Chapter Twenty-Seven: Famous Last Words

Ancient Greece:

"Kukuku," Orochimaru laughed to himself. "That was excellent," he hissed, not long after Sasuke had departed. "Such deliciousss power jussst waiting to be unlocked. It makesss me nearly unable to contain myself."

Suigetsu wrinkled his nose. To be honest, he was still not sure why Orochimaru was so determined to have Sasuke so badly. Sure he was an Uchiha and therefore had a unique and powerful trait. But as far as he knew, there were plenty of Uchihas of equal power. And there were several with sharingan of far more superior stages of evolution that he could choose from as well. Then again, by the way Orochimaru sometimes spoke of Sasuke, he often wondered if the sharingan even had anything to do with his desire for Sasuke. Far too often Suigetsu found himself wondering if the snake wanted to recruit, eat, or marry Sasuke. Suigetsu let out another disturbed shiver, whatever the reason, he planned to be done with the snake before he found out. He would pay his dues, collect what he wanted, and be gone.

Speaking of paid dues. "Remind me again just how tonight was even remotely worth the bruises I am going to be finding tomorrow morning?" he asked, rubbing his already tender back from being thrown against the brickwork.

He didn't care for the fact that he had been bruised and battered, let alone having risked his life tonight for nothing. Sasuke had come, listened to Orochimaru prattle on for an hour, then immediately left, cure in hand with no impression of returning. It all seemed a waste to him.

Orochimaru's slit eyes moved to him. "Have you already forgotten? We got to have our dear Sasuke come as a guest."

Suigetsu let out a contemptuous snort. "Yeah? And do you recall him leaving without even a moment of consideration?"

Orochimaru gave out a slithering laugh. "Yesss he did. But we planted an idea in his mind. The next time he is in need he will come, and he will come because he will need me again. I asssure you. Mortals expire ssso easily."

Suigetsu let out a scoff but kept his clairvoyance of such occurrences to himself. Hell would freeze over before Sasuke appeared in this gods forsaken serpents pit.

Time was not a thing he had ever paid much attention to, he had never needed a reason, at least not until recently. It was because of this lack of consciousness to time, that he found himself ignorant as to just how long he sat there with his arms around her, hugging her to his chest as if she was the only thing of worth in the world….which she was.

He was at the cusps of sleep when he felt her stir. The moment he felt her muscles begin to shift, all weary pulls of sleep were cast away as he sat up and shifted her slightly to look at her face. Never had he loved such a shade of green more than when her lids lifted and she silently gazed up at him. She blinked sleepily, and it was like he could see the inner workings of her mind, trying to figure out why he was there.

"Sasuke?" she croaked, her voice hoarse and strained from the lack of use over the past few days.

He raised a hand to her lips. "Shh," he coerced. "Don't talk, hang on."

With a gentleness he helped her sit up enough so that he could slip out from behind her and arrange the pillow for her to remain sitting up. At the small table beside her bed, he poured some water from a pitcher then sat at the edge of the bed and held it to her lips. She stared at him with curious eyes for a moment then began to drink when he tilted the cup.

She took in a few sips, then several more after his insistence. When she was finished, he turned back to the table and set it down. He found her watching him when he turned back to her. Raising his hand to her forehead he felt her skin. Her skin felt sticky and dirty but there was no more fever.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes running over her face as his hand cupped her cheek that held a healthy looking glow. Gone were the gaunt shadows around her eyes as well as the pale pallor of her skin.

Her own hand moved up to clasp his as she gave him a smile. "I feel fine," she said with a small chuckle before she gave him a questioning look. "Sasuke what has gotten into you? Why are you here?" she questioned as she looked about her room and noted the midday sun. Her eyes slightly widened and she sat up straighter. "Does my aunt know you are here? Has she seen you?"

Sasuke gave her a long look. "Are you sure you feel okay?" It was as if nothing had even happened. While he hoped for a recovery, this was certainly beyond his expectations. He had expected her to be weak and frail, he expected her to take days, even weeks to be back to normal health. But here she was, only hours away from her escape from death and she was as if she had never been sick.

"I feel fine, better than ever," she assured.

He relaxed slightly. But not for long as moments later he was pulling her to him. He pressed his lips to her dried and chapped lips and gave her a long, hard kiss. When he parted from her, he learned his forehead against hers and his eyes opened slightly to see her staring at him wide eyed.

"I thought I was going to lose you," he admitted softly. "You were...there was nothing else I could do. I had to do it."

Sakura gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

He froze for a moment then shook his head. "Nothing," he brushed off. "It matters not," he added as he sat up straight. There was no need for her to know about Orochimaru as Sasuke knew he would not be facing the snake ever again.

His hand moved to her hair. Caressing her locks before he let it slip down to her shoulder. From there he ran his hand down her arm where he grasped her own. Lifting it, he turned it up to stare down at her palm. His thumb ran over the lines, tracing the line that the seers and soothsayers claimed to foretell a person's life span. Lifting her hand to his lips, he gave the crease a lingering kiss. As he lowered her hand back down to her lap, he raised his eyes to her and gave her a long stare.

"You are not allowed to leave me," he instructed.

She gave him a nervous laugh, the rosy color in her cheeks that had developed during his show of rare affection, making the fact that she had been near death just the night before almost unbelievable.

"Where would I go?" she chuckled. "You said yourself you would find me no matter where I was. So why are you worried?"

He did not smile at her light heartedness, causing her to sober slightly when she detected his seriousness.

"Promise me," he urged earnestly. "Swear to me you will not leave me."

She gave his hand a healthy firm squeeze and leaned into him, her face forming a tender and promising smile. "I promise Sasuke, I am not going anywhere."

He nodded then insisted that she lay down and rest, despite her fulmination that she felt more than fine. She finally conceded when she had him agree to lie down with her. Within minutes, Sasuke was fast asleep, his head propped on his arm with the hand of his other arm tightly gripped hers.

Sakura lay awake next to him, her body curled into him as she watched him sleep. She could have sworn it was just last night that the man she had been tending to had passed away. But as recent as that horrible night seemed, the vague memories and blurry images of her aunt tending to her through a feverish haze told her that more time had passed by than she had thought.

But even still, she was surprised to find him wrapped around her in the middle of the day when she woke. It was not normal for him to come during the day anymore. And he had been overly touchy. Not that Sasuke was not affectionate, but rarely did he touch like that, with such attentive tenderness. It was almost as if he could not, not touch her. Even now as he slept, his hand held onto hers like a lifeline.

With her free hand she brushed his bangs away from his face as she smiled softly. "I promise Sasuke," she said softly. "I will always choose to be by your side."

After that she closed her eyes and nuzzled herself closer to him. As she settled in and drifted off, Sasuke cracked his eyes open. The smallest of content smiles came to his lips before his eyes fell closed again and he drifted off into a slumber that had never felt so restful or peaceful in his life.

Ever since her sickness, Sasuke had been...off. The first thing he had done was insist she go back to her home on the island. A request that she refused to do despite his almost paranoid actions and warnings that things were not safe. And since her decision to stay in the city, his behavior had gotten even odder.

He was constantly checking in on her, both day and night and then suddenly, he would be gone. For days sometimes even weeks, she would see neither leather hide of a wing nor spiky hair of him. He was just gone. And when he decided to show back up, he would appear randomly in the middle of the night, waking her from her slumber and asking if she was okay. Each time he did this, he would immediately tell her to go back to sleep, as if all he needed was for her to open her eyes and assure him of something. Some nights he would stay, but he hardly slept, not like when she had first recovered and he had held her so tenderly in slumber. Instead, he lurked near the window and stared out at the night sky.

And it seemed she was not the only one who noticed his odd behavior. Naruto had too.

She did not see the sunny seraph for several months after she had come to the mainland. In fact, four months had gone by before she was making her way through a busy market place and quite literally bumped into him, or rather, Naruto came out of nowhere, tackling her to the ground in a tight hug. After a short and happy reunion, Naruto dragged her away to a more private area in which he could speak with her more openly.

"Has Sasuke been by to see you since you moved?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes," she answered. "He comes to visit me quite regularly, unlike some people." She gave him a hard look of accusation as she folded her arms across her chest.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Heh heh," he chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that Sakura, it's just that things have been...intense in the seraphim world."

Sakura's face morphed as her grumpy stance faltered. "What? Is something wrong? What is going on?"

Naruto gave her a curious look. "You mean Sasuke has not told you? The peace treaty is going to be signed. It's been in the works for years but now it's official. They have called for a meeting and everything. It's to be held here in the mortal realm actually, in the temple overlooking the city."

"When?"

"In two months," he answered, then looked at her curiously when she frowned. "Sasuke never told you any of this?"

Sakura shook her head. "Sasuke does not say much of the happenings in your world as of late. He does not say much of anything these days," she muttered this last part more to herself. She looked up to Naruto. "Is this why he has been acting odd? Is there a lot of pressure on you two given your families?"

"I have been busy, but I can't say there is a lot of stress on me," he answered. "As for Sasuke…" Naruto gave a shrug. "Wouldn't know, I have not seen him in ages."

Sakura's forehead creased. "What do you mean you haven't seen him? What about your training sessions with Kakashi?"

"That's just it. He hasn't shown up. Not in a long time," Naruto replied. "In fact, that's why I came to see if you have seen him. There have been some...rumors. I don't want to believe them, but given his sudden avoidance, I can't help but wonder..." He drifted off in thought and then looked at her. "I just need to make sure he is okay and has not gotten himself into trouble."

A worried expression came over his face as he spoke, causing the troubled feeling that had been growing within Sakura to grow even more. "What kind of rumors?" she asked warily.

Naruto frowned, her response not giving him hope of refuting the rumors. He let out a heavy sigh as he bowed his head. He only looked up when a small hand took hold of his arms and gave it a soft squeeze. He was greeted with the wide orbs of Sakura as she leaned her face into him, looking up at him with worry in her eyes.

"Naruto," she said in a small plea, "tell me what you heard."

Naruto remained silent as he looked back into her viridian eyes, those innocent and pure eyes that held so much care and concern he was convinced they could solve all the problems in the world.

He let out a sigh, Sasuke was a bastard. Naruto used to tell him that everyday out of habit. But if the rumors were true, if they were even fractionally true, Sasuke really was a bastard. An undeserving lower than scum bastard, who did not deserve Sakura. Yet he had her. Somehow, some way, that bastard had somehow gotten her dedication. And in some construed way, he made her happy. And Naruto did not want to be the one to take that away.

However, he was willing to put Sakura's safety over her happiness. Happiness could be reversed, but death or other things that were a lot worse than death if Sasuke was truly involved with what Naruto hoped he was not involved, could not. There was no coming back from those things.

After a very long pause, Nartuo finally opened his mouth. "Kakashi said that he has been hearing some rumors lately while hunting down rogues." His blue eyes looked straight into hers, watching for a reaction. "Has Sasuke ever mentioned the name Orochimaru to you?"

Sakura's face contorted into concentration as she tried to recall such a name ever being mentioned. "I'm not sure. Perhaps? Maybe?" She shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to remember. "I don't know," she finally finished in defeat before looking back up. "Why? Who is he?"

Naruto gave her a disturbed look. Opening his mouth, he began to delve into the unsettling answer that was Orochimaru.

He was consuming her, heart, body, and soul. Again and again, under the curtain of night, his body moved with hers, causing her toes to curl and her voice to cry out each time she was brought to exaltation.

Sasuke had come to her late that night, not unlike he had many other nights before. He had awoken her suddenly, his hands grasping her face as he desperately called out her name. The moment she was cognant and opened her eyes, she had just enough time to see his sweat dampened hair and pale face before his lips came crashing down into hers. Hungrily he worked her lips, nipping and biting, his tongue tangled with hers as if air meant nothing to him as he pulled her closer and closer to him.

It was not until she had to press against his chest and force their separation that she was finally allowed to breath. He gave her a fraction of space in which to allow air to pass in between them as their heavy breaths filled the otherwise silent room. As the lightheadedness from her earlier lack of oxygen was remedied, she chanced a glance up at him.

She was met with swirling read eyes before his head fell forward and he pressed his forehead to hers. "Come with me," he whispered. "I need you tonight."

She gave her answer in the form of a silent nod and before she could even look back up at him, he had her in his arms and was rocketing to the sky. Sakura's stomach lurched. It was not the first time he had flown with her in his arms, that had occurred within the first year of knowing each other. And in the nearly two years that had passed since then, she had soared with him on numerous occasions, but she had still yet to get used to the exhilarating sensation.

Any sleepiness that had remained after being awakened was blown away as the cool night wind rushed past them. His heated chest and arms that wrapped tightly around her protected her from the sting of the cold.

Her feet had just barely touched the ground from his hard landing before he had her pinned to a tree and was pressing his lips to hers. She tried to keep up with his vigor but there was something fueling him that she did not hold. Growing impatient, he moved away from her mouth, to her jaw, to her neck, and to her collar bone. Automatically he went to the sweet spot that always made her more vocal as his hands ran across the thin fabric of the nightgown that covered her body. The looseness of the garment caused it to slip from her shoulder by his rough hands and soon Sasuke had exposed her chest and moved farther down.

His hands moved down her body, leaving a sensitized trail of phantom finger marks until he had reached her thighs and hoisted her up. Automatically her legs wrapped around him, securing herself as their bodies meshed together as one. In no time her pulse was beating wildly as her breaths became shaky. Her face flushed as his hands, well versed in making her body coil and release, moved about her bodice.

Hours later, Sakura found herself swirling in delirious bliss as she lay on her back breathing deeply. She stared up at the night sky, the twinkling of the stars shining down from the heavens as if to give their blessing of what had just been consummated between herself and Sasuke. She was exhausted. Her body was worn out and her mind was just a melted and useless mess after the repeated stimulation that had left her brain too overworked to function. But no less than a few restful moments later, Sasuke climbed over her again, his hands slipping across her perspired body as he began to nuzzle at her neck once more.

He needed more. He needed more contact, more distraction, more Sakura. Over the past few months, Sasuke had hardly gotten any sleep. Stressed out, paranoid, and guilt ridden, Sasuke could barely shut his eyes without the torment of one thing or another plaguing his mind. He had been proving himself greatly to his uncle as of late, working his body past its limits, and carrying out tasks that made him question every teaching he had as a seraph.

He had given in to Madara's Will, just as so many fallen others had. They worked like drones, doing anything and everything that was bid of them. It disgusted him, and he had become one of them. Yet there was still a piece within him that cried out and resisted. A piece that gave him enough free will that made him conscious of his actions. Which only made him feel conflicted all the more. Because it meant he was choosing to do these deeds of his own free will.

His normal stress relief would be a good sparring against a particularly loud mouthed feather brain. But Sasuke could not do that, not anymore, not ever. He could not fathom looking him in the eye, both Naruto and Kakashi, knowing what was to come, knowing that what he was about to do was unforgivable, yet he was still doing it.

He heard a sigh of content to his left and was reminded of why exactly he was doing this. Why it was all worth it. Why it was validated.

Earlier, before he had come to her, his accumulative exhaustion had finally paid its toll and he had finally managed to fall asleep. However, it was riddled with unrestful nightmares and he had woken up in a cold sweat with the lingering image of Sakura, fading away like the sunset as she dissipated, turning his surroundings into darkness. The image and feeling of loneliness, paired with such imaginations, had driven him to her bedside and then to here. Where he could make her call out as loud as possible without the risk of someone disrupting them.

At the recollection of that horrid image, Sasuke found his earlier settled anxieties now no longer satisfied. He turned to his side and took in her heaving body as she stared up at the stars. For a moment he relished in the action of her breathing, it meant she was alive. But he could not trust his sight, he needed to feel her, needed to hear her, to taste. Just as he had done several times tonight. The carnal lust that had been the theme of tonight's endeavors was reignited. He needed to not think, he needed to just feel.

Without another thought, his hands were moving over her skin as he moved over her. He hovered for just a moment to look at her satisfied face before moving in to satisfy her more. His lips met the skin of her neck as he shifted over more, his knee nudged between her legs and his hand moved around her waist to pull her closer. Breathing her in, he released a breath against her neck before grazing his teeth across the silky skin. Soon her hands were tangling with his hair but it soon changed from impassioned grasping to pulling him away from her.

"Sasuke," she panted between exhausted breaths. "Wait. I...I need rest...I can't-"

"Then let me do all the work," he said, lowering his head back to assault her neck.

She let out a sound that was a hybrid of a moan and groan. Her fingers tightened in his hair, pulling his head back as she pushed herself up against him, forcing him back and onto his haunches. She met his heated and lust filled eyes with determination and concern.

"Sasuke, wait," she repeated. "Somethings wrong, somethings bothering you."

"I'm fine," he said all too defensively as he moved to push her back down, but she stayed firm, bracing an arm behind herself to keep him from pushing her back.

"No," she said sternly. "It's not fine. Please, talk to me."

He gave her a dark look. Talking was the last thing he wanted to do. Talking meant thinking which was the opposite of his objectives. And telling her of what he was avoiding would not bode well. She would not understand. Not yet. After, after everything, then he would tell her...maybe. She would forgive him, wouldn't she? This is what she wanted, to be together always and forever?

A smooth hand pressed against his cheek. She had always had smooth skin compared to his calloused hands, but after months of city life and not helping with the manual labors of her home back on the island, they had grown even softer, more delicate...more fragile.

"Sasuke," she pleaded as she ran a hand across his face. "Talk to me, please. What is going on? Naruto saidー"

His eyes sparked at the name. "When did you see that feather brain?"

"Just the other day. He stopped by to check on me...and to check on you," she added slowly, taking note of the twitch of his brow. "Sasuke, he is worried about you. He and Kakashi. He said that you have been avoiding them, that they have not seen you in months. And he said that there are rumors…"

"You should not take note of anything that comes out of that idiot's mouth," he slurred as a spark of panic began to beat in his chest. What rumors were they hearing. Did the heavens know of Madara's plan?

Sakura gave him a hard look of disapproval. "Sasuke, he is your friend," she emphasized.

His eyes hardened at the word friend. "He is not my friend," Sasuke declared, his tone straining to convince not just her, but himself as well. "And you should distance yourself from him. He's a clumsy fool and could get you into trouble."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Are you forbidding me to see him?" she challenged, her voice dangerously defiant.

Sasuke clicked his tongue. "If I knew that would work, yes," he answered, looking out into the dark. "But I know you, you do not listen to instruction very well."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief as he continued to keep his gaze firmly away from hers. Where was this coming from? Since when was it dangerous to be near Naruto? "Is it true that you are working with a seraph named Orochimaru?" she blurted out, getting straight to the point.

Sasuke's eyes flashed up to her. "How do you know that name?" he demanded, before sitting up straighter and looking at her seriously. "Did something happen? Did someone approach you?"

She shook her head instantly and his shoulders relaxed. "N-naruto told me of him," she admitted, causing a look of annoyance across his face. Sakura gave him a look. "Sasuke, he said there were rumors of you going to him. Is that true? Are you...are you helping him?"

"No," he nearly instantly.

It was the truth, however, given by the look that followed his answer from Sakura, she could tell the answer was less simple. She stared at him, her forehead slightly creased in a silent challenge to his answer. Sasuke stared back at her, a long draw of silence passing as he debated what else to say. The longer the silence, the more anxious she seemed to become and he could see the disapproval in her eyes.

"I went to him once," he finally admitted in a barely above whisper. "Several months ago, out of desperation."

Sakura stilled at his admission, her green eyes moving back and forth as she took in his face. Why? She wanted to ask. Why would he do such a thing, what could he possibly be so desperate for to cause him to go to such a creature….

Her mind stopped when she began to think back to several months ago and then it hit her. When all of this started, when Sasuke began his strange behavior. Her sickness.

Sasuke hardly ever spoke of it. She had never seen him so shaken than that day she had woken in his arms. She had made light of the severity of it, but it only served to make him agitated. He had only told her small details, but from what she had gathered from her aunt who had been hopelessly tending to her, she had been close to death. And her quick, almost instant recovery, had been proclaimed a blessing from the gods. Now, as Sakura thought about it, perhaps it was not so much as gods that had blessed her, but some other ethereal beings.

"Sasuke," she began in a quiet tone, "where did you get that medicine from?"

Sasuke stayed quiet.

"Sasuke," she prompted. "Did you get the medicine from Orochimaru?"

She noticed his jaw clench, an indication for his desire for such things to be dropped, but she refused. She was worried and was determined to hear it from him.

"Sasuke," she said in an unnaturally sharp tone, causing Sasuke to look at her.

His jaw moved from side to side for a moment as he ground his teeth before answering. "Yes, I got it from Orochimaru," he confirmed, looking away from her horrified expression to his admission.

Sakura stared at him as a shudder went through her. Naruto had told her what the corrupted angel had done to people, told her of the experiments. To think that something of his making had been inside of her. She shuddered again. She didn't want to even know what had been in it nor what others were put through to lead to its creation.

She looked back at him with a stony expression. "You shouldn't have done that," she said with a hard tone.

Sasuke's head whipped around and he gave her his own hard look. "And what was I supposed to do?" he questioned. "Sit around and watch you die?"

"Yes, if it meant you staying away from him!" she exclaimed. "Naruto told me of his desire to have you with him. My life is not worth yours being trapped into servitude for him."

"I am not serving him," he defended. "It was just a one time deal," he assured.

Sakura watched him closely, looking for any indication that this was the truth, the full truth. It was not as if she believed him capable of lying. Sasuke did not lie. But he did omit, he left things out and let people assume.

"Promise me," she pleaded, grabbing his hand and leaning forward to look him in the eye. "Please, do not ever go back to him. Not for anything, especially not for my sake. It's not worth it."

He stayed quiet for a long moment. Finally he moved. His hand lifted and he caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

"Don't worry Sakura," he assured her with a tender tone. "I won't, I will never need a reason to." It was a promise he made because he believed he would never break it. For in less than a few months, the peace talks would take place, the fallen would rise to rule, and he would have a place for her beside him. Safe and sound, his forever.

Sasuke followed the silhouette through the underground maze of dark tunnels. Every so often a torch clung to the otherwise barren stone walls, giving just enough light to maneuver through the maze without walking straight into the wall when the path suddenly took a sharp turn. Absolute silence seemed to be the theme of ambiance with only the light tapping of their feet with each step. His guide took a sudden sharp turn and Sasuke followed in his wake. As soon as he cut the corner, it was to find himself suddenly entering an open cavern that was slightly more lit than the hallways. His guide took a bow then moved to the side, giving Sasuke a full view of Orochimau sitting on a mockery of a throne, smiling gleefully as his snake eyes stared at him hungrily.

"Sssaske," Orochimari cooed in a lilting tune. "What a pleasant surprissse."

"You said you could make a mortal live forever," Sasuke said sharply.

The snake seraph's eyes glinted in the fire light. "Yesss," he answered with a sinister hiss. "For a price of course."

Sasuke took a few steps forward, his shirt clinging to him from the mixture of sweat and blood that soiled it, but this all went unregistered. His body was numb of any discomfort or pain that came with his injuries and dishevelment. Not just his body but his mind as well. It was numb. The pain that he knew he should be feeling was nothing but a fuzzy thought in the back of his mind and he would not allow himself to give into the nudging instinct to try and clarify such feelings.

He knew what would happen if those emotions became sharpened and more pronounced. If he let himself process and register them, it would destroy him. So instead he pushed it farther back. Besides, there was no need to grieve. That is what he told himself. She was not gone forever, he would get her back.

"You say your powers are great, just how great are they?"

Orochimaru leaned forward. "And what greatness are you wishing for my dear Sasssuke?"

"Resurrection," Sasuke replied. "Bring a mortal back from death and make it so she will never enter into such a state again."

Orochimaru leaned back and let out a tut-tut sound with his tongue. "Oh dear Sasssuke, it seems you should have come to me much sooner. Perhapsss when I first made you an offer you should have accepted."

Sasuke's eyes bleed red and Orochimaru's eyes widened as he took in the recently evolved irises. "Then I guess your powers are not as you make them seem," Sasuke said, his voice straining slightly as he tried to reign in his emotions. He was a fool for thinking he could come to Orochimaru, a fool for thinking such things possible. But it was his last option. Everything was gone, everything he had worked for in the past year had been pointless. "Pity," Sasuke remarked, his voice remarkably indifferent compared to the raging storm within him. "And here I thought you had power."

Sasuke moved to turn and leave, but Orochimaru's greed would not let such a thing happen. "Kukuku," he laughed, causing Sasuke to turn his face back to him. "Oh my dear Sasssuke, when I say you should have accepted earlier, it did not mean I could not do it," he claimed. "What I meant, is that you should have accepted when the price was not quite so high. What you ask of me is no easy feat."

Sasuke turned fully back to Orochimaru. "And what is such a price?"

Orichimaru's head tilted unnaturally too far to the side. "How much is it worth to you?" he inquired. "What are you willing to do, to have her back?"

Sasuke's eyes glinted with wild hunger and desperation as he stared into the snake's slitted pupils. "Anything," Sasuke replied. "I will do anything."

OH MY GOSH I could cure my anemia with the amount of IRONy in this chapter, hehe. Sorry bad joke. Anyways, where to begin...some foreshadowing going on this chapter for next chapter. Yes we just did some major time jumping for the ancient greece timeline as Sakura was dead in the last section. I have two...possibly three more chapters and then "Part I" of this story will be done and we shall move on to Part II (Which last night I had some really good ideas for when really I should have been sleeping :P)

This will be the last chapter of ancient Greece for Part I but there will be more flashbacks in Part II so do not be too alarmed for those who are attached to the Greece chapters.

For those who are more than frustrated with Sasuke and how he has been handling things in the present time frame, all I can say is he has yet to reach his lowest. HOWEVER! Part I will end with him hitting rock bottom and then it will only be upwards from there. I promise, I will make you guys...and Sakura love him again ;)

Thank you all for those who commented and Favorited, heck to everyone who just gave this story a chance and read it! y'all are excellent and I hope to be posting soon! Stay safe, be kind, and reach out!