Chapter 5: The Arrival

Madara blinked and strained his eyes to make sure he was not hallucinating. It was very late and he was rather tired from what the day's work and stress had given him. It was not impossible for him to start having delusions from too much exhaustion. He did expect it to happen sometime; however, he did not expect it to appear like this. It was so- realistic. The coldness, the sounds, the wetness, and the ambiance- everything seemed real!

He was staring outside the window of the throne room, from where he was seated; he could make out little drops of water falling from the sky.

It was raining.

And it never rains on the Land of Fire.

And rain was a bad foreboding; it symbolized bad luck, death, war, or plague. He wished very badly that it was all just his imagination. Yet when he looked at the terrified and stunned faces of the members of the Royal Knights standing on his sides, he was disappointed to realize that it was the reality. It was indeed raining.

He sighed, and just when he thought he could have no more problems for tonight. Itachi bent over him and whispered, "Could this mean death?"

Madara frowned, knowing what his nephew meant and, although no one could see it, worried over. He whispered back in a rasped voice, "Let us hope not."

Itachi nodded, but he knew the poor boy was still worrying over his little brother's condition. He, himself, still is. And he was not entirely sure, and not even hopeful, that the Witch-doctor they have called for would be able to cure his nephew. He could not imagine what grief Itachi would feel if he died. The boy had been struggling for his life for almost a week now; he was in very poor state. He looked deathly pale and overly malnourished due to lack of nutrition. His eyes looked almost like hollows because of the dark circles that became very distinct because of his lack of sleep. He wished deeply that Sasuke will heal, that the Witch-doctor can bring him back to his healthy state. He loved his family dearly, and he knew well how it felt to lose someone very dear, he almost lost his younger brother back before he was the King, when his father and mother had died. He did not want anyone in his family to experience such excruciating pain, it was too much to bear, and he almost lost his sanity, had his brother not been saved by the former King's doctor. He knew how much strength death held, its ability to cause hurt, destruction, and violence, and its ultimate power to take away any and everything a person has.

Zetsu shifted from leaning in the wall and gave him a small glance before looking back outside the window before speaking, "Do you think they have found the Witch?"

All of them looked at him. It was rare for him to be the ice-breaker, he did not speak very often, and if he did it would, more or less, consist only of a few sentences. Unless he was reporting, he wouldn't speak much.

Next to him was a crouching Deidara, he shook his head and frowned, "I highly doubt it. And I don't trust them, from what I have heard, the Doctor-witch and her comrades who lived in the dark parts of the forest were man-eaters. They eat human flesh, like you," He glanced up at Zetsu, "They torture them, rip them apart, and then eat them. Raw."

Zetsu raised a brow, "Excuse you. I do not torture people; I do not play with my food. And you know well that I rarely eat human flesh." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, "And where have you heard these things from? Was it from the old ladies at the market? The whores at the brothel? Or did you hear them from the maids?" He shook his head, "You know that rumors are most often not true, Deidara."

From the other side, Kakuzu had decided to speak, "Are you saying that this 'Witch' will be a beautiful, young maiden who knows how to use White Magic? You know very well that white witches do not exist anymore."

"And how would you know, Kakuzu?" That was the only female of the group, Konan.

"I don't. I just know that I have never happened to encountered one and that the Wiccan witches had been extinguished a long, long, time ago by the Norfolk Council of Witches in favor of Black Magic users." Was his very informative reply.

Itachi shook his head and spoke with all hope. "Whatever kind of witch he or she is, as long as he or she can heal Sasuke, then everything will be alright."

Madara nodded, giving what support he could to his nephew, "Itachi is right. I know enough destructive magic to counter and kill the witch if he or she tries to do anything harmful."

There was complete and utterly uncomfortable silence that followed after his statement.

It was broken when Sasori entered the room, panting and sweating despite the cold weather. He crouched, putting his arms in his knees, and first took a moment to catch his breath, before he looked up at Madara and spoke.

"They have arrived."

~XX~

Sakura was currently walking alongside Lord Hoshigaki and Lord Hidan who were both escorting her to the throne room to meet the King. The trip to the palace took more or less two hours and on the way, both had warned her about the 'dos and don'ts' when she faces the King. They looked so serious that she was nearly afraid that the King might eat her alive if he did not like her. She shuddered back then.

'And they say that we were the ones who eat people alive.' She thought.

Her eyes wandered around the hallway. It was lit with pretty chandeliers that hung above the high ceiling, the carpet was a rich, crimson, and the walls were decorated with intricate carvings that screamed old age, elegance, and skills. They passed by a lot of paintings a while ago. Some are renowned works of a known painter who hides behind the name 'Sai'. They turned and entered another long hallway. She looked at the walls, there were paintings again, but this time, by how they looked and how they were dressed like, she could guess that they were the former Kings. They kept walking and came across the last painting. It was huge, like most others, and was framed in gold with complicated designs. However, it was not the grandness of the frame nor the carvings engraved at it that caught her attention.

It was the painting of the man, itself.

He was sitting cross-legged on a red and gold chair, his back leant, his head cocked to one side and resting on the back of his hand, which was put above the arm of the chair, his long black hair that fell on spiky strands rested behind his back. Some piece fell in front and rested elegantly on his chest, and he was staring in front. His crimson eyes, though very pretty, looked sad and empty, and to anyone who would look, the man in the painting would seem to bore holes right through your very soul.

The man was just so beautiful, that Sakura had a hard time taking her eyes off of the painting. She only brought back to her senses when Lord Kisame's chuckle resounded on the halls. She abruptly tore her eyes away and blushed.

When she looked up at the still chuckling man, he was grinning down at her, "Isn't he beautiful? That is the King, Miss Sakura. And if you were not able to take your eyes off of a painting then you sure will have a bad time doing so with the real person."

Hidan snorted, a gesture that was slowly becoming a habit to the man, "If you stare at him too much, he might just send you out. You better pay attention to him, and, once again, do NOT look directly into his eyes." He stated, reminding her of one of the things he had taught her not to do. According to him, any member of the King's family possesses a special kind of eye called the 'Sharingan'. It can entrance and daze anyone except for males, so he advised her not to look directly into his, or any members of his family's, eyes.

She just nodded her head. They stopped walking in front of a huge, red, double door. She briefly thought that she had been seeing too much red for today.

Lord Hoshigaki opened the doors and she was greeted with a well-lit, red-carpeted room. Everything in the room except for the hanging decorative mantles, glass things, and the throne itself were made of porcelain. There were few people who were dressed in black and wore silver and red armor.

Red. Again. Seriously?

They walked towards the throne and she tried her best to hide her eyes, which she knew looked much like she was hiding half of her face, behind the head covering of her cloak in order to not see the 'eyes'. Lord Kisame and Lord Hidan both bowed, she did the same thing and they had remained in place while Lord Kisame spoke, "My King, here is the Doctor-witch. However, she is not the original one that we were supposed to bring. This witch is her apprentice; the Master chose to stay back and sent for her instead."

She felt the man sitting on the throne shift, and her heart pounded loudly on her chest. Although she did not show it, she was nervous to death, especially when the King spoke in his rich, deep, and smooth voice, "Can this witch heal my nephew?"

Lord Kisame's reply came, "Her Master had assured us that she is of equal skill as her, and that there is no one else who is more fitting to do the work than her apprentice."

The King shifted again, and Sakura chest tightened and she almost stopped breathing at what he had said next. "Show me your face, witch."

The room fell silent. No one dared speak, no one moved, and it even sounded like no one breathed. Sakura was not sure of what they had expected, probably the kind of folklore witches everyone heard about during their childhood days. She was not surprised; after all, witches of her kind had been killed years and years ago. She was having uncertainty as to whether she really should pull her hood down. She was not afraid to show her face, but she was very afraid that she might catch a glimpse of those dazing red eyes. She weighed her options, and in the end, decided that it was best to not deny the King of his request. She might end up dead in a matter of seconds if she did so.

She lifted her brown-gloved hands slowly, deliberately bringing them up to the sides of her cloak, closed her eyes, and carefully pulled it down, revealing her face and letting her long, pink locks fall down on her back, the ends resting on her waist. She opened her eyes, revealing her bright jade irises that immediately adjusted to the bright light. Some pieces of her long bangs fell limply in front of her face. She was tempted to brush it away, but made no move in doing so because of the still present fear on the bottom of her stomach. She returned her hands on her sides, afterwards.

She heard small, masculine gasps, small 'Ooh's', and a manly voice that said, "You were right, Zetsu." She didn't look, to find out who it was, and just kept her head bowed.

It was a long while before the King had spoken again,"What is your name, young lady?"

She almost raised her brow, 'Oh, so it is 'young lady' now, huh?'

"Sakura, your Majesty." She bowed her head even more.

Unaware of it, the men present inside the room all had their jaws slacked, with the exception of Lord Hoshigaki and Lord Hidan. Even the King could not believe his eyes; he was still comparing the beauty in front of him to the witch he has imagined in his mind. Sakura felt him shift yet again and spoke the words she had feared, "Look at me."

She froze and literally stopped breathing. But still raised her head to look at the King in the eyes, when she did so, she was relieved that they were not crimson in color but rather deep, deep, pools of stark black. She was glad she was not dazed by his eyes, but there was another problem, though. She was now dazed with all of his beauty. Her eyes widened for a moment before Lord Kisame cleared his throat and faked a cough. The man knew what to do; she would have to thank him later.

If she thought the painting back at the hallway was gorgeous, the man sitting on his throne, steps of stairs above her was just purely breath-taking. She swallowed hard and with all the she could muster, continued to look at the Kings eye. She chose to pick a spot on his face, the place between his thin but masculine brows, to stare at and make it appear as if she was staring at his eyes.

"My King?" She had said when there came nothing.

The King just blinked and nodded, "Can you heal my nephew, Miss Sakura?"

She nodded without taking her eyes off of him. "I surely can. But if you want me to do that, then I shall have to see him."

The King nodded, "Yes, of course. Itachi" he looked at the man who stood beside him, "accompany Miss Sakura to your brother's quarters."

The man nodded. 'So he is the brother.'

He was also equally gorgeous as his uncle. His long, straight hair which was tied back looked silky. His eyes were as dark and empty, too, except his held a hint of worry. He was lean and toned, for what she could see beneath the black pants and white, ruffled shirt. And she found herself dazed by the beauty again. She did not even notice him descend the steps of the throne flat form and come in front of her. She was only brought back by his deep and rumbling voice. "Is something the matter, Miss Sakura?"

As soon as she realized that she had been gaping wide-eyed at him, she shook her head, "Nothing is wrong. Please take me to your brother, your Highness, so that I may asses his condition."

He nodded and walked past her, "Please follow me."

~XX~

She was led to another hallway by the crowned Prince. It was different, though. It was dark, and empty. No chandeliers were lit on, and the only means of lighting is the faint glow of the full moon that passed though the large windows on her left.

As if he read her thoughts the older Prince spoke from in front of her, "I'm sorry for the darkness. My brother is in very poor condition and has troubles sleeping with the lights on so we removed the lighting. I hope you are alright with that."

She smiled even though she knew that the prince would not be able to see it with what little light there is, "It is fine your Highness, however, I would need lights in order to have your brother examined properly."

"That is workable. There are candles on his room. Are candles fitting enough?" He asked.

She nodded, "Yes, they are."

He stopped walking and faced another one of those similar looking, double doors that she had passed by on the way to the throne room. He faced her as if he could see perfectly clear in the dark; she was a taken aback by the color of his eyes. It was not black anymore, but a glowing, piercing, red. "We are here."

She nodded and swallowed hard. He opened the door and let her come in first, him closing the door before following behind her.

She walked towards the only bed at the center of the huge room and gasped.

There, on the bed, lay sprawled a body that looked dead.

~XX~
.

.

.

.

.

I know... I know... Another Cliffhanger. I rushed it, I hope it didn't appeared rushed, but- eh. I'm late for college.

Anyway, I need you to review, ne?

I decided that I would update as soon as every new chapter reaches over 15 reviews. That would be- twice a week. I think it's only fair becasue I have my own life and College is being quite a bitch.

So, there is your fifth chapter!

Review! :)

-Mina