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

OBELISK:
KINGDOM OF GODS

"Cut a chrysalis open, and you will find a rotting caterpillar.
What you will never find is that mythical creature, half caterpillar, half butterfly, a fit emblem for the human soul, for those whose cast of mind leads them to seek such emblems.
No, the process of transformation consists almost entirely of decay."

Pat Barker, Regeneration

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.

Sakura realized her shirt had been ripped and was still pulled up over her chest, exposing her in her sports bra and bruises. Somehow that didn't seem as important as it had before. Not even the mess of her face and hair seemed worth thinking about.

"What's that supposed to mean. I already told you I killed a crawling god. Remember my grand exit?" Sakura remarks curtly, pulling away from Yamato and dragging the palm of her hand across her eyes.

Danzo steps out from under the trees but it's as if the shadows follow him. He walks with a cane but Sakura feels somewhere low in her spine that his cane isn't just for support. He hums, nodding his head towards her. "Yes, but seeing and believing are not the same thing. I didn't believe it myself until just now, but you did slay the crawling chaos."

From behind him Sakura notes the look of disgust on Genma's face and huffs, reaching up to pull her ripped shirt down over the mark and the bruises. She swallows again, hating how she can still taste her stupidstupidstupid tears. She wasn't so weak.

Her reply is dry. "I take it that's a big deal."

"Of course. Anything in the Kingdom of Gods is a big deal. You're injured."

"It was a spar, nothing major."

Danzo drew closer. "With who?"

If she had been a cat her hackles would have all been up. Yamato's hand on her shoulder calms her only somewhat. Danzo notes this and shifts his position, turning to lean more heavily on his cane. It's an act, meant to make her feel better and put her at ease.

It doesn't.

And by the curl of his lips, Danzo recognizes her observation. As old and weathered as he is, Sakura can still see the lines of his face shift in a look of sly cunning. He may be aged, but there was no way he was anything less than calculating. "We're not here to hurt you, but put at ease for that." He tapped the ground with his can before stepping forward and stoping in front of her. "If anything the aim and mission of ROOT is to protect the dreamer above all else. Doubt who you like, but the very meaning of my existence has been to survive to see this day."

"And what day is that?" Sakura thinks she knows what he is going to say, but wants to hear it from him.

"The age of a dreamer, not one nominated by election, but one chosen by the Obelisk, one astute enough to manipulate the very matter of the dream without limitation, and one loved by the Obelisk above all others. You've not done much reading, but if you had you would know, some dreamers were not loved by Obelisk or actors at all."

Absently, Sakura wondered how he knew all that about her, if he had read her account from Jugo- incomplete as it was. Sakura shifts her shoulders up. "I have a natural advantage, so did so many others. Sai said the dream loved Naruto, but Naruto didn't win."

"Naruto was an untalented street punk who didn't know how to do anything with any talent. He was loved, but he was not skilled, and in the end, that's how he died." He tilted his head to the side. "Madara was also loved, not as well, but he was skilled."

"So?" Sakura rose to her feet, the pain in her ribs making her falter. Still, she stood on her own and stared Danzo down. "Madara didn't even win, he wasn't the one actor who reached the end of the Kingdom of Gods. What does that have to do with anything?"

"It should matter to you because it means ROOT believes in you. I'd like to say we would have believed in you no matter who you were, but there was a reason our families abandoned the trials so many years ago. We were tired of seeing nothing but failures." When he walks it's more than a walk, it's a movement that's more hover and loom that walk and stand. He's as solid as a tombstone, and just as forbearing. "You're not a failure."

"Why is it that sounds like anything but a good thing when you say it?" Sakura bites out, moving away from Yamato when he reaches for her. Danzo glares at the younger man and Sakura can feel the way her friend shrinks back, dutiful and obedient more than fearful. She is not something so easily touched.

"You don't trust us and you are right not to. No one here should be trusted, least of all myself. You know what ROOT was established for, centuries ago?" He gives her a moment to guess, but when she just raises her eyebrow he goes on. "In Root, you have no name. You have no feelings. You have no past. You have no future. There is only the mission. You are the unseen ones who support the great tree of life from the depths of the earth. Now, tell me what you think that sounds like?"

"Sounds like an assassins manifesto. ROOT was supposed to be the organization that protected the dreamer."

"Sometimes. At least that is what we told ourselves, how we justified out actions when the world ran out of dreamers. But when there was a dreamer we were that man's sword and shield." He paused as if recognizing his mistake. "Or woman's." He seemed to smile at something before adding. "ROOT is not worth your trust, and no one worth our support would have trusted us so easily. You're a war hero still stuck in her war. You're wise to be weary, especially out here in the open."

With a nod Genma stand out from behind Danzo and moves back up the path before pausing to offer Sakura an easy smile. "We should be heading back. You can get cleaned up there and someone will see to your feet." He angled his head. "I'll go ahead."

Sakura tasted something in her mouth and swallowed. "What were you doing out here when you found me? That was too fast for Yamato to have warned you." Her gut echoed with the same warning as before. 'Something is not right.' Maybe it wasn't warning her about Danzo. Maybe there was something else she should be weary of. There were more than four elders, and plenty of underlings who could have their own opinions as well.

Danzo inclined his head and stooped again, using his can to guide him up the soiled path between trees. He walked enough to pass her, but paused before he could move too far away from her. "Log takes such good care of his trees here. There is always someone out here tending to them, so it wouldn't seem out of place to spot a boy in overalls somewhere along the way." He hummed taking another step to reach out and grab a leaf between his fingers. "These things are always in need of trimming, I hear." The leaf fluttered free of his fingers and he continued on. It was only when he heard Sakura draw up beside him that he actually chuckled and added in a lowered voice, "Your smell for danger is cunningly astute."

They went back to the manor and Yamato helped Sakura clean her feet and bandage the cuts she couldn't feel anymore. Genma waited at the door, keeping an eye peeled. It was minutes later when he begrudgingly let Jugo in with a muffin for Sakura to eat. Sakura didn't miss how he seemed to glare at everyone and everything until she took the first bite.

Absently, she noted that Jugo had come in with more than just food for her.

"Are those the accounts I was looking for yesterday?" she asked, licking the crumbs of cinnamon off her fingers. Yamato was watching her drag her thumb over her teeth, likely waiting for her to fall apart again. She refused to shrink from his gaze.

"Ugh, some of them. I have Temari and Kankuro, who were siblings in real life. They were right next to each other. Temari was the first and she lasted a year and two months in the dream world. Her brother lasted eleven months."

"Gaara is by far the most important actor I've run across." The stare of Danzo on her back was heavy, but she refused to turn around and face it. "He's one of two Pharaohs and one of two actors that's killed a wild god. I'll need to know more about him if I want him to help me."

"Why not just kill him and take his tattoo?" Genma asked, nursing a drink she suspected of being alcoholic.

"I don't think I could beat him unless I had to, and I'd really not want to. He's nice enough. I get the feeling that he's a bit of a wounded spirit." Sakura grabbed a napkin to rub between her fingers, shedding crumbs before adding, "He's awkward."

"And dangerous. I'm guessing he's the one who gave you that little love tap on the side." Genma's smile was a cross between sly and tired. There were faded bags under his eyes when he adds, "If your ribs are cracked someone should look at those."

Sakura glared when she felt Jugo's senses sharped on her. :It'll be gone by tomorrow. I didn't have enough time before I woke up to finish healing it."

"Oh, so it was worse before you started healing it?" Genma teases.

"You know, it may just be the lighting, but your face looks an awful lot like a target for me to throw my food at. You wanna hold still while I do that?"

Genma just laughs at her while Yamato sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Enough," Yamato growls. "Stop being such an exhausted dick in the morning in front of Sakura."

"Genma," Danzo's voice was stone. "Take a break. There's a bed in the next room. Go. Yamato will stay."

Genma looked irritated for a flash of a second, but complied with the same dedicated obedience as Yamato. A good little solider marching off to do his duty.

"What was he talking about," Jugo asked, looking to Sakura.

She grimaced and tapped her side, but didn't roll up her shirt to show it off. "I busted my side in a spar. Gaara is an ally though, he's not someone I want to turn against or fight…not just because I think he's stronger than me." She rolled her trash between her palms. "But I don't want to turn away allies and I like the kid. He seems broken."

"That's an apt observation." Danzo's voice made her turn and look over her shoulder to where the olden man crouched in front of an alter. "There's a reason you couldn't find Gaara's account. I doubt you're old enough to qualify for access to those documents little Jugo."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jugo snapped, riled up the way Danzo wanted him to be.

Danzo lit something and set the smoking stick into a dish of ash. Sakura swallowed, recognizing the ritual. "Your young and that account is only allowed to the patriarch chronologer."

"Why?" Sakura turns around fully to face Danzo and watch him through the end of his ritual.

Jugo faces Danzo as well, beside Sakura. "If I ask for it, my grandfather should be able to help me find it. There aren't any restricted accounts to me…I'm his apprentice."

"Then ask for it, boy."

When Jugo didn't say anything Danzo chuckles and went back to the alter. It was minutes later when he turns back to them. Sakura is all hard edges, razor blade eyes and bullet straight jaws holding back the world. Danzo sees that, recognizes that, and smiles.

"Make that boy your ally, girl. There's a reason his account is sealed and forgotten about. He's the only one who made it all the way to the end of the worlds, won the favor of all the god holders and he should have won the Obelisk, there was nothing left to stop him."

She felt her whole body widen in surprise: eyes, lungs, mind. "Gaara's the one that got to the end of the Obelisk."

Danzo nods, shutting the doors to the alter with a soft click that could have been a cannon shot. "And he'll be the one that helps you get to the end this time. Of all your allies, he's the one you want to keep."

Sakura woke up in the dream world and healed herself, but did little of anything else. Sai told her Gaara was busy with audiences, people of his kingdom that need to share their grievances. At one point Sai asked her if she wanted to see Gaara, that if she said the word he would send away his audience for her. Sakura didn't say anything, but went back to healing her ribs. It was taking forever.

She almost spent the whole dream on her own, healing and listening to her own thoughts with Sai flickering in and out of her room. When he comes back at dusk he tells her that there's only a couple of families left in line. Her ribs are whole and unbruised when she rises from the balcony bench and strides down the hall.

She hears Gaara's booming voice and then something like a whip's crack. Someone else shouts out into the hall and the last couple strides forward. At the foot of Gaara's throne his sister the High Priestess stands tall, the golden ankh in her hands.

"Hey!" Sakura turns and see the figure behind her. She's on the balcony looking down at the hall where people come and go, higher and out of the way, hidden behind tapestries of royal blue.

Kakuro's smile is wide and then it's faltering and a look of fear comes into his eyes. Sakura doesn't understand until he falls down onto his knees and pushes his face into the floor. His body trembles to remember who she is and what she has done.

"No!" Sakura's voice is quick as she bends down to his level and grabs his shoulders to pull him up. He's limp for how willing he is to let her have her way. She forces his face up and his eyes are growing large for her. "I don't want that. Don't treat me like a god."

"You're a god killer, you slew the Crawling Chaos." His words are an explanation, but she doesn't accept it.

"I'm not going to have you bowing or praying to me. I'll still bleed if you cut me. Get up, off the floor, and don't ever do that in front of me again." Sakura huffs, raising him up when he tries to bow to her again. "Cut it out. Stop that now."

"Apologies, apologies. I do not know my place." He swallows, stepping away from her. "I apologies for how I treated you in my ignorance. I apologize for my-"

"I told you to stop that, I think." Sakura pushes him away and takes a step back to lean against a pillar between two blue drapes. "I liked it when you treated me like a human, before you knew." She held up her empty hands and slid down the wall. " I'm not your brother. I'm not that different from you."

"I…I-I…" Kankuro turned his face away and stood up, eyes cast down. It was with growing dread that Sakura realized Kakuro wouldn't see her the same way anymore.

"Is Gaara almost finished?" Sakura stood back up, feeling like all the elders were staring at her again. The days when she could pretend she was normal and slip away were over, even in the dream.

Kankuro is a babbling mess as he stands and begins to lead her down the stairs. "Y-yes. He'll want to see you. He was ask-he was asking after you earlier but the Sigh of Dejection said you were resting and that wasn't great news-but Gaara took it well! He took it well and didn't get angry or anything so that's good."

"Does he usually get angry?" Sakura asked, following him down.

"N-no, no, not really, that's not what I would say at-"

"He's famous for his tempers," Sai smoothly adds, sliding up alongside Sakura. Gaara's brother falters on the stairs and makes a pained sound before turning to see the new member. His eyes are still so wide, even with all the makeup. Sai just smiles wider. "But as you could see, no one talks about that."

"You're not scared of most things, are you?" Sakura asked with a sigh of relief. Sai is fresh air in a crowded room. He doesn't treat her differently.

"Not anymore. But if we're going to be singing my praises, you should also hear about what I dug up on that brat prince."

"The Pharaoh of lower Egypt?" Sakura only barely remembered the name and title.

"Yeah, that's the one. He's going to come here tomorrow and try to woo you. He knows he doesn't have much to offer, but I have to admit he is pretty to look at if you like guys. You're not into the dark and handsome type though." Sai's eyes are extra shifty and Sakura feels her gut drop. "No, if I remember correctly…"

"Sai." Sakura's voice is a warning growl.

"No, if I remember correctly you were always more interested in the baby faced redhead trouble make-"

Sakura reached out and smacked her friend upside the head hard enough to cause him to stagger. Sai tumbles down a couple of steps before righting himself with a laugh. As mischievous as a fox he ducks out of her next swipe and turns into a ghost of smoke.

Left alone in the stairwell, Sakura whirls on Kankuro. "You didn't hear that just now. Don't repeat it."

"O-of course."

Sakura groans, feeling like she's already failed at keeping the secret. There's no way she could keep Sai from slipping up again. "Maybe I should go back. Gaara's probably busy."

"No! He'll see you. He was looking forward to seeing you. Don't go back." He reaches out to touch her but draws back at the last second and settles for hand gestures.

Sighing, Sakura follows him down into the audience hall just as the last couple departs. Sai is already leaning against the back of Gaara's chair. He grins when Sakura sees him. Sai reaches out and taps Gaara on the shoulder, and the Pharaoh turns, scowl in place before seeing his brother and Sakura.

He stands suddenly as the rest of the hall falls on their face. Sakura groans, rolling her eyes. Gaara is quick to notice and waves his hand. "Enough. Leave us."

Plenty of figures back away and Sakura doesn't miss the way Kakuro give his brother a thumbs up before disappearing behind a curtain. Sai stars to leave but Gaara stops him. Once they were alone Gaara waved them to a connected room that was more of a balcony choked with pillows around a low table.

Once in the room Gaara fingers his crown and peels it from his head before depositing it into a pit on a table meant for headdresses. He kneels down among the pillows first and then gestures to both his friends. Sakura follows Sai to the floor and tucks her ankles under her legs, leaning on the pillows like a couch.

The table is already set with food and Gaara reaches for a handful of dates. "Sai, you told me you had news about the brat." He pops a date and then glares. "Tell me it is good news and he finally married a crocodile and died."

"Not so interesting, I'm afraid," Sai sighs, reaching for a date himself. There are dehydrated apricots he picks up and tosses to Sakura. "He's actually coming here for that reason."

"He's going to marry one of my crocodiles?"

"No, but maybe something just as dangerous."

Gaara's eyes fix on Sakura and the date in his hand pops, juices running over his knuckles. "Over my dead body. I'll deny him at the gates."

"You can't, those are the laws." Sai tosses Gaara a cloth to wipe his hands with. "You'll have to accept him into your court and entertain him, but nothing more."

"Why is this a problem?" Sakura asked, chewing on her dried fruit. "He can't do anything."

Gaara grunts, looking away. "He's a snake. We call his the desert asp behind his back, and that's one of the kinder names. He'll try to deceive you."

"Into doing what, marrying him?" She snorts. "I don't think I'm in any danger of that."

"You haven't met him yet," Gaara says in a softer voice, less harsh as his eyes drift to the table. He reaches for a pitcher and nods to the empty cups on the table. "Wine?"

Sakura shakes her head but Sai takes a fill. "I agree with Sakura. I don't think anything will come of the boy's visit. What is worth our time is actually the matter of the last wild god. You haven't changed your stance on your unwillingness to commit yourself to our cause, have you?"

"The Key and the Gate is a god not easily found. You may be able to defeat it if you find it, but your time is best spent elsewhere. There is no rush. It's not going anywhere."

"That may be true here," Sakura begins, feeling Sai turn towards her as she refuses to look at either of them. "But things are not so tranquil in the waking world."

"What happened?" Sai asked. It's so rare he doesn't know something, the tone of his voice is hard to recognize.

"There is a faction, I'm not sure how large, that does not want to see me advance any further in the Obelisk trials. I'm being watched by people I trust, but I'm not safe there."

"You think you are in immediate danger?" Sai presses.

Sakura grits her teeth again and remembers how to be strong. "I'll be fine, but I'm safer in this world where I can at least heal myself and fight back. Sai, what would happen to me in the dream if I died in the real world? I'd die here too, right?"

"Yes, that's how it's been for several actors who were dreamers in the past."

Sakura huffs and then slouches in her seat, slipping further down. Sai passes her his cup of wine and she takes it without looking and drains it. "You'll be fine if we stick to our timetable. Those boys like you enough to risk their lives."

"They're like soldiers around Danzo," Sakura murmured. She closed her eyes and turned over on her side, sliding further down. "I know I'll be fine. I'll be fine." She closed her eyes and felt Sai pat her head. "I'm not a dog."

"You're tired."

"I sleep enough."

His hand doesn't leave her head, but pets her hair down anyway. "Not with your body. You mind has nowhere to rest. You should rest here. We can talk of other things. Rest for now."

Sakura tries to bat his hand away, but doesn't rise again, body heavy on the pillows. "I've been tired for two years. I don't want to stop now."

"You should listen to your friend and take rest when you can," Gaara says. Sakura lifts her head enough to see him over Sai, but his face is as soft as his voice.

There's a shawl pulled up from the cushions and Sakura doesn't fight when Sai drapes it over her. "Don't talk. Just rest here until the dream ends."

His hand stays close to hers and she grabs it before he can pull it away. Sai, her best friend. She holds his hand and closes her eyes but doesn't sleep. It's enough just to rest. Her ribs no longer hurt and she feels whole for now. How long until that ends? She doesn't want to think about that. She doesn't want to think about Karin or Ino being beyond her reach. She doesn't want to think of the feeling Danzo praised her for, the feeling in her gut that told her she was in danger. She didn't want to think that she was in danger.

She's so heavy, she knows she's not asleep, but Sakura doubts she could sit up and speak if she wanted to. Gaara's voice is far off, but she still hears it.

"You love her, don't you?" That had been Gaara to ask such a question of Sai.

"I don't think that's right, at least not how you think. Yes, I love her. She is a person I treasure and a person I would give my life up for. I put her before myself, but I don't desire her. I don't have feelings like those existing within me; I never have and I never will be such a creature." She feels his hand on hers grow warm. "What do you think of my favorite dreamer?"

"I thought your favorite was Naruto."

"I did enjoy him and found his heart pure…but Sakura has won over too much of me to be anything less than king in my heart. I'll protect her however I can. But, you haven't answered my question from before."

"I'm not sure I can. You've had years together. It's only been three days for me."

"You have a direction. Will you support her?"

"I don't think I will oppose her in anything."

"You need to like her to help her though. Do you?"

Sakura didn't hear the rest, she was snapped back to reality and woke on a cot across the room from Genma who was awake and grinning, bags under his eyes heavy and dark.

Sakura read and finished her account with Jugo of the TeaLion Express. He asked her about the Kingdom of Monsters and Sakura got out of it by claiming to be tired. She rested with Temari and Kankuro's stories. Included in her stack were the accounts of various Uchiha, Naruto, Kakashi, and other members of the Akatsuki.

When she dreamed she woke on the same cushions but Sai was no longer holding her hand.

"Guess what you have to look forward to today?" Sai hummed from the window.

Sakura groaned. "Please tell me there isn't a parade out there and it's my head playing tricks on me. Tell me I don't hear elephants." The loud call echoed outside followed by horns and Sakura groaned, sinking into her pillows. "Can't I just fight another god? This is going to be torture."

She feels Sai behind her, running hands through her hair trying to coax her out. "It won't be so bad, and you need more time to recuperate. At least with this development you just need to sit in a seat and look pretty while the spoiled prince entertains."

"That's not the kind of rest I need," Sakura groused, lifting her face from the pillows to see a pair of maids enter the room with boxes in their hands. She raised a single brow. "Dress up, really?"

"Come on, stop whining. The sooner you get up the sooner this will be over."

Reluctantly, Sakura pulled herself up and limped over to the vanity where the two young girls pulled apart her dress from last night and sewed her into something light and fluttering. Her mid drift and the tattoo below her chest were left exposed while the rest of her skirt flowed. One of the maids pulled all her hair back and sleeked it with oil before coiling it up inside a black wig that cut down to her jaw. Sakura felt her face painted with heavy black paint and didn't resist when they smeared gold flecks into her cheeks. The last thing they insisted on was a veil of beads looping from one ear to the other, covering the bottom half of her face.

"We thought it best if the brat prince wasn't able to recognize you so easily. If he insists on staying we'll need to sneak out at some point to find the last wild god."

Sakura froze in front of the bronze mirror. "How long is he planning on staying?"

"Sometimes these things last months. It's also much cooler this close to the norther tip. Many souther Egyptians will migrate here for the summer. Their Pharaoh can run his government from anywhere."

Sakura's fingers twitched at her side. "I'd really rather kill something."

Sai stopped at the door and held out his hand for her to take. "If it makes you feel any better, he'll probably try to kill you while you're here and take your tattoo for himself."

She rolled her eyes, following him out. "Yeah, that makes me feel tons better."

The day before Gaara's hall had been sparsely populated with humble men and women, eyes downcast and backs bent in humility. Today it was the complete opposite. In place of revert citizens the hall was filled with dancers, brightly colored men and women supporting dishes piled with food and tribute. Elephants, half a dozen of them, crowded in the center of the room, each carrying a dignitary. Sakura looked to the back of the procession and saw gold cages with cheetah and lion. A monkey was even tied to a golden leash and led along.

"One of those things is going to crap on the carpet," Sakura grumbled, making Sai chuckle.

"You have to admit, they're flashy."

"So is a solar flare, doesn't mean it's a good thing."

Sai hummed, brows creased in concentration. "A solar flare is a lick of flame that separates from a star, correct?"

"Yeah, they're full of radiation and that's not good for us. Radiation from a solar flare is mostly filtered out by our magnetosphere and our atmosphere, so we're safe on earth. But radiation can cause mutations, sickness, infertility, and a whole bunch of fun stuff. Do you remember that from my high school science?"

Sai nodded, his tone respectful. "What you've read is what I know. Anything written that you've come across is available to me. I'll admit I've gleamed most of your knowledge, but I'm not as proficient as I would like to be. Some things I do not understand."

"Ask me and I'll try my best to help you out. You've done a lot to support me, it's only fair."

Sai shook his head, looking down. "It's not important now." His soft smile faded. "There are other things we should be worried about."

"Is one of them Gaara?" When Sai shook his head Sakura felt a little bit better. "Then is it this brat coming up like he's the Queen of Sheba?"

Sai's smile came back. "He is one of my least favorite dreamers, but there is a reason he rivals Gaara without a god. He is strong and not to be taken may not find him pleasant, but know he is not as weak as he is conceited or unsavory."

"You make him sound like a creep." Sakura pictured a leacerous old man with wiggling fingers wiggling for the skin of soft, young girls. It brought bad memories of Lolita book discussions in highschool.

"Not a creep, but you will have your own opinion of him soon enough."

Sai tugged on her arm, keeping her back in the shadows as the procession stopped and settled down, making a path among the animals and dancers for a gold bed, carried by four burly men in slave collars. Sakura frowned at the slave collars and felt something turn the marrow of her bones to fire.

The bed was curtained and inside the figure of a man lounging could be made out. Sakura suspected he was having a easier time seeing out than others had of seeing in. From the shadows Sakura knew they wouldn't be spotted. She eyed Gaara on his throne, looking bored and agitated at the same time. Behind him stood his siblings and a handful of guards lined the steps up to his throne.

The bed stopped at the foot of the steps and tilted downwards. Sakura watched as the man shifted the curtains aside and stepped out of his litter onto the stairs and began to ascent. Temari bowed her head first, but the rest of the room feel to a knee. Gaara stood.

Still in the shadows, Sakura made no move as the new actor strode forward to stop in front of Gaara. They were behind a pillar and she couldn't see his face clearly, but Sai stepped aside to let her take his spot with a better view. When she was able to see around the pillar she almost gasped at the boy's face.

"Is that Itachi?"

Sai huffed. "In the waking world they were brothers, Sasuke Uchiha is the younger brother of Itachi Uchiha, which is why they look alike. Sasuke was the last dreamer of the Uchiha clan before the Obelisk left their possession."

"He's younger than I expected him to be, he's probably the same age as Gaara."

"They were teenagers when they began the trials."

Sakura remembered barely managing to straighten her hair when she was sixteen. What were adults thinking putting children into such an environment?

Sai seemed to sense her question. "Children were better at manipulating the dream world. They had more belief for it I think."

"Still, you said this kid was strong. He didn't become strong without struggle." The more Sakura thought about it the angrier she got. "I understand a little better why people were against the trials."

Sai didn't say anything, choosing to remain silent as Gaara nodded to the new Pharaoh. Gaara's red hair was covered and tucked up under a white egg shaped crown while the visiting Pharaoh wore a red crown that looked more like a L shaped box. His hair was also pulled up under the red crown, but Sakura could see strands of black that gleamed like silk on the back of his neck.

"Pharaoh Sasuke," Gaara greeted.

"Pharaoh Gaara," Sasuke responded, answering with a nod of his own. "Thank you for extending your hospitality. I have brought tribute for the new godkiller."

Gaar's tone is as dead as his gaze. "I see your display of lavish goods. You've heard about our guest."

"I was disappointed you did not inform me yourself. I went off rumor and whispers."

"I'm sure you did."

"Hn." Sasuke turns his head to the side and narrows his glare at Temari before sweeping the whole of the room. "Where is she."

"She goes where she pleases and is summoned for no one."

Sasuke's dark eyes landed on Gaara's and electricity crackled. "Does she even know she is desired? I'd hate for her to think she doesn't have…." Sasuke's eyes drop down Gaara's figure before rising up, measuring the redhead and finding him lacking. "…options."

"We will not stand for cohesion in our courts."

"That's good to know. Cold blooded killers with no feelings know how to do little else, I've been told." Sasuke looked off to his side. "Shino, to me."

An attendant dressed in brilliant robs of blue and green knelt down behind Sasuke. Sakura recognized the boy from a kingdom long ago. "Kankuro will show you where the attendants may take the godkiller's things. Have them put up in her rooms as soon as possible. The animals will be taken care of by Asuma and his wife."

Gaara grunted but nodded to Kankuro. "Should I have an attendant show you to your own rooms?" Gaara asked Sasuke. "You must be tired from such a long trip."

Sasuke snorted. "Hardly. I'll stay for your evening entertainment if you have any. If not, my own performers will suffice. I'm sure we could coax the lovely godkiller with a godlike dance."

"Let your dancers rest. The court magicians will be entertainment enough for tonight."

"Hn," Sasuke said, dismissing his servants and summoning his attendants to his side.

Sakura and Sai watched from the shadows as the group moved behind the curtians that hung like a wall behind Gaara's throne. On the other side the stairs led down to another lower level where magicians in white robes were already gathering. The room was spotted with platforms along the walls, cut into the stairs for nobles and priests of varying stature to lounge. Gaara and Sasuke took seats at the largest platform, adorned with the richest pillows and thickest tapestries. A low table sat before them, decorated with food and wine.

"Would you like to meet the brat prince and learn how he earned his name?" Sai asked, whispering in Sakura's ear.

"Not really, but I think I want this dream to advance. This is a good thing right?"

Sai shrugged. "If you went back to hide in you room nothing would change. Is that what you want?"

Sakura didn't know what she wanted, she only knew what she should do. She knew what her mission was. She had a goal, but that was different from wanting. What she wanted was escape from the trials and a sleep that might never end, a real sleep, not one of her nightmare dreams.

Sakura waved a shawl to drape over her front and cover her tattoo. "Let's go take one of the smaller platforms and watch for a while. I want to get a better feel for this Sasuke character before I say or do anything else."

That had been Sakura's original plan, but one magic act turned into two. The Sasuke demanded his dancers come out for real entertainment, never noticing the presence of the god killer three steps below him on a platform to his right. Sometimes Sai would lean over and tell Sakura what they were saying.

Sakura learned a lot this way.

Sasuke's dancers danced well and before Sakura knew it the dream began to thin around her. She would be waking soon and she hadn't revealed herself to Sasuke or Gaara. That hadn't been what she planned on doing, but the whispers Sai fed her were good enough to justify her hesitation.

Sakura began to feel tired, the way she would right before waking, and fell against Sai. He caught her and held her tight as the dancers bled into white.

The next time Sakura dreamed she was back in place, same wig, same dress, same shawl in place to hide her tattoo. Animals were brought in and different events were held.

Sakura didn't reveal herself this time either.

The third night Sakura began to wonder if she would ever show herself to Sasuke. She also began to wonder why she couldn't drag her body up the stairs to their platform. Was it just because she wanted a break? Was it because she was scared? What was it that kept her from advancing the story.

"I know she's here, you can't trick me into thinking she's run away," Sasuke groused, loud enough for Sakura to hear with Sai's help. Sai had a sort of magic in manipulating shadows to carry vibrations to her ears.

"I do no such thing," Gaara stated, tone cold.

"Hn. You're wasting your efforts. Shinio is looking for her. His Beatles know her scent. They'll sniff out where you've hidden her in this castle."

"I Have not hidden her."

"Of course not. You think she would be so opposed to my presence? You think she'd take a virgin like you over someone such as myself?" Sasuke taunted. Sakura felt her lips thin.

"You are arrogant as ever, brat prince."

Sasuke snarled. "I earned my throne, same as you. I might not have killed a god, but I've killed a curse and I'll kill again when I need to. Don't look down on me."

"You demand what I can not give you. Godkillers are, as you know, winners of their thrones. She is as exalted as one such as myself. Do not think her petty enough for your tainted charms."

"I'm not worried." Sasuke huffed a breath, looking out at the performers. "If you're the competition, it's not even worth getting worked up for. When was the last time a woman looked at you and didn't flinch. I wasn't born with a demon meant to swallow gods."

"No, you were born with a stick up your ass."

Sakura nearly choked when she heard Gaara's rebuttal. Even Sai was smirking. "I'm proud of him," Sakura whispered. Gaara had issues with socializing and communicating with others. What little Sakura read of his file in the dream world told her this.

Sai nodded. "He is not one I worry about anymore."

"Who is?"

"Who else would take on a god by herself instead of running away to come back another day when she was better prepared?"

"I wasn't going to leave you!"

"I know that. Why do you think I worry." Sakura was a bit off put by his banter and pouted. Sai's returning grin was new. "Don't do that. They're staring and if they see your face they won't be able to look away."

"Because I'm gorgeous." Sakura grinned teasingly.

"Because you're a foreigner." Her face fell. "Ah, too late, Sasuke has already leaned over to ask Gaara about you. Good going. You want to eavesdrop some more or wallow in self pity?"

"You're not nice," Sakura grumbled, scooting closer to her friend to hear the conversation she shouldn't have been able to hear apart from Sai's magic.

"She's sitting with the Eye's High Priest, who is she?" Sasuke asked, sounding indigent.

Gaara's tone is bored, but he addresses Sasuke with respect. "She is his company. You know the Priest to the great Eye keeps to his lot in odd ways. He has not been seen in years."

"Yet he is in your courts. Why was I not told?"

"He arrived right after you."

Sasuke's growl was guttural. "I saw him here two nights ago but did not know it was him until now. Do not lie to me."

Gaara sighed. "He must have snuck in with your people. I've not introduced him because he has not moved to introduce himself. Would you like to risk the anger of the great Eye that sees all? I'm sure your eager to please him for what he knows."

Sasuke said nothing, prompting Sakura to pinch Sai's arm and glare at him. He looked up to see her whisper 'what the hell' with a look that demanded he tell her everything.

Sai frowns at the part of his body Sakura pinched. "It's my alias for this world, only Gaara and you are supposed to know anything. What did you think they would say of me?"

"What's the great eye they're talking about?"

Sai touched the center of her forehead as if that meant something. "It's the god they fear above all others here. No matter how little they know, the great eye is a fixture of this corner of the dream world all actors and citizens of this land know to fear. The Eye is the dream, and I am it's great High Priest. Only Gaara knows I am the Sigh of Dejection, but everyone else knows that I am the knower of secret ways."

"Secret ways…meaning the way to the last wild god that's left to be killed?" Sakura guessed. In the background she heard Sasuke complain to Gaara about something else, claiming the whole situation was unfair and that his performers wern't being appreciated or something along those lines.

"Who said you weren't smart? The brat prince has never slain a god and is not yet Gaara's equal for this. He has bastardized a imitation of a god seal on his neck for power, making him formidable, but he is not on the same stage as you or Gaara. He would need my favor to find the last god in the Valley of the End of Kings." He watched her digest the information and tapped her forehead again, smiling when she frowned. "Well, praise me, I'm important."

Sakura opened her mouth to call Sai an idiot when another figure in the far off made her pause.

Baki's presence never meant anything good.

Sakura almost stood, fear falling down her spine like ice water. Sai called to her questioningly as she sat up on her knees and looked out across the room to the corner in the darkness. The dream was far from being over, and Sakura had a feeling she had slept through too many peaceful nights. Sai called her name again but she didn't listen.

Above her on the platform Sasuke stood to clap as his performers fall into line for a final act. The rest of the room applauded and Sakura wanted to scream about how wrong everything felt. Sai at least tensed beside her, aware of her discomfort.

"What an excellent performance, I look forward to how that shall be topped by our esteemed hosts. But let me dare one final performance of the night."

Sasuke's eyes turned towards Sai and Sakura, she felt them land on her and take her in. His gaze roved over her and then flicker to Sai. Sakura moved in front of her friend, hiking her shoulders. Sasuke's grin widened and turned saucy as he winked before turning away to address the rest of the room. Gaara glowered behind him.

"For our next act the highly exalted Pharaoh of Upper Egypt will be the main attraction as he tests his own blood sand against that of iron and age."

A rippled of fear and cheering went through the room as Gaara tensed behind Sasuke, summoning glittering sand up around him to settle on his skin like armor. His gaze was murder and Sakura was thankful his eyes weren't narrowed for her. He hissed to Sasuke, demanding an explanation for such foolishness. Temari and Kankuro were close and both looked frightened.

"Oh, had I forgotten to introduce my performers to you? I had assumed you already knew. Step forward then," Sasuke boomed, turning to the contraption between the actors that had been where they storied all their dancing ribbons and play swords. "King of the Thieves!"

Absolute chaos bloomed around them as men and women rose from their seats in fear. Some began to run, others let loose their weapons, having kept them hidden for such a time. Blood ran freely all around them as the slaughter began, but Sakura's eyes were to the center of the room where the box began to transform and a figure like a scorpion came together. It was a contraction held together with black markings and painted spells. The contraption opened its mouth and purple fog seeped free, halting the assault of Gaara's guards. Out of the purple mist a new figure rose, dressed in black and piercing eyes.

"Oh," Sai remarked dryly, feeling safe behind Sakura. "That's Gaara's predecessor, the man who should have been Upper Egypt's next Pharaoh, They call him the Third Kazekage." Sai's hands rested on Sakura's shoulders, guiding them so that he could be safe behind them. "What do you think, he look cute?"

Sakura glared. "You're teasing me because he looks like Sasori," she hissed.

"Maybe." He started to back away from her towards the back wall. "Time to pick a side, they're coming for you."

Sakura waved him off, reaching for her bone sword and finding it in her hand. "Just hide behind a pillar and stay safe, I can't be worrying about you right now. Don't do anything dangerous," Sakura told Sai, the dress and jewels around her melting into a form fitting suit of glittering white, harder than steel or spider's silk. She didn't have time to allow a great deal of detail or decal work, but it was functional as well as form fitting. The beads in front of her face seeped into a mesh that spread over her face as a helmet, hiding her face and hair from view.

Sasuke laughed, jumping down from the raised platform towards Sakura, eyes fixed on her like a magnet on metal. She side stepped and paced away, keeping him at a distance. Behind him Gaara raised his sand in a effort to pull Sasuke away, but his glittering red sand was pushed down and swallowed by darker, heaver sand the Gaara had a hard time pulling away from. Sakura heard Gaara curse before turning to face the King of the Thieves.

"Don't look at him," Sasuke groused, pushing a hand up through his hair and knocking the crown free. His hair was wildly styled in famous Uchiha fashion. It framed his pale face so prettily and complemented his already long lashes that would have made him beautiful if not for the masculine qualities he felt free to show off. He smiled and Sakura had to admit that he was swoon worthy. He was probably used to getting his way with the ladies.

Noticing her stare, Sasuke smirked. "I've been looking forward to this, but you're wearing a mask. Won't you let me see your beautiful face. You've haunted my dreams and I will have no peace for these many nights to come until I see your face."

Oh, he was good, a real smooth talker. "I have no reason to do such a thing," Sakura said, holding up her sword, ready to use it.

Sasuke lifted his palms and shrugged, showing off his bare shoulders. "No need for alarm. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't want your god mark either. I might have killed Gaara for his, but I'd rather have you alive and all to myself…" His eyes took in all the lines and edges of her, scanning up and down.

"That doesn't interest me. I'm content with my singleness."

"Why, you haven't had a taste of me."

Sakura suppressed a shiver, remembering Sai's warning about Sasuke. "Oh wow, you are a creep." But he wasn't the only creepy Uchiha she had ever known. "I'm going to have to warn you to back off now, I'm no interested."

"You sure you don't want a taste?" he teased, grin growing.

"Positive," Sakura shot back, keeping her sword arm steady.

"I'll test you out myself. If I can manage to beat you don't complain when I give you the chance to enjoy the embrace of a superior lover."

Sakura expected the fission but still couldn't help but grimace at his words for what they stirred up in her. "Come at me and I'll cut you down, Uchiha!"

He laughed and charged her, black designs spreading across his body to aid him with impressive speed. Sakura met his blows with her own and kept up a solid defense that would have made Kisame proud. But with his speed, Sakura knew there was no way she would be able to land a hit on Sasuke unless she picked out his tells and memorized them. What did he look like before he swung? What did his legs do before a lunge? What did that shift of his hips really mean? She needed to read his body to know how he would come at her. She could stop him from getting to her, but that wouldn't be enough to win.

'He's a showboating brat, don't forget that,' Kisame's words rang loud in her head. She remembered his consul about what to do in such situations.

But just as she thought she could pin point his wind up before a lunge his body turned to blue lightning and he was behind her before she could blink, arm snug around her waist, lips close to the back of her neck. Her eyes went wide as his fingers teased her through the soft parts of her armor.

"I want to touch you, take this off," he growled as another wave of lightning birthed behind his fingers atop her abdomen.

Sakura grunted from the force as Sasuke discharged his lightning and let it tear across Sakura's form. She was knocked backwards, into a pillar with a burned up hole in her armor's torso. She was bleeding there too, but it wasn't bad and she didn't think she needed to heal herself from it. She pulled herself up and stood on shaking legs.

"I don't want to hurt your pretty face, just let me see it," Sasuke purred, eyes spinning in delight as he beheld her. He seemed so proud of his accomplishments. His fingers still jumped with electricity and Sakura knew there would be more of it coming and she wasn't fast enough to stop them.

A wall of sand touched down in front of her, followed by Gaara. He glanced over her shoulder and she heard the far off rumble of iron sand. "Switch partners?" Gaara breathed, sweat beaded across his brow.

Sakura nodded, understanding. "Got it," she said before jumping away.

"You're not standing in my way," Sasuke hissed, lightning growing all around him as he faced off against Gaara. "Not again. You don't get to take this from me, too!"

"She'd be wasted on someone like you," Gaara huffed, rising his sand.

Sakura took to dreaming up a handful of floating platforms, just like steps, before climbing them up and standing high above the battle. The King of the Thieves looked up at her and Sakura felt a pang when she saw the truth of Sai's quip. He didn't look like Sasori and he was cute. The dream was dangerous for more than just it's deadly dangers.

"Submit," the man drolly commented before a fist of dark sand rose up.

In this fight Sakura was a little more prepared. Having fought Gaara gave her an idea of what she needed to do. She dreamed the hole in her armor shut and waited till the iron sand was close before she burst into flames and fell.

Red is hot, but white is hotter.

Sakura was a blinding inferno as she spun, twisting the blue white flames around her body and around the sand that still reached for her. She was burning and angry and there was fire every where as she turned. By the time she stopped spinning there was a dome of glass around her, burned into existence between her fire and his sand. One good punch and the glass came shattering around them.

Fighting the King of the Thieves was easier than fighting Gaara or Sasuke, she knew what she was doing and she had already developed plans for how to tackle Gaara in another spar that were perfect for her current fight. In his own fight, Gaara seemed to be doing well on his own. Sasuke was retreating and the lines of black on his skin grew darker. Sakura turned to see his form and nearly choked when the ghost behind him rose up. Sakura screamed but the dreamkiller still entered Sasuke and turned the boy's black eyes yellow.

The fight went south fast.

Sakura felt a stab through her shoulder and looked to her left to see the Third Kazekage holding a sword that ran clean through her shoulder. She burned at the sight. Sasuke also made use of the distraction and darkened in a body of lightning for the other end of the room. Gaara tracked but Sakura saw it first, knew it before it happened.

She screamed, burning the hand of the Thief before sprinting over to where Kankuro and Temari stood, throwing up a shield around all three of them. Sasuke's lightning smashed tight through it and sent her flying. Still, she righted herself, head bleeding through the helmet, and saw clearly enough to summon up a wall of blades, blocking Sasuke from the sand siblings.

Gaara's own sand wasn't far behind and Sasuke huffed, jumping away. Sakura groaned, trying to right herself before he could strike again, but Sasuke was far away with no intention of coming back. Someone was calling her name but Sakura didn't know who, nor did she care.

Sai was limp over the shoulder of Sasuke. Beside him the Kazekage stood, summoning more iron sand.

"This wasn't such a bust after all," Sasuke laughed before the sand swallowed them both.

Sakura was tilting sideways, falling down steps and bleeding from somewhere below her rib in addition to her shoulder. She couldn't hear out of one ear, but this was worse. She was far away, not sound reached her as she stumbled for Sai's last position.

"I told him to be safe this time," Sakura hissed, falling down once more as the dream snapped to another close.

When Sakura woke up the bedsheets around her were soaked with blood and people were screaming. She hadn't had a chance to heal herself in the dream world and everything carried over.

Nurses were coming to her and bending over her. Someone cut her shirt away with scissors and Sakura felt the fabric fall apart above her.

Through their hands Jugo stood in the corner, watching with a look of frozen horror on his face. Absently, she noticed the blood on his hands and wondered if that meant he was there when she first started bleeding and he had tried to stop it.

Someone slipped a breathing mask over her mouth and Sakura grumbled inwardly about the fuss they were making. This was nothing. This wouldn't kill her, not when Sai was in the hands of a dream killer.

Again.

"We want so much more—something the books on aesthetics take little notice of. But the poets and the mythologies know all about it. We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."

C.S. Lewis,
The Weight of Glory

AN:/ This is the last update for a little while. I hurt my wrist and needed some time off to heal. Work has also started up again and I am giving more and more of my time to my precious students (they're super cute and I plan on loving all of them).

I know what to do with the plot and you guys are so close to the truth behind the King of Thieves it's so exciting. I expect this series to continue for a few more months at least, depending on my condition.

If you can, please leave me a review to let me know you're still on board with the story and still find it interesting. I love to hear back from you and know my work is reaching people. Thank you!

Side Note: 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.