Part 4 in the Obelisk Series:
Kingdom of Man, Kingdom of Beasts, Kingdom of Monsters, and Kigdom of Gods.

OBELISK:
KINGDOM OF GODS

Seek God in Lesser Forms
Consumption is sacred union
The Divine rots in your gut
And it will flower in your ruin

Mantra of the Devourer, Matrimony of Teeth and Sinew

The Account of Uchiha Madara

As the personal scribe to my elder and clan leader, I fear bias when I say that never before has the Obelisk and Dreamer been so well connected that a man could rally his once meager people to the height of ancestral glory while still fully submerged in the dream world.

In past accounts it has been recorded that dreamers withered away in the waking world, plagued by stress and fear. Many were confined to their beds. The trials of the great Obelisk were too much for one mind to handle in proportion to their own reality, yet Madara Uchiha has thrived.

His father was a touched bastard with a crazed mother who wailed about her shining lover in the night. Madara was never supposed to be great, his father was a mess, his grandmother was a cast away whore who spun stories of laying with a god. Maybe that was why the god trials came to Madara over leagues and rivers to choose him as the first Uchiha dreamer.

I have searched and found no evidence of such a feat ever being preformed by the Obelisk save but one. The Obelisk will always chose its own dreams, but very rarely does it ever takes effort to choose a good one.

Sakura stares at herself in the mirror, seeing the mark of the god-killer on her body in detail for the first time. Sai told her each god would grant their killer a new and different mark, so hers would be different from Gaara's, but his had been a Scarab on his lower back, visible only when he turned around to stalk off with his council. The mark on Sakura was of an eagle winged woman, crouching and extending her hands out underneath Sakura's breasts. It was beautiful, but strikingly new and foreign to her skin. Like Gaara's, it had been inked in gold. When Sakura cut her skin over the mark, she no longer leaked red.

Sakura dropped the white fabric of her shawl over the tattoo. Her dress had been designed so that the fabric crossed up, over her breasts and left her underside and abdomen area bare. Sakura had been encouraged to show off the mark as Sai said it would earn her a bit more privilege and respect, but the feeling was too similar to what she felt when she woke up and saw two men guarding her from different corners of the room.

For so long she had been used to making it work on her own efforts. Her mother had been unreliable even before Sakura became a legally independent adult, and never made life for Sakura seem pampered, but that was okay. Sakura was used to doing things herself and earning her good standing with people. Now, no one looked at her like an equal. She was either the lofty dreamer, destined to die a death worth pitying, or a god-killer who walked with the ichor of the fallen in her veins.

"Are you decent?" Sai asked from the other side of the screen.

Without answer, Sakura collapsed the screen part way and walked around the rest. "That's a silly question. Did you see what they wanted me to wear? No support at all."

Sai shrugged. "Some of the women here don't wear tops at all. It's terribly hot."

"That's their choice, but I'm my own person and I make my own choices for my own reasons, not because of anyone else. Besides, Gaara was pretty adamant about my identity being kept secret. He didn't want the other god-killer or the other Pharaoh guy knowing about me being in his court."

"They'll know soon enough, they have spies in the very walls of the palace. I can't imagine they'll be kept in the dark much longer, even if most of the guards were killed for it."

Sakura froze where she stood. "What?"

Sai turned to regard her calmly. "He executed several of the guards to demonstrate his desire for their silence. They are his men, they know their lives are in his hands every second of the day and were glad to die for a man god. Such a fate only guarantees them favor in the afterlife. Besides, none of them were actors, just wisps of imagination."

"Does he know that?" Sakura crossed to stand directly in Sai's way, staring down at him as he reclined in the seat set up with burgundy and maroon pillows all laced with gold. "Gaara, is he like Madara?"

Sai blinked, face blank. "What makes you think that?"

Sakura shook her head, thankful for the freedom and lightweight not having to wear their jewelry gave her. "I don't know. I just had a feeling about him and I thought about what they said during my trial. What I knew about the other actors in the tombs was forbidden information. But more than that, Gaara just seemed more….ugh, I don't know how to describe it. He felt different from the other actors and I might not have noticed if I hadn't spent so much time with Madara."

Sai's blank face melts a bit as a smile stretches across his face. "You were able to notice that? How interesting."

"Was I right? Does Gaara really know about the Obelisk and the curse and what he really is?"

Sai leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him while watching her. "Gaara is a special case, just like Madara. Yes, he is an aware actors and was restricted to only this Kingdom for that reason. Likewise, Madara was restricted to only the Kingdom of Monsters. Though he might not be as aware as Madara. You'll understand what I mean when you talk to him more." He unclasped his hands and braced them on his knees to stand. "Speaking of which, I'm sure he's eager to have your audience. He's likely more collected this morning. It's been a while since he had to treat someone like an equal without being malicious. The only one who can rival him in this world is the King of the Thieves, but that actor doesn't know about the Obelisk or the curse, so even he is not Gaara's equal."

"What should I know about him before we meet? I wasn't able to get any information about him in the waking world. I got sidetracked and we forgot about looking for Gaara's text."

Sai stood and walked towards the door. When he passed her he spared her a pat on the shoulder in what Sakura assumed was encouragement. "I think it would be best if you saved the getting to know him part for when you actually meet. Knowing too much of a person can make it hard to connect I've read. Know that he won't hurt you. Even if he wished to, he is wise to fear you."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of being feared. I'm not a bad guy…" Sakura grumbles tugging the front of her dress so it sits straight over her breasts and doesn't shift too far to one side. There were gold collars for that, but Sakura didn't wear anything gold.

"Fear of the gods is healthy. It's right to understand that there is a difference between mortal and non." Sai walked to the end of her room and paused nodding to the door. It had been left open, like most of the doorways in the palace. He paused to speak the rest of his thoughts. "The difference between the powerful and the weak."

Sakura huffed, marching past him into the hallway and stopping to wait for him to lead her the rest of the way. "Yeah, we can agree to disagree, why don't you show me where I need to go so we can meet this Gaara guy. You know I'm lost without you."

"I think you would have been fine without me." Sai slipped in front of her and led her down the halls as easy as smoke on the wind.

They passed into an open courtyard lined with columns before taking a turn down some stairs into a shallow pool not deep enough to cover ankles. A walkway separated the waters and led to a secluded are, quartered off with hanging cotton that flapped in the breeze. Beyond the white curtains the pools grew deeper and dotted with floating lily pads and other Nile indigenous plants.

The walkway turned into a island, surrounded on nearly every side by waters and covered by another set od white drapes to keep the area shaded and cool. Gaara stood with his back to her at the edge of the island where the platform melted into steps leading down into the water.

Sai was soundless as smoke, but Sakura made a point to scuff her sandals on the walkway so that he heard them coming. He didn't look surprised to see them when he turned to face the pair of them, but Sakura didn't miss the way he suddenly drew himself up, pushed back his shoulders, and lifted his chin.

There was a small table by the edge within arm's reach where his crown sat. Without it Sakura could see his hair was red and messily arranged, curling around his ears. She wondered if he meant to be caught without it, or if he had removed his crown as a sign of respect. Did he respect her?

Sai dipped into a casual bow, but Sakura remained standing behind him, remembering Sai's words from earlier, about how she wasn't supposed to show any difference now that she was outed as a god killer. She needed to look the opposite of weak, so no bowing. Still, she didn't want to be rude, so she inclined her head and lowered her eyes for a heartbeat before lifting them the same moment Sai rose from his bow.

Gaara's stare settled on Sai, turning stony all of a sudden. "When you said you would bring the dreamer before me I hadn't expected her to be in chains, nor for there to be such improper introductions."

Sakura had to blink when she thought she saw a flush over the young Pharaoh's cheeks. Still, his eyes were hard as stones that held Sai in place, unwavering in intensity.

"I hadn't anticipated her playing the role of captive so willingly. Would that have been something you would have done for your siblings?" Sai replied, smiling easily.

"There would be no need for such a thing," Gaara near sneered.

"Ah, apologies, but people speak so much freely when they're not worried about accidentally slipping and angering a god." Sai turned his face to peer over his shoulder at her. "Isn't that right, Sakura?"

Gaara's eyes snapped from Sai's the Sakura, un-clicking and clicking like the claps on a suitcase. Their stony continence lessened slightly and a new sheen of weariness took over.

Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest, over where the cotton shawl draped, covering the bare of her chest. "I just wanted to find Sai, and I needed clues. Best place to get those seemed to be in chains, though at least this time I knew I could free myself whenever I wanted. No one was quite so weary of a little girl lost in the desert." She cantered her eyes to the side, remembering something before smiling back at Gaara. "Kankuro is your brother, right? He was nice. He didn't give away any state secrets, but he did help me understand this place a little better."

"I…will be sure to pass on your kind words," Gaara forced out, looking like he was bracing himself to force the words out. "He was not…crude?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose, holding back a grin. "Not in my experience. He said I was pretty though. Nothing wrong with that, though I think he was exaggerating. I was still a mess from the fight. I looked terrible." She nudged Sai as if to convey the non verbal 'remember that?' message.

"His words were… inadequate," Gaara ground out, shoulders tensing even more as his face flushed from concentration. When she coxed her head to the side, staring at him questioningly he gripped the fabric of his skirt. He seemed tenser than she suspected he had a right to be. Last time she had seen him he seemed so fluid and graceful, sure in his power as he gazed down the steps at all his lessers.

"Sai, if you don't mind," Sakura turned to him and raised her eyebrows. "Give us some privacy?"

With a nod the Sigh of Dejection bowed to Gaara once more and turned to leave the way he came. Once he was beyond the fluttering drapes Sakura turned back to Gaara and fit her hands over her hips.

"You okay?"

"Fine," Gaara bit out, but she could see how his jaw was all hard lines. He blinked at her scrutiny and looked away. "I am of no concern. I apologize for my inadequacies in communicating. The Sigh of Dejection told me of your last fight in my kingdom."

"Ah, he told me a little bit about you too. You killed a god called the Deamon Sultan, the deity of nuclear chaos or something like that. That's a pretty big deal here, isn't it?"

"You thought it wouldn't be?"

Sakura recognized what she couldn't earlier. He was weary around her, more than just nervous. He watched like like he was watching a wavering firework in the sky, waiting for it to blow and splatter. It was as if he didn't doubt she would turn into violence on him. Was he weary of a fight?

Sakura huffed, stepping back and turning towards the stairs leading into the waters. She stepped down until just her toes were wet-her sandals melting into dream with a thought. She heard Gaara followed but he stayed up on the platform watching her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Sakura sighed. She took another step down into the waters and then turned to look back over her shoulder at him. "You know I'm the dreamer." It wasn't a question.

"I do."

"You know I'm trying to get to that Obelisk in the middle of the sandstorm Sai says is somewhere between all the old tombs." When he nodded she went on. "Sai also told me that I would need all the gods to undo the sandstorm but you have one, and that means two things if I want to beat this stupid curse. I kill you and take your god or get your help."

He swallowed and she felt something like satisfaction at the confirmation of her suspicions. "And what have you decided?"

Sakura didn't say anything at first, but moved her ankle out, sending ripples through the water. "I have no stomach for slaughter, and I don't have the desire in my heart to strike you down for so petty a reason."

Gaara laughed and it was a dark bite of ice in the desert. She was shocked by it but refused to show that fear. "You think I would be so easy to cut down?" He paced half a step back and something swirled behind the edges of his skirt: sand. "What if I killed you now and put an end to it?"

"Then the dream would end and you would be in limbo again. I don't know what Sai told you of the world since you left it, but the Obelisk is in the hands of people who are sworn to protect it and keep it from choosing dreamers. I was an unlucky mistake, but with their vigilance how many dreamers do you think will make it to the last and only kingdom you are allowed to exist in?"

He narrowed his eyes and she was relieved to see a flicker of recognition there. She hadn't misjudged his motives. He didn't want to go back to the void any more than Madara did. Still, that was no guarantee he would help her. Sakura watched him, noticing more and more grains of shimmering sand rotate around his head like a halo, catching the light and shining in warning. Sai had told her he could control sand and it was his primary means of both attack and defense in battle. He was an expert in his chosen style and would not be easy to beat. Sand armor, sand shields, sand daggers… Even if Sakura thought she stood a chance, she had been honest when she said she didn't want to kill or fight Gaara.

There was silence between them before the rotating sand stilled and Gaara opened his mouth to speak again. "What if I don't agree to help you? What if I don't believe this Obelisk is worth uncovering?" He moved to the end of the stairs and loomed close. "What then will you do?"

"I won't kill you-not unless you come for my life and I have no other option but to defend myself. I can promise you that." She swallowed, nodding in confidence. "I'll convince you."

"I am not so easily bullied. I know my siblings are truly dead, you can not threaten me with their deaths."

Sakura turned around in the waters, sighing. "I don't know what kind of person you think I am but I'm not going to bully you by threatening the lives of your loved ones."

"I never said they were loved ones."

Sakura wrinkled her nose at that. "They seemed to care for you. They're your family."

"Doesn't mean anything."

His face seemed to color again and Sakura was reminded of a child, arguing a point that he had taken up on stubborn principal alone. When she looked at him again she couldn't help but see him more as a child than a man.

"Is there something you want that I could give you for your help?"

"I don't need anything."

"Is there something I could do?"

"I am fully capable with my own abilities."

"You're real fun, you know that?" The comment threw him off, but Sakura didn't know if it also offended him when she saw his cheeks redden. He was too much like a child and children don't like to be spoken to as children.

"You speak brazenly."

She rolled her eyes, kicking at the water. "Should I not? You're kind of spoiled with no one here to treat you like an equal. Even your brother and sister fall down on their faces when you walk into the room. When was the last time you talked to someone and actually had to work for the conversation? Do you even remember such a time?"

He couldn't. She saw the answer to her question in the lines of his face as he set his jaw and hardened his stare. Maybe it had been a mistake to send Sai away. Maybe she made a mess of things. She hadn't anticipated fighting with this actor, hadn't anticipated antagonizing him, but here she was, no closer to an ally than when she first appeared before him, a mess in rags and bleeding feet. Her feet were always bleeding.

Sakura opened her mouth for an apology but was cut off when the sand around Gaara's head swirled and shifted visibly. If sand could speak she would suspect it would hiss words of agitation.

"There is an island out in the middle of the river," Gaara began, pulling the sand back close to him, resting it on his cheeks and shoulders like glitter. "I like to go there and train on my own, but I have been advised not to travel without an escort, as the plots to take my life grow more numerous with each new day. You will join me and we shall spar."

Sakura blinked, processing his words slowly. "Spar, as in fight…like without trying to hurt each other?"

"I don't know how to talk to you, but I am at least skilled in this one way," Gaara bit out, crossing his arms over his chest. "We will spar, for every hit you land I will answer a question honestly. For every hit I land, you will confess a truth to me. Is this not agreeable?"

Sakura stayed still in the waters, letting the cool seep into her ankles. She wasn't stupid. She knew what he wanted from her, and it wasn't a work out. He wanted to see her abilities and measure them against his own. She was still a bomb in his eyes, and he still thought she was going to go off on him. Her words wouldn't sway him, but maybe her actions would.

Sakura climbed back up the steps and out of the water, letting the wet trails of her skirt drop onto the platform. "I don't have any objections. If I beat you will you agree to help me?"

"No. Questions only."

"What if I really beat you, like wipe the floor with you. If I'm super impressive will you agree to help me?" Sakura asked, needling him with a teasing grin.

Gaara was unmoved. "No, questions only."

And then without another word he turned and began to walk away from her, off the platform and onto the water's surface the same way the boys from the village hidden in the mist had taught her. Sakura followed, stepping onto the water easily and following alongside. She doubt she surprised him with her ability to water walk, but he glanced over at her anyway, watching her feet fail to fall through.

The pool leaked into a major river, wide and stretching. Gaara led her down a ways until Sakura saw a stretch of land rise up in the middle, an island just like he said there would be. Sakura stepped onto the sand and stopped while Gaara just kept walking until he was at the opposite end. When he turned back to face her more than just the sand at his feet stirred and shifted.

'What have I gotten myself into?' Sakura mentally screamed, forcing on a smile as she straightened her shoulders.

"What are we playing to?" she called. "First blood?"

"Hardly. We will contest until one member is unable to fight or one member concedes defeat. Killing is to be avoided."

Sakura chuckled bitterly, readying herself with a wider stance, lowering the weight of her body and making it harder to be knocked over. "Weapons?"

He waved his hand and sand rose up under his palm into the shame of an arm, turning, orbiting, circling his hand. "Whatever you can summon."

Sakura watched the orb of sand turn smooth and flawless after another rotation around his wrist. She felt a heat bloom between her breasts and raised a hand to meet it. The shawl fell away and from the light of her chest she drew her bone sword, gleaming and sharp. The scabbard was already in her opposite hand, thick with new designs. At the very end she saw tentacles and knew her victory had been remembered.

Gaara eyed her wearily as she leveled her weapon, likely surprised by her unconventional summoning. It was flashy, but she liked to show off sometimes. She twirled it once and the held it straight. The shawl was gone and she knew her tattoo was on full display. He hadn't missed that his eyes told her

"Begin?" she asked, voice teasing, even if her legs were shaking.

Gaara raised both his hands, the orb shifting to circle the back of his head like a tilted halo. "Begin."

The sand under her feet was the first to shift and she had to dive for the edges of the island, stepping into the shallows to avoid the glittering sand spikes that rose up out of sand. Another projectile forced her back onto the water and she cut it away with a wide swipe. 'Killing is to be avoided?'

Sakura pushed off the water and made a mad dash around the edge of the island, avoiding the sand. Gaara watched her cooly, never moving except to maybe twitch his hands. The sand around him rose up like arms, reaching for her. So many hands from too many directions forced her to break off her approach.

One came too close and she had to twist, loosing sight of Gaara, to take shelter behind a dreamed up shield. When she came out from behind it she cursed at what she saw. No longer at the opposite end of the island, Gaara stood dead center in the middle of it, surrounded on every side by sand and waving arms ready to strike.

At least when she struck out at the sand arms they fell apart easily. It wasn't unlike her battle with the Crawling Chaos and all it's tentacles, but back then she didn't have to worry about the ground she stood un rising up in stalagmite sharp points.

But she didn't need to kill this opponent, and that made all the difference.

When Sakura spun, turning and twisting over herself it was the world that moved, not her. She swiped it down and down until she was above Gaara, jumping off the dreamed up platforms with a halo of revolving knives, orbiting her head like a star. Each one launched for a different part of his body and each one was easily deflected.

'If you want to get close you're going to have to work for it,' Kisame's memory growls in her ear.

Sakura roars and there are twice as many knives around her, spinning like the veins of a chainsaw as she launches down at Gaara. She sees his eyes go wide and sand shoots up to protect him, forming a cage and then a ball to lock him in. Sakura tears through part of it, but what she touches reacts with violence. A spear jumps out from where her daggers just cut, and Sakura feels red trickle down her cheek.

First blood belongs to Gaara.

Sakura summons more naked blades, lacking hilt or pommel, and folds them into a shield to guard her as she strikes spikes hit her blade wall, but her strikes yield her no more advantage. As soon as she tears open a patch, more sand races to that spot and spits out at her. She isn't fast enough to make any significant damage.

Sakura feels the shift under her and summons a platform under the balls of her feet to raise her up before the quicksand could sink her down. The whole expanse of the island is shifting, swirling and turning, gasping like a hundred tiny mouths for a bite of her.

Sakura can't help but giggle, feeling nerves threaten to make her sloppy. Gaara isn't an enemy, but he's frightening and that's nearly all she can focus on. She's not angry enough or bloodthirsty enough to see past her fear and do what she needs to do. There isn't enough motivation for her to strike like she did when it meant protecting and defending Sai. It never mattered what it was she fought, all that mattered was what was at stake.

'But you don't need to beat him, you just need to get in a few good hits.' Kisame's voice is almost angry in her head, like he's exasperated with how slow she is being.

Slow.

A small smile curls her lips as she begins to see what it is she needs to do. It won't be enough to guarantee a win, but it gets her a shot and at this point that's all she can hope for.

Sakura shoots another volley of daggers and they go wild, aimed for different parts of his body. Gaara's sand works to block them all, stretching thin. It's when his sand arms are all out, half a dozen of them reaching for different daggers, that Sakura swipes with her sword, pouring chakra into the blade that shoots off it like a sickle of wind.

Sakura sees the green shaded scar of chakra cut open Gaara's sand and before the sand can heal, she is there, slipping in. Her body is still humming with the chakra she forced into it to make her fast enough when she reaches out to grab him. She catches a fistful of his hair, but it knocked to the side by a piano sized fist of sand. She tumbles into the water, bones cracked, a fistful of red hairs between her fingers.

The waters lap up to her ears as she lies on her back, moaning and coughing blood. She sees more sand rise up and summons a dome of transparent stone to protect her. The sand comes down with a might boom, then falls harmlessly off the curves of her dome.

Somewhere Sakura has dropped her sword because it's not in her hand anymore, and all she can feel are the ribs that aren't whole anymore. She feels shaky and dizzy and the waters are too cool and inviting for her to feel safe.

There's blood on her face she ignores in favor of raising her glowing hand to her side. Bones are harder to heal and take longer to mend. The cut on her face isn't worth it. It's with a groan that she finds her internal injuries to be worse than she first assumed. Stupid, she was stupid not to put on some stupid armor that could at least deflect some of the blunt force.

Outside another pair of fists made out of sand pound on her dome, again and again. Sakura hears the boom of each strike and it's with some fear that she realizes it's further and further away. Her hearing is either going or she's loosing her grip on consciousness.

She needs to heal herself, reinforce the dome, and dream up projectiles to launch. If she's focused she might be able to do two of those things, but she's too bruised to think straight for more than one, she knows. She's sinking further into the wet sand and water.

Sakura breaks open her dome like an egg and raises one arm high, already seeing the sand form a fist not far off. "I yield!"

Sakura shouts, keeping her other hand on her side. His hand of sand is still in the air and Sakura knows how to endure pain, so it's with growing dread she summons half her dome back, ready to spread it further until his sand hand is gone. Between dome and sand his eyes meet hers and lock into place. Something about his gaze fits and the sand melts. With a shuddered breath he steps back and Sakura lets the rest of her dome fall.

She lets her eyes close, refusing to abandon the rest of her senses as she pours more chakra into her side. The internal mess needs to be fixed first, then the bones. She wouldn't be able to heal everything in one night. The next time she dreamed she would finish, but for now all she could do was the minimum.

She heard the sand crunch and peaked out to see gold sandals stop close to her face.

"Ow," she said out loud, laughing in good humor.

"You touched me." His voice was a far away breath, eyes still wide and gaping.

"I touched you? You nearly killed me!" Her laugh started to hurt and she had to wheeze the rest of her breath out. "I can't believe that was you going easy on me."

"I wasn't." Gaara crouched down closer to her, hands resting on his bent knees. "I didn't go easy on you."

"I thought you were trying to kill me. Sorry I wasn't more of a challenge for you, but I'm not up to the task of fighting for the sake of fighting. Ugh, I'll need to change that if we ever go again."

Gaara leaned forward, almost close enough to touch her with his knees, but it was his hand that traced the cut down her face. "I've never been touched in a fight before. I owe you an honest answer to a question."

"Yeah, but I owe you two. You got my face and my side. I guess that means you go first." Sakura paused a moment, feeling the world around her. "I still have some time left before I have to wake up."

Sakura sucked a sharp breath, eyes flowing wide when she felt the wet sand of the lake shift under her. She rolled closer to Gaara and his arms reached out to hold her, pick her up and fold her against his chest. If Sakura thought clearly, she might have found it funny for someone nearly her height to be carrying her, but her side still hurt, so all she could do was laugh to hide the pain and ask what he was doing.

"You're hurt, I'm taking you back."

"You're not going to ask your questions?" Sakura asked absently, watching as the sand shifted around them to carry Gaara across the lake.

He didn't even bother to walk her across the water the way he had to get out to the island. She faltered in her healing, but started up again once the white drapes of the back of Gaara's palace came into view. When they touched down no one was there to greet them. That wasn't surprising.

"Can you walk?" Gaara asked, keeping her in his arms with no indication of letting her down. That was fine, there was something nice about the contact, like it was easier to trust someone when they're holding you.

"Is that your first question?" she asked with a teasing grin.

He frowned. "If that was, would you answer any other questions I might have?"

"That's two questions and the answer to both are, yes, I can walk, and yes, I will answer your questions. But…you don't have to put me down if you don't want to, I haven't finished healing my ribs yet."

Gaara didn't say anything, but he did nod and walk to the end of the platform where his long white crown sat on the table. Next to the table was a long day bed thick with pillows. His sand pushed some of the pillows away and arranged others for her to lounge across. Slowly, tenderly, he lowered her to the day bed and let her go before drawing up a chair for himself. Sakura sighed in contentment, settling into the cushions.

"Better?" he asked on a bated breath, quieter than before.

"Oh yeah, I've been in far worse scraps than this. I think I would have died in the first kingdom if I didn't get to the Obelisk in time. Stabbed, clean through, the knife was still in me." Sakura winced at the memory. "Another time I was nearly torn apart by wolves."

"You've come a long way."

Sakura looked up over the pillows. "Not on my own. I had friends help me in every world, every kingdom, every gate…I wouldn't be here if I relied on my own. Sai is proof of that."

"The Sigh of Dejection does not take sides easily, not after so many years and so many dreamers. I wondered what made you different when he came to me."

"Did you find what you were looking for in our fight?"

Gaara leaned back in his seat, reaching up to run a hand through his hair before pausing and retracting his hand. "I think I started to see it." His hands fidgeted, resting on his knees. He seemed less like a Pharaoh and more like a boy. "I'll ask my first question of you now, if you don't mind."

Sakura yawned, nodding once. "Sure."

"How long have you been dreaming?"

Sakura opened her eyes but stared off into nothing, remembering a very different setting with almost the same question. But she wasn't surrounded by a council of elders. Here, there was only another one time dreamer.

"Two years. I've been at this for two years."

He made a noise, registering her answer before replying. "I would have guessed longer. You don't look as young as I would expect for that little time."

Sakura felt her eyes narrow all on their own before turning her head, stiffly, to stare at the redhead. "Did you just call me old looking?"

He didn't seem to understand the significance of his comment, of feel the weight of her glare. When he responded his tone of voice was unchanged, and his facial expressions unreadable. "Mostly it was children who were forced into the Obelisk's trials during the time I was alive. Youths who were old enough to run and hunt went into the dream and stayed in the Kingdom of man, learning how to manipulate it, for years until maturation. By the time they reached the last kingdom, they were usually just barely adults, but you've only been here two years. Things have changed."

"Yeah, you did hear the part where Sai told you it was an accident that put me here, right? I never wanted any of this, hell, I didn't even know about any of this when I accidentally opened that stupid Obelisk. It was a mistake, and for nearly two years I thought I was going crazy every night because there was no one I could talk to about what was happening to me. Yeah, I'm an adult, and I've only been in the Obelisk two years, but from what I understand, the youth reaping process of your day faded out. They stopped doing it."

"Do you know when that was?"

Sakura shook her head. "Hey, it was just in the past week that I found these people who knew anything about the Obelisk. I'm only starting to learn a little bit about it. I know there were phases. Like for a few dozen years they were only reaping people from mixed parentage. I'll look into it if you want me to."

Gaara blinked and then shook his head, leaning back into his seat. "No, that won't be necessary. I haven't the true desire for such information. Thank you for answering my question."

"You still got one more question to ask."

"I thought you said I could ask as many as I wished and you would answer them."

Sakura grinned. "Yeah, but I'm not going to stick around forever. I can feel the far off pull of the dream world closing. I'll have to wake up soon. You still got time, but it would be fair to warn you that it's not a lot."

"You haven't been here very long."

His words began even before hers ended, and she looked up suddenly, healing glow faltering for a moment before she regained her focus. It wasn't a hasty declaration or a cry or outburst, but Sakura could have sworn she heard something else in his voice.

'He's still a child at heart.'

"I'm coming back tomorrow, like it or not, so don't fret. Save your questions for then?"

She noticed a part of his skirt was wrinkled to fit between his fingers. He played with it, stretching it out and dropping it. "What about your family? Who is in your family?"

Sakura thorough it was a funny question for him to fix on, but didn't comment on it. "I have a mom who's still alive, but she's sick and has to be with people who can take care of her. I've been living on my own for maybe four years. I have friends I stay with sometimes, and right now the family of my friend is taking care of me because of the Obelisk thing."

"No siblings or father?"

Sakura shook her head. "Never had any brothers or sisters. My dad committed suicide when I was a kid." She wrinkled her nose up at the memory, having preferred to forget it as was typical for her. "But he left my mom before that and I didn't see a lot of him growing up. It's…not what you would call ideal, if that's what you're looking for."

"So you didn't have anyone else to help you through the Obelisk?"

When Sakura shook her head there was only silence after. Gaara seemed to be content to think and mull over her words on his own.

Absently a beetle buzzed high overhead, the sound of his wings like warm velvet in Sakura's ears. She closed her eyes to it and when she opened them again Gaara was standing and reaching for his crown. She watched him settle it over his hair, making sure to take care and let all the red be covered before his hands could leave the long white hat.

"Your presence has been noted, Toruné. Report." Gaara's voice is like ice water down her spine, and Sakura realizes that there has been a shift. Before Gaara had been human, an equal. Now he spoke like a king, like a Pharaoh, like a god.

She turned to see just beyond the platform on the other side of the cloth there was the shadow of a figure. Around him a half dozen beetles hovered, landing and launching off his lowly bowed form. "I have detected the presence of Shino's kikaichū beetles in your garden. My own Rinkaichū have devoured all, but I fear my alternates was delayed. I can not guarantee the privacy of the last few minutes. Forgive me."

Gaara is still for what feels like minutes, unmoving, un-responding. In just seconds Sakura begins to grow uncomfortable with the atmosphere and can only imagine what the man on the other side of the drams can be feeling.

Sakura lowers her glowing hand from her side, knowing she is nearly finished but not quite done. Swinging her legs off the edge of the couch she stand and walks to where Gaara is. He glances at her, but doesn't say anything. Finally, he focuses his eyes on the shadow of the man in a low bow.

"How long?" he growls out, and Sakura feels the cold water on her spine freeze. Gaara sounds ready to kill. It didn't help that the grain of sand left in the cracks between tiles started to shift under their feet. Sakura hadn't dreamed up sandals since removing them earlier, so each speck moving under her toes was felt.

"Between five and eight minutes."

"So long. What excuse do you have for you inadequacies?"

To his credit, the voice of the man never wavered. He was strong in his replies, even when it was clear he was fearful for his life. Sakura didn't doubt Gaara had killed others in similar situations. Sai's words from earlier make her ears burn. He executed several of the guards to demonstrate his desire for their silence.

"My cousin was able to cross breed his insects with several of my own. The offspring were not immediately detected by their pheromones. My beetles had to rely on other senses."

"Will this happen again?" It wasn't truly a question. It would have been better if Gaara said something along the lines of: 'this will not happen again,' or 'see to it this never happens again.'

"No, Great Pharaoh."

"Is it that big of a deal?" Sakura asks, voice low as she crosses her arms over her chest. She doubts the man named Toruné can't hear her words, but she keeps them low anyway. "What do you care if others know such trivialities? It's not like they can do anything about it."

Gaara turns to look at her, and his eyes are sharp for a moment before he realizes who he is looking at. He blinks and takes half a step back, hands fisting at his side. "They'll know you're here. Other will want to kill you for your godkiller mark."

"Yeah, but that's the same for you, right? I mean, it's not like we'd make it easy for them. If it's me you're worried about then forget it. I don't care who knows or sees." It's the nature of the dreamer to always be in danger. It's a truth Sakura knows too well. Almost as well as nothing risked nothing gained. She's not going to get to any of the other marks if she's hiding behind Gaara's walls. When his eyes fall to the side of her body still discolored and bruises it's Sakura who has to take a step back and fit her hands over her hips. "I can take care of myself, despite what you might think."

"You'd be best to trust her," a new voice calls. Sakura looks up to see a black clad figure push the drapes aside and stroll through. Sai smiles easily at Gaara and bows low, though not nearly as low as the man still on his hands and knees. "I came to tell you that your brother and the high priestess are requesting your intimate audience in your privet chambers. You can leave Sakura in my care."

Gaara stiffens and Sakura can no longer read the expressions of his eyes as different reactions flicker there before settling into stony indifference. "You may see to it." Gaara turned his face from Sai's the glance at her, not fully facing her but seeing her just as well. "We will speak when you next dream."

And then he was gone in a swirl of sparkling sand.

Dismissed, the man who was surrounded by beetles rose as well and backed away, leaving Sai and Sakura alone. Sai eyed her bruised ribs with a softer smile and Sakura huffed, face turning red.

"I see you two sparred. He did not look so worn."

"I managed to grab his hair. Besides, I was going easy on him."

"Sure you were." Sai's grin just grew.

"Shut your face. I'm going to be leaving soon. What do you want other than to make me feel bad about stuff I can't help?" When he didn't immediately reply, only grinned harder, Sakura huffed in frustration and flicked his nose, forcing a laugh out of him. "Shut up."

"Did you get him to agree to help you dismantle the storm?"

"Did you know there was no way he was going to agree to help me dismantle the storm?" Sakura sassed back, hands back on her hips.

"It is only your second day with him, and your first exchanging words. Do not expect so much so soon. He seemed to like you well enough. You're not dead."

Sakura barked an angry laugh, one hand reaching back up to her ribs stimulating it with chakra again. "Just barely. I'm lucky I got of so light." She let her hand fall away and lowered her voice. "I'm no good in such wide fights. I don't know how I'll manage anything more."

"You'll manage. There's only one more wild god to slay and two godkillers to win over."

"Oh, is that all?" Sakura snips with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah, and who's to say the other godkiller doesn't want to just kill me and take my stupid tattoo as soon as he sees me. Hell, who's to say Gaara doesn't try to kill me after waking up tomorrow and realizing I'm annoying and this world isn't worth existing in or something like that."

Sai looked down at his nails, humming as he ran and absent thumb over the tips of his nail beds. "If Gaara found you annoying I don't think he would be as fixated on getting advice from his siblings on how to communicate better with you." He looked up under his lashes and grinned when Sakura's face reddened. "It would be terribly fun to watch if you're interested."

She was saved from having to answer as the dream around began to break down. She glanced away quickly and before she could look back at Sai she was waking up inside the room Jugo's family had set up for her.

Sakura blinked once and then shifted onto her side, moaning when the not quite healed bones of her ribcage screamed. It wasn't terrible, nowhere near the worse she's ever had to wake up with, but it motivated her to stay in bed a little longer. No one else was in the room with her, but the walls were thin, and she knew if she said anything more someone would hear her.

With careful movements, Sakura reached for her phone and dragged it across the floor to her futon. 7:09 It wasn't too late in the morning, but most of the house was already up.

She rolled up the end of her shirt and shifted to see as much as she could of it. The bruise was impressively ugly. Good thing it was just as easy to hide.

When she rolled back the door to her room and stepped out onto the porch it took only seconds for Jugo to do the same from alongside her. Their rooms had been set together so close on purpose. Neither Genma or Yamato were in sight, but Sakura knew that it wouldn't be long before she saw either of them.

Jugo took a step towards her and then froze. Sakura saw something like anger settle over her features and her mind reeled, trying to understand it. Her bruises were covered, there was no way he would know about those unless he had x ray vision, and she doubted that.

"Jugo?" she called hesitantly.

He erased the distance between them and grabbed her face, Sakura tensed at the touch and felt her heart drop when his thumb brushed over the cut on her cheek she had forgotten about. Compared to her ribs, the cut wasn't worth her time.

"Ooops," she breathed, hoping a joke might calm him. "Forgot about that."

His thumb brushed over the cut and Sakura winced when she felt the crusted blood flake away. "What do you mean you forgot? What happened? You're hurt."

"It wasn't a big deal. I was sparring, it was a friendly fight and I didn't do too well. Jugo, I'm fine. Look, it wasn't a big deal. I didn't bother to heal it because I forgot about it, that's how little a deal it is."

But his hand were still shaking and Sakura couldn't help but suspect he was remembering the way she looked in that hospital bed, or the way she looked when his grandfather first found here, bleeding and wounded in the dirt of their apple orchard. He wasn't used to seeing so much blood and pain

"What happened."

"So I found my friend and he was staying with this Pharaoh who is also a godkiller, like he killed one of the wild gods, the same as me. He's nice, but he's like a kid. Oh, and he's aware, like the way Madara Uchiha way. He knows about the Obelisk and so he knows it's better for him to keep me alive, least I die and the dream ends."

When Jugo swallowed audibly Sakura knows she has said more than she should have. "Anyway, he's nice. He's a little shy and socially stunted, to be honest. We had a spar and I lost, but I'm not in any danger so you don't need to be worried about me."

Jugo drops his hands from his face and swallows again. "I'm not worried. I…I said I would trust you."

Sakura wonders if Jugo truly knows what it means to believe and trust in someone. He's too afraid for her safety to believe in her the way she once urged him to. Maybe she asked too much of him that time. Maybe Jugo has too much heart and too much kindness to not know how to believe in her if believing means watching her suffer and struggle.

"I'll clean this up and then we can go to breakfast. Do you know if Yamato or Genma are still here?"

"They should still be here. Danzo is also at the manor and will likely want to see you. Let's get breakfast first."

She turned towards the bathrooms, knowing they're detached and separated from all the bedrooms at the old house. Jugo is kind enough to wait for her to freshen up without wandering off. She has her hair up off her neck and gathered into a clip she walks out, face cleaned and cut near invisible for how shallow it truly was. A few stray hands fall in front of her face, too short to be pulled up into the clip.

"Ready?" she asks, making her voice brighter and lighter than she felt she had the right to. She wanted to sleep and wallow and rest with her eyes closed, but she couldn't let them worry. There wasn't anything for them to worry about. Sometimes she just got tired.

Jugo goes with her, agreeing with a simple nod. They find the kitchen and make themselves breakfast, working in tandem to build their own simple meals. Of course, Jugo's meal is twice the size of Sakura's. In the end, all she has is an elaborately decorated bowl of yogurt and fruit she's not sure she's going to finish.

That's how Yamato finds them, half eater pear still between his teeth. Sakura can see the smile that stretches even from behind the fruit. To his credit, Jugo doesn't tense or even frown like he would have in the past.

"I was wondering when sleeping beauty would wake up."

"Sleeping beauty, it's only 7:30! What are you talking about?" Sakura snaps, waving her spoon at his face.

He waved his pear before taking another bit and swallowing it. "Yeah, well some of us have been awake since five."

"I'm so sorry for your loss." Sakura dug her spoon into the yogurt and swirled. There were nuts and strawberry slices drowning in vanilla.

"Speaking of loss…" Yamato leaned against the counter they were sitting at and slid down so he was closer to her. He tilted his chin at her face. "What happened to you?"

Sakura lifted a spoonful and bit it hard before slipping it past her pressed lips. She narrowed her eyes and popped the spoon out. "You always this charming in the morning?"

"You should hear my pillow talk." He took another final bite out of his pear and then tossed it into the nearby trash can. "You look tired, that's all. Fun dreams?"

"Always." She swirled her yogurt "What else you here for, other than to make me feel super special? I mean, I've been awake for half an hour…forty five minutes, that must mean someone wants to see me."

"Its so unbelievable that I could be here because I like hanging out with you and want to keep an eye on you?"

He frowns over her head but by the time Sakura turns around to see what sort of face Jugo is making Jugo's expression has melted back into an easy smile. Yamato's voice makes her turn back.

"If you don't feel up to see anyone you don't need to. It's early."

"Jugo already told me Danzo was asking for me. I guess it's his turn to intimidate me."

"Not now. He's still busy intimidating the other elders. At least everyone is being nice to your face. Some of those old fatrts don't care who they piss off. Danzo's lucky some of those elders are older than dirt otherwise they're be blood by now. Genma's trying to keep the body count down."

Sakura took another spoonful of her breakfast and sipped at the tip of her spoon, too tired to care about looking like she is actually eating. Her side hurts almost more than she anticipated, like how the day after a workout hurts more than the actual workout. She hadn't anticipated her cracked ribs antagonizing her so much, but that was probably because she was in the mood to be antagonized.

It's with a pang that Sakura realizes something. Karin and Ino and Ami…her girl friends, people she was close with, people on the outside of the curse. I hadn't even been a long time since she last saw anyone, but it was just a roll of longing that took her by surprise.

When had there been a time when she was so cut off from them?

Yes, there had been times in the past when things were bad and Sakura just needed time to herself, time to mourn, time to hide, time to find what was left of her sanity. But her friends had always been close by, close enough to reach out to and touch. Karin said she would visit when she could and Ino said she would call, but Sakura hadn't received anything like that. Ami was still in a different country, but every so often they chatted.

When was the last time Sakura talked to someone from the outside?

Her stomach feels like it's a thousand miles deep and won't ever be full. She drops her spoon and pushes away from the table and hops down from her seat, not caring that Jugo is saying something about how she's barely touched her food.

"I'm going to make a phone call, grab me when you need me."

"Where are you going?" Yamato asks, jogging behind her even as Jugo leaves his seat to do the same. They're far away enough that she's an arm's reach away, but she felt like they were on her neck, breathing down it with impossible closeness.

"We were going to record more of the TeaLion Express account today," Jugo called out to her, stopping at the threshold to the kitchen. And then as an afterthought, "And the dreamer accounts, didn't you want to see those?"

"Later." She didn't care if her words were extra hard. She didn't care if she sounded angry or mean.

Sakura left the porch and cut through one of the rooms to the outside, pulling her phone out and ignoring Yamato who hung even further back. His expression was pained as she put even more distance between them.

'We're sorry, the number you have dialed is out of range, plea-'

Sakura cursed and hung up before trying Ino's number. She waited a moment, slipping in between some budding trees to hear the dial tone go dead and then beep.

'We're sorry, the number you have dialed is-' She didn't bother to listen to the rest of it. She died a dozen different numbers, Suigetsu's, her mother's, Karin's parents…all of them were out of range. That shouldn't have been possible. Her messages too, any time she tried sending something it would come back with a red exclamation point reading 'could not be delivered.'

Was this on purpose or an unhappy accident?

"Sakura?!" she heard Yamato calling for her and ran the opposite direction.

Her feet were bare and bleeding again. A thorn cut open the palm of her foot and she kept running. Dirt caught between her toes and she tripped into the soft soil, ankle turning. She fell onto her side and there was no air in her lungs to scream, but she had to get up, she had to get up, she had to get up.

Something was wrong.

She didn't know where the though came from initially, it was something born out of her gut and fostered by logic and suspicion. No one was contacting her, she couldn't get out to anyone either. If she asked to leave what would they say? If they decided she couldn't shouldn't the trials…what would they do to stop it?

Her shirt was caught on something when she tried to stand and when she pulled it tugged her back down into the wet soil. She twisted out of it, she knew how to get away, she knew how to run, she knew she had to this time and if she didn't, if she didn't, if she didn't….

"Stop this!"

She hadn't heard his approach over the sound of panic and blood in her ears, but Sakura felt his hands on her wrist, pulling her away from the angry branches. She gasped, not enough oxygen in her brain, stars and floaters mixed with the tears and she felt so stupid for getting caught looking the way she did.

He was speaking in her ear and she had to turn her head to hear him, he was speaking into her bad ear.

"You're fine, you're safe, you're not back there. Focus on your breathing."

He didn't tell her to calm down at least.

Sakura felt her body shiver and then the shaking started. She felt so angry as her body refused to calm down. Her vision shifted and bubbled and she was crying but she was so angry at herself for crying. Why was she crying?

"You're having a panic attack, you're going to be fine. Remember to breath…deep breaths…deep breaths."

Sakura shook and then rocked and then stilled. The soil was damp because they were near a brook, thin and snaking underground at parts. When had she come so far?

Yamato held her and when she stilled he pulled her tighter against his body. She was a mess of dirt, bloody feet, and fear, but he still held on to her.

"You're safe," he said.

"Where…?" Sakura swallowed and it was painful. Her side still ached and she could taste her swallowed tears in her throat, clumping in a bitter knot of salt. "Why can't I call anyone? What are you doing to me here?"

"You're safe, focus on that first. You're safe here, Sakura." When she didn't react any more it was Yamato's turn to take a breath. "You're safe, but they're blocking all communication on the mountain until the elders leave. It's not just for you. We didn't mean to scare you. If you want to call your friends Danzo can let you use his satellite phone."

"There is always going to be an elder around me, isn't there?" Sakura asked, voice horse. Had she been screaming.

"We're trying to protect you."

"Someone wants to kill me, don't tell me I'm being paranoid; I feel it in my gut. I know what it feels like when someone wants to kill me and I can't explain it but I know something is wrong here." She was so proud of her voice for not shaking.

"That might have something to do with the mark on your chest there."

Both Yamato and Sakura turned to the new voice, hidden behind the outline of a gnarled apple tree. Genma was there, standing just beyond the tree, but in front of him, where she would have never noticed him, Danzo stood watching her.

'Something is wrong.'

AN:/ I'm super lazy and did little writing this week, but at least this chapter got finished. Aside from this week I know there will be an update next week, and am hoping that I can get the chapter after that finished in time too. I think I can. This chapter was pretty long, and I'm going to cut back on the length a little bit to keep it from being overwhelming for the next chapter. No big reveal in this one, but next week for sure you'll see a smug new face. :D

(Also Pokemon is so to blame for my 'absence' from the writing world because that game is going to end up killing me one day. I caught a bunch in just the first week of having the app!)

I also have a A03 account where I'll begin to start uploading stuff (I'm super lazy) that usually shows up on my tumblr... my A03 handle is Vesperchan and of course my tumblr id is vesperlionheart in case you wanted to know.

Please remember to review, because really, that's what sustains me.