Three for the Price of One

by AFrozenDuck

When Sasuke unexpectedly shows up to demand Sakura for a mission, he gets more than he bargained for. The bonds of Team Seven have long spanned time and distance, but will the strain of an unpracticed team be enough when everything goes inevitably wrong? Sakura-centric. Canon-divergence AU.

23. Chapter 23

Warnings: this chapter contains gory themes and brief references to self-harm.

---

"You're late. I was just about ready to come after you myself." Yamato intercepted them with a disapproving frown the moment they stepped through the door, the entire rooms inhabitants already strung on high alert with their arrival.

Sai dipped his head as he brushed the snow from his hair and shoulders, midnight's moonlight trailing his arrival into the warmly lit cabin. "Our apologies Taichou – "

"We found something." Naruto couldn't help but finish, bursting in. Adrenaline was simmering beneath his skin as he beelined straight for the wooden table and began placing down the maps Sai had carefully drawn of the area on their trek.

"Where?" Sasuke was already crossing to join him, katana aloft in his grasp, eyes clear in focus.

"I caught a familiar signal north-east of here." Naruto replied breathlessly, pointing to an abstract edge of the map. "It was Hansai. That maniac with the chakra-strings."

"Naruto was able to detect them at quite a distance and we followed the signal as far as appropriate, hence our delay. We were careful not to stray within the Sensor's reach, however. Their base of operations is about a full day's travel from here, at speed." Sai elaborated to the room at large as he approached the rest, gathering around Naruto at the table.

"Sakura?" Kakashi asked, fingers curled and shoulders set.

A shadow passed his cerulean eyes as Naruto bent his head. "I… couldn't feel her." He admitted softly, snow-damp hair dripping onto the barely-dried parchment. "There were three distinguishable signatures and two… murkier ones. One was exceedingly strong, the other was flickering strangely. You don't think…?" He trailed off, eyes searching.

"Sakura is alive." Kakashi said at last, conviction tinged with concern. "If she's under that God's influence, she's likely the fifth signature." The statement did little to comfort any of them.

Naruto nodded grimly before turning to Yamato. "What's our plan then?"

Yamato rolled his jaw and took a breath. "Sasuke was right." He conceded, voice firm in the quiet of their deliberation. "We can't afford to wait around for backup. The most we could probably hope for is an ANBU escort after the fact. But that's not going to cut it for us."

Naruto exchanged a look with Sai at Yamato's hardened expression, the worn lines around his lips, the bruising under his eyes. The man cast his gaze around the room and set his chin. "Sakura is our priority and we're on our own for this. If by some extension we are able to slow down or even defeat this God before a point of no return, well there is no one more qualified for such a task than this team."

Naruto breathed through his anticipation and relief with a steady nod. "What are your orders, Taichou?"

"We break into three teams. Sai, once we get closer to their base I want you to send your mice ahead and locate Sakura." He held Sai's onyx eyes. "You are to recover her, and escape directly to a safe zone. I don't care what state she is in, you get her out of there and as far away from that God as possible. Take Karin's med-kit and distribute first-aid once you have maintained a safe distance."

Sai curled his hands into fists and nodded. "Understood Taichou. However, if we are to assume Sakura is no longer in control of her actions, will she not resist such an endeavour?"

There was a heavy reluctance to Yamato when he replied, "I trust you to do what needs to be done in order to keep her safe, even if it is from herself."

A reflective silence enveloped the room at that, broken only by a small offering of comfort. "She'll understand Sai. She'll be grateful." Kakashi said softly, reaching to rest a hand on Sai's shoulder.

"…Hai, Kakashi-senpai."

"Sasuke and Naruto." Yamato continued, "I am entrusting both of you with our God. You're right Sasuke, only you and Naruto have any real success and advantage over this Otsutsuki. He will be your responsibility. Kakashi and I will run interference with the other three nin and assist when and if we can."

Despite the severity that had chilled his spine, Naruto reached for a smile and hooked his arm around Sasuke's shoulders. "Hell yeah. Teme lets knock this God back to the pit they came from."

Sasuke said nothing, his eyes intent on Yamato as they man spared them an appraisingly glance. "We'll take care of it." He promised at last.

Yamato's lips twitched in a ghost of a smile, then he let out a heavy breath. "That's best-case scenario, assuming we aren't split up and picked off before we get close enough. Kakashi said one of them is a Sensor, and we would be stupid to underestimate his abilities."

Naruto frowned. "Okay, then what's our plan to get past him?"

"Two options." It was Kakashi who answered him. "We bank entirely on subterfuge and concealment. Or we blind him. We create a scene. Give Sai enough time to sneak in and get Sakura before they realise he was even there. We go hard and all out, Team Seven style."

"They know we're coming, there is no point in pretending we aren't. Let's not give them the chance to combat our arrival." Sasuke said, a readiness leeching from his being.

"We have a basic understanding of their abilities. Between the Genjutsu specialist, Chakra-stringers user and the Sensor, Kakashi and I can handle them." Yamato brought a hand to his chin in grim consideration. "The greater risk is our lack of information on this 'Gods' abilities."

"We can safely assume he at the very least has power of suggestion in some form. Through what means we won't be able to say for certain. He's the wild card." Kakashi supplied leaning to brace his hands across the table and eyeing the two of them. "However he's been manipulating people, you can't afford to let yourselves be exposed to it. There is no going back if you do."

Sasuke dipped his chin. "We'll handle him. He's not a God yet."

"Assuming he hasn't obtained the Pomegranate from Sakura…" Sai reminded quietly, concern laden in his voice.

"And if he has?" Naruto was almost too afraid to ask what that would mean for them, what that would mean for her.

"It makes no difference. We stop him." Sasuke said simply, and Naruto had to appreciate that Sasuke had always been a man of absolutes.

Yamato didn't smile, but there was a flash of pride in his eyes as he regarded the men before him once more. "Right. Whichever team finishes first will assist the other. Sai, you and Sakura are to remain far away no matter what. With any luck, once the God is defeated she will regain whatever freedom she may have lost in her 'connection' to him. Am I understood?"

Four conciliatory nods echoed his command. "Good. Pack up and be ready for departure in ten. Be prepared for a hard days' travel ahead." Under the heavy silence of his command, Yamato gave one final order. "And one more thing. No one gets injured. Team Seven is going home, and we are going to do it in one piece. Let's not free Sakura just to put her to work, ne?"

Five figures departed into the trees before the fifth minute was out. With a groan of wood, the cabin melted into the earth, the small depression of snow the only sign they were ever there.

---

Sakura knew it was a genjutsu the moment the world lifted into life around her. But she didn't dispel the rolling memory – she couldn't, not without damning herself further into Atsuhiko's grasp.

Yet, even if the chakra flowing through her was her own, Sakura wasn't so sure she would've decided differently.

This memory. It was one she privately kept in the depths of her being, revisiting it on days lonely or lost. She'd never told anyone. She didn't want them to worry. Or maybe it was shame; she didn't want to acknowledge what it all meant… what it all didn't mean.

So Sakura stayed; she let Ara's genjutsu pull the precious, shameful memory to forefront of her mind – on display for all to see.

Shock was not the emotion that blazed across her heart when Sasuke appeared on her doorstep in the middle of the night. Nor was confusion or hesitancy or curiosity as had so usually been the case in any mere 'Sasuke-initiated' interaction of their new, burgeoning friendship.

No. It was understanding that had her rooted to the spot as he shuffled awkwardly at her front door. She knew from the tightening at the corner of his mouth, the tension in his shoulders, the crease of his left brow; she knew he was here to say goodbye.

Sakura stepped aside, opening her home – and reluctantly much of her heart – to him. She closed the door as he slipped past, and Sakura forbade herself from reading into the way the back of his hand brushed against hers. She refused to acknowledge the heat that leapt from his skin to hers and left her burning.

Something had been building between them for months now. Something Sakura had done a damn good job of disregarding, right up until the morning she woke up smelling of Sasuke; a distant warmth lingering in her palm… And had she had wept for the loss of her defences.

A new trust had been reformed in their stubborn pursuits of friendship, and with that came an unnameable lingering. A lingering of glances, casual touches, time spent in each other's presence. But Sakura had known better than to give that lingering a label; no matter how much of it sent a familiar pang through her. She couldn't afford to let herself make the same fall twice… She was much too proud.

Sasuke was waiting for her, shoes dutifully placed to the side, and looking like he had the weight of world once more thrust upon his broad shoulders.

"Tea?" She offered, pulling her short kimono dressing gown closer over her body. The light cherry-blossom robe had been a silly gift from Ino, and she had worn it most every night. But now, wearing it in front of Sasuke, Sakura felt a strange thrill of nervousness trail through her.

"Please." Sasuke murmured in return, not hiding the way he appraised her intently.

Nothing betrayed his thoughts, and Sakura stepped cautiously around him to tread softly into her kitchen. She didn't expect Sasuke to follow, and yet all too soon he was behind her, retrieving the cups from the top shelf she had already begun to reach for.

Sakura paused as she felt the heat of him at her back, adrenaline spiking wildly. "Thanks." She said to her kitchen cabinet, not daring to turn and see what he wanted.

Sasuke stayed at her back, slowly bringing the cups down beside her. His breath skimmed the top of her head and Sakura couldn't decide if she wanted to hug him or punch him through the next room. The wall she had built around her to keep him squarely out, neatly defined, was crumbling.

He was so close, and yet he was leaving. He didn't have to say it. She knew. She always knew when he was leaving, but this time he came to her…

"When?" she whispered, and for a moment she let her back brush his front.

Sasuke's hand trailed her hip on its decent from the counter as he sighed softly. "Tomorrow morning."

Sakura turned around before she could think better of it, and suddenly she was face to face with him, caged against the counter and his warm body. Perhaps years ago, that would've been enough to have her reeling in excitement. And perhaps months ago, it would've sent her raising a kunai at his neck.

But where she was now, who she was – it did neither. She felt as undefined as their 'relationship'.

Sakura stood her ground under the cage of his body, and held his eyes, fierce determination steeling her spine against the boy who broke her heart, and the man who had unwittingly won parts of it back.

"Stay." She demanded, selfishly.

Selfishly, because she knew all his reasons for leaving; all of his well-warranted, so clear reasons. But she had her own reasons too. The time and tears spent on him, on the path of his return – how could she just let him go after all that? Besides, she had questions that only he could answer.

He still held parts of her captive that she had once thought freed. And she needed him to stay so that she could figure it out! She needed to define herself – against him, with him – and she would not settle for a hollow departure, not again.

Sasuke, for his part, peered down at her with dark troubled eyes. His jaw ticked, and Sakura watched the way it flexed the muscles along the panes of his handsome face. She saw the moment he was about to retreat, so she beat him to it.

Sakura latched onto his hand as he withdrew it from her side. His eyes widened and she pretended her heart didn't skip a beat at the contact. "Stay." She repeated.

Sasuke tipped his head, his raven hair falling forward in the action. "It wouldn't be forever."

And Sakura frowned, unsure which 'forever' he was referring to – his staying, or his absence.

"Naruto just got you back." She countered with, selfishly, because she wasn't brave enough to say the same about herself.

Sasuke's grimace was plain to see, even with the tips of his hair covering his eyes. His lips twisted and his fingers twitched from where she still held him in her palm.

"There are things that I need to do. Things I can't do here."

Sakura didn't realise she had leaned forward until her breath was brushing the ends of his hair from his face. "Why are you here?"

Her whisper ghosted the skin of his cheek and Sasuke jerked his eyes to hers, his fingers suddenly curled fully around her hand. He hesitated for a long moment, his onyx eyes darting between her jade orbs.

Sakura bit her lip, waiting for an answer that would give her a piece of closure on the frustrating whims of her heart. She needed something solid to hold on to, if he was going to leave now. She wouldn't spend another three years drifting at sea, waiting for miraculous rescue.

Suddenly, Sasuke was the one breathing out, and she was the one tasting him – chamomile and a hint of mint. And Sakura wanted to laugh at the thought of Sasuke drinking tea to calm him for whatever he thought this interaction would bring him. The idea sent a tug to her chest and she unconsciously dug deeper into her bottom lip as she stared into Sasuke's resigned eyes.

"Will you see me off tomorrow?" he asked quietly, a gleam of hopefulness edging at the corner of his strained gaze.

Her heart fell through her stomach as goosebumps raised across her flesh. She didn't know what to feel. She never knew what to feel around him anymore. They were somewhere caught between friends and 'what if'.

This time it was her hand that flexed around his, in retaliation or comfort, she wasn't sure herself. She unhooked her lip from her teeth and nodded tightly, her eyes never leaving his open face.

"Of course." She said, a little firmly.

Something light passed over him, and Sasuke all but relaxed into her.

Sakura wanted to feel maddened over his clear gratitude. He shouldn't be feeling relieved when she was feeling wave after wave of unsettled disappointment and clawing determination. She wasn't done with him. Her acceptance was rooted in quiet desperation.

He was a puzzle piece in her life she hadn't quite figured out where to fit. He was an unlabelled box sitting in her lap she hadn't found a shelf for. He couldn't walk away now, not after situating himself so presently back in her life.

She hadn't realised Sasuke had been staring at her until she tasted his breath once more, and looked back up into his soft obsidian eyes. She saw the reflection of her clear frown in them and wondered what he found so intriguing in her hardened expression.

Before she knew it, Sasuke slipped his hand from hers and slowly brought two fingers up between their faces.

Sakura blinked as his fingertips poked her forehead.

A flush burst forward from the depths of her being – insecurities, hopes, dreams, pride, achievement – and spread its way to the apples of her cheeks.

She didn't have the words to stutter, instead she gasped softly, her jaw dropping in surprise. And Sakura wished she could un-see his gentle smile, and the way it softened his face. Her pink brows drew together and her lip wobbled with the ache the moment brought.

But then Sasuke's fingers were moving again, dragging down from her Byakugou and stroking the crease between her brows with his thumb. His palm came to rest lightly on her cheek as his thumb repeated the motion tenderly, and Sakura closed her eyes.

It was unfair. He was unfair to be doing this to her. What did it mean? He was leaving her, and yet he came to say goodbye? He was touching her but it was a goodbye.

Dryly in the back of her mind, Sakura snickered that Sasuke always had accompanied his goodbyes with a physical token. When they were children it had been a brutal pinch to the neck. At seventeen, it was with a hand through her heart. And now, at eighteen, a tender touch to her forehead.

But she wasn't quite brave (or stupid) enough to read into that either.

Sakura opened her eyes but didn't dare lean into his touch.

"Sleep here tonight?" she said bravely. Stupidly.

What was she doing? Squeezing out the last few moments she could until she lost her chance to figure out what they were to each other?

Sasuke's hand lifted slightly from her skin, and she felt his hesitation.

"I'll make the couch up for you." She clarified when she thought he was going to bolt.

She saw him physically relax and almost rolled her eyes at his clear relief. She guessed that was one clear enough indication of his thoughts on sharing a bed with her… not that she was going to suggest it.

"Aa." Sasuke nodded, and finally he stepped back from her and Sakura could think clearly again.

She gave him half a smile then disappeared to fetch the bedding; a tumbling plan forming in her calculative mind.

Whatever she felt for Sasuke would be benched until further notice, until she could definitively say what he felt for her. She couldn't allow herself to fall for him… not without being certain he would be there to catch her this time. And that would be hard for him to do from miles away. Perhaps it was pride, or maybe it was survival instincts, but Sakura wasn't going to be the first to admit that she had come to care for him deeper than friends… not until Sasuke was ready to acknowledge it first. She wouldn't put herself in that position again. Never again.

Sakura made the couch, and bid Sasuke a goodnight, not sleeping a wink between then and the early morning light.

When she saw him off at the gates – Kakashi by her side in a twist of fateful symmetry – Sakura bore the last vestiges of her courage and hoped not to be played a fool once more.

"What if… I came with you?" she asked, naïvely hopeful.

Because perhaps this time he would take her up on that offer. All she had to do was be the brave one, one last time. And she could have her questions answered and he could have his redemption.

Maybe this time, all it took was one more leap of faith, and they could find what they were, together.

The parts of Sakura that splintered when he said it had nothing to do with her were quickly gathered and resealed when Sasuke poked her forehead again, sending sparks of electricity burning through her.

"Maybe next time" he had promised.

And Sakura had believed, for one moment – and four foolish years – that one day, Sasuke would come back for her, and have everything she had been waiting for.

She held onto that touch, that promise, and pushed on with life. She was going to wait, but she wasn't going to pine. One day, she would have her answers, she would have full shelves and clear labels and all the puzzle pieces would fit.

'What if' was becoming 'when'. She just had to have a little patience.

And Sakura turned that promise into an armour all of itself. Ready for the day she could shed it, and open herself up to that tricky little word she had shielded herself from, for so long.

Besides, she had a whole village to keep her busy. She didn't need to find 'love'. Not until it was ready to find her.

Sakura stayed at the gates watching Sasuke melt into the distant horizon, and carefully put her heart back in its worn little box.

Sakura blinked her eyes open to see a dark concrete ceiling and Ara's thoughtful frown. The events of the last few hours came rushing back to her – Atsuhiko, Yukine, the transfusion – and Sakura found herself entirely too exhausted to mourn her reality.

"Enjoy the show?" Sakura quipped tiredly, her voice rough.

"Not nearly as much as I was hoping." Ara said, with a downward curl of her red lips. "You spend too much of yourself on others." She noted with quiet distaste. "Where did a gem like you pick up such a sad little glow?"

Sakura breathed in through her nose and rolled onto her side. She pressed her cold cheek into the silken sheets and tucked her knees up. She felt so drowsy. "My best friend is the most radiant person I know, and he gives every ounce of himself to others. Even those who could never hope to deserve it. He shines brighter than I could ever hope to."

Sakura let a feeble smile etch her lips at the thought of Naruto. The practical sunbeams that shot out of his ass at any given time. She thought about how hard she worked to make sure that glow would never dim; at the smiles she faked when he asked her about cutting back on work hours, or taking a break, of if she'd heard from Sasuke…

Kami, you two better be safe.

"Sounds disgustingly noble." Ara commented as she crossed one leg over the other, lounging alongside her on the bed.

"Naruto is a great man." Sakura rebuked simply. "You'd like him." She said just to spite the woman. Or maybe it was an honest declaration. Sakura was finding it hard to distinguish feelings when her entire being was becoming numb with focused want for another man's desires.

"Well, I suppose I shall be meeting him shortly. And the rest of your tragic teammates." Ara purred and reached a hand to stroke Sakura's temple. "Although I must say, the one I'm dying to meet is our little enigma, Sasuke-kun."

Sakura pulled away from the gentle touch. "He won't give you what you want." She refuted plainly, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. And it was.

Sasuke was one of the most powerful and stubborn people she had ever met. And she wasn't lying when she said that he would rather blind himself than let these people even touch his eyes. She wasn't lying when she said she was never going to be a factor in his actions. She never had…

Ara's fingers stilled. "Honestly, I couldn't care less about that idiot's dreamy eyes." Auburn hair slipped from her shoulders as she leant forward. "What I want, is to prove to you the insignificance of men." Her smile was achingly tender. "Why, you're already halfway there. For what sort of man leaves a woman like you wanting?"

"It's not like that." Sakura defended sluggishly sitting up. Her vision swam, blurred at the edges and an abstract hunger awoke in her. A hunger for fruit. Sakura drifted a hand to her head in mild confusion.

Suddenly there was a slim hand at her chin. "Don't lie to yourself, Sakura. I've been in your head, I've seen the memories. The real disappointment however, is how much you left yourself wanting." Ara scolded uncrossing her legs. "But you'll learn."

In a blink, Sakura was flat on her back staring up into gleaming honey eyes. Ara leaned over her, elbowed braced next to Sakura's pink head, their faces inches apart.

"Don't worry, Baby." Ara whispered, her nose brushing Sakura's. "I'll make you see just what it is you've been missing out on."

Sakura held her breath but didn't dare look away. She glared back up at the woman and grit her teeth. She wanted to headbutt her, but the action never made it past the thought. All she truly wanted was to see him. The urgency sizzled under her skin, distracting her from most everything else. She needed to see him, to help him. He was hungry. They both were.

Fuck. No, no, no, no. Please no!

Sakura screwed her eyes shut and gasped. She could feel it, his want pulsing through her as clear and undeniable as her own. She was starving.

Ara licked her lips, her brow furrowing. "Look at me, Flower."

But Sakura couldn't. She had to keep her eyes shut as wave upon wave of need crashed over her; blinding her senses beyond her burning craving. She tipped her head back and fisted the sheets under her, grappling for a lifeline.

Come on. Focus! Don't let him in!

Calloused fingers moved to smooth over her cheek, but still Sakura did not stir at the touch. If she had opened her eyes, she might've caught Ara's concerned expression. "Sakura?"

She shook her head feebly, clamping her teeth into her bottom lip and breathing starkly through her nose. Keep it together Haruno. Come on! Don't give in!

"Once this is all over. I'll show you." Ara murmured gently, a hand curling over her fist, and the other caressing her cheek. "You'll see the world beyond men and the things they had never bothered to offer you." Ara promised, slowly pushing herself back up and withdrawing her hands.

Sakura would've bitten the woman's fingers off as they passed over her lips, but it was hardly consequential when she already couldn't think over the blood rushing in her ears, the heat coiling in her core, the intense craving she was overcome with.

"I'll show you the world, Haruno Sakura. And you will see… You will be free."

Sakura barely noticed when Ara began to redress her, felling her torn kimono off her and replacing it with another. She didn't catch the severe expression, nor the blaze of displeasure in her golden eyes. She simply lay on the lavish bed, as the woman worked around her, twisting in pain for every second she continued to deny herself the Pomegranate.

---

The Woman glided in, dressed in elaborate reds and whites, as perfect as a painting with her catching hair and petit frame. Atsuhiko let a fond smile cross his lips at her image. Ara so did love playing dress up with her pretty little doll. He supposed he appreciated her eye for beauty and allure, when adorned on such a wonderful muse.

A silken ruby kimono bound the woman's slim figure, white petals trailing down her sleeves and dancing along the hem at her ankles, all tied together by a crisp white obi at her waist. Her hair had been combed and pinned back with pearls and silver strings, only whispers of pink framing her ivory face and contrasting her bright green eyes.

She was a magnificent creature, made spectacular still by the electric spark that ignited under his skin at her very arrival. He felt her wake; felt her blood sing in tune with his, felt his chakra flutter and pulse in harmonic satisfaction. She was succumbing to him. It was only a matter of time.

"Thank you, Ara." He smiled at the tall woman, though his eyes never left Sakura and her intent gaze. "You may go now. Pleasure instruct Yukine to accompany you out on patrol."

"Patrol? But – "

He cut off Ara's indignant protest with a severe pulse of his chakra. His was a formidable presence, and Ara had not yet learnt the extent of his awakened prowess. Sakura gasped and tumbled slightly, falling to clutch her stomach at his action and Atsuhiko watched with sharp interest the way Ara moved to support her with fretful hands.

"You have your orders, Ara."

The thief of a woman always did display a wild streak in her, and without Yukine here to temper her flame, it appeared she was too quick to ignite. He would not tolerate such disobedience, from his own disciples no less. When Ara began stroking Sakura's hair from her face however, his patience for her ran thin.

"Do not make me repeat myself." His voice was quiet, though that did nothing to hide the dangerous thunder behind his words.

Ara's hand curled over Sakura's shoulder for a brief moment, though the subdued pinkette hardly seemed to notice – her eyes fixated on him as she regained her breath. Ara caught herself before she could lift her glare to him. How… wearisome.

Then with a swift turn on her heel, the genjutsu specialist strode out of the room, closing the door with a controlled click. Atsuhiko took his time in leisurely returning his attention back to the woman who remained. His little mortal.

"Sleep well?" He asked warmly, taking note of her stifled shiver.

The Woman did not answer, but her shudder of assent was reply enough.

"Come. You must eat."

Atsuhiko beckoned her to his side, a large oak table spanning the distance between them, food and drink awaiting her. There was only one other chair, he had seen to it that she would remain in close proximity to him. Especially when it felt so complete to have her so near.

Whatever resistance she experienced was short-lived as she crossed the empty dining room to sit dutifully at his right, her delicate hands balled into tight fists at her sides.

"Eat, Sakura." He instructed.

He knew she was hungry. Starving in fact. A sultry smile pulled at his lips at the knowledge that no matter how much she ate, she would never be satisfied by any mortal food. She was sharing in his hunger now. A hunger that demanded only one thing.

Atsuhiko took cruel amusement in watching her eyes dart between the food – warm rice, steaming vegetables, sweet smelling meats – only to fall to her lap when she did not spy the one thing she craved most. The one thing she had the power to change should she but forget her foolish struggle. Atsuhiko saw it in her taut shoulders, the conclusion she had come to, the anger it stirred in her that only served to exacerbate their hunger.

"Not hungry?" He cooed pleasantly, watching as the Woman drew sharp eyes up to him, wincing when her anger would not allow her to hate him.

Atsuhiko reached an arm out to run the back of his fingers over her silken cheek, indulging in the way she leaned into his touch a fraction before flinching away. She was far too amusing. To watch his dear little mortal torture herself when it was so easy to just give in to him. Such a challenging little thing she was. To deny him so fervently when hers was a bond so undeniable to them. She truly was a peculiar prize.

And yet.

"You cannot ignore me forever Woman. You forget I feel you just as you feel me." Atsuhiko reached for her face again, taking her by the chin and turning her till she met his eyes once more. "And I can feel your call for me."

Her emerald eyes burned fiercely, and he felt it like a strike of lightning down his spine. He felt her curse of damnation for him. Hers was a loathing so powerful he could not help but grin viciously at her stubbornness, even as her hatred for him dissipated as quickly as a flash of light. His fingers tightened at her jaw and he drew her face closer, taking immense pleasure from her wide eyes and scrunched nose. She hated him as much as she craved him it seemed. And that scared her. Atsuhiko's lips met her cheek, caressing her soft skin before drawing his mouth to her ear.

"That was not very nice, Sakura."

A frisson of excitement exploded beneath his skin at her reaction – that intoxicating combination of keen desperation and panicked desire. Atsuhiko revelled in the sensation as he angled his cheek against hers, skin caressing skin. Never before had he felt such visceral, consuming sensations and emotions, so heightened and intense. Atsuhiko took a deep inhale, her scent mixed with his own becoming an addictive drug to him, just as much as her heady confliction.

She was truly entertaining, and rewarding to him. A convenient way to pass the time and reintroduce himself to all that he had been bereft of for centuries now. And she all but belonged him to now. The very key to his deliverance. Atsuhiko took another selfish moment against her warm skin before pulling away and sitting back. Sakura collapsed in on herself with his distance and he cocked his head at her heaving chest.

"You remind me of someone." He said at last, his hand curling under his cheek as he studied her. When it was clear she would not speak to him, he continued. "I was once betrothed. Many eons ago, I had a woman of my own whom I would one day wed and begin a life with."

Sakura stirred at his words, lifting her head fractionally to him in silent appraisal. There was a curiosity fluttering in her, and Atsuhiko licked his lips.

"She was very beautiful, much like yourself. Such mesmerising green eyes." He said softly, catching Sakura's sight as she snapped her head up to him. Her mouth parted in surprise and Atsuhiko found himself taking great pleasure in his captivation of her. "But I'm afraid that's where your similarities run dry. She was a dutiful little thing. Naïve, gullible but unfailingly mild and sweet. She was going to make the perfect wife."

Sakura's brow pinched, a small downturn edged at her lips as her words escaped her. "You loved her for all the ways in which she would serve you?"

Atsuhiko supposed she had meant to snap at him, judging by her clear frustration at her placid tone. Regardless, she had spoken to him and that was reward in itself, despite her callous remark. "What a harsh speculation. On the contrary, I loved her for the ways we would complement one another."

Some of that righteous fury begged to bubble to the surface, but still the Woman could only manage a faint sneer in his presence. "For how easily you could manipulate her, you mean. Was that why you were thrown from your realm? You were a crazed dictator mad with the desire to control others?"

She seemed almost out of breath by her indictment and Atsuhiko couldn't help but chuckle at her. She straightened at his laugh, pupils dilating for a brief moment in shock and intrigue and that almost made him reach for her again in pure self-discovery. But he withheld himself, merely raising a pointed brow at her.

"A rather flawed accusation, Woman. My blood cannot affect another immortal. Mine is a gift unique to mortals alone, as I have learned." He ruminated over the fact just as she did. When he spoke again, a thoughtfulness had settled over him.

"I never truly found my purpose among the other Gods. In my realm, influence over animals was the extent of my prowess of suggestion. A pointless gift for a pointless being. My Sister so did love to torment me over that fact. 'The King of Rats' she would call me. She always was the ruthless sort, even as children."

A soft contemplation curled around him and it was only after a moment did he realise it had come from the Woman at his right. Atsuhiko basked in her tender mishap, standing to at once lean over her and take her face tenderly in his hands. Her eyes snapped to his in hesitation and aversion and yet she leaned into his touch all the same as his face hovered over hers. A steely strand of his hair fell from his shoulders and brushed over her cheek and the Woman parted her lips.

"Perhaps I was always meant to bring my divinity to you." He cooed, and stroked his thumb over the apple of her cheek. "To the inferior race."

Atsuhiko watched intently as the lush green of her eyes went cold and hard, like a shadow had passed over them. He was hardly surprised when she bit out. "The last God who made the mistake of underestimating us paid a heavy price."

Atsuhiko smiled indulgently at her, a laugh caught in the back of his throat at her cling to opposition. She was so very amusing. "Save your breath, Woman. Or one might think you were attempting to shield me from a disastrous end." His dig proved to strike a chord, for Sakura pulled herself from his grasp with a jerk, a snarl itching its way past her pink lips.

"How dare you – "

"I wonder." He stilled her with a hand at her temple, his finger winding around a lock of loose hair. "You use words so severely to fight me, and yet your body is not so reluctant. Sooner or later one will have to give in to the other. Can you confidently say which will submit to which at the end of the day? Because I can."

His touch had subdued her, but still her tongue was sharp. "Keep underestimating us mortals. See what happens." Hazy green eyes glared up at him.

His amusement with her bled abruptly into displeasure and Atsuhiko swiftly moved his hand to cup the back of her neck and tilt her head sharply back. "I look forward to watching the show, Sakura. With you dutifully by my side." The hand at her nape tightened and the Woman winced at his handling.

"Fuck… you…" She hissed through grit teeth, her body tremoring as she fought through the intense barrage of emotions that trailed through her at her defiance and his disapproval.

At once, Atsuhiko's touch became soothing, his hand moving to gently caress her neck, studying her intently as her body went lax with his change in tactic. "I admire you, Woman. Your mind, your body, your spirit. You are not at all feeble in the way most mortals are. You in fact show greater fortitude than many Gods of my home. You are singular in your strength and being."

Sakura's head lolled to the side as her back arched in the chair. Her eyelids fluttered as she weakly strained to free herself from him, a flush staining her cheeks. "So precious you are." He whispered just to see her softly writhe. How strange that his praise had such a subduing effect on her.

Atsuhiko took great pleasure in leaning down and resting his forehead against hers, his voice a soft sigh. "And while I would prefer to preserve you in your peculiarity, do not think for a second that I won't crush you underfoot should you prove more trouble than you're worth, Woman."

A cruel smile adorned his lips as a violent twitch wracked down Sakura's spine a moment before she drew her eyes to his in a heated glare. He was about to brush the hair from her eyes when his reach was halted. Atsuhiko looked puzzled, at his ensnared hand. Her touch at his wrist was most unexpected, and yet she had his arm encased in her harsh grasp as she pried it from her body. Atsuhiko leaned back just enough to catch venom in her twisted lips.

"I don't crumble so easily."

He cast a glance to her white knuckled grip on his arm, then back to her fiery expression. "I'm beginning to learn." He assented critically, before flickering his eyes towards the door in brief acknowledgement.

"Very well, if you won't eat and you won't help yourself then I have no further business with you here."

His statement startled her enough to release her grip on his arm. Shrewd calculation enveloped her as she drew aback from him, her fingers curling into cautious fists. How precious she was, preparing to fight him. Well, he had no intention of such a thing. It would be pointless, regardless of the easy outcome. It just so happened that she had redeemed herself another day with her endless entertainment. He had things to consider. Plans to perhaps revaluate in regards to her permeance to him.

"You may go, Sakura." He stepped away from her and turned his back, striding over to the tall window spilling light into the room. He cast his gaze over the wintery wasteland of his banishment and let his thoughts drift.

He was not concerned with Sakura's reluctance to reveal the Pomegranate to him. True, he had never been the patience sort, however he was calculative and this was something he had no intention of rushing. He had waited this long, he could withhold himself another day. He held the most valuable playing piece in this game with her allegiance, once she surrendered to it. And the anticipating moment was promising to be grandeur in its passing.

It would be favourable if she came willingly to him, however. After all, he was growing rather fond of her... the challenge she posed him, the way she made him feel when he was near her. They shared so much more than merely a connection. He had not realised until he had to sleep through the night without her, but theirs was a 'bond' – incomplete without the other there to satiate their missing piece. They needed each other. And all she required was a little nudge to recognise what he had. He did not wish to see her dead at the end of it all.

That would be… a waste.

He would let things play out for now. He so did relish in the entertainment of it all. The mortals, and their desperation. There was something undeniably charming about their brevity; their struggle to compete against the things greater than them. Scurrying about like blind vermin in the mud. They needed guidance, it was so obvious to him now.

And he would be the one to provide for them. After all, even Rats need a King.

The Woman had scrambled her way to the door, hesitance weighing each step. He stopped her before she could slip completely from his clasp however.

"Sakura." He called kindly, not having to see her to feel her sharp shiver. "I trust you will find your way promptly back to your chambers."

It was a sweet torture feeling her aggravated devastation at his request, so sinfully pleasing. His smile grew as he turned to gaze upon her petrified stance. How adorable she was to still resist him, to think herself free of his hold. A mouse trying to run from a lion.

"Be good and wait for me there."

The furious horror that painted her face would feed his boredom for the next few hours at least, as would the pulse of her distressed anticipation as she waited for him.

Atsuhiko laughed as she fled from his sight, ruby and ivory flickering behind her in her haste.

Mortals were simply too easy. He looked forward to leading them into a greater age of dominion. With his most curious little mortal complete by his side.

A King would need a Queen after all. And he so did love the challenge of those bright green eyes. A green so similar to the one he had lost all those centuries ago.

---

Sakura's heart pounded in tandem with her racing feet as she flew through the cold, dim corridors. Blood rushed her ears and flooded her cheeks with a flush of resentment and anticipation. Her body thrummed with hunger, with desire; each step ricocheting a vital yearning through her. And she hated it.

Thoughts were muddled, scattered around her in a distorted haze as she tried to piece together a solid reasoning. She couldn't think. The further she retreated from Atsuhiko, the more intense she felt the pull back to him; like rubber band pulled taut just waiting for the inevitable snap back. Distance was suffocating. It was like she couldn't function without him. She needed him. She needed him so that she could think clearly. She needed to be right by his side so she could draw an unyielding line between them. To have him close enough to distinguish where she ended and he began. She needed him to complete her.

Sakura gasped and shook her head violently. Shit, what is happening to me?

She turned a blind corner and came to an immediate stop when the fine hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. Like a bucket of ice-cold water dumped over her head, clarity came to her with an abrupt shiver. Not even the blood poisoning her body could make her forget this feeling. Sakura slowly turned her head to face the shadowy depths of an open doorway. Instincts screamed back to life within her and everything else faded away to the inconsequential.

She knew who it was before she saw him.

"Princess-chan." Hansai sang, a disturbed giggle slipping past his dry lips as he shuffled into the light of the hallway.

Sakura straightened her spine as the hunched man swayed towards her, and matched him step for step as he slid further out into the narrow passageway opposite her. Something unsettled slipped over her skin, and Sakura was promptly reminded that Ara and Yukine had been exceedingly careful never to leave her alone with him. And Atsuhiko had just sent them out on patrol together.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, her voice stronger than she had felt in days.

Hansai cocked his head at her, an innocent smile stretching his ruddy face. "We were waiting for you."

Her heart missed a beat. "We?"

The man's grin only grew, and with a flick of his fingers, there was movement from within the shrouded room. Sakura kept one eye on Hansai and another on the room as two vaguely familiar figures lumbered into her line of sight. One thin and blonde, the other stocky and green-haired. Both, however, sported a sickly pallor to their greying skin as they stepped to meet her. They didn't look right. There was something off about their veiny half-lidded eyes, something entirely too…vacant about their slack expressions.

"Princess-chan. These are my friends."

A deep frown marked her features as she studied them, placing them as the two men from the ambush, Shi and Toru. "I know them. But how – "

"You killed them." Hansai said joyfully, instantly gaining her attention. "Didn't you know? Or I guess you killed their usefulness to Atsuhiko-sama and Ara-chan. You can't be good help with broken legs and a crushed spine."

Sakura's eyes sharpened on the man. "You mean – "

"But now, thanks to you they belong to me! My newest friends. My pets." Hansai declared cheerfully, listing heavily as the two figures drew close around him.

Dead. They were dead, and the freak was using their corpses as puppets!

The Boy who played with Corpses…

"You're sick." She breathed.

Hansai's cheek twitched, his grin firm. "I would like for you to play with me. Just for a little while, Princess-chan." He stole forward and she immediately split into a combative stance.

"Don't come any closer." Sakura warned, fists raised as acute battle-hardened instincts overtook her.

Hansai rose his own hands as if to placate and Sakura narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's okay." He consoled giddily. "We'll have fun, Princess-chan. You'll see. Play with us!"

The bodies flew at her before Sakura could take another step. She twisted to avoid the first strike of Toru's fist, and flipped back from Shi's swipe of a knife. But they followed swiftly on her tail. The glint of steel caught the dim light as a volley of kunai tracked her retreat, nicking her arm, side and cheek as she clumsily dodged in the narrow corridor, tripping over the layers of heavy fabric.

Sakura rose from her crouch and crossed her forearms in front of her chest a fraction of a second before a large mangled fist struck her, his blow harsh but not unbearably so. She frowned amongst the commotion, and easily swept Toru's legs out from under him, turning to land a fierce uppercut to Shi as he jumped into her range. Their attacks were firm and quick but messy; lacking any real power or finesse. Not at all like her first encounter with them. No abundant strength from Toru's taijutsu, and no blurring speed from Shi.

Because they are dead and I'm fighting corpses instead of people.

The thought disconcerted her, and as Sakura ducked under Toru's heavy swing and sidestepped Shi's thrusting blade, her eyes caught Hansai's. His fingers were splayed and twitching as he eagerly watched her fight, filthy fingers plucking strings to a repulsive song. She narrowed her eyes. He can access their chakra-pathways even after death? He must somehow reanimate them with his chakra strings. How… foul.

Sakura flattened herself against Shi's back as he fell through his swipe and reversed their positions to use his body as a shield against Toru's lashing kick. Shi hit the ground and Sakura caught Toru's leg, using it to throw him bodily across the hallway. Halfway through this tumble, his body came hurtling back towards her, like a ball attached to an elastic string. There was movement beneath her and Sakura quickly leapt up from Shi's agile sweep of her knees and used the momentum to meet Toru in the air with a fierce kick sending him back the way he came once more. She had barely found purchase on the cold stone floor when Shi was within her stance and aiming a kunai for her neck.

Sakura growled as she dodged and cast a fleeting glance behind him at Hansai's twitching fingers, a question filtering to the front of her mind. Why aren't they using any jutsus? She disarmed Shi of one of his knives and flung it straight at puppeteer, cursing when Hansai merely shifted Toru's body in front of him to intercept the hit, right between his swollen eyes.

Sakura clenched her jaw in detached consideration. Maybe his strings are limited to purely physical puppetry? The dead chakra networks likely can't handle anything beyond basic manipulation. It would sooner tear their bodies apart if he tried to force a jutsu through a decaying chakra pathway. Probably a one-use trick for corpses.

A growl of annoyance slipped past her as she narrowly dodged yet another knife's edge aimed for her exposed neck. Why isn't he attacking me himself? What the hell is he trying to achieve?

It was easy logic to conclude she would need to face Hansai himself if she were to finish this fight permanently. But chakra-strings were a tricky business, difficult to guard against what you can't strictly see. And she was already going in blind. If he got his strings into her, it would be all but game over. Sakura chewed her lips at the reminder that she couldn't risk drawing upon chakra to fight. Not when it would be as much of a death sentence as the knives aimed for her chest.

It was a trap.

Sakura's lips curled back and she caught the satisfied grin that stretched upon Hansai's face at her internal revelation.

He wants me to use my chakra to fight him. He wants me to put myself directly into Atsuhiko's hands.

Ornate fabric fluttered as Sakura once more skirted the flash of steel, grabbing Shi's pale wrist and redirecting it to imbed his knife into Toru's gut. The bodies didn't even twitch as she used one to injure the other. With a flick of Hansai's wrist, they merely straightened and continued their onslaught, while Sakura could do nothing but dodge and defend their relentless charges.

It'll never end at this rate. They're already dead. Anything I do won't matter.

She drove her bare fist into the decaying skin of Toru's cheek and propelled him into Shi sending them both flying an inordinate distance past her real opponent – almost as if they were reeled back by a sudden force. She straightened and frowned. She knew she was still strong without chakra, but that, that wasn't right. Her eyes met Hansai's and his cracked lips spread into a broad yellow grin, a scratchy giggle slipping through.

He's playing with me. It's all just a game to him. He's not even trying.

At once Sakura knew what she had to do. The idea was obvious as it was frustrating. She had to run. She couldn't waste valuable energy on fighting. Not when she could use it to escape instead. Her survival instincts were miraculously intact around this man, and if she could exploit that loophole even a little to give her the chance to slip away, then she was going to take it!

Sakura immediately turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction, a learned rationality preventing her from feeling any real hope at the prospect of escape. Did she really have a chance? How long did she have until the other's returned? Until Hansai got bored and fought with intent? Until Atsuhiko felt her? How long did she have until she was forced to use chakra to defend herself?

Adrenaline pumped through her, sending her nerves on fire when she couldn't appease them by heightening her awareness or reaction time with chakra like she so craved to. She was clumsy. Her speed hampered by the cumbersome kimono, and her agility dampened by days on end of disuse and lack of nutrition. It took a kunai whizzing past her ear to force her stomach into her throat. Her assailants were silent, like puppets dancing across the stage, gaining on her with their lifeless eyes and loose jaws. However, it was Hansai's deranged cackle which sparked a greater haste in her.

"Don't run away, Princess-chan. I just want to play." He sang at her back.

Sakura growled low in her throat, turning corners blindly, eyes searching for a sign of escape in the concrete maze. She just had to find an exit. With any luck she would be able to lose him in the thick winter terrain. Throw him off her trail and find Kakashi. She just needed to take the chance before she lost it forever.

Sakura saw the dead end up ahead and burst through the next door she came across, hoping beyond all hope it was a way out. She stumbled through and then gaged on the thick smell that met her.

It wasn't an exit. It was… horrific.

The small dark room was filled with rotting corpses of animals and humans alike – she could tell as much from the smell. Yet, as light spilled in over her shoulder, illuminating the decrepit space, Sakura could only gasp at the sheer number of dead bodies. Pools of blood and fluid acted like a second carpet on the floor, rusted a putrid crimson in its obvious age and amount. Sakura quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and nose.

Her watering eyes unwittingly studied the groupings of carcases all in different stages of rot and decay; some barely past rigor mortis, others sunken and shrivelled to the point of near skeletal mass. It was like an open mass grave – an organised pit of death. Stacks of organs lined the edges of the walls, arranged into groups and precariously balanced on top of the other, creating abstracts shapes; like how a child would play with blocks. Around the gruesome creation, each body lay categorised and sorted into chaotic piles. Animals, men, women, children.

Kami not children!

And yet, there was no sense of preservation on any of the bodies, the flies hoarding around their figures was evidence enough. It was all just death; a private and sacred cycle dug up and paraded in the most unspeakable fashion. They were free bodies for use; for his use. It was meticulous as it was disgusting, and Sakura couldn't contain the fury that began to bubble beneath her skin at the sick sight.

"Oopsies. You found my special room." Hansai giggled from behind her.

Sakura tore away from both the voice and the room. She flattened herself against the wall, and glared down the man as he hovered across from her with his two rotting puppets.

"Yuki said if I take them out to play I can only do it in private. And only a few at a time. Yuki hates mess." Hansai explained, wide-eyed and earnest.

Repulsion was strewn across her features as the sickening smell continued to permeate the air. Sakura pressed herself against the wall and tried to scrub the image from her mind, tried to banish the lingering taste of rot from her senses. Horror continued to edge at her as she shifted along the wall, eyeing her opponents cautiously as Shi and Toru lumbered towards her, dead eyed and stiff.

They had run her into a literal dead end. Figures.

She would have to fight. If she wanted a chance at escape while she could still think clearly, she would have to earn it. And she had to do it without chakra. With a controlled exhale, Sakura readied her stance. She would have to finish this quickly.

At once Hansai burst into a fit of pleased laughter. "You're so much nicer than your Uchiha. He didn't want to play at all! I like you, Princess-chan. Let's play!"

Sakura didn't have a choice. She had to engage Hansai directly. She couldn't kill the dead. He was her only real opponent, and Sakura suddenly realised that she wanted him dead. If nothing else, that room alone had sealed his fate in her eyes.

Curling her hand into a fist, Sakura calculated. And then, with a sharp glance she moved.

Sakura appeared in front of Shi before Hansai could think to counter her. Her hand darted out to the exposed bone of his knuckles and easily won the knife from his stiff grip. She kicked out his knees, turning as she went, knife raised to meet Toru as he launched towards her. Sakura feigned a dodge, using his correctional twitch to reach behind him and slash blindly at his back. His head and arms went slack as her pilfered knife sliced through a number of chakra strings, but by then Sakura was already flying towards the puppet-master in question.

Surprise morphed into glee in his silver eyes and suddenly Hansai spread his arms out wide as though awaiting an embrace. She didn't know what exactly tipped her off, but less than two feet from Hansai, Sakura quickly dove to the left, throwing herself from his range and rolling across the floor. Not a moment later a high-pitched hiss singed the air before a resounding boom echoed around them. Pops of fire and small explosions littered the area in which Sakura once was, and she couldn't help but gasp at whatever instinct had driven her from his line of fire.

After the last of his explosions faded into nothing more than ash and a dull ringing, Sakura slowly righted herself, watching Hansai as he watched her. In the calm of his wake, her eyes dipped to the ground where now the corpses of Shi and Toru were beginning to char and sizzle. A fate she was sure to have shared with them if she hadn't moved when she did.

"That was fun." Hansai bashfully said to her silence. "Wanna go again?"

He was going to kill her. He was actually going to kill her, damn whatever importance she may be to anyone else.

Sakura's hand shook around the knife in her palm. He was forcing her hand. Either she died or he did. And she wasn't going to survive if she continued to fight with both hands tied behind her back.

Viridian clashed with silver. "Are you going to kill me?"

Hansai cocked his head at her, as though confused. "I just wanna play. I want to be friends, Princess-chan."

"All your friends are dead." Sakura pointed out, a burning anger simmering within her.

Hansai it seemed had nothing to say to her. Instead he shrugged and continued to stand there, eyes glued to her as she considered her alternatives.

Sakura set her shoulders and took a slow breath.

Forgive me everyone. But I have to try.

Reversing her grip on her knife, Sakura bent and tore a slit up the side of her kimono, then reached to cut off the sleeves from where they dragged and hindered her. Hansai for his part, merely stared in silence, and when she met his eyes once more there was a gleam of excitement in his silver depths.

Sakura tucked the knife in her obi and raised her fists. Hansai's smile stretched, crooked yellow teeth gnashed in a feral grin.

"Let's play then." She said.

The heel of her bare foot shifted against the cool stone, then she was gone, materializing in front of Hansai in the span of a heartbeat. Her fist was pulled back and as she released it, she reached for her chakra, any chakra. Like a tidal wave, it surged to meet her, hot and prickling and pleased.

Her fist crashed through flesh – a chest concaved, the jagged edges of broken bone cutting her as she tore through it as easily as tissue paper. Her hand only stopped when her knuckles crushed into the stone wall on the other side of the body, forming a small crater and a dull boom from where it landed.

Then she lifted her eyes and saw the charred limp body of Toru hanging off her wrist.

"So cool!" Hansai marvelled, centimetres from her reach. "You're so strong, Princess-chan!"

Sakura didn't waste time on frustration, not when she could feel parts of herself slipping away with every passing moment. She tore the wasted body from her arm, yanking her wrist up until it burst clean through his shoulder, half severing him. As the body hit the floor, she further crushed it under her heel, rendering it useless to Hansai's manipulation as it pulverised underfoot.

Rest in peace now, Shinobi-san.

Fiery green eyes glared ahead. Hansai tilted his head at her then glanced back to the severed remains of his puppet at her feet. Whatever blood that was spilt from the carnage was her own. The long dead did not bleed.

"What have you done?" He said, voice thoughtful and flat.

Sakura didn't bother to reply, merely stalked towards her prey.

The mangled body of Shi rushed her then, wielding a stray kunai as he dove straight towards her chest. The dirty blade cut across the fabric at her torso as she disarmed him, a fraction before she tore off his arm and then did the same to his head.

I'm sorry. Please find peace now.

Rage coiled deep within her. A cool fire blazed through her veins, burning her for her aggressions and yet rewarding her for concession. She didn't know much time she had left.

There was a creak to the unhinged door behind Hansai, the man giggled, and flung his arms out wide. And then a mass collective of bodies was hurtling towards her. The bodies of his 'friends' – an army of decayed victims soaring towards their second end at her unforgiving hand.

Sakura met each with swift finality – limbs torn from limbs, brittle bone shattered against her fists, bodies turned to dust. Each strike pushed her further and further towards an edge she had no hope of coming back from, but she couldn't stop.

She didn't want to.

"You are ruining them!" Hansai shouted, fury cresting his dirty face as his fingers madly danced. "Stop it!"

Sakura raised her leg and a man was severed in two as he collided with her kick. She flicked her finger and an elderly civilian crumbled to the ground, half the person they once were. She crushed the skull of a disfigured woman in her hand and snarled as fluid and gore licked her ivory skin.

I'm sorry. Please, find rest now. You will not be used ever again.

The final carcass hit the floor with a dull thud, joining the shredded bodies of men, women and children at her feet and then there was quiet.

Burning… her chakra was burning, she was burning. She was being eaten alive and it had never felt so good.

Hansai gnashed his teeth at her, darting his eyes to his ruined pets scattered between them. Then he raised his hands and flexed his fingers, thrilled murder clear in his silver eyes.

Jade eyes blazed as she met Hansai's hysteric gaze. "This is over."

Sakura dashed towards him in a burst of speed, her fist enthralled in blue and gold, raised and prepared to make his end. The man cried out as he caught her wrist in his chakra strings, suspending it inches from his face. It felt like a million knives in her arm, but Sakura was ready for it. With her left hand she withdrew the kunai from her obi and thrust it into his side as much as she could manage.

The burning was turning into something greater within her. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted him to suffer.

The man screamed and she vindictively twisted the blade that much more. The charka-strings around her right wrist stung as he howled, and with a feral twitch, Hansai broke her wrist with an audible crunch. Sakura did not even flinch as he threw her crushed wrist to the side, and flexed his fingertips towards her once more. Sakura felt each murderous sting as more strings attached to her in blinding speed, coming to cover her entire body until she was completely immobilised within his grip; prey ensnared in a web. Hansai jeered at her with yellow teeth and rotten breath.

"That was mean, Princess-chan. I have to punish you now. Yuki would say so." He licked his lips, and with a jerk he wormed his fingers towards her.

Sakura held his gaze, even as he burrowed his strings further into her; violent, merciless and painful. He stared at her and panted. Then with a twitch, he broke her leg with a clean snap. She did not move. Then he crushed her left arm. She remained silent. Each crunch of bone led him further into a fit of laughter.

"I'll kill you. Then you'll be my friend. And Uchiha-sama will have to be my best friend." He exclaimed excitedly to her, blood colouring his cracked lips.

Sakura remained soundless as he forced his strings further into her, working to splinter a rib, then crack her pelvis. Her broke her body piece by piece as he held her suspended before his crazed eyes. Sakura blinked slowly as blood began to seep past her lips, and trail down her chin; pain long forgotten as pure malice and calm determination overcame her. A smouldering vibration in the pit of her stomach reverberated it's call to her, and she listened to its urgent invitation.

Sakura had awakened a power within her, and it couldn't be quieted until she had fed its hunger. It felt familiar, gleefully desperate and she surrendered. It happened without any real conscious thought; a feat she once thought improbable for someone like her now coming as easy as breathing when she reached for it once more; reached for her very core.

With a deep inhale, Sakura charged her charka into a molten heat at her centre then sent it outwards through her pathways. Cool fire scorched through her, burning out whatever strings Hansai had attached to her, a dull golden glow overtaking her entire body as invisible lines fell away from her, one by one. A faint scream echoed in her ears but she paid it no mind.

Hansai froze, watching her carefully, eyes alight with wonder.

"You are going to die." Sakura promised quietly, bringing her freed mangled hand between them and letting him watch as it glowed a peaceful green. Her wrist clicked itself neatly back into place before his very eyes. The fiery gold of her body morphed a cool jade as she mended what he had destroyed; as easy as existing. "You will never disgrace another's memory again."

Fear coloured his silver eyes a second before they dilated in awe. "Princess-chan." He panted, licking his lips.

As the last of her bones clicked back into place, Sakura abruptly jerked the knife from Hansai's gut and held it up to his carotid artery, blood smearing from one wound to the next. "Go to hell."

The moment she flexed her wrist, his arms swiftly came around her, caging her against him.

"Let's go together." He wheezed, thrilled. "As friends!"

She stilled. The moment his fingers locked into place behind her back, she knew she wouldn't die like this. She acted before the stench of Hansai's breath could reach her. She released the kunai, fingers wildly clashing together a split second before the explosion went off around them.

Sakura landed with a heavy thump among a throng of torn bodies, fire already licking the air above her and rattling her chest with its thundering shockwave. The intense ringing in her ears was a perverse calm from the plain horror of everything else around her. Smoke filled her lungs and Sakura could do nothing but cough out the toxic fumes as she rolled herself off the shattered torso of an unidentifiable mass and staggered into standing. She couldn't see through the haze, her equilibrium as much to blame as the thick cover of ash and smoulder.

Sakura tripped over bones and limbs as she collapsed unto the wall, heaving for breath. Adrenaline was seeping out of her, taking parts of her with it. She blinked dazedly, her thoughts coming to her muddled and slow. She had made the substitution just in time… But was Hansai - ?

Suddenly nausea was shooting up her and Sakura took a knee as need overwhelmed her like none before. She was bereft of everything else – awareness, rage, power – it was stolen from her. Chakra was long forgotten as something else entirely drummed to life violently within her. It was difficult to think, almost painful to move. Something intense was overcoming her. She needed to see him. To be with him. It was consuming her.

Sakura gasped, her hands coming to clutch at her throbbing head, to cover her sickly mouth. She couldn't gather air to fill her lungs. She couldn't move. She was out of time and he was coming for her.

Sound came back with a whimper; a wounded wailing surfacing to her dazed cognition as hearing trickled back into her senses. Sakura blinked, she wasn't making that sound… Like a veil lifted, she saw him through the smoke. Hansai, halfway between screeching and cackling as he swayed towards her, covered in burns but undeniably alive.

He survived… Shit.

Sakura fumbled for something, anything to put between her and the maniacal man staggering towards her with a grin too large for someone with skin peeling off their face. Sakura stumbled as she clattered to her knees in search of a weapon. Her chakra had gone quiet. Like it had been fed and satisfied and was now lying dormant within her, not to be disturbed. Her body was weak, no longer prepared to fight, no long prepared to resist. Perhaps she would have panicked over the switch, had not all her available energy been put into stopping him. Stopping everything.

A migraine was piercing her eyes, cracking her skull open with unkept need. Atsuhiko. She needed him. He needed her. Her body with burning with their distance, she couldn't breathe.

Atsuhiko, please! Sakura gasped and spat out a mouthful of blood. Shit. No, no, please no!

She was too late. She was losing herself to him, completely. She needed to put a stop to it. All of it before he reached her. But how could she when she could barely muster the strength to lift her head?

I can't. I won't. I… I –

Sakura's blindly searching fingers knocked against steel and on reflex her hand curled around it. The hot metal was grounding and as it sizzled into the skin of her palm, Sakura found her answer.

She could end it now, herself. She could force herself to bleed out, free herself of his blood. She could take herself out of the equation.

She could –

Sakura trembled as she grasped the blade in weak, urgent hands.

Everyone… I'm…I'm so sorry.

Driven by a desperation like none before, Sakura thrust the blade upon herself, a scream parting her lips. The scream only laboured as something stopped the blade from reaching its destination; like a physical force staying her hand. Feverish green eyes darted up at Hansai in tearful anger only to frown when he remained entirely unfocused and still, staring at her in tentative confusion.

Sakura growled, fraught hands shaking as she tried once more to force the blade its final inch, and yet she could not finish it. It wasn't Hansai… It was her.

She couldn't do it. Not from lack of will. But from the abundance of his will.

Our will.

She had truly lost.

"Stop!"

The knife was knocked out of her hands a second later, but Sakura couldn't seem to move. Her hands fell limply by her side as whatever fight she had seized departed her in its entirety.

She couldn't do it. She lost her chance. Perhaps she never even had one to begin with. Was this… his plan? An unsettled apathy settled deep into her being, the harsh edge to her blinding pain seeping slowly into calmed forfeit.

Arms came around her, and Sakura was pinned to soft feminine curves as a masculine hand reached for her stomach once more. It made no difference to her. Nothing could hurt her more than what she had done to herself.

Yukine paused just before he touched her, eyes shrewd and lips pressed in a firm line. His gaze darted to Hansai than back to her, a small crease wrinkling his brow. Sakura couldn't help the twitch that ran a shudder through her body a moment later when a sharp buzzing in the pit of her core urged her that he was here.

She hung her head and let Ara hold her up when there was nothing left of herself to do so.

"…Sakura?" There was a whisper at her temple, but nothing mattered. Not when she knew he had come for her. Not when she was relieved for it.

"What is the meaning of this?" And she hated that his tone of disapproval made her ache.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll be good I swear."

The chanting was suddenly audible from across the upturned hallway, so in tune with her own mind that Sakura had to snap her jaw shut at the realisation that Hansai had been echoing her very thoughts long before she knew to distinguish them.

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry.

The sharpness to Yukine's jade eyes only intensified as he stepped aside to allow Atsuhiko access to her.

I'll be good I'll be good I'll be good.

Ara's arms tightened around her a second before they released completely, and Sakura absently acknowledged that her strength had left her along with her spirit, as she fell straight into Atsuhiko's awaiting arms.

Her body sung with his touch and Sakura whimpered feebly into his collar as he lifted her. The room spun as her head continued to pound, but at least her burning body had been tempered. Her head lolled and Sakura caught a clear glimpse of the ruin she had created. Craters of destruction, clusters of burning, bubbling flesh and a myriad of corpses now concaved and shredded beyond further recognition, lying between. It painted a terrible picture of condemnation. Her own.

The chakra she wasted fighting a pointless battle. Chakra that brought her simmering compliance to a boiling plea for him. Sakura had never felt so betrayed by her strength.

Dull green eyes skated to the side, and she saw her opponent crumpled against the damaged concrete, Yukine knelt appraisingly by his side as the man continued to splutter and warble. Hansai's orange robes were dipped in red, and shredded with fire, and Sakura knew she didn't escape without harm either. It just so happened that her attire was already crimson, and she couldn't feel physical pain anymore even if she wanted to…

Not when everything now came second to him.

"Atsuhiko." The whimper left her lips without permission and Sakura closed her eyes in comforted defeat.

The exhaustion was there, but it was the truth of her fate that begged her to look away. She didn't fight, even when Atsuhiko commanded the mess to be dealt with and swept away with her. The numbness of her pulsing mind did nothing to defend her against the relief of her body as she dangled from her God's arms. Sakura had nothing but glassy eyes and a fragile will keeping her awake as she was taken from what was her last stand.

I'm sorry… everyone.

---

"What the fuck did you think you were doing!?"

Yukine fought to pinch the bridge his nose at the aggression with which Ara screeched. The whole area was leeching devastation and Yukine was careful to keep his eyes above sight of Hansai's depravity. How could such a massacre of their plans have occurred?

"I was playing with the Princess." Hansai wheezed as Yukine peeled his hand from his freely bleeding side.

Sakura-san had done an exceedingly capable job of missing his organs just enough to ensure maximum pain without immediately killing him. He estimated their fight had become somewhat personal for the medic to have displayed such malicious intent in maiming and killing. Yukine kept pressure on the wound as he examined the skin shedding from Hansai's face.

Impulsive fool.

"You could've killed her, you reckless idiot!" Ara raged, kicking a lump of disfigured flesh in her anger. "You almost blew the both of you up along with half the base! What the fuck were you thinking?"

Her distress was palpable, even without his finer senses. It was becoming increasingly difficult to remain separate from such visceral emotions when she wore them so violently. As it was, Yukine was finding himself displeased with their current situation without the distracting flair of pain and distress coming from his aggrieved partners.

"No, it's okay. I was told I could play with her." Hansai beseeched. "I was following orders."

Yukine glanced sharply up to meet his eyes. "Orders?"

Hansai nodded fervently then cringed with the jostling movement. "From Atsuhiko-sama."

Ara halted in her pacing and Yukine found himself meeting her stunned stare. Then her golden orbs turned to slits and she snarled. "That motherfu-"

"Ara!" He rebuked swiftly, his mind already turning.

"Yuki, he – " She cut herself off before snarling once more to herself and storming away.

"Ara-chan, are you okay?"

"I'm going on patrol." She clipped, a tangle of rage, betrayal and frustration engulfing her stalking figure.

Hansai frowned, leaning forward. "But you just came from – "

"Leave her be Hansai." Yukine halted the injured man with firm instruction, and took a calming breath as he once more glanced over his injuries.

"She is very upset." Hansai whispered. "Why?"

A valid question. One to which Yukine had a regretful inkling. "She formed an attachment." He said at last, distaste clear in his voice.

"Yuki, are you upset too?" Hansai's bloodied palm pulled at his yukata and Yukine breathed out his aversion.

"When were you given your orders?"

"Atsuhiko-sama found me in my room hours ago. He said to wait for the Princess then attack her, to make her use her chakra, to make her attack me but not to kill her…" Hansai drifted off, before lifting watery eyes to him. "But I was going to. Yuki, I wanted to kill her. We were having so much fun and I wanted her to be my friend."

The man trailed off with another whimper, and brought his hands to clutch his ashy hair as he rocked back and forth in guilt.

Yukine mulled over the admittance with a deepening frown. He would have to take care to ensure a stronger distance was maintained between Hansai and his latest obsession. Tonight was too close of a call. And yet, it had been orchestrated as such.

It was clear what Atsuhiko-sama was trying to accomplish – to push the girl into a point of no return. But why ensue such underhanded tactics when an easier alternative was just as available to him. Perhaps his patience finally had worn thin? Was it an elaborate scheme to entertain himself in his eagerness? Or more concerning yet, endear himself to the woman in the fallout. But why? Such motives did not align with Atsuhiko-sama's intention to return to his realm. Unless he thought to bring the girl with him?

"Did Atsuhiko-sama say anything else?"

Hansai sniffled as he lifted his head to stare guilelessly at him. "Only that I didn't need to worry you or Ara-chan."

Yukine pressed his lips in a straight line and looked back the way the God had disappeared with the girl. The abrasiveness of his plan was concerning, as was his intention to keep it from them. And yet the question remained, why?

What is he hiding from me?

A whine at his feet turned his attention back to his freely bleeding comrade. With an outstretched palm he said, "Come, we must see to your injuries."

"Okay, Yuki."

Blood had come to cover much of his immaculate exterior as Yukine escorted the manic child from his would-be grave. And to think, what would have occurred if Ara had not convinced him to return to base early; if she had not refused to continue a pointless patrol on 'pointless orders.'

Yukine chewed on the thought as it ate away at him, a gnaw to his being growing greater with each step.

---

Atsuhiko laid the woman down across the bed, and sat with her, fingers feathering over her shivering form as she hushed under his touch. She seemed so desperate for him now. So keen for his presence, his touch. With a gleam of calculation, he withdrew his hands from her.

"No." She cried feebly as he went to retreat, her hands reaching for him.

He hid his triumph behind a kind smile. "Hush child, you are alright. I am here." His fingers tangled in hers as he lent her one of his hands, his other coming to stroke the soft hair at her head. She felt so right here with him now. He felt so complete with her. A part of his soul, returned.

"I-I'm sorry. I'll be good." She chanted unintelligently, eyes shut and brow pinched.

"I know you will, Sakura. It's alright. You did so well." He praised softly, leaning down to brush his lips over her forehead.

Sakura paused, hazy green eyes fluttering open to peer tentatively at him. "I… did?"

"Yes. You were perfect." He inhaled her and shuddered at the way it sent a pleased ripple down his spine.

Her eyes slipped shut with his approval and Atsuhiko was intrigued to note a soft golden glow had come to envelope her skin. He took another invigorating breath to appease his anticipation. She was almost ready. The Woman under his hands began to slip further into peace as he stroked her, and with careful manoeuvring Atsuhiko reached for the cloth and basin of water at the dresser and began to clean her.

"Oh dear. Hansai was so rough with you." He tsked, squeezing out the cloth and dabbing against her skin. "My poor little mortal."

There was ash on her face, cuts to her person, blood at the corners of her mouth and weeping burns across parts of her silken skin. Atsuhiko gently passed the cloth over her, cleansing her as he hummed softly under his breath. She would no doubt heal soon. Especially when aided with her next transfusion to seal her surrender to him.

As the Woman further laxed under his ministrations, he called to her. "Sakura, won't you tell me where the Pomegranate is? It would make me so happy if you did."

Tension slithered back through her body as she opened and closed her mouth, her eyes screwing tight when she could not answer him. "I-I can't…" She gasped before burying her face into the sheets. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm – "

There was something incredibly satisfactory in seeing the pain in her struggle, and at once Atsuhiko soothed her, a cruel tender smile on his lips she would never see. "Shh, there is still time, Sakura. Don't fret." He traced his fingers over the contours of her face. "Perhaps you will change your mind in the morning, hmm?"

Tension bled once more from her body at his gentle acceptance and with a final caress Atsuhiko leaned down to brush his lips along the soft line of her jaw. "Sleep now, Woman. Everything will be better in the morning. I swear it."

When he righted himself, she was asleep. Perhaps a testament to her exhaustion, or more favourably, perhaps a testament to him.

Atsuhiko smiled to himself and ran his fingers over the Woman as she lay under his mercy. He was content to stay and watch her sleep as the world passed them by. It appeared she had run out of time. Her will was his.

He had won.

A dark laugh bubbled in his throat as looked affectionately down at her. He waited contently with her until there was a polite knock at the door.

"Come in, Yukine." He called softly. "She is ready."

---

Ara was waiting for him when he returned to his chambers. She stood from his bed when he entered, and catalogued his tired sigh as he turned to close the door behind him, not even bothering to acknowledge her presence. Then again, she supposed he had sensed her here long before. Ara twisted her lips in consideration of the fact that he came anyway.

"You did it again, then?" She asked, point blank.

Yukine merely walked past her, making his way towards a basin full of tepid water. "Ara. If you are inquiring about the success of the third transfusion then, yes, I conducted it soundly. Sakura-san should be under its affects most immediately."

There was no inflection to his voice, nothing to betray his thoughts other than his tense shoulders and stilted movements as he went to scrub Hansai's blood from his pinkened nailbeds.

"Hansai?" She asked after another moment's silence, knowing it was useless to pretend she didn't care.

Yukine paused briefly, and tilted his head towards her in consideration. Then he sighed softly, "Recovering, to the best of my ability."

Ara flexed her fingers, restlessness edging at her. "Why are we here?"

"Pardon?"

She tried and failed to hide her agitation. She knew he knew what she meant. Just as she knew he would be sensing her feelings as accurately as she felt them. "You've been serving Atsuhiko for – "

"Atsuhiko-sama" He corrected tiredly, methodically wiping his hands dry with a pristine white cloth.

"You've been serving that man for the better part of eleven years." Ara sniped, striding up to him. "In all the time I've known you, you've been serving him. It's an awfully long time to be devoted to a withered piece of –"

Yukine snapped his face to hers and glared. "Watch your mouth, Ara."

"Or what? You'll throw me away? Cast me out? Sorry honey, been there, done that." She hissed darkly. "I want to know why we've all been busting our asses for the last few years only for this man to start pulling shit like this on us. You promised things would be better with you."

Something akin to a sardonic huff slipped past Yukine's thin lips as he turned from her and began searching the drawers of his dresser. "I never promised you anything."

Ara scoffed, digging her fingertips into her hips and rolling her jaw. "Right. You just let two lost fools follow you around for the kicks. You kept Hansai and I around for the fucking company. Face it, Baby. You're just as fucking deranged as the rest of us." She sneered at his back, watching as his posture grew taut with her insinuation.

When he remained silent she threw her hands up and paced the length of his spartan room. "We were fine when it was just the three of us. When Atsuhiko was nothing more than a body on a bed. A vague goal to pass the time. But now – "

Draws slammed shut as Yukine whirled to face her. "Ara enough!"

"Now, we don't even know what we're fighting so hard for!" She challenged him, stalking closer with each statement. "What does he want? Do you really know? Cause I sure as shit know he doesn't care about what any of us wants. We're all only here because of you, Yuki. And what the hell are you here for, huh?"

Like a flick of a switch, the harsh lines of Yukine's glare became strained with reluctant understanding. "Where is this coming from, Ara? Could it be you… formed an attachment?"

She could see the disappointment in his dark eyes. Folding her arms over her chest, she challenged. "What if I did?"

"Ara." He breathed.

And that just ignited a righteous fury in her that had him wincing. Whatever composure she still held within her control left her in a snap, her casual façade splintering around her. "You think I want to care about that sad-sack of shit, Hansai? You think I want to be concerned over what your tight-fucking-ass thinks?"

"I never asked for your – "

"He's manipulating us!" Ara was across the room and clutching his bloodied collar before she realised she had moved. "Why can't you see that? That shit he pulled with Hansai today. What if Sakura had killed him? What if he had killed her? You've always been smart, Yuki. But this, blindly following this man's every whim – it's the dumbest shit I've ever seen."

"He simply wants to return to his realm. To be reunited with his lost brethren." With dark emerald eyes, Yukine wrapped a cool hand around her wrist and carefully detached her hand from him.

Ara yanked her wrist free of his grip before he could release her. "Right, because a man has never lied about his intentions before." She glared up at him, not willing to give him any space. "We make it too easy for him. Hansai, I get. He's never known any better. But you and me? We should be better. I don't like feeling used."

Yukine stared down at her blankly. "He promised Hansai eternal company. He promised you magnificent treasures, beyond the likes of which you could ever fathom. Are you saying you do not believe him capable?"

Ara scoffed, and raised a brow at him with a cruel twisted smirk. "A little hard for him to deliver all that from on high, Yuki baby. And if he's planning to stick around, well I for one won't be lining up for his 'blood-donations'."

His eyes narrowed at her. "You never had an issue with our methods before."

"Don't give me that. We've all done fucked up shit, but at least it was our decision."

Yukine cast his gaze over her, reading between the lines. "Sakura-san's loss of autonomy is… regrettable but none of our concern. Nor is it a factor off which to base your scepticism." He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to refute him. "I do question your sudden reservations when we have all operated in a similar capacity of manipulation in the past."

Ara stepped closer, tilting her face up to his. "Yuki, he's using us."

The man merely met her golden eyes with bland disapproval. "You are allowing your emotions to get the better of you Ara, and making assumptions based off those rampant 'feelings'. Do not paint yourself so clearly for the world to view. Your anger is nothing more than a beacon of weakness."

Her frustration with him flared under her skin and Ara took vindictive amounts of satisfaction in knowing he felt every inch of her anger as she turned to stalk out of his room. It was so fucking typical of him to try and remain above it all, as if she hadn't seen the upset in his eyes when they found Hansai with chunks of skin missing; when they came back to their home on fire and crumbling.

As she flung the door open, Ara paused at the doorway, a frown marring her perfect complexion. She glanced back at him. "…You never said what it was he promised you."

There was a hollow drop in the man's expression, a heavy breath he forbade from building in his lungs. "There is nothing that I want in this world…" He said quietly, reverently.

And Ara saw it in his eyes; that readiness for oblivion, withheld only by obligation. She set her jaw, despite her urge to scream. "…Well then, fuck you Yukine. I hope Hansai shits on your damn corpse."

She didn't need to add him to the list of people who had abandoned her. She didn't need fucking anyone.

Yukine stood in the quiet of his room, and stared after the woman, her hurt following her like a dark shadow. He drew a hand to his chest and traced the cross-shaped scar over his heart with tender fingers.

"Attachment brings only demise…" He reminded himself in the quiet of his solitude.

---

A/N: Phew! I had a lot of fun with this chapter and I hope you did too! (I know there was a lot to digest, sorry!)

Writing Sakura's fight sequence-turned-accidental-surrender was a big challenge, so fingers crossed it made sense.

And we got a lot more insight into our sneaky villains just to complicate things a little more. I hope you all didn't mind delving into them a little, I'm trying to be as brief as possible with their solo scenes. (I promise there is a reason to it all).

Also, a massive thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting on this story. It honestly means so much and I'm grateful to everyone along for the ride.

Much love Team!