Trigger warning: blood, scenes of torture, death and sex
Carefully disguising the annoyance Naruto was effortlessly sparking to life with his blatant paranoia (because if he ruined her plan then she wanted the element of surprise to get at least one decent blow), Sakura focused on the humans unintentionally provoking Sasuke. If he couldn't compose himself, then he was by himself. It was simple.
"I'm surprised Itachi isn't here," Shisui pointed out.
Not concerned in the slightest but more so aware of how it could impact his younger brother, she prevented the suspicion from breaking through Sasuke's fixation by picking out one of the larger men on offer. Green eyes fluttered over to his, pupils dilating at the hunger she could feel in the pits of their stomachs, in the cramping of their muscles, in the blistering aches of their contracting, dry throats. It was taking great restraint for Sasuke to remain stationary—they couldn't have his concentration slipping.
When she'd spotted signs of Sasuke not quite trusting himself to approach the humans lined up before them, Sakura had taken charge and allowed instincts to guide her. If she felt a particularly vicious twinge in her throat, she paused and inspected the human directly, waiting until she received some form of confirmation from the ripper.
"Make him believe it's all at his pace," came the devious voice of her lover from earlier that day.
"This one?" she made a show of asking just as she noted from her peripheral that Shisui was assessing her.
Naruto's selection of humans differed from Gaara's, and it wasn't difficult to detect he'd chosen sturdier looking individuals in the hopes they'd last longer (like that could make an iota of difference when up against the strength of vampires). There were one or two tweaks in there per her request, but he'd wisely kept any complaints to himself.
"Don't compel them not to feel anything," Sakura ordered, much to Naruto's horror. But before he had the chance to argue against the brutality of leaving their emotions intact, she interjected soothingly and reminded him, "We need him to feel it, Naruto. We need him to empathise."
Ignoring the snivelling from beside him, she entwined her fingers with the human's and tugged him from the line, luring him into her web with a promising expression that managed to somewhat soothe the rampant beating of his heart. The other hand tenderly brushed his auburn coloured hair from his features, and Sakura took a moment to appreciate him, knowing it wouldn't be long before he became Sasuke's most recent victim.
"Look at him first," she ordered just as the ripper reached out, much to his annoyance.
"Why—"
"This is a sentient being, Sasuke," Sakura pointed out, the seeming sincerity in her tone prompting Shisui to take more of an interest in their lesson than Itachi's absence. His book lay forgotten on the round table to his left and he sat up curiously. "We may no longer be human, but surely you remember what it feels like to know you're outmatched? To feel so vulnerable and scared?"
Something was at work in that head of his, and from her peripheral she observed Naruto's attempts to remain relaxed as he also realised it. Either Sasuke was thinking back on his short life as a human, or he continued to feel those emotions even while a powerful original.
Then again, he was a fellow victim of Madara's. Purposely weakened no doubt to keep him in line.
"Look at him," she prompted lowly and moved closer to the trembling human. Her touch was less effective with Sasuke's proximity, but Sakura soothed their prey with a feigned compassion that she encouraged him to take note of. "What does his appearance tell you?"
The plump man was in his late forties to early fifties, with a light dusting of freckles and wrinkles adding a touch of personality to his tanned features. Sakura could tell that he was typically a cheerful guy from the lines around his eyes and mouth alone, and she wondered if Sasuke could too.
"Hard worker," he grunted, though was visibly disgruntled with having to analyse his prey.
"What makes you say that?"
"Calloused hands."
She nodded in agreement, then allowed the shoe to drop by raising the hand she'd strategically clasped, revealing the man's wedding band.
Shockingly, Sasuke's eyes darted to Naruto's before dropping. "…He has a family."
"Do you have any children?" she asked of the man, logging the hybrid unable to make eye contact—he seriously needed to sort his poker face out before he ruined everything.
"O-O-One b-boy," came his fearful, compelled response.
Having never taken her main focus away from the ripper's, she quirked an eyebrow while quietly gauging his reaction to the mentioning of children, but his guilt was fleeting. It was evident to them all that he refused to linger in the emotion for too long, and Sakura used the brief shutting of his eyes to meet Shisui's. He seemed surprised by the purposeful dipping of her chin, brow momentarily wrinkling in confusion when she sent him a silent, imploring look.
Don't interfere.
He straightened.
"What's your name?" she asked the human before Shisui could say anything.
"A-Ak-Akimichi Chōza," was his strangled sounding response.
"We should make sure Akimichi-san returns home to his son, shouldn't we, Sasuke?"
Already, the whites of Sasuke's eyes were dyed a stunning scarlet, and the shifting of the veins surrounding his demonic eyes terrified Chōza further. But even for a man his size—almost twice the size of her in height, and thrice as wide—preventing him from running was an easy feat for Sakura. All she had to do was keep a hold of his hand, the sounds of his fingers cracking in her unyielding grip when he recklessly tried pulling free telling them of his desperation.
"P-Please…!"
She guided the fixated ripper closer, admiring the exposing of fangs that had Chōza choking on his fear.
"I-I'm all m-my son has left!"
Sasuke hesitated.
Shisui's eyes widened in surprise.
"Please. P-Please…!"
But then Sakura watched Sasuke shutting down his emotions, and she released Chōza's hand when the large man was shoved to the ground. The ripper mounted him and pinned his struggling limbs with ease, appearing unaffected by the helpless begs for mercy that had Naruto dejectedly turning his head in a different direction. It was the scream of utter pain and horror that signified Sasuke's latching onto Chōza's throat, and dark hair was lost in the huge hands that clutched at his head to try and dislodge him. But even a man of Chōza's stature was no match for a vampire, never mind the original ripper.
Blood oozed to the surface of the skin Sasuke clawed at, and it was impossible to mistake the cracking of bones as he lost himself to his urges.
Sakura crouched beside him. "I forgot to mention."
Territorial growls had Shisui stepping closer, but he was intercepted by Naruto.
"Akimichi-san's son," she continued in a lilting voice, unconcerned by the vicious glare settled upon her. It was with a smug smirk that she dared to lean closer. "He's standing in that lineup."
Pained, demonic eyes darted to the lineup of men, and she knew he immediately spotted Chōza's son—it wasn't exactly hard. The man in his early twenties was his double and sobbing uncontrollably for his father, but because of the compulsion earlier put into place, was unable to step a foot out of line. That didn't take away his desperation, though. He continued to feel every agonising second of the torture.
"Can you hear that? That chilling cry—it's almost childlike, isn't it?"
Sasuke winced like she'd somehow managed to magnify the cry.
"You know why that is?" she questioned before reaching down to run her fingers through the man's hair comfortingly. "It's because no matter how old we are, we never stop needing our parents." Sakura looked up at Sasuke then, taking them all by surprise with her show of tears that refused to fall. "When I first lost my parents, I remember crying so hard that even Itachi teared up. Itachi cried with me." She tilted her head and asked, "Have you ever felt such devastation?"
It didn't surprise her when that flash of empathy ended as quickly as it showed; they knew forcing Sasuke to truly experience his emotions would take much more than tossing a family or two in his path.
"Enough now, Sasuke," Sakura warned. A large pale hand engulfed hers and she met Chōza's fearful gaze even while knowing the pain it would cause her. The silent plea was like a knife to the gut, and she allowed just one tear to fall. "…He's dying."
But Sasuke only growled—a warning to keep her distance.
Sighing regretfully, she withdrew the stake she'd hidden in her sleeve and rammed it into her own stomach.
Being lost in his urges would also grant him that boost in strength, meaning there was every chance she couldn't match up. Not while ingesting vervain on the daily, anyway. No, she knew that the best way to get through to him was to go through her, unfortunately.
Hateful eyes snapped to hers, the veins shifting around them threateningly, but it was the crunch of bone that demanded Sakura foolishly risk her own life for someone she didn't even know. All the while cursing herself out loud for such a stupid reaction to the guttural cries of the man and responding hysterics of his son, she used Sasuke's lapse in concentration and breaking of his lock to throw herself into him.
Praying that the blood she'd stolen from Itachi earlier was enough, Sakura locked his jaw with a vicelike grip.
However, within seconds, Sasuke was breaking his own jaw to escape, using the pain she felt at full force to switch their positions.
It truly was a second personality that was taking charge of him—she'd never been surer of it until that moment. There wasn't a single thought behind those enraged demon eyes, no traces of humanity for her to grasp onto.
"Sakura-chan!"
…No traces until Naruto opened his mouth, anyway.
That flash gave Sakura the opening she needed to shift her grip swiftly, but what left them all stunned wasn't the sudden snapping of Sasuke's (and indirectly her own) neck.
It was the obvious way he tried so damn hard to restrain himself from giving into his urges.
It was the gratitude in his eyes before he slumped on top of her.
She awoke to the sounds of somebody stoking the fire that took her several aching minutes to experience the heat of. From what she could tell, however, it was just him hovering—knew it to be him because his necklace was no longer around her neck.
"You're awake," Itachi noted.
Sakura groaned and sat up in her resting place on the sofa, taking a few moments to roll out the tension in her neck and shoulders before gifting him with any of her attention.
"Don't start," she muttered in cool warning, then groaned again at the stiffness of her recently healed jaw. Gods, even while healed it hurt, telling Sakura that her healing abilities continued to be subpar due to the vervain. She'd hoped Itachi's blood would speed things back up, but there really was no cutting corners if she wanted to have it all. "How long has it been?"
"Long enough for me to be able to walk the halls and not combust."
She snickered at the discontent dripping from his voice. "You really need to learn to stop telling me no, love."
But Itachi was palpably displeased as he stepped away from the fireplace and finally faced her, making Sakura bite her lip when anticipation curled hotly in her belly—a complete opposite to the way she previously would have ached at knowing she'd upset him. The change was a pleasant one for him too, she soon noted, and a hopeless part of her that she fought to lock away wondered if she'd always been the problem.
"Sasuke is—"
"Not beyond hope," she interjected, knowing there was every chance he could overhear her. Sakura lowered her voice to a level she knew Sasuke would still hear, though pretended to be naïve in her quietness as she snapped at Itachi, "Stop holding him back."
No humans remained at the mansion, Sakura could sense—she presumed Shisui was the one who compelled them to forget and escorted them off the property. Frustratingly, that rationality didn't stop her thoughts from betraying her by drifting back to the fear in the father and son's eyes, and the pang in her chest only risked making her angrier. Stupid emotions.
'Sakura,' came the mental whisper of a man she'd never believed would willingly darken her thoughts.
'You sound almost pleasant like this, Sasuke,' she teased. In a show of trust she sincerely hoped he didn't make her regret, Sakura allowed for the telepathic door between them to stay open so that they could communicate freely. 'Is this your indoor voice?'
'You're so annoying,' came his mental sigh, but she could easily read that there was no malice there. 'I… can't hear him or recall his first name. Akimichi. Did they escape?'
…Empathy.
Itachi quirked an eyebrow at her as Sasuke's memories of the incident trickled through the connection in broken, blurred pieces, however, Sakura dismissed her former love since he'd missed his chance to have any part in the plan.
'I think so,' she granted him a slither of peace by sharing. 'I'll get the confirmation shortly.'
'…Thank you.'
Knowing that was the end of their first somewhat pleasant conversation, Sakura settled back into the sofa and finally returned her focus to Itachi. He wouldn't voice his suspicions, but she could see in his eyes that he knew she was communicating with someone, and it irked him not having all the answers.
"It's your own fault that you're out of the loop," she told him unsympathetically. Crossing one leg over the other to purposely expose more thigh, Sakura arrogantly brought her arms to stretch out on the backrest of the sofa. "You're too much of a control freak."
His jaw clenched. "That justifies tearing both my throat and heart out?"
She pouted. "I wanted you to know how it felt when you left—"
"Your emotions were off," Itachi interjected firmly, unmoved. "You didn't feel a thing."
Well, she supposed he had her there.
However, just because her emotions were off the moment he left, that didn't necessarily mean she missed out on the heartache it caused. Eventually, that pain caught up to her in full force once she flipped the humanity switch back on, and it was accompanied by overwhelming grief and remorse—luckily for her unravelling sake, that was where and how the bond with Gaara solidified to something more meaningful than mind-blowing sex.
"I'm losing it," she snarled, and shoved the redhead away from her. "I'm fucking losing it."
The sense of abandonment was so agonising and powerful that Sakura was certain she was going to die. So insanity inducing that she'd felt no other choice but to flee from the mansion after slaughtering a decent chunk of her own goddamn clansmen, horrified when she'd almost turned on the one person who'd stood by her so loyally. She hadn't even known where she was going until she turned up in Suna coated in the blood of both vampires and humans alike, shaking and muttering like a mad woman.
"He left," she screamed out. "Sasuke killed my parents a-and he covered it up and left me—"
The intrigued tilting of Gaara's head and question of "the ripper?" went unnoticed by Sakura as she yelled and cried like the vicious agony in her heart begged of her to. Everything was heightened at the best of times, yet it appeared when first turning the emotions back on, they were magnified unbearably—no doubt to make the vampire feel every shred of remorse and agony for their monstrous actions up until that point.
In that moment, it felt as though Itachi just left. The anguish of being abandoned, the grief of her parents' deaths, the realisation of how it all connected and the responding betrayal that hadn't affected her until then, detesting his clan so powerfully her stomach hurt…
"I can't breathe," she alerted him, panicked. "I-I can't breathe. My chest. I—"
She was going insane, wasn't she?
"Sakura."
She shook at the step he took towards her; green eyes flickering to different parts of his palace until they settled on something that could grant her a reprieve from the incessant suffering. But as Sakura knew she should have expected, Gaara effortlessly picked up on where her head was being tricked into going and intercepted her without batting an eye. Unyielding arms came around her to pin Sakura against him, and she jolted at the unbreakable embrace that prevented any further movements.
"Don't even think about it, my little mouse," came his calm words that she had no choice but to listen to. Even without the use of compulsion, Gaara was captivating and impossible to ignore, and it was that intense connection between them that forced her to pause, rather than his needing to go to such an extreme. That kept her from tearing off her daylight ring and vamping out onto his balcony to burn under the desert sun. "I have waited many lifetimes for someone like you to come along."
Only for that façade to shatter so spectacularly the second she was experiencing emotions again. Fuck, what must he think of the woman she was becoming? Was he aggravated by her sudden weakness? Would he compel her to turn it off again? Part of her hoped he would. Sakura hoped he was selfish enough to shove her headfirst back into the darkness that spared her from such agony.
"Gaara," she whispered helplessly, eyes shutting. "My chest, it… It feels like I'm dying. Please do something."
"Shh," he murmured and in a shocking moment of comfort, wiped away the tears that hadn't stopped in three days now, then caressed the continuous shifting of the veins surrounding her demonic eyes. "Tell me, my little mouse. What would you like me to do?" The fierceness in his stare pinned her the second Sakura reopened her eyes, and she found even greater comfort in his rage than his touch. "Say the word and it will be yours."
Too much flashed through her mind for Sakura to immediately respond to him, but that was okay. Gaara used that time to offer up his own dark promises of revenge and bloodshed, startling her with the confession of his being betrayed also. He whispered how he got his own revenge; expressed how euphoric it was witnessing his pain and wrath being unleashed on others.
"I will tear that clan apart one by one, if that is what you wish," he whispered hotly into her neck, and Sakura gasped at the return to reality, at the prodding of her rage that was swiftly overshadowing the heartache threatening to destroy her. "I will set the world ablaze until your heart is content." Hands cupped her cheeks passionately and forced their demon eyes to connect. "But understand this now—" His sudden kiss was demanding, furious and it sung to the darkest parts of herself that ached to be understood and accepted. "—I will not allow you to give in, so get those thoughts out of your head." Another kiss. Then another. Soon enough her back was slamming into the nearest wall, and he growled angrily into her throat, "You are not allowed to leave me in this cursed world."
Yet that stubborn man of hers continued to believe himself to be unfeeling, Sakura thought with a mental huff of amusement.
It was at the memories of how intense those few days were that she stood from the sofa and ran her hands down the length of her blood splattered and torn dress. Rather than being annoyed by another ruined outfit, however, she hummed thoughtfully, mind pleasantly connecting the sight to the people they'd targeted and toyed with to satiate that unshakeable rage within.
"I had to face my emotions at some point," Sakura pointed out with a calmness that seemed to put Itachi on edge, if only for the duration of trying to read her intentions, or the cause of the one-eighty. "I got lucky in being taught how to focus on just one before it got the best of me, though."
The suspicion smoothed out. Made way for realisation. Beautifully pained realisation that showed only in the paling of Itachi's skin, in the clenching of his jaw.
"Yet you have the nerve to demand a night from me," she continued with a soft scoff just as Itachi opened his mouth and undoubtedly alerted the others to the severity of her heartache. It was disgusting enough admitting the weakness to the one who had a part in it. "After all you've done—you're the one who should be making amends, not me."
A hand caught hers just as Sakura made to track down Shisui to catch up on all that transpired, and she sighed only partly out of annoyance when she was tugged back and forced to meet Itachi's tight eyes. So many questions demanded to be answered, so much anger and hurt directed at her.
It was ironic, in a messed up sort of way. He despised Gaara and believed he was the reason she fell into the darkness when he was perhaps the only reason why she hadn't killed herself back then. If Itachi was so adamant about there being a person to blame, then he needed to look closer to home. He pushed her into the darkness; Gaara met her there.
"I haven't done to you what you didn't already do to me," she whispered thickly, knowing where to push and inwardly smirking at the effect her words had as they landed more powerfully than any blow. "Remember that next time you try to admonish me like you're better than me."
His next move was going to be emotionally lethal for her, Sakura knew. The pressure being applied to his rampaging emotions was going to cause an explosion sooner or later, and she had every intention of continuing to prod at him in the right moments.
So rather than continue laying it on thick in that moment, Sakura tugged her hand free and left him to his visibly debilitating thoughts, smirk hidden by the curtain of her hair.
Stew on that, asshole.
"All alone?"
Sasuke refused to look her way as he kept his entire focus on the world outside the bay window he sat at. She wondered if it was Naruto who he was keeping an eye out for, having heard from Shisui that the hybrid needed a break from the crushing weight and helplessness of Sasuke's curse. Apparently, running was the norm for Naruto when it became too much.
The view wasn't much, she critiqued from over his shoulder with a haughty snort before she turned away. Her gardens were far superior, then again it was obvious the deceased owner hadn't put any personality into hers, only money, whereas she and Ino adored working with nature. It simply couldn't compare.
"I'm sure you already heard, but they're all alive," Sakura continued unprompted. "They won't remember a thing, either."
Silence.
She didn't let it irritate her. They were by no means close—could barely even say that they tolerated one another without bursting into hysterical laughter shortly after—and Sakura hadn't bothered to hide that she had ulterior motives for teaching him how to control himself.
Exhaling sharply, she helped herself to the neatly made bed that surprisingly didn't smell of dog, meaning Naruto hadn't slept there the night before. Finally, Sasuke looked in her direction with distant agitation, and she smiled irritatingly and folded her arms behind her head, ankles crossing delicately.
"Looks like we're both in the doghouse… no pun intended."
Dark eyes rolled while returning to the window.
Seriously, she wanted to complain, what the hell was so interesting about a mediocre garden? She knew Naruto wasn't out there—he seemed to prefer densely packed, boggy forests rather than bland, open spaces (she suspected it to be more mentally stimulating, though doubted he knew those words). Was Sasuke feeling extra emo, she wondered? He did suit the brooding, unhinged look, she supposed.
There were no signs that Naruto had joined Sasuke in taking over the entire top floor of the mansion, but then again, the hybrid travelled light. All she could use as concrete evidence was the lack of his pungent stench.
The silence was tense though oddly companionable, Sakura was sickened to notice, and she wondered if Sasuke felt the same way as their gazes connected. Then like their thoughts were in sync, they both shuddered in disgust and averted their gazes once more, equally horrified at having even thought they were similar in anyway.
"You said you couldn't hear him," she pointed out after enough time passed for the sun to gradually start to rise. It seemed he hadn't budged an inch—it wasn't until that moment that Sakura chose to move herself, stretching out as she stood from the bed. "Do they speak to you?"
Silence.
"Oi—"
"…at me."
"Eh?"
Exhaling shortly and continuing to refuse to look her way, he muttered into his hand, "They scream at me."
Sakura sat opposite him on the window bench, and promptly turned her nose up at the less than adequate padding of the cushions that offered no comfort. "Death screams? Vengeful screams?" All she received in response was a one-armed shrug that threatened to shatter the act she was playing when it sparked her irritation. "Sounds intense. No wonder you're batshit."
"You impudent—"
The irritating smile returned, and she asked, "Same again tomorrow?"
He scoffed at that before glowering at something in the distance. It took Sakura only a few seconds to pinpoint what it was as movement caught her eye, and she spotted Naruto's huge werewolf form strolling towards the mansion at a leisurely pace. Even from their spot in what was essentially the attic, they could see he was covered in—dripping with—filth. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, his skipping strides more carefree than burdened.
"Feral mutt," she groaned, repulsed. Sasuke's hum was one she presumed to be of agreement, and prompted her to look back at him questioningly, demanding, "Well?"
But Sasuke's eyes remained on Naruto's as the werewolf came to a gradual halt upon sensing his heavy stare, and it was only in that moment that the Uchiha's shoulders loosened their ever-present tension—like they were yet again having a conversation she could never hope to understand.
He let out a pained sigh and stood up to make his way over to the stairs, muttering over his shoulder, "…Up your ante."
Up her ante, huh?
That was fine by her.
"You sure about this?" questioned Shisui with a touch of apprehension to his tone. Quirking an eyebrow at her determination, he warned, "If it's going to be believable then—"
"You're going to have no choice but to hurt us. I know," she interjected in a carefree manner. Sakura's hands came to her hips and assessed the latest string of humans that filled the living area with their mouth-watering scents. "You saw how he reacted yesterday, didn't you?"
He sighed at that and spared a glance over his shoulder at the figure skulking in the background and watching over their every goddamn move. "Being brutal seems to be the way forward," Shisui agreed more for his sake, tone vaguely apologetic.
As per strict instructions, Naruto was currently taking yet another relaxing stroll—that time with Sasuke tagging along. The hope was for the couple to begin bridging the divide between them, or at the very least indulge in some much needed stress relief. Anything that could remind them of their feelings and make the following lesson all the more ferocious.
Sakura smirked vindictively while looking to Itachi.
"Remember, you could have had a say in the matter," she reminded uncaringly.
"That's enough of that," admonished Shisui, sighing. It surprised her when his hand fell atop her head and gently guided her in a different direction—almost like the past month hadn't happened, or like she was suddenly stuck in the past. "Do not antagonise someone with control issues."
She peered over her shoulder at her former love impishly, knowing from the composure that was far too smooth that he could never harm her. They'd already come to realise the day before that he was even beginning to appreciate the feistier side of her.
"You think he's close to snapping?" Sakura questioned like Itachi wasn't in the room.
Shisui's eyes rolled at that but he humoured her anyway. "You appear to be the only person capable of eradicating his self-control."
She hummed triumphantly.
There wasn't much else to do other than wait for Sasuke's return, and Sakura could tell from their hawk eyed stares that they were anticipating the mischievous attention being switched onto them. Alas, she was captivated by the humans that triggered a godawful burn in her throat, forcing Sakura to focus mainly on controlling the predator within who was itching to be released.
A quiet sigh was accompanied by the passing of a drink, one she had no intentions of rejecting. Alcohol helped with the cravings and the drink handed to her was at least three shots worth in one glass—confirmed by the intensity of it hitting her system when Sakura shot it back without hesitation.
"Allow me to help."
She snorted and looked up at the sulker now by her side. "Help or take over?"
Before he could potentially ruin any chance of swaying her, Shisui interjected and pointed out, "We are too soft on him, Itachi. The second we believe that Sasuke is suffering, we intervene. We always have."
It was a pleasant surprise when Itachi's gaze drifted to the fireplace, growing distant. "…I know."
"Sakura-chan made more progress yesterday than we have in a thousand years," Shisui wasn't ashamed to admit, then smirked. "If you sincerely want to help, then you cannot jump in to save him."
Oh? Had she unintentionally wormed her way in with Shisui too? If so, how? And when?
Putting that to one side for now, Sakura turned her attention back to the man at her side before holding her glass up demandingly. It took Itachi all of three seconds to give into her, and she took the pouring of his favourite whisky to be agreement of him handing over control. One drop at a time until she emptied his bottle.
"What are you planning?" he questioned. It was at her suspicious pause in finishing the rest of her drink that he added in a sigh, "To prevent being taken by surprise."
Reasonable, she allowed.
"I'm sure it's no secret by now that I'm becoming a little unstable—mainly thanks to you and your damned compulsion." His jaw clenched but he didn't hesitate to accept her glass. "What did my parents often say, love?"
Itachi hesitated, then murmured, "You have a heart big enough for your whole family. It's enough to touch even the coldest of hearts."
"And right now you're feeling everything more intensely than ever before," Shisui added, smirking. "So much so that Sasuke genuinely believed you were dying when it came through the link."
"If he refuses to acknowledge his own emotions, then he'll have to deal with mine instead."
"…Sakura—"
"Don't," she warned coolly and met Itachi's weary gaze.
He shook his head and caught her wrist when she tried walking away, quietly reminding her, "You struggled immensely when facing your grief the other day, my love."
There was no overlooking the remorse in his solemn stare—not after admitting to him that a compelled, condensed version of said grief was powerful enough to leave her needing an out. Coupling that with Shisui's own words of Sasuke believing they were dying when she faced just the surface of the grief made even her uneasy. Of course the man who claimed to love her like no other would be fearful of the consequences.
But like Sasuke with his urges, she had to learn to overcome it all somehow.
Quiet conversation prevented Sakura from sharing the ins and outs of her plan, and she listened carefully to the sounds of the two men returning in seemingly better spirits. Not quite good, but that suffocating edge to their words was temporarily gone; she could tell from the loosening of the two men at her sides shoulders that they were happy with the results of the stroll.
It was as they loitered outside to finish the last of their softly spoken conversation that Sakura twisted her hand into Itachi's to grab his attention, saying under her breath to him alone, "Show me you trust me and don't intervene."
He shut his tired eyes, bringing her focus to the dark circles beneath them.
She shook off the negative vibes of their conversation and flicked her hair over her shoulder as she fell into character, calling out like she was calling for her dog, "Sasuke-kun! Dinner time!"
The humans promptly began crying.
Shisui brought a hand to his face.
She welcomed the rejuvenated ripper with a flourish that only increased in genuineness when Itachi moved away to take up residence at the bar—his way of promising not to intervene, she knew. Perhaps believing she had full rein was a touch too overconfident, but Sakura was prepared to take advantage.
"I've upped my ante," she pointed out playfully. "Think you can handle what I have in store for you?"
Sasuke grumbled under his breath—she heard every word of what came out of his foul mouth, though found it too unimportant to register. Besides, the way she dismissed him seemed to irritate Sasuke and that was great for her. It had no impact on the plan; she liked to piss him off.
"Sakura-chan—"
"You're dismissed, Naruto," she muttered with a touch of admonishment she hoped landed. The idiot was too soft hearted, which reminded her… Sakura looked to Itachi and raised a mischievous brow at the languid tilting of his head—his way of saying she had his attention. "If that mutt makes a move towards me, step in."
See? I can compromise like a healthy person.
He nodded once.
Naruto's jaw dropped.
Sasuke's clenched. "Oi—"
She whirled around to face the humans and by the time she came to a halt, three of them were bleeding. "Don't tell me you're wimping out already," Sakura said with a pout and watched on as he struggled with his urges. "Can't handle not having your guard dog by your side?"
Another cut. Considerably deeper than before, and she noted Shisui eyeing the plastic sheet he'd forced her to use gratefully.
"Choose for yourself this time," she pushed condescendingly. "You can do that, right?"
It was with obvious unease that Naruto drifted over to the fireplace; his watchful eyes refusing to so much as blink in case he missed a moment of the latest lesson. Sakura would have told him to leave entirely, but despite his soft hearted nature, he was Sasuke's biggest motivator and only a fool would overlook that fact. Having him around worked in her favour, particularly if he played into his idiotic side and allowed emotions to cloud his judgement.
What Sakura was hoping for was his intervention. Was for Naruto to blindly rush in to save his precious little ripper. After all, it was Sasuke who pointed out how both he and Itachi tended to save the day without them ever asking for said protection—she would use that against him now too.
Through gritting teeth, Sasuke warned, "You are finding your way to my last nerve. Do not be so arrogant as to believe yourself untouchable just because our lives are linked."
Sakura grinned wickedly and held out her arms, hands coincidentally gesturing to both Itachi and Naruto. "Try me and see how untouchable I truly am."
"Up your ante? Get into his head and make him realise how inferior he is," came the dark words of her chuckling lover. "Show him not even his guard dog can protect him."
He didn't hesitate, much to the annoyance of his brother and cousin; it was exactly what she was hoping for.
Just as his hand grazed her chest with legitimate killing intent, Sakura's head dipped, and she smirked hatefully just in time for the ferocious explosion of raw magical energy. The talisman belonging to her son rose several inches from her collarbone, targeting her attacker without a shred of mercy. Of course, it wounded her also (hence why Mitsuki made sure it didn't kill the attacker, merely maimed), but her point was made and Sakura laughed mockingly even as she crashed into the humans who crumbled and screamed beneath her.
Sasuke struggled to his knees, body trembling with the aftereffects of the protection spell. Sakura knew better and stayed down for a few extra moments as her equilibrium stabilised. "Point made. You—"
Pressing one human's head down into the plastic when their constant crying irritated her, Sakura rolled onto her side with her lidded demon eyes activating before asking hungrily, "Can we get started now, or are you going to keep complaining?"
"You're feeding with him?" demanded Naruto disbelievingly. "Sakura-chan—"
"Quiet down, Naruto-kun."
"You—"
"Just for now, Naruto," Shisui impressed her by lying so well. "I assure you, I won't let it go too far."
Ah, but teetering on that delightful edge was so fun, Sakura rejoiced as she let loose onto the screeching humans alongside Sasuke. Handing themselves over to their predator sides, sensing how territorial he was becoming as he growled and watched her every move, experiencing that wonderful warmth of his own thirst being sated on top of hers. All of it was the greatest thrill she'd experienced so far.
But Sakura made a point of sparing the lives of those she fed from, and caused herself physical pain that passed through the link to keep Sasuke grounded in the beginning. It was mostly her presence feeding so close to him that prevented Sasuke from completely submerging into his madness, but either way she classed that as a win (since that meant he would continue to associate her with gaining control over himself).
"So," Sakura called out conversationally shortly after as she dabbed her mouth clean—a little pointless move on her part, considering the rest of her was covered in blood. Much to her delight, Sasuke had wobbled in his composure just enough to accidentally kill one of the humans by tearing them to pieces. "Do you hear them now?"
Sasuke's mutter was full of malice mainly towards his slip up as he muttered, "What?"
"That person you just killed."
The room fell silent, and she bit back her grin at their horror.
It was like she heard everyone suddenly holding their breaths at the audacity in her question, and she held onto Sasuke's attention and raised a daring eyebrow when he remained disbelieving.
After all, the ripper comedown was on a whole other level, and she'd made sure he killed at least one of them.
Twisting the knife a little more, she asked, "Who else do you see?"
Itachi's deadpan of realisation had Naruto doing a double take. "Sakura—"
"I wonder," she continued softly, inquisitively, uncaring of the concern of her former love. "Do you happen to see Sai-san?"
Sasuke's jaw clenched.
"You need to hit him when he is at his weakest," Gaara told her seriously. "If it is true that he sees the ghosts of those he has killed, then target his heightened emotions. Use them against him."
"This is all…" Ino sobbed brokenly, clutching the urn closer to her chest. "How can this be all I have left of him?"
There was no stopping the tears filling Sakura's eyes as her soulmate collapsed to her knees. She couldn't control the blistering rage as she watched Ino curl her trembling body around the urn.
"H-How do I live with this pain?"
"Sakura–"
Showtime, she thought vindictively while allowing the floodgates of emotions to open up.
Blistering rage and heartache washed over Sakura at the reminder of Ino's tortured features, and she used Sasuke's falter as he too experienced the overwhelming emotions to vamp forward. Twitching fingers locked around her to try and fight her off, but Sakura ignored the pain in Sasuke's curling digits digging into her flesh; throwing her whole weight into the unbalanced Sasuke had them tumbling to the ground gracelessly, the others too stunned to react immediately.
"Do you recognise this face?" she snarled angrily, demon eyes activating and with them came a sudden rush of power that was unlike any other. One she'd caught glimpses of indirectly when it filtered through the link.
The true ripper strength, Sakura marvelled.
She could use it?
"He was stunning, wasn't he?" asked her best friend, sad eyes creasing with a smile that cut through Sakura's gut ruthlessly now that her humanity was turned back on. The photograph in her grasp was protected by a thick, metal frame and Ino's hands trembled while putting it back in its rightful place, beside the urn she refused to part with. "We would have made beautiful babies."
Sasuke didn't try fighting back as she abused his lapse in judgement to communicate telepathically the day before, Sakura noticed instantly. He was motionless beneath her, his gaze fixated on a space just over her shoulder.
While she sincerely hoped that her soulmate's lost love had found peace, she also hoped he was tormenting Sasuke too.
"You remember him," she accused. Her limbs wrapped around his, locking him down—not that there was any point when he refused to fight back. Sasuke still couldn't look away from whatever had captured his attention, and she took that as progress. "That man was… He is the one and only love of Ino's life."
"Enough," warned Shisui, grabbing at her.
But Sakura held on tight; it wasn't a serious attempt considering Mitsuki's protection spell wasn't activated.
"Look at him," she ordered coldly. "Look Sai-san in the eye and acknowledge the future you stole not only from him, but Ino too." Holy shit, he was trembling. Try as he might to hide the effects facing the ghosts with his emotions activated was having on him, there was no masking the colour draining from his features. The ripper comedown was fucking brutal, Sakura relished. "They were so close to graduating that year. They talked about finding a place together—somewhere stylish but above a space that could become his art gallery. A place good enough for a family."
"S-Stop—" he shockingly pleaded, making her wonder what the spirits were screaming at him that time.
"Face them," Sakura ordered gutturally in a low growl, putting on a show of struggling against Shisui's attempts to drag her off him.
In a last-ditch effort knowing they were making enough progress to leave Naruto dumbfounded, she shifted her hold to his face, forcing their eyes to meet as she used their link to bulldoze her way into his mind and fill it with scenarios of Sai and Ino, of the future he so cruelly snatched away. It was unheard of for an ordinary vampire to enter the mind of an original other than to communicate, but it seemed her mischievous lover was right about the spell boasting other benefits.
She was solidly tied to his immortality, perhaps even the magic itself.
"Look at what you did to my soulmate," she snapped not hatefully, not angrily. She yelled at him with the deepest sorrow while bombarding him with Ino's raw heartache. Reliving that pain fuelled Sakura also, and she shifted her hold, choking out against the arm wrapped around her throat, "Now… Imagine you're the one going through it all."
A single tear slid into his hair and Shisui's hold slackened in disbelief.
"N-Naruto—"
"Dead," she hissed, shoving her own heartache onto him to make sure he experienced it all first hand.
Sakura repaid his traumatising vision of butchering Ino and Mitsuki back tenfold as she forced him to watch the slaughter of his precious hybrid on repeat. Even when he shook. Even as he cried. Even as he was truly lost to the vision and believed every second of it, pleading for him to be spared.
"You put my soulmate through that," Sakura whispered harshly once she released him. She sat atop Sasuke's waist as he relaxed into the plastic sheet in a daze, both their chests heaving from the intensity of their shared emotions. "You have put countless others through that."
"I…"
"You took away their Naruto," she accused in a broken whisper. "That one person they thought they had forever with. The one who loved all sides of them and made them feel safe and accepted. The other half of their soul—"
"I-I get it," he choked.
The issue with Uchiha Sasuke was that he was the baby of his clan. Excluding the madman that was Madara (who coincidentally happened to be wary of Naruto and didn't step out of line with him too greatly), they each coddled him. Protected him from what he truly was and in turn, aided Sasuke in avoiding accountability. They inadvertently taught their ripper how to shut down his emotions for fear of them driving him insane entirely.
"Do you understand now?" Sakura asked quietly and reached out tentatively to tilt the frozen Sasuke's head in her direction. "Can you feel it?"
Heightened emotions were unbearable, but they were so very handy when being used against a vampire also.
Dark, glassy eyes locked onto hers and allowed Sakura to witness the sincerity there; it was in that moment that the rest of the room materialised in her mind once more, reminding her of the others' presence. They didn't make a move towards them, however. They were too stunned—or in the two Uchihas cases: overwhelmed at the seeming return of their loved one. The one they believed was lost to his curse.
"Remember that when you feed," she urged, her thumb stroking beneath his eye and wiping away the wetness. "That gut-wrenching sensation of losing your other half—your entire purpose."
She allowed Sasuke to turn his own head to seek out Naruto, and she released him when he uttered breathily, "I-I'm sorry."
The blond grinned despite the emotions taking over him. "You should be, you bastard!"
Itachi's eyes softened.
The first true progress in turning Sasuke to her side being completed, Sakura stretched her arms above her head but made no move to climb off the ripper before pouting over at Shisui and rubbing her healing throat, accusing, "You really didn't hold back."
"Neither did you, it seems," he shot back.
"Sakura."
Accepting the hand suddenly being held out to her without hesitation, Sakura allowed Itachi to aid her to her feet. Concern was one of the dominant emotions in his eyes as they searched her, but there was a faint trace of respect gradually overpowering it.
"I told you Gaara isn't a monster," she repeated in a tone that had him sighing but refusing to let go or dismiss her. "He's the one who taught me to channel my emotions like that."
But although Itachi was accepting of that truth, he chose to instead switch the subject by telling her simply, "Tonight."
"Tonight?" Shisui repeated, pretending not to notice Sasuke being assisted back to his room.
"Our night to remind you how and why we fell so hopelessly for one another."
He deadpanned while looking between them.
"You sure you can handle it?" Sakura teased quietly.
"Not in the slightest," came his heartfelt response that stole her breath. "But I will give it my all even if it destroys me."
All they heard to signify Shisui's (and the surviving humans compelled to follow) leaving was the near silent clicking of the front door, but the snapping of their hearts as they attempted to reconnect rendered the exit unimportant.
It was time to get serious, she warned herself.
A/N - So this story is 3 years old today! I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that when it's still unfinished haha, but we keep moving!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!