AN : Hola! Cinnabunnbunn here! This is a new story! Wohoo!

I actually had this idea swirling around in my head for quite some time now. You see, I just LOVE witch fantasy AUs. The thought of magic, spells, curses, the aesthetic is just… uh! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

Anyway, let me stop this fangirling.

Enjoy the story!

(This is a revised version)


Magic, they say, does not belong in a man's world. Correction, a WITCH'S magic does not belong in a man's world. She has heard of many tales of her ancestors getting chased around the town with pitchforks and torches, getting tied-up and being scorched alive on a stake while wizards and sorcerers roamed around open and free and watched their end in delight. The only reason she was still alive now was because the townfolks have seemed to realize that they needed them.

When the snow was raging and the drought was all-consuming, the people only survived due to the curing and restoration power of witches. There were still some stubborn-headed traditionalists in all their cocky assuredness glory, who refused to accept any kind of help from those evil, filthy witches who served Satan and were surely going to hell and everyone saw where their fate ended. And when the people realized that the war magic of the wizards and sorcerers were not going to get them through tough times, they allowed the witches to keep their lives, although very begrudgingly.

It still wasn't much better though. Child witches weren't allowed to go to school with the other children, they were shunned in every crowded place they went to, mothers clutched onto their children when they walked past, said children running away crying at even the sight of their shimmering eyes.

It was pretty bad.

And that was the whole reason why even witches developed the attitude they were the most infamous for.


"They're so fucking stupid. Everyone! Like what do they think, that they can just spit on my face one day and then come in asking for cool balm the next, and I would just give it to them all smiles!" An angry voice grumbled, beside the slamming of doors and clatters of pots and pans, lined with irritation in every word.

The door of a quant cottage deep in the woods, busted open, slamming and ricocheting off the red walls, lined with thick wisteria and bougainvillea vines. Hurried feet padded inside, warm with magic candles and pixy lamps, brown wood furniture and brooms and dusters automatically cleaning every nook and cranny.

The owner of the raging curses slammed down the groceries she just brought from the only decent enough store in the town, her green eyes wildly shimmering with angry magic and rosy hair swishing in the wind that is not there. Her hands itched to destroy something right now, her temper oddly short for a Viridian witch.

"THOSE ASSHOLES!" the ceramic crockeries sitting on her kitchen counter shook a little at the final bout of frustration.

She puffed out angry breaths as she dropped her bag on a chair by the kitchen table, blood once again boiling at the thought of everything she heard in the market.

She was always hearing people talk rumours behind her back everywhere she went, of her eating the hearts of young men, stealing children in the middle of the night (why would she even do that! Children are so annoying as they are, who would want to deal with them!), sacrificing their souls to the Demon lord to gain the dark powers. But no one ever approached her in fear that she might eat their heart too.

Up until today.

A brave, and even more stupid, lady came running after her with a butcher's knife. At first, she thought that it might be another one coming up to preach about the witches going back to where they came from, that is, the hell. But no, that was not the case because that would've made more sense.

It was because that lady's son seemed to have some kind of infatuation with her. And the lady was very vocal about it in her face, waving the knife around, accusing her of putting spells on her son, or eating her son's heart that made him attached to her or some other nonsense.

But that was okay, she could deal with that.

However, it made her brain flame up when the lady started accusing her of sleeping with a sorcerer, to draw her power from him, and how she murdered her whole family because the Demon Lord told her to and now, she was a filthy harlot that warms the beds of every other wizard to steal their powers.

Now, despite all the insults thrown at her about the evil origins of witches, she was pretty desensitized to them. But one thing she is never going to take sitting down were the accusations of witches having to do favours of the other kind for the wizards and the sorcerers to get the power they have.

Witches draw their power from the nature, from the very core of the earth. Witch magic is etched into every vein, every fibre of their being, into their very soul. Witches cannot be forged in a furnace; they are born from the blood of mother nature. Every kind and type of witch to roam the earth, is a part of mother cosmic. And to insult their character, is an insult to the nature itself.

Mother has cried many tears already, watching her daughters be staked and flayed, unable to do anything but scream in anguish and let it all out in tornados and volcanic eruptions. But men are what they are, men. They never change.

How dare those ignorant, arrogant ASSHOLES even think that they would need the drive of wizards and sorcerers, the kind that watched in delight as her ancestors died, to get their magic to full capabilities.

"The next time that bitch comes knocking down my door for a balm for her half-dead knee, I'm kicking her so far off the red cliff that even her dear son won't be able to find her." Sakura concluded to herself as she set down the bag of puffworts and glass mushrooms as carefully as possible. Those took her so long to get.

Sighing to herself, she sat down heavily on her cushioned chair that automatically flew from her living room to set around her back to sit on. It was sometimes so hard to keep her temper in check when she was around people like this. She thought it was good that she got away from that place before she did something that gave the townspeople a reason to come marching for her head again, no matter how good it would've felt to just see the old hag bloat up like a balloon and pop.

She cursed at her luck. It wasn't fair! The wizards and the sorcerers roamed around freely and were even respected by the people of this place. And the witches weren't even allowed to peacefully keep their lives. The magic made them too powerful, too dangerous, they said.

Which was all just a load of bullshit. Wizards had magic too, so did sorcerers, but they weren't thought of as evil and dangerous. Why? Because the witches were women? Because women in power threatened them? That was her most plausible guess.

The town authority was filled with a bunch of old bag-of-bones, pigheaded, arrogant dicks anyway.

"Shishou is going to be so mad when she comes back." Sakura sighed in dismay at the thought of her Shishou making her clean the greenhouse again. She absolutely hated it when Sakura made a mess in the town.

Putting away the thought of her impending doom, she stood up and made her way around the counter to the cauldron sitting over the wood stove, and in it was a concoction for Scarlet fever, steeping over the flame for the last two hours. 'A little dewhoney and it should be ready.' She thought to herself before walking back to retrieve the jar with a golden liquid off the shelf.

Just when she was about to open the jar lid to pour out the contents, a cackle of energy beyond the forest made her hair stand on the edge, a faint sound of static accompanying the presence. But this was not a familiar energy from the town, no, this was something more sinister and even more powerful, and it was approaching her rapidly.

Hurriedly putting the jar down, she wiped her hands forcing herself to summon the power despite her suddenly clammy hands. The magic glowed green at her fingertips, as she summoned the full wisteria vines over her home walls to lengthen and shield the door with their repelling force while she summons her slugs to get her Shishou right now.

But before she can even draw the summoning gate, she felt a force push against the wisteria vines.

'Not enough…' Sakura cursed to herself seeing that there wasn't enough time to get the warning to her Shishou. She tapped her feet restlessly as the energy cackled again, much stronger and closer to her home, pushing apart the wisteria vines that she was trying so desperately keep her door covered with. She took a deep breath before sending a prayer to the Gods and bracing herself when she felt it just at the foot of her door, and her golden bangles glowed with her mind made up.

Whatever happens, she will NOT let them destroy her home.

A moment later, a powerful shockwave of bursting magic made all the wisteria vines fall away from the door and Sakura watched with baited breath and tensed muscles as there was a moment of stillness before the door was flying open off its hinges, wind howling in her ears.

There was darkness around the gate at first. The shadow of the trees blocking any light of the dying day, plus the electrifying energy surrounding the uninvited guests, before she finally saw any form of individual. It was a dark boot at first, stepping onto her Maplewood floor, then came a pale hand, gripping the frame of her door and then the rest of the body followed out of the shadow and into her home.

Long, dark hair tied back, dark, drapey clothes, enveloped in a red cloak and pale skin. Sakura trailed her eyes to the stranger's slim face, dangerously beautiful in all his dark appearance, as much as in his dark presence. But whatever brough him here, did not give him any right to just bust down the door of her home.

Then he opened his eyes, and Sakura hissed a short breath.

They were crimson, the colour of blood moon and the eyes of raven, and that could only mean one thing.

He was from the Uchiha clan of sorcerers.

The stranger blinked once before his crimson eyes looked around the room before settling onto her once again. He assessed her form for a moment, taking in her slightly tousled pink hair, light green spring dress, tensed posture, and narrowed green eyes. And then opened his mouth to say something.

"Is this Senju Tsunade's residence?" His smooth voice met her ears, low and velvety.

Sakura didn't answer his question, but the sharpening of her eyes gave him all the answer he needed. "Then you must be Haruno Sakura."

Sakura wanted nothing more than to just summon a spear and throw it at his stupid head, anything to get him to stop talking. But resisted the urge, it won't be wise for her to mess with a sorcerer of the Uchiha's calibre. She bit her tongue before saying anything, "Seems like you did your research fairly well. Mind telling me your identity before I throw you out." It was not a question though.

The man looked a little surprised before he registered what was asked of him, "Yes, of course. My name is Uchiha Itachi, I'm fro-"

"-from Uchiha clan, I know. Now I'm going to need you to kindly get the hell out before I do something I might regret later." Sakura hurriedly growled the Uchiha, not even letting him finish his sentence. She wanted him out of her home or her heart might tear out of her chest and set itself on fire.

He's terrifying her.

He was stunned at her words. Why, she does not know. Basic courtesy are generally taught in high clans, like don't just go into anyone's house and act like you have a right to be there. Especially a witch's.

"I'm sorry, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. I was ordered to escort Lady Senju and Miss Haruno to the sorcerer capitol. You should've been expecting me." Itachi was getting more and more puzzled by every second. He had been ordered by his father to go pick up the pair of witches. And as he was sent with his cousin, then the witches should have been aware too.

If Itachi was that confused, then one can only imagine the state of befuddlement Sakura was in. "No, I was absolutely not. I don't know what you are talking about, but you are not welcomed here." She started summoning magic in her palms more aggressively and the vines from the bougainvillea from the back started creeping inside through the open windows, spines on the stems lengthening into sharp pins.

The longer this guy was standing in her house, the more her heart clawed at her chest.

"We really don't need to do this." Itachi warned her in a careful voice before he reluctantly fell into a position as well. He didn't want to fight someone who was supposed to be their ally moments after meeting, but the witch seemed to not think of them as such.

"Exactly, we don't have to do this. Only if you would peacefully leave."

"Miss Haruno, if only you would give me chance to explain-"

"You made your choice then." Sakura said finally before flaring her light around her fingertips and the vines attacked at Itachi with a vicious speed. However, before they could reach him, a pair of golden spinning blades cut them off in half, the pink petals of the flowers falling, the blades embedding themselves in the broken door. She recognized those kinds of weapons. Golden particles floated through the air around the blades, hazing in out and shining too wickedly to be any normal dagger.

They were Auric blades, coming from beyond her windows. Which meant there was another one.

And just in time, the unknown presence made itself visible. Coming out of the shadows beyond her door with break-neck speed, almost blurring out of existence. This one looked much like Itachi, another Uchiha no doubt, with short, shaggy black hair, same crimson eyes and a mischievous grin on his face, and stood beside the slightly taller Uchiha.

"Woah there Dove! No need to get all worked up. We don't mean any harm. Forgive my silly cousin if he came off as threatening." His grin turned never faltered, nor did it look any apologetic as he took a step in her direction making a placating motion with his hand, but then backtracked when he saw the vines floating threateningly in the air.

Sakura's jitters worsened even more at the new arrival, another Uchiha. One was already bad enough, but two are real trouble. She bit back a growl of frustration. Charging ahead into a losing battle while she was outnumbered, was like signing a death sentence. All she could do right now was stall some time and pray that her Shishou would magically appear out of thin air.

"Who are you all and why are you here?" Sakura asked, proud of herself for managing to keep the shakiness out of her voice.

"Oh! How rude of me. I'm sorry, Dove. My name is Uchiha Shisui, second heir of the Uchiha clan, and we have been ordered by our leader to fetch Miss Tsunade and her apprentice. We were informed that you must've already gotten the notice of our arrival."

Sakura certainly did not get any notice of their arrival, otherwise she won't be out here trying to flay them. "What do you even need from us?" A calming tea blend for the Uchiha matriarch? Soothing balm for the patriarch's knee? A muting syrup that will shut the women of the clan up?

There was another, and arguably the biggest, reason why she kept herself far, far away from the bigger sorcerer and wizard clans. While few of the more modern sorcerer clans were adopting to leave the more outdated roles behind, training many future sorceresses for wars, larger and more prestigious clans like the Uchihas and the Hyuugas, still reigned in their traditional values, reducing the women to their clans to the roles of nothing but pretty faced slaves and baby incubators.

Assholes.

"No. I did not get any notice of your visit. And since I did not get any notice, your work here is done. And stop calling me dove or else I will rip your throat out." Sakura responded as menacingly as possible. "Now, leave."

"She's right you know." A new voice announced and all three turned their heads towards the new arrival. The clinking of glass bottles reached their ears before the blond hair came into sight, sharp honey eyes studying the new pair and Tsunade set down the bottle of blue grape wine on the table.

"Shishou…" Sakura released a relieved sigh at the sight of her mentor. Atleast now she knew that they can successfully win against the Uchihas. She looked back at the said Uchihas, who now sported a surprisingly uneasy look on their faces. Itachi seemed to be the one to snap out of his stupor first and cleared his throat before addressing the high witch.

"Lady Senju, forgive our intrusion, but we need your help. Please come with us."

Tsunade looked at him in boredom, trailing her eyes all the way from his hair to his shoes, and then looked over at his cousin to assess him the same way. Finally, after a long minute of having made them uncomfortable enough with her staring, she opened her red mouth to respond.

"No"

Sakura smirked at the wide eyed expression on the duo's faces as she also turned away to the table, the previously creeping vines now starting to retreat back to their original position. She figured that since they got the answer from the high witch, they would take it with finality and retreat back home.

But no. The Uchihas seemed more stubborn, and more stupid, than she first assumed. It was again Itachi who replied back, his cousin standing a little tensed since the arrival of her mentor.

"Lady Senju, we have been ordered by our leader to fetch you. We are in dire need of your help. There is a dangerous threat brewing around the borders, and it will affect every magic user." Itachi tried explaining again, with more context and coercion.

It still didn't faze Tsunade as she continued pouring wine in her glass, the shimmery blue liquid catching the pixie lights, and she didn't even bother looking at them. "I don't give a fuck. Your father took great delight in the demise of witches. Whatever it is, I don't care enough to help any of the sorcerers. You all can drop dead and fall off the face of the earth for all I care."

Not missing a beat, a response came from the pair. Surprisingly, it was Shisui.

"It's Orochimaru."

Sakura doesn't know that name, has never even heard it from her Shishou, but that name alone caused her mentor's form to tense like a bowstring. The pouring bottle stopped the flow of liquid and she slowly set it down.

Sakura stared with baited breath at her mentor's face, trying to gauge the expression on her face, but it was like a closed book with a bland cover. She looked at the Uchihas, for any clue, only to find them with a grim expression on their faces.

Tsunade slowly turned her face to the pair, and asked with a chilling voice.

"What?"

"It's Orochimaru. He is practicing the forbidden magic, and is planning an overthrow on all the magic users' community, including the witches." Shisui paused for a moment before adding, "and he is not alone. It's a whole army of magic users with him."

When Tsunade still didn't respond to anything, Shisui tried again. "We know that our past has been tainted with blood and hatred, but our leader wants to rectify that. And we need your help, not just for the sorcerers, but for the whole world of magic."

Tsunade turned away and held onto the table for a still eternity. The minutes ticked by as the deafening silence was only filled by deep breaths. Then after no one knows how long, Tsunade straightened up and turned toward her apprentice, who was looking confusingly between all three of them.

"Sakura, pack up all the necessities, some clothes, potions, balms, books, concoctions and everything else we'll need. Orochimaru is a very formidable opponent, we'll need all the resources we can get. Also put the greenhouse in a crystal ball, we'll need it." Tsunade ordered her before walking to her own room.

"Wait, we're actually going?" Sakura yelled after her mentor in incredulity. She shouldn't be much surprised, because from what she understood from this very strange interaction, this Orochimaru guy seems to be a very real trouble for everyone.

"Yes, we are. Pack everything up." Tsunade didn't look back at her and before she shut the door of her room, she addressed the Uchihas one last time, "And we will leave tomorrow at dawn, stay wherever you want at night, out of the house." And then a last slam of the door echoed throughout the house.

Sakura looked at the shut door for a moment before sighing and turning to the unwanted guests still standing in the room. Itachi was looking at her with blankly, while his cousin on the other hand, was grinning way too widely for her liking.

She could feel a vein throbbing in her forehead as she held up her fist and ordered them out, "Leave!" backing up her command as the knives on the table started floating, making a threatening swooping motion.

Itachi wordlessly took her threat and retreated out as his more childish cousin took pleasure in throwing her one last comment before bounding away into the forest.

"Later, dove!"

Sakura slammed her door close so hard, it practically shook its frame. Huffing and puffing in annoyance, she heavily threw herself onto her bed, closing her eyes in exhaustion.

"What the fuck…"


The sun wasn't even up the next day, but the birds did a good job of waking Sakura up. the sky was still unlit, the grass wet from morning dew, the birds were chirping merrily, and Sakura was exhausted.

She has spent the entire last night jamming everything she thought they could need into crystal balls. The greenhouse, all the potions, concentrates, rare ingredients for recipes and spells, all the books (there were like 80 of them), some clothes, shoes, and what not.

And now she was sleep-deprived, exhausted, and not having it from Shisui. She might have to conduct a research on him to find out where he gets all that energy from, even so early in the morning.

"Good morning, Dove!" Shisui chirruped from his place on the high branch of a blackthorn tree behind her house. He was still in his clothes from yesterday, black shirt with gold cuff links, dark pants, black boots, gold accents thrown throughout the whole outfit, with the signature Gold and red Uchiha medallion. Same as his cousin's.

"How many damn times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that." Sakura wanted to yell at him, but she just couldn't find the energy in her. And even the slightest noise in the stillness of the dawn seemed amplified a thousand times, making her ears near bleed. So she settled for glaring menacingly at the still grinning fool, as a floating teapot refilled her cup with mint tea. She has already downed three cups of that beverage, hoping it will wake her up a bit more.

It was not doing a great job, she must say.

When she saw her glare didn't have any effect on the Uchiha, she sighed and turned away to go and collect some meadow sage, she should stock it up. Who knows if she will get that anywhere wherever they're headed to.

Looking around the base of the towering trees for the familiar grass-like herb, she felt a prickling stare on the back of her head. She turned her head from side to side, looking for the source, and finally found the owner sitting on a branch on one of the trees.

It was a raven, but Sakura wasn't stupid enough to think that was all.

Glaring into the glowing red eyes staring intently at her, she turned away and pointedly ignored the bird.

After fifteen minutes of scrounging around for the herb, she returned to her cottage with quite a handful of them, to see all the luggage on the doorsteps, and her mentor putting the last enchantment on the just repaired door. Shisui and Itachi were also standing there, apparently lost in a very serious discussion, possibly about their travel.

Going around the luggage to find her side bag, she stuffed all the sage in one pocket and put the strap around her shoulder. Taking a sealing scroll out, she drew the sigils around the luggage and sealed it all in the scroll, now left with only her and her mentor's side bag. She finished her sealing and turned around to see the Uchiha pair finishing their discussion and her mentor joining them.

"So, how are we going to get to… wherever we're supposed to go." Tsunade asked taking out a small bottle of blue grape wine out of her bag, uncorking it and throwing a big gulp back.

"Flying of course!" Shisui grinned sunnily, eyes twinkling with mischief "You can ride with me on my raven if you want."

Seeing the witch's unimpressed, deadpanned stare his way, his grin faltered a little before awkwardly chuckling out "We are going via Shadow Carriage."

That rang a bell in Sakura's head. Shadow Carriage, a part of the Shadow Ring enchantment, from what she has heard, was a nature specific sorcery, not many could do it. But an Uchiha having the ability to perform it, is not that big of a surprise. It just means whoever these two are, they must be of high calibre even in their own clan.

"Well then, where is it?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow, looking around place for their supposed ride.

"Right here." Just as Shisui said that, Itachi took out small matchbox, but everyone there can see the enchantment on it clear as day. Itachi took out a match out of it and lit it to create a small flame while murmuring a spell and the flame getting bigger to cast a shadow behind him. He said a final spell and the shadow froze and stayed there even after the flame was snuffed out, and then it slowly morphed into a dark wooden carriage, with golden silk drapes, and gold accents throughout it, finished with dark horses with gleaming red eyes.

Shisui went up to the door and held it open for Sakura, "After you, m'lady." Sakura looked at him in distrust before giving a huff and stomping her way up to the seat, Tsunade following suit. When they have settled, Itachi went into the carriage to sit in front of Sakura with Shisui beside him, a slight pout present on his face. Reasons, she did not know.

After shutting the door, Shisui announced they departure.

"Here we go!"

And Sakura couldn't help but feel that this trip is going to be more trouble than she is ready for.


(April, 2023) AN: Yeah, this is a revised chapter. Though this is a revised chapter, there isn't actually any change in the storyline or anything. I really just updated the narrative, word play, and some dialogue delivery to match my current writing style. And also fixed some of the grammatical errors. (Because, holy shit, I was ashamed of how many of those were there)

So yeah, not much of anything new, just a smoother flow of the narrative.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review if you did.

Bye bye