"We have to get this cleaned up or it will be all over the news," Madara tells Obito. "Call your guys and have them come get these vehicles and dispose of them."
"Sakura and Itachi need medical attention, get a discreet doctor, now. I can't wait for that girl to finish med school then we won't have to worry so much." Madara tells Fugaku.
"Let's get them back to the compound, for now, Shisui put them in your truck and let's move!" Madara hisses, his head hurts. What a fucking night.
Shisui opens the garage and starts to pull in when he sees Sasuke on the floor. "What the hell happened to you." He slapped him hard across the face for fun. "Wake up sleeping beauty."
"Ugh, where's Itachi?" Sasuke has his hand to his face, fingers gently touching the puffy area.
"He and Sakura took a few flips in his truck, they are banged up a bit but they will be okay. Fugaku is going to get the "On call" doctor now. What the hell happened to you?" Shisui smiles at him.
"Did you know Sakura has been drugged?" Sasuke asks.
"Yeah, Itachi had called your dad and told him he was taking Sakura to the hospital, but that's when Akasuna no Sasori ran them off the road and they all took a few flips over a hill in their vehicles." Shisui cocked his head at Sasuke.
"Shit, no way." Sasuke moaned.
"She was poisoned with something that made her want to uh...you know and I didn't know it but Itachi did." Sasuke looked down at the ground, his eyes darting back and forth.
Shisui looked at him and opened his mouth to say something then shut it, stood, grabbed Sasuke by the front of his shirt and punched him in the face just like Itachi then dropped him to the ground. "Scum." Shisui kicked him in the ribs and heard a crack.
Shisui called Fugaku. "I just got to the main house, Sasuke is on the ground knocked out, looks like he might have some broken ribs." He hung up and kicked Sasuke again.
Madara showed up just as Fugaku got there with the doctor and they both ushered him inside to look at Itachi and Sakura.
Obito showed up next to let Madara know the vehicles had been taken care of and nothing was on the news.
Mikoto and Fugaku walked out of Sakura's room and went into Itachi's with the doctor next. Mikoto came out alone and went to put on some tea. She took two glasses into Sakura's room and shut the door.
Shisui, Obito and Sasuke we sitting on the couch now, Sasuke having woken up and joined the rest of his family.
Mikoto came out of Sakura's room and motioned for Sasuke, "She wants to speak to you."
"I need to see the doctor, I think my ribs are broken." Sasuke says without looking at his mother.
"Get your ass in here or I will break more than your ribs my boy." Mikoto told him calmly but dangerously.
Sasuke flinched visibly and walked through the door to Sakura's room his mother was holding open for him. Mikoto walked to the couch and sat down with Shisui and Obito and sipped her tea.
"Does she know what he did?" Shisui spoke first.
"Yes," Mikoto said. "So do I, so do you and my husband, and that is all there needs to be."
Obito looked out the window and let them have their conversation. His mind was on Akasuna no Sasori and his potential motives. Obito didn't think it was as straightforward as a simple kidnapping attempt and human trafficking. Why the poison...Sasori wanted Sakura, not just any pretty girl, he wanted her specifically because he knew her, he liked her. Obito twirled his knife in his hand lost in thought.
He would wait for Madara to come out of Itachi's room with the doctor, he would need to speak to both of them, Madara and Itachi.
Sasuke stood with his back against the door to her room. She was sitting up in her bed not looking at him but she knew he was there. He shifted his weight nervously and slowly walked over to her bed and sat down.
"Get off my bed." She said quietly.
He stood. "Sakura, I." How could he tell her. "I love you." He looked down at the floor, "I'm sorry."
She turned her head to him then and got out of her bed. She had changed, the dress was gone, replaced by one of Itachi's old tee shirts he had given her last year and a pair of old shorts. She stood there looking at him then took the few steps to stand directly in front of him.
"Look at me." She commanded.
Sasuke raised his head and looked at her. She drew her hand back and slapped him hard across the face. "You are dead to me. Get out of my room."
He left.
Madara and Fugaku left Itachi's room a little while later and made their way to the living room to join the rest of the family. Obito voiced his opinions he had on what Sasori's motivation for kidnapping Sakura might be.
No one noticed Sakura had joined them. "He is attracted to my intelligence and my emotions." She explained their interactions at the gallery and about their first class together when she had impressed and intrigued him with her bubbly opinions on art. "He said he would see me for coffee back at school."
"You can't seriously be thinking of going back to school Sakura!" Shisui was shocked at the ridiculous notion.
"Sakura dear, you will not be going back to school this semester, you had planned on coming home after this semester anyway. Drop your classes, it is so early in the semester that is won't affect your financial aid or your GPA. You can start the next semester here at Konoha University, where we can protect you." Madara said.
"Like you did tonight?" She hadn't meant to say it, it had just slipped out.
Sasuke got up from his chair off to the side and walked out of the room.
"We have a better chance of protecting you here Sakura than in the next city over." Fugaku tried to reason with her.
It was Mikoto 's voice that swayed her.
"Sakura, do you love me as I love you as my daughter?" She asked the girl as though they were the only ones in the room and no one else mattered.
"Do you want me to grieve your early death, or worry every moment of every day you won't return, that every time I see you could be the last?" Mikoto's tears slip from her eyes onto the cloak she still wore.
"Because that is what will happen if you refuse to come home if you are stubborn and do not allow us to help you. We are family Sakura, do you not think of us as a family?" Mikoto reached her hand out for the girl who stood in her living room surrounded by her family.
Sakura nodded her head for fear her voice would crack if she spoke and stepped forward taking Mikoto's hand in hers, "Yes, mother." and she let Mikoto kiss her head and pet her.
Itachi stood by the hall leading to the living room watching this play out. He nodded his head and went back to his room. Good, she would stay and he would make sure she was safe.
In a studio apartment, in another town…
He traced the arch of her brow with his finger holding his breath, so that the simple process of breathing could not distract him from enjoying the sensation of the touch. He slowly exhaled and then slowly inhaled again as he imagined cupping her small face with his larger hands and running his lips gently back and forth over hers. He wanted to see the look in her eyes, feel the hitch in her breath as he holds her against his chest. His fingers twitch and his blood churns in the simple wanting of her body. His living doll...soon he whispers as he studies the pictures on his wall. Soon Sakura...he wants to know, he wants to learn, and only she can teach him...how to feel human again. How to feel alive.