- Nine -

A/N:

All my sincerest apologies for taking so long to update. My life has become more than hectic with work, school, and social situations. I do check reviews even when I'm failing to update - thank you so much for all of them! It means a lot.

The hand-made winged creature descended from the sky, landing awkwardly and stirring up an array of dirt. It was so...alien from anything she had ever seen.

Sakura, at this point, wished she were still unconscious - God forbid, it could get her killed, but it would prevent her from having to face a man with (from what she could see) three mouths.

"Come on," the blonde snarled impatiently, tugging her off the soft bird. Sakura stumbled to catch her footing as he pulled her upright again and began dragging her towards a shabby little shithole that she would assume he called home.

Praise the Lord that Sasori was not anywhere in sight; hopefully he was nowhere in the near vicinity. Unconsciously, Sakura began writhing in the stranger's grasp, causing the freakish teeth of his right palm to sink into the skin of her arm.

"Shit!" The cry echoed through the treetops, bouncing off the tall trunks that hovered around and loomed above her. Her arm stung.

"Quit your whining, un," the boy bit in a gravely voice. "I don't want to listen to bitching."

"Then keep your rabid mouth off me," Sakura warned, fearful and weary. The fight had been driven from her after Sasori had targeted one of her chakra points and rendered her unconscious.

For being such a sadist, that man certainly picked the right companion to take his place in a time of leave.

"You're a pain in the ass," the blonde snarled, arm still gripped firmly, but teeth withdrawn from her skin. "Women should be seen, not heard, un."

While his voice was predominantly male, this 'man' could very well pose as a woman. Was it possible he was a transgender?

Sakura ventured daringly into the abysmal territory of topics-not-to-be-discussed-at-dinner:

"Why are you speaking then? A woman should not accuse another woman of being incompitent."

The teeth sank deep into the soft flesh, slight as it was to come by on her forearm, and held fast. Sakura choked on a deep breath and gnashed her teeth together in agony.

"I am no fool, un. You are incompitent, you lowly woman. Learn your place before I escort you to it."

The offer sounded altogether pleasant. Sakura reveled in the idea of freedom from the perdition she was being encompassed by.

"Take me there," Sakura dared him, feeling the searing pain his third mouth left. Was this the same affliction Sasuke had felt when Orochimaru had sunk his teeth into his pale neck, a wild beast yearning for its prey?

The blonde discounted her remark and continued onward with a baleful grip and a cryptic gaze. Pulling her forcefully through the entryway, three sets of eyes fell upon her writhing figure.

"Hallelujah, Jashin-sama!" One cried, eyes hungry and indulging in the sight of young blood before him. "Fresh meat."

Another, blue-skined and jagged-toothed snickered. "Deidara, you should know better than to bring a concubine back here. It's likely she will end a sacrifice."

Deidara. His visible blue eye narrowed, then rolled in adamant apathy. "She isn't mine, un. I admonish you not to lay a hand on her."

"Why the fuck not?" The silver-haired man cried, leaning over the edge of a faded, tattered sofa. "Do you know what you could get from this opportunity? Sex, blood, killing!" His hungry smile made her stomach jolt.

Another beast eyeing its prey, this one contemplating how to go about destroying it.

As much as she enjoyed the attention, the lustful cries of men aching to touch what they could not, the howls of a miscreant man were something altogether different.

"You'll be the one dying, un," Deidara reinstated. "Master Sasori stakes his claim on this one."

Sakura watched those, albiet, gorgeous violet-red eyes roll dramatically. "Screw Sasori. Kid, I'm immortal. What the fuck is he going to do, turn me into one of his fake companions?" The man scoffed. "Sasori himself is no longer sporting wood!" The man cackled at his own perverse humor.

The third man sitting in the room basked in silence, stoic and handsome. There was no mistaking their lack of acquaintance, yet he looked so familiar.

The animal-man sat with a devlish smile on his face but let the immortal damnation do the talking. In lieu of Deidara's forewarning, he turned behind him quickly and rashly looked for a second opinion.

"Itachi, you agree with me, don't you?"

The man's black eyes flickered onto her, a speck of red behind them. Sakura's chest tightened as her vision tricked her into seeing his face as another's:

Sasuke.

The resemblance was no longer foreign, but obvious. The name had a familiar sound but was one she had never learned.

"I'll kill him."

"That man, he ruined our existance. We could have thrived, but he took all that power and bestowed it upon himself."

"I'll see to it he dies, watch him wither in long-awaited agony."

"I hate him."

Itachi had a similar manner about him as his brother; quiet, unmoved by the people and events about him.

"No."

"Fuck it," the brash man grumbled. "All I know is Sasori can suck one. That gorgeous piece of meat is mine, mine to give to Jashin."

Who the hell was Jashin?

Still treating her as the lowly being he believed her to be, yet in a more guarded manner, Deidara led her up the stairs and enclosed them in a room.

"Shouldn't you have left me with that pig?" Sakura tested him, a deranged look in her emerald eyes. "I would have supposed you liked the idea of me being torn apart."

Deidara stared her down in a careless cold.

"If Master Sasori were not involved, I would have killed you myself by now, un," he disclosed. "I loathe misplaced superiority."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the naive hypocrite before her. "What do you say of yourself then, hm?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I am superior to certain persons, but beneath others. I know my position on the food chain."

"As well you should," Sakura remarked in a hush. Deidara gave her a painstakingly demonic look but turned the other way before acting on the impulse rushing through his veins. Sakura took note of the tongue on his left hand flicking out and licking around it, as if also hungry for the kill.

Were they all animalistic, with the possible exception of Sasuke's elder brother?

The door scraped the wooden floorboards as it opened, giving way to the same blue-faced man. He appeared as if he was suffering of hypothermia or had not bothered to inhale for quite some time.

"Be careful. Hidan is on a rage and determined to steal Sasori's little friend over there." He gestured loosely to Sakura.

Deidara glanced sideways at the man whose face bore a genuine resemblance to a fish. "I do not fear him. Tell him to try his hardest, un."

"I believe he's waiting for Sasori to return. Hidan enjoys a challenge, you should know."

"I do."

The strange man in the doorway eyed her with a blank face before a smile graced his face once more, a terribly hideous one. "I thought I would spread the word before Hidan spread blood."

Sakura felt a lurch in her stomach - sacrifice, blood, rape. Men of their status were beyond delusional and off kilter.

"I'll blow him up, un. He can have the joyous task of putting himself back together."

The man laughed, and stepped back from the doorway. "Enjoy babysitting. I hope you're getting paid."

"Screw you, Kisame," Deidara spat, eye twitching at the prospect. The door shut and once again the two bathed in an uncomfortable silence.

Sakura took a breath and exhaled, filling the room with the only dull, available silence. Coughing, she inquired another fact from the choleric man across the room.

"Why bother saving me? Are you truly that obidient to Sasori?"

He regarded her with an agitated expression and let his head fall back against the wall. "Yes."

"Interesting." Unwillingly, she had an S-Class criminal as a bodyguard, issued by another obsessive S-Class criminal.

Despite the threats and psychosis that were strongly regarded around here, the puppeteer's lack of presence was refreshing.

Amen.

Writing Soundtrack -

Wherever I Stand - Taproot

Man In the Box - Alice In Chains

Crawling In the Dark - Hoobastank

Half-Truism - The Offspring

Think Twice - Eve 6

Shout - Disturbed

Red Rain - Peter Gabriel

Passion Rules the Game - The Scorpions

Thank You For the Venom - My Chemical Romance