AN: Hey y'all, Cinnabunnbunn here.

Here is another chapter, don't have much to say. So we'll just move onto the chap.

Enjoy.


"This is unacceptable!"

A fist thudded against the table, the paperweight on the stack of parchment vibrated a little from the impact. "We already took such a big risk letting two witches stay here, and now you're telling us to remove any form of protection? Are you serious?!"

Madara let out a breath, his eyes closed and counting down from one hundred in his head. The clansmen around him continued to chatter away, more complaints and angry retorts flying around the meeting room. The man that banged on the table, Uchiha Kazake, stood up suddenly, eyes fixed in a glare.

"That Senju woman is a retired matriarch and a current High witch, she is already a danger enough. And now you are telling us to give them free reins to reside in the compound." He spat out in anger, the fine wrinkles around his eyes and mouth deepening, "Have you lost your mind?"

"No I haven't." Madara replied blankly with his eyes still closed. Kazake gritted his teeth, "Then why the hell are you removing the spell?"

"Because it does nothing good." Madara replied again, this time opening his crimson eyes. "The witches are our guest for now, whether you like it or not. And the only thing the spell is doing is making them not want to help us even more. So is you want our kind to survive, you'll have to put aside your hatred toward them."

Rage and hatred twisted Kazake's face into a scowl, his skin creasing more and more until his looked more like the red oni masks than anything else. Another clansman, Hikaru, spoke up, his voice much more controlled and flatter than his older brother. "Whatever you think would make them trust us more, Madara, removing the shackles would only put us in more danger. It's two witches now, then it will be three, then more. You think that's better?"

"Why would there be more of them here? They already hate us enough to not want anything to do with us."

"We give them freedom within our walls, and they'll think this is their home." Another one spoke up, older than any of the other sorcerer in the room, the glass of aged wine swirling in his glass. "The magic shackles are a safety net, a leash to keep them in check." He breathed out low and it was like an old dragon letting out dull smoke.

"I still remember the last time we let it get pass us, and I know you do too, Madara. Your father taught you well enough." He spoke out gravelly, "You are making a grave mistake letting them free boy."

Madara resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, irritation spiking inside him. This was one of the biggest reasons why he didn't like holding these kinds of meetings, they never result in anything good.

"A 'leash' that only puts an obstacle in our work." He clipped out, tone short and loud enough to let everyone know he does not want to hear anything else. He stood up from his chair, circling the table slowly. "Tsunade Senju and Sakura Haruno have agreed to be our allies. They are to reside in our compound, under our protection and help us fight Orochimaru. I will not have them as prisoners, drained and shackled, when we are supposed to join forces."

He looked around the table at the unhappy faces, obviously dissatisfied and distrustful of his decision. "They are under our care, whether you like it or not. They will be given their right to magic under our roof, whether you like it or not." He saw Kazake clearly bristling in his seat and felt another wave of irritation. "Hence, they are to be treated with respect. Whether you like it or not."

He turned around, exiting the sitting area and signaling the end of the meeting.

His heels thudded on the marble floor, black cloak swishing behind him as the door of the congregation room swung open before he even reached it, shutting close behind him as he exited the room. His face was set in stone, shoulders sharp and lips pursed. Another meeting he did not want to hold, another day wasted.

His feet did not stop until he was at his personal study, folding down his cloak on the backrest of his chair and sitting down with a sigh. Listening to the elder's advices was only proving to put up more hurdles than he would have liked, but not listening to them would mean a whole lot of displeased elders and more troubles than he was willing to deal with. He was already losing much time and manpower fruitlessly looking after the damned book, and now the elders want to put fuel to the centuries long fire between the witches and his kind and make his job even harder.

He let out another quieter sigh, the tumbler on his desk automatically filling up with wine for him to sip from.

He took a silent sip from his glass, looking out of the large glass window into the courtyard, toward the training ground he knew the strange greenhouse popped up one day. His father must be rolling in his grave at the prospect of witches taking lodging in their house.

He had seen her storming out of her quarters the day before, pink hair all wild and steps enraged, no doubt having found out about the shackles in his walls. And that was not a good sign if he wanted to keep the alliance intact until he could abate the threat.

But the problem remains, where was the Darklore? That was something that yet remained to be found out. And he could only count on the Senju and the Haruno women to maybe provide some insights on its whereabouts.

Putting the glass down softly on his table, the ring on his right pointer finger glowed a dull gold, the shimmering particles multiplying until they formed a flapping creature; an inky black eagle.

"Take my words to the high witch." He ordered out, not taking his eyes off the dark sky outside as the bird let out a shrill cry and shot outside into the sky, ready to take his orders to the blond Senju staying in his compound.


Her skin has been prickling the whole day since yesterday since she has resolutely locked herself in her greenhouse, stubbornly away from the peering eyes of the castle. Her skin itched and she has been struggling to control her rapid breaths because of her anger, anger that kept her up all night.

Some nerve these Uchihas have, to dare to do that after everything that happened. She was almost regretting her decision to try to be amicable to the two cousins the day before.

But the night was gone and the sun was high up and she desperately needed a bath, and that was the only reason she ever bothered to go back to her chambers. But the moment she shut the door to her room, she didn't hesitate in tying another bundle of sage and wisteria, a thicker one this time, and lit it on fire, taking it with her in the bathroom and letting the electricity in the walls run wild.

The walls seem to scream in agony as the shackles were being pulled and pulled until the spell was completely gone, atleast from the bath area. Sakura breathed in the smoke, smiling in satisfaction and even triumph as the dashing electricity fizzled out and none of the previous weight remained.

She'll have properly break the spell later, but this will do for now.

She sank down in the quartz tub, lulling her head back against the edge as the bundle subsided in smoke and nothing remained back. How great would it be if she could just stay in the warm pool and never have to deal with the sorcerers and their incessant need to make her life miserable.

But unfortunately, no sooner than she was feeling like she was floating, a knock on her room door rudely interrupted her daydream. She waited another moment to confirm whether someone actually knocked, and when the second set of knocks feel against the wood, Sakura sighed in dejection before grabbing her robe and stalking out of the bathroom.

She swung open the door to the sight of an Uchiha maid, head bowed and eyes casted down. "Lady Tsunade has requested your presence by the garden." She informed shortly and flatly. Sakura raised her eyebrow, "Why didn't she tell me that herself?"

"She has been sitting in the gardens since breakfast and would like you to join her."

That didn't really answer her question, but she shooed away the maid with a nod. She huffed out a breath, leaning against her shut door before tying another bundle of sage and wisteria, letting the smoke fill the closed room once again. She ignored the blue electricity dashing through the walls, searching her almirah for a dress she could wear around the compound.

She didn't bring many dresses with her, she realized as she was searching for her regular dresses. 'Just my luck.' She grumbled in her mind as she settled for a faded mauve dress with breezy sleeves past her wrist and a flowy skirt down to her ankles, falling down her hips in layers. It was an older dress she hasn't worn in a while, but she realized that she liked the way it looked. She especially liked the way the thick sash like belt wrapped her slender waist.

It made her feel like a flower fairy.

Shaking her head, she continued her routine by tying her hair back in a loose and fluffy braid, placing a small twig of wisteria in her hair.

When she was finished with putting on her rings and charms, she looked in the mirror, liking the way she looked. She might not be feeling great, but no one will be able to guess her exhaustion by looking at her, and that's what Sakura wanted.

She will not give them the satisfaction of seeing her being worn down by their antics.

Only when she was almost down the staircase did she realize that she did not know the way to the gardens.

'Eh, whatever.' She shrugged to herself, walking out into the back courtyard the size of a mini forest. "The gardens, the gardens…" She mumbled to herself, slinking around the corridors and courtyard trees to get a sight of the rose bushes she knew lined the gardens.

She turned a corner, walking down the clean-cut grass field toward a different path. No matter whatever she thinks of the sorcerers perse, she would have to admit that their compound was truly a work of art. It was cold and imposing, but just from a visual standpoint, it was a marvel of its own.

However, the polished and sleek design of everything in the compound made her feel uneasy, not just because of the sorcerers, but simply because of its rigid structure. The marble was too cold, the grass too neatly cut, the walls too straight and polished. It felt suffocating most of the times.

She was used to rough cut stone walls of her cottage, the clover patch in her small garden, the quirky design of her greenhouse. She was used to the warmth of clay and earth and gemstones, walking barefoot in the sage meadows and laying under the cherry trees in her backyard.

She did not like it here. At all.

Sakura was so deep in her thoughts that she almost missed the flash of black from the corner of her eyes. She whipped her head to the side, toward the window she knows to be the library study.

She remembered the mane of dark locks and the sinister crimson eyes. The head of the Uchiha clan. And he was staring directly at her.

She caught his eyes unwittingly and something whispered danger in the back of her mind. His face was blank, sharp jawed and eyes unwavering, staring at her in a way that made her falter in her steps. He was never previously looked at her in any way that made her feel particularly in danger, but right now, for some reason, he was making her stagger back.

He was dangerous. Very dangerous. More so than any of the other Uchihas.

She looked away from him in a hurry as if she never saw him in the first place before continuing down her way. She tried to not seem like her pace was hurried, but she was sure she looked like she was running away.

Thankfully, fortunately, just a minute later of wandering through the stone path through the yard, she finally saw the tall white rose bushes that marked the boundary of the gardens.

Tsunade was plopped lazily in a chair beside the marble table in the center of the garden, but for once, holding a cup of tea instead of a wine glass. But it was the company she had that surprised her.

Mikoto Uchiha waved her hand to Sakura when she saw her approaching the pair, a warm smile present on her lips. She seemed lovely for being an Uchiha, at least she smiled.

"Miss Sakura." Mikoto greeted with a smile, getting up from her chair. "How nice of you to join us. Please have a seat." She offered while filling up another white porcelain cup with thick tea.

"Thank you." Sakura thanked her, although a bit warily, but made sure to throw a look toward her mentor. They need to talk in private.

Mikoto slid the cup toward her and Sakura noticed the design of a golden vine on the saucer. It was a pretty design. The tea was sweet and she distinctly noticed the hint of dandelion. "I didn't know dandelion was a choice amongst the sorcerers." Sakura politely asked the Uchiha lady, nodding in thanks at her offer of tea and cookies.

"It isn't very popular." Mikoto replied, sitting back down in her chair, "But I've heard that dandelion is quite loved among the witches. I'll admit it's a great flavor."

That caught Sakura by slight surprise. Did Mikoto specifically get dandelion tea for them?

That's… quite nice of her.

"Has your stay at our abode been to your comfort?"

Subconsciously, Sakura felt her lips twisting behind the rim of her tea cup, reminded of the predicament she found herself in the night before. "It has been… well enough." Even as she tried to keep her words polite and unassuming, she could hide the grimace from leaking in her voice.

And Mikoto seemed to have noticed that. But before she could prod further or change the direction of the conversation, a maid came by to ask for Mikoto. She was being called by her husband.

Sakura waited until the Uchiha lady was out of sight and certainly out of the earshot before turning to her mentor, who still did not look any more inclined to have any real conversation.

"Well." Sakura folded her arms over her chest, eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "Did you seriously not notice or did you just want to see me suffer?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tsunade replied flatly, putting down her tea cup and instead fishing out a small flask from her waistbelt. Sakura wrinkled her nose when the blonde poured the burning red liquid into the tea cup, tainting the floral taste of the tea with its smoky, murky bitterness.

'Her alcoholism is getting out of hand.' Sakura grumbled in her mind. "How did you even stay in that room all this time?"

Tsunade finished saturating the tea with her whiskey, instead settling for slumping against the backrest of the chair. A manicured blond eyebrow rose up in challenge, "How did you not? It's a beautiful room, and I like the bed."

Sakura growled in exasperation, "Just get to the point already!"

Tsunade stared at the pinkette for a few minutes before releasing a sigh. "I removed the spell the day I moved in."

Sakura blinked at her mentor once, twice, before her words registered in her mind. "So you're telling me," She began slowly, "That I've been suffering for all these days in my room while you could've just informed me of the spell. And you didn't." Her volume rose with each word she uttered.

All this time she could've been in that room without taking stress and fatigue, but she wasn't because the woman that was supposed to be her mentor didn't care enough to let her know.

"Why should I."

That took her by surprise, and the surprise must've shown on her face as Tsunade leveled her with an unamused look.

"I taught you how to make every spell I know, I taught you how to break every spell I know. I did not do all that just to have to get you out of situations myself." Tsunade replied flatly, a deadpanned stare fixed on her face. "Learn to help yourself."

Sakura plopped back on her seat, a pout of shame present on her lips. She wasn't exactly proud of how long it took to identify the problem and even longer to cleanse her room. "But you still could've said something." She grumbled under her breath, but mostly to give something for a reply than an actual retort.

The blonde witch rolled her eyes once before taking a swig of her now bitter beverage. "Anyhow, I was called in for a meeting with the clan head before dawn."

That got Sakura's attention. "A meeting? What did he say?"

"They sent out scouting troops to look for Darklore a few days ago. They didn't find any trace of it at all, instead they got ambushed by Orochimaru's lackeys on top of that."

"What?" Sakura blinked, "Where did they go?"

"The waterways."

'Waterways…' Sakura rolled that thought in her head. 'Wait… didn't the Uchihas say something about Orochimaru's men near the merrows.'

"They went to the realm of merrows."

Tsunade looked up at the pinkette, cup halfway to her lips. "Where did you get that?"

Sakura was a little troubled as she thought of the connection between the two news. "When I went out into the forest with the two of those, Shisui Uchiha told me that they got news from the merrows about some intruders around their gate." She chewed on her nails, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Maybe they ran into each other on their way back…"

Tsunade considered her information before letting out a breath and getting up from her seat. "I'll talk to the clan head about this. You can go back to your room." Tsunade threw back the last of her bitter tea and turned around to take her leave but Sakura spoke up again.

"Wait, what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Whatever you deem fit."

"Come on Shishou! What am I supposed to do?"

Tsunade sighed again as if she just aged ten years more as she looked at the impatient pinkette over her shoulder. "How about you try and do some research on the Darkhold. Try to dig up some more information on its nature."

Sakura nodded thoughtfully before she froze again. "But where am I supposed to look?" but Tsunade was already out of sight and her question was only met with silence.

"What a pain…" Sakura muttered under her breath, draining the last of her tea but stayed seated in the chair. Instead she took the time to look around, trailing her eyes over the towering bushes of white roses. The grass on the ground was trimmed to near perfection and there were only two sets of white marble tables with four chairs on each.

The garden really did look beautiful, albeit a bit devoid of color. That was something she had noticed throughout the compound, there was hardly a pop of bold or bright colors. There was either black, white or something really deep. The only exception were the splashes of crimson here and there.

The white roses were beautiful, no doubt, but Sakura felt something ugly curling in her chest when she looked at them too long.

It has been quite long since she last saw one, over at least half a century at least, but she still remembered the overwhelming scent of the petals as clearly as yesterday.

White roses were clear, as clear as snow, and they symbolized something that has never been associated with witches. Purity.

When one was burned on the stake dug on the mount, the place would be washed with holy water and for the next fifteen days, those fragrant petals would be strewn around the stake in a carpet of white to drive away what the folks would call 'the ugly smell of the Satan vessels'. When Sakura was small and her magic was unnoticeable enough, she would have to cross the town square every day to get groceries, and those petals would be there, taunting her, mocking her, always there to remind her of her fate.

She always tried to void the square during those days.

The townsfolk said white roses symbolized their triumph over evil, over the nasty witches, and Sakura grew up to detest its sweet scent.

Sakura shook her head, tearing away her eyes from one of the fully bloomed roses when she felt a sting of burn behind her breastbone. She released another breath before deciding that she has had enough of a rest and making her way back toward her room. She has some dirt to dig.


'Hello, miss Sakura, how are you doing today? Would you be interested in taking a walk with me around our compound?'

Sasuke shook his head, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. 'No that's not it.' he thought to himself before taking another go.

'Hello, Miss Sakura, how are you doing today? Have you seen the botanical farming in our kingdom? I would like to show you around there, I'm sure you'll like it.'

Sasuke groaned under his breath, stopping in his way through the lower corridor to lean against the wall. This is stupid, he can't even form a sentence that wouldn't make him sound like a desperate creep. He dragged his palms down his face, taking a reroute to walk out toward the training ground instead of wherever he was going before.

Muted sunshine washed over the green grass and Sasuke just wanted to drop down on the ground. He had been training continuously with his brother and his limbs ached with the exertion. Itachi made him practice the wall of fire spell the whole night, and he still couldn't stable it for long.

He stopped by the tree around the training ground, plopping down on the soft grass, letting his eyes fall close when a cool breeze blew by, and along with the wind, a distinct sound of wings fluttering made him open his eyes.

He looked around himself before tilting his head up, squinting his eyes when he saw a bird flying some little distance away. It was no common bird going about its way. It was an ink messenger, which in on itself wouldn't be a strange sight, However, what was strange was the reddened color of its feathers instead of the Uchiha clan's pitch black.

'What the hell…' Sasuke sat up straighter, following the ink bird with attentive eyes as it flew across the sky, heading straight toward the upper floor of the mansion. It landed on the windowsill of a room before the window opened on its own and the bird hopped inside. When Sasuke looked at the window where it landed, his confusion increased when seeing that it was the armory.

And since the window opened for the bird, there must be someone inside.

Only certain Uchihas in the direct family in main branch can use the ink messenger, but he has never seen anyone using red ink instead of black.

'That's weird.'

Sasuke dusted his pants free from the bits of grass when getting up from his position, stuffing his fist in his pocket and walking toward the armory. He passed through the hallways where maids and servants bustled around, ducking their head down when he walked by. His boots clicked against the floor when he turned the corner, and promptly headbutted with the incoming body.

He groaned when his back contacted the floor, rubbing his head where he could feel it throbbing. He fell turned away from the person he headbutted with but he could still a low groan coming from them too. "Are you blind or can you just not watch where you're going?" He growled in irritation.

"I could say the same to you."

Sasuke halted in his way of getting up when he heard the voice, familiarly feminine and distinctly annoyed. He looked back over his shoulder from his hunched position on the floor and made straight contact with the shimmering green eyes he was so nervous about.

Those eyes were currently looking annoyingly at him. Sakura pushed herself off of the ground, dusting her dress free of the imaginary specks. Sasuke realized that he had been staring at her for an uncomfortably long amount of time when she looked at him weirdly from the corner of her eyes.

He flushed under his collar, getting up from the floor with as much grace as possible and cleared his throat. "Ah." 'Real smart.' He mentally shook his head at himself, but seemed to come to his senses when he saw Sakura turning away to continue down her path, without talking to him.

"Uh hey-" he began as she was passing by him, and then realized how awkward that was when she pausing in her tracks and looked at him questioningly, and he could not remember what he wanted to say. How was he planning to start again?

Sakura was still looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Did you want to say something?"

Sasuke opened his mouth, then closed it, before clearing his throat again. "Hello, miss Sakura? How are you doing today?" Even the greeting came out sounding like a question.

Sakura blinked at him twice before blankly replying, "I'm doing well." And nothing else. And Sasuke was feeling even more at a loss on how to continue their conversation. And Sakura was not making it easy for him by keeping her lips tightly pursed, eyes unmoving from his face and face blank.

"Where were you going?"

Sakura blinked again before replying in the same flat tone. "The library."

That sparked Sasuke's interest. "Our library?" At Sakura's nod, he tilted his head to the side, "What would you need from our library?"

Sakura sized him up for a moment and he felt himself subconsciously standing up straighter under her observation. After a long moment of her considering him, she sighed as if resigned to giving him the information he asked for. "I am looking for something for some research."

"What are you looking for?"

"…things."

Sasuke thinned his lips at her vague answer before an idea lit up in his head. He was scouring for places to take her on a walk that she might be interested in, but the opportunity seemed to present itself in front of him pretty well. "I can help you look."

Sakura didn't react outwardly but she wanted to make a face at him. She did not like the idea of this Uchiha, like most of them, being a close proximity of her, especially in a place where she was supposed to be concentrating her attention on getting the right sources. "No thank you. I'll manage."

"I know the place better than you." Sakura paused again at his offer, narrowing her eyes on the path ahead as his voice came from behind her. "There are thousands of books in our library and if would take literal years to look through all of them."

Something about the high and prideful tone in his voice made irritation prickle her skin. Sakura threw a glance over her shoulder to where the young Uchiha was standing, eyebrow raised and shoulders rolled back. "And how do you plan on helping me?"

"I know how the library is arranged and which book is where." Sasuke answered her, taking a step closer to her, "They are randomly arranged and outsiders don't know the common theme. It could take you ages to find anything."

Sakura pursed her lips, conflicting feelings overlapping each other. On one hand, she wanted nothing to do with the young Uchiha, but on the other hand, she despised to admit, but he was right. The Uchihas library was unending, and it would quite literally take her ages to find what she was looking for.

Sakura's frown deepened when the answer became clearer and she let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you sure you would locate it?"

Sasuke nodded, leaning against the wall and folding his arms. He didn't notice Sakura narrowing her eyes at his pose, instead busying himself with trying to look as nonchalant as possible. "I know where things are."

Sakura rolled her neck and let out a quiet breath, before giving a reluctant nod and waving him on toward the stairs that led to the library. "Lead the way." 'I would hate to impose myself.' She added sarcastically in her mind as Sasuke straightened up. He cleared his throat and offered his hand for her to hold but a deadpanned glance from her made him retract it.

Sakura followed after him down the corridor, up the winding stairs toward the sole isolated door on the highest reaching point of the castle. Sakura wasn't sure if it was real or she was just imagining things but Sasuke seemed very jittery to be walking alongside her.

The young Uchiha motioned her to hold outside the door as he creaked it open slightly, peering inside and roving his eyes over the empty for a hint of any other presence. "Noone's here." Sakura followed him inside, seeing the place as devoid of any presence as she had hoped. She probably would've liked it better if Sasuke wasn't there either.

Sakura shut the door softly behind her and made beeline straight toward the violet curtains that hid the walls of bookcases from the view. The hanging cloth fluttered open and she saw the towering and twisting carved walls of thousands of books that reached all the way to the glass sunroof. She squinted her eyes when the filtering sunlight stung her eyes a little.

She heard movements behind her and looked behind to see Sasuke tying the draped by the golden tassels. "Where are the books about the history of magic?" She asked upfront what she was looking for.

Sasuke paused his movements and raised an eyebrow toward her. He finished tying the drapes before joining her to stand in front of the enormous racks. "The history books are on rows fifty-four through fifty-nine." He pointed to the six rows halfway up the semicircular wall. "The fifty-fourth and fifth are the books on the history of the sorcerer clans, the next two are the wizard clans. Whatever you want should be present on the last two."

Sakura wondered about the lack of information on the covens of witches. Granted, since the fallout between the kinds of magic users, witches have kept very low for the sake of survival. It was probably for the best that they didn't have anything on them.

"The history of magic too?" Sakura asked just for confirmation, and with Sasuke's nod she took some steps back to look for a ladder to climb up the levels.

"What're you doing?" She heard the Uchiha curiously ask her as she peeked about between the shelves and under the couches.

"Looking for a ladder."

Just as she was bending down to check under the chair, a hand on her shoulder stopped her. He hesitantly retracted his hand she jerked reflexively away from him, taking a step back to put a bigger distance between them.

"Let me."

Sasuke seemed a little surprised at her reaction to his touch, but regardless, he walked toward the cabinet case near the sofa sets, opening one of the drawers to bring out two bronze disk like things, large enough to cover his forearm. He walked back toward her, putting down the disk, one in front of her the other in front of him.

"Step up on it." She saw his arm twitch to hold up for her to take but she stood firmly on the disk before he could. "Okay… Hold your balance."

He stepped on the other plate, clicking his heels twice on his disk but Sakura could feel the hum of swirling magic underneath her feet all the same. Not one moment later, she could feel her center of gravity tilt and she had to flare out her hands to brace herself against the levitation.

The plates started floating up and when Sasuke tapped them with his heel again, it flew straight toward the shelves that were said to have the books. It stopped just in front of the fifty eighth shelf and Sakura risked a glance down. Her eyes fell on the big pillow she threw down from the sofa in search for a ladder, and from her position in the air, it looked like all but a dot on the paper.

She looked back at the shelf in front of her, trailing her fingertips along the dusty, broken spines of the tomes older than even her. The hardcovers were hardly hard anymore, ripped and marked in places and looked well used for centuries.

A clearing of throat from her side made her pause in her searching. "So…" Sasuke leaned back against the shelf, looking around the library but she could still feel the weight of his stare on her, "Where are you from?"

Sakura couldn't stop the sigh of exasperation from escaping past her lips. This was probably the fifth time someone has asked her about her past whereabouts. She almost didn't want to respond but maybe she owed it to him for helping her out. She just knew she would've been stuck in front of the shelves for ages since the books are so far up, and she wouldn't have even known how to reach up there.

"Clarines." She replied shortly, going back to trailing her hand along the lined books. That didn't seem to satisfy the Uchiha for long when she heard him talk again.

"Where from Clarines?"

"Outskirts." She clipped out again, furrowing her brows when she couldn't see any title that could allude to the book having the history of magic. "Sage meadows."

Sasuke thinned his lips at her short answers. He was getting nowhere like this. "How was your life there? Is that where you've always stayed?"

Sakura resisted the urge to give a loud sigh. "It's alright. The townsfolk don't like us much, but they tolerate us." It didn't sting anymore to say that anymore after decades of facing the resentment. It's just a fact at that point, nothing to get sentimental over.

Sasuke wanted to scowl when he realized he didn't have anything else to ask her. Were these all the questions he had in his bank to make a conversation? How does Shisui do it? Then again, his cousin hardly ever shuts up. He could feel his eyebrow twitching slightly and opened his eyes with a silent puff of breath, glancing to his side where Sakura was still on her quest to find the book.

"Did you find what you needed?"

Sakura barely heard him with her focus directed at the plethora of tomes in front of her, but still managed to shake her head.

"What are you looking for again?"

'Can you just shut up?' She wanted to say but instead decided to swallow that retort and squash her annoyance to give a proper answer. "A book on the origin of magic." She spelled out again, slowly, as if speaking to a toddler.

Sasuke folded his arms and looked down at the ground in thought. "I think I might know something about that." He floated over to the other side of the long curved shelf, following the row of bound parchments with his eyes.

Sakura looked at him with her head tilted, wondering just what must be going through his head when he pointed at something on the rack. "I think you might find something here."

Her eyebrows raised in surprise, beginning to slowly float over to the other side when Sasuke tapped his heel against his disk again. Perhaps what he was trying to do was move closer to the shelf, or move over to her, but what ended up happening was his disk jerking forward suddenly and jolting against the shelf instead.

Sakura watched with her mouth open as Sasuke butted against the racks they were looking at and lost his footing on the plate, and before he could catch himself, he toppled down over the edge of the disk and toward the ground.

"Uchiha!"

Sasuke groaned as he attempted to sit up, but thankfully found himself uninjured other than some slight pain in his knee. He held up his arm to signal to her that he was alright, and even as he was sitting up, he cursed the disk for malfunctioning right on the worst moment. He probably didn't look any better than a clumsy fool with all the grace of a drunk baby giraffe.

Sakura saw him sitting up and giving her a thumbs up, and sighed when she saw he was alright. But that didn't stay long when movements from behind her made her look back, and no sooner than did she look back, she had to quickly dive out of the way as the whole four rows of books tumbled down from the impact.

Sakura held onto her disk for her dear life and watched with a sense of dread as the books fell down near a scrambling Sasuke in heaps.

She'll kill that Uchiha when she manages to get down.


A groan of exhaustion left her lips as Sakura fell down against the plush mattress of her bed. Her back felt like it was on fire and her eyes strained so bad from working for so long that all she wanted to do was sleep for a long while.

'That son of a bitch Uchiha is to blame for all this.' She cursed the fate of the chicken-haired boy. She had to sit there, on the floor of the library, for hours, nearly seven hours, reading through all those books to see if she could find anything of value. When they were on the shelf, they were arranged in a thematic order that gave her an idea about the contents. But as they toppled down in a heap of parchments, she had no idea where to look.

So she had sat there, for nearly half a day, just reading through each book before arranging them in a stack on the glass table. That jerk had been called away after an hour, so she was left alone to sort out the mess.

And she had found absolutely nothing.

It still made her so mad that she had found absolutely nothing that could lead her to the whereabouts of Darklore.

Sakura groaned again as she tried to sit up despite the protests of her spine, stripping down her dress as she moved toward her bathroom. The tap gurgled out perfectly warm water as she took the mint and basil soak pouch to dangle it on the edge of the tub. A loud sigh of relief escaped her when the warm water washed against her tight muscles and she let all the tension drain from her shoulders.

No longer than was she about to doze off in the tub, the schedule for the next day rang a cruel reminder in her head. "No…" She moaned in despair as she remembered that she will have to travel out of the kingdom to be able to go to the Birchwood library.

She cursed again under her breath, sliding down further in the water until it was right below her nose. The birchwood library is very specific about who is to enter it, not about the kind of magic user but the identifications proofs you'll need to enter it. Your past whereabouts records, your magic signature registration, and your physical identity proof.

And that means, she'll have to tell them about her staying at the Uchihas. A witch staying with the sorcerers. That's sure to raise some eyebrows.

She thought that maybe the Uchihas' library would be enough to help her, but apparently not. She didn't count on going to Birchwood library in her plans, but she'll have to stick to it now. Her last resort. It's going to drain every last bit of her magic just to travel to and from.

She sunk down even more until she was fully submerged in the lukewarm water, small bubbled rising from her nose as she held her breath in her chest.

Such fun.


A small flame flickered weakly in the darkness even though the air blowing by was hardly felt. Under the little light, a piece of parchment was slid across the table.

"Is this what arrived from him?" A gravelly voice spoke up in the darkness, the parchment crumpling slightly under the rough finger pads. Shadows flickered across the nondescript letters stamped onto the paper, impossible for anyone to decipher other than the person it was sent for.

"Yes, my lord."

The voice hummed, the sound like the hiss of a snake and the parchment was dropped on the flickering flame, reduced to less than ashes in a matter of moments. A slimy laugh echoed throughout the darkened room, rumbling deep in the throat.

"Such perfect lambs they have found, to feed to the wolves."


AN: Welp, there it is. How did y'all feel about this?

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not particularly happy with this chapter. I feel like the writing style is not how I would've liked it to be, and the chapter was really kind of dragging. Like, it felt like something was supposed to happen, and something was happening, but nothing was happening at all at the same time. Am I making sense? And also, the dialogues could've been better.

I've been on kind of a writer's block the past couple weeks, so my performance isn't really all up there. Bear with me, I'll try to make it better the next chapter.

Anywho, do tell me how y'all felt about this chapter. Make sure to leave your reviews, I'm forever happy to receive them.

Happy reading!