Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.
They had arrived sooner than expected. It was a relief being able to see the mansion once again. Sasuke let the pink haired girl down, waiting until she was steady enough to let go of her completely.
She stared blankly at the entrance where there was supposed to be a door. It seemed sasuke had broken it down when he was in his beast form. They walked in only to find half of the mansion destroyed. Picture frames were broken, shattered glass covered the floor, the sofas were torn open, tables and chairs were broken in two.
Everyone stayed silent as they took in the scene before them. "Did a hurricane pass by?" Asked Suigetsu, trying to avoid stepping on the glass beneath his feet.
They heard a Yelp and they all turned to look at the kitchen area where a yellow haired man was being treated by Hinata. His back was covered in blood and he was biting down on his shirt as hinata disinfected his wounds. They looked surprised when they noticed the presence of the others. "You guys are finally back!" Smiled Naruto, standing up and putting on his shirt quickly. "Everyone is out searching for you!"
"Naruto, what happened to your back…" asked Sakura, worriedly.
Suigetsu walked over, trying to get a glimpse. "Sheesh, That looks pretty painful if you ask me."
Naruto gave him a look that told him to shut up. He didn't want sasuke to know that he was the one that had injured him. It would only make him feel worse about his transformation. He tried coming up with a quick lie "…Haha yeah, I think i Tripped on a piece of furniture while walking backwards and ended up falling." He could tell by Sakura's face that she didn't believe him one bit but she got the hint and started a different conversation.
"Looks like we'll have to start cleaning all this mess up before it gets dark. But first, let's start by fixing that door. We don't want to end up having intruders." She emphasized the intruders part, talking about Sasuke's crazy fangirls.
Hinata shook her head "It- it's ok, you guys should go rest. Me and everyone e-else can clean up." She knew they must have been really uncomfortable sleeping in the woods and probably had little to no rest.
Sakura retorted. She wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that everyone was busy cleaning while she slept peacefully in bed, but Hinata and Naruto insisted and ended up convincing them to go rest. She walked up the stairs, sasuke next to her. They had to move into a bigger room since sasuke had broken the door from his previous one and also, because he wasn't able to fit fully through the door due to his transformation.
He sat on the bed quietly, waiting for Sakura to finish taking a shower. He couldn't believe he had caused so much damage in a single day. And not only that, he almost killed Naruto and could have also hurt Sakura. He looked in the mirror on the dresser. He was still in stage two. he frowned. usually, he would have been back to his normal stage which was stage one. He closed his eyes. the dream he had taunted his mind. What if it came true? What if he spiraled out of control and attacked everyone?
"Sasuke, you can go take a shower now, I'm done."
He looked over at the pink haired girl who was drying her hair with a towel. She looked fine with the exception of a couple of small scratches. That meant that he hadn't hurt her while he was in his transformation stage. He nodded and headed to the bathroom, struggling a bit to get through the door.
She sat on the bed and brushed her hair. It had been another failed attempt at curing sasuke. This year was going by so quickly that she was starting to lose hope. She couldn't even imagine how sasuke must feel not knowing if he would have to keep living the way he is for the rest of his life. The frustration she was feeling was causing her a headache. She closed her eyes and placed her hand over them. "I have to keep sasuke from feeling down about his curse. Besides, there's plenty of time to figure this out, right?" She bit the inside of her lip. (I won't give up so easily on you sasuke.)
She sighed and turned to the side, looking over at the nightstand where her red cardigan laid. Her eyes widened and she stood up quickly, reaching out for it. How could she have forgotten about the letter! Her hands searched frantically inside the pockets to see if it was still inside. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she pulled it out. "I don't know if I should give it to him now." She mumbled to herself. If this letter really was for sasuke, then it probably contained information that could stir up negative emotions within him, causing his transformation to worsen. "Maybe I can wait a few more days, or a week."
She felt a dark shadow looming over her and when she looked up to see what it was she almost yelled. "S-sasuke, I didn't realize you had finished that fast." She placed a hand on her chest to calm her beating heart.
"Sakura… I will be sleeping in a different room." She looked at him, confused. Was he uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed as her? "Why?"
He looked to the side. "I don't think we'd fit." She looked at the bed and then at him. "oh" she had forgotten he was almost twice his size in height and was much more muscular than before. She felt dumb for asking. "Don't worry, we can just buy a bigger bed." She smiled, trying to make him feel better about the whole situation. "I can sleep in the room next to yours. You should stay here since there's more space here."
He nodded, his eyes focused on what she was hiding behind her back. "What are you hiding?" He had seen the letter she was holding a while ago and was curious as to why she was acting so suspicious about it.
She looked to the side, nervous. "It's just a letter." She stood up and yawned. "Well, I should go. I'm getting really sleepy, goodnight." she headed for the door but sasuke's hand encircled her waist and pulled her back to him, her back colliding with his chest. "Sakura"
she got the shivers every time he called her name out like that. He wasn't gonna let her go until she confessed. She closed her eyes and held the letter in front of her tightly. He rested his chin on her shoulder, grabbing her wrists gently, and lifting up the letter in her hands so he could see if the letter had the uchiha logo. Once he confirmed that it was he frowned. "Where did you get this?"
She turned around to look up at him. "I found it the day I entered the west corridor. There was a secret entrance in what I assume was your brother's room. This letter was inside a brick that was loose on the wall. I think It might be from itachi."
He tried to grab it but she backed away. "Sakura."
"Please don't read it yet! at least, not until a few days pass by." She pleaded "You're just starting to heal from the transformation. It wouldn't do you any good if it happens again so soon." She looked down at the floor, knowing he would just get angry and read it anyway.
He crossed his arms and pressed his lips together "…Fine."
She looked up at him, shocked. Had he just agreed with her? She was too stunned to even respond.
"It's getting late, let's go to sleep."
She leaned in closer to the two bodies that laid on the floor, checking to see if there were any signs of them being alive. "Well? Are they dead?" Asked pein, watching as Konan pressed her ear against Kankuro's chest. "I hear no heart beat or pulse." She stood up, dusting her cloak.
He grinned and looked over at the silent garra. "Ha! congratulations! Looks like you're a true villain after all." He laughed, patting garras shoulder.
"Since he has passed the test the ceremony must be held right away. Take him to madara and let him know. Itachi and I will get rid of the bodies," Said konan.
Pein nodded "fine, make it quick. You know how the boss gets when we're late." He signaled for garra to follow him as he leapt out the back window where nobody would be able to see him.
Garra, looked over his shoulder to take one last glance at the two bodies on the floor before leaping out the window.
Konan bent down and picked up Temari, carrying her over to the nearest room she could find. She laid her down on the bed, itachi doing the same with kankuro.
"They should regain consciousness tomorrow."
Konan noded, looking down at the bodies. "I'm glad Garra is on our side. It'll make things much easier."
He looked over at her. "We can't fully trust him yet. He can easily end up betraying us."
She hated to admit it but he had a point. She had been too excited upon knowing that Garra also wanted to take down madara. "You're right, it's best if we don't tell him everything completely."
He looked over the window. The sun was starting to go down. "we should get going."
Kiba, placed ino on her wheelchair. He closed the car door, pressing on the small remote to make sure it was locked. "I still don't understand why you didn't want to go back to the mansion." He grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and made his way into the flower shop.
The blonde haired girl stayed quiet. To be honest, going back to the mansion in her state would be difficult. She couldn't walk, meaning that working as a maid wasn't an option any longer. Was there really anything she could do? She gripped the arm rest, trying her best not to think negatively. "It's just for a few days..." she lied.
He raised his eyebrow, giving her a questionable look. "I hope you're not thinking sasuke will fire you just because you're in a wheelchair now. I'm pretty sure Sakura wouldn't let that happen either."
Her fingers stroked the beautiful flowers she would come and water every now and then. "I just need some time alone before everyone bombards me with questions. Plus, I don't want to tell them what really happened so I have to come up with a good lie."
He let go of the handles and rubbed the back of his neck. The stress was getting to him, he was sure. It was due to all this drama that he was dragged into.
She leaned her head back to look up at him. "Kiba, you look really tired. You should go home and rest, thanks for bringing me here."
"What are you talking about? I'm not gonna leave you here by yourself. What if you accidentally fall or need to reach out for something?" He checked his phone "it's already late anyway. I can just sleep on the couch."
She looked surprised. Why was he being so caring? It made her feel some type of way knowing he wouldn't do this for any other girl unless he was planning on sleeping with her. But she knew he just pitied her because of her condition. Either way, she was grateful that he wanted to help her out. She smiled as he took her to her bedroom. "You're lucky there's two rooms in this house."
He looked relieved upon hearing that. "Great, I was getting tired of sleeping on couches."
She snorted "don't exaggerate, it was just for a day… Hey Kiba, tomorrow…could you take me to see Temari?"
Once he heard what she said he stopped abruptly, almost dropping her off the wheelchair. "Hey, be careful!" She yelled, holding on for dear life.
"I'm sorry, did I hear right?" He asked, making sure he wasn't hearing things.
Ino rolled her eyes. "I just want to apologize for being a bi**h I regret what I did to her at the restaurant. She was just having a nice date with Shikamaru and I ruined it by acting immature and letting my jealousy get to me."
He stayed silent and watched as she clutched the palms of her hands shut. "Does that mean, you're letting Shikamaru go? for good?"
She nodded, smiling sadly. "It's not right to cling on to someone else's boyfriend is there? And no use holding onto someone who doesn't love you back. No matter how painful it is, letting go and moving on is for the best."
Kiba opened the door to her room and carefully laid her down on her bed. "Why does this feel like a sad drama that I would cry too when nobody's watching?" He heard her laugh as he covered her with a blanket .
"I'd pay to see that" she said, wiping away a tear either from laughter or sadness.
He hoped she would heal emotionally and physically with the help of everyone that cared for her. He didn't know why but over the past two months he had grown fond of her. It felt like having a younger sister he had to protect. Although he did love teasing her a lot. He laughed inwardly. Who would have thought? He grinned at her, poking her nose. "Yeah, I'm sure you would.
"Good night, Kiba" she mumbled as she closed her eyes.
He yawned and waved goodnight before heading to the other room.
He could hardly see anything in the dark room he was in, but he could smell the incense or whatever crap they were burning on the ground. Everyone surrounded him as if he were the center of attention. He could feel all the gazes piercing through his back. His eyes closed instantly when he felt liquid fall on his head and down to his face, he almost threw up when he smelled what it was, blood. one of the akatsuki members had spilled it on his head, chanting some demonic shi* to complete the ritual. He wondered how much more he could take before just getting up and leaving.
"Do you, garra, swear loyalty and your life to the akatsuki?"
He wanted to say no, but he knew he would be disposed of immediately. "Yes"
Madara grinned, like a proud father, who had just received news that their child had been born. "Congratulations, garra, you are now one of us!" He patted him on the back, it felt disgusting. Everyone started chanting, one of us! One of us! Their fist up in the air.
They turned on the lights, which looked barely lit. He stood up and faced everyone. They all looked like villains coming straight out of a fairytale story. He had to act like them, be like them so that he could get rid of them once he earned madaras trust.
She had gotten up early to help Choji prepare breakfast for sasuke. Hopefully, his condition was much better than yesterday. She walked up the stairs and knocked on his door but heard no response. "Sasuke, it's me Sakura, can I come in?" Still no response. Is he still sleeping? She opened the door quietly and entered. She looked around but couldn't find him anywhere. The broken mirror caught her attention as she placed the tray of food down. She frowned, looking down at all the broken shards of glass. Had it become his new hobby of breaking mirrors? He was probably angry that he was still in stage two. How had he gone out without anyone realizing? Unless…she walked over to the balcony and took a look outside where she spotted him near the fountain. "Hey, sasuke!"
He looked over to see Sakura sitting on the balcony, waving at him. His eyes widened as she pushed herself off of the railing. Was she crazy! He stood up quickly and practically flew over to catch her. His eyes spiraled red, everything played in slow motion until the moment she fell in his arms. "Sakura, what the hell were you thinking!"
She pouted. "Did you forget we can jump from high places? Besides, I knew you would catch me anyways." She placed her hand on the side of his face. "It seems your eyes turn red whenever you sense danger."
He closed them and relaxed, opening them a few seconds later to reveal his onyx colored eyes again.
She watched in amazement. "I saw that you broke the mirror... Are you upset that you weren't able to turn back yet?" He looked to the side, confirming her question. "Maybe it'll take some time."
He carried her over to the Sakura tree and sat down with her in his arms. "Karin warned me this would happen every time I transformed. It will get harder to turn back each time." He held her small hand in his. "Sakura, once the year is over and I don't turn back into a human… I want you and everyone else to leave this mansion."
His words sunk in. Her lips parted and then closed again. He wanted her and everyone to leave? She was glad he couldn't see her pained expression. "What if I don't want to? I promised I'd stay with you till the day I die, didn't I?"
"There will come a time when I start to lose my reasoning and the ability to control my body, like in the forest."
"But you didn't harm me, you protected me!" She tried to reason.
He frowned. "You'll be having a pet dog not a husband! And I might not harm you, but I might end up killing everyone else. It'll be dangerous if you stay by my side."
She shook her head stubbornly. She didn't want this, She had grown attached to him and everyone else these past few months. This was her family now and sasuke was her husband.. she had already accepted the fact that he would probably never be fully human again due to the curse. But To leave and act as if nothing ever happened. No, she couldn't, she refused. He would be lonely once again, suffering but this time as a beast, not a human. The thought made her feel heartbroken. She looked up at his lovely onyx eyes, placing a hand on his cheek to which he slightly leaned on. "Won't you feel lonely and sad? Would you even remember me once you're not human any longer?
He didn't know what to say. Would he be able to remember every once in a while in his beast form? He wanted nothing more than for her to stay by his side but once the year was over there would be nothing left of him but a monster, running rampant in the woods and being hunted down by hunters. It was best if she returned back home with her father where she would be a lot safer. But before that, he would have to get rid of the akatsuki to make sure Sakura would be secure once his sanity was gone.
"I don't know." He simply responded. He could tell she was holding in her emotions. He held her hand and gave her a small kiss on the lips to which she wasn't expecting. He leaned his forehead against hers. "It's ok if you come to hate me after the year is over."
She tilted her head to the side, confused. "Why would I do that?"
A few petals fell on her head, blending in with the color of her hair. He looked up at the tree. It's as if it was warning him not to say anything. There were fewer flowers than last month to the point where you could see the branches that were once filled with them. Suigetsu had explained to him what had happened when he tried to tell Sakura how the curse could be broken. If he tried telling her, would the same happen to him? He picked a petal from her hair and placed it in the palm of her hand, enclosing it with his. "You'll find out sooner or later."
It might have started with him being selfish and only wanting to break this curse but now, it was for a different reason. He just wanted to be with Sakura for as long as possible, but he knew that time wasn't on his side. Perhaps, this was his punishment for the way he treated her all these years.
she looked at him sternly, placing her hands on his chest. "Does this have to do with the proposition you made with me?"
He nodded.
She frowned, her eyes boring into his. "Why can't you just tell me? Why is everyone so secretive about it?!" It was driving her crazy. Was it something life threatening? Did it have to do with his transformation…
He held her wrists, his face expressionless. "I can't tell you."
"There you guys are! Yelled Naruto from the bridge, waving and grinning. "Choji finished making breakfast."
She had forgotten all about it. She stood up to compose herself and waved back. "coming!" She left without looking back at sasuke. She was a bit upset with the whole secret thing that everyone knew about except for herself. But more about the leaving conversation.
He sighed, knowing she was mad at him. He stood up and followed along but not before taking another look at the tree. Two months left…
"Ino, are you sure you want to do this?" Asked the browned haired man, stopping in front of the suna residence. "It's not too late to turn back, you know?"
Ino closed her eyes and sighed irritably. He had been trying to convince her not to visit Temari the whole way. "Kiba, just knock on the door, please."
He realized there was nothing he could do to stop her. "ha, fine." He rang the doorbell several times before stepping back.
After a few seconds the door opened, revealing Temari.
She looked at Kiba before looking down at ino. "What do you want?" She asked distastefully "and how the hell did you get my address?"
Ino could tell she hated her guts. "I didn't come to pick a fight. I… I just wanted to come and apologize in person."
She raised an eyebrow "apologize?! Or did you come to laugh at my face and see how miserable I am now that Shikamaru broke up with me." She grabbed the handles of her wheelchair chair and glared at her angrily. "I don't need your pity."
Ino looked shocked. Had Shikamaru really broken up with her? She bit her lip and looked down, shamefully. "I'm sorry! It was all my fault! I'll talk with him and fix-"
Temari laughed, "fix what? Our relationship? There's no need for that. There's a reason we broke up. Once a plate is broken and you try gluing it back together, tell me, will it look like it used to be?"
Ino faced away "No…"
"That's correct, so there's no use for me and that person to get back together again. And there's also no need for you to apologize. What you did wasn't right but I won't hold a grudge against you. I think you already paid a price for your actions."
Kiba bit his tongue. He wanted to intervene and defend ino but he knew she would get upset if he did.
Ino agreed, giving her a small smile. "I have to admit I acted like a villain and ended up getting what I deserved but I just wanted to apologize for ruining your relationship with Shikamaru.. I had no right. It was my fault not his." Her voice cracked a bit. "Again, I'm sorry."
Temari gripped the doorknob. she didn't know if she could accept the apology. Everything that happened was still fresh in her mind but what happened couldn't be fixed. The only thing to do was to think about the future. "Well, I guess there's people who do crazy things for love and I can't deny that you have a really good aim. My hair still smells like tomato sauce."
"That went better than expected." Smiled ino as Kiba pushed her wheelchair from behind. Since the town was small, people often walked instead of using a car.
Kiba looked at her like she was insane. "Better than expected? She insulted you and didn't even accept your apology!"
She looked up at him. "To be honest, If I were her I wouldn't have either. But I feel at peace with myself after apologizing." She smiled and looked up ahead only to be smacked in the face by a paper. She screamed and flailed her arms thinking it was an animal attacking her. "Take it off!" She yelled.
Startled, Kiba took the paper off her face before laughing. "Relax, it's just paper!"
She felt embarrassed when she realized it was indeed just a piece of paper. "Hey, stop laughing! I really thought it was something attacking me." She snatched the paper out of his hands, ready to crumble it up and throw it at his face until she realized what was drawn on it. "Hey kiba, is this who I think it is?"
He stopped laughing and looked over at the paper. There was a drawing of sasuke in his beast form flying over trees. It read, monster roaming the woods.
"No way.." he felt something hit his leg. He looked down and grabbed the paper. It was the same image. Another one flew past him. He turned around to see many flying around.
Ino pursed her lips "This isn't good."
"Hey Sakura, so why are you buying a bigger bed for you and sasuke? Asked naruto, hands behind his back as they made their way to the furniture store.
Suigetsu grinned, maybe they're getting into kinky stuff and need more space.
Naruto snickered. "oh, fifty shades of gray?" He covered his mouth. Suigetsu was rubbing his nasty habits onto him.
Sakura grabbed both of their necks, a vein popping out from the side of her forehead. "If I hear one more nonsense come out of your disgusting mouths I will snap both of your necks without hesitation, am I clear?" She asked, looking at them with a murderous glare.
"Yes ma'am" they answered in unison, knowing she would actually do it.
She smiled and let go of them. "I'm glad you understand."
As they walked over to the store they started noticing a bunch of flyers on the ground. Two men passed by. They seemed to be bickering about something.
"Hey did you hear?! Apparently there's a monster roaming in the woods!" One of them said, "What nonsense are you talking about? A monster? Haha that's just plain ridiculous." Laughed the other guy, snatching the paper from his hands and giving it a glance. "They're just trying to crawl under your skin. This isn't even a real picture, it's just a drawing." He threw the paper away, the cold air taking it away.
"A monster in the woods they say?." Suigetsu picked one of the fliers up. His face paled after seeing what was on it. Sakura looked over and gasped as soon as she saw the drawing of sasuke in his beast form. "there's no way.."
Naruto looked at them curiously, wondering what they were looking at that made them so stunned. "What is it? Why are you guys making those faces? He grabbed the paper from Suigetsu's hand and looked at it closely. He was at a loss for words. He looked over at Sakura. "We have to find out who did this."
Sakura nodded, handing him the flier "when we get back home call an investigator. In the meantime, let's gather as many of these fliers as we can."
The white haired man shook his head. "Go and finish what you came to do. Meanwhile, me and Naruto will stay here and take care of it.
She nodded, promising she wouldn't take long.
"I doubt people would believe in this either way. Besides, They have no evidence that it's real." He looked at the picture closely. It really did look like sasuke in his beast form.
Suigetsu nodded "Yeah, it'll be a big problem if this makes it on television."
The two picked up as many fliers as they could, making sure to rip them and dump them in the trash can so nobody could see them. Sakura came out holding a bunch of papers and receipts in her hands. "That was quicker than I thought it would be. Two of the workers will help carry the boxes onto the car."
"Wow, that was quick" agreed naruto, turning around to see the pink haired girl. "We managed to gather a bunch of fliers and throw them in the trash.
"Good job!" She smiled and looked over at Suigetsu who stumbled and almost hit the ground. He sat down, stunned at what had just happened. "Hey, are you ok?" She touched his forehead. "You're burning up. Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well!"
"Ha, I think this weather is making me feel a bit sick." He started having a coughing fit.
Naruto took his jacket off and wrapped it around suigetsu. "You idiot, you should've brought a warmer sweater." He helped lift him up. He could see from the corner of his eyes how the white haired man clutched at his chest, and how heavy he was breathing. It didn't seem like a cold to him. It reminded him of Sasuke's symptoms.
"Naruto, take him to the car and turn on the heater. The helpers should be done loading the boxes onto the car by now."
Naruto nodded and helped Suigetsu get into the car. He could hear suigetsu mumbling about it finally taking effect on him. What was going on? He'd have to ask him once Sakura was out of earshot.
