Eldritch
Annoying.
Back to this pacificist shithole country, every purposeful step he took reverberated through the abandoned compound. He abhorred inefficiencies, especially those due to his own carelessness. Running back and forth across this damned continent was tiresome. Yet this inescapable, nagging feeling only grew with each passing day. So, he persisted and followed his gut.
Weaving through narrow corridors, he retraced his steps in search of that unassuming book. Entering a familiar room, he briefly paused to confirm that he remained alone before creating multiple bunshin. After making the mistake of once dismissing everything as cultish drivel, perhaps the texts warranted the considerate analysis of the Konoha cryptology team. Eyebrow twitching, he could almost hear Kakashi scolding him about failing to look 'underneath the underneath.'
After tasking his clones with compiling and sealing every scrap of text they could find, Sasuke began his own meticulous search. An hour later, he found what he was looking for. Palming through the pages, a thousand questions passed through his mind. All of the disjointed bits of information painted an unintelligible, chaotic picture. Yet he kneweverything was intricately connected, somehow.
First, was Kaguya. The shrine suggested a narrative where she was inherently a savior of mankind, part of a clan of celestial beings entrusted with protecting life across dimensions. How did such veneration deteriorate to contempt and fear, to the point where her own children sealed her away? The entity he fought during the war seemed unhinged, corrupted with power, however that evidently wasn't always the case. She used to be exceptionally fond of humans and this dimension, to the extent where she betrayed her own clan. What changed?
Second, was Jashin. Up until recently, he was classified as a low-level entity worshiped by a few fanatics. A deity one could interpret as the embodiment of humanity's most primitive, depraved instincts. The book illustrated a deranged world view idolizing death and destruction – human sacrifice, genocide, and never-ending war were encouraged in service of Jashin. He was possibly a twisted folklore, manifesting out of tales from a now extinct kekkei genkai. However, what if his existence was grounded in truth? What if time had also distorted that truth?
Everything had an origin. Something did not emerge out of nothing, right?
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
The last, large piece to this mystery was 'Nothing.' Finally landing on the desired chapter, he tried to make sense of what was in front of him. The script held deep reverence to what was literally the complete annihilation of all existence. The Void. An assimilation Jashinists sought as the 'one true release.' A reality beyond comprehension. Reading onward, the only additional clarity given was that Jashin was one of the harbingers of the Void. And there were those destined to stall the inevitable, however ultimately, all will end. That's where the passage stopped.
He snapped the book shut.
What was this sensation that kept simmering in the back of his mind? This obstinate feeling of dread? Kaguya was sealed. There were no known Jashinists left alive, except for possibly the malnourished, decaying remains of the immortal Akatsuki in the Nara forest. Though, he would have heard if Hidan had managed to escape and resurrect, as Shikamaru put mechanisms in place to continuously monitor the deep pit serving as his unmarked grave. There were also no anomalies, no singularities (to his knowledge) that hinted at something otherworldly… or world ending.
The last of his clones dissipated, indicating the task was done. Gathering a small stack of sealed scrolls, he secured them, along with the book, in his rucksack as he navigated out of the complex. Perhaps other perspectives were needed. He wasn't above acknowledging his own biases and myopic tendencies, which were to be expected when one spent countless hours, weeks, and months alone. It had been more than half a year since he stepped through the gates of Konoha and his last correspondence to Kakashi was six weeks ago.
Stepping outside into the cool afternoon air, a whisper of wind gently swayed his hair and cloak. Sighing lowly, Sasuke pivoted south and set a determined pace.
It was time to come home.
"You know people think we're having a torrid affair because you've refused to leave my apartment for the past three days?"
A fresh, citric scent wafted into her nose as she greedily peeled a plump dekopon. Sticky juice clung to her fingers as she popped a piece of the sweet, orange fruit in her mouth.
"Ah."
"It's quite the scandal."
Flipping a page of Icha Icha, "Maybe they'll finally throw me out of office."
"Weren't you worried about your reputation a few days ago?"
Shrugging, "You convinced me it didn't matter."
"Uh huh… And since when do you listen to me?"
"I always listen to you Sakura-chan," he said in appeasement.
She snorted, long pink hair fluttering as she shook with incredulity.
"Liar… I still can't believe you pulled rank to bench me."
Eyes never wandering from his reading material, "And I still can't believe you tried to murder me."
Sakura flinched. In her opinion, it was far too raw of a topic to joke about. Kakashi's initial nonchalance toward her homicidal episode was baffling. Though after 'the incident,' he quickly dragged her home and told her to 'stay' as if she was one of his ninken, much to her chagrin. For a man renowned as solitary and valuing privacy, it was rather drastic of him to essentially move in with her. Yes, she had a slight mental breakdown, but she bounced right back. Mostly. Maybe. This was silly. This was all excessive. However, one look from him made her protests die in her throat.
He looked scared.
They quickly settled into a bizarrely domestic routine. Every morning, a cup of coffee was ready for her on the kitchen counter. Every night, they ate take out on the couch while watching awful romantic comedies (Kakashi's favorite). She repotted the neglected plants brought over from his apartment. He vacuumed as she lifted furniture out of the way and he even replaced her luxurious conditioner after using the last of it. They played a board game only once, as Sakura nearly broke her coffee table in two after discovering he was infuriatingly good at everything.
Cards were also out of the question.
Interrupting her thoughts, "Until Yamanaka returns from her mission, which should be any day now, and does a psych eval, you're not allowed to leave your apartment. We can't have you attacking other people. Not everyone is as easy going as me."
He had a point. Though she loathed the idea of Ino, or anyone, poking around. There were certain thoughts and feelings she'd prefer to take to her grave.
"Fine, I get why I can't leave. But that doesn't explain why you've been in my living room for the past three days. Your old back cannot possibly handle another night on my couch."
Pausing his reading to peer over the bright orange cover, "Oh, is that an offer?"
Sakura threw a Sumo orange at him as all sharp objects were removed from her home. Not that she couldn't get creative if she really wanted to maim him.
Huffing after he easily dodged the projectile, "Pervert, you know that's not what I meant."
Innocently, "I thought you were offering to swap sleeping arrangements. You're the one that immediately thought of something perverted."
A slight flush colored her cheeks.
As an afterthought, "And you know why I've been in your living room for the past three days."
He was worried.
Pressing on, "Aren't you falling behind on your work? I'm surprised Shizune-san hasn't breached my door threatening to poison you."
"That's because I'm currently at work, and have been at work, for the past three days."
Tilting her head, "What?"
Deadpan, "Mah, Sakura-chan. I'm a shinobi. A decent one at that. Some even consider me to be Kage-level."
She threw another orange at him which he effortlessly caught, "You know I gave you these as a gift. To eat. They were ridiculously expensive."
Ignoring his pouting, "You've been sustaining a kage bunshin for three days?"
Shrugging again, "I did say I was decent."
"And no one has noticed?"
"Well, after the first day my ANBU detail wised up and have been camped outside your apartment."
A pause.
"Are they the ones who have been delivering our takeout?!"
He cheerfully nodded.
"That's an abuse of power!" she pointed accusingly, "Wait, why are you here and not the clone?"
"You're more important," he said matter-of-factly.
Another pause. Throat tightening, her face flushed more deeply.
"Besides, if something came up, my bunshin would dispel and I'll immediately know what's up. Don't worry Sakura-chan, everything will be okay."
'Everything will be okay.' The low tenor of his voice was a comforting echo in her mind. Over the past three days she lost count as to how many times he reassured her with a signature eye crinkle. He was... rather amazing. After everything he'd been through, he was always a pillar of unwavering support.
Kakashi suddenly stiffened, standing abruptly.
"What is it?"
"It's nothing," he muttered, brows furrowing as he quickly processed three days' worth of information.
Fuck, this was bad.
"Liar, just tell me," she said, making her way toward him, "Your bunshin clearly just released."
Tucking the book within his flak jacket, "I have to go. I'll leave a clone with you, and Pakkun too. Be back as soon as possible."
Reaching out, she grasped the fabric of his sleeve, causing him to pause, "Okay, something is definitely up. Tell me. Did the elders start pressuring you to marry again?"
Staring intently at him, she gave him an encouraging smile. Sighing, he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Throughout the years, he had never been good at denying her.
Her grin fell as the severity of his gaze registered, "Team 4 is back from their mission. Well, just Byakuya-kun arrived back. He's in critical condition, but in the middle of treatment right now—"
Sakura bolted for the door just as Kakashi moved to restrain her. In an attempt to deter this, she jabbed a quick elbow toward his diaphragm. Dodging, he pivoted behind her, circling his arms around to grasp both of her wrists, locking her back against his body. He then kicked behind her knees to destabilize her footing. Towering over her, he looked down to see her brilliant jade eyes filled with fury and panic.
Undeterred by her scathing glare, "You're not leaving."
Snarling in annoyance as she strained against his hold, "Yes, I am."
"It's too risky."
"Then come babysit me," she retorted sarcastically.
"You can't be there right now, you're too close to this."
"Bullshit. I've healed you from the brink of death dozens of times now. Don't insult me."
Squeezing her even closer to him, "There are very capable doctors, that you trained, already at the hospital."
None as good as her.
"I said I'm leaving," she spat out, moving to stomp his foot, which he narrowly evaded. The sheer force caused a crack to materialize in the hardwood floor.
"Sakura—"
Gathering chakra to her fists, "Kakashi, I swear to Kami, you can either come with me to the hospital now, or we can fight and then go to the hospital, where you can be treated by the very capable doctors that I've trained."
The precise qualities he so admired in her were now infuriating obstacles in keeping her safe. Twirling her around, they started each other down, face to face.
He wouldn't win this.
Muttering 'damnit' under his breath, he quickly formed a seal.
They were gone not a second after.
Light brown eyes widened in surprise.
She won.
Tsunade didn't know what time it was, let alone the day. Blinding, colorful lights endlessly danced around the windowless casino floor. There was an incessant hum of gamified noises: cards being dealt, chips falling on green felt, the thud of dices against the walls of craps tables, the pull of levers and chimes of slot winners. A bottle of warm sake remained consistently full next to her, a perk from the pit boss eager to keep 'the legendary sucker' playing.
She was always trash at roulette, at gambling in general, therefore it took her off guard whenever she actually won. But it was a single bet on red, probably a fluke. Thinking not much of it, she placed another bet… on red.
And she won, again.
Her stomach churned. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. Blonde brows creasing, she took a sip of sake before placing a rather outrageous bet, again on red. A curiosity to be satiated. A test she hoped to fail. The croupier gave her a skeptical glance before spinning the wheel. As the roulette ball bounced precariously around the reds and blacks, her pulse thundered in her ears. Slowing down, each bounce became more and more ominous before it finally stopped… on red.
And again, she won. She won big.
Tsunade leaned back in her chair, face flushed from drinking too much and her growing apprehension. Every time fortune favored her, something catastrophic tended to happen. Her parents… Dan… Nawaki... After announcing she intended to cash out, her fingers extended out to take one last sip of sake. Suddenly, the ceramic cup severely fractured.
Jiraiya's jovial smile flashed across her mind.
Shit.
Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Immediately rushing out of the casino, she ignored distant calls about the forgotten winnings. Her grass-green haori billowed as she broke into a run, heels digging into the earth with each urgent stride. A crow cawed out in the distance, prompting her to pick up the pace.
She needed to get back to Naruto and Shikamaru, immediately.
It was touch and go for five hours.
Byakuya coded twice before she arrived at the hospital. Immediately scrubbing in, she took over as the primary physician, tasking the other surgeons with stabilizing and packing the less severe traumatic injuries. The majority of the time was spent deep inside his chest cavity, drenched in blood, painstakingly repairing a shattered ribcage, ruptured organs, and scorched tissue. It was almost as if something had burst and clawed its way from within him.
Shizune was eventually called in to try to get his brain swelling under control, but to no avail. After he finally got stable enough, the decision was made to place him under a medically induced coma. An attempt to give his brain time to heal without the body radically trying to triage by shutting off blood flow to other damaged areas. That was two hours ago.
Sakura refused to leave his bedside in the I.C.U., personally monitoring his vitals, going through the operation over and over again in her mind to ensure a mistake wasn't made. Sitting at his bedside, exhaustion began to overtake her as the adrenaline from the surgery wore off. He was so fragile and small, lost in an overwhelming sea of tubes, wires, and intravenous drips. The steady, mechanical beeps of life preserving medical equipment was grating. Fluorescent overhead lights accentuated the pale clamminess of his face and the sickly blue undertones of his skin from the severe blood loss.
Throughout the chaos, Kakashi had been close by, a presence she found deeply comforting. While battling to stabilize Byakuya, he observed from the gallery, staying updated by various assistants and sending a clone to get debriefed by the ANBU squad that serendipitously stumbled upon Team 4. Based on preliminary reports, a massive, eerie surge of chakra had attracted them as they were en route home. Yet unfortunately, it seemed they arrived too late.
Mayuri's decapitated head was found near his disemboweled corpse, his once cerulean eyes crushed into a sludge within its sockets. Most of his intestines were pulled out of his body as if used to drag him across the field. According to an initial autopsy, he was the first to die. This immediately caught Kakashi's attention, as Mayuri was a formidable Jonin and former member of ANBU. Half of Hana's body seemed to have been submerged in a corrosive acid, melting her petite frame. Marrow oozed out of her exposed, fractured bones as the sinews of her torso gathered into a pool of molten flesh. Half of the squad dry heaved from the smell as they tried to scoop her remains into a body bag. A small comfort was it appeared that her death was instantaneous.
Don's limbs were aberrantly contorted and twisted, cranial fluid and wrinkled brain tissue leaking out of a bludgeoned skull. What was left of his face had been frozen in pure horror. Unfortunately, it seemed he took the longest to die. Around the bodies of Team 4 were the charred remains of what was assumed to be a group of bandits, but their identities were difficult to discern. The corpses had disintegrated to mostly smoldering, black ash. At the center of it all was an unconscious Byakuya, lying in a pool of his own blood that dyed the earth crimson. Initially, the team assumed he was dead as well, until a bubble of blood sputtered from his lips, whispering 'help.'
He was immediately rushed back to the village.
The tragedy was that Team 4 was so close to home. Another team was deployed to examine what could have caused a confrontation of that scale in the first place. Though uneasiness plagued those overseeing the investigation. Morino insisted on bumping up Konoha's threat level, as the inexplicable, overwhelming degree of carnage was highly unusual. And the perpetrator was unknown. Perhaps they were among the dead, or perhaps they were still out there, somewhere on the fringes of the village boarders.
Kakashi's voice was soft and even as he guided her through what was known so far. He wasn't obligated to tell her any of this, but knew she wanted to know. And she needed the distraction. While processing his words, she stared stonily at Byakuya's artificially rising and falling chest, faintly registering the warmth of Kakashi's hand soothingly rubbing her back. A heavy, nauseating feeling of guilt settled into the pit of her stomach. Eventually his words faded into a muted murmur, before being overtaken by a ringing in her ears…
A few minutes passed before a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder pulled her out of her daze. He mentioned something about stepping out of the room for a few minutes… something about getting her food to eat. As he quietly left, she leaned back, sighing out as much tension as she could. Covering her eyes with the palms of her hands, she applied a slight pressure while attempting to concentrate on breathing. Inhale for five seconds. Hold. Exhale for five seconds. Hold.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
It was quiet.
Wait, it was too quiet… No rhythmic beeps from the heartrate monitor... No harsh suctioning and loud expulsion of air from the ventilator… No steady drips within the I.V. bag… Jolting upward, her eyes flew open to see an empty bed. The wooden chair tipped back and crashed loudly on the ceramic white floor. A burning sensation bloomed in her chest, pulse spiking erratically as panic consumed her. Whipping her head around, she saw him, in a darkened corner of the room staring silently at the wall.
How did he get there? How did she not notice?
His face was obscured, turned away from her as he stood like stone. Wires that were torn from the machines hung loosely off his frame. Broken PICC lines dampened the floor with morphine and saline. The endotracheal tube that had been the only thing keeping his respiratory system functioning was aimlessly tossed on the ground. This wasn't possible. He was supposed to be in a deep state of forced unconsciousness. The severity of his injuries should have rendered him immobile.
And what was this aura that made her skin scrawl?
What was this sinister, suffocating pressure?
His small, pale hand twitched.
Stiffening, a frigid chill trailed down her spine. Taking a tentative step toward him, she whispered, "…Byakuya-kun?"
His head abruptly lurched at the sound. Deliberately, his face turned millimeter by millimeter toward her with a deranged smile. Black tar languorously seeped from the orifices of his face, trailing down his cheeks, congregating at the base of his chin and staining the front of his patient gown. His eyes were no longer the gentle, soft greys she was familiar with, but instead entirely darkened as if windows to an infinite, pitch black abyss. Teeth clamping together even harder, his wicked grin broadened impossibly large, unnaturally straining his delicate features.
Pivoting toward her, "He's not home right now."
She bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from flinching at the corrupted sound. It was deep and brimming with unfettered malice.
Eyes narrowing, she boldly took another step toward him, "Who the hell are you?"
Mirroring her action, with a condescending tone, "Beyond your comprehension."
"Well, whatever you are, get the hell out of him," she snapped, "You can't have him."
"Too late. This little one was such a ripe vessel… so full of despair."
Vessel? What was going on? Maybe he could be restrained… no, not he… it. She needed to get closer, but there were too many unknowns and it seemed hyper focused on her. Kakashi should be back soon. Potentially, his arrival would be just enough of a distraction to surprise and sedate this... thing.
Choosing to buy time, she took another step toward it, "Why are you doing this?"
Rolling its head impatiently, as if she was dimwitted, "To have fun."
Scoffing, "This is your idea of fun? Taking over the body of a six-year-old child?"
Proceeding to slowly rip every wire from Byakuya's body, "But of course. We even played a delightful little game, but they all died too fast."
Byakuya's team…
"Can you fuck off and have fun elsewhere?"
"Not yet. No, no… Just my luck, I stumbled upon you."
"What about me?" she asked forcefully.
It started inching closer, tugging the top of the patient gown loose, "Kukuku, you don't know? That essence you carry. Can't have you spoiling what's to come."
Essence? "…And what's to come?"
Giving her a psychotic smile, "The inevitable."
What?
"Let's play one last game, shall we?"
Byakuya's body flickered, vanishing for less than a second before reappearing inches before her, a cruel smirk plastered on his face. Her eyes widened in alarm. His entire torso was littered with layer upon layer of explosive tags…
"It's a shame, you're so pleasantly annoying... I would have liked to play with you more."
The explosive seals began activating.
The presence disappeared without a trace.
Byakuya stood trembling before her, the gentleness in his eyes returning and his normally stoic façade failing. Staring wide eyed into her gaze, he began to mutter out, "I'm sorry Sakura-san… I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
There wasn't enough time.
This wasn't his fault. He didn't deserve this. She wouldn't let him die. After molding her hands into a tiger seal, she quickly grabbed Byakuya, enveloping him tightly in a warm embrace.
"It's okay," she cooed soothingly, as markings extended throughout her body, "Remember what I said? Trust me. I won't let anything happen to you. Everything will be okay."
At peace with her decision, only one regret passed through her mind.
'Kakashi…'
She smiled sadly. There just wasn't enough time.
Suddenly, everything was consumed in a blinding, searing light.
