Chapter 3

Do you see?

Do you see the shadows?

Do you see the darkness?

Do you see?

~0~

"Mother…" A low voice rang out to the woman sitting behind a large, dark desk. She looked up to see one of her favorite followers. She put on a motherly smile and raised her arm to him. He smiled faintly and walked over to her. He kneed down and rested his head on her lap.

Sakura ran her fingers through his lovely red hair. She loved the color of his hair. His beautiful maroon hair; his pale skin was just as beautiful. She loved his eyes, as well. They were a vibrant shade of sea foam green, and his love tattoo that lay on top of his forehead made her smile.

What she loved most was that he did not love her as a lover, but he loved her as a mother. She loved to know he would come to her as a son would come to their mothers. He only showed these feelings to her and her alone. He was someone she didn't want to grow up and leave her. She loved him as her son; he was her piece of mind. Something she hadn't screwed up. He was free to do of what he wanted, yet he would still come home to her as her son. She felt peace when he wanted her motherly attention and she gave it. He was her Zen Garden.

"Gaara… What has you troubled?" Her voice had a warm feeling to it; something she only ever did to him. He mumbled something to faint for her ears to hear. She frowned slightly before lifting his face to look up at hers.

"I cannot help if you do not tell me what is wrong." He nodded once before he spoke.

"It seems my school is having parent-teacher conferences." She gave him another one of her motherly smiles before kissing the top of his head.

"Ah, yes, I see. Alright, I'll have to make room to go to yours and Sasuke's. Could you tell him I need to see him about this, too?" His eyes lowered at the Uchiha's name. He didn't like the Uchiha, Sakura was his mother and his alone. He wanted more of her time to himself. He nodded before standing up. Gaara reached for Sakura's outstretched hands and kissed the top of her left hand.

"Yes, I shall tell him," She smiled, "but before I do that, what are you working on, mother?" Sakura let out a long and low sigh.

"It is nothing of importance, only a few things that will help me solve a few unanswered questions. Now then, go finish your homework. I do not want you falling behind, alright?" He nodded again and kissed the top of her head before turning and leaving the room. She watched him leave. She sighed again and went back to work.

~0~

Do you see?

Do you see the hollow faces?

Do you see the dull eyes?

Do you see?

~0~

The skies were dark that evening. It was a moody day, so dull and dark. Nothing shun, not even his beautiful hime. She wouldn't smile or lift her head from her work. Papers were everywhere; on her desk, on her chairs and on her bookcases. He could remember the way she didn't even bother looking up at him when he brought her some tea. Her pink hair had been messy and tied up into a loose bun, her bangs pinned up and away from her gorgeous face.

"Hime, I am concerned for your wellbeing." He smiled when he heard her laugh lightly. She finally looked up at him and he felt himself melt at her smile. She had been the only person to ever make him feel like this. A heart fluttering feeling and a warm and fuzzy feeling in his gut, and he loved it.

"Itachi… I am alright. Do not worry, I will be done soon." Her reply had him in a comfortable mood. He did not like to see his hime in such a mess. He watched as she took a few sips of her tea; she turned to look out to the sky. Her dangerous smile on her lips; she was planning something.

"M'lady, you have a guest," the two turned to see Sasuke standing in the door. He looked at his elder brother then back to Sakura. Her eyebrow rose before she set her cup down.

"Send them in." He nodded and turned to let the mysterious guest in. Itachi looked back at Sakura as she tried to clean up her desk as best as she could. Itachi turned back when he heard footsteps enter Sakura's office. Sakura had yet to look up, still stacking papers and organizing them. Itachi cleared his throat and she looked up.

Sakura froze. Her eyes landing at the mysterious guest that had entered into her private office; the papers slipped from her hands and fell onto the floor. Itachi's face was fixed with surprise, he turned to look at the mysterious person again. This time taking in his appearance.

It was a man; tall and lean. He had broad shoulders and silver gravity defying hair. He had pale skin and a mask that covered half of his face. He had a red bandana covering his eye and holding his hair up. He was dressed in a black long sleeve shirt with black denim jeans. His shoes were work boots, also black. Itachi could see an eye crinkle, which made Itachi think he was older. He cleared his throat to which Itachi looked back at Sakura.

Her shock had vanished and her beautiful green eyes were slits. Her once smiling face, now a frown. She stood and dusted off her loose, black shirt. Her legs moved slowly as they carried her past her desk, past Itachi and stopped in front of the mysterious man.

"Ah… I'm late, aren't I?" The man said, his voice rough and full of humor. His hand went to scratch a spot at the back of his head, however it didn't get there before he was slammed into the wall at the opposite side of the office.

"How dare you! How dare you show your face here!" Sakura screamed, Itachi could hear all of her followers rush to her office. Sakura has never raised her voice to anyone in their mansion. Not once had they ever heard her raise her voice above her normal one.

"You," she hit him, "big," she hit him again, "fat," again another blow, "jerk!" She hit him a fourth time before he grabbed her hands to stop her.

"Cherry, clam down! I know I'm kind of late," he said and she screamed again.

"Kind of?! Kind of?! How dare you even think for one second you are allowed to worm your way out of this, Kakashi!" She hissed out his name. Sasori ran into the room only to see Sakura on top of Kakashi. He frowned.

"What are you doing here?" He said in disgust, before he pulled Sakura off of Kakashi. He wrapped her in his arms and Kakashi glared at him.

"I could ask you the same." Sasuke and Gaara rushed in after Sasori and Sakura pushed herself out of his arms.

"Mother, are you alright? You screamed!" Gaara asked with worry as he walked up to Sakura. She gave him a motherly smile and she pat his cheek.

"I am fine, Gaara, you are sweet to worry." She replied before she turned her head to glare at the man lying on the floor.

"You're in it deep," she pointed her finger at him, "We will talk about this later." She spat out the last words before she grabbed Gaara's hand and walked out the office.

They watched her go until Sasori looked down at Kakashi.

"So, what are you doing here?" He crossed his arms a crossed his chest. The two Uchiha siblings watching the scene in front of them.

"I heard she was looking for me…" Sasori glared.

"Why would M'lady do something like that?" Kakashi merely looked at him before he shrugged.

~0~

Do you see?

Do you see the flames?

Do you see the sparks?

Do you see?

~0~

It had been years, decades… Centuries even since he'd last seen his beautiful queen. He missed the way she danced, the way she sang, and the way she smiled. He loved the way she smiled the most. It was bright and shining. So breathtaking and consuming; what he'd do to see it again…

He chuckled at the thought of her waiting for him. His queen sitting in their library reading one of her favorite books by the fire; she'd tell him about the book she had just finished only an hour before. He would kiss the top of her head and play with her pink hair. Her green eyes full of love and comfort.

He could even remember the feel of her small palm on his cheek as she drew him into a kiss. The feel of her lips and the taste of her tongue… It always felt so real to him. Even in his dreams he could still feel it. He could smell her. Touch her. Hear her. He craved her. Missed her dearly, however, he knew he could not go see her. He knew what their fate had in store. Their destiny… He could feel the sting in his chest as he thought of what he had to do. The sickening feeling in his stomach; he could not bring himself to go see her. He had to stop himself…

He let out a sigh. He knew what he had to do. He knew it would stop everything. He would finally be free from his curse if he did. He just couldn't bring himself to harm her. To kill someone he was so madly, deeply in love with.

He closed his eyes. He pictured her on their last day together. The way they danced on the dance floor. The way she smiled at him and the way her dress spun around her. They had finally gotten married, after years of waiting. They knew they were meant to be when they first met as children. He knew he was in love with her the moment she walked in with her father. She was only fourteen years old, and he was eighteen, but he knew she was the one. They were married four years later and that was the start of their happily ever after… Or at least that he had hoped.

It was the night of their wedding night when everything took a turn for the worst. He could not believe what he had seen that night. He was terrified at the scene in front of him when he walked into their room that night.

His beautiful queen was sucking the blood out of one of their servants. It was a horrifying; the blood was running down her chin, past her throat and falling onto her night gown. The servant was almost shriveled with the lack of blood in his body. He could still hear the thump as the body hit the floor. She had turned to look at him and her green eyes were glowing bright. Shining into the dim room, a dangerous smile upon her gorgeous face. He could clearly see as she walked up to him and bit into his neck.

He could feel as the blood was leaving his body, the feel of his blood pooling out of the two wounds on his pale neck… Then she pulled away rather hurridly. He could still remember the horrified face as she saw what she had done. She had tears running down her face as she tried to stop the bleeding. She pulled on his shirt to keep it at his neck, however it had not worked. He watched her as she panicked.

Then she stopped. Her head was lowered and her bangs hid her beautiful face. He watched as she moved out of his line of vision, only to come back with a glass shard. She was mumbling something and crying, he wanted so much to comfort her but he was dying. He knew he was dying, he couldn't even muster up the strength to lift his arm…

He had to watch as she sliced her wrist open and pour the blood into her mouth. His eyes went wide as her face bend down and she kissed him. All he could taste was iron, he could feel the thick liquid run down his throat. His queen had pulled back and he coughed. He could hear what she was saying now.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I love you, I'm so sorry…" He couldn't hear the rest as his vision began to fade and he was pulled into darkness.

He blew out a sigh. He hated to remember that awful memory. He tried to push it away. He couldn't bring himself to think about it anymore. He couldn't bring himself to feel the heart wrenching feeling of loneliness she had left him in after that night.

"I miss you so much, my beautiful queen…"

~0~