Transition
Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.
Chapter 16
Dark Sun
Through the Eyes of an Oblivious Hunter nin, a Young One, and an Avenger
The Fox Boy, Uzumaki Naruto
Sweat dripped into his cerulean eyes, vision blurred, but he didn't care as he thrashed through the foliage of the Forest of Death. His senses were tingling, and all he felt was the flicker of her chakra in the forest, and she was moving away. He was exploding. He had to reach her in time. He had to. Exploding. It couldn't be true, and that was it. Not unless she told him otherwise.
When he had entered the Hokage Tower wanting to find out what the commotion was all about, Kakashi had been there. Kakashi-sensei, who always had that sleazy eyed look, relaxed stance, and an orange book in his hands, had stood paralysed in the corridor. When the owl-masked ANBU shakily told Naruto what had happened, he crashed out the door. The only thought in his mind was to find her, find her and she'll smile and say he was stupid for ever even thinking she'd do something like that.
Naruto bit his lower lip so hard it bled, but he didn't taste the metallic flavour; he tasted nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. Not Sakura. Not Tsunade. It didn't make sense. Pain seared through his chest and he tensed his arm to prevent himself from clutching the neon orange fabric over it. He stumbled on a branch. His vision was watery with salty sweat, because he wasn't crying, dammit he wasn't, but he got up just as fast and was up in the trees again. Furiously stepping down on a branch so it broke in splinters and dust, he flew through the air, and at that time, he saw it. On the top of a large oak tree a little further away, on the border of the section of forest, in the direction of the mountains, he saw her. Together with the blue-haired dragon man. Her katana was strapped on her back, and when she turned to him, her eyes were a blank white - empty and dangerous. There was blood on her cheek.
The blue-haired dragon man then shed his skin, and muscles wrapped around him, and he became larger; claws sprouted from his fingers, bones crunched and regrew, and then glittering blue scales smouldered in the moonlight from his growing form as he turned into a dragon, a beautiful yet dangerous winged creature. Sakura jumped up onto Seiryu's back, settling herself between the vein covered, silvery and crystal-clear wings as she spread her legs to the sides, her backpack fastened over her bare, slightly sweaty shoulders. Naruto was still too far away, but he ran as fast as he could, and he roared as he was stumbling, tumbling, running.
"Tell me it isn't true!" Naruto screamed, and the sound almost seemed to echo in the dark forest. His lungs hurt, pain so obvious in his voice as he jumped and stumbled - but she was too far away; the distance wouldn't close no matter how much he ran. Silence stretched between them for a few seconds, and Sakura only looked at him with unreadable jade eyes. There was that blood splatter on her face, and it hadn't dried yet, dribbling down on her throat. It was glued there forever and it would never go away. No matter how much she tried.
Tsunade's blood.
"I'm sorry, Naruto." She whispered, her words of fragile glass carried to him by the soft wind, and he heard no remorse in her voice. She was lying, Sakura was lying to him, and as if on cue, the dragon flapped its mammoth wings and shot off up into the air. The pink smudge of colour flew away into the night.
He saw the iridescent dragon disappear in the clouds, and then it was gone, blanketed by the night sky, hiding it from his watery eyes. He fell to his knees when he reached the branch, stumbled as he fell down on the same tree bark she had just stood on. He grabbed chunks of his blond hair and his eyes never left the empty sky. Kurama rattled within his cage, yellow eyes glistening, sharp teeth slick.
Naruto screamed.
The Flower Girl, Yamanaka Ino
"Ino, dear? Please eat something." Ino's mother said through the keyhole to her room, pleading once again, chiding, but no answer came. No answer had come the past three days. Ino heard her mother scuffle outside, a sniffle, and then the clanking of a plate being settled down outside her door. The thumping steps told Ino her mother had left, probably to go back to work. She had come back during lunch hour to give her food. The blond girl rocked on her bed silently; she didn't cry anymore. She had no tears left.
"You weren't leaking back then, were you?" Ino mumbled into her hands, her eyes seeing nothing past her slender, creamy hands, and she gazed at her nails, which were painted delicately with pink nail polish. Light, gentle pink. Cherry blossom pink.
A sudden wave of revulsion overcame her, and she almost retched. She staggered to her bathroom and quickly, rushing, clumsily pulled out the nail varnish remover, almost spilling the bottle's contents in her hurry. Her hands trembled as she frenetically scrubbed the paper soaked with clear liquid over her fingernails, and even though she pressed too hard, she didn't care. The pink colour started to dissipate, but there were little flecks left and then Ino realised she still had tears left. Droplets ran from her eyes down the bridge of her nose as she bared her teeth in a grimace, the tears dripping down onto her red, flushed hands and flecked fingernails.
"Damn it. Damn it," she gritted through her teeth. She furiously rubbed the polish remover on her fingernails, and then, finally, she successfully removed the last pink fleck on her index finger. "Fuck," Ino spat out and fell into an exhausted heap on the bathroom floor, and she started to sob loudly. "Fuck." She didn't care if her neighbours heard. She didn't care if Konoha heard. She didn't care if the universe heard her unabashed wailing, mourning.
"She's gone. She's gone. She's fucking so far gone." Ino sobbed to herself, found that she was grinning through blurring tears and then she laughed. Laughing increased in pitch and volume - it turned into fits of hysterical screaming, hollow crying. It was a despair-filled, empty sort of sobbing. Ino smiled through it all.
It was just too funny, wasn't it? Little, sweet Sakura-chan.
The Younger One, Hyuuga Hanabi
She threw her kunai so hard it dug deep, deep into the trunk of a tree that stood tall in the backyard of the Hyuuga Mansion. Her breath was ragged. She had been training since the sun bothered to peek over the horizon, hours ago. Her brows knitted in an irritated scowl and she produced another kunai, to throw just as hard beside the others in the tree. Pearls of sweat dropped from her forehead.
Hanabi's mission in life would be to kill Haruno Sakura, she decided at the thirteenth thunk. That damned vixen, murderer, what she had done to Tsunade, to Neji-niisan who had locked himself up in his room... She would never forgive her, never forgive herself. She would never listen to her heart again.
The last kunai hit the tree so hard it went through the bark, only to embed itself into a second tree.
The Council
"Who are the possible candidates for the position of Hokage?" Elder Yawata asked as he came hurriedly inside the Council Room, carrying a pile of papers in his wrinkled hands.
"You are late, Yawata. None the matter. As far as we have come in our discussions, the possible candidates are Shimura Danzō and Hatake Kakashi. Maybe even the Uzumaki brat. In a crisis like this, we need to act fast. We can't let the other villagers know of our political vacuum," the Council member Uemi said sternly.
"That is true. Let us discuss, then vote within the day." Elder Kagome said as she wrinkled her brows. "The faster the better."
"Yes." Elder Uemi agreed, and she settled the papers Yawata had brought with him on the table. None commented on the busty blond's absence from the room. It was like a vital part of the atmosphere was missing. There was no light scent of moss, antiseptic and saké. There were no furrowed blond eyebrows. There was no boisterous laughter. There was no pure and righteous heart in the room anymore.
"These are the complete files of Shimura and Hatake. Let us go through them."
The Man of Shadows, Shimura Danzō
The day had come, the day his lifelong dream would come true.
Slowly, he took a hold of the white and red hat. So much power lay in a few simple pieces of cloth, he mused as he put it on his head. It was a little too small for his bandaged skull, but he pulled it further down and was content when it settled, although a bit too firmly. And then he felt that faint tug of his lips, a tug he hadn't felt in years.
Danzō smiled. It was twisted and slanted, but all the same, it was a smile, and he didn't even care to stave it off, and he strolled out onto the balcony where he was met by hundreds of eyes, the eyes of Konohagakure's population. Every child and adult, every civilian, every shinobi, greeted him in respect. He was their commander, their leader, and he would lead them to the superiority they deserved and to the path of glory. Now that the plan he had laboured on for years had come to fruition. Konohagakure would stand above all, and he would be the one to lead the way - Konoha would rule the Five Elemental Nations. Peace would be the ultimate conclusion when he ruled over all the villages. The large web Root had spun delicately around the Hidden Villages combined with his position as Hokage of Konohagakure would make the plan, his plan, close to infallible.
The same day, he listed Haruno Sakura as the number one criminal and missing nin of Konoha. At least, he thought, Tsunade deserved as much. As he declared war on the Haruno, who was now one of the most hated in the village, with the exception of the Kyuubi, he also formed a team called Retribution Task Force, which was to be a higher class military cell than the hunter nin. The team's purpose was to track and kill missing nin from Konoha. And what was left unsaid, but yet was so obvious, was that all of their strength would be used to find and kill Haruno Sakura.
Hatake Kakashi had volunteered to be the captain of the team, and Danzō had agreed.
The Man with a Borrowed Eye, Hatake Kakashi
The sun was dark. Words escaped him. Carnal thoughts claimed his mind. The rustle of cherry blossom leaves made him turn his head, filled with paranoia.
Come to your senses.
Everything was upside down and nothing would ever be as it was before. Kakashi cursed himself for not having seen it earlier. He had known that Sakura hated Tsunade for whatever reason, and she had displayed such disobedience before that Kakashi wondered why Tsunade hadn't reprimanded her. Maybe Tsunade still had had fond feelings for the girl when she was alive, before the girl had become consumed in hatred and darkness. Kakashi knew it had something to do with Sakura's sword, since Naruto had mentioned it was cursed and that a demon hid inside its blade.
The Kyuubi container hadn't seemed bothered by it, but maybe that was because he had a monster sealed inside his own stomach.
Those eyes - the alien green colour; those hard, pale eyes - they should have told him all he needed to know. He should have fucking seen it coming.
Yet he had foolishly trusted in the girl, as he once had in Sasuke. He had trusted in her devotion to the village. He had trusted her logical reasoning. He had trusted her once-pure heart. He had trusted the stability she once had provided for Team Seven; she was the one who kept the two powerhouses from clashing. She had been the normal one, kept the insanity at a stable level, and now, she had shattered whatever was there. The bonds and trust she had were nothing now. She had become the embodiment of the insanity Naruto and Sasuke had somehow kept at bay within themselves.
The Copy Nin stretched over the paperwork at his desk within ANBU headquarters, in his new office he had been given, as he was now the captain of Retribution Task Force. He had read through Sakura's file during the day and her development during the last years - it was a quite impressive resumé, he admitted with a foul taste in his mouth.
The number of her kills were unusually high for a shinobi her age, or rather, very much so for any active young shinobi. Being ANBU had allowed her access to its otherwise classified library and the reports section as well, and from the looks of the register she had scavenged through almost every single scroll and report in the ANBU archives. The Haruno's complete file told him her choice of weapon was her sword called Izanami, and her second asset was taijutsu and strategic planning, as well as a little genjutsu knowledge. Her eloquence and knowledge of different social situations led to her espionage and infiltration skills being superior to many Jounin, with regard to the amount of missions she had been assigned, combined with the usual seduction missions. Her animal summons were four Beasts, which she had acquired without any trouble, apparently. There was no intel on how she had received them, though there was information on what her summons were. A turtle, a bird, a tiger and... A dragon? Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He hadn't known dragons had even existed anymore. He had thought them to be extinct. This made her that much more of a threat...
He closed his eyes for a brief second. She, however, had no special move nor that much chakra in her body. Her chakra reserves were actually very small.
Kakashi had his Chidori, the gift of the Sharingan and his speed. Naruto had the Kyuubi's chakra, combined with the Rasengan and his kage bunshin jutsu, which made it so he was on an entirely different power level of his own. Sasuke had Orochimaru's sword, Kusanagi, and he could channel the Chidori through it to make it even more lethal. He also had his cursed eyes due to the heritage of his bloodline.
Sakura, on the other hand, didn't have any attack that was unique nor made her special. Or maybe it was just this that made her even more dangerous? Because she had been underestimated so many times, Kakashi recalled. Because she had to work harder than the others... The file told him she had picked several different teachers, and in doing so, learned of many different techniques. Because she was just ever changing and never stuck for too long with one technique. Maybe her arsenal of little techniques, jutsus, taijutsu and ninjutsu was what had made her into a threat to even the former Hokage of Konoha.
Kakashi sighed and read on, and he came to a part further down on the Haruno's shinobi statistics that told him her mission to Snow and her assassination of the Snow Daimyo had made her known. Following that, she had been added as a threat into Bingo Books, where she was called Cherry. Her bounty had been raised quite a bit when she killed the Akatsuki member Sasori. Kakashi sighed again. He hoped that no hunter nin would get to her first.
He was the one who had once been her teacher and he would be the one to take responsibility for her delirious state, and subsequently, her fall into darkness. He would capture her and drag her back to Konoha by her fucking pink hair if he had to. And if necessary, if there was no other choice, if she raised her katana that was drenched in Tsunade's blood against him, he would kill her. His heart ached, but he dismissed his sentimental emotions and focused on his hatred for the young woman. She wasn't the same as she had been before. She had become a disloyal murderer, and that was what she was. Kakashi imagined her laughing at him now, at his idiocy, and he grit his teeth.
Naruto would probably interrupt if he meant to kill Sakura, but Kakashi thought, for once, that that could be overlooked. Naruto was naïve to a certain point of foolishness. What Sakura had done was not amenable. It was unacceptable, unforgivable.
Sasuke could reach retribution, or at least only imprisonment for his defection, since he had not done any harm to Konoha. Sakura, however, was a threat to Konoha, a larger threat than Sasuke now. Killing a Hokage is equal to declaring war on a village. And similarly, she had killed all of his former fond feelings for her, his first pupil. Killed his warmth towards her, killed his trust he had held to her, killed the simple notion of her ever being the first one who had seen his face in a spar and blushed. And she would most certainly face the consequences. Kakashi swore to it.
Oh, she would pay.
The silver haired man decided and closed his eye, not acknowledging the feeling of the single burning tear soaking into the black bandana covering his features. It disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and left no trace of its short existence.
A Wild Cat in the Forest, Boshi
His paws skulked silently on the forest floor, his yellow eyes alert to every move out of the ordinary, and his ears perked at every misplaced sound. He had once been called Boshineko, but that was his name no longer. Now, he was the beast that roamed the forest. The fear of mice and birds. He stood above them all. He was gallant in his movements, invisible to the prey's eyes until it was too late.
A scent that was out of place in the forest made his whiskers twitch in curiosity. It was a scent he didn't recognise. As he rounded a tree, he saw a female human staggering against a tree, red stains dripping from a gash at her midsection, bruises covering her arms. Her eyes were blurry yet clearly mossy green.
"Fucking hunter nin," the female growled to herself, the sound similar to an animalistic snarl. "It's not nice attacking while someone is asleep, especially not while that person is dreaming of dying on a battlefield already. Asscracks." She coughed.
Then her eyes snapped to his curious, fur-covered form, and she released a shaky breath as he pawed up to her. He involuntarily stroked his orange head against her dirty leg, and she looked down at him. Sweat and blood dripped from the bridge of her nose.
She reminded him of home. She was warm.
"Oh, little one." Her voice was croaky and her throat tight, but he liked the sound of her voice. He didn't understand her, but all she displayed towards him was warmth.
He meowed meekly and stroked his head against her leg again. Shakily, the female human bent down and slumped down in the process, leaning her back against the tree. She huffed harshly, but all the same her shaky fingers found his fur and he purred loudly as she caressed him.
"You dare come close to a monster, kitty?" Her bloodied mouth quirked, and it looked almost feline, her teeth just not as pointed. Her eyes blurred even more and something salty that was not sweat dribbled down from the green whirlpools.
Her scent was dangerous, this female human, but it was similar to his own in some way. He wondered, as he purred under her caressing hands, if she enjoyed playing with her prey, too. If she missed her home, as he did. Home had been the ones who had once called him Boshi - his family, but he was now called the beast of the forest. Abandoned, but he didn't like to see it as that. This female, though, might prove to battle his place as the top of the food chain in his forest, in his kingdom.
He stayed with her for a while. She had transitioned to breathing shallowly, like she had water in her lungs, and he licked his nose curiously as her hands shook more than before on his head. Suddenly, the female coughed and stopped caressing him, and her fingers started to glow with some kind of energy, with a greenish light, as she reached for her chest. Boshi yanked back and growled at the abnormal light of her hand. With wide eyes, the female looked at him as her hand hovered above her abdomen, where most of the red stains were. He saw her skin knitting together underneath the green light. Boshi backed away, snarling. What was that human doing? It was unnatural.
"No, please stay, don't leave me -" she began, then violently coughed more red liquid into her hand. The green light stopped. She tried to reach for him, but he hissed at her fingers and eyed her sharply. She was too strange.
"Little kitty, please. Come back." She croaked and tried to raise herself, but she fell back due to her weakened state. Boshi only looked at her with bristled fur and turned his tail, prodding away into the night. He had better things to do than pretend a strange and dangerous and dying female human was his family. The last choked words of the female reached his ears as he disappeared behind a bush.
"P-please..."
The Oblivious Hunter Nin, Tachibana
Her eyes were dead.
It was like the kunoichi called Cherry didn't even see, her eyes were just that empty. Tachibana smirked as he kicked her in her stomach. She went limp to the ground on the pathway of the Sekai Forest, on her knees. Just like he liked his women, he chuckled to himself. The Hunter Nin strolled up to her, to stand behind her, and he took a hold of her messy pink hair. With satisfaction, he yanked her hair back so hard her head snapped backwards. The kunoichi groaned, but oddly enough, it didn't sound like it was out of pain.
"Ugh, not this again. Should have kept it short." She groaned, and he tugged at her hair, minutely adjusting his hold to get a better grip. He smirked and lifted her up, so only the shins of her legs touched the ground. His two Hunter Nin companions looked at her condescendingly, not even having had to help him in capturing the infamous Cherry. She was such an overrated scam.
"Yes, you should have, Cherry. Having long hair is only for powerful shinobi, like the legendary Madara and Hashirama, since they were just so strong none would ever be able to take hold of their hair. A little brat like you, having vanity as your focal point in life -"
He was abruptly cut off when the girl flicked out a kunai in less than a millisecond, and without looking back, embedded it into his eye socket. He screamed and let go of her pink locks of hair, taking with him a few strands as he stumbled back. His eye was destroyed and blood and pain blurred the vision of his untouched eye. A throbbing fire engulfed his senses as he clutched his face, screaming.
"You're one of those that talk too much, number four hundred and three," the missing nin from Konoha said, a grim smile ghosting her cerise lips as she jumped up, drew her sword and went on to unflinchingly sever the head of his companion, Risao. Houto fled into the woods at the gruesome sight of Risao's head rolling on the ground. The vicious pink haired girl only glanced at Houto, who was running away through the forest, simply shrugging, and her eyes returned to Tachibana's own.
He felt the world spin around in pain, and the edges of his healthy eye's vision started to darken and fog, and he coughed scarlet blood on the ground.
The last words he heard were delivered boredly: "And I like my hair long." And then he jerked back, a blade pierced his throat, and Tachibana gurgled blood. All was nothing.
The Red-headed Master of Chains, Uzumaki Karin
"That tight skirt will make for slow running, you know. Either you'll trip or it'll ride up."
"Sasuke-kun likes my short skirt! And it shows off my slender legs."
"Whatever floats your boat, bitch. You have no legs to show off anyway," Suigetsu snarled. Karin growled in anger.
"Oumph!" Karin squealed as a man ran into her, making her fall to the ground as he stumbled, but he continued to scuffle away without a second glance. Karin felt the twitching vein at her forehead as she plucked up her fallen glasses, and within moments, she was up on her feet and flung a kunai at the man, which was swiftly embedded into his knee cap. He fell with a helpless howl to the ground, and Karin stomped up to him.
It was a hunter nin, a mediocre one. Brown hair, rimmed black eyes. And he was crying. Gross.
"You're going to pay for this! Bumping into me like that, you disgusting maggot -" Karin growled, feeling herself blush despite herself as she wondered if the man of her dreams had seen her fall. So fucking embarrassing.
"What were you running away from?" Juugo asked as a bird perched on his finger. He stroked it gently on top of its head with his large index finger.
"Th-the Cherry... She killed Taichou a-and Risao...Oh god -" The brown haired hunter nin choked on his words; the crying wouldn't stop as he tried to yank the kunai out of his leg in a frenzy.
"Who's that?" Suigetsu asked, his interest perking. "Cherry? Never heard of her."
"She's going to come after me!", the hunter nin wailed, hands shaking so much he couldn't pull out the kunai as blood seeped in trails from the wound. "I knew they weren't just rumours, but Tachibana wouldn't listen, she's a white eyed demon! He wouldn't fucking listen, he wouldn't -"
The hunter nin continued to snivel. Then, in a flash, the man was pinned up into the air as a hand gripped his throat. Choking with surprised eyes, the nin tried to claw at the man holding him up in the air, but it was futile. Suddenly, scarlet, dead eyes caught the hunter nin and he stopped struggling. His body went limp in the strong grip of the black-haired, handsome man with eyes of hatred.
"Her hair... Was her hair pink?"
The Cloud Watching Boy, Nara Shikamaru
He sat in the Nara's garden, alone with his dark thoughts and a game of shogi. He moved a piece. For a few moments, he assessed the board game, and then, without warning, he slammed his fist on the board. It violently shattered into a hundred pieces. Shikamaru was not prone on showing emotions other than troubled distress, but now he was a wreck. A constant wreck.
He had a white linen cloth left; he hadn't washed it for weeks, and his hand unconsciously sought its comforting fabric at his side. He gripped it and kneaded with his hand absentmindedly. She had slept on it once, and it still smelled like her. It had been warm once. But it was fading. Everything was fading. He didn't know what to believe. He was useless, a used toy, a kicked stone, a useless cloud in the sky. Abandoned. Listless.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of him on the grassy ground. Shikamaru looked up and his eyes met white, and for a moment his heart stopped. But it was opalescent white, no pupil, and he breathed. His lungs hurt. A tall, gangly man, who had once stood so stoically and proudly, now looked so haggard and thin Shikamaru had to look away. Neji's cheekbones were even more visible now, and strangely enough, it made him look even more handsome. His eyes were hazed, yet there was something different this time when Shikamaru dared to look again at the prodigy. Something different from when the Council had officially announced the murder of Tsunade and Sakura's defection. Something different that he couldn't put his finger on.
"We need to talk."
The Avenger, Uchiha Sasuke
A week after they had stumbled upon the hunter nin, who had so easily fallen for the Sharingan, he had told them about the Cherry - Sasuke had found her. The raven haired avenger found her in an underground dirty bar filled to the brink with criminals in Iwagakure. Several empty saké cups were littered in front of her at the bar, and little spills were scattered everywhere. Her face was flushed; she rested her head against the palm of her hand and she didn't even look at him when he entered the bar, even though he knew she could sense him. She sighed and sipped from a saké cup. Her face was caked in dried mud and her otherwise cherry-kissed lips were chapped, and yet her eyes were so green they pierced everything she looked at.
She wore a scruffy black jacket, dirty grey hakamas, and she hid her long pink hair inside a peculiar hat. She looked more like an adolescent boy than anything. It was quite a good disguise, Sasuke admitted. He wondered what kind of mission she was on. He had heard something had happened back in Konoha, but he hadn't cared to look into it. What they did was their business and it was nothing of his concern. But this girl was.
"If you're going to kill me, do it after I finish my saké, but before I have to pay the tab." Sakura drawled with closed eyes and sipped from her ceramic cup containing saké - probably with an alcohol content high enough to kill a horse. Sasuke saw how the alcohol in her blood made her unsteady, but she kept at it, as if the liquid was life-giving, like the air she breathed. It was as if she wanted to drink herself to death.
"I am not here to fight you, Sakura," the man said with a raspy, deep voice, right next to her ear. "Come outside. I need to talk."
"Oh? Finally come to your senses, Sasuke-hime?" She clicked her tongue sardonically as she slapped her payment on the table. To the bar owner's surprise, it was a whole lot more money than what she owed. Without showing it, Sasuke felt the sudden need to raise an eyebrow, but his face remained impassive as they strolled outside the bar.
Sasuke-hime?
She almost seemed self destructive, as she didn't even give him any attention nor prepared for a fight. Her casual form besides him gave no notion of even acknowledging the fact he was her childhood love, that he was a defector to Konoha, that he had been the one to approach her for once, for the first time ever. Like she didn't care if he killed her on the spot. They continued toward the outskirts of the village. After a little while of walking in silence, with the exception of Sakura's occasional hiccup, the pinkette glanced over at him.
"So where's your lover?" Her question directed at him threw him off. Sasuke turned his head to look at her and she only smirked arrogantly. He didn't answer her.
"I mean that snake pedophile. I thought you two were glued together," she continued and stretched casually. He heard her vertebrae crack.
"Orochimaru is dead," Sasuke stated coldly, emotionlessly. Anyone else with a shred of sanity would have shivered and hurried quickly away, but Sakura only laughed. He admitted to having killed one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, a crazed criminal at that, and she laughed?
"Oh. So you finally flicked him off? Congratulations. Well done." Sakura clapped her hands slowly and smiled. Sasuke's eye twitched. The pinkette seemed to notice and she shrugged at his annoyance.
"It was nice talking to you, Hime. Really. But I want to be alone," she said, and her green eyes flickered away to look up into the night sky. "You should leave. You're good at that."
"No," Sasuke said. He dismissed the slight and gripped her shoulder to make her turn towards him. Sleazy verdant met sharp charcoal black. She didn't flinch or back away from the contact. Sasuke knew his fingers were cold on her hot skin.
"I am here to ask you to join me," he said, his flat black eyes locking on to hers. "I have realised that you are more important than I at first thought. That you're beneficial to me. That we share common goals."
Sasuke looked at her as her pink eyelashes fluttered like the lightest beating of wings. Her breath came out ragged and her eyes flashed white for one second.
"Are you seriously fucking with me?" Sakura snapped, and her weary green eyes met his again, clashing. He edged closer to her and she didn't back away, her chin held high as she stared back into his black orbs, having to look up since he was taller than her now.
"I have a certain need of you."
Sasuke touched her lips with his thumb as he stepped into her personal space in a flash, and she quivered, confusion visible in her pale green eyes that were clouded by alcohol, but she didn't move away. As if she was trapped in his dark eyes. Oh, she probably was.
"I crave you."
Then he tilted his head, Sakura's eyes grew wider, and he grazed her lips with his own, and so uncharacteristically softly he kissed her - lightly. Her lips were soft and yielding and slightly moist and he felt how her chakras became chaotic; they were now in a perfect turmoil, mixed with her confused feelings of love and whatnot. Her old feelings for him must have surfaced, and the tremor in her body told him she remembered her lost childhood love. He kissed her again, his hand gripping the nape of her neck and her breath becoming ragged, and she kissed him back.
He felt her chakras twist and then - and then - the timing was right. Sasuke withdrew from the dazed and drunk girl and started mumbling the right, forceful words he had been taught.
It was too late when Sakura realised it was an incantation as Sasuke performed the necessary seals with his hands; she didn't even have the time to draw Izanami.
"I hereby declare the termination of the contract that Haruno Sakura owns over the Celestials the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger. Due to the contractor's incompetence, the removal is approved by the Celestial Beasts. The Heavens have agreed and the dissolution takes action now. Release!" Sasuke commanded and released his fingers.
Sakura screamed, as if something ripped her apart inside. She scratched at her neck as it was lit up at the nape. Sasuke didn't have time to think about what the source was. Two pillars of white and azure powerful chakra shot off from her neck, and she screamed again as the two, most likely contracting, seals were dissolved. A crackling sound erupted in the background, and the energies shot off towards Sasuke. He lit up as the forces hit him. The Uchiha bit his lip hard as the pain burned his insides, and two powerful presences seemed to be incorporated into his being. The upheaval was complete. And now, he was the contractor to the two Kings Byakko and Seiryu.
He had succeeded, and the look in the pink girl's eyes was priceless, Sasuke scoffed to himself.
"Ghn. Y-you never change, do you - why?" She moaned weakly, coughed as she staggered to a nearby tree, holding herself up as she clung to the cursed katana in her hands. His arrogance took over him and he looked down on her condescendingly. Sasuke smirked, his eyes flashing hot. He was overflowing with newfound power, and she couldn't possibly do a thing to him in that pathetic state; why not explain it to her?
"Izanagi-sama told me to fool you, so that your and that demon Izanami's feelings would turn into one with hatred and foolish love. Only in that case of unruled chakras could the contract with your Beasts be terminated. It would leave you in a chaotic state of chakras and the Beasts would have nothing steadfast to hold on to anymore," Sasuke drawled as he called upon Seiryu and Byakko.
After another short incantation, the two Celestial Beasts appeared in a flash and Sasuke smirked as they bowed to him in their animal forms. He knew they did not respect him as of yet, since they only were there for Izanagi's sake, but he would make them respect him. He would make them see he was powerful and a force to be feared.
In a flash of intense lightning, the two other Beasts that still belonged to the pinkette appeared besides Sakura, still in their weaker human forms. The red headed man Suzaku snarled and the other scarred man, Genbu, only looked at his two animal brothers standing at Sasuke's side.
"Byakko. Seiryu. What is the meaning of this?" Suzaku, the vermillion bird in the form of a male human, asked as he grit his teeth. Wings of blood suddenly sprouted from his back, reaching far and wide, covering Sakura and sweeping her to him. The moment she lost consciousness, for she would soon, Suzaku and Genbu would disappear. They weren't as strong as they had been when they were complete - The Four Kings together. Now they were only half the force.
The azure dragon called Seiryu let his tail slide around in the foliage, as if ready to spring at any moment.
"I have no obligation to work together with Izanami. My loyalty lies with Izanagi, the creator of all. I finally found him in this sword and I intend to follow him. Haruno Sakura was merely a deliverer, the agreement to work with Izanami only a means to get to Izanagi-sama." The dragon clipped his jaw with its sharp teeth and his eyes were hard as diamonds.
"What - You fool!" Suzaku snapped.
"You are aware that you are betraying us, Seiryu, Byakko?" Genbu said grimly. "Is all this worth it?"
"I have never seen you as brothers. My true King is Izanagi and I will do anything for him," Byakko growled. "It is unfortunate that you two dwell in the darkness with Izanami, the evil fallen goddess. Otherwise, we would have asked you to join us."
"You are blind." Genbu said and his eyes were so sad Sasuke thought it almost pitiful.
"No, it is you that cannot see. Izanami has always been our enemy, and you are working together with her. You are a disgrace to the Heavens! You know that she killed Otohime." Byakko snarled and whipped his tail. Seiryu almost flinched at the mention of Otohime, his scales glittering and his blue eyes sharp with pain.
"We have never worked with Izanagi either. We have been as neutral as possible and with that, I have realised the world is not black and white, neither good nor evil. If you cannot comprehend what your true want is, then I am sorry for you," Suzaku said, regaining his steely composure.
Sakura breathed heavily. Her skin was slick with sweat and her hair hung messily over her swimming green eyes. She was in shock, still, as she lay on the feather wings of blood.
"Come, Seiryu, Byakko. The annoyance is not worth killing," Sasuke ordered, authority rumbling in his dark voice. He had other matters to take care of, and she was on the brink anyway.
"Yes, Uchiha," Seiryu submitted, withdrawing his claws. Byakko growled and Sasuke saw iron hard muscles ripple beneath the white fur, but he retracted. Sasuke jumped up to stand on Seiryu's back, not even bothering to ask for permission. He was their contractor, after all. Seiryu only craned his long neck to glance at him, then flapped his wings, which created strong wind currents around them. He hovered above the ground for a moment and then shot off into the night sky. Byakko ran under them, pawing his way through the forestation. Sasuke didn't bother looking back at the girl.
Sasuke felt power surge through him. Izanagi-sama would be pleased with his accomplishment - catching the two heavenly Beasts that once had belonged to the creator of everything. The avenger knew this would most certainly give him the upper hand against his brother. At that, Sasuke felt his chest throb. Pain? No, it didn't hurt, he reprimanded himself. It was only the motivational tightening of his lungs.
His mother's corpse flashed before his eyes. White skin patterned with trails of vermillion. The metallic and yet sweet stench crept into his nose. The creak of the wooden floor as his brother turned around. He only needed to blink once, and the image was gone. He had learnt how to suppress the memories, but not fully. His determination deepened, his hatred deepened. He knew he would succeed - there was no other option. Itachi was going to die.
The Red-headed Master of Chains, Uzumaki Karin
"Was the encounter successful?" Juugo asked, looking up from the pot of rice he was cooking. Karin started. She inwardly flinched, sitting still at the table, and looked up from her book only to see her beloved future husband step into their current hideout's cooking quarters. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw his pale skin, broad shoulders, and that handsome face turn to Juugo. His mouth was in a sexy, stern line.
"Hn."
"Oh, that's great! We can celebrate it then, can't we, Sasuke-kun?" Karin said as she jumped up from her chair and bit her glasses seductively, her charm regaining a hundred percent. The sinfully handsome man didn't even spare her a glance as he went to his chambers. Karin scurried behind him, but she was met by a door slamming on her face. She wailed and clutched her throbbing nose, backing away.
Maybe this wasn't the right time, she thought to herself grumpily. She'd go pester Suigetsu instead. In the silence, the three members of Hebi understood that their leader was not to be disturbed the rest of the night. He skipped the dinner Juugo had made for everyone.
Author's Note
Hi guys!
Long time no hear. I've been really really busy, that's why it's taken so long for this chapter to get out into freedom! And you know what? I've got the best Beta Reader ever. EVER.
Go to isolationism and say hi. She's been helping me so much, and she's currently going through every chapter, polishing it until it shines. Can't wait for her to come to my later stuff hihi.
If you have any questions, please PM! And I've started a community called Careful Haruno Sakura, you badassery is showing and staff is always welcome to apply! And please follow if ya want as well.
There might take some time for the next chapter as well since I'll be really busy this summer. But please be patient!
Kisses y'all
fascalia