Chapter 7: The Eye

~XX~

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Sakura cringed before opening her bright-green eyes. The apple orbs was met by the bright filaments of white light that cascaded down on the carpeted floor of her room from the gaps of the rich and lush, red curtain. Some rays shot through the splits of it and landed in soft, warm streaks like lukewarm water on her white skin. Although the sensation of it was great, and it made her feel somewhat home, the battering pain that was tormenting her from inside her head was enough to make her hate the almost perfect and beautiful morning with its golden sunshine and tepid rays that may have made her smile, the flooding memory of last night's depleting activity have had her forming a small frown. She had more or less used up half of her energy which is equivalent to three day's rest, which, she doubted, she would be able to obtain properly while staying at the Royal palace. But she is a doctor, and she had sworn in front of the gods and goddesses, and in the presence of her Master and sister apprentice, that she would fulfill her duties with all her heart, that she would help the ones in need, heal the sick and ill, and ward off darkness to those that were haunted by it. So when the heavy migraine had receded after a while of unseeingly staring at the white ceiling and plotting how on she would spend the day, because obviously, the King would demand her to stay until the second Prince's health comes back to normal; she had decided to finally get up and off the bed.

She swung both of her legs at the side, joints popping and muscles and tendons stretching, and then climbed down the bed. She looked around and found a solitary, white door with a golden knob to her right. She instantly decided that it was the bathroom. What else could it be? She did not think that the Palace would hold doors that would lead to some secret passage on its guest rooms.

She immediately went to her pack and dug through her things. The first thing her hands made contact with, she grabbed. She did not paid much mind to what she would be wearing; she made sure the dresses she brought with her would all fit with the brown color of her corset. She figured that she would not have much time to look pretty because she would be busy curing the Prince. She had not expected it to be a curse, after all, and that the dilemma would all be dealt with in overnight's time. When her hand lifted up a black under dress with a black laced top dress, she inwardly winced and mentally palmed her laterally large forehead. It must have been her Master who had stealthily included her semi-formal dinner dress among her bundle of necessities. Her Mater had a fetish for dressing her up on fancy and laced dresses. She, on the other hand, did not fancy it that much at all. She could only rationalize that it was because she was once a Princess, that she was used to pretty things, that she liked dressing up but she could no longer do it because of her huge chest, so instead, she dressed her up and made her a living doll. Some part of her brain, on the other hand, said that it was because she never had a daughter and she wanted one, and that she had found a daughter in her and Shizune, but Shizune had been hardly home, because of the two of them, she worked hard the most, and was almost everyday out to sell those herbs and medicine, and sometimes, magic, into town. She decided that there should be no wasted time, so she stood up, black and red dress folded neatly on her arm, and went to the door and opened it.

The bathroom was just as grand as the other parts of the palace that she had already seen. It was porcelain white, gold lined everything, and crystals and glasses adorned and made up the knobs and containers of various flower petals, soap, hair wash, and bath spices. On the center of the room was a huge tub buried on the floor, it looked like a gigantic, smooth, chinaware crater with all its smoothness and— what was that?

She walked closer and peeked at the tub, it was filled already, with something creamy white and rich.

'Milk!' She thought with all amazement, 'But how did they-?'

It was not poured in there last night, when she had instantly fallen asleep when the moment her body touched the bed, no— because it would have spoiled. It had been there just this morning, just before she had woken up!

She shuddered slightly at the thought of her completely unaware and comatose with sleep while some random person entered and exited the room, filling the tub with milk. She could have been salvaged at sleep and she would have not a clue about it! Albeit there should have been nothing to worry about, she was still afraid of the fact that she had been defenseless, even though she was asleep. She should have nothing to worry herself over with, really. She was inside the safest place in the whole of the Land of Fire, guarded by giant walls, catapults, canons, and protected by the Royal Knights, but she still could not help the minutiae of fear that rested deep inside her.

She swallowed, she had never had a milk bath before, it was meant only for the richest of women, and she could not afford to have one. She set her clothes on a small table and stripped off the ones she wore. When she was completely naked, she hesitantly reached a foot down the tub and dumbly tested the milk like what she could have done with water. It was not warm, but it was not cold either, and she liked the temperature. Slowly, she submerged herself unto the white liquid, like a butter biscuit would be, and reveled on the nice feeling and creamy scent it gave off. The white milk clung to her and gave the illusion of an even whiter skin; she slid her hand from her shoulder down to her elbow and felt relaxed at how gentle and smooth the texture of the milk between her skin is.

As much as she had wanted to take her time bathing, the thought of her numerous responsibilities quickly came to her mind. After a moment of taking joy from living in brief luxury, she cleaned up quick and to get herself ready for clothing. She toweled and found a basin of water; she used it to wash off the excess milk on her body. After it, she walked out of the bathroom and dressed herself, doused her neck and shoulders a light sheen of peach essence, then brushed her long locks, which, she pulled the half into a ponytail above her head, she braided the parts she knew would hinder her while working, but not all of it. Then made her way to the double doors and opened it, she was both bemused and surprised, and at the same time, frightened, when she was greeted by the sight two men outside her room.

One was a pale white, the one she had seen last night before the ritual, with his reserved, small smile and slit, honey-colored eyes, while the other one was pitch black, 'it' was staring at her with shiny, wide, yellow eyes and a terrifying grin. Both of them have green hair and are wearing white ruffle shirts that bore the royal insignia, she undoubtedly knew they would cost twice the price of her monthly sell of herbs and spices.

She looked at one of them, then at the other, and repeated the action a couple of times before the white one spoke in a soft, but low voice, "Good morning, Miss Sakura."

"Good Morning, My Lord. What might have brought you both here?" She asked, entwining her hands in front of her. The dark thing's grin had widened as her eyes landed on him, and his sharp and pointed teeth came into full view. She mentally shuddered and averted her eyes back to the other man.

"We were sent by the King to come and fetch you since you do not know the castle grounds and you might become lost." The white man answered.

She nodded, "I am sorry if I had kept you waiting long."

He shook his head and the black creature spoke this time, "Believe us, we have waited for other women quite longer than we have had to wait for you, dear."

She felt intimidated when its gaze on her suddenly became heavy and thick, she could almost feel it touching her insides flesh, gently stroking and at the same time, tearing like sharp claws of a raven. It all made the skin of her face flush and heat.

"You look utterly delicious today, Miss Sa-ku-ra…" He whispered loudly with his lower voice that it almost sounded as if he was hissing, rolling the syllables of her name on his tongue and pronouncing it resembling to how he would have with a lover's, he seemed intent on making the white man and her hear it. He succeeded. He eyed her up and down, roving his frightening yellows and took in her appearance and the dress she wore, and then he lifted up his dark hand and ran the back of his index finger gently on her folded hands. Her breath hitched, she swallowed hard and felt goose bumps on her arms growing with the creature's touch. The hallway was undeniably wide, but at the moment, it seemed to shrink in smaller and narrower until she almost felt suffocated.

The white man came to her rescue, "Forgive our manners, Miss. We have known you but we have not yet introduced ourselves. Our name is Zetsu."

She blinked, the slimming room had gone instantly gone back to its original form and size, and the much higher-pitched voice of the white man's had brought her out of her momentary reverie. Then her mind decided to function properly again, "O-our?"

The white 'Zetsu' nodded. "We are twins, we are one but not one."

Her brows furrowed, he shook his head, "It is very hard to explain, Miss. We could talk about it sometime but right now, the King wants to see you."

"Oh. Alright, then." Was all she could say before the two had started walking and she had started following them; they passed by countless of doors and many hallways, occasionally, they would meet along the way some servant girls, some would bow and greet them politely, some would frighteningly greet and scoot away, and some would flush, give her a little glare and go, they went by the rows of paintings that hung on the walls that she had seen before she had arrived at the throne room. When they passed by the current King's, she could not stop gaping at it. Yet again. This time, though, she had enough control over herself to tear her eyes away on time.

The journey had been quite long and silent, for some unknown reason, the black man had stopped his flirting endeavor with her, and it gave her much relief. When they arrived at another one of those giant, red, double doors, they have turned to her and the white Zetsu spoke with all somberness in his voice, but still with a small smile, nevertheless. "The King is in the gardens, which is behind these doors. We will not be able to be with you because we have matters to attend to, but you will be escorted around with another Knight or a servant, please make yourself as comfortable as possible, the King will appreciate it."

After she gave him a single nod, he opened the huge door for her and gestured for her to come in, she thanked him for his assistance and he gave a curt nod in return.

She entered the door and her breath stopped, her whole mind acknowledged the beauty of the garden and marveled at the breath of fresh air that surged upon her entrance. She wondered if everything on the palace always looked good.

The bright sunshine and the song of the birds were the second things she had noticed. She was stepping on a stone walkway that led to an arch of colorful roses, the entrance to the enchanting garden. She walked and passed under the arch of flowers, only to be greeted with more, the surrounding areas, if not covered with grasses, was covered with trees, both of fruits and not, and bushes and bushes of fragrant flowers. She even caught sight of oreganos!

She was quite happy, white witches like Wiccans are children of nature; she thanked the Gods and Goddesses on her mind for blessing her with the opportunity to see such beauty, the sun shone warmly at her, as if welcoming her and encouraging her to stay. She smiled, a rare and beautiful one she kept only for her Master and Shizune to see, a smile she kept back only for the happiest memories and experiences. She closed her eyes, opened her arms and made them spread like how a bird's would when ready to take flight, and inhaled the fresh scent of the field; the roses, the oreganos, the trees, the moist soil that had been drenched by last night's rain, the various flowers, some she knew and some she had no idea about what it's name is, and she felt one with nature.

She could have continued doing the act if a masculine and low voice did not interrupt her. "I can see that you are fond of nature, and that you like the garden very much."

She snapped her eyes open and turned around to come face to face with the King, he was smiling at her in a polite way, and was wearing a black chemise open and a dark trouser that matched his shirt. It was a sight to behold, really— that she could not take her eyes off of his well-chiseled, exposed chest, tall frame and manly splendor for a long moment had he not cleared his throat. A red blush the shade of red tinted her cheeks, and she let her lashes flutter when she casted her eyes downward to look at the ground instead. It would have seemed demure, had it not been because of her past action. "I— Y-your— I am—n-not-"

She heard a series of gentle chuckles but decided it best not to look at him again, she might just blush another shade deeper if she did, or she might faint. Either of the two.

"There is no need to be so formal; it is only you and I in this garden, after all." He stated matter-of-factly with all elegance. There was no reply to this, and a moment of silence passed by them before she was able to formulate a proper reply, this time not stuttering, "I am sorry, Your Majesty…"

Another pause again, before the sound of his voice floated into the air, "You look quite exquisite today, I'm sure Zetsu had a hard time."

She furrowed her brows and while still staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting at the moment, she replied, "What do you mean, My King?"

The next sounds that came frightened her a little, approaching footsteps, and then a hand came underneath her face and blocked her view of the grassy and moist soil. The hand's fingers carefully grasped her chin and lifted her head up for her apple-green eyes to meet with stone-black ones. He was so tall that she had to entirely look up, she doubted her head even came up to his shoulders. His eyes were so dark, it almost looked like two hollow pools of shadows, but she was still enthralled by them, she felt imprisoned the moment she looked at them. It was completely different at close range than from afar, the first time she had seen it. Even though their proximity was still one that did not cross the line of civility. And for a moment, she questioned if the blessing of the heavens included this— the ability to daze other people.

"You should not keep your head down and hide your beauty, dear." He said, her mind took a lot of time processing this, and when she did realize the meaning of the words, her still-present blush had deepened even more, she thought she looked like an overripe tomato, and her face heated so much that she became afraid the King might feel the heat she radiated too. She blinked twice before answering.

"I— thank you for the praise, My King." Were all the words she could muster enough brain power to say. The man seemed aware of his effect on her, and he did not seem to mind, in fact, he seemed to not mind it at all.

He held his other hand up and brushed a stray pink hair on her face, then neatly tucked it behind her ear. "You deserve it well."

"Do you always do this?" She blurted out, and then gasped at how rudely the statement had come out, it sounded like she was talking to a friend, or an equal, and he was not both. "I- I am sorry."

He raised a brow at her, but the smile did not disappear. She thought it safe then. "What do you mean?"

She took a slow breath before reverting back to the polite way she talked to him, "It is a nonsensical question, Your Majesty. Please forgive me."

"Hmm…?" He muttered, "I would like to know, still."

It was then that she realized he had not released her chin, nor had he distanced himself to her, yet. But she answered his question. "Captivate people? Does His Majesty always do it?"

He kept staring at her and the smile vanished, then slowly, a smile appeared again, a different smile. It was not polite or curt, but it was priceless, because she figured that it was a real smile. He looked amused to her, and he seemed deep in thought, then he broke the pending atmosphere, "I don't know why, but yes. I don't turn my Sharingan but females still become enthralled sometimes. I really cannot blame them, though."

'Very humble…' She thought and smiled. "I see. You have not answered my other question, Your Majesty."

"Ah. Right. Zetsu," He began, "Is a flesh eating creature, you see. He rarely eats humans. Though. But seeing you now, I think it had been hard for him to control himself and not eat you then and there. If I were him, I would eat you immediately before the others see you and take you for themselves."

A small 'Oh' was all she had said in return. So her previous worries of being salvaged on sleep had been correct. She knew it. She trusted her hunches, it was more often than not, right all the time.

"Fear not, Miss Sakura." He released her chin, finally, and faced the rows of trees on their left, looking through the gaps that the distances of each individual trunk created, while she looked at the ground again. "I will never let the savior of my nephew be hurt in any way. I am forever indebted to you and your Master. However, I would like to request that you stay here until my nephew comes back to full health."

She had anticipated that. For her to come back, she would have to stay for longer than a week, it could probably take up to a month if the Prince would not be very cooperative. She sighed, "I will see to it that he recovers quickly, not for the sake of immediately going home, but for his own."

He turned to her and had returned to smiling a polite one again. "Thank you…" he trailed off and continued with, "Miss Sakura, would you mind me asking you a somewhat— personal question?"

She looked at him this time, not being able to help herself, his face was just so addicting, so angelic-looking, that she could have thought he was a God who came down from the heavens and the garden was his very own Eden. "No, Your Majesty. Not at all."

He stepped closer to her and stared at her as if speculating her, "You never told me your last name. What is it?"

She was taken aback. It was a personal question. "I— I don't have one."

The King blinked. "You don't… Have one? What do you mean? You don't have a father?"

She slightly winced at the crassness of the statement. "I was… abandoned when I was young. My Master found me on a town near the borders of the Land of Whirlpool. It was in the middle of wartime, I was left to… Die there, I guess."

The King's expression turned from confused to apologetic, then confused again, "You guess?"

She gave a small shrug and answered, "I have no real memories from the first seven years of my life. I did not even know what my name was when Master Tsunade found me, just incoherent and blurry pieces of memories, some of them in the form of dreams, so I'm not really sure which is real and which is not. Some are so realistic and normal; I count those ones as the real memories. The others that are not are dreams."

"Are you saying that you dream of Dragons and Ogres? Are those the unreal ones?" He asked again and she shook her head. "Then what kind of dreams are they?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment and answered, "They seemed real too. But they were just impossible— really impossible to believe in, that I don't count them as part of my past. They come in normal scenes too, like me as a little girl wearing pretty dresses, and a servant calling me 'princess', or me standing in front of a beautiful coach. I don't think it is possible, since I was found wearing rags and almost dying."

The King's expression twisted into an apologetic one. "I am sorry. I did not know you have been through a hard life also."

She gave him a puzzled look and he smiled that rare smile again. "I suppose it is only fitting that I tell you of my life as you have told me yours." He sighed, and she became all-ears as he said this. "I was born and raised on a family of warriors and soldiers. When I was thirteen years old, my only brother, whom you have not seen yet because he is in the land of Rain to attend to political matters, had almost gotten killed by a disease that infested the Uchiha camp at that time. I was already engaging in combat then, and was one of the soldiers of the former King, through the mouths of the servants, the news of my brother's situation reached him, and I told him that I refuse to fight while my brother is still suffering and that I would remain by his side. He called for the Royal Doctor and my brother was treated. I was overjoyed that I promised the King my ultimate loyalty and forever servitude…" he stopped to take a long breath and continued, pacing back and forth at a slow rhythm while speaking with a wistful expression.

"I served for nine years and have managed to get my way and become one of his generals. The time of war came, and because of most of the soldier's lack of skill, we lost, and the King died in the hands of the other King. I was a witness to it, along with the other generals. Before he died, he appointed me as the next king, and that my promise would have to be fulfilled in another form, by serving the people of the Land of Fire. That was how I came into position." He finished his story with a sad smile; it appeared that he was still grieving over the loss of the last king.

"But— How about your eyes, Your Majesty?" She shamelessly asked, forgetting at the moment everything about decorum. He blinked.

"Ah, yes. 'The Red Eyes', as they dub it. Well…" he paused, "A black Witch fell in-love with me during my first ten years of ruling. I refused her and she cursed me. The curse of Narcissus, are you familiar with it?" He asked and she nodded swiftly.

"It is an enchantment curse. But why would she put something like that on you? It is supposed to become a favor, not a curse."

He shook his head. "She wanted me to experience the pain of excessive attention and physical love. If I enchant a woman, she will not be able to love me for myself, but because of the spell. And only when the witch dies will I, along with the others in my family, be free of it."

She nodded, "I see. So she is still alive, seeing that all of you still have it. How do you turn it off, then?"

His smile widened, as if he was pleased with the fact that she was interested. He turned towards the woods again, this time, wearing a wistful look on his face. "Fifty years ago, a wanted warlock came into the land and made a deal with me, I will protect him from the law and he will devise a way to let us temporarily turn our eyes into normal again. The process is not available for long, though. When our eyes are normal, it gives us extreme headaches. By the passing of time, we have learned to adapt and get used to the headache, it still hurts, nevertheless. But we really did not mind at all, since came with the eyes is power."

"Power?"

He nodded, "I was able to defeat the witch in a fight and won the deal we have made, there were two original curses, one is the Narcissus' curse, and the other was a death curse known as 'Hades and Persephone', it would take away the life of the cursed person when the time of fall comes. We made a deal to settle things in a fight, if she wins, she will become my queen, and if I win, she will leave and lift the death curse. I had not known then, that the Narcissus' curse had been already casted. I managed to defeat her, she lifted the death curse and left. That was when our eyes had begun to change. It was too late when I had found it all out."

'Did he just say fifty years ago? How old is he, really?' was what she thought. There was an awkward silence after that.

"My King?"

The King tilted his head to her direction, "Yes?"

"Why did you want to see me?"

He smiled again, that genuine and somewhat childish tilt of the lips that made him look much more carefree and younger, as if he was not the King, as if he did not bear the burdens of the lands. "I would like you to dine with me."

She blinked. "Are you certain, Your Majesty?"

The only confirmation she had received is a single, small nod, before her stomach decided to let him know that she had not eaten anything from the previous night before she had arrived here, until this morning. A short, faint, and very embarrassing sound of a grumble was released, the sound hanging on around them like an appalling revelation when it passed.

Her blush had returned tenfold, a deep chuckle succeeding after it.

"You must be famished. Come." The King led her away from the chain of trees and bushes. "I am rather lonely because I take breakfast alone, most of the time. The whole family is either too busy or I, myself am, that I forgot to eat at times."

She watched him from the corner of her eyes, how he took each stride with great elegance and more grace than she could. It made her jealous and envious for a while, and she almost laughed out loud at the thought. A girl, getting jealous and envious over a man? Preposterous!

They came into a small but grand shelter. It looked like a white, Western-styled pagoda. In it was a small, round table that could sit four persons. The table was white-painted with complicated carvings of flowers, vines, and such. It held above it various arrays of food, from bread and fruits to sweets and dessert, a tea set for four, and then at each ends, there were two wooden chairs, the arms and seater parts of it was covered with the comfortable pads foam.

He guided her to one of the chairs and pulled it backward to let her sit, she did so, and he pushed the chair as soon as she had to catch her. The table was small that if they both lean forward, they would be able to make their foreheads touch. He rounded the table and sat opposite her, and the feeling of jealousy came again. 'How could he be so graceful and also be a man at the same time?' Was what she thought.

He stared at her and, not taking his eyes away from her face, picked a strawberry and took the half of it in an almost sensual bite. She felt embarrassed at her own track of thought; and watched as he chewed, on what she could only describe as a sexy manner, on the red strawberry inside his mouth.

"Are you not going to eat anything?" Came his voice after he had swallowed the fruit.

She was taken out of her internal debate with the naughty side of herself as she heard him say it. With slightly shaking hands, she reached out for a piece of blueberry tart and brought it to her plump lips. She started chewing mechanically, not really tasting the food and enjoying it as she observed the King take one for him too.

Both of them remained silent while they ate their food. She felt herself getting thirsty from all the sweet foods she had been taking, she reached out for the teapot, only to stop dead when her hand came in contact with his, which, she have failed to notice, was also reaching out for the same thing.

Her hands tensed below his also uptight ones, and their eyes locked for a moment before the King made the first move and removed his hand to grasp the handle of the teapot to pour tea for the both of them. "I…" He started, quite awkwardly, and continued with a quiet voice, "I am sorry."

She shook her head, "I am sure it was not intended, My King."

He looked up at him and he blinked twice before nodding. She glanced down at her tea and uttered the first thing that came to her mind, "Even if you are cursed with those eyes, and even if you were not the King, I think I will still be able to fall in-love with you because you are yourself and nothing else more—"

Her eyes widened and she gasped as a warm, large, hand covered her other hand that was resting atop the table. He had held her hand, and when she glanced at him, he wore a serious but sad face. He watched her with something unexplainable on those dark, black eyes.

"I wish I had met you earlier in my life." He said poignantly, the words spilling out from his mouth like an aged, heartbreakingly forlorn love song. "I wish you were born on my time, I would have loved to live my life again if I could, with you, if what you have told me were true."

"I— It is true…"

He gave her a nod again. He released her hand with a sigh and she bowed her head to stare at her tea again. "You are different, Sakura." Had you been any other lady, you would have been begging me to make you my queen upon knowing that."

An inexplicable shudder crept up from the bottom of her spine and up to the base of her neck upon hearing her name being used by the King without the honorific 'Miss'. The idea of her as a queen sounded absurd, but it appealed to her in a way. A family with the King?

Her head shot up, "I forgot!"

The King gave her a curious look, "Forgot what, dear?"

She ignored the fact that she have called her 'dear' for the second time during their whole meeting. "I have to— The Prince; I have to take a look at him. The spell stated that the first light of the sun should make the healing complete, if he is still in that room, then I—"

She was stopped by a charming smile, "Do not fret, Sakura. You may see him now."

She nodded and gave a respectful bow to the King, before she lifted her head, he spoke again. "Sakura, I forgot to tell you about our forthcoming war with the Land of Music, may I request that you stay for a while longer to assist those that would be wounded during the battle?"

She mentally sighed. She gave a small nod; head still bowed, and rose to give the King a reserved smile before turning her back and walking towards the way of the garden door.

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~XX~

Sorry the update took extra long. I'm currently having writer's block, and the shitty internet and the god-forsaken hurricanes weren't really helping at all either .

I thought you guys deserved a long chapter, I was aiming for 7,000 words but dear, little Writer's Block won't let me do that so...

I hope you don't mind me pairing her up with an ancient guy xD

The next updates will become longer and longer in word count until I finally manage to give you a 7,000+ words per chapter update.

In the meantime, please bear with this. Also, I may not be able to update for a long time because the electricity kept on being such a bane. There are current blackouts, I can't really do something about that.

Please keep reviewing, ne?

-Mina