The Conquests Of War
"You said I am too proud and maybe I am." She pleaded, absent-mindedly putting her hand on his chest.
An act that did not go amiss by him.
"But if you let Hinata go, I will do anything you ask of me."
Her voice shook as Sakura looked at her captor, her eyes wide and imploring. He was many things but not cruel, she had seen that much herself. If only she could appeal to his goodness, he would let her friend go. Her hands were going cold and she did not know how else to bargain.
What could she give him that he already did not have?
Another violent cough erupted from behind the door and she feared that if she failed to convince Sasuke, it would be too late.
She tried to keep her voice calm but fear had already seeped into it.
"Please" she begged. "I will do the most menial of tasks..." and then she went on to list the things that came in her head, "...mop the floors, wash your clothes." She grew desperate and tried to think of something that would melt his heart but Sasuke looked uninterested. "I will do anything as long as you let her go."
"Anything?"
Sasuke's voice was levelled, his face stoic. At least he hoped to Kami it was. Her little hand that was on his chest enwrapped his attention. His cold flesh absorbed its heat through the material of the tunic.
He wanted her too damn much.
Sakura nodded furiously, showing instant agreement lest he change his mind.
Need pumped through his veins.
"I want you in my bed.
Willingly."
Sakura's hand fell away from his body the moment the impact of the words registered on her. Of all the ways he could have tortured her, this was the worst. Any other task, no matter how humble, would not have disintegrated her self-worth. Not this though. He wanted her to become his whore.
Willingly!
She looked at him, disgust evident in her eyes.
But Sasuke showed no trace of shame. His words had no remorse; in fact, Sakura was sure she saw a hint of victory twinkling in his eyes.
"It is true what they say then" She laced her voice with all the contempt she felt for this man.
"You are a monster." She spit the words acidly.
She hated him, and she wanted him to know that.
It had an opposing effect on Sasuke though. He could not help but marvelled at her spirit. Even when she was vanquished, she stood her ground. She knew she had no other option and would have to submit to him, but she did not reduce herself to womanly tears to persuade him and he respected her for that.
In the background of Hinata's sporadic coughing he spoke, he hoped gently.
"I have no need to make a deal with you Sakura and you know it." His hand reached for a lone strand of pink hair as he tucked it behind her ears.
It was true and Sakura knew it. If he wanted, he could just ignore her requests and let Hinata die in this castle. But the price he was demanding was too hefty. He wanted her to walk to her ruin, willingly. He was no angle.
"Do we have a deal?"
Sasuke pressed, he had the juiciest of fruits in his hands, its aroma filling his nostril but he could not take a bite yet.
"Yes."
Her voice was small. A blush had creeped into her cheeks and upto her ears and Sakura agreed to an act that was to be her doom. She felt tears burning in her eyes and tried to force them back.
Sasuke inched forward and closed whatever distance was between them. He eyes burned with desire and he planned to show her that. His left hand tilted her face, holding her by the chin forcing her to look in his eyes. With his right thumb he caressed her lower lip, from the corner to the centre and back to the corner. He massaged it with his finger till it turned a bright red.
It invited him.
To touch. To taste.
He pulled it, gently pulling her with it, closer to his own lips and finally released it as it made a 'pop' sound.
Fearing he was going to lose control and take her right there in the hallway, he walked away abruptly.
Tonight.
Tonight he would have her.
Tonight he would make her his.
Chapter 1: Abduction
"Asura, they say, rips the bodies apart from a single blow. He punches his way through the rib cage, and fists the heart of his opponents, tightening his hold till it bursts in his hand. He roams the battlefields at night, drink his enemy's blood in the moonlight. That is where he gets his strength from."
Sakura was amused as she heard the little boy by the name Saitama, narrate the local folklore that revolved around the warriors of Orochimaru's army.
She motioned the boy to lay on the bed, drawing covers over his small body.
"Tell us more."
The girl on the adjacent bed, who was being tended by Hinata, crooned in the silence of the room. As Sakura went ahead to tuck in another child, preparing them for bedtime, she noticed that the occupants of the room were riveted to Saitama's story. Their eyes held fear but also the child like inquisitiveness to it.
Her own eyes found Hinata, who was looking back at her. Kids, they seemed to communicate, were meant to play in the fields and be carefree and not to talk about gory details of war and blood.
Orochimaru was the king of the land of Oto who commanded an army as fierce and as large as Konoha itself. The two kingdoms of Konoha and Oto had always been at war, since the day they came into existence. The point of skirmish had revolved around the borders of the two countries. Although Konoha had tried to offer friendship, going as far as to sign numerous treaties and giving away large pieces of land to the Oto king, there was no satisfying Orochimaru's greed. His latest obsession was with the Hyugas.
Neji Hyuga was declared the Prince of Byakugan, the land at the southwest of Konoha, and his coronation was to be held earlier this month. The land had belonged to his family for generations and he was the rightful heir of it, but Orochimaru thought otherwise.
According to Oto, the land had belonged to the Uzumaki's before it was forcefully captured and occupied by Konoha. The legal heir to it thus, was not Neji but Naruto Uzumaki, a warrior in Orochimaru's army, commonly known by his feared name, Asura.
He had threatened with consequences of war and blood, if Hyuga's did not abdicate the land to the Uzumaki's.
Konoha had rightly rejected Orochimaru's falsehood at a make believe tale, and called his bluff. But it did not mean that the land was left defenceless. Orochimaru was known to make good on his promise and thus columns after columns of soldiers had marched behind Neji Hyuga to the southwestern borders.
If Oto wanted war, it would get one. The queen had said.
War was coming, and everyone knew it. You could feel it in the air as it carried the stench of rotting corpses with it. None was immune to it, neither the council of ministers at the castle back home nor the gentry.
Not even here, at the northwestern borders, on the total opposite of where the battlefield actually was.
"He has thick hair growing all over his body and has nails as sharp as that of a wolf. It is said that he rides a giant fox." Saitama nodded at his own sentences, telling the tale with seriousness of a statesman. His audience was enraptured, there were hanging on to every word of his.
Not Hinata though, noticed Sakura. Her friend looked peevish and although she managed a smile, it failed to reach her eyes. Sakura sympathised with the girl. Not only did Hinata Hyuga have an extremely sensitive composition; the tales of war made her miserable and the sight of blood sick, but her brother Neji could be fighting off the monster described in this room this very second. No wonder Hinata was uncomfortable.
Sakura decided to put an end to the story telling but the children protested.
"Just one more, Sakura chan. Let us hear about Indra. The last one we promise."
She was about to reject their request when Hinata spoke, drawing courage in her voice.
"It's okay Sakura", she smiled weakly, "they are just stories."
Although she said it with a conviction, Sakura saw that Hinata herself did not believe it so.
Sakura released a breath and walked over to the foot of Saitama's bed, giving him the go ahead to complete the tale.
Saitama smiled excitedly before donning a serious expression and a grave tone to match it. Looking his roommates in the eye he began.
"Indra is the true monster. Even Asura cannot match his barbarity."
He paused, and gulped noticeably before continuing.
"He is quick like the lightning, and moves so fast that his enemies can't match his pace. He first cuts the man in half, then butchers them into much smaller pieces and feeds them to his soldiers. He likes the flesh of newborn babies and woman himself and therefore his army plunder villages and abduct the children and womenfolk. His eyes are always dripping with red blood. He has a malformed body, with bones protruding from his back. He has a chain of black markings running through the length of his body and rotten teeth and drool is always hanging from his chin." Saitama completed in a breath.
Then he lowered his voice to a whisper, "But that is not even the worst part."
He looked at his audience again and then settled his eyes on Sakura.
"Indra can steal the soul of his prey."
He spoke without blinking.
"He makes them his slave and tortures them into insanity, forcing men to murder their sons, daughters to murder their family. The black marks on his body are the imprints of the souls he has captured." He finished, his gaze locked to that of Sakura's.
Sakura did not like the nauseous feeling that rose in her throat. She was a trained doctor and here she was being frightened of an enemy who fought miles away.
"From what I have heard, Indra looks like a monkey and limps when he walks." Sakura did the speaking. She was trying to diffuse the tensed atmosphere, because every face in the room looked horror struck right now, "and Asura looks like a donkey because he has a crooked back."
Before Saitama could refute her claim, she finished quickly, "These are just stories, nothing more." She said confidently, leaving no room for argument, and instructed the kids that it was time to wrap up.
Later at night in her bed, she kept rolling, changing sides but could not sleep.
Something kept gnawing at her skin and she decided to take a stroll on the balcony outside her room, which was now bathed in moonlight.
Indra can steal the soul of his prey.
The words echoed in her mind again, painting the image of a terrifying monster and she felt a shiver down her spine.
She caught herself the next moment though. These were only stories made up by the enemies to drive fear in their opposition, she reminded herself.
She closed her eyes and tried to count till ten, breathing evenly but gave up suddenly when she felt a presence behind her.
Before she could even turn, a knife came down her throat.
"Try making a sound", the person behind her said, "and I will rip open your throat."
She tried nodding her head in submission but it was too late. Something strongly pungent was forced in her face and she lost consciousness within seconds."
A/N: Read and Review :)