Part 4 in the Obelisk series: Kingdom of Man, Kingdom of Beasts, Kingdom of Monsters, and Kingdom of Gods.
OBELISK:
KINGDOM OF GODS
Gladiator Boneyard
"I went into the desert to forget about you. But the sand was the color of your hair. The desert sky was the color of your eyes. There was nowhere I could go that wouldn't be you."
Jeffrey Eugenides- "Middlesex"
They had traveled back to a port, Sakura on the back of the Uchiha's mount, still shackled and tied like a sack of potatoes. The men, Kotetsu and Izumo, didn't talk much, or if they did it wasn't in front of their commander or the prisoner. Still, Sakura could see they were close. There was a good deal of nonverbal language that passed between them, even if she couldn't recognize it.
They took her to the ocean and stuffed her in what was likely a closet, since she laid on a sack of potatoes and had to push away a wooden bucket and mop to fit in the cramped space. They didn't offer apologies or explanations, but the one with the crazier hair did come back later with a rough tarp to leave on her knees, 'in case of the cold,' as he put it. It wasn't much, but Sakura would take the kindness where she could get it.
She felt when the turned back to see, as the ship left dock with a lurch and dip, bobbing on the rolling waves before straightening out. The salt and brine were heavy in her nostrils as the scents drifted through the aged wood of her walls. She breathed deep, and pretended she didn't miss the water.
Sakura sat in silence, waiting for the dream world around her to ebb or grow taunt. She even laid her head down and tried to go to sleep, but there was no sight of the dream ending. The world around her was firm and full. She wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, but there looked to be no major activity worth her attention. She would have to sit in silence, entertained only by her thoughts. It was no better then when she dreamed of trekking through the sand for days on end. This gate would kill her with monotony.
Maybe it was hours later, maybe it was only minutes, but later there were voices overhead to draw her attention upwards. The boards above her creaked and she heard a shuffle of worn soles on wood. Someone mumbled something and then there was a slap.
"Just curious!" a new voice whined, sounding cranky and pitched.
"You'll stay away from the lower holds if you value your head where it is."
"No, friend, it wasn't the head, just the brain. You didn't see it happen."
"I saw the mess."
There was a low whistle and someone chuckled before more shuffling.
"-That's just what they're saying cause she's a drink for the legionnaire, eh?"
There was a thud, like someone jumping down from a height. "Yeah, she was quite a sight, but that don't mean nothing but they wanted it convincing."
"Go back to your post, man." That voice she recognized, but she couldn't remember which of the two men it belonged to, either Kotetsu or Izumo. Which one had the long brown hair cut over one eye? "Rumors like that will land you on the leash."
Someone laughed mockingly and there was more shuffling. More time passed before the voices rejoined. She could always hear something, but she suspected they would have to be directly overhead for her to be able to clearly hear them speaking. There were words exchanged about norther expansion and Ghuals, the burning at the library men couldn't get over, and something about lots being unfavorable with the new season of fighters.
Sakura tried to doze, but sleep wouldn't come and the dream was too real to let her go, even as the cracks of light faded from something bright to a faded memory. She didn't hunger, but she knew if she did, she would have been famished for so long without food.
The world around her was oddly reminiscent of the Kingdom of Beasts in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on. There was something, a feeling, she couldn't shake. The culture and the country were ones she recognized easily enough from history books, but the last gate felt as taunt and tense as the second kingdom on her Obelisk.
'Brutal. You must be brutal,' the voice inside Sakura's heart echoed. It was a truth she wished to turn over and never have to look at again. Blood made this world run. She would have to remember how to spill it more affectionally if she was going to survive, but this time there was no Kisame or Zabuza to critique her stance or par with her blade. For now she was alone, she had no one.
There was a knock on the door before it began to swing open.
'No on yet.'
It was either the boy Kotetsu or Izumo, the one with the long spiky hair that had first brought her the blanket. In his hands he held a tray with food on it. He looked on the verge of panic when she caught his eye.
"Oh, don't let Izumo know I forgot your dinner. We're supposed to be keeping you well fed now, but I forgot. We haven't have a live prisoner to take care of in so long, it escaped me."
She made a guess. "You are the one called Kotetsu."
"That's me. Ah, the other one I was just talking about, he's in my unit and we graduated together. You'll see him too, he helps me take care of you, or he will, like he does, or, not like that. Ah, here, this is supposed to be your food. Do you need help eating it?"
"I will manage," Sakura mused, looking down at the plate where various meats aside than fish sat atop a plate of rice and bread. For being on a shipping vessel, it was a luxurious meal in comparison to what the others would likely be getting served. Too good to be true. "That food's too rich. It'll make me sick all at once. I won't be able to finish it all."
The boy looked a little taken aback, staring down at the food and then her face. "Ah, then…eat what you can? I can tell the others not to bother with the fancy food. Basics like bread and green things are okay though, right?"
Sakura shifted in her seat atop the crate as best she could, moving her wrists onto her lap and into plain, open sight. Her eyes narrowed at his own unfettered wrists. "It will do," Sakura answered in a bored tone.
"That's good. It will be another day and a half of sailing with good winds to reach port, but don't count on getting lucky. We might be light cargo, but we're under a cruel fate. The gods do us no kindness."
Sakura hated the idea of more mindless days for travel where nothing would happen in the dream, but resolved to white knuckle through it. She shifted towards the food and the chain between her wrists slipped down, off her knees. Kotetsu caught her eye.
"When will these shackles come off?" Sakura asked.
"Not until we reach the estate house." When she glared he chuckled in good humor. "Don't look so upset. We're not bread brained like the fool Carthaginians. We know better than to remove your bindings, least you kill or run away."
"What if I gave you my word that I wouldn't?" Sakura asked, leaning forward, her body taking on a posture of hope.
Kotetsu smiled at her, but it was a smile full of pity. "What use is the word of a slave?" He ducked his head and left her to the food.
No one else came to visit Sakura that night, and before she knew it the world outside was dark and lit only by stars and a waxing moon. Still, the dream world refused to end or even give any indication of possibly coming to an end. Time was such a hard concept to measure within the dream, but Sakura could have sworn this was the longest she had ever stayed awake in a dream. It was near maddening.
When dawn broke, Sakura felt no more tired nor did she feel any closer to the tension that preceded the ending of every dream. A boy who's face lacked details came into her room and took her plate of untouched food and left her rice and vegetables in a bowl. They were still steaming and smelled richly of seasonings, but Sakura had no hunger, so she refused to eat.
The same thing happened for lunch. When Dinner came it was Kotetsu who delivered the meal. He frowned at the plate she left untouched and insisted on checking the skin of her face for fever and her wrists for a weak pulse, but she was unchanged.
"Is this a hunger strike? We're only going to be at sea for one more day, maybe a little more. What do you hope to accomplish?"
Sakura rattled her shackles and glared. "I give you my word, I won't run away or hurt you."
He gave her the same sad smile full of pity before leaving her again.
Still, the dream went on, spanning another similar day; an untouched breakfast and an ignored lunch. By the time her third meal came, she was nearly mad from anxiety, but Kotetsu's face int he doorway made her anger wide and simmering. She collected her rages under her skin and held it all back, saving it for later.
Like the night before, they exchanged words. He was worried about her eating, nothing they had brought her had been touched. They didn't know she didn't need food inside the dream, so naturally they began to grow worried. Kotetsu left and came back with his friend Izumo who checked her eyes and skin and heart rate for sickness, only to find nothing unusual.
"What are we going to do?" Kotetsu asked, trying to keep his voice to a whisper as he conversed with his friend in the far corner. The room was far too small to keep any privacy in conversation, but it seemed they didn't really care if she heard them or now.
"We'll be in port tomorrow morning, mid day at the latest. She will last till then. I doubt Ibiki will let her starve herself."
When they left Sakura paced, falling into squats and push ups for no reason other than to escape the mounting boredom that threatened to turn her mad. She worked until she sweat and then began to thrash against the walls. She clawed at things, throwing her whole body into her fit. Her nails were bloody from the tantrum when she fell back agains the wall.
She was still shaking and she wondered if she was having a fit when Kotetsu and a nameless boy came rushing in to see what had happened. Izumo came in a little later, his expression stern and uncaring as he took in the damaged property and bloodstains left from where she broke skin.
The nameless boy reached for her hands and she snarled at him, making him retreat on a single, cracking cry of fear. He fell backwards onto his rump and scooted away, leaving Kotetsu to reach for Sakura on her own.
"What happened?" Kotetsu asked, still looking her over.
"Take the damn shackles off or so help me, there will be no reason for my kindness," Sakura seethed, feeling the hair that fell in front of her face stick to her skin with sweat. She was still shaking and glaring and hoping she looked mean enough to kill, because she sure felt it.
"We told you we-"
Sakura reached and her bloody hands were around his neck, thumbs pressed to the point where his throat bulged. She could pop him like a pimple on reflex and he would be dead, it was the way Kisame taught her. The other two males in the room reacted violently, one scrambling away, the other racing towards his friend. Sakura saw Izumo and threw Kotetsu out so the two boys collapsed together.
"Don't think I couldn't kill you or that I'm not dangerous because of these shackles. These things will never guarantee your protection."
"You nearly killed him," Izumo snapped.
"And I could have, but I didn't." Sakura rattled her chains. "Take these off of me."
For a while no one moved, and Sakura thought she had gone too far, she had snapped in the worst possible way and now they were going to do something worse than shackle her, but her head was a mess and she thought she was going to go mad. She had been awake too long and nothing had happened. She wasn't meant for this.
Whatever they were going to say, Kotetsu at least held his words back when he saw her tears begin to slip free. Beside him, Izumo huffed. "You're a slave, we owe you nothing. If we have to incapacitate you we will. No more noise from you. The crew is trying to sleep." He picked up his friend and dragged him out, slamming the door shut and leaving Sakura alone in the dim.
Sakura felt heavy, but not the way a person would feel heavy after a long run. No, her weightiness came from something else, something emotional. Her spirit was weary, and it had little to do with the feeling of shackles on her wrists. She hated what the chains made her feel. She felt beaten and humbled and it was too much for too long after all the worlds that worshiped her in the dream.
It was natural for the dreamer to be loved, to be desired. There was a natural pull that attracted actors to the dreamer, and she saw it in the way Pein cared for her, how Kisame took her under his wing, how Kiba adored her, how Madara loved her. She bit her cheek before she could say Sasori's name. No, Sasori wasn't like that. Yeah, he liked her, loved her even, but it wasn't because he was an actor and she was a dreamer. She knew it in her heart that he had planted himself there.
She missed Sai. Sai was supposed to come to her and offer words of comfort and encouragement. He was supposed to tell her he believed in her and that she would be able to win this time, after centuries of others failing. Sai was supposed to be next to her, but he was dead because she killed him.
"This isn't fair," Sakura cried into the woodgrains of the dirty floorboards. Her body shivers as she rolled onto her side and curled up in a ball.
"No, it's not fair, but that is the whole point of curses." Sakura looked up at the new voice and saw Baki standing in the corner. He was shaking his head with disapproval, but the side of his face blocked by cloth never peaked through. "Really, I thought you would have understood that by now."
"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, hope budding in her chest.
"I observe."
Sakura coughed, shifting and feeling her lungs wince. When she woke up she would be bloody and sore. "You're not going to tell me something important, like, I'll have to do this or go here or meet this person in order to succeed?"
Baki stared her down, silently for a time before finally answering. "No, not at all. You will be doing this on your own."
She felt the old embers of her anger snap to life again. "What are you good for then!"
She wanted Sai back. Damn, at this rate even Hayate would be better. At least Hayate was someone she could talk to a little bit. Baki seemed cold, not just removed, but also dismissive of her. She didn't know how good she had it with Sai. Every day she missed him more.
When she looked up, Baki was gone and she wanted to scream, but she was too tired. What had been the point of him watching her and talking to her like that. He did nothing but make her feel small. He didn't help and he didn't try to hinder her, it didn't make sense why he would do anything.
If he wanted to observe her, why appear where she could see him watching her? Knowing someone saw her in chains inspired shame in Sakura's heart. She didn't want anyone seeing her in chains. She wasn't a slave. She had a name. She was worth more than this.
It was night, but then morning broke and there were loud voices up above Sakura's head. The voices grew louder and then there were cheers. They were crying out for land, they had sight of land. Soon they would dock and the next stage in her dream would begin.
Sakura reached out, trying to feel the edges of her dream, to taste and see where it would end. There was no end to it, and for a moment she feared her dream might last forever. Time meant nothing in a dream. She might just sleep for a day and have it seem like a week or a month or a year. She would wake up the next morning forgetting how to live in the world of reality because all she could remember for centuries was a world inside of a dream. The though made her spine ram rod straight in fear.
Her door was opened and she looked up to see a round ball land on the floor close to her. It was hissing smoke. The door slammed shut and Sakura heard the click as her cabin filled up with the billowing fumes. There was light behind her eyes and her head began to drift, feeling light.
Sakura cursed, falling off her seat and onto her knees. Her lungs expanded on a painful cough and she bent over, hacking. It sounded like ripping bedsheets as she doubled over. She fell onto her side and kicked the empty ball away with her heels, coughing up what was left of her lungs.
The door opened and men rushed in. She was too slow and light headed to stop them as a black sack hood was slipped over her head and tied off. Shackles went on her ankles and she jerked at the feel of a metal collar around her neck. The chain was heavy under her chin, connecting her collar to her hands to her ankles.
Sakura was still so light from the smoke, but she could feel the weight and wanted to cry. What she must look like. One set of shackles was bad enough, but now there was no escaping it. She was bound like a slave and lifted onto the shoulder of a sailor like she was no better than flour in a sack.
She wanted to say something, but when she began to scream one of the sailor slapped the side of her face so hard her head snapped. Someone else swore and she was shifted to someone new. Sakura couldn't help it, she cried a little, unable to even touch the stinging of her cheek. It hurt and there was nothing she could do. No one cared, there were no actors, and even those who were around her didn't seem attached to her like they had been in other kingdoms or gate worlds. Not like the other dream worlds at all…
She heard speaking.
"Put her on the mule, she'll ride along with the other two, but keep her in the middle. If one of them falls off it shouldn't be her. She's the expensive one."
She was dropped over an animals back and next she felt two other bound bodies laid down on either side of her. Moments later the uneven journey began. It was a mess of bumps and stumbles later when the animal finally stopped and the sounds and smells of the port market were distant and absent from her senses. The sun was hotter on her back than before as well.
She felt the change in where the mule was walking as it switched from dusty road to stone path. Something made the steps of those around her echo, and Sakura itched to be rid of her hood. There was more talking, but someone was pulling the other two slaves down and their chains were so loud Sakura couldn't hear anything much, and what little she did hear, she couldn't match to a face.
"That's the one, take her to the stables."
"Ibii isn't in a good mood today."
"When is he ever in a good mood."
"You don't want to save it. She looks tired. He'll rip her to shreds."
"She was worth double the average fare, she should be able to stand up against his probing. Take her there now. I'll have the maids take care of these two kids."
"Speaking of kids- you have- and the-" The words were in and out, blurring in Sakura's ears as she too was lifted up and shifted so her chains slid around against her shackles and collar. She was led somewhere, yanked and prodded when she didn't stuble fast enough for whoever was leading her.
She smelled the stable when they arrived, and heard the animals greet and preen on their own in stalls not far from where Sakura was dragged in. Another violent tug pulled her into a pile of hay and then something closed behind her. A door. The person leading her bent down and began to unclip the shackles around her ankles and then the collar around her neck. He tugged on the hood and pulled it free right before slipping out to leave her in her wrist shackles alone and confused atop a bed of hay.
Moments later she heard voices outside the stall, one of them she recognized, the other was new. A tall scarred man opened the stall door and Indra stepped in, dressed brilliantly in crimson and white. His sandals were of well crafted leather and his legs looked all the better in them. Sakura lifted her head and observed the rest of the man who bought her and kept herself from paying any more compliments.
She would hate this man.
"They told me you refused to eat."
Sakura kept her lips pressed tight. She doubted they had color anymore as she insisted on silently glaring up at him. She wouldn't say anything she didn't want to.
Indra didn't seem concerned with her refusal to answer. He tilted his chin up and looked her over, stepping closer and touching the side of her face. She flinched in reflex, not meaning to show weakness. He frowned at her reaction. "Someone will come in to treat this immediately. Food will be brought as well."
He grabbed her chain and his fingers pressed parts of her swollen face, digging painfully into the reddened skin on purpose. "You will eat and you will cooperate." There were no threats, only orders.
He dropped her face and her whole body fell backwards into the hay. He shook his hand as if she had been something dusty or dirty and walked towards the exit. "Ibiki, see to it she is dealt with an once all is in place I want her gutted."
Someone else who wasn't the scarred man heard the order for food and scampered off, bare feet slapping against the wood of the stables. Indra waited by the door with his arms crossed and his chin lifted as the man with a face that had seen the sharp end of a blade more than once, bent down in front of Sakura. His hand glowed a sickly green and Sakura thought of her own healing chakra. She closed her eyes, welcoming the sensation, but when his chakra met her face it stung. She tried to pull away but he held her down and healed her face with his biting chakra, even as the sensation brought tears to her eyes.
When it was all over she looked up and saw that the man in scars was talking to Indra about something resistant when a boy came in with rice and vegetables in a bowl. Ibiki took the food and the spoon and turned back to Sakura. She knew better, but she still backed away when he approached her. He held her hand and she cried before he could force anything into her mouth, saying she would cooperate.
"I'll do it! I'll do it, stop!"
Ibiki grunted, dropping the food onto her lap where it spilled. "Pathetic. To crack so soon…"
Indra glared down at the arms he had crossed over his chest. "That's not a great matter to me. Her mental state need not diminish her fighting prowess. See that her hands are well protected throughout the ordeal. I don't want her thrashing and braking her wrist like the last one."
"Whatever I break I can fix."
"Just don't make it messy." Indra looked up over the scarred man and titled his head to one side, studying Sakura from a different angle. "If she stays in one piece we can let her out in the boneyard tomorrow."
"That's a bit soon for such a kid."
Sakura made sure to stuff her face and swallow down the food she couldn't taste as the two older men talked about her like she wasn't even there. She wasn't a human, she was a bought item. She was a thing in their eyes and they wouldn't see her any differently for as long as she dressed in shackles.
Sakura stopped eating and set the half finished bowl down. She licked the corner of her lips but didn't make a move to go for anything more. She ate. That's what they wanted. "Take these shackles off me," she ventured, holding out her wrists. "I swore I wouldn't try to run away."
Ibiki didn't even look at her, but reached down for the bowl and handed it back to the boy who peaked through from the doorway. Indra watched, but didn't let his eyes met hers. She wasn't a human, so he wouldn't look her in the eye. Why would he do such a thing?
"I'll leave you to it, Ibiki," Indra said, turning and leaving.
Sakura wanted to scream. He was an actor, but he was treating her (the DREAMER) like she was nothing more than cattle on his chopping block. That wasn't how things were supposed to go. Actors always cared for the dreamers. But Indra was being…more than just cold. He was letting her get hurt, putting her in painful situations, and denying her identity as a human being. He was hurting her and not caring about it. Ibiki too, he was an actors on account of how well she could see his scarred face, but he didn't look like he cared for her much either.
"When will these come off?" Sakura asked, holding out her wrists.
Ibiki ignored her, picking out dirt from underneath his fingernails. Sakura waited a moment and then opened her mouth to repeat herself, but Baki's hand caught her throat and pushed her down. His eyes were black steel and she wanted to run from them. She hated feeling so afraid, but she was still in shackles and there was nothing else she could do.
"You will tell me everything. I will rip apart your mind and know all your secrets, and you will be nothing. You are nothing. You have no name."
Sakura felt the sickly green chakra buzz around her neck and then it was in his other hand, and that hand was reaching for her eyes. She squirmed, trying to writhe free, but he was strong, stronger than her. He kept her from twisting away and the next thing that happened was his green chakra began to leak into her brain, scorching the eyes and making her blind for the rest of the interrogation.
Sakura screamed for hours.
She cried herself horse afterwards and then night fell.
Finally, the dream world snapped and Sakura was awake in her bed, clean and unharmed, but utterly broken. Sakura cried into her pillow, reaching out to rub her fingers over the raised places where her shackles dug into her skin.
Sakura almost didn't go to bed that next night. She could drink six cups of coffee and stay awake all through the night like she had once or twice. She knew how to, and she knew it was possible. She had motive and means, but the eleventh hour came and she hadn't started the pot, nor did she make any more to brew stimulants for herself.
Being the last week of February a snap cold spell colored her world in white overnight. If would snow occasionally, but it hadn't lasted until the end of the winter season when Jack Frost decided to make up for lost time and down then world in ice while Sakura dreamed about a man in scars pulling apart her mind until up was down and red was blue and sight was sound.
Sakura glanced down at her phone and flipped back and forth between the sets of text messages she was getting from Karin and Suigetsu. They were fighting again, but it was the petty sort of fighting they would always be caught up in. Those two were good together, they gave as good as they got with each other, and they were learning how to be better for the other. Still, that didn't mean Sakura didn't worry and monitor their ups and downs on her own. When Karin needed to talk Sakura was there, and even if it was Suigetsu who needed an ear to listen, Sakura was also there.
Ami said Sakura was officially #team always gives relationship advice but never is the one.
The phone refreshed but there were still no new messages and Sakura didn't doubt both parties were settling in. Karin worked early tomorrow and Suigetsu was taking the morning to see a dentist about his stupid teeth. The inactivity was normal, but for some reason it made Sakura's hands shake. Her friends were going to sleep, and soon she would be next.
"But I always wake up," she told herself out loud.
"You always what?"
Sakura turned to see Ami standing on the stairwell looking groggy. It was close to midnight.
"What are you doing up so late?" Sakura asked, redirecting. Sakura was sitting cross legged on the couch in front of the turned off television, so when she spoke she had to sit up and twist her body around to see Ami.
The smaller Asian girl yawned before coming down the last few steps. "I was thinking about talking to you about something."
"Oh?" Sakura shifted in her seat and moved to the corner so Ami could share the couch, pulling down the sleeves on her sweater to hide the marks on her wrists. Cold weather was good for something.
Ami had brought a blanket with her and it was one of the overly soft, fuzzy ones that were always more expensive than they were worth, but it didn't stop someone from spoiling their daughter for Christmas. "Yeah, but I don't know, I mean, it's just talking."
"I'm good at just talking," Sakura answered. She reached over and poked the exposed part of Ami's leg. "What is it?"
"My dad has a friend who teaches fashion photography at a university and there is a eight week program they can get me into in a few weeks."
Sakura felt her eyes widen. "Wow, someone is going places! A small, exclusive photography internship in Europe, what ever do you have to think over?"
"It's eight weeks though, and my French isn't great. I mean, sometimes it's better than my English, but French is like, hard. They're super picky and mean about it over there and I know I'll need it if I go. I don't know if I could do it. It sounds high class and I just run a blog."
"A nice blog with a high traffic count. What was the hit counter reading yesterday? Over a hundred thousand unique visitors in a week. That is nothing to sneeze at."
"People do better with video game vlogs."
"Video games are fun, but Ami, photography is what you want." Sakura scooted closer. "You're so lucky because you have a dream in your heart now and your dad is putting the tools you need straight into your hands. You don't have a reason to live with the regret if you choose not to go."
"I don't know if I'll do well."
"Maybe you won't, maybe you fail and end up hating photography, maybe you strike gold in the Grand Canyon. I don't know. No one can see the future."
"Sakura…" Ami whined, pouting at the thought of having to face reality.
"Listen, Ami, no one can tell you what will happen, but at least if it's in Europe you can come back and tell us anything and we'll believe you." When her friend didn't say anything more Sakura poked Ami again until the younger girl looked up. "Don't you want to try?"
"I don't want to leave my friends. I feel like you'll go somewhere without me if I leave."
Sakura smiled wistfully, looking around her house. It was the same as it seemed last year and maybe it would change this year, but Sakura doubted it. The world around her felt frozen. Ever since she entered the Obelisk dreams her life was put on hold and there were no signs of it starting up again with the way the last gate was treating her.
"I don't think I'll ever leave where I am here." Sakura forced herself to grin.
Ami pouted again. "You could at least say you'd miss me and find it unbearable without my presence. We've been roommates long enough that you should at least feel something about seeing me off. Oh, won't you just be devastated without me? Karin's too wrapped up in her boy and you still don't trust Ino. I feel like I can't leave you like this."
Sakura smile became a little easier to hold on her face as she thought about how close she and Ami had grown. It was true, they didn't start out as the closest of friends, but now they were better than that. A year of living together of roommates drew them closer, and the reality that Ami might actually leave Sakura alone made her want to reconsider her words.
Sakura reached out and poked her friend's nose, refusing to do anything but grin for Ami. "Don't worry about me. I want you to do what you know you need to. Don't live with your regrets. Go for it."
It was hard to describe what Ibiki did to Sakura. All she could think of were metaphors, but literally, he was using his own, unfettered chakra to invade her mind and see her thoughts and past. Sakura didn't know what he was seeing, but whatever it was made him frustrated enough to smack her back into the hey and storm out, only to coming back after a meal and try again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again...
AN: Get ready for the hurt train to run you of Gods is finally happening!
More was supposed to happen in this second chapter, (I like the number count being high and it's a matter of pride when it comes to me) but I decided to stop it here.
I'm no longer sick, but I'm super exhausted and tired and if I count up my work hours I'm probably working between 60 and 70 hours a week, including all the stuff on I do on the weekends. It's just draining, ya know. Where do these 40 hour work weeks come from?
But yeah, new characters, none of them what Sakura is used to. The dreamer is always loved and yet...here in this last world the actors don't seem drawn to her like others in the past. There's a lot you can endure as long as you have one person who loves you and cares about you helping you get through it all. At least, that's what I think.
I hope you enjoyed. Please review.