feel."

Sakura's heels dug into the dry dirt and she spun to face her new pest that refused to just leave her alone. She swiped the hair from her face and stared at the nymph's bright blue eyes sparkling with merriment. "I don't feel anything and I'm not avoiding anything either."

"So you say, but you looked awfully surprised that I could easily see how flustered Hatake had made you."

"Ugh!" Though there was no point in walking away from her, she'd just follow along and keep up, Sakura spun away from the nymph for the third time in such a short amount of minutes and stormed away. "Leave. Me. Alone."

"But you're so much fun to talk to. Besides," the nymph giggled, skipping ahead to watch Sakura stomp angrily through the field. "We haven't had a chance to discuss that kiss. And I know you're just dying to-"

"Ino!" A voice echoed from the distance, back toward the knoll where they had met and both stopped in their trek to spin around. For once, the nymph was silent and Sakura folded her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. "Ino, where did you go? You're missing all the fun!"

There were several voices, all female, calling out from the grove now and just barely, Sakura could make out a few similar figures. Other nymphs. Had the orgy ended already? Was the messenger god completely spent, laying in the moss and dirt of the ground, surrounded by giggling nymphs? The image that popped into her head nearly made her laugh but she kept her lips pursed until she looked at her new friend.

"I think they're calling for you."

"Shh! They probably want me to finish that oaf off or something." The blonde chewed her bottom lip in worry and stepped behind Sakura, blocking her from being seen by the others. "I'll tell you where you can find water if you promise not to tell them you saw me."

"I can do that."

Taking a step back, the nymph-Ino was her name apparently-glanced once more over her shoulder and let out a sigh full of the same irritation that Sakura had been feeling since meeting her. She lifted a slender arm and pointed to the northwest, where the severity of the storm had calmed. The clouds covered that area just as thick and dark, but the lightning that ran like veins through the storm behind them was few and far between. "There's a river there. Don't drink from it, but you'll find water."

"Don't drink from it? Why-"

The question barely left her lips when the nymph disappeared in a sudden pop that surprised Sakura. She stumbled on her heels as tiny leaves and petals, so rich in color that she nearly cried out in delight, rained down around her. With a sharp breath, she reached out to snatch the violet petals falling through the air right in front of her nose. Sakura opened her palm and stared down at the flower, a genuine smile of hope and wonder stretching her lips.

It didn't last.

As soon as the petals settled in her open hand, they withered beneath an unseen flame and turned to ash before her eyes. The wind left behind by the nymph picked the dust up and carried it away from Sakura, toward the grove of trees she had fled from moments ago. Disappointment and defeat should have been as natural to her by now in this realm as breathing and yet, her shoulders slumped and hands fell to her side as she stared in the direction the nymph had pointed her to.

Ignoring the voices still calling for Ino on the knoll, Sakura set out for the source of water toward the northwest. Don't drink from it ...Well, why on earth would she do that? There was nothing about this wretched place she would trust. Even the food that had been laid out before her, despite how delicious and filling it had been, couldn't be trusted.

The last thing she'd do would be to drink from a river here.

By the time she could hear the soft babble of water licking the rocks and edges of the riverbanks, she was sweaty and breathless. The cursed gift beaming down on her only worsened her misery and the dress she had been provided stuck to the damp skin between her legs more with every step she took.

The perpetual fog that clinged to the edges of the realm wasn't as thick here. There was a shift in the air, a calm to the breeze that did little to cool her, and the distant thunder that had been a constant reminder of her new hell had quieted. Maybe from so far away, the sound couldn't quite reach here.

It was peaceful.

Through the wisp of the fog ahead of her, she could see and hear the rush of water now and as she neared the edge of the riverside, her eyes widened. The river was wide, triple the width of the one that cut behind the village back home, and ran twisting and curving around the land's edge. But it was what stretched high into the clouds on the opposite side of the riverbank that made Sakura's jaw fall open in awe.

Cliffs as tall as the gates of her village stood like a wall, tracing the twists of the river and water rushed over the ledge, spilling into the black depths. Had it existed anywhere else, it would be beautiful. Here in this underworld, it was only another reminder of the walls built to keep her prisoner, another obstacle she would have to conquer to be free.

At the back of her neck, the heat of the sun baked her skin through the thin fabric tied there. Not even her hair could shield her from the beams and her gaze dropped from the rush of the endless waterfalls to the river stretched before her. From where she stood, the broken stalks of grass ended and her toes touched the black sand of the bank. Drops of water splashed across the tops of her feet, cooling her, soothing the heat plaguing her.

Don't drink from it , the echo of the nymph's voice called hazily through her mind. She wouldn't drink from it. But there were no warnings about swimming. All she'd have to do was keep her mouth shut.

Her foot moved forward, pressing into the wet sand and more of the water splashed her ankles, beckoning her closer with every kiss across her heated skin. By the time she realized she hadn't quite decided to move, she was up to her knees in the river. There were no sharp rocks, no silt to muddy the water as she stepped. It was dark and crystal clear and so refreshing. To submerge completely under would be a dream.

Sakura closed her eyes and dipped her fingers beneath the surface, tracing a circle around her. The material of her skirt floated around her like a cloud and she found herself smiling once more. Why hadn't she smiled before?

This was heavenly.

No one could be miserable here.

Here …

The word repeated through her head and confusion mingled with the weightlessness carrying her further into the depths. Where was here? She recognized the emotions swirling through her but couldn't place them with anything real. There was so much anger and longing and misery and yet, no memories that surfaced connected to them.

Was she in the calm, cool river outside her village despite the countless warnings her mother had given her about straying too far from home? She couldn't recall ever feeling this wonderful while swimming through the river waters with Naruto and Sasuke, constantly having to police them and beg them not to dunk her beneath the surface or splash her in the face. No, this wasn't the muddy waters and sharp rocks and slimy fish swimming between her legs she knew from home.

This was different, better, and the further she stepped, the more something whispered her name and called her onward. It was a promise that everything she desired and ever wanted could be found in the black depths. All she had to do was let herself slip further down, down, down...

She looked up at the sky as her chest submerged beneath the surface of the water, the cold nearly stealing her breath away as it had her misery and memories. No, not all her memories.

The faces of her parents were still there, the temple made of white marble and the grapevines climbing the columns she had spent her life praying in, that was all there. Something else lingered as well.

A kiss …

A kiss that had seared through her soul and lit her with a fire that burned hotter than the sunlight still warming her face. It itched just underneath the surface of her skin, begging to be free and she knew that the only thing that could quell the burn was succumbing to the call within the river.

Tilting her head back, the gift of light she had been given nearly blinded her through her eyelids and she squeezed them tight as the water filled her ears and soaked through her hair. Just before the water muffled her hearing, she thought she could hear her name again. Was it coming from the depths beneath her...or the riverbank?

Either way, she wanted to slip under, answer the siren's call and find the relief, from the sunlight and the flames of that strange kiss, she longed for. Inhaling a breath, she held it tight in her lungs, lifted her feet from the sand beneath them, and hung there, suspended in the water, weightless, carefree, and light as air. And before the water could cover her head, before it could deliver that sweet solace, she was ripped away from the depths that reached for her with invisible, icy fingers.

The hands beneath her arm wrenched her from the river and a miserable cry of protest left her lips, echoing over the rumble of faraway thunder. Her heels dragged through the sand and then the dry, broken stalks of grass tugged at the heavy, wet fabric of her skirt and scraped the back of her legs. She fell onto the dirt, the force of her fall snapping her eyes open and triggering her to breathe. She sucked in a lungful of air, her chest expanding as she blinked up at the sun blinding her from above.

For several seconds, she lay still, staring, unable to move or think or remember.

When a hand appeared in front of her, pressing warmth into her cheek, she flinched and seemed to only just realize she wasn't alone in the grass. Slowly, she let her gaze fall to the side where a familiar face searched her eyes. Silver hair spilled from a pair of broad shoulders, framing her head as the man peered down at her from above. "Sakura," he said, his voice not quite reaching her ears, as if the water still clinged to the inside.

She frowned and shook her head, suddenly shivering.

"Sakura!"

Her name was louder now and she looked up at him, stared at the features of his face. The brow pinched in concern, the clench of his strong jaw...the pale lips parted with an unspoken word on them. It was so close to the man in the portrait and had her arms not felt weighed down to the ground beneath her, she would have reached out to trace the line of his jaw.

A kiss …

"Kakashi?" Her own voice echoed loudly in her head and the realization that she had never uttered his name out loud struck her with surprise. He seemed to notice it as well and let out a breath of relief. The corner of those lips, the ones she could remember well now, curled into a smirk.

"Thank the gods. I thought I was going to have to kiss you again."

The need to ask him to kiss her again anyway rose in the back of her throat and she swallowed it down the moment it appeared in her mind. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question." Gently, he brushed a dripping strand of hair from her face, a droplet lingering on the flushed skin of her face. His eyes followed it until it rolled out of sight and when they lifted to meet her gaze once more, they hardened. "I suppose I only have myself to blame for this. Do you know where you are?"

The dried grass beneath her poked into her flesh uncomfortably, but she didn't shift or stand. She stayed still, the length of the right side of her body pressed against the warmth of his robes, and she only half noticed that they were dry while she was soaked through. Frowning, she stared up at the god and nodded. "Unfortunately."

He let out a laugh that surprised her and raked a hand through his hair. "Well, I'm certainly glad you haven't lost your sense of humor."

Sakura watched him lean away and stand to his feet and once he had pulled that warmth away from her body, she finally found the ability to move. Propping herself onto her elbows as he stood to his full height, she could only stare up at him as he stepped into the bright beam of light piercing the clouds above his head. Shadows darkened his face and the horns atop his head and the sunlight appeared as a halo around him.

He looked like a god...one that didn't use his fear to rule or his cruelty to force obedience. A god she didn't instantly fear or distrust.

"Come," he said softly, his voice barely heard over the breeze swirling around them. When he extended his hand to her, Sakura felt no hesitation. She slid her fingers over his and welcomed the warmth that crawled through her at the feel of his touch. Effortlessly, he pulled her to her feet and swept the damp strands of hair away from her face, draping it over her shoulder. The backs of his fingers trailed down the bare skin on her arm. Had she not already been shivering from the cold, his touch would have left goosebumps dimpling her flesh. Sakura looked up at his face, searching those dark, half-lidded eyes and finding a softness there she hadn't seen before. "I think it's time that I show you my realm."