She felt all thoughts slowly disperse from her mind as she willed her body and mind to relax. The nothingness creeped into her mind, filling the void as her thoughts and her worries disappeared. She felt incredibly light, the weight that usually rested on her shoulders no longer there. Sakura never knew how freeing all of this would be. A smile appeared on her lips as she surrendered herself to the nothingness.

Out in the physical world, Dr. Hatake watched Sakura carefully. Checking her pulse. Looking for any signs of discomfort. As she went deeper, her body sank forward. He eventually rearranged her body so that she was laying down on the couch, mostly in fear of having her face plant onto the floor.

He let her sit there for as long as he could manage before had to wake her up. They were running low on time and Naruto would be here soon.

"Now, I'm going to count from one to five, and then I'll say, "Lights on." At the count of five, your eyes are open, and you are then fully aware, feeling calm, rested, refreshed, relaxed."

"All right. One slowly, calmly, easily you're returning to your full awareness once again."

"Two. Each muscle and nerve in your body is loose and limp and relaxed, and you feel wonderfully good."

"Three. From head to toe, you are feeling perfect in every way. Physically perfect, mentally perfect, emotionally calm and serene."

"On the number four, your eyes begin to feel sparkling clear. On the next number I count, eyelids open, fully aware, sitting up, feeling calm, rested, refreshed, relaxed, invigorated, full of energy."

"Five. You're fully aware now. Eyelids open. Take a good, deep breath, fill up your lungs, and stretch."

"How do you feel?"

Sakura awoke to Dr. Hatake smiling at her.

"I feel really good."

"Excellent." He said.

"I would've liked to let you stay longer but I'm afraid we're out of time for today. If you get the opportunity, start practicing in your room."

"Naruto should be here any minute. I'll see you in a couple days hm?" he said.

"Yep! I'll see you then!"

The rest of the day went on uneventfully. Her session with went quite well in her opinion. He had definitely surprised her when he had offered her to choose the method of hypnosis instead of him making that decision. It made her feel more in control, which was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe that had been his goal all along. If she felt more in control, she'd be able to use that feeling to control this "mental nothingness" he spoke of. Sakura kind of understood what he had meant when he explained it but had no idea where to start with creating this nothingness for herself. Maybe she'd get a better idea of how to do it after a few sessions. She certainly hoped so.

Chapter 13: The Choices We Make

Sakura never expected it but Naruto became a sorely needed constant in Sakura's life. One week flew by. Then two. Now it's going on week three. Naruto's presence felt so natural. It was like he'd been there the entire time. She found herself talking about him more often than not in sessions with Dr. Hatake. She would definitely miss him when he left. She wasn't privy to such information but rumor has it Briar Hill was going to get recertified. As expected. The facility and the staff were phenomenal. With that being said, Minato would eventually conclude his time at Briar Hill and no Minato meant no Naruto. She would sorely miss him. She didn't want a new monitor. She wanted Naruto. Not that she would ever let him hear her say that out loud. Still, maybe she could talk to Kakashi about it. Maybe there's something she could do—or rather he could do—to get Naruto to stay at least till the end of Sakura's duration here.

In any case, there was nothing she could do about it now. So she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind.

She made her way to the lounge. It was Friday evening. The ward had a group activity night every second and fourth Friday of the month. She hadn't really cared for them at first, but they were also a constant in her life. Something she could appreciate.

As she entered the lounge, she saw a familiar blonde there. "Naruto, what are you doing here? Didn't your shift end at 5 today?" She thought he had left hours ago.

"Hey Sakura!" He smiled. "Uh yeah, I was supposed to go home but my Dad is staying late tonight. Something about paperwork or whatever." He wrinkled his nose at that.

"He told me to go make myself busy because we might be here awhile. And then I ran into ol' Granny Tsunade over there and she told me to make myself useful and help with group activities tonight."

Sakura inadvertently blurted out a laugh. He did not just call the Director of Patient Wellness and Activities "Granny".

"Naruto, you know she'll murder you if she hears you call her that," she snorted.

"Too late…?" He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Anyways, tonight's movie night. Any idea on what kind of movie we're going to be watching?" Sakura questioned, looking at Naruto curiously. The blonde grinned cheekily as he nodded his head, Sakura looking at him in confused annoyance.

"What's that look for?" Sakura asked.

"I hope you're good with horror flicks, cuz this one's gonna be a doozy!" Naruto said, chuckling to himself in excitement.

'A horror movie? Who the hell thought that was a good idea?!'

"Is it at least a cheesy horror movie?" Sakura asked hopefully, in no mood to scream her lungs out in the middle of the lounge.

"Oh, are you a scaredy-cat? Don't worry, I'll let you cling to me if you get scared," Naruto teased, Sakura gave him a harsh glare before punching him in the arm.

"Ow!"

"Knock it off, Naruto! Let's just find a seat already, I'd rather sit on the couch than the floor," the pink-haired girl said, internally acknowledging that the couch wasn't particularly comfortable anyway, but the floor was even worse on her hind quarters. She and Naruto navigated through the surprisingly large lounge and settled on a couch to the far left of the room, the furniture within a decent distance of the screen. One of the recreational activity assistants pulled up a streaming service before selecting the movie of choice for the night, Sakura reading the title to herself.

'The Doppelgänger?'

At the very least, judging by the title and the more artsy-approach of the movie's cover image, this movie wouldn't be terribly graphic gore-wise and moreso reliant on the eeriness and suspense factor. Sakura still felt apprehension settle in the pit of her stomach as she bit her lip and watched as the screen turned black before fading into the first few minutes of the movie.

The protagonist of the movie was named Fugai, if Sakura recalled the description of the movie correctly. As typical of many horror movies, the woman had moved to a new neighborhood to start afresh and escape burdens still unclear. Her new house was…very obviously not one any reasonable person would have moved into. The setting almost reminded Sakura of the facility she currently resided in, drab colors and some semi-dated elements that just seemed entirely off.

"Why would she move there?! Is she crazy?!" Naruto questioned in a loud voice, the other residents looked at him with varying expressions of annoyance as they shushed him.

"Be quiet!" Sakura hissed quietly as she turned toward Naruto.

"Sorry!" Naruto responded, his voice still not really at whispering level and resembling more of a whisper-shout. The other residents now turned their gazes on Naruto and Sakura, shushing them once more. Sakura cupped her face in exasperation, wondering if Naruto himself even knows how to whisper properly.

'Yeah, there's no way,' Sakura thought to herself as she snorted quietly. Naruto and the concept of "quiet" were basically exact opposites.

The movie continued, Fugai started to notice weird occurrences happening since moving into her new house. People she'd never met before claimed to have met her and talked to her about events she couldn't recall. The tension of the scene began to build as she stumbled home and noticed her house was disheveled, cracked glass on the ground and books strewn about. Each step she took had glass crunching under her feet.

Sakura shivered as the suspenseful music began to build and the protagonist kept stepping on glass, the pink-haired girl unconsciously scooting closer to Naruto. The slightly freaked out blonde, despite being unwilling to admit such a thing if he were asked, noticed Sakura moving closer and restrained the urge to tease her about it. He'd mostly been kidding about her holding him close during the movie, but he couldn't deny that such a thing didn't actually sound too bad.

Who the heck was he kidding? It sounded awesome, as he would put it anyway. The blonde swallowed harshly to himself as he forced his eyes back toward the movie.

The tension of the scene peaked as Fugai stumbled upon the only unbroken glass in her house: her bathroom mirror. She slowly leaned into the surface, noticing that something about her reflection wasn't quite right. It was…smiling?

"Who are you? No, no… what are you?" Fugai questioned, a distinct look of terror on her face. The demented being in the mirror didn't respond, only smiling a crooked smile, one too big for the human face. A quiet, girly laugh emitted from the mirror before it soon became static-like and demented, terrifying Fugai to her core. She stepped back in fear, turning on her heel to run away when a hand suddenly shot out of the mirror and dug its nails into her skin.

The jump scare caused Sakura to jolt, her heart thrummed in her chest as she reached for whatever was close by and clutched it tightly to her chest, shivering a bit as she continued to watch the horror movie with one eye open. Of course, the closest thing to her was Naruto's arm and having her pressed so closely to his body was enough to cause the hyperactive blonde to forget entirely about the movie.

'Oh, man! It's now or never,' Naruto thinks to himself.

He swallowed harshly as Sakura continued to cling to him, not letting go of his arm as she watched the horror movie's tense scene. Not even caring about what happens to this Fugai chick anymore, Naruto did his best to discreetly shift himself closer to Sakura and pull her closer.

Sakura finally snapped out of her fearful clinging in embarrassment, and considered pushing Naruto away and chiding him for letting her pull such an embarrassing stunt, expecting the blonde to just tease her. Instead, before she could go on with such an abrupt reaction, she peered up to see the normally goofy young man with a nervous, yet kind of excited expression on his face.

'He's enjoying this!' She thought to herself, halfway caught between wanting to tease him back and coming to terms with that fact that maybe she enjoyed his touch a bit more than she cared to let on too. Sakura bit her lip, wondering if what she was about to do was a mistake, but not caring much to deny herself what she clearly wanted.

She let go of Naruto's arm, internally chuckling at his poor attempt to conceal his disappointment once she did. Afterward, she immediately scooted back into his personal space, resting her head on his shoulder as she pretended to continue watching the movie. She was glad the lights were off, the young woman was almost positive that her cheeks were tinted the same color as her hair.

Naruto froze in place as he looked down at Sakura leaning closely into him, the blonde needed a few moments to even register what happened. Once he did, he had a little internal victory dance, pumping his fists in the air in his mind. Once he'd finished with his little celebration, he attempted to nonchalantly swing his arm over Sakura's shoulder and failed miserably, but Sakura found it endearing anyway. The two continued to snuggle against one another for the rest of the movie, their inner turmoil with their confusing new feelings making it rather hard for them to pay attention to the end.

Before they knew it, Fugai left her newly purchased—and now newly destroyed home. Resolving to never use another mirror again. The movie's credits rolled and the lights flicked on, Naruto and Sakura looked at each other as they separated hesitantly.

"So, uh…That was a pretty good movie!" Naruto said, breaking the silence awkwardly.

"Oh! Oh, definitely, it was pretty good," Sakura said as she and Naruto got up and stretched, laughing nervously beside one another as they made idle conversation, unsure of what exactly to say now that they'd clearly crossed the bridge of "friends" into something else.

The other movie goers slowly filter out and head back toward their respective rooms, Naruto and Sakura being amongst the only few left.

"So, uh, let's go back to your room!" Naruto said after a few moments of silence.

"What?!" Sakura questioned, not expecting such an unfiltered question.

"What? No, I didn't mean it like that! I meant let me walk ya' back to your room!" He quickly added on, waving his hands around defensively. Sakura looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, surprised by his terribly stumbled attempt at words before she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Naruto questioned defensively. His eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms.

"You are! Sheesh, just walk me back to my room, dork," she said. Naruto looked down at her with a cross expression before he couldn't help but wear his usual big smile.

The two walked back to Sakura's room, playfully ribbing one another along the way. When they finally arrived in front of her room, Sakura lingered as she gripped the weighted door and stepped inside, turning around to look back at Naruto.

"So… see you tomorrow?" Naruto said hopefully.

"Yeah… see you tomorrow," Sakura added as she gave Naruto one last look before closing her door. She waited a moment before sitting on her bed and flopping onto her back. She stared at the ceiling. Strange fuzzy feelings fluttered in her chest as she wondered what the next day had in store for her.

"Sakura are you even listening to me?" Dr. Hatake said, exasperated.

At least she had the gall to look properly chastised.

"What is up with you lately? For the last three weeks you've been coming into my sessions more disconnected than the last." his face softened.

"I'm here to help you. Is there something wrong? You can tell me."

"No, I promise it's nothing!" she babbled.

"I don't believe you." He frowned. He hadn't gotten this far by ignoring his gut.

"Well okay...but it's not what you think?"

"And what do I think?"

"That it's something bad or anything."

Dr. Hatake quirked his brow, a silent prompt to continue.

"Well it's about Naruto. I think I like him. I mean. I know it's only been a few weeks but we spend almost all the time together and he's really sweet. I'm not sure if I like him because no one has ever been that nice to me before or what. But he's a great guy…and he's leaving soon. I was wondering if maybe you could help me find a way to get him to stay or something..." she trailed off, a wistful smile on her face.

She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of choking noises.

"Oh my god Dr. Hatake are you okay?!"

Kakashi stuck his index finger up in an attempt to tell her to wait. After the worst of the choking was over he stood up.

"Excuse me I'm going to get some cough drops. Must be coming down with a sore throat."

He walked briskly to the door and exited. She could hear him continue to hack down the hallway.

He hadn't meant to choke, but Sakura caught him off guard. It was damn near palpable how infatuated she was with Naruto. And that wistful smile...it did things to his psyche that he didn't quite enjoy. He needed to get out of there fast before he said something he might've regretted.

What a fucking nuisance this is all turning out to be.

Sakura's relationship with Naruto is developing much faster than he anticipated.

As he walked down the hallway, his facial expression became more and more thunderous.

Kakashi was not happy.

Minato rested against the slightly cooled leather chair he sat in as he looked around Hashirama's office briefly. He was going over his progress with Briar Hill's recertification.

"I've been monitoring things here for around three weeks now and so far, I have found no issues, Everything seems to be meeting all regulations and standards necessary," Minato said as absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the leather chair's armrest, "You must be very proud of all this."

"I am," Hashirama said with a smirk, though it was not a cocky one. It was merely a smirk acquired through years of confidence and putting his all into the successful establishment he'd built nearly from the ground up. Minato chuckled in response to Hashirama's short answer, though the chairman wasn't done speaking.

"However, I can't help but admit…I think I'd like to do something else now," the brown-haired man said as he looked on thoughtfully.

"I beg your pardon? What exactly do you mean by that?" Minato questioned, his eyebrow cocked as he looked at Hashirama curiously.

"There's so much more to life, you know? I think it's high time I give this position up to someone else, don't you think?" Hashirama said, going at his own pace as always.

"I…suppose so?" Minato answered, unsure of where the conversation was going. Hashirama laced his fingers and propped his elbows on his polished mahogany desk as he rested his chin on his hands, looking at Minato with a bit more of a serious expression now.

"I didn't just call you here for a status update, Minato. I want to know if you'd be interested in my position."

"Your… position? But I've just arrived here and—"

"Despite your relatively new appearance here, your reputation precedes you, Minato. You've earned quite a name for yourself and I just believe you could possibly be the man for the job," Hashirama said, dumping the news on Minato with little attempt at easing the blonde into everything.

Minato, despite not necessarily being opposed to the idea, was unsure of how to respond. He was experienced and he did know his way around many of the things essential for someone of Hashirama's position, so he understood the chairman's perspective, he just didn't know if accepting such a position with such little thought was a good idea. He took in a deep breath to take in the situation a bit more before he decided on his answer.

"May I have a bit more time to think on this?" Minato asked, his expression unwavering. Hashirama could tell by his face that Minato's seriously considering his options and that attempting to rush him would do no good. Besides that, Hashirma was not the type to rush others anyway. It wasn't as if he wanted to leave right away, he'd only brought up to share his thoughts for the eventual future.

"Of course," Hashirama answered, a friendly smile on his face, "Take all the time you need."

"Thank you," Minato said, a bit of a relieved sigh to his voice now that he had some time to consider everything. With the conversation clearly not leading anywhere else, Minato stood and bowed before taking his leave, the two scheduling to have a meeting around a week from then.

Hashirama ran his hands through his hair as he sighed to himself, a bit tired from the events of the day. He'd not quite intended to make Minato uncomfortable and drop such a large bomb on him after the man had only recently arrived at his facility, but he'd been thinking of his retirement for quite some time now. He wasn't quite tired or weary of working, despite having been President and CEO of the Wellbeing and Rehabilitation Center for the majority of his adult life, he just felt the need to do… more?

He couldn't quite ascertain what it was exactly that he wanted to move onto, all he knew is that he was sure he'd finished this particular section of his life and now he was ready to go out into the world and do more. He chuckled to himself as he considered dropping everything he had and moving to a tropical island or something, drinking refreshing beverages and relaxing on the beach for the rest of his days. Traveling the world had always been something he'd wanted to do, meet new people and such.

Having been tied down for so long, he couldn't help but want to know what else the world had to offer him and what else he had to offer to the world. With that thought in mind, he smiled to himself as he stood from his desk, resolving to head home and think more on what he'd do once he finally had a successor.

Hashirama left his office as soon as he collected his belongings, waving goodbye to the faces that went by, smiling his usual big smile as he went. He respected all those who worked with them and always made it a point to make it known they were appreciated, even if it were just a kind wave or a friendly smile.

He knew he'd be leaving this place in good hands.

The long-haired man made his way toward the parking lot, immediately noticing his bright red sports car and hopping inside with a pleased grin. His brother, Tobirama, had always told him that his choice of car was a bit…distasteful for a CEO, but he'd merely brushed it off with a laugh and a harsh pat on his brother's back.

Hashirama put his key into the car's ignition, whistling to himself as the low and smooth hum of the car's engine sounded as his car hummed lowly. He pulled out of the parking lot and turned into the road, driving along the well-lit road quietly as he enjoyed the breeze fluttering through his hair. The sun had just begun to set, so the sky was a mixture of orange and purple hues.

Not typically one for aesthetics, even Hashirama found the view beautiful. Comforting, somehow. Like a symbol for what was to come next in his life. He wondered how differently the sunset would look from the sand beaches of some island.

He quickly snapped from his daydreaming as someone ran a red light, honking and slurring out curse words as they breezed past him. Hashirama grit his teeth and clenched his fist as he turned back to look at them briefly.

"Save the evening drinking for when you're at home, jackass!"

He'd only taken his eyes off the road for a moment. It had just been a moment.

As soon as he turned his head around, he noticed someone who looked a bit dazed standing on the crosswalk of the road before they suddenly jumped right into the middle of the road, then stared at him with empty eyes. Their face somehow seemed…familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on how.

His filtering of all the faces he'd seen in his lifetime came to a halt as he finally realized the gravity of his situation. Time seemed to slow down as he pondered his options. They probably weren't going to get out of the way in time, and based on their demeanor, they probably didn't even want to get out of the way. If he swerved, would anyone else get hurt? He could see to the left of him that no one else was there aside from a deeply wooded forest that previously seemed scenic, but now was anything but.

Keep going or swerve? Keep going or swerve? Keep going or swerve? Keep going or-?

He had already made up his mind.

Hashirama slammed on the brakes and quickly jerked his steering wheel to the left, the tires of his sports car squealed loudly. His car spun out of control before he crashed into a large tree, the stump letting out a loud cracking noise as his face collided with his dashboard.

He was warm and cold at the same time. He couldn't describe it as anything other than feeling as if his body was no longer his own, like he was looking down on himself from somewhere far away. He felt tired all of a sudden.

'I guess I'll have to take a raincheck on that island getaway,' he internally joked before his tone became a bit more solemn.

'I'm sorry, everyone. I'd wanted to see you all off properly,' he thought to himself.

Then everything went black.

Minato wandered along the halls wordlessly, observing the building attentively as his mind swam with thoughts regarding Hashirama's offer. He was glad for Hashirama's generosity in giving him extra time to decide, but he wondered if he'd really be able to reach the next conclusion in time. After all, his accreditation investigation was only supposed to last around a month, so it wasn't like he had much longer to decide.

His mind continued to be swamped with thoughts before he suddenly felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He wondered who could be calling in the middle of a work day, the blonde man then picking up his cell phone quickly and answering, doing his best to mask his ever so slight annoyance.

"Hello? Who is this?" He questioned, not having recognized the number.

"This is Tobirama Senju," the man said with a mostly flat tone, though Minato wondered why the man's ever so slight emotion was caught between anger and sadness. He immediately felt a dread pool at the bottom of his stomach, recognizing the man that shared Hashirama's last name.

"A family member of Director Hashirama's? Is everything alright?" Minato asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"My brother was in an accident and is currently in a coma," the man says, cutting straight to the chase. Minato was frozen in shock, his body feeling ice-cold as he continued to listen.

"Hashirama had previously talked to me about having you replace him as director. I'm aware that this is sudden, but can you step in as interim director? This will only be a temporary fix until we can find a permanent replacement," the man says flatly, as if he was reading from a script. Minato had no idea as to how to even begin to sympathize with his pain, feeling terrible for taking so long with his answer.

Despite Minato's earlier reservations about accepting the position, he knew that he didn't really have time to be hesitant anymore. As much as he wanted more time to consider, what choice did he really have?"

"Of course," Minato says thoughtlessly, knowing he needed to step in for the sake of the wellness facility.

"Thank you," Tobirama replied, "The details can be discussed tomorrow."

"Of course. I send my best wishes," Minato muttered, unsure of how to even close off such a call. Tobirama hung up wordlessly, leaving the blonde to run a hand through his hair as he sighed, stressed beyond belief.

Minato, unsure of how to cope with the news, decided to visit an old friend. His walk to Kakashi's office was basically carried out on autopilot, the blonde eventually weakly rapping against the door to the silver-haired man's office.

Kakashi opened the door slowly, his eyes widening in slight surprise as he spotted the last person he expected to see.

"Minato? Is something the matter?" He questioned, noticing the grim look on his old friend's face.

"Do you have a minute?" Minato asked, needing to unload all of his thoughts onto someone.

"Of course," Kakashi says without missing a beat, noticing something very serious must have happened for Minato to be so grievous. He stepped aside to let Minato into his office, the blonde coming inside and sitting where patients would normally sit. Kakashi sat across from him, looking at the blonde intently.

"Director Hashirama is in a coma. It was a car accident apparently," Minato said, the first part of his sentence grim and the second resembling a whisper as Minato spoke in disbelief. Kakashi's jaw tightened as he scrunched up his expression, nodding his head grimly in response.

"And… since Director Hashirama wanted me to take over before all this, I've now been chosen to be the interim director. I have no idea how long I'll be in the position, but I guess you can't quite be rid of me yet," Minato weakly joked at the end.

"That's quite a lot to be put onto you so suddenly. Are you sure you're comfortable with all this?" Kakashi questioned, his expression unreadable as he rested his head in his hand.

"I don't have a choice, really. I'll do what I can for as long as I can. I just hope that will be enough," Minato replied, not liking his almost defeatist attitude. "No, no, not hope. It will be enough. I just…need time to adjust is all."

Minato sighed to himself, finding it a bit ironic that now he's in the patient chair and Kakashi is listening to his problems. He ruffled his blonde hair a bit before he stood up, straightening his white coat, no longer wanting to have a pity party for himself.

"Thanks for that. I just needed to sort out my problems out loud," Minato said with his stressed expression only looking slightly more relieved.

"I only listened," Kakashi replied after a moment of silence. Minato looked back at him with a slight smile before squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.

"Sometimes, that's all you need."

Kakashi smiled in response before nodding his head, Minato taking that as his cue to leave, the silver-haired therapist likely having a patient he had to meet with soon.

Chapter 14: Monster, How Should I Feel? Creatures Lie Here, Looking Through The Window

Chapter Text

Kakashi drove home angry. He didn't often lose control of his emotions like this, but he couldn't help it as he raced through every traffic light and weaved in between cars that were in his way and slowing him down. He didn't even notice the irritated honks from the other cars as he sped in front of them. Or more likely, he didn't really care about their displeasure.

The anger that was initially only simmering below the surface of his skin before he got into his car gradually began to rise to the surface, and became more pronounced. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel repeatedly as he sped down the highway, using any attempt he could to vent out the rage slowly bubbling up to the surface, honking at the idiots who think that they actually need to drive the speed limit.

Seriously, do they just fucking let anyone drive nowadays?

Kakashi felt minimal relief as he turned on his exit on the highway and started driving down his street. In fact, the closer Kakashi got to home, the more that his anger seemed to build as he continued to release the hold that he had exerted on himself from expressing his frustration in front of anyone but the other drivers who had the unfortunate experience of being in Kakashi's way.

When Kakashi pulled into the long driveway that led up to his house, he felt the rage burning in his chest peak, and he ripped the keys from the lock cylinder of the car and slammed the door shut. He stalked forward into the house.

As he first stepped inside and shut the door behind him, tossing the keys into the dish on the side table, Kakashi felt a split second of peace. The world paused for just a moment and he was tranquil.

Then, all of the fury came rushing back, more intense in the second wave and a roar of anger ripped its way from his throat, bouncing off the walls of his spacious home as Kakashi furiously swiped his hands across the table right next to him, sweeping the ceramic dish with his keys and some change inside, as well a very expensive vase to the floor.

Everything crashed to the floor and the pieces shattered on the hardwood of the entryway, but the destruction did nothing to diminish Kakashi's ire. He screamed in frustration, throwing his phone clear across the room and he watched it as it smashed into pieces against the wall.

"Fucking hell!" He screamed as he turned and punched his fist through the wall.

Kakashi's fist made a decently-sized hole in the drywall and when he pulled his fist back, dust fluttered to the floor and his knuckles were bloody. The adrenaline fueling his fit of anger masked any pain he would have felt from the injury though, as he stalked into the kitchen. He picked up a fruit bowl with all the fruit still resting inside and threw it onto the ground, the sound of it shattering as it hit the floor was deafening. The ruined fruit scattered across the kitchen floor.

The rage burning through Kakashi's veins was like acid and it left everything else inside of him singed in its path. He picked up the dishes that remained in the sink from before, huffing in indignation as he chucked them against the wall across the room and he watched the few cups and plates as they fragmented into tiny pieces once they made contact with the floor or the wall.

He moved past the kitchen to the dining table which was covered in files and papers and fully swept them all to the floor, growling in rage as they flew all around him and fell to the

floor. Then he fully shoved the table over until it banged against the floor and the legs of it snapped, wood splinters raining all over the dining room.

"God fucking dammit!" He shouted in a rough voice.

Kakashi then stalked into the living room and ripped a lamp off the table, the plug snapping out of its socket in the process, and he flung it across the room. It smashed into the television and broke into pieces, also fracturing the screen of the TV. Kakashi was breathing hard, his chest moving fast as he panted with the effort of the destruction he had just left in his path throughout the house. He spotted the wall where he hung all his diplomas and awards. He stood in front of his master's degree, seething with rage and pulling the frame from the wall and hurled it across the room. The glass exploded from the frame and scattered all over the space in the living room.

After having smashed something that meant, or used to mean so much to Kakashi, he stared blankly at the mess for a moment.

Suddenly something darker, more twisted inside of him started to overshadow the anger that was taking over his system. In some sort of exhaustion that came over him, Kakashi's knees buckled and he fell to them, kneeling on the living room floor.

A bubble of laughter fell past his lips unexpectedly. His shoulders shook a little in silent laughter until suddenly he was just fully laughing, actually laughing too loud for the otherwise silent house. The sound of it was off, disjointed, and Kakashi ran both his hands through his hair as he laughed uncontrollably.

He felt like his mind was disjointed, like he was losing his grip, and he needed to ground himself. The laughter only grew until he was practically hysterical, maniacal with it, his face turning red as he used all of his air to laugh. He desperately tried to suck in air throughout the fit, but the laughing took him over. His whole body shook with it.

"I just tried to kill my boss!" He shouted incredulously into the emptiness of his apartment.

He had an old patient sit in the parking lot of the facility all day everyday for the past week waiting for Hashirama to leave. To tail him home and report back the exact route he took everyday. Taking note with painstaking detail.

The time he left everyday.

The time it took for him to get through traffic.

What exit he got off on the highway.

What intersections he frequently stopped at.

And so on and so forth...

And then...today….waiting for the perfect opportunity to stand in the middle of the road. It was ridiculous, it was crazy, but he did that, and it seemed unbelievable in the aftermath.

Suddenly, in the midst of Kakashi's downward spiral, a voice interrupted him, piercing the silence of the room.

"Are you done throwing a temper tantrum?" The voice drawled. The sound of someone else snapped Kakashi out of his own head and he whipped around to face whoever it was that spoke.

Kakashi ended up face to face with a man who he'd never seen before. Kakashi's front door was locked when he'd come inside, but this person was comfortably sitting in a chair in his living room as if there's nothing out of the ordinary going on. Kakashi immediately tensed his muscles in defense, but the person sitting there was completely calm despite Kakashi's hostile body language and made no move against him.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Kakashi growled through his teeth.

The man almost rolled his eyes at the theatrics. As Kakashi held his defense, he took a moment to analyze the man's appearance. He had unnaturally red hair and light blue eyes, almost silvery, but they're surrounded by a line of blackish-purple, as if he'd never slept in his life. On top of all of that, his skin was so pale it looked paper thin, but the bulk of the man's muscle tone was clear under his clothes, even from simply sitting there.

Kakashi raised his suspicions because something wasn't right. He'd never believed in the supernatural, but if there were ever to be any tangible proof, Kakashi thought that this man fit the bill. Kakashi squared his shoulders and stood taller, narrowing his eyes at the man, but he still appeared unbothered.

"Are you seriously trying that? 'Who are you'? 'What do you want'? It's not very original, Kakashi." He continued, and even the sound of the man's voice had the hair on the back of Kakashi's neck standing up.

Nothing usually got to Kakashi, or pushed him off kilter, but something about even the existence of this man felt wrong to Kakashi. The fact that he knew Kakashi's name was even more unsettling, and Kakashi prepared himself to potentially forcefully remove the man from his house, if that was even possible.

The man rolled his eyes a little at Kakashi's continued silence and his defensiveness. "Gaara." He finally offered, answering one of Kakashi's questions. "I've been watching you for quite some time, and I think that you require more power to continue with your...business. Consider me your Fairy God-Father." He explained in a smooth voice, however despite the initial leap of interest that Kakashi felt at the mention of power, he became more suspicious by "Gaara's" apparent knowledge of his activities at work.

However, before Kakashi could answer, Gaara stood up out of the chair faster than Kakashi's human eyes could follow and in the blink of an eye he was across the room and standing almost directly in front of Kakashi.

Kakashi flinched back at the suddenness of the movement, but in the moment he knew that his suspicions were confirmed and Gaara was more than human. His interest was piqued by that confirmation, and Gaara grinned in an unsettling way, the sight of his teeth creating an instinctual reaction in Kakashi's body. They looked just like normal teeth, but Kakashi had the gut feeling that they were stronger than they appeared.

"I'm prepared to offer you a contract, in order to give you the power that you require." He stated in a matter-of-fact way, as if he had the definite knowledge that Kakashi was going to accept whatever it was that Gaara was offering.

Gaara's teeth did, in fact, turn out to be much sharper than they initially appeared, and they cut into the flesh of Kakashi's neck like butter, the strength in his grip apparent as he held Kakashi's shoulders in place through the whole ordeal. Gaara pleasantly hummed as he heard Kakashi moan in pleasure-pain and start to convulse, eyes rolling into the back of his head. Gaara's venom ran rampant through Kakashi's bloodstream. When he was satisfied, Gaara leaned back—blood coating his chin—and snapped Kakashi's neck like a twig. And just like that—everything went black.

After being turned into a vampire, (a vampire, Kakashi never would have expected that),

Gaara couldn't just leave Kakashi to stumble around learning how to harness his new abilities on his own; the whole point of giving him these abilities was to teach him how to use them.

One of the abilities that Kakashi witnessed in action was hypnosis, or compulsion. Gaara hypnotized a random human to be silent, and not to move, in order to form her as a sort of practice dummy for Kakashi to use (and then perhaps a snack for Gaara later on). It was remarkable as the random woman simply stood in the middle of a clearing in the middle of nowhere and didn't make a sound, didn't move. It was more than psychological hypnotism, it was clearly supernatural, but so fucking incredible.

The other ability that was an amazing asset to Kakashi was the ability to read minds. Gaara used his own willpower to block Kakashi from reading his mind, however considering how weak Kakashi's ability was as a newly made vampire, Gaara didn't have to put in much effort to shield his thoughts.

Besides, the hypnotized woman standing here was practically an open book and much more convenient for Kakashi to practice on. Kakashi stood in front of the woman and her eyes were empty, like there was nothing going on in her mind.

"It's all about willpower. You need to stretch your abilities and visualize yourself worming your way into her head." Gaara instructed. "That shouldn't be too difficult for you—you are a therapist after all."

Kakashi snorted at the remark but followed Gaara's instructions, determined to master his own abilities. Right away without putting any effort in, Kakashi could feel the presence of the woman's mind, could sense that it was there, but wasn't able to scratch the protection surrounding it to hear any actual thoughts.

When he followed Gaara's instructions and visualized his senses reaching out to touch her mind, it's like he was scratching at the surface, scratching away the protection around her mind. A thin film coated her thoughts For him and his sharp abilities, it was easy to maneuver inside.

At first, he could only grasp an inkling of thoughts, like a feeling. Fear was the most overpowering, but also determination as the woman tried to fight her way past the compulsion to stay still and silent, but it was fruitless. Suddenly, Kakashi felt himself get metaphysically kicked out of the woman's mind, like a physical hit and he took a step back.

Gaara huffed a bit. "You need to be more aggressive than that. Don't just scratch the surface, go deeper. Don't try to find a stopping place, go so deep until there are no thoughts to be hidden. Trust me, she isn't quiet." The last part was more of an irritated grumble and Kakashi felt the corner of his lips twitch into a humored grin.

With more instruction, he made another attempt, visually stretching out his consciousness and pushing at the film surrounding the woman's mind. He found the wordless emotions again much more easily, but instead heeded Gaara's advice and pushed past that to go "deeper".

He visualized her thoughts into words, imagining his abilities as if they were a physical entity burrowing further and further into her brain to find the secrets there. At first, the thoughts were nothing more than a whisper.

'I want to go home.' She thought, and at first, Kakashi looked around the clearing because it sounded as if those thoughts were spoken aloud. Gaara chuckled at Kakashi's reaction off to the side. This time, however, Kakashi wasn't kicked out, and he pushed deeper until the woman's thoughts got louder and louder.

'Who are they? Why can't I move? I should have listened to my mother and never visited here.'

Kakashi grinned at his success. After he tapped into her thoughts initially, it took no effort to continue listening to them as if the woman were speaking aloud next to Kakashi. He turned to Gaara to display his success, and Gaara nodded once in approval.

"Hypnotism is more difficult. It's a constant hold of the mind until the idea sets in, but it's also an ability with almost unlimited potential." He explained. "It'll be easier because you've heard this woman's thoughts before."

Gaara stepped forward to stand beside Kakashi. "I'm going to release her from the compulsion I've put her under, and you're going to stop her before she runs off into the woods." He instructed simply.

Kakashi's head snapped to stare at Gaara incredulously.

"If you fail, I'll kill her before you can make any attempt to try again."

And with that, he merely casted a glance at the woman and suddenly she jolted in place. Her eyes flicked between Kakashi and Gaara before quickly turning and making a run for it.

Kakashi immediately kicked into action, and focused on the woman's mind again. He could hear her thoughts loud and clear.

'I'm free! Run faster run runrun…'

Hypnotism as a vampire was similar to psychological hypnotism in that you suggest actions to the subject of the hypnosis, however, Kakashi didn't have to lull them into a suggestive state or keep them in any sort of

semi-consciousness.

Kakashi reached out to the woman's mind as she started running and tried to command her, "Stop", but she barely stumbled and Kakashi focused harder on her mind. He visualized, instead of his abilities simply entering her mind, they took hold of her brain, replacing the protection that acted as armor over her thoughts before with his own influence and taking hold of her.

Again, Kakashi tried to command her, "Stop". However, the woman cleared the entirety of the field and disappeared into the trees and Kakashi continued to attempt to stretch his influence. He growled in frustration and Gaara raced into the trees after the woman.

Somehow, though, Kakashi felt the hold solidify. Before Gaara could even snap the woman's neck, or drain her, or whichever he was going to do, Kakashi gave another command. "Turn around and walk back to me. Don't pay attention to anything else."

Kakashi heard the woman turn around from where she had suddenly frozen in her place in the trees and started walking. He heard her pounding heartbeat and the crunch of the leaves under her feet from afar as she appeared at the edge of the trees once again.

Gaara shrugged. "Not bad." He commented in approval, running back to Kakashi's side to watch the woman return to her place before Gaara had released her from his own hypnosis. Kakashi was pleased to find that while his human eyes couldn't keep track of Gaara's speedy movements, his vampire sight had no problem at all.

The woman stood in front of both vampires, eyes as blank as they were in the beginning and Gaara folded his arms over his chest.

"Now, let's try that again and see if you can do it faster this time."

After Gaara was satisfied with Kakashi's progress he called an end to their session. But not before imparting some important information.

"I'm going to skip the "With great power come great responsibility" spiel because clearly we both don't give a fuck. However I will tell you about what you can expect as a vampire now."

Kakashi simply tongued his new fangs as he waited for Gaara to continue on with his explanation.

"You will be at your most vulnerable in the sunlight. While you won't burn up and die right away, you must be vigilant in how much sunlight exposure you receive a day. Too much and well you know...poof."

"Conversely, you will be at your most powerful at night time. However, even that is relative to the amount of blood you consume. The more blood you consume, the stronger you are."

Kakashi simply nodded. He somewhat expected this. He was glad that going to work wouldn't be too much of a hassle. It wouldn't do to receive this power and be a sitting duck.

"You can eat and sleep to keep up appearances, but know they aren't necessary. If you're heavily injured, sleep will help expedite your healing process."

"If you lose too much blood or go too long without feeding, you'll enter bloodlust. It's not something to take lightly". Gaara's tone immediately shifted into something much more sinister.

"If you enter bloodlust, you'll be consumed by your vampirism and leave a bloody massacre in your wake. You'll drink and destroy anyone that gets in your path until you can sate the demon you've unleashed."

"Okay bye. See you tomorrow for another lesson". Gaara said nonchalantly as he turned around and casually strolled through the forest.

Kakashi stood there dumbstruck

'The fuck was that'

In any case, Kakashi cracked his knuckles and smirked.

He was hungry, and his meal wasn't going to catch itself.

End of Part I

Chapter 15: Delicious Delicacies

Kakashi pulled open the large door of his minimalist-style home in the woods, then stepped into the simple yet sophisticatedly decorated entryway. He propped a rather large umbrella against the wall before he walked further into the house, the home expanding into a comfortable spaciousness, the open floor plan of the home one of the reasons the man had gotten the house in the first place. It made it far easier to see everything all at once.

The man placed his groceries upon his polished countertops as his lips curled into a slightly satisfied smile.

He'd made sure to keep his exposure to the sun at a minimum, but he knew that tonight's meal needed to be special, so he'd gone out to get the freshest ingredients the local markets had to offer. He had to admit that going outside with the summer sun shining down, even with his added protection, had worn him out a bit.

Luckily, he'd be having dinner very, very soon.

He turned on his heel to walk to the back of his kitchen, going toward a door that resembled a closet as he pulled a key out of his pocket. He inserted the key into the door and turned it with a click, then slowly opened the door to reveal a flight of steep stairs. He slowly descended them, his dress shoes clacking against the concrete as he headed toward his chest-style freezer. As he slowly opened it, he immediately spotted what he was looking for.

He reached down and grabbed two bags of frozen meat, then closed the lid of the freezer with a quiet thud as it popped back into place. He peered down at the bags in his hand, turning them over to get a good look at them.

'For Sakura,' the bags read, the text written in big black letters.

He headed back upstairs, locking the basement door behind him as he tucked the key back into his pocket.

With his main ingredient now in hand, Kakashi walked up to his countertop as he rolled up his sleeves, the man ready to begin preparing his meal for the day.

He heated up some water in a bowl and placed the bags of frozen meat into the lukewarm water, setting them aside to thaw as he focused on the side dishes for the moment.

He turned on his oven to preheat it, then emptied all his groceries onto his table as he tucked the plastic bags away for another special time. He then grabbed a small knife as he eyed some fingerling potatoes, then dexterously cutting them into halves before placing them into a large metal bowl.

He peeled some fresh garlic and picked out a few cloves, setting the leftovers aside as he minced the garlic carefully and precisely, the rhythmic chopping against his cutting board creating a tune of sorts. Kakashi found it amusing, the man tapping his foot against the floor as he continued with his meal preparation, then placing the garlic into the bowl with the potatoes. Once finished, he grabbed a fresh block of Parmesan and a cheese grater.

Kakashi grated the block until it was completely gone, reduced to small tendrils of cheese. He added the cheese to the metal bowl as well before grabbing a fresh lemon and grating the zest into the bowl as well.

He poured some salt and pepper into his hands, sprinkling the seasonings with exaggerated pizazz before he then began to toss his ingredients together in the bowl, mixing until the potatoes were thoroughly coated.

The man then grabbed a simple cooking sheet and covered it in aluminum, spreading the potatoes on the large surface before he set it aside. His attention drifted toward the main course as he walked toward the lukewarm bowl and he pressed his finger into the softening meat, pleased to feel that he'll soon be able to prepare it.

He stepped back from the bowl and walked back toward his counter as he grabbed his small knife once more and chopped the ends off of some green beans, then coated them thoroughly in olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. He grabbed another cooking sheet and covered it in aluminum foil as he placed the green beans upon the surface, then used a butter knife to carve out some small flecks of parsley butter and sprinkle them across the green beans.

Now finished, he placed his side dishes into the oven, leaving them to roast for around half an hour at a low-ish heat as he pulled his now thawed meat bags from the bowl, tossing the plastic aside as he placed the meat onto a cutting board.

Kakashi looked down at his main course with a twinkle in his eye before he grabbed more cloves of fresh garlic and minced them, adding it to a small bowl. He added sage, oregano, thyme, parsley, basil, salt, and pepper to the bowl as he combined the seasoning mixture with a spoon, the pleasant aroma filling the kitchen and eventually wafting into the other parts of the home.

He turned an eye on his stovetop and placed a non-stick pan on top of it as he checked the time. He had around fifteen minutes left, meaning he had to flip his potatoes to make sure they were crisp on both sides. He quickly did so before he turned back toward his main course, pouring some olive oil and adding butter to his pan, waiting for the butter to begin to bubble with heat before he grabbed his aromatic bowl of seasoning.

He scooped the contents of the bowl into the pan, moving them around with a wooden spoon as he combined the flavors even further. After a minute or two, seeing that the garlic was beginning to turn a golden color, Kakashi grabbed his chunks of meat and placed them into the pan, the sizzling noise a satisfying one as the juices of the meat begin to leak out and mix with the seasoning, amplifying the smell as he cooked the main course evenly on both sides, spooning the seasoned butter onto the meat every so often.

Once the meat had turned a nice brown color with crispy skin, Kakashi heard his oven's timer beep, the man turning off his stovetop as he took the meat off the heat and set it aside.

He pulled the garlic parmesan fingerling potatoes and roasted green beans from the oven, setting the pans aside as he placed any stray dishes in his sink for later. He then went into his cabinet and grabbed some simple white ceramic plates, setting them on his countertop as he grabs the individual parts of the meal, plating them with intense attention to detail.

The perfectly browned meat was cut into pieces as they were laid at an angle on top of one another. The fingerling potatoes and green beans were plated simply, bunched together and rested nearby the meat. Kakashi spooned some of the leftover juices of the meat onto the meal, the liquid flavor spilling onto the plate in a near-perfect manner, trickling down the meat slowly.

The man wiped off any stray droplets or awry crumbs, making sure that the plating was perfect. Just as he finished cleaning up the meal's appearance, he heard the doorbell ring.

Kakashi tossed the napkin he'd used for plating into the trash before he walked toward his front door, then turning to see his umbrella. He grabbed it and stuffed it into a small closet at the entryway of the house before turning back toward the door and slowly opening it as he locked eyes with a familiar emerald green pair.

"Ah, Sakura! You're a few seconds too early," Kakashi said with a slightly joking tone, Sakura then laughed a bit in response as she rolled her eyes.

"You're just as interesting as ever, Kakashi," she said with a slight smile, the man stepping aside as he gestured toward his kitchen.

"Come in, make yourself at home," he said, Sakura stepping inside as she looked around the house curiously. Kakashi shut the door behind him, locking it as he followed behind the pink-haired woman.

"Your house is about what I expected. Very chic and mature," Sakura muttered with a slightly amused expression as she walked toward the dinner table, Kakashi moving behind her in the blink of an eye as he pulled out her chair for her. Sakura blinked in confusion before she smiled, taking her seat.

"Since when were you this chivalrous?" She asked, looking back at Kakashi as he grabbed their plates and utensils.

"I always have been," Kakashi replied coyly before he prepared the table, setting down the plates with a gentle thud as he placed their utensils on cloth napkins.

Sakura eyed the meal, the smell having caught her off guard earlier, but now she knew she couldn't deny it.

"Kakashi!" Sakura gasped, nearly at a loss for words.

"Yes?" He asked as he opened a bottle of red wine with a loud pop, the man looking at her curiously.

"This smells delicious! I mean, it looks like something out of a food magazine! You must have gone through so much trouble to make this," Sakura said, the woman internally having to muster all her willpower to not just dig in as soon as she'd sat down. Kakashi chuckled in response, waving her off a bit dismissively.

"There's no need for flattery," he said, trying to act humble as he poured Sakura a glass of wine, setting it down beside her meal before he did the same for himself.

"It's not flattery. You know I'm not the kind of person to do something like that," Sakura responded.

"Hm, maybe so," he said, nodding his head as he took a seat across from her, "I'll take it as a compliment then."

"Good," Sakura said with a satisfied expression, before then grabbing her knife as she cut into the juicy meat, adding a fingerling potato to her meat as she took a bite, the flavors swirling in her mouth as she donned a pleased expression on her face.

"Mmm, this pork is really good," Sakura said as she swallowed her food, Kakashi wordlessly smiling in response as he nodded his head. Sakura didn't say anything despite finding it strange, instead focusing on her meal as she scooped more fingerling potatoes into her mouth.

"So, how have things been since you left the program?" Kakashi asked

"Well, life's going on, I guess," Sakura answered as she swallowed a bit of her food.

"That's not very specific," Kakashi said with a slight teasing tone.

"I know," Sakura said with a light laugh as she cut into another piece of the well-seasoned meat, "In all honesty, things are just okay."

"Just okay? And what does that mean for you?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"These are a lot of deep digging questions. You sound like you're my therapist," Sakura joked as Kakashi exhaled a slight chuckle. Feeling it would be rude to not answer and figuring that he'd meant well, Sakura continued with her actual answer.

"After that session where you had me...talk with my mother," she'd said as she mulled over how exactly to describe the strange hypnotic experience he'd put her though, "I sent her a letter. About everything."

"And how did she take it?"

"Not too well, at first," Sakura said with a sigh, "My dad wasn't really having it either."

"But…?" Kakashi asked, able to tell by Sakura's tone that there was more to the story.

"They're trying their best now, I think. Once they got past the phase of feeling like a bunch of fingers were being pointed at them and their guilt or whatever, they've kind of started to loosen up. Baby steps, I guess," Sakura said, her expression a bit strained as she talked about her parents, but not as much as it used to be.

"Well, you're right. It certainly is a start," Kakashi said before he started to chew on some fingerling potatoes. Feeling the conversation begin to stall, Kakashi's mind wandered to another topic to keep the chatter going.

"So, how are you and Naruto doing? I heard through the grapevine that you two started dating after your program finished," Kakashi asked as he chewed into his meal, pausing as he noticed Sakura flinch before her movements stilled abruptly. She gripped the handle of her knife and fork a bit tightly before her grip went lax, the woman weakly smiling as she looked down at her meal, her eyes lost elsewhere.

"He...He went missing. It happened some time after I left the program back in September. He went missing in February," Sakura managed to say after a moment of silence.

"Ah, I see, that's… wow. Minato quit and Tsunade replaced him as chairman right around that time too," Kakashi said with a heavy sigh, seemingly connecting the dots. Sakura then looked up at him with slight confusion.

"Wait… Why didn't you know about any of this?" She asked.

"Well, when Minato left, none of us were really given an explanation. He just… left," Kakashi said in response.

"I see," Sakura mumbled in response before she changed the topic, "In any case, there's been a search team looking for him for quite a while now. It's only a matter of time until they find him."

"Well, that's good to hear. I certainly hope he's alright," Kakashi said. Sakura nodded in response, a bitter taste in her mouth. She decided to change the topic, instead opting to ask Kakashi about himself.

"So, how about you? How have you been?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, you know, same old, same old," Kakashi answered.

"Still as mysterious as ever, huh?" Sakura joked before she then took a sip of her wine.

"It's part of my charm," Kakashi retorted with a wink, though Sakura merely smiled, as if only to be polite as she laughed a bit.

"Tough crowd," Kakashi joked. Sakura paused as she bit her lip and mulled over her thoughts before she eventually decided to just say what she had to say.

"Look, Kakashi…" She started as she set down her utensils, the silver-haired man then focused on her as he continued to cut into his meal.

"I really appreciate everything you've done for me and all, but Naruto and I are dating now. Whatever it is that happened between us, can we just agree that it never happened?" She asked as she looked at Kakashi seriously.

She felt a chill run down her spine as his movements stopped without warning. His fork that had been scraping against his plate halted and it almost felt as if he'd stopped breathing before he locked eyes with her.

"But I had you first," he said bluntly and coldly. Undeterred by his strange demeanor, though a bit put off, Sakura continued.

"Did you really? I trusted you because that's what I thought I wanted. But after I met Naruto, I realized he was what I really wanted."

Kakashi didn't say a word as he merely looked at her with a blank expression with no movement of any kind. The air was tense and the atmosphere felt strained to the point where Sakura felt a cold sweat run down her back, the young woman left to wonder what the hell was going on.

It was as if he hadn't even really registered what she'd said. Or maybe he just didn't want to.

Not wanting to sit in strained silence for the rest of her meal, Sakura decided to change the topic.

'Maybe he just needs time to come to terms with it,' She thought to herself as she racked her brain for something they could talk about.

"Er, anyway, so how has everyone else been? Now that Tsunade is in charge and all, has anything changed?"

"Everything's been okay. We're all adjusting, slowly but surely," Kakashi answered straight away as if he hadn't just blanked out for the last few minutes. Sakura felt that everything seemed a bit off, but pushed the thought aside as she continued to enjoy her meal and exchange small talk with Kakashi for the next half hour or so.

By the time she'd finished her meal, Sakura looked out one of the cabin's windows to see that it was getting a bit dark. She set down her utensils as she wiped her mouth, Kakashi noticed her movements as he did the same.

"I guess it's about time I should go. My parents are probably worried sick," Sakura said as she stood up to leave.

"Well, I wouldn't want to keep you too long," Kakashi said with a slight smile as the two headed toward the front door. Sakura turned to face Kakashi as she bid her goodbyes.

"It was nice seeing you again," she said with a smile.

"It was nice seeing you too, Sakura. We should do this again sometime, I'll make sure to whip up something even better by then," Kakashi replied.

"I look forward to it!" she said before she then bowed a bit and turned to leave.

"Take care now," Sakura said as she opened the door and began to step outside.

"You too," Kakashi answered as he watched her go. A minute passed before he closed his door and walked back into his home.

The silver-haired vampire walked along the grass yard of the unfamiliar house as he observed it with vague interest. It was a simple upper-class house in a suburban area. Frankly, it was about what he expected.

In no mood to waste any time and no longer interested in his little sight-seeing experience, Kakashi stepped closer to the home as he focused his mind on the second floor of the home and searched for the thoughts of one woman in particular.

Once he found her, he gasped in delight as he probed into the thick barrier surrounding her thoughts, the man slowly but firmly expanded his own consciousness as he burrowed into the woman's mind.

She was asleep so her thoughts weren't particularly lucid or interesting, but that was okay. She wouldn't be for long.

"Wake up."

Mebuki suddenly shot up out of bed, panting as she clutched her chest. To put it mildly, she was scared shitless. Hearing a strangely resonant voice while she was sleeping was enough to send the high-strung woman into panic mode, but her panic rose even further as she turned toward her husband and noticed he was sound asleep.

'It wasn't him,' she thought to herself, though she'd known before she even looked. The voice… It sounded like someone was beside her, yet in her head at the same time.

"Come to me," the voice said once more.

The command rang in her head as she looked around the room for the source of the strange phenomenon. Mebuki didn't understand where the voice was coming from and she wasn't too keen on wanting to find out either.

She looked around for her phone to call the police when suddenly her body started walking of its own accord, her mind nothing but a passenger as she stood from her bed and walked along the cold wooden floor of her bedroom.

"Yes, that's it. Good girl."

There it was again. A disembodied voice was speaking directly to her mind. It was a low, deep, rich, resonant voice that made her feel strangely, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly the feeling was.

She had made it through to the kitchen now and there was still no sign of the voice. She slowly tried to muster up her strength to speak, her throat dry due to her internal feeling of dread, but only a vague sound of her hoarse, tired, and scared voice would come out. It was a groan at best, but certainly not something any would be able to hear.

Her feeling of dread increased tenfold as she struggled to speak, but it was no use. She felt her heart pounded painfully in her chest as she started to hyperventilate when suddenly she heard the voice again.

"You don't need to speak. I can hear your thoughts anyway," he said.

Mebuki froze as a sick feeling spread throughout her body. She'd always been a bit of a private and, frankly, prideful woman. Having someone able to dig into her mind made her feel indescribably violated, but she ticked away her pride as she asked him questions through thought.

"Where are you?! Who are you?! How did you get in here?!"

"Outside. Come to me," the voice said simple. She obeyed.

"Hello, Mebuki," Kakashi said as he looked down at the woman with a coy, yet slightly smug expression. Mebuki was completely and utterly at a loss. She'd never believed in the supernatural or anything of the sort, but it was indisputable that the man before her was inhuman.

She mouthed a few words in shock, but nothing came out. For one of the first times in her life, she felt completely helpless as she was unable to move or even call for help.

"I'm a bit thirsty," he said as he walked closer to the woman, then bent down and grasped her chin between his fingers. He jerked her head and pulled her to his chest, the woman whimpered as she felt his breath on her neck. Without warning, he sank his fangs into the tender flesh, the woman's eyes widened as she silently cried out, halfway in pleasure and halfway in pain.

A coil settled in her stomach as her legs shook and her mind was running a mile a minute with thoughts as she wondered what the hell was happening, why it was happening, and when it would be over.

Kakashi's fangs seeped her energy out of her slowly but surely as he made sure to get his fill of her blood, the woman then felt her body become unstable and woozy as her vision began to flicker. She was losing far too much blood far too quickly and her mind was spinning as her thoughts became foggy.

By the time he was done with his meal, Mebuki was shockingly pale as she struggled to stand on her own two feet. He felt her slump against his chest as he sighed against her neck in pity. Her thoughts were beginning to become more panicked as the woman cursed him and the world and feared for the end of her life.

She feared for so many things as everything swirled all up inside her at once.

Regret. Less regret. Anger. Fear. Bitterness. More fear. Less anger. More regret. Sorrow.

Everything was then ripped from her the next moment as Kakashi continued to drink from her, her mind fading to the final stage of death as she felt nothing but complacency. A serene calm.

With a strangely clear head, she wondered why exactly a vampire of all things was out to get her. She was sure she'd made enemies, but not with the supernatural. And yet, this one had come all the way to her house… How strange.

"Stay…" She thought, directing her mind toward Kakashi as much as possible.

"Hm?" He questioned as he continued to drain her body for all it was worth.

"Stay away from my family," she thought weakly. The thought really hadn't meant all too much to her. It was a dying mind shooting off its final thoughts…

And yet it frustrated Kakashi more than it amused him.

He pulled his fangs from her neck, the woman too delirious to look up at him as she slumped into his arm. He grabbed her by her sleep shirt and looked down at her coldly as he pulled back his arm and swung.

Her head rolled like a stray basketball as Kakashi heaved a sigh of relief and dropped her headless corpse onto the ground. He felt much better now.

With a relieved sigh, he left the simple suburban home, intrigued to hear of how the news would cover the incident tomorrow. He walked home with a bit of pep in his step and opened his door, immediately moving to begin cleaning his kitchen. He'd been a bit impatient before he'd left after his dinner with Sakura, so he still had some dishes to do.

He waltzed into the kitchen and put on some gloves and grabbed a rag as he slowly began to scrub the dirtied dishes, making sure to apply just enough pressure to get the stains off.

'Hmmm, this seems a bit familiar,' he mused to himself before it clicked in his mind with an "Oh!" as he felt himself drift down memory lane.

The blonde-haired man shuffled up to the large cabin home, his bright blue eyes were an almost dull gray as his body moved against his will, his mind foggy as everything went by so quickly.

As Kakashi sensed Naruto's presence, the vampire stood from his comfortable leather chair and waltzed toward his front door, opening it as he ushered Naruto inside and closed the door.

Naruto's eyes were blank as he stepped inside the house and merely stared ahead, unable to do anything else. Despite this, he could feel Kakashi's cold, dark, ominous presence standing closely behind him. The man was breathing down on him as he stood uncomfortably still before he roughly grabbed Naruto's shoulders and squeezed them until they nearly popped.

"Kakashi?! What are you doing?!" He screamed in his mind, but Kakashi only squeezed his shoulders harder in response, his vision going spotty as pain shot throughout his entire body.

"Shut up," Kakashi commanded before he went quiet for a moment, as if he was thinking.

"This doesn't have to hurt, you know. I just want it to," Kakashi said as he leaned down to whisper in Naruto's ear. Without missing a beat, he sunk his fangs into Naruto's neck and began to drink wildly, quickly slurping at the blonde's blood as he continued to move his fangs in the wound, biting down harder with each gulp of Naruto's blood.

Naruto was completely powerless as he could only wait for his life to be drained from him, his face quickly sinking in and his typically bright and wide eyes now dull and sunken in. He felt his body grow cold as he could only feel emotions stir in his body as he clung to life as best as he could.

But it was no use.

His body became weaker and weaker by the moment as his life flashed before his eyes.

'Dad...Mom...Sakur-!'

He dropped to the floor with a thud, his body cold, still, and lifeless as Kakashi looked down at him emotionlessly. He'd only completed the first phase of his plan, there was still much more work to be done.

He dragged the blonde's body into his kitchen before he reached into his pocket and grabbed a key. He inserted the key to the lock of his basement door before turning it, the familiar click sounded as he opened the door and dragged Naruto down.

He dropped Naruto onto the cold cement floor of his basement as he pulled a large table from the corner of the room and dragged it closer, then grabbed a box of supplies he'd prepared and plopped it into the cold metal of the table.

He picked up Naruto and laid him onto the table as he dug into his supply box and pulled out a simple black marker. He stripped the deceased man of his clothes as he marked up the lines of his body, like cattle being prepped for slaughter.

Once he was done, he grabbed a large basin from the corner of the basement and set it under the table before he picked up a small knife and poked holes into Naruto's flesh. Any leftovers of his warm blood, though there was hardly any left to be drained, slowly dripped into the basin below as Kakashi went to work.

He used a thick, sharp knife to follow the lines he'd traced as he cut methodically into the young man with a tense gaze.

Thighs. Stomach. Back. Calf.

He cut the large pieces of tender meat into smaller pieces before he wiped his hands and placed them into small zippable bags and used the same small black marker from before to label them.

'For Sakura,' the bags read, the text written in big black letters.

He smiled to himself with a rather pleased expression before he then placed the clean bags into his large chest-style freezer.

Done with his meal prep, he grabbed the rest of Naruto's corpse and submerged it in a bath of acid, leaving it to soak. He'd be sure to come back later and dump it down the floor drain of his basement.

After that, he put on some more cleaning-suited gloves and got to work as he wiped his metal table clean, making sure to put in some elbow grease as he scrubbed away at any lingering crimson stains. He did the very same to his floor and the basin after he dumped it of its contents.

The silver-haired man snapped out of the reverie of his fond memory as he finally finished with his cleaning for the night. The man then sighed in satisfaction as he took his gloves off and set them to hang on his kitchen sink.

Now ready to relax for the night, Kakashi headed toward his leather couch and sunk into it with a leery grin on his face as he grabbed the half-finished bottle of wine from dinner and poured himself a glass, swirling the red liquid in his cup as he eyed it with interest.

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he took a sip of the red wine, his house dark and eerie around him as he sat; plotting and planning.

"Let the games begin."

He cackled loudly into the night.

Chapter 16: A Series Of Unfortunate Events

Under different circumstances, Sakura would have considered being swarmed by the paparazzi a good thing. She would have posed in front of the cameras and microphones in front of her. Milking the publicity for everything it was worth, and god-damn proud of it too.

But this wasn't a publicity stunt. There was absolutely nothing to be happy about either.

The cameras were with the local news stations, and the flashing lights were with the cacophony of sirens and police cars. They were haphazardly parked in front of Sakura's door, assessing the scene of a crime.

Sakura had chosen not to come home last night after dinner. She took a detour from Kakashi's house, wanting to take in the sights and sounds of nature around her. She figured she would stay at Ino's since it was closer, preferring to walk around and smell the trees during a moonlit stroll. She texted her mother, saying she'd be home in the morning. The only things on her mind last night were how delicious dinner was at Kakashi's and…those words. That absolute unexpected bomb he dropped in the middle of their conversation.

"But I had you first."

Possessiveness was something she didn't mind much in a relationship so long as it didn't go overboard. However, their "time" together was nothing of the sort. They didn't date. Any words they had exchanged in their affairs were just that, words.

They shouldn't have meant anything, and yet…

Well, it doesn't matter now.

This morning she came home to the scent of iron and a barrage of uniformed officers surrounding her, intending to pester her with questions. They asked her for her name her reasoning for trespassing on an active crime scene.

She pushed through them after building up the courage to do so, but in hindsight, she wished she hadn't.

As much as Sakura and her mom weren't close, a parent was still a parent. With Naruto still missing, Mebuki was the only one she could rely on for a certain kind of stability.

When she saw the headless body, everything came tumbling down.

The forensics team had just begun wrapping the pieces of Mebuki in body bags. There were two pieces: the body and the head. There was very little blood, which made no sense. She had clearly been decapitated, and yet this had to be the cleanest crime scene she'd had ever seen. Her front door was ajar, and some of the police officers had made their way inside.

Her brain said to burst into tears while her body buckled forward and did all it could to make her wretch. She didn't, though. She wouldn't. She placed both hands over her mouth and mustered every bit of power that she could to process it all.

All that work that Kakashi had done for her came undone in just a blink of an eye.

What had it all been for?

"This is Aoi Watanabe with Konoha News Network. Behind me, this residential home has been blocked off with yellow tape. Law enforcement has ruled this incident a homicide. Police say that a middle-aged woman was brutally murdered outside her home sometime last night. I'm here with Police Chief Fugaku Uchiha to get more information, Police Chief?"

"The police are working diligently to put the facts together. We have to bring justice to this family. If anyone has any relevant information, please contact the Konoha Police Department…"

'Did the police truly have nothing better to say than that standard batshit, bullshit excuse to start an investigation?' Kakashi mused.

This whole circus of a report was everything the new vampire expected—that he was fully aware would happen, and yet he couldn't help the slightest bit of disappointment that bubbled inside of him.

It wasn't that he felt guilty, overcome with pitiful sentiments such as "woe is me" or "I'm a monster," no. If anything, the only question that came to his mind was: "that's all they could come up with?"

Would they even be able to come up with anything? How much supernaturality did Uchiha's force believe in, and just how far would they go to track him down? They would never find the bite marks. His saliva would've closed them, and he punched Mebuki's head off right where they were anyways.

It wasn't going to be an open and shut case that the police could solve within months.

Kakashi turned the TV off and took a sip of his lukewarm coffee.

'Oh well, this entire farce would be all over soon.'

Upon finishing the small pick-me-up in a cup, the man got up and sauntered into the kitchen, intending to start this new day of his and the next part of his plan.

Mebuki's murder wasn't actually planned, and none of this was projected to work as well as it did. His job was not over, though, because the next thing he had to take care of was tying some loose ends at Briar Hill.

Yes, he would go to work today and talk to Tsunade. Talk and lie through his teeth to maintain the lock around him that had been so carefully constructed and maintained thus far.

It felt like the end to one of those daytime soap operas that would run in the common-room television. The kind some of the other employees would gossip about when he made his way into the building. His fingers dabbled along the walls and glass windows. He did what he could to avoid the "Caution, Wet Paint" signs.

'Looks like they're doing a couple of touch-ups'

He surmised the last time workers were called here, there was a giant hole in the roof. Although the building had been through many renovations, it was still old. Hashirama looked like a kicked puppy as he apologized profusely to everyone.

As Kakashi continued to saunter down the hallways, he reminisced about his first patient. His second too. At the time, his reputation hadn't preceded him yet. They both assumed he was a conventional therapist. They however of course came to know very intimately that he was anything but.

'It's not everyday you meet a professional hypnotist' he mused.

He recalled introducing himself to Ino. Tsunade had recommended her to Hashirama personally. 'It pays to know people'.

He made it to his destination but decided not to go inside. He touched the wall to make sure it was dry before leaning back against it. One foot touching the floor and the other, sole-to wall. Leg bent at the knee, legs appearing almost like the shape of a four.

His thoughts shifted gears to Sakura.

Sakura and their sessions.

It was obvious what she wanted out of them. To get better and go home.

But what did he want?

'What a stupid question to ask' he said to himself sardonically.

In the beginning, it was her trust.

'That's how it always starts, isn't it?'

Sighing, Kakashi filed away these thoughts for later. There would be plenty of time later to do some introspection but for now he needed to get a move on with what he came here to do.

He didn't bother to knock as he entered Tsunade's office.

She was so loud that he could hear portions of the conversation going on from his side of the door. Although if he's being honest, with his heightened hearing, he would've heard it anyways. But still, it was the principle you know?

Looks like everything that had transpired thus kept her busy and her heart rate up. He'd tease her about how it would grey her hair or give her wrinkles, but he considered being "nice" for once. That is, if one placed barging into that room unwarranted a kind Kakashi gesture.

"—I don't think you really understand the gravity of the situation. I'd like you to use your head at least once—" She noticed his footsteps, but mustered all the energy she possibly could to ignore him. The conversation she had with the opposite party was heated and going nowhere. Tsunade's infuriated frown combined with the grace of someone who's clearly been through multiple office positions would be intimidating to just about anyone else.

Kakashi didn't care much for it, though. He knew what made Tsunade tick, and only stood there with his hands behind his back after he closed the door behind him. She could continue her conversation. All she had to do was just act like he wasn't there to begin with. Patience was a virtue and Kakashi had it in spades.

"Did you not see the reports? The news? What have you been doing all day except twiddling your damn thumbs?! Are you sure you—" She snapped her head towards the man's direction. "Kakashi, what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

He could. He didn't care, though. His eyes narrowed a little.

"I quit."

Tsunade's jaw dropped open as her phone nearly slid out of her hands

"...I will call you back." Tsunade took a deep breath, ended the call, and – from what he could tell – did everything in her power to not throw the device against the desk.

He could see the disbelief written all over her face; the "what the hell are you thinking?!" eyebrows combined with the narrowed lips of a mother who had just caught her child in the middle of a lie. She leaned back against her chair, crossed her arms underneath her chest, and closed her eyes. No "hello," no "how are you"—just a bomb of bad news dropped onto the already distressing pile of work she had accumulating at the edge of her desk.

"Is this a joke?" Tsunade did what she could to not sound as incredulous as she wanted to be, "it has to be, right? You're just playing a trick on me."

"Far from it, Obaasan," the nickname was so unnecessary. If anything, it made her sneer.

"Kakashi, you are well aware that we cannot afford to lose you, right?. You're one of the only good members left on our staff," she paused, you're not exactly expendable.

"...Tsunade," he called her, and yet her eyes flickered back onto some of the strewn documents, "Tsunade, I cannot do this any longer. Hashirama is comatose, Minato is… God knows where, Naruto is..."

"I'm aware."

"I'm tired of all the tragedies, I can't handle working at this place any longer."

Tsunade sighed

"We can't replace you. You're… you're one of the best! You're irreplaceable! If we lose you, we lose a pillar to the care we can provide for our patients!"

"You can and you will. I've outgrown this place." He felt no guilt or remorse when he said his piece, but Kami Tsunade made it hard to negotiate with. It was almost like he was suddenly dealing with a human bull.

Still, as much as he would like to believe he had the upper hand in the conversation, Tsunade knew how to rule with an iron fist when she needed to. She ran a tight ship with an even tighter crew. There's a reason why this place was still standing. Normally that would be a good thing, but now it's currently standing in his way.

"Your reason is bullshit, and you know it!" She slammed her hands on the desk in emphasis, "...you can tell me the truth, Hatake, I promise everything is kept in confidence."

"It's not about confidence, it's about the fact that it isn't safe here anymore. You know it, I know it—everyone knows it." He knew she didn't really know, but he wasn't going to let her in on that.

"I've never known you to be a coward, Kakashi."

"I've never known for you to drink on the job, and yet there are three bottles of Bacardi 151 in your lower left hand bottom drawer."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and stepped closer, raising his voice fractionally.

"I've never known you to be pragmatic either, but there's always a first for everything, now is there?"

"P-Pragmatic—?!"

He stepped closer. Hands planted on her desk hovering over her.

"—Listen," Kakashi said lowly. "Tsunade, I know a guy—two, actually. Yamato and Gai are the perfect replacements for me. I would not be so rude as to leave you without good hands to carry on my legacy."

"I'm not worried about anyone's legacy!"

The room grew quiet, but it reeked of tension.

They both stared into each other's eyes. This whole confrontation was exhausting, and truth be told the hypnotist just wanted everything to end.

Eventually, Tsunade grazed her manicured hands over one of the packets that had fallen to the ground in the midst of their argument and picked it up. It was one of the many bits of documentation that she needed to go over for security policy sake. It had a bunch of stamps and highlights that could give any lawyer goosebumps.

Tsunade was the first to break the silence, her expression soft and wary.

"There's no way I can convince you, can I?"

"Not in the slightest." Kakashi had a new life to lead, after all.

"I don't like it. I don't like this one bit..." she hissed and shook her head, "Get out of here, Dr. Hatake. This is confidential information, and I can't have those who aren't employees of Briar Hill perusing such sensitive material ."

If this is how it would end, then so be it. Burning bridges made these little victories sweeter, though knowing the Tsunade it would be hard to truly break the friendship between them because of one bad argument. He took a small bow—a playful one really—and turned his back away from the scene.

"Take off that mask, by the way, you look like you're about to rob the place." She shook her head, "why do you even have it on in the first place? You look stupid with it."

He couldn't help but smirk beneath the fabric. Oh yeah, she'd definitely be over this by the week's end.

"Allergies." He shrugged. "I found out that I have a strange aversion to pollen recently."

He didn't wait for an answer from her, he just shut the door behind him and that marked the end of that mess…

Minato watched as the sun set behind the horizon, and what better way to spend the remainder of the evening than to...smoke a cigarette in his car?

He had to be honest with himself, he wasn't doing too well. He could feel the bristles of a five o'clock shadow forming, Who knew when he would get to it, though? Not him. Not with bags forming underneath them and certainly not when he hadn't been home in weeks. Had he not made the smallest attempt to clean himself up on the daily, one might see him as an addict.

The police were useless. So he started his own investigation. He searched high and low for Naruto, and yet nothing admissible came up. He had ignored the multiple calls that blew up his phone, blocked some numbers here and there, and deleted each voicemail by hitting the "7" before the callers' words left their mouths. The only one that he hadn't done that to yet was Tsunade, but that was only because her cracked voice caught him off guard.

Tsunade never cracked. What provoked such a reaction now?

"Minato—don't you dare ignore this—you need to come back. We need you here. The staff count is dropping faster than ever, and Kakashi just came in and said he quit. Can you believe him?! If you won't come back, then please talk to him. Please! At this rate, you're the only person he would listen to!"

Now there's a surprise; Kakashi? Quitting? The man seemed so enthused about continuing his career at the establishment. Not that bubbly kind of excitement, no, but one where just about anyone could see the glint in his eyes whenever he talked about it. Maybe things were worse than he could imagine…

Still, calling didn't seem to hurt at this rate. If Tsunade asked for help, it's because she needed it. He reclined in his car seat, took a deep breath, then fumbled around his contact list for the man's phone number.

He dialed it fairly easy and the line rang a couple of times. Once. Twice. A sudden twinge of pain hit his chest—or was it just the anxiety talking? Surely nothing else transpired in a couple of hours?

The phone finally picked up, and his heart cooled itself the moment he heard Kakashi's voice. Though, a surprised and somehow relieved tone pouring through the receiver was the last thing the blonde man was expecting to hear.

"...Minato?"

Chapter 17: I Solemnly Swear

Chapter Text

"Minato?"

Kakashi's eyes widened at the broken voice on the other end of the phone. To say he was flabbergasted would be an understatement. His former superior had to be desperate indeed for his return to work to have Kakashi's mentor plead on her behalf.

The recent change in Kakashi's circumstances had nearly rid him of such pesky human emotions as worry or guilt in a short period of time. It surprised him to suddenly find he was steeped in the feelings of his younger self, one who craved Minato's approval with the same fervor Kakashi now had for vengeance.

Leave it to Tsunade to use every trick up her sleeve.

"Hey, Kakashi…how are you?"

For all the world as if the man weren't calling out of the blue.

"I'm fine," Kakashi said with a hand on his hip, incredulous. "But more importantly, how are you? No one has seen or heard from you in months. You've worried everyone sick." Kakashi more than anyone, but he wouldn't say so aloud.

"I know. I'm sorry." Kakashi heard Minato's sharp intake of breath, then a long, slow exhale before he spoke again. As if Minato was trying to steady himself. "Tsunade called. She said you quit?"

Kakashi deflated a tad at the confirmation that Tsunade truly was behind the scenes, pulling strings. "Ah, yeah…" His neck prickled with irritation and he rubbed at it distractedly.

"Can I come by?"

The abrupt question threw Kakashi more than the surprise phone call. Before he could scramble for a good excuse, movement outside beyond the front of his house arrested his attention.

Kakashi could make out Sakura walking up his driveway. Even from this distance, he could see the brokenness of her spirit in her lithe body as she moved in and out of the shadows between the outdoor lights. Her shoulders slumped as she walked.

His cold heart should not have soared at the sight, but it did, and he knew why.

She was coming to him. Just as Kakashi had planned.

As much as he still cared for Minato, now was the worst possible time for Kakashi to entertain the older man's troubles. Especially because Kakashi knew he was the cause of his mentor's distress.

"Ah, I'm…I'm with a patient right now. It's an emergency. I promise I'll…call you tomorrow?"

There was silence for a long moment. The muscles of Kakashi's shoulders bunched with tension as he stared out of the window to keep an eye on Sakura's movements.

Another resigned sigh from the phone. "Okay, Kakashi…talk to you then." Minato hung up, not waiting for Kakashi to acknowledge his sign-off.

It didn't matter. Kakashi tossed his phone aside on the nearby couch, where it bounced once before sliding down between two seat cushions. He'd be looking for it later, but now his eyes were glued to one of the picture windows at the front of the house. Sakura had rounded the last bend in the long and winding driveway, walking along one edge to skirt a row of flowering bushes that lined either side.

A wicked smile slid across Kakashi's lips as he sauntered through the living room to the front door.

He should hear her knocking in three…two…one…

His internal countdown ended in a deafening silence. A frown creased his brow. Kakashi trotted to the window but saw no one. Moving back to the doorway, he pressed his ear against the heavy wooden door and heard nothing at all.

What was Sakura doing out there?

It took a long time for Sakura to muster the courage the ring the doorbell of Kakashi's home nestled in the woods.

She was unsure of how long she'd stood tucked into the shadows of his small porch, trembling from head to toe. Her body would have been shaking no matter the temperature outside.

Her mother was dead.

On a practical level, her mind knew the truth. Mebuki had been murdered at her home – decapitated – and there were currently no suspects.

But it was as if Sakura's body understood on a visceral level that her mother had been stolen from the earth in the most violent manner possible, leaving her daughter with nothing but questions and emptiness.

Did Mebuki suffer before she died?

Were her last thoughts of her only child?

And perhaps the question most tortuous of all: had Mebuki known how much Sakura loved her?

A warm wind picked up and howled through the trees surrounding Kakashi's expansive property, almost giving voice to Sakura's turbulent emotions. She turned her face into it with closed eyes and let it take her breath away. Though it was strong enough to pull tendrils of her candy-pink locks free of their loose bun, it still couldn't draw out the tears she knew she should have been shedding.

But she just couldn't.

Sakura knew she would never be able to build the relationship she'd always wanted with her mother or grow past the resentment she'd harbored against both parents since her childhood. She just felt…nothing. Numb as numb could be.

All of the time she'd spent at Briar Hill with Kakashi working on her issues…it felt like such a waste.

Which was why she wondered for the hundredth time tonight why she was there in the first place. Kakashi had been…odd during their recent dinner. Sakura had enjoyed the time they'd spent together and the delicious meal he'd prepared just for her. By the end of the evening, however, she had been sure that whatever emotional connection they had established during her time as his patient had been irrevocably changed. Kakashi had changed.

Or perhaps it was truly Sakura who was different now.

She suspected Naruto had something to do with that. Her chest suddenly ached so badly, she had to press a hand against her heart to manage the pain. It was the first real emotion she had been able to feel in what felt like forever.

An image of her boyfriend sprang to her mind as he had always appeared in the flesh – blonde, smiling, full of infectious positive energy. Just being around him had made Sakura want to absorb as much of his natural goodness as possible. Now he was gone, too, with no explanation.

Sakura ran a hand over her face, heaving a weary sigh into her palm. Maybe he was dead, too. Maybe he left her. Maybe he'd given up on her at last.

No matter the reason, Sakura felt abandoned in a way that went deeper than reason and logic. Her good friend Ino had reached out to her again and again, but Sakura couldn't bring herself to respond. Overnight, she'd found herself deep in the emotional hole of her youth, at the very bottom, not even bothering to look up to see from where she'd fallen. Right now, she supposed she wanted to be around the one person as familiar with her darkness as Sakura was herself.

Kakashi opened the door before she could make her presence known.

"Sakura?"

She opened her mouth to speak, to say something normal and sensible, but the only thing that came out of Sakura's mouth was a noise like a wounded animal.

"Sakura, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" Though Kakashi wasn't in the habit of asking questions he already knew the answers to, he arranged his face into a mask of utmost concern, even letting some strands of silver hair flop into his eyes for distressed effect.

He watched Sakura's tempting mouth open and close as she tried to find the words and failed.

"Just…come inside. Okay?"

Kakashi wondered if she'd even heard him when she didn't respond right away, staring with dead eyes over his shoulder into the house. Finally, she animated with a weak nod and shuffled past him over the threshold.

No sooner had the door clicked closed than Sakura burst into heaving, wrenching sobs.

Murmuring nonsensical sentiments in her ear, Kakashi crushed Sakura to his side and ushered her to the couch. She dissolved into a fresh flood of tears as soon as they sat down. So many, many tears…it seemed to Kakashi a dam had burst inside of her and there was no stopping it.

Her tiny hands fisted in his shirt and she wept into the fabric, her entire body shaking with the force of her emotions. Kakashi held her. He was determined to do so as long as he needed to, careful to keep his embrace as innocent as his manhood allowed.

If things went any further, he needed to make sure it was Sakura who led the way.

The crying began to subside into hiccups and wet sniffling. Kakashi rubbed Sakura's shoulder and waited for her to speak.

She leaned back, eyes glossy and red and puffy, her cheeks wet. Sakura looked for all the world like someone's lost child. Her voice was soft and hoarse when she spoke. "My mother was murdered."

Kakashi's entire body jerked in feigned surprise. " What? God, what do you mean?"

"I found her body at home this morning," Sakura said, the dead look returning to her eyes before she looked away. "Her…her head was missing." They flicked back to Kakashi to catch his reaction to her announcement.

The horror Kakashi forced himself to project must have been convincing, as the girl's face crumpled and she threatened to be overcome by grief again. He eased her back into his arms before she could fall apart, rubbing soothing circles against her back. The heat of her skin warmed his palm through the thin fabric of her top. "I'm so sorry, Sakura." He didn't need to say more. With her face buried in his chest, he struggled against the satisfied smile that tried to surface.

She quieted. Her breathing slowed. Sakura grabbed his shirt again, but this time Kakashi felt her need simmering beneath the sadness.

He leaned back to meet her eyes. Sakura blinked up at him, then leaned in to press her mouth against his.

Kakashi stopped her forward momentum with a gentle squeeze of her shoulders. "Wait, Sakura."

She scowled. "Why?"

"I don't want you to make a rash decision out of pure emotion. That's the kind of decision-making that will land you back in mandatory therapy."

Sakura scoffed. "I am an adult, Kakashi. I know what I want." She set her jaw, resolute. "You still care about me, don't you?"

Kakashi wet his lips. "You know that I do."

"Fine. If that's true, help me. This…" – she rubbed at her chest – "… hollow feeling is going to kill me…I need you to help me not to feel it. I need you to help me not feel anything. "

Oh, Kakashi was more than willing to oblige her, but he needed to make sure he tied her up tight. Leave no room for doubt that this decision was anything other than her own.

"What about your boyfriend? Naruto, was it?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "You honestly think he wouldn't have a problem with your being here with me like this?" Of course, Naruto would have. His dying thoughts were of Sakura, after all.

"Fuck him," Sakura said with a bitterness that made Kakashi want to stand up and cheer. "No one knows where he is. He left without bothering to seek me out, so I don't care anymore. He's not here. But you are."

With that, Sakura's soft mouth pressed against Kakashi's without an ounce of hesitation. He gave in with a rumbling groan, his cock already thickening as he wrapped both arms around her and held Sakura as close as possible.

She whined when he stood up from the couch and took her with him, wrapping her slim legs around his waist, never breaking the kiss. Sakura tasted as sweet as he remembered. Her soft, floral scent took over his senses as tendrils of her pink hair fanned into Kakashi's face.

He devoured her as he walked them to his bedroom with confident, purposeful steps, her body as light as a feather. Her slight weight made it easy to keep her aloft while they worked together to rip off her top, wriggle him out of his button-down shirt, snatch off the delicate lace bra hiding away the pert perfection of her breasts.

Sakura was already rubbing that sweet little cunt he knew so well against him by the time Kakashi had kicked open his bedroom door. He couldn't wait to get her leggings off so he could see his prize in the flesh.

He dumped her on the bed and she bounced, too dazed at the moment to find the jostling of her body humorous. All Kakashi could see in her eyes was the familiar hunger for his cock.

Perfect.

Too bad for Sakura that he was not in a giving mood. Right now, Kakashi was all about the taking .

He reached for her, ripping her leggings right down the center without bothering to shimmy them down her legs. She gasped in shock and he took the opportunity to kiss her again, this time using his tongue to dominate hers. So, so sweet…her moans as she threw her arms around his neck and worked her tongue around his made Kakashi's eyes roll back in his head.

Sakura whimpered in frustration when he broke away to stand at the end of the bed, leaving her writhing and wanting atop the now-wrinkled coverlet. He hoped to have her soaking that blanket with her juices – more than once – before this night was through.

It would be an entirely different experience having Sakura without her being under the influence of his hypnotism. And yet another to savage that pretty cunt as a vampire.

Kakashi reached into his loose house pants and fisted his cock, already as hard as a brick. He gave himself a soft stroke and had to stifle a groan as he watched Sakura's wide eyes study him.

"I'll give you exactly what you want, Sakura. As long as you do exactly what I say." He kept his grip loose, barely skimming his length with his fingers. His balls felt heavy and hot as he palmed them with his other hand. "Can you do that?"

Almost on cue, Sakura's eyes fell to half-mast and she caught her bottom lip with her teeth. "Yes."

"Good." Breath already coming faster, Kakashi wasted no time. "I want you to pinch your nipples until it hurts. Let me see them turn red."

Sakura did as he commanded with a sigh that made Kakashi's hard cock weep, a thick bead of precum pooling at the tip. The heavy drop fell free of his swollen head toward the carpet on a long, sticky thread as he watched her nipples turn the beautiful rosy shade he loved.

"Good girl," he said, beginning to stroke himself a little faster.

"Kakashi," Sakura said as her eyes pinched closed. Her back arched off the bed and he caught the sparkle of tears on her lashes in the light of the table lamp on his nightstand. "I've missed you…"

"Prove it. Get on your knees and let me see how wet that cunt is for me."

She obeyed and the moisture he saw glistening at her tiny opening drew him back to the bed to grasp her hips from behind. A fierce and terrible desire coiled low and dangerous in the pit of his belly. His balls grew tight and drew up into his body, ready to shoot his seed deep into her waiting womb.

Oh, yes, Kakashi had every intention of taking her in every way, and he did not plan to be gentle about it.

Sakura needed to be reminded that he would always be in control, hypnosis be damned.

"I want to see you touch yourself." Kakashi leaned down briefly to place a kiss on the back of each of her soft thighs.

Sakura shivered and he saw her hand appear at the apex of her legs. Her fingers found her clit and began to stroke through her sopping wetness in quick circles, her head dropping to the bed and stifle her desperate moans.

Stepping forward, Kakashi's breath caught in his throat as he stroked the head of his cock across her rounded cheeks and traced the perimeter of her womanhood, navigating around the hand still working her into a frenzy.

"You know that no matter what, you'll always be my little tranceslut , don't you?"

Sakura groaned, her voice muffled by the mattress. "Yes."

"I'm going to take this juicy cunt."

"Yes." He legs began to tremble. She was close.

Kakashi swatted her hand away. She'd come when he wanted her to, not before. "I'm going to ruin you, Sakura," he said, his voice hard with the echoes of their last erotic session together. "And I want you to tell me that you want me to do it."

"Do it, Kakashi." She gasped, her back curving beautifully as she offered herself to him. "Ruin me. Please… "

In one smooth motion, Kakashi tightened his grip on her hips and thrust inside her in a single hard stroke.

Sakura screamed and it was music to his ears.

Kakashi pounded into her, pushing past her body's resistance with authority, grunting at the overwhelming sensation of her hot, wet walls gripping him. The sound of their flesh slapping out his staccato rhythm filled the room.

Soon, Sakura's soprano wails added to their erotic symphony. He could tell she had adjusted to his size once her hands reached behind her to spread herself wider for him. Kakashi reached one hand underneath her to roll a nipple between his fingers, making her cry out anew. To remind her once again that he was running the show, used his other hand to pin her head to the mattress and render her virtually immobile.

He was going to shoot his load, and soon, but he needed to feel Sakura's cunt clench around him in orgasm before he could be satisfied. To that end, he let go of her breast and moved his hand to her clit.

Sakura bucked against him. Everything he was doing felt so good, she was afraid she would lose her mind.

"That's right," Kakashi said between pants, sweat gathering on his brow. His hips pumped like pistons, his hand strumming her wet slit above his veiny cock like an instrument. The nub grew larger and bulbous beneath his fingers. Sakura began to shriek in time to his thrusts. "Tell me you want me to ruin this cunt for any other man."

Sakura didn't miss a beat. "Yes, Kakashi, please…"

"Tell me you want me to fill you up to overflowing with my load."

"I do, God …"

Kakashi began to pump faster, like a madman, his sweaty hair sticking to his forehead. He increased the tempo of his stroking hand to a slick vibration against Sakura's throbbing clit and she suddenly cried out with a hoarse scream as her walls convulsed around his cock. The pleasure he gave made her hands ball up in the twisted covers and her back arch like that of a cat.

He pulled out, not gently at all, to flip the girl onto her back like a ragdoll. Kakashi didn't plan on allowing her any recovery time. He kicked off his pants and captured her mouth in a desperate kiss at the same moment he entered her again, this time laying his body on top of hers to feel every inch of her hot, sweaty skin.

He pressed his hips forward then back, slowly, watching himself in her heavy-lidded eyes. "Tell me you belong to me, Sakura."

Her lashes fluttered, her face and chest already flushing with another impending orgasm. "I belong to you, Kakashi."

"Mmm." He rewarded her with soft kisses to her eyelids, her ears, both sides of her neck. Sakura's arms wrapped around him so tightly he found it difficult to inhale. The intense pleasure curling around the base of his spine made Kakashi increase the speed of his stroke. He took her hands and laced his fingers with hers.

"Do you want this load, Sakura?"

"Yes…"

"Do you want me to fill this cunt to the brim?"

"Yes, I do…"

"Then swear yourself to me. Forever."

Sakura's eyes sparkled as she stared up at him, each of them panting in time with the other. "I swear. I'm yours until the day I die."

Her declaration was enough. Kakashi went off like a bomb with a roar, his back arching as his thick cock began to spasm deep within her heat, wave after wave after wave of pleasure rolling through him from head to toe. He trembled with the force of it and the knowledge that he'd had Sakura at last.

Sakura watched him in fascination, running her hands up and down through the beads of sweat covering his back. For a second, just before his eyes snapped closed in ecstasy, she could have sworn they had flashed a brilliant, violent red. It was enough to pull Sakura from her orgasmic stupor, but as Kakashi rolled off her, she put it out of her mind. It didn't make any sense; no point in dwelling on it. Maybe all the craziness in her life was making her hallucinate.

Kakashi extended his arm and Sakura happily wriggled closer into his embrace so he could cover them both with the loose blanket. Since they both were spent, it didn't take long for the fatigue to take over.

Sakura's mind still buzzed as she drifted off. She couldn't think about anything else but the feel of Kakashi inside of her. Of that, she was grateful.

She felt differently the second she opened her eyes to find herself alone in Kakashi's bed.

What had she done?

Had she really so wantonly thrown herself at her former therapist?

Deep down, Sakura knew Naruto loved her with a purity she did not deserve. He wouldn't have just left her for no reason and with no explanation. Something had to have happened to him.

In the light and reason of a new day, things seemed clear as a bell in her mind. Horrified, Sakura scrambled out of bed and ran into the bathroom. She couldn't face herself in the mirror. She didn't need to see to know the shame she felt had turned her face and neck and chest crimson red.

The entire time she spent trying to clean herself of the remnants of Kakashi's seed and dressing in yesterday's clothes, the night's events replayed in her thoughts on a continuous loop. Her guilt increased every time, until she had braced her hands on the stone countertop and sobbed into the sink.

Sakura had to fish a long shirt out of Kakashi's closet to cover the jagged rip in her leggings. Taking a deep breath, she tiptoed out into the hall to follow the homey scents of breakfast coming from the kitchen.

She stopped at the far end of the dining table to say her piece. "This was a mistake, Kakashi." There was no point in mincing words. Sakura was an adult now and had to handle her affairs as such.

His back to her as he worked the stove, Kakashi stopped humming and stilled. Sakura watched his shoulders bunch with unspent tension.

He turned off the flame with a click and tossed the pan onto the back burner with a clang that made Sakura jump. "It was no mistake. You swore yourself to me. Have you already forgotten?"

Sakura swallowed hard and twisted her hands behind her back. Why did she feel so uneasy now? "I…I said that in the heat of the moment. You can't exactly hold that against me." She gave a breathless chuckle that held no humor.

Kakashi still had not turned around to face her. Instead, he heaved a sigh and ran a clawed hand through his fine silver hair. "I knew this would happen."

"Knew what would happen? What do you mean?" Without realizing it, Sakura grabbed the back of the closest chair and braced herself.

"I knew you would come here. I knew you would come to my house and whore yourself out to me."

He might as well have slapped Sakura in the face. How could he say something so cruel to her, of all people?

"But you swore yourself to me, Sakura," Kakashi said, finally pivoting to flash a sinister grin at her from across the kitchen that chilled her to the bone. "I knew you wouldn't mean it, but that's too bad.

You're mine now."

I'll finish this, but I will, one day.

Chapter 18: What's Yours Is Mine

Chapter Text

So beautiful.

Kakashi could still recall the initial thought that had flitted through his mind the moment he first laid eyes on Sakura. That morning at the coffee shop contained within Briar Hill felt like a lifetime ago.

So innocent, yet filled with so much pain. Kakashi had been drawn to her the instant their eyes made contact and a soft blush had bloomed across her cheeks. He had never been so intrigued or excited at the prospect of working with a new patient. Before or since.

The darkest parts of him, the parts that had lay dormant and hidden even from himself at the time, had wondered how Sakura's darkness would feel if he probed it, felt around in the recesses of her mind for what made her feel sad and lonely and afraid. He'd wondered what she would do once he knew. He'd wondered what he could make her do.

That thought alone had made him as hard as a steel pole on many sleepless nights since they met.

Kakashi had genuinely wanted to help Sakura at the beginning. He'd wrangled his physical attraction to the pink-haired beauty and stuffed it deep down into the depths of his psyche in order to maintain his professionalism. He couldn't seem to reach her with traditional techniques; she was too broken and dead inside.

But when Kakashi dared to lean on his hypnotism to coax her out of her shell into the truth of all she was…she came alive.

Under his influence, Kakashi could see the real Sakura at her core: lovely, open, vibrant, untouched, and perhaps most dangerous of all, willing to do and be anything he asked of her for as long as he wished.

That's when he'd become obsessed.

One taste of her, that was all it had taken. Her smooth, perfect skin had tasted like peach nectar on his tongue. That vacant, glassy look in her pretty eyes had made his mouth water. And God, how she'd wanted him to possess her in every way possible.

Her desire had begun to bleed into life outside of their hypnosis sessions, shattering what remained of Kakashi's self-control. She flirted with him without shame, flashing those eyes and that smile at him, finding not-so-subtle ways to encourage him to look at her perfect breasts. She'd wanted to be his and his alone as much as Kakashi wanted her to belong to him.

Which was why the feelings Sakura had for Naruto that she'd expressed to Kakashi that day in his office had felt like a sudden disembowelment.

How dare she.

How dare Sakura tease Kakashi for months and months before emotionally dropping him like a bad habit the second that goof Naruto arrived on the scene. Kakashi's jealous tendencies had intensified after his transformation into a vampire. It burned through his bones, his mind, and all of his emotions until envy – and rage – were all that remained.

Sakura had used Kakashi to feel better, to run from her past and her fears. She took comfort in his darkness because it was the one thing far darker than her own. Naruto had to die because Sakura did not understand the concept of loyalty. Poor guy had been collateral damage.

Kakashi felt nothing when it came to Naruto's gruesome murder because his death was on Sakura's head.

Her decision to seduce Kakashi before abandoning him had consequences.

It just so happened that Kakashi executing those consequences on her behalf had driven Sakura right back into his arms, where she belonged.

Where she should have always been.

It was no wonder then that Kakashi couldn't stay upset after Sakura marched into his kitchen to whine about their "mistake" of last night. If that was the case, it was an error that Kakashi planned to repeat as many times as possible – especially now that he had a guarantee that Sakura could never again deny him.

Still standing at the stove, he took out the bowls he'd left to warm in the oven and placed them on the counter. "Have a seat," he said over his shoulder, not looking at her as he poured them generous servings of miso soup and placed a fried egg on top of each. A smirk tugged at his lips when he heard Sakura's chair scrape against the tile floor.

Kakashi walked their breakfast to the kitchen table where she was reluctantly seated, his gait casual and careless.

He sat across from her, stifling a dark chuckle at seeing Sakura struggling to rise from her seat and failing. Her expression contorted over and over, moving from fear to disbelief, then anger and confusion and back again.

He licked his lips. Seeing her like this was beginning to turn him on.

He nodded at the bowl he'd pushed her way. "Eat your breakfast."

Sakura's chest heaved. "I-I'm not hungry."

Kakashi lifted his bowl to his lips and took a long slurp, feeling the blistering soup work its way down his gullet. "You are," he told her. "More than you realize, especially after last night." He stared at her, unblinking. "You aren't getting up until I say you can, so you might as well eat."

He caught Sakura's soft squeak as she stared at her own hand in horror, watching it pick up the bowl as if the appendage belonged to a stranger. Her throat worked as she took a single sip, then ripped her face away from the bowl and let drop so quickly it sloshed soup onto the table.

"What have you done to me, Kakashi?"

A dark, dangerous humor made Kakashi's nostrils flare. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Kakashi!" Sakura was hyperventilating. "Why can't I move? Why can't I get up from this table? I want to leave!"

"You will leave, Sakura," Kakashi said, eyes shimmering with delight as he watched her struggle. "But as I said, only when I allow you to."

The tear that slipped down her cheek sent a delicious shiver up Kakashi's spine. "I don't understand. I don't understand any of this." She let out a shuddering sigh. "Please, Kakashi…whatever you're doing to me, stop. Let me go."

He cocked his head, studying her beauty for a moment. He had truly never seen such a uniquely perfect woman. "I couldn't even if I wanted to," he said. "It's beyond my control now. But even if it wasn't…" A slow grin began to spread. "…I don't think I would stop. I'm rather enjoying this."

Sakura started to cry in earnest, her eyes pinching shut in spite of big, fat tears streaming down her face and disappearing into the cleavage hidden by her top.

"Sakura, open you eyes and look at me."

Her eyes popped open, but the tears continued to flow.

"Do you remember what you told me last night? When I was deep, deep inside you?"

Kakashi bit his lip and watched her entire body shudder and blush a deep crimson – in revulsion or desire, he couldn't tell. Nor did he care. "Answer me," he said. He wanted to hear her say it.

"I remember."

"Tell me what you said. Word for word."

Sakura took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. "I said, 'I swear I'm yours until the day I die'."

"Exactly." Kakashi smiled and pushed his bowl aside. All the sustenance he needed he was getting from this exchange. "Something happened to me recently, something terrible and wonderful all the same. It's hard to explain, but I'm greatly…changed."

Sakura's creased brow furrowed even deeper. "Changed how?"

Leaning back in his chair and getting comfortable, Kakashi flashed her a deceptively benign smile. "Suffice it to say that any promise or oath made to me is binding for life."

"What? You're crazy." Sakura shook her head again and again. Kakashi had lost his mind! He thought he could control her now? Maybe he was manipulating her somehow. Maybe he'd drugged her, put something in her soup…

"You are the one who threw yourself at me. You are the one who willingly gave me your life." Kakashi's feline eyes lowered suggestively. "Among other things."

In an instant, Sakura was trembling with her fury. "Fuck you, Kakashi."

"I believe you did that, Sakura," Kakashi said, hardly able to suppress his delight. "And you will undoubtedly do it again."

Sakura managed to jump up from her seat. She slapped both palms flat on the table to emphasize the steel in her voice. "I'm leaving. You can't make me do anything. Never."

"Can't I?" Kakashi raised his chin. "Sit down, Sakura."

It was as if Sakura's muscles froze and forgot how to function. Her brain willed her body to turn and run for the front door. Instead, she found herself plopping her suddenly limp body back in her chair. Just as Kakashi had commanded.

For the first time in his presence, real fear crawled its way up Sakura's spine.

"You see?" Kakashi grinned and Sakura wanted to smack the smug smile right off his face. "Anything I tell you to do, you'll do. You no longer have a choice."

Sakura couldn't speak, and it had nothing to do with Kakashi himself. Her terror had robbed her of her words.

What had happened to him? How had Kakashi, the man at one point she thought she had fallen in love with, become this monster without her having taken notice?

"I could tell you to jump off a bridge and you'd give a running start," Kakashi said then, either unaware of her distress or uncaring. His eyes took on a dangerous glow. "If I wanted you to climb up on this table and touch yourself for me, you'd do it in a heartbeat."

Everything in Sakura rebelled. She didn't want anything else to do with Kakashi. She felt poisoned by his very presence now. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was be intimate with him in any way ever again.

She shook her head again, beginning to realize that she was no longer in control here. "Please…don't do this."

"I think I will, because I need to know you truly understand how this works from here on out." His next words possessed an unnatural edge of power. Sakura couldn't fathom how she hadn't noticed it before this moment. "Get on top of this table and spread for me."

A bone-deep shudder rolled through Sakura's body and then she was climbing onto the table top on her hands and knees, her unused silverware digging into her skin. Her muscles tensed as much as possible as she tried to fight whatever influence Kakashi had over her, but it was to no avail. Her body did just as he had commanded, moving into a sitting position, scooting closer to him so that her backside was almost hanging off the edge of his side of the table, and spreading her legs as wide as they would go.

Kakashi's silent breathing picked up, if his suddenly heaving chest was any indication. The shirt Sakura had pilfered from his closet was still tied around her waist by the sleeves, but the wanton position she sat in before him did nothing to hide the rip Kakashi had made in her leggings last night. Her pussy was as bare to him now as it was then.

And much to her disgust, it was already dripping for him. Apparently, he had absolute control over her arousal as well.

Kakashi crossed his arms behind his head. "Good girl. Let me see you stroke that pretty, pretty cunt. And do it slowly, so I can hear how wet I make you."

Resist as she might, Sakura couldn't stop her hand from reaching down between her legs so her fingertips could stroke the petal-soft lips there. She looked away, casting her eyes down the hall and wishing she could make it to the door to freedom.

If she could hear the squelching noises her hand made as it rubbed her swollen clit, Sakura knew Kakashi could, too.

She closed her eyes so tightly they ached, desperate not to feel the pleasure spiraling up through her body from the pit of her stomach, warm and aching and awful.

Then Kakashi moaned and she felt a fresh burst of wetness escape her, the slick fluid building up between her fingers. She couldn't stop her eyes from rolling back into her head.

"Look at me, Sakura."

God, she didn't want to, but the pain in her neck became so great as she tried to resist that she nearly cried out as she gave up. Kakashi was standing now, stroking his bulge through his fresh pair of pants. She could feel the threads of their connection as she stared into his eyes and witnessed the malevolence brewing there.

He panted as he watched her, then said, "Fuck your fingers. Two of them. I know you can take it."

Sakura just barely suppressed the groan that rumbled out of her chest as her body did what it was told. The two middle fingers of her right hand pressed into her wet opening and began to stroke on the inside. Her legs trembled from bearing the weight of her own shame and burning arousal and Kakashi's piercing, incessant stare.

"Faster." Kakashi's cock was out now. He stroked it lightly, no longer staring at Sakura's reddened face but at the juncture of her slim thighs.

Leaning back on an elbow, Sakura used the new angle to pump her elbow up and down. She was fucking her own hand, still staring up at her tormentor because the power he wielded over here would allow nothing else.

Sakura did not want to enjoy this. The hate that had begun to bud in her heart for Kakashi was mixing with the pleasure he was forcing her to create in her body, heightening it to the point of pain. Her hips began to buck against her hand on their own. Seeing Kakashi stroke his thick cock harder and faster in time with her movements lent a sense of power to Sakura that simmered under his influence.

Her mouth watered as she watched him work his cock no more than an inch or two from her cunt. She could feel the muscles of her traitorous womanhood flickering around her fingers as Kakashi made her push herself closer and closer to the edge of oblivion.

"Kakashi, please," she tried to say in a last-ditch effort, "let me go…"

"Only after I see your pussy clench while you come." Kakashi bit his lip, then pushed his hips forward just enough to swipe the head of his long member along her aching slit to gather up some of Sakura's ample wetness. She gasped at the brief sensation. Kakashi groaned long and low, using her fluids to lubricate his shaft and increase his tempo.

God, Sakura felt so good and so horrible, all at once. The dissonance in her emotions created a conflagration in her body that consumed her from the inside out.

It was unendurable.

Her hand moved so fast it was a blur. No sound could be heard beyond the wet squish of her pumping fingers and Kakashi's hand swirling around the swollen head of his cock.

And her moans. They were soft and constant and humiliating. But she couldn't stop them.

Flushed and sweating, she stood on the precipice of her climax for what seemed like forever, desperation making her movements erratic. Then she realized it was Kakashi that was somehow preventing her from falling over the edge and ending this.

"Kakashi…Kakashi, please…let me come…"

"Only if you tell me that I still own you." He was breathless now, his hips jerking in time to his thrusts, his eyes intent on Sakura's swollen and glistening pussy lips.

At this point, Sakura was nearly out of her mind with rage and lust. "Yes, you still own me…just let me come, please!"

"You can rub that swollen clit," Kakashi said, his voice hard as his cock twitched in his hand. "Just make sure you look at me when you come. So you remember it's because I allowed it."

After teetering on the edge for so long, a ragged and worn-out Sakura was ready to explode. She popped her fingers out of her channel and moved them to her clit. It was so swollen and tender and sensitive, she could barely stand the contact. She applied the smallest amount of pressure possible for mere seconds before she felt that familiar fiery warmth shoot up through her belly.

"Oh, God…"

"Look at me."

Sakura still felt compelled to obey Kakashi's command and her eyes found his. At that precise moment, the orgasm snatched her away.

She howled into it as it turned her inside out, eyes boring into Kakashi's when she wanted more than anything to shut him away from her soul for good. Her pussy clenched again and again in a rhythm he seemed to control, because his cock suddenly jerked hard in time with her body and shot two thick streams of white cum her way. They landed across her wet opening and pussy lips in quick succession, hot and sticky against her skin.

But he wasn't done. With a moan, he pointed his cock up so several more shots landed on her neck and mouth, then slid the head between Sakura's lips before she could so much as grunt in protest. His finished by sending the last of his heavy load down her open throat.

"Such a good girl for me, Sakura," Kakashi said, smiling as he slid his cock over her wet lips as if applying lipstick. "Go ahead and swallow. Lick your lips to make sure you get it all."

With a rapid blink, Sakura licked her lips clean and gulped down his sweet-salty spend. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, and under different circumstances, she would have been eager to do it without any prompting.

But the situation wasn't different. And as the last vestiges of pleasure that remained of her orgasm drifted away, Sakura's anger returned full force. If she could have strangled Kakashi with her bare hands, she would have.

His eyes sparkled as if he was aware of the change in her state of mind. He returned his manhood to his pants, but not before leaving a quick peck on her lips. As if to seal the deal.

"Very good. I think you've learned your lesson." He backed away from the table. "You can go."

The precious words left Kakashi's villainous lips and Sakura scrambled off the table and down the hallway in a flash, tears blinding her as she scrambled for the doorknob.

"By the way," Kakashi called as he strolled down the hall after her, "don't think you can go running for help. Stop and listen."

Though her breaths were ragged and fast, Sakura stilled with her hand on the door handle. She couldn't help it.

"You can tell no one about our little…contract. If anyone asks you what's wrong, you will say you're fine. You will not speak a word."

Sakura trembled.

"Say you understand."

Her voice came out a strained whisper. "I understand, Kakashi. Just let me leave."

"You may go…but I'll see you soon."

With a wail, Sakura flung the door open and fled down the driveway into the sunshine the way she had come the night before.

Kakashi let her go, gently closing the door behind her.

He could not have been happier.

Something shiny on the living room couch caught his eye. Ah, his cell phone. That's right; he needed to give Minato a call back to have him come over.

Leisurely, he poured himself a drink from the bar cart nearby and settled onto the soft cushions, picking up his cell to dial Minato's number.

He threw an elbow over the back of the couch and stretched a leg out on the coffee table, feeling better than he had in weeks.

Should be an interesting conversation with his old mentor.

As always, I appreciate your love and support and please drop a comment below! I love chatting with you guys!

Chapter 19: Upheaval

For a long time, Minato found every reason possible to avoid going home to his empty apartment. He practically lived in his car for weeks, doing all he could to keep an ear to the street, roughing up ne'er-do-wells in his ceaseless hunt for his missing son.

That was weeks ago. At this point, nothing short of an act of God could drag Minato out of the house, and the one thing he craved – besides once again basking in the smile of his only son – was sleep. And much like Naruto himself, peace and rest continued to elude a bereft Minato.

He was glad his boss, Tsunade, didn't press the issue when he called to tell her he would need an indeterminate leave of absence to deal with Naruto's sudden disappearance. Minato suspected her leniency had strings attached. The organization was so understaffed she knew if anyone could get the esteemed Dr. Kakashi Hatake back to work, it would be Minato.

Minato mused on her blind faith in his persuasive abilities as he rolled over in his unmade bed, tangling himself into sheets that had not been changed in weeks. Something was different about Kakashi. There was an undercurrent of some emotion in his voice Minato didn't recognize during their brief phone exchange, before Kakashi abruptly ended the call with an obvious lie.

Kakashi had not had a patient at that moment. Minato had known the younger man long enough to recognize how the timbre of his voice changed when he was in a professional headspace, and instead of the warm yet steely resolve Minato was accustomed to hearing, he heard anxiety with an odd edge…like malevolence.

Which didn't make any sense at all.

A fully clothed Minato forced himself backward until his back was propped up against his wooden headboard. Kakashi was clearly going through something, but it had been years and years since he and Minato had been close enough for either man to feel comfortable sharing the inner workings of their personal lives. Tsunade was taking a huge professional gamble on a relationship that Minato worried had already withered and died.

Case in point: Minato hadn't told anyone about his moonlighting as a detective into his own son's disappearance. Or how just being alive without knowing Naruto's whereabouts made him want to howl at the sky in pain.

He rubbed his bloodshot eyes, then let them rove the disarray of his room. Various liquor bottles in green and brown glass dotted every solid surface, from his nightstand, to the upholstered bench at the foot of the bed, to the window sills at the far side of the room; even a couple on the bathroom counter glinted in the faint glow of a nightlight plugged into the wall outlet. Minato scratched the lengthy whiskers that had grown in. He couldn't remember the last time he'd shaven or bathed. Or eaten more than the bare minimum to avoid starvation, for that matter. The space felt too warm and a faint scent of musk and sweat hung low in the air like a dust cloud.

Not long ago, Minato would have grounded Naruto for a month had he found his room looking like this.

A large, hard lump formed in Minato's throat as he stared at hard evidence of the rapid deterioration of his life. Weeks of searching for Naruto had turned up nothing. The spark of hope in his heart was starting to dim, and no matter how much his mind rejected the idea, Minato realized that some small part of him knew that Naruto might be gone forever. And that part of him had already given up.

Minato allowed a single tear to slip down his rugged cheek without intervention, but only one. More than that and he knew abject despair would never allow him to leave his bed again.

He reached for his phone on the nightstand, trying to distract himself.

The text notification he saw quickened his heart and he sat bolt upright onto his knees. It was from Sakura, Naruto's girlfriend. She wanted him to meet her at a nearby park as soon as he could. An emergency, she said.

Minato's pulse began to race in earnest. Had she heard something about Naruto that the police hadn't? Did she have any idea of where he could be?

It was a long shot, but more than enough to animate Minato to action. He bounded off the bed and ran into the bathroom to clean himself up and don some comfortable slacks and a shirt that hadn't been worn for three days straight. Then, stuffing his cell phone into his pocket and scooping his keys and wallet out of the ceramic bowl by the front door, he was outside and in his car before his brain could fully catch up.

Even if the park Sakura mentioned in her text hadn't been so close by, Minato would have screeched into the parking lot in ten minutes or less after shattering the residential speed limit the entire drive.

The way his hand shook when he yanked the keys out of the ignition made him grit his teeth. He couldn't give in to the damning thoughts and speculation nibbling at his conscious mind due to the fear of what Sakura might tell him.

Steeling himself, he jumped out of the car, then noticed his cell had slipped out of his pocket onto the driver's seat. Minato grabbed it as an afterthought just as the screen lit up.

A missed call. From Kakashi.

Almost twenty minutes ago, while Minato was still at home. He'd forgotten he'd left the phone on silent hours ago while trying to get the sleep that never came.

He dialed in his voicemail box code and put the phone to his ear, one elbow dangling over the door that was still ajar.

Kakashi's voice was tinny and distorted due to the poor quality of the recording. "Minato – it's Kakashi. Sorry about earlier. A…crisis was averted, so I'm free now. I'd love to have you come over, if you're still up to it. I'll be here the rest of the night. Let me know."

Minato frowned as the message ended with the decisive click of Kakashi hanging up. He'd sounded so…detached. Almost rehearsed. Something about it raised the hairs on Minato's forearms, but he didn't have time to ponder it now. He needed to find Sakura.

She found him first. Minato had barely strayed five yards from his car when Sakura ran up to him out of nowhere, looking like she'd just witnessed something terrible. Her small hands trembled as she grabbed both of his own, her face streaked with tears and her clothes disheveled with a man's dress shirt wrapped around her waist.

"Minato." She said his name like a prayer, holding on to him with surprising strength for such a slip of a girl. Her pink hair, the unique tresses Naruto was so fond of, looked like a bird's nest made of candy floss atop her head. Like she had been pulling on it with both hands.

Or someone else had.

"Sakura, have you heard something about Naruto? Did he contact you?" Minato couldn't stop the selfish question from leaping out of his mouth. His obsession gave his questions a life of their own.

Sakura shook her head and cried harder. "No…no…"

She looked like she wanted to say more, her face twisting with some kind of desperation.

"Are you alright?" Minato gave her shoulder an awkward pat. "What happened? Did…did someone hurt you?" Studying her with a fresh eye, he realized with a horrified jolt that she had the look of a woman who had experienced some kind of assault.

Instead of speaking, Sakura's lips pressed closed as her eyes bucked wide open. The veins in her neck bulged with strain.

Hot frustration flared through Minato's weary body. "Sakura! Can't you speak? Open your mouth! What's going on?" He glared down at her. "Why did you need to speak to me? Does this have anything to do with my son at all?"

"No, not Naruto…I can't…I can't…" A sob squeaked out of her throat. "I want to, but I can't…"

Minato watched her fall apart in utter confusion. "You want to what? Tell me!"

Sakura's eyes closed for a moment and she shuddered as she sucked in a huge gulp of air. Then her glassy eyes popped open again. "Kakashi. Kakashi."

Kakashi? A deep frown slashed between Minato's brows. What did his former mentee have to do with this?

"What did Kakashi do, Sakura?"

Her mouth began to open and close like a dying fish, but no words emerged.

Minato fought the grumble that tried to work its way up his chest.

What the hell was happening here?

Kakashi is evil, Minato.

Kakashi forced me to do disgusting things to myself while he watched.

Kakashi isn't the man either of us thought he was.

Kakashi needs to be stopped.

Sakura's mind burned with everything she wanted to tell Minato, but true to his word, Kakashi had somehow severed the connection between her thoughts of him and her mouth. Try as she might, she just could not force the words she needed to say past her lips so Minato could hear them and help her.

She was terrified of Kakashi now. Sakura had never experienced another person with this kind of power, let alone one who would use it to control her in such an evil way.

As she stood there while a perplexed Minato looked on with worried and tired eyes, Sakura mentally twisted herself through any loophole she could think of to try and explain what Kakashi had done. Every time she tried to come at her explanation from a new angle, it was as if her tongue instantly turned to lead and her words strangled in her throat.

Just when her intense frustration began to border on hysteria, it was Minato's impassioned offer to help in any way he could that rang a bell in Sakura's head.

Of course…didn't Kakashi tell her before that Minato had been his mentor for years? That he had been the one to introduce him to –

"Minato," Sakura said in a rush, "could you hypnotize me?"

Minato blinked in surprise before he glanced around, as if trying to see if anyone were watching them clasping hands on the walking path near a park bench. " Hypnotize you? Why?"

"I-I think it might be the only way I can tell you what's happened." Sakura hadn't stopped trembling since she bolted from Kakashi's house. Just the thought of what he'd made her do – and why he'd made her do it – made her physically ill. She couldn't believe she was dealing with the same person…though in fairness, he had warned her that he was "greatly changed".

Whatever that meant, after the events of this afternoon, Sakura was certain the version of the man she had held close to her heart was no more.

"I don't know, Sakura," Minato said after a long moment of chewing on his lip and staring at his scuffed leather shoes. "That requires a great deal of concentration and presence of mind for the hypnotist, and I don't know if I'm in – "

"Please, Minato." Sakura squeezed his hands so hard the flesh turned white. "You're the only one who can help me."

Relief coursed through Sakura's trembling body when she saw the resolve slide across Minato's features. He raised his chin and narrowed his eyes at her. "How did you get here? Did you drive?"

Drive? Sakura had hoofed it for what felt like miles like she had never heard of the concept of a car. Her solitary thought was to get as far away from Kakashi's house of horrors as possible. "I walked here."

"Fine." Minato nodded, hands on his hips as he looked all business. "We'll need a quiet place to work. My home is closer than my office, so you can ride with me there."

Sakura nodded her acknowledgement and beat the man to his own vehicle, waiting by the passenger door to hop in.

Both of them were silent the entire ride back to Minato's apartment. Sakura stayed out of the way once they were inside, standing aside when he seemed too embarrassed at the state of his place to allow her to help him clean up.

When things were presentable enough and he'd cleared the old newspapers and magazines from the living room furniture, Minato finally invited Sakura to have a seat. She cleared her throat and eased her body into an oversized chair.

"Can I offer you something to eat or drink, Sakura?"

Sakura recoiled at the thought. The residue of Kakashi's spend had crusted over her inner thighs and down between her small breasts. She could still taste it in the back of her throat. After this morning, Sakura felt filthy in a way that reached far deeper than her skin. At the moment, she didn't feel clean enough to want to eat anything else ever again.

She stretched her dry lips into a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine, thank you."

Minato nodded, then walked over to a glass console table set up against the wall. Atop the table sat a triangular wooden box. Sakura watched Minato barely flick what looked like the metal hand of a clock. The motion filled the room with a surprisingly resonate ticking sound, rhythmic and steady.

"Close your eyes and listen to the metronome, Sakura. Focus on the sound. Let it fill your head, your body."

Sakura did as she was told, finding that the gruffness of Minato's voice came as a stark contrast to the raw sensuality of Kakashi's whenever he'd put her under. She felt none of the familiar tingling between her thighs that being hypnotized used to trigger.

Thank God. After today, Sakura didn't think she could stand it.

She let her breath ease out of her chest and kept listening to Minato as he slowly paced the floor before her chair.

"Your breath will slow with every click. Your muscles will be more relaxed with every click. You'll become very warm as your body sinks deeper and deeper into the chair with every breath."

And she was. Just like in her sessions with Kakashi, Sakura felt her knotted-up muscles unfurl as the metronome's ticking became her whole world.

Tick…tick…tick…tick…

"And when I snap my fingers, Sakura, you will open your eyes and find yourself within the safest part of your mind."

Warm…safe…relaxed.

Snap!

Sakura blinked and her eyes widened. Minato's dingy apartment had disappeared. In its place was a grayish white room that stretched on forever in all four directions, containing nothing but herself and the chair in which she sat.

And Minato, apparently. He sat in an identical chair directly across from her in the same clothes he'd worn to the park, their knees almost touching.

"How do you feel, Sakura?"

Sakura bit her lip and rolled her shoulders. She felt…fine. Sort of weightless. The tightness in her chest and throat and stomach had disappeared. "I feel okay."

A benign smile floated across Minato's mouth before it disappeared back into its normal grim line. "Good. Here in this space, you are unbound by your negative thoughts or limiting beliefs. Feel free to speak anything that's on your mind."

Sensing that freedom, Sakura started talking and couldn't stop. She relayed to Minato the sexual nature of the relationship she'd started with Kakashi when she was still his patient, the changes she'd seen in him, the power he had acquired that was able to make her his slave.

Minato just listened, the emotions reflected through his facial expressions cycling like a traffic light: shock, horror, disgust, rage, then shock again.

Sakura was panting even on this strange hypnotic plane after she'd spun her sordid tale from the beginning. She felt relieved – until Minato stood up.

Her eyebrows hit her hairline in her panic. "What are you doing?"

"The way Kakashi has abused your patient-client relationship for his own gain…" Minato gave his head a violent shake. "It cannot stand. We have to confront him. Right now."

Sakura's stomach dropped to her toes. "Now?"

Minato pinned her to her seat with a pointed look.

"Yes, now ."

After another snap of Minato's fingers, Sakura was thrown back into reality and they wasted no time jumping into his car again to speed over to Kakashi's house. Unease crawled up and down Sakura's spine the entire ride, especially once Minato's car rolled up the familiar curved driveway.

The man had barely thrown the car into park when he opened his door, Minato was so enraged. He stomped up the walkway and banged on the front door with the heel of his hand. Fear slowed Sakura's steps as she crept up behind him. She hung back, almost hiding herself behind Minato's stocky body, trembling as they both waited for Kakashi to open the door.

Minato didn't wait for a polite invitation to enter, barging inside as soon as Kakashi opened the door. Sakura slid in behind him and hoped Kakashi kept his focus on the older man.

That turned out to be a pipe dream. When she dared to look up, Sakura found Kakashi's wide eyes staring right at her before they flicked over to Minato. "Well, Minato," he said, voice calm and amused, "I didn't know you'd be coming over with a friend."

"Cut the shit, Kakashi." Minato's meaty hands drew into tight, trembling fists. "I know what you did to this poor girl. I should call the police."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows so high he looked like a cartoon. "Is that right?" He leaned over to toss a look at Sakura. "I'm not sure what she told you – " his eyes narrowed, and she could tell he was trying to decipher how she managed to outwit his control – "but you should know I have never done anything to our dear Sakura that she didn't ask me for."

With a wince, Sakura shuddered and her guts clenched with utter revulsion. How could she ever have been so desperate for Kakashi? How could she have ever thought he'd wanted the best for her?

"What's happened to you, Kakashi? You were so gifted…had such promise." Still standing behind Minato's shoulder, Sakura couldn't see his face but could hear the hurt in his rumbling voice.

Stepping back to lean against the wall, Kakashi examined the nails of one hand with casual eyes before flipping them up to stare at Minato. "What happened to me? Something…extraordinary. Something your small mind could never understand."

Minato bristled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Enlighten us."

Sakura started, not realizing until then that Minato was still aware of her presence.

"A chance encounter with a stranger left me much improved," Kakashi said. "And I found I now have the power to decide my own fate and the fates of others around me." His eyes flashed with fiendish glee that Sakura felt was for her and her alone.

Betrayal, raw and hot, sliced through her chest. "Why are you so evil ?!"

Kakashi gave a single-shoulder shrug. "Ask him; he was my therapist."

Who, Minato?

The man in question heaved a sigh that sounded like it came from the pit of an exhausted soul. "You know I can't, Kakashi."

Kakashi deadpanned. "I think we're a bit beyond doctor-patient confidentiality now, don't you?"

Minato stayed quiet, even when morbid curiosity made Sakura dare to peek over at him.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and peered at Sakura again. "A long story short, both my parents committed suicide when I was five years old and I was put into a foster home. I lived with decent foster parents for a long time, but when I was thirteen my two foster siblings and I were kidnapped."

Sakura gasped without realizing it. "Kidnapped?"

"Oh, yes," Kakashi said. Only the tightness that appeared around his mouth gave away any emotion besides nonchalance. "The man had us tied up in the basement of some warehouse to do God knew what to us. He murdered my older brother." The smirk dropped from his mouth. "My older sister was smaller and smarter and got away. I managed to get my hand on a rusty piece of metal I broke off a table, hoping to ambush our kidnapper the next time he came down the stairs. But…" Kakashi paused, chest rising and falling slowly. "But the person I ended up stabbing through the heart was my sister coming back to rescue me."

Against her will, Sakura's own heart twisted in her chest for him. She'd never heard anything so horrible. God, the guilt alone must have eaten him alive.

"Don't feel too sorry for me, Sakura," Kakashi said, lopsided smile back in full force as he took in her aggrieved expression. "I eventually met Minato and he gave me a great gift: the gift of hypnotism. Being able to escape my awful reality. Being able to control someone else's reality." He cocked his head as if in deep thought. "Minato was always so strong…how interesting that his son was so weak it took nearly no hypnotism at all to handle him."

Sakura and Minato stilled simultaneously.

"What do you mean, Kakashi? What happened to Naruto?" Minato's deep voice dropped another octave, shaking with naked fear.

"I mean that I killed him."

Kakashi let his words smoke in the silent air while Minato and Sakura stared back at him in shock.

Dead.

Sweet, kind Naruto was…was dead.

No.

"You're lying."

Honestly, it could have been either Sakura or Minato who spoke then; she could no longer tell. She felt detached from reality altogether, like an astronaut whose tether had been carelessly snipped.

"Believe what you like, but it was quite the experience." The evil swelled within Kakashi as he stood up straighter, almost preening. "I drained his body of every last drop of blood, cut him up into pieces. Sakura and I actually had him for dinner months ago – remember, Sakura? Didn't you exclaim over how delicious the meal was that night? Hm?"

Dinner –

Absolute, unadulterated horror wouldn't let Sakura complete the thought in her head, but it was the sunny grin Kakashi flashed at her then that made her stomach do a sick flip and dropped her to her knees there in the foyer.

Her stomach dry heaved at the revelation that she had literally consumed the body of her boyfriend, so hard that if Sakura had maintained an appetite within the last twelve hours, every ounce of what she consumed would have ended up on Kakashi's tile floor.

A hoarse scream out of nowhere made Sakura jump out of her skin. Her head jerked up to witness Minato lunge for Kakashi's throat with both hands, his face twisted with rage and grief, murder in his eyes.

With a snort of disbelief, Kakashi dodged him as if the burly man was a misbehaving child, stepping out of his path with minimal effort. Then, with what looked like a mere tap of his fingertips, Kakashi broke both of the older man's femurs with two sickening cracks that echoed down the hallway.

Minato's new screams of pain as he stumbled to the floor triggered her own. Fear demanded she run, but Sakura couldn't move a muscle.

Kakashi had just maimed a full-grown man with a touch of his hand. There was nothing normal about that. There was nothing human about that.

He listened to Minato's audible misery with a placid smile on his face as he circled behind the prone man, shifting his big body to face a whimpering Sakura. "I have big plans, Sakura, and I'm not one to allow anyone to stand in the way of what I want – not Naruto, not his poor father…not even you, my love." Kakashi stared into Sakura's eyes and she wished like hell she could look away.

"We are going to take over this entire city, one plebian at a time, and you're going to be the one to make it happen for me. And just so you know what's at stake here…" Kakashi didn't finish his sentence, instead taking a hand and gently pushing back Minato's head to expose his wide neck. Minato was breathing fast but chose to allow his eyes to speak for him. Watching, Sakura knew he'd never cower.

She wished she could be that brave.

Kakashi struck like a cobra, his head coming down with what looked like fangs sinking into the vulnerable flesh of Minato's neck so fast it took a moment for Sakura to register the movement and react. Minato couldn't suppress the anguished roar of pain and terror wrenched from his mouth as Kakashi began to swallow his life's blood in gulp after gulp, staring into Sakura's eyes all the while.

How she wanted to look away with every fiber of her being. But Kakashi wanted her to see, wanted her to suffer as she understood his true power. He fed on his former mentor so slowly Sakura had to watch the light drain from Minato's eyes and his body go limp as a rag doll. His skin had grown waxy and gray by the time Kakashi let his form crumple to the floor in a used heap.

Dead.

This was the second dead body Sakura had seen in as many months.

She had a feeling she was next.

But Kakashi licked his lips and swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. It only served to smear Minato's blood across his chin and make Kakashi look maniacal.

He tsked like a disapproving aunt. "How naughty you've been, Sakura. This is the second man you've killed because you can't learn to keep your thoughts in our head where they belong – when you're not sharing them with me." When Kakashi grinned this time, his teeth were coated with blood.

Sakura's stomach heaved again.

"Come into the living room. Unfortunately for you, bad girls need to be punished."

Kakashi savored Sakura's fear of him like a fine red wine.

Having dispatched both Minato and Naruto, as well as Mebuki, Sakura now had no one else to turn to.

Delicious.

Now he just needed to remind her who had the upper hand in their relationship. And why.

Kakashi sat Sakura in his recliner, his hands on her narrow shoulders as gentle as could be. He grabbed the remote on the coffee table and flicked on the television.

"I had this made just for you a while ago but never got the chance to use it," Kakashi told her as he bent at the waist to pop in an unmarked video. He didn't expect Sakura to answer him. She'd settled into a fugue state, face blank and eyes vacant as she stared past him at the TV. "I thought it'd be pretty kinky and that you'd enjoy it, but…now it's punishment."

He straightened and took in Sakura's pretty face. God, he'd missed that look.

Kakashi swallowed hard as her glassy gaze created some familiar erotic stirrings down south. "You are not to get up, duck your head, or look away. Don't even blink. Nod if you understand, Sakura."

She nodded, a tear dripping off her jaw and landing on her upper chest.

He pushed play on the remote.

The video flashed onto the screen, a multicolor spiral spinning in a hypnotic circle. Every few seconds, a word would appear and disappear so quickly the watcher couldn't be sure they'd seen it at all.

It was a very old hypnosis technique. Heavy handed, but effective. Since Sakura had been clever enough to find some way to enlist Minato's help, Kakashi knew he had to bring out the big guns to ensure his power over her remained absolute.

When she began to struggle in her seat, Kakashi smiled to himself and walked over to stand behind her. He knew she was feeling the effects of the words he'd programmed to trigger subliminal responses in her subconscious, the hidden commands that flashed across the screen.

Obey.

Submit.

Comply.

Yield.

Surrender.

Kakashi repeated the words in her ear as a tender whisper, downright loving in his execution as he ghosted his fingertips up and down her bare arms and watched her skin erupt in gooseflesh again and again. He witnessed Sakura's eyes grow wide as saucers as her struggling began to subside. When the subliminal conditioning took hold, her eyes glazed and a tiny bit a drool trickled from the corner of her mouth.

After a long and admittedly valiant resistance, Sakura stilled.

Kakashi licked his lips. She was his now. Through and through.

The knowledge brought on a joy that bubbled up from his chest. He left her to stroll into the kitchen for a real glass of wine to celebrate, his cackling bouncing off the walls of his home.

End of Part II

TBC

Chapter 20: Not Where I Saw Myself In Five Years

Chapter Text

Sakura's eyes eased open, staring blankly at the stained wooden planks forming the steepled ceiling above her bed. The alarm on her cell phone blared obnoxiously through the silence of the room thirty seconds later.

It didn't make her jump. She'd expected it. Sakura had awakened inside this room, in precisely this way, for the last five years.

She slid out from beneath the plain sheet and blanket, her movements mechanical in their surety of purpose. Her morning routine was as much a part of her now as the will of her master.

Sakura used to shudder at the mere thought, but the horror with which she lived each day hadn't registered physically for years now. She'd stopped fighting Kakashi's influence over her mind long ago.

In a way, it was a relief to give up the fight. The effort it took to remember herself, to keep up the incessant struggle, to wriggle her emotions and thoughts free of her former therapist had left her in a weakened state she feared was permanent.

That fear evaporated once Sakura remembered it didn't matter. She'd be trapped inside Kakashi's web for the rest of her life.

No point in resisting it anymore.

That's why she started to do what she did every day: make the bed, use the toilet, brush her teeth, jump in the shower, wash her body while she stared at the tiled wall, jump out, towel off, blow-dry her hair.

Every morning, seven days a week. Just like that. No riffs or modifications.

Sakura might as well have been a pink-haired robot.

But her breath caught in her throat, just for a second, when she flipped her head to the side to blast her tresses with hot air. Kakashi didn't like short hair, so Sakura had just let it grow and grow. Now it was almost down to her knees.

Typically, she avoided the mirror altogether. She hated the empty void of the eyes that stared back at her. Today, though, Sakura could have sworn she saw a flash of her old self, a sparkle of the fire that used to burn deep inside her.

Then she blinked, and it was gone as if it never were.

She sighed and stuck the warm blow dryer back in its drawer so she could twist her hair up into its usual bun. It had to have been her imagination. Sakura knew the best parts of her, the ones full of passion and vigor and strength, were locked behind a psychic wall of Kakashi's making in her mind. She could feel their presence but had no access. He alone had the key.

And his power over her had only grown over the years. It used to be far more subtle, more like a tightening of her gut whenever she considered doing or saying something she knew he wouldn't like. In more recent times, Sakura could feel his will like an iron fist around her mind and heart, squeezing painfully at the mere suggestion that she had stepped out of line.

Enough lingering and pining over what was lost. Sakura turned away from the mirror in her bathroom and padded across the room to her small walk-in closet.

Though the small master bedroom had but one, Sakura didn't mind. The room was a cozy space full of the house's original wood floors and wall paneling that remained filled with natural light from the tall windows facing the east. Downstairs was a kitchen just large enough for one person to turn around in, a living room, and a small secondary bedroom she'd turned into an office. In a house that was nearly a century old, something was always going wrong – leaking pipes, peeling paint, rotting wood in more than one place around the home. But Sakura loved it. She could feel the history in the air, like the spirits of previous owners still lingered, waiting to whisper secrets to her from the dark.

Kakashi had allowed Sakura to choose the house for him to purchase outright in cash and had even been generous enough to let her live there on the edge of the city alone. At the same time, he took up residence in a fancy penthouse in downtown Konoha.

Well…saying she used to love the place would have been a more accurate statement. Such emotions were a distant memory at this point in her life.

Sakura eyed the clothes Kakashi bought for her, row after row of the same blouse, slacks, and skirts hanging from wooden hangers. Like a supply of uniforms.

She threw on the first combination she saw and slipped into a pair of comfortable slippers in which to move about the house.

As she got ready to head downstairs, the small cardboard box sitting unopened on the desk pushed against the wall across from her bed caught her eye. Sakura wasn't sure why. She knew what they were: business cards advertising her profession. Kakashi had made up his mind that she was going to be a hypnotist for a living. It was all a part of his supposed "grand plan."

She continued to stare at them, surprised by the brief flash of anger that made her nostrils flare. They were more for Kakashi than for her. She couldn't remember ever giving any away. It was Kakashi who supplied her with clients, though she'd use that word very loosely.

Sakura didn't know how he came by the powerful men who regularly showed up to her home office for biweekly sessions – doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and crime lords. Primarily male, all people of varying influence in the city. All she knew was that they always arrived in a sort of daze, one of her business cards in their pockets, and she was to hypnotize them as Kakashi had instructed her to ensure their fealty to him and him alone.

The first time he'd sent her a client, Kakashi had arrived with the man – an influential city council member with ties to the criminal underground. When it was over, a shaken Sakura had dared to ask what Kakashi had done to the man to leave him in such a vulnerable state for her to influence.

To her horror, Kakashi had gleefully explained in great detail how he'd bombarded the man's mind with his worst fears and nightmares in preparation for his session with her.

Kakashi had stalked the man for weeks. He'd learned the man's daily schedule, who his business associates were, the identities of personal friends, every bit of information he could glean about close family members. Kakashi had stood outside the man's home every night, using his mind to probe his thoughts, dreams, and deepest desires. Once Kakashi had harvested all of the nightmares and deepest fears he would need to suit his purpose, he was ready.

It took no trouble at all to snatch the man into the shadows out of sight when Kakashi pounced on him from behind in the parking garage of his office building the following night.

He shook so hard with his fright, Kakashi wondered if he might wet himself.

"We need to have a conversation, Mr. Amari," Kakashi said in his ear, the rigid bar of his forearm tight against the man's throat.

The businessman thrashed with terror. His words stuttered from his lips. "Who-who are you? What do you want? P-please, I have no cash on me – this is a waste of your time!"

"Hm…" Kakashi spun the man to face him, cocking his head and tapping his chin in mock consideration. "What do I want, Mr. Amari? Besides access to all of your business contacts in Konoha?" Kakashi let his banked power surge up through his body from his toes, blistering hot as his eyes flashed red. He couldn't resist the smile that took over his face as he took in the man's horrified expression. He never could.

"I want your mind."

Before the man could scream or try to flee, Kakashi seized him by the throat and forced him to stare into the source of his power. The man's already wide eyes opened further than what should have been possible, making him look like a cartoon.

With unfettered access to the man's mind, Kakashi licked his lips and savored the sadistic pleasure of twisting and pinching the malleable mass to his will.

Kakashi made every childhood fear, every wrong decision, every sad memory, every dark thought play loudly on repeat in the man's consciousness.

The man's father beating him to a bloody pulp with a belt buckle as a child.

The hollowness in his chest at finding his mother hanging by her neck with his father's tie in her closet.

The guilt he felt at stealing his mother's inheritance from his brother.

His rage at finding the wife he loved so dearly fucking his long-time business partner in the man's home.

His fear of coming home to find all of his young children lying in a sticky pool of blood with their little throats slit.

Kakashi forced those images through his mind over and over again, humming with satisfaction when he felt it begin to crumble until the once-proud businessman sank to his knees and wept at Kakashi's feet as his heart irrevocably shattered.

He patted the man's head. "You're ready to see a good hypnotherapist now." Whipping one of Sakura's business cards out of his coat, Kakashi slipped it into the inconsolable man's pocket. "See that you give her a visit tomorrow. She'll make you feel much better."

After that explanation, Sakura never asked Kakashi another question.

She made her way downstairs. Magistrates, mayors, drug kingpins – she'd lost count of how many minds she'd had to bend to her will. Or rather, to that of Kakashi.

Another reason she'd given up trying to keep Kakashi out of her mind? The guilt. It weighed on her like a thick concrete blanket, heavier every day.

After successfully twisting her first client's mind, she felt powerful amid the disgust. Godly. Untouchable.

And she hated how good that made her feel as well as the man who'd forced her into to become this person. God…if she ever got the opportunity or the power to rid herself of Kakashi, she'd strangle him with her bare hands and smile as she watched him die.

When Sakura entered the kitchen, she glanced up at the clock perched on the wall above the small refrigerator. She must have been moving slowly this morning – she barely had ten minutes to spare before her first client of the day.

Good thing she'd completely lost her taste for breakfast after the last one Kakashi had forced her to share with him at his home.

Grabbing a glass from the cabinet, Sakura poured herself a glass of water from the tap and swallowed it a couple of gulps before walking to her office.

She had set it up to be clean and straightforward, and functional. A desk, two chairs, a lamp. A window without blinds facing the street. No decoration. Nothing to distract Sakura or her clients from her work.

Which is why her heart stopped in her chest when she opened the door to find Kakashi sitting crossed-legged atop her desk. Grinning, he took a bite out of the shiny red apple in his hand.

Hand on her chest, the momentum with which she'd entered the room made Sakura stumble a step. "W-what are you doing here, Kakashi?" He never came to her sessions anymore, and she was glad. The less she had to lay eyes on him and remind her of how much of herself she'd lost, the better. "I thought we were beyond me needing a supervisor."

She heard another crunch from the apple and circled him to dig her files out of a drawer. "I had nothing pressing on my schedule today," Kakashi said, voice light and casual. He sounded in good spirits today. Sakura's hand trembled on the manila folder when she realized that likely meant he'd fed recently.

"And I'm here to observe, Sakura, not supervise." He gave a dark chuckle that seemed to fill the room from wall to wall and made the hair stand up on Sakura's arms. "There's a clear distinction."

"Fine." She closed the drawer with a knee and reached for the pocket watch she'd left on her desk, now resting near Kakashi's hip. She swiped it toward her with her palm, careful not to touch him. Sakura felt nothing but gratitude for the fact that despite his incessant sexual overtures on the occasions he interacted with her in person, he hadn't forced an intimate relationship with her in years.

Sakura planned to keep it that way. Besides, the part of her that had soaked panties at his mere presence – before she knew what he was – had been locked away with the rest of her former personality.

Straightening, Sakura moved to stand in the doorway and threw a pensive glance Kakashi's way. "Regardless, it's been a long time since I've needed your help in any capacity, hasn't it?"

Kakashi licked his lips, and Sakura gritted her teeth. "Am I not allowed to miss you?"

No, Sakura wanted to say, but the doorbell rang in the nick of time.

She kept her house shoes on since her clients were always so far gone by the time all was said and done; formality didn't matter. She affixed a pleasant smile to her face and opened the door –

And it dropped from her lips just as quickly. Her new client stood before her like a small mountain, just as hardened and formidable as Mount Fuji itself. He wore a dark suit that looked custom-made to fit his sturdy frame. He stood only slightly taller than Sakura but seemed to loom more prominent than the giant oak tree in the front yard.

This man was no high-class stockbroker like the last few who'd come to her over the past couple of months. His entire aura spoke of power and violence. Sakura knew his mind would not bend easily and a hard lump formed in her throat.

"Uh, welcome…Mr. Tehada?"

He grunted in an apparent confirmation.

Sakura dutifully replaced her fallen smile with another. "Welcome. Please come inside." She stepped aside to allow him to pass. When he did so, his broad body almost crushed her against the door frame.

The inexplicable sense of impending doom he dragged with him inside made Sakura's knees knock together as she closed the door with a heavy click.

She didn't understand why Kakashi insisted on dabbling in the criminal element of this city. Wasn't having the entire city council and the mayor in his back pocket enough?

Dealing with his kind made Sakura nervous. The strength of mind they tended to possess made the job Kakashi had tasked her with much more difficult. And this Mr. Tehada already appeared to be a tough nut to crack.

Still, Kakashi did not accept failure of any kind, and Sakura had yet to be unsuccessful in her task. It didn't make much sense for her to dwell on her intensifying feelings of trepidation as she invited her client to have a seat in a highbacked chair.

Mr. Tehada didn't speak, only cut a curious glance at Kakashi still seated on Sakura's desk with his healthy snack.

"Don't mind me," Kakashi said, his irises glowing red for an instant as he imbued his words with power. Tehada immediately turned back to face Sakura, his eyes glazing over as Kakashi's influence took over.

She didn't understand how she felt in her bones; this session wasn't going to go well, but she was the one in charge, and she had a job to do.

Pinching her lips together, she sat down in the chair across from her client. Pulling out the pocket watch Kakashi had made for her, she held it up to begin slowly swinging it back and forth on its chain. The silver had tarnished with time, gleaming dully in the low light. She never bothered to polish it. The last thing she wanted to do was lovingly maintain the physical representation of her bondage.

"If you're ready, Mr. Tehada, we can begin."

Sakura had been wrong: things weren't going poorly; they were progressing horribly.

If she could even say they were progressing at all. Just as she had feared, Mr. Tehada was resisting her hypnosis at every turn, rejecting her attempts to will him into submission. His own will was proving to be too strong, a reflection of the ultra-hardy man himself.

She sat in her chair for a few moments, studying him and gnawing on the cap of her pen. Sakura and Mr. Tehada were covered in a sheen of sweat. It had taken longer and longer to put him under with every attempt – and by now, the count was six – and every time Sakura succeeded, he'd throw off her influence like wet laundry. Sakura couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this frustrated. Or this alive.

The challenge her client had presented created a crack in the door, hiding away all she used to be, and a bit of her former self was beginning to leak out.

She hopped out of the chair again and began to pace the floor, mentally looking for a new angle.

Kakashi had stayed in the room, now standing in a distant corner, watching her work in a quiet way that made Sakura's skin erupt with gooseflesh.

She chose to ignore his presence, instead, focusing on the tiny fountain of feelings beginning to bubble up inside of her.

Admiration for this Tehada's seemingly unshakable will.

Irritation with Kakashi for being here at all.

During one of his brief moments under hypnosis, when her client had started to perspire in earnest, Sakura relieved him of his suit jacket and tossed it aside to make him more comfortable.

Trying again, she took a knee on the rug before her client. He scowled down at her, wide chest heaving and muscled arms straining against the fine cotton sleeves of his dress shirt.

"I need you to settle into a sense of calm, Mr. Tehada," she said, keeping her words at a low, gentle drone as she swung her pocket watch in front of his face. "Focus on the sound of my voice. Focus on the swing of the watch. Let your body get heavy. Just relax."

Tehada grunted and did the opposite. His meaty hands gripped the arms of the chair until his chafed knuckles turned white and his shoulder bunched up around his ears.

Shit, this was never going to work if she couldn't get him under and keep him there long enough to feed him the lines Kakashi found so important.

Kakashi is your master.

His will is law.

You will obey him in all things.

When you leave here, you will forget all that happened. Kakashi will contact you with further instructions, and YOU WILL OBEY.

But it had been over an hour of mental toil, and Sakura still couldn't get him there. Under normal circumstances, the client would have been walking out of her office with dead, glazed eyes in half the time.

Maybe Kakashi himself was throwing her off. Sakura found she hadn't been able to relax since she'd walked in to find him in her office. She supposed it shouldn't have been surprised that she couldn't force her client to relax when she couldn't do it herself at the moment.

The tiniest spark of hope lit in her chest. Perhaps this man was too strong for the torture she was trying to inflict upon him. Maybe Kakashi would let her give up and send this client on his way after erasing his memories, none the wiser. Maybe Sakura would be able to make it an entire week without breaking someone's spirit. She didn't think she would ever be so happy at the prospect of failing –

"Enough."

Alarmed at the word growled from the shadows, Sakura watched Kakashi push off the wall in a huff and walk over.

She swallowed, eyes widening. "What are you doing?"

Kakashi stopped next to Tehada's chair, squinting down at the man. "This is taking too long."

The breath froze in Sakura's lungs. "Kakashi – don't!"

Her plea fell on deaf ears. Kakashi had already seized Tehada by the throat and lifted him into the air as if the huge man weighed nothing at all. His feet kicked and his hands clawed, but Sakura knew it was useless. Kakashi wasn't human and was far too strong.

Fear slithered up and down her spine, squeezing the breath from her lungs as she watched in motionless horror. Kakashi stared up into the man's wide eyes. He looked like evil incarnate as his irises lit that bloody red color that turned Sakura's stomach. This time, they stayed aglow and unblinking, and Sakura had no idea what was going on until Tehada started up a scream that nearly made her jump clean out of her skin.

She couldn't move. The client began to rake his nails down his face and tear at his hair, gnashing his teeth as if he were under a hellish torment that was killing him from the inside out. Whatever Kakashi was doing to him had the man wriggling in his grip like a worm on a hook.

It went on for what felt like forever. The man's scream felt like it had taken up residence inside of Sakura's body, thrumming through her bones, pounding in her throat, piercing her eardrums.

Kakashi dropped Tehada's body to the ground like an oversized sack of potatoes in a sudden movement.

Still. Lifeless.

Sakura stared and stared, not believing what she was seeing. The client's dark eyes were open but unseeing. She wasn't sure how long she sat on the rug and watched him, but it didn't become clear to her what had happened until Kakashi nudged the man with his foot, and there was no response.

Questions crowded her mouth, but Sakura couldn't bring herself to look at Kakashi. "What…what did you do to him?"

Kakashi sighed, for all the world as if a barista had gotten his order wrong. "He's broken."

Broken? Was the client already broken or had Kakashi been the one doing the breaking?

"What do you mean?" Sakura didn't recognize her voice. She sounded like a lost little girl surrounded by death and destruction with no way out.

"He's alive but braindead." When Sakura dared to look up at him from her position on the floor, she found him studying Tehada like a lab experiment. "I guess he wasn't as strong as you thought. What a waste."

With that, he dropped to his hands and knees like a wild animal and sunk his teeth in the prone man's neck.

Sakura screeched and reared back, mindlessly scooting backward on her rear until her back hit her chair.

Kakashi…he…

He was…

Eating him.

Sakura had known for years that something was very wrong with Kakashi, but he had never revealed this side of himself to her to confirm what he was truly made of. She sincerely wished she hadn't as she watched, paralyzed and unable to look away.

The sounds…the room filled with a horrid slurping and sucking and gurgling, and Sakura clapped her hands over her ears to block it out. But it was too late. She'd heard enough to taint her mind forever.

After some time, Kakashi stood tall and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The motion left a broad smear of blood across his mouth and chiseled cheek. "Waste not, want not," he said, almost cheerful.

Sakura still couldn't move, her gaze seized by the now-deceased Mr. Tehada, his formerly flushed skin turning waxy and stiff before her eyes.

Dead. Kakashi had destroyed a man's mind then killed him in her office.

While she sat and watched.

Useless.

And she still couldn't get the sounds of Kakashi… feeding out of her head.

"Well, I'm going home." Kakashi stepped over the cooling body and headed to the door. He spoke to her over his shoulder as he passed, not sparing a backward glance. "Make sure you clean this shit up. Club soda will get the blood out of the rug."

After a moment, Sakura heard the front door slam.

Before the events of the night had unfolded, the sense of relief Sakura had expected to feel upon Kakashi's departure never arrived. Her chest puffed as she tried to breathe normally and failed, giving herself over to hyperventilation. Every heartbeat came faster than the last.

Shaking, Sakura heaved her heavy body off the floor to fall into the chair. As soon as her rear made impact on the cushion, it shook a scream loose inside of her that worked its way up her throat in the form of a shrill moan before bursting from her lips into the room.

It was as if the dam inside of her mind had cracked right down the middle at last, the flood of raw emotion it had been holding back for years bursting through. Sakura screamed and wailed at the top of her lungs, hands pressed against her head as if they could hold it together.

She was breaking.

Watching the events unfold in her unassuming office had stirred something almost forgotten in the deepest recesses of her brain, and she felt turned inside out, guilt and shame and fury boiling in her gut as what she had been forced to be a part of due to her youthful naivete and stupidity.

Crying and crying as despair slowly crawled over her, Sakura's eyes ached with the endless onslaught of tears as she shoved her face into the plush arm of her chair.

Sakura felt like she was being split in two.

She had been complicit in cold-blooded murder.

She now had to find a way to get rid of a body that probably weighed three times more than she did.

She was never getting out of this.

She would never be able to get free of him.

Never never never never

"Are you done blubbering yet?"

The foreign female voice echoed down the hallway, shocked Sakura so much she choked on her saliva and instantly quieted, coughing and whipping her head toward the open door of her office.

Kakashi hadn't locked the door when he left, but Sakura would have heard or at least felt the cold breeze whip in from outside; this month had been unseasonably windy.

Sakura didn't have any friends to speak of. No chance encounter with a stranger could have ended with them knowing her address. She lived on the very fringe of the city in what used to be a farmhouse, free of neighbors within at least a square mile.

Robbers weren't typically female, nor were they known to operate alone. They didn't announce themselves – let alone insult the weeping owner of the house they had planned to pilfer.

Who the hell was in Sakura's house?