Noticing that they were trying to surround her, she backflipped to put some distance between them, releasing half a dozen shuriken midair. Under normal circumstances, the men would have already fallen dead with sharpened steel lodged in their chests, but these creatures were only slightly delayed.
Brandishing her sword, she propelled herself forward and jumped over them, twisting her body in time to decapitate one of them. The body slumped to the ground, where it twitched for a few seconds before going limb.
Bingo.
The sight of their dead comrade did nothing to deter the remaining three, and they lunged at her again. With practiced ease, she plunged her blade up one's head front underneath, and kicked the body away to disengage. Delivering a swift to one of the creatures' jaws, she rolled herself over the second one's back, slitting its throat with a kunai before finishing it off with her sword. She made quick work of the last creature, severing its spine and pushing her katana through its heart for good measure.
"Over there! I hear commotion!"
"What the-Sakura?!"
With her sword still in hand and her clothes tattered and covered in blood, Sakura turned her furious gaze to a bewildered Sannan. A group of soldiers should beside him with equally as befuddled expressions on their faces.
"Keisuke, I think it's about time you people and I had a chat."
The man pulled at his collar, as if it was choking him. "Sakura, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be out after dark."
She snorted, sheathing her sword. "I could ask you the same thing. Why are you out, Keisuke, and why was I attacked by a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters in Shinsengumi uniforms?"
The man shifted uneasily on his feet. "I…I believe it's time to call a meeting with Kondou and the others. I'm not authorized to answer those questions."
Rolling her eyes, Sakura crossed her arms across her chest. "No offense, Keisuke, but I don't give a rat's ass who has the highest level of clearance. I want answers."
"I will send a messenger back to headquarters right away. They will be ready for us."
"They better be." Glancing over her shoulder, she motioned to the corpses of the creatures. "Have your men find the one who suffered the less amount of damage and bring it with them. I need to run some tests."
Keisuke nodded uneasily, but she couldn't bring herself to care much about politeness.
This…This is what Kondou and the Shinsengumi have been hiding from me.
Awful thoughts ran through her mind, as she stared at the bodies. Memories from Orochimaru's bases and his human experiments flashed before her eyes and she felt her stomach lurch.
No…It can't be.
Kondou wouldn't do something like that. He wasn't that kind of man. None of them were like that. Did the others know? Were the other captains aware? How were they even creating these creatures? The questions made her head hurt.
Ok, Sakura, get a grip. One problem at a time.
Leaving the soldiers and Keisuke to clean up the mess they were apparently responsible for, Sakura headed towards the opening of the alley Akemi had disappeared into earlier.
She peered into the darkness. "Akemi? Akemi, are you there?"
Sakura was ready to walk deeper in the alley, when she heard the faint tap of feet on stone and she spied Akemi coming out of the shadows.
"Akemi! Are you alright?"
The girl nodded, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked disheveled and shaken, but Sakura couldn't see any visible injuries. That was always a relief.
She offered the girl her hand and smiled when Akemi took it tentatively. "Come, I'll take you home."
"T-Thank you, Haruno-san. I owe you my life."
Though the girl's voice was a whisper, Sakura still heard her. She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You know who I am?"
Akemi nodded. "Everyone knows you, good doctor. How could we not? Haruno-san saved so many people when those terrible fires happened."
Sakura smiled at the girl. "Please, call me Sakura. How much more until we reach your home?"
"Just around that corner."
"You walk all this distance alone every night, Akemi?"
"I have to, Haruno-eh, Sakura. It's the only way."
Sakura hummed thoughtfully. "Please be careful, Akemi. If any of your coworkers can walk with you, please ask them to. I'll ask the Shinsengumi to increase nighttime patrols."
"The S-Shinsengumi? Oh, please! Don't go to all that trouble on my account-"
"Nonsense!" Sakura waved her concerns off and smiled at the girl. "I'm a doctor. It's my job to help people, remember?"
"Thank you, Sakura. Oh, here's my home."
Letting the girl's hand go, Sakura patted her head. "Get some rest, Akemi. You did good tonight. How about I come pay you a visit tomorrow after I'm done with my rounds?"
The girl's eyes brightened. "That would be lovely. Thank you, Sakura."
"Good! Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Akemi-chan. Goodnight!"
"Goodnight!"
Turning around to walk away, Sakura's eyes hardened.
And now, let's go face the real monster of the night.
XxxxX
When Sakura entered Kondou's office with Sannan in tow, Sanosuke could practically feel the fury rolling off of her in waves.
Immediately, he took note of her tattered clothes and the bloodstains marring her skin, his worry skyrocketing for a moment. Apparently, Souji shared the sentiment, and he went to approach the woman.
"Pinky, are you hurt? Did any-"
Keeping her eyes focused on Kondou, she raised her hand to stop him. "Souji-kun, I appreciate the concern, but now's not the time."
The atmosphere in the room was suffocating, and the tension that permeated the air weighed heavily on everyone's shoulders.
"Kondou-san, I believe it's time you told me the real reason why you brought me here."
With a solemn expression, Kondou sighed. "I believe I owe you an apology, Sakura. I called you here, put your life in danger more times than I care to admit, and I have kept secrets from you. I have a hard time deciding where to start."
"The beginning would be a good place. Kondou-san, tonight I was summoned to help a woman deliver her child. On my way back to headquarters, a young girl and I were attacked by a group of…creatures, wearing Shinsengumi uniforms."
Sanosuke tightened his grip on his Yari at the thought of her facing the Furies. Darkness was their domain, they thrived in it.
And she faced them alone. What if…
He didn't know who he was angrier with; her, for taking off in the middle of the night without an escort, or himself, for keeping this from her. Had something happened to her, he wouldn't have been able to bear it.
"I'm terribly sorry, Sakura. I never meant to endanger you-"
"Kondou-san," she cut him off, "I do not want you to apologize. Not to me. I'm a warrior, I face danger on a daily basis. If you really want to apologize, then you should go find the young girl who nearly lost her life tonight." She crossed her arms across her chest. "What were those things?"
Hijikata stepped forward, his face an expressionless mask. "We call them Furies. Rasetsu. They were men, who made a decision to strip themselves of their human nature in favor of being something else."
"How?"
"Something you must understand," Kondou started, "is that we never chose this. We never wanted to be a part of it."
"Part of what?"
"Yukimura Kodo's program."
Sakura's eyebrow shot to her hairline. "Chizuru-chan's father? What does he have to do with this?"
"The Shogunate gave all of us very specific orders. Doctor Yukimura developed a formula that grants those that consume it abilities usually only the Oni possess. They are stronger, faster, more difficult to kill."
Sanosuke saw the woman's eyes widen. "Is that what you're trying to do? Turn humans into demons?"
"The Shogunate forced our hand, Sakura. There was nothing we could do."
"The ones I fought…They wouldn't listen, they wouldn't even speak. It's as if they weren't in their own heads."
Hijikata nodded. "The Water of Life comes with a cost. The Furies slowly lose their sanity, they develop an uncontrollable bloodlust. When they reach that point, they no longer obey orders or laws."
Sanosuke watched the expressions on Sakura's face change from curious to contemplating. He'd give anything for a glimpse into her mind.
"Is that why you're so dedicated to finding Chizuru-chan's father? So he may continue his experiments?"
"Kodo supposedly found a way to counter the bloodlust by refining the formula. However, before we could get a hold of him, he disappeared."
Sakura starred at Hijikata before turning to Sannan and nodding. Immediately, the man sprinted out the door only to return a few seconds later accompanied by three soldiers. In their arms they carried a decapitated Fury.
Nagakura blanched beside him. "Gross! Why did you guys bring this thing here?"
Without a word, Sakura kneeled beside the corpse and closed her eyes. She pressed her glowing hands to the creature's bloody chest.
Sanosuke held his breath, the hairs at the back of his neck on edge. There were so many things he wanted to ask. Her uniform was tattered, and covered in blood. Was she alright? Was she hurt?
Was there anything at all he could do to get her to forgive him for lying to her? Would she?
What if…What if she decides that she's done? That she wants nothing to do with any of us? Nothing to do with me? His heart constricted in his chest.
After what felt like hours, Sakura's eyes snapped open, and she took a deep, steading breath. "Kondou-san, I don't think you realize what you're dealing with."
The Chief frowned. "What do you mean?"
"This Water of Life, this formula…" she started, "Nothing about it is fit for living creatures. You see, I detected it in this Fury's bloodstream, when in reality, I shouldn't have. This creature is dead, has been for a couple of hours. I shouldn't have found anything alive in its veins. And yet…"
"What are you saying, Sakura-chan?"
She glanced briefly at Nagakura, before her eyes met his. The way she averted her gaze caused Sanosuke's stomach to drop.
"Even though the host is dead, the formula continues to eat at the Fury's body. Much like a disease, it's feeding off of it as we speak. It will continue to feed off of it until nothing is left. This formula of yours, this Water of Life, is nothing but a parasite and it will eat anyone that consumes it from the inside out."
You could hear a pin drop in the room as they all took the time to absorb the woman's words. Sanosuke shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
Is that what we've been doing? Feeding men to a pest? A parasite?
"Is that why you called me here, Kondou-san? To finish Kodo's work? To force life into people who were supposed to die by turning them into monsters? To help you perfect the same drink that will make your men wilt and turn to ashes? Because if that's the real reason, I'll be gone before dawn and you won't ever see me again."
Sanosuke felt his heart stop in his chest. No…
For the first time in hours, Kondou's lips quirked up in a relieved smile. "No, Sakura. That's not why I called you here, though tonight's made me all the more thankful that I did."
"What then?"
"I asked you here to help us put an end to this plague. The Shinsengumi no longer wish to be associated with this. When word reached me that Hatake became Hokage, I just couldn't leave the opportunity pass me by. I knew if there was one person on the planet I could ask for help, that was Kakashi. Your Hidden Villages may value their privacy, but even we have heard of the medical prowess some of your shinobi exhibit. You see now, Sakura, why I went to the lengths I did to bring you here. Why I went behind the Shogun's back. You are the last ace up our sleeve."
All the captain's, Sanosuke included, turned to look at their Chief. It was a big announcement, they knew, and it probably wouldn't go unpunished. Kondou's decision directly opposed the Shogun's orders and that was bound to have consequences. The majority of them had cosigned it though. Sanosuke and the other captains knew exactly what they were walking into.
He shifted his eyes to Sakura, who appeared deep in thought. Then, her face was lit up by a smile and immediately, the air around them became lighter.
"You shouldn't have kept that from me, Kondou-san, though I do understand why you did. You didn't trust me enough and I understand the feeling. To be completely honest, I used not to trust you either." Her smile widened. "But I do trust you now. So, rest assured that I will do everything in my power to put an end to this, one way or another. In return, I have but one request."
"Please, let us hear it."
Her eyes swept the room, going from one man to the next until they finally landed on him and the breath caught in his throat.
"I want all of you to swear to me that you won't ever consume even a drop of this thing. Not a single drop. I don't care how much of it you have left. Every last bottle will be destroyed. No one will suffer this dehumanizing fate ever again."
"But what of the Shogun? We can't go against direct orders!"
Sakura shot Kanryusai a scathing look. "Your Shogun is trying desperately to secure an alliance with my village to tackle the Satsuma and Choshu raids. Isn't that why he ordered the creation of this formula? I will speak to my Hokage. We will reevaluate the terms of the alliance. We have seen our fair share of atrocities, and I must tell you, Kanryusai, my people and I do not hold human experiments in particularly high regard. That along with a promise to deploy more shinobi squads to compensate for the loss will be used as leverage. Your Shogun would be a right fool to refuse. If word reaches the other Kage that Tokugawa is sanctioning such heinousness, he can kiss his alliance goodbye. The Hidden Villages won't ever open their doors to him again. If he wants to maintain his control, he will listen very carefully to what we have to say."
Kondou seemed to ponder her offer, though Sanosuke couldn't see what there was to think about. The woman's words were irrefutable and presented them with just the right way to finally rid themselves of Kodo's abomination.
Finally, their Chief nodded resolutely. "Consider it done, Sakura."
The relief in the room was palpable, and Sanosuke found himself releasing a breath. Thank Kami…
Dusting her pants, Sakura addressed the room. "Now, I believe that's enough for one night. I will need to run a few more diagnostics on this Fury's blood and tissue samples to get a better idea of what I'm dealing with."
Sanosuke couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.
Looking like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Kondou bowed his head. "Thank you, Sakura. For everything."
"Don't thank me. Not yet, at least." Whirling around, she turned to Sannan. "Keisuke, may I trouble you with taking care of this body? Don't dispose of it just yet."
The man nodded. "Of course, Sakura. I will see to it myself."
She flashed him a thankful smile. "Thank you." Then, she turned to the rest of the room. "Gentlemen, gave a good night."
Her departure was followed by a moment of silence before the other captains started to converse among themselves.
"Man, Sakura-chan sure is scary when she's mad."
"You're only scared because you're the only one stupid enough to incur her wrath, Nagakura."
"Shut up, Souji!"
Quietly, Sanosuke slipped out of the room.
XxxxX
Sakura was disappointed to realize that the sight of her room no longer provided the comfort it used to. Not after Kazama's visit. Ever since her conversation with him, she couldn't help but remember his cackle and his menacing smile every time she stared at the spot where he had sat, spewing all sorts of threats against Konoha and the people precious to her.
With an exhausted sigh, she sat down to pen a quick letter to Kakashi with her findings and a few things about the alliance than needed to be reconsidered. It would be a lie to say that what Kondou told in that office her hadn't shaken her, though she was thankful he trusted her enough to do so at last. This mission suddenly made a lot more sense. She finally understood her purpose.
Still, her findings were a lot more unsettling than she had predicted.
Furies, the Water of Life…
She had searched her fair share of Orochimaru's old bases in Sound while hunting Sasuke, and she never wanted to see anything similar every again.
While the Furies weren't inside tubes with chemicals dripping in their veins, they were still the products of experiments conducted by one man who wanted to mess with the natural order.
Poor Chizuru…I hope she manages to overcome this.
She had no idea if the younger woman knew of her father's endeavors, but something told her she didn't. She could only hope that Chizuru's heart would be able to take it.
Have some faith in the kid, Sakura. Chizuru-chan is young but she is strong. She'll manage. After all, she has all of us here in the Shinsengumi to help her.
Immediately, she realized that she had, yet again, called herself one of them. This time though, she couldn't quite bring herself to feel guilty. She couldn't tell whether that was because she no longer felt guilty or because she was just too damn tired of feeling that way. Why should guilt accompany her thoughts all the time?
Why should she feel guilty for something that felt so damn natural?
Untying the sash keeping her shirt closed, she set her sword down, and started rummaging through her medical pouch for some fresh bandages. Her shoulder where that Fury had managed to graze her with its claws stung like hell and while she was not going to waste chakra on a pair of scratches, she had no intention of allowing the wound to get infected.
So focused on her task she was, that she failed to hear the faint knocking or her door opening.
XxxxX
Sanosuke stood outside her door for a moment, contemplating what he was going to say.
Should he try to explain himself? Would she listen if he did?
Should he simply ask for forgiveness, hoping that she thought highly enough of him to offer it?
Focus, Harada. You need to focus. He shook his head, preparing himself. Taking a deep breath, he knocked lightly on the door, and entered.
"Sakura? I came to check on-"
His words died on his lips, and his eyes widened as he drank in the sight before him.
Sakura was turned away from him, and she seemed to be unaware of his presence. Her shirt was loose, dropping down her shoulders and baring the expanse of her back and neck to his eyes. Even in the dimness of the room, the creamy tone of her skin shone under what little moonlight could pass through the window.
His mouth went dry, and his eyes spent a few seconds memorizing her shape and the sheen of sweat clinging to her.
"Sano-kun!"
Her voice brought him out of his daze and he finally managed to focus on something other than the red-hot desire running through his veins. Before she could put her shirt back on, his eyes fell on the scarlet streams marring her back.
"Sakura, you're hurt." He stepped closer, taking in the three claw marks on her shoulder.
"Oh, those? Don't worry about-"
"Stop," he cut her off, taking the clean bandages from her. "Allow me."
He took her hand and led her to the bed, coaxing her to sit down with her back turned to him. Without a word, she let her shirt fall loose around her again, leaving her bleeding wounds and her back visible. Painfully aware of how few layers of fabric separated them, Sanosuke soaked the fresh bandages in the basin of water she always kept at her bedside.
"You don't have to do that, Sano-kun. I can heal myself, you know."
"I know."
He touched the wet bandages to the wounds, stroking away the blood and grime. He watched transfixed as the drops of water trailed down her back, following paths he wished he could trace with his fingers.
All his life had been about being a warrior and surviving; about being the last man standing. He had never learnt how to be gentle, but around her he found himself unable to be anything else but that.
So close he was to her that he could smell her. The cinnamon and the lavender and something else that was entirely her. He could feel the heat of her body seeping into his chest, and he wondered what it would feel like to lean in and kiss her neck the way it deserved to be kissed. The way her whole being deserved to be kissed and worshiped and loved.
One way or another, this woman will be the death of me…
He leaned closer to her ear. "Forgive me, Sakura. I never meant to lie to you. I'll spend the rest of my life helping you find a cure to make up for my mistakes, I swear."
Her head wobbled from one side to the other as he continued to run the soaked bandages and his fingers all over her back. "I'd rather you spent it doing something that makes you happy, Sano-kun," she said sleepily, her breathing starting to even out as the exhaustion of the day finally caught up.
He smiled tenderly in her hair. "That's easy. I could spend the rest of my life protecting you."
TBC
Heya!
Have no fear, Haruno Sakura is here! And she's on the Rasetsu case!
I told you I was going to write something cute!
Man, Sano…I love this guy and I love him even more paired with Saku-chan.
Having said that, I got a question!
Aside from SoujiXSakura and ChikageXSakura (which is surprisingly popular) which other HakuoukiXSakura would you like to see as a one-shot? I'm curious!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
If you have a minute, drop me a review! Reading your thoughts always makes my day.
Until next time,
Lots of love!