"And you're sure there will be no side effects?" Sasuke asked Itachi and the investigator he'd brought along with him.

They'd arrived days earlier than expected, interrupting Sakura's fitting. He wished he could've stayed with her. Ino was ready to defend his fiance with her life, though, so he wasn't as concerned as he'd be if she were alone with that perverted tailor. Shortly after their arrival, Sasuke was informed the investigator, an incredibly large and muscular man named Kisame, intended to use magic to search Sakura's memories and identify the person responsible for her attack.

'I'm surprised Madara sent such a high-ranking knight. He must actually care for Sakura's well-being. I thought it was all an act. Perhaps it is, and he has another reason for sending them here.'

Only the best of the best are able to use magic, and even then, it was rare for it to be performed for any reason outside war and directly assisting the crown. Since he'd been banished for so long, Sasuke assumed he wasn't truly considered part of the royal family anymore. He didn't allow himself to feel touched by the gesture because he didn't trust Madara after all he'd done.

"There may be some mental distress. She'll experience the memories as I do, so whatever trauma she's suffered, it will be as though it's happening again," Itachi explained, sharing a look with Kisame. Sasuke pictured the withdrawn and terrified Sakura he'd witnessed for days after her assault and gritted his teeth, 'I want to avenge her, but is it worth it to force her to repeat what happened?'

Itachi picked up on his younger brother's hesitance, "Why don't we speak with her first? Maybe she'll be able to give us details she forgot to mention before since some time has passed and she's calmed."

Sasuke didn't see much issue with that but eyed the imposing knight. He was unfamiliar with Kisame. Even if Itachi vouched for him, it did little to ease his hesitance. "You don't do anything unless I'm present. Understood?" The duo shared another look before nodding to the second prince.

"Shall we visit my soon-to-be little sister, then?" Itachi asked.

The three men leave Sasuke's office and trek to the dressing room, only to find it empty. Sasuke stood there with wide eyes, 'The fitting is over already? Then where-' "Ah, My Lord! I was just about to serve tea to Lady Haruno and her brother. Would you like to join them?" Ino asked, appearing with a large tray of tea, cups, and cookies.

'Her brother is here?' The prince nodded, gesturing for her to lead the way. Behind him, the two visitors from the capitol remained silent.

When they arrived at the tea room, Sasuke didn't bother knocking and entered the door. Sakura's eyes were wide and watery as they met his. His teeth gritted as he averted his glare to the pest sitting across from her: Hihara.

'She's obviously uncomfortable around him. What terrible things did he say to upset her?'

Feeling angry and protective, he crossed the room, sparing his fiance a glance as she rose to stand, obviously nervous. "Does the Haruno family not believe in the courtesy of sending a letter prior to visiting?"

Hihara's eyes narrowed, but he bowed and said, "My apologies. Our family was so concerned upon receiving your letter that I couldn't bear to waste another second without verifying her well-being with my own eyes."

Itachi shared a look with Sasuke before interrupting, "It's an honor to meet you again so soon. You'll be pleased to hear we've arrived to investigate your sister's attack." He gestured toward Kisame, who bowed but remained silent, "The king has sent one of our best knights to personally oversee things. We won't rest until the culprit has been brought to justice."

Hihara's mouth opened as though he would respond, but the entire room became stunned when Sakura suddenly cut in, "Please call off the investigation." The Uchiha man looked at his fiance in disbelief. She shyly grabbed onto his shirt with a trembling hand, voice unsteady, "I-I just want to put this all behind me."

He couldn't believe it. He was awe-stricken to the point that he could only stare at her.

'What in the world…. She doesn't want the man who hurt her to be punished? It makes no sense!'

Sakura's grip tightened. Her teary eyes searched his, "Please…."

Sasuke couldn't do it. He couldn't tell the traumatized woman no, not when she was all but begging him, not to mention in front of others. He also couldn't just give up, though, so he nodded. Hesitantly, he rested a hand atop hers, the one clutching the shirt near his hip, "Only for today. We need to speak privately about this."

So, he instructed Ino and Sai to entertain the guests while he guided his fiance upstairs to his office. It was silent as he turned to lean against the desk with crossed arms. He looked at the visibly nervous woman avoiding his gaze, unsure of how to proceed. 'One wrong step and she'll fall back into that depressive state, but I can't…. I can't say the wrong thing. I have to convince her to let me do this.'

It was selfish, yes, but he wasn't even considering giving up on the investigation. No, he had to know who was to blame, or else he'd forever feel this mind-boggling guilt.

Eventually, he took a long, deep breath before starting the conversation neither of them wanted to have, "Why?"

Sakura clasped her hands together in front of her, an ashamed look on her pretty features, "I already told you. I want to move on, and I can't do that if everyone is focused on what happened all the time."

'...She can't meet my eye,' he realized, his teeth gritting together as the woman squirmed before him, 'She's hiding something, maybe even outright lying to me.'

He took his time pondering a response. Absently he looked over to see that the sun was about to begin setting. If he was going to find something resembling a solution today, he had to do it quickly. Urged by the time constraint, he uncrossed his arms, entirely uncomfortable with his own approach, "You needn't feel ashamed, Sakura. If you'd rather just speak with me, or even your maid, we can do that. The others don't have to be involved." Inwardly, he was a little proud of himself for speaking clearly. This entire conversation was something he never thought he'd take part in.

Alas, the woman didn't respond as he hoped. She shook her head, her tears finally overflowing. He watched as she shakily wiped at them, sniffling quietly, "I can't, Sasuke. I really can't. Please don't make me."

Sasuke's resolve cracked. Then, it crumbled. A terrible sensation met his chest at the sight of his fiance so broken, especially when it felt it was completely his fault.

'When did I become so affected by such things?' he wondered, biting back a sigh to not upset her further.

Almost awkwardly, he held out a hand. The woman blinked, still sniffling, upon noticing. She accepted it after a moment, her smaller hand nearly akin to a child's in his. Then, it was as though his body naturally knew what to do. Sasuke gently pulled her closer. Either she was humoring him or genuinely felt comforted by the gesture because her arms wrapped around his middle, and she whispered words of thanks into his shirt while attempting to calm herself.

He wrapped one arm around her, the other hand coming to the back of her head so she'd stay where she was.

Sasuke rested his chin atop her head, finally allowing the sigh to pass his lips. Soon, Sakura was calmed enough to return to her room, where the maid Ino was ready to distract her from the guests. The prince, on the other hand, entered the tea room to see Hihara, Itachi, and Kisame silently sipping tea, Sai standing near the door to keep an eye on things. The butler gave his boss a particular look that said it'd been quiet the entire time he was gone.

"How is she?" Itachi asked as Sasuke took a seat beside Hihara, the only one available at the table.

He curtly nodded, sparing the redheaded Haruno man a brief glare, "Upset. She's resting."

"Were you able to convince her to continue the investigation?" Hihara asked. The other three turned their gazes onto him, and he straightened his spine while defending himself, "She's my sister. I have a right to know about her well-being."

Clearing his throat, Sasuke shook his head, "She's adamant that she wants to put this behind her. I couldn't talk her out of it."

Hihara laughed, earning irritated glances from the others, "Sakura's being stubborn? I've never witnessed such a thing in my life."

The pinkette's fiancee opened his mouth to bark a retort at the annoying man, only for Kisame to suddenly speak, "Experiencing severe trauma has the ability to alter people's sense of self. She must be too afraid at the moment to confront it."

The room became quiet as they pondered the poor woman. A sharp pain shot up Sasuke's neck from the curse's tattoo, and he naturally brought a hand to it with a wince.

Understanding met Itachi's face, and he gestured for Sai, "Show Lord Haruno to a room for the evening, please." The butler nodded, bowing politely before guiding the confused redhead from the tearoom.

Once the door was shut, Kisame rose to lock it, and the first Uchiha prince moved to stand against the wall with crossed arms, watching his little brother struggle to remain silent amidst the shift.

"...Thank….you…" Sasuke managed.

"Should we restrain The Curse?" Kisame asked.

"Our agreement still stands," he forced out, a hand clutching his chest as though he couldn't breathe, "He won't cause too much trouble so long as he can see Sakura."

Itachi and the knight shared a surprised look, the former asking, "He wasn't the one who-" "No!" Sasuke interrupted, feeling the demon's rage explode inside him in response to the accusation.

Then. it was Akuma standing there and no longer the prince. Catching his breath, he held the first prince's gaze with a frown. 'They're here to identify my prey.'

Slow and deliberate, his glowing gaze turned onto the large knight by the door, his teeth curling back to reveal his sharpened canines, "You'll lend me your mana so I can do the memory spell." Kisame's eyes widened before turning to Itachi and gauging his response. "Don't look at your master, Dog! You answer to me until I say otherwise!"

Itachi's arms uncrossed, a serious glint in his dark eyes, "She said to cancel the investigation." Akuma was before him in a flash with a handful of his shirt in his fist as he all but spat in his face, "And I said to aid me anyway!"

He'd had enough of waiting around and watching his sacrifice struggle to deal with everyday life. He wanted back who she was before. If he couldn't have that, the next best thing was to torture and destroy the person responsible for ruining his fun. The demon was no longer interested in playing nice.

To his surprise, the Uchiha man curtly nodded, admitting quietly, "If it's you, then she won't blame Sasuke for breaking a promise." He turned to Kisame and said, "Do as he says. I'll take responsibility when the king finds out."

So, the trio sat down so Kisame could explain some details of the process. "It will be as though you are personally experiencing what occurred. You'll feel, taste, hear, see, and smell everything."

"Spare me the warnings. I'm familiar with spells similar to this one."

Half an hour later, the trio ascended the stairs to the second floor. It was nighttime, but Sakura wasn't asleep. Ino opened the door, took one look at each of the men's faces, and nodded before excusing herself with a quiet apology toward her pink-haired friend.

Sakura rose from the bed with a suspicious face, "What's going on…?" She asked.

Akuma spoke as calmly as possible in his enraged state, "Sit."

She obeyed but also seemed to be piecing together the situation. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Itachi and Kisame before meeting the demon's gaze again and whispering, "Please don't do this."

"Come near us, and I'll behead you both," Akuma warned the two capital men.

Kisame performed the spell necessary to lend him his mana, and when he felt the power flood his veins, he knelt before the pinkette. She was positively trembling from head to toe. A tiny bit of guilt met his chest as he cautiously pressed his torso between her legs as she sat on the edge of the bed, 'I don't care how much she hates me after this. I have to know who did it.'

In an effort to bring her even the tiniest bit of comfort, he interlaced their fingers on both hands, speaking firmly so she wouldn't dare try to run, "Don't disobey me." Before Sakura could respond, he did it. He cast the spell while pressing his forehead to hers.

Instantly, Akuma felt something he'd only ever felt in the presence of the leader of Hell: complete and utter terror. His vision was too blurry because of the tears to make out anything solid, but he didn't need to see to know what was happening. He could feel it: the confusion, the fear, the pain.

He could hear Sakura's muffled sobs as though they were leaving his own mouth. He could taste the cotton of the cloth in her mouth as she tried and failed to spit it out and scream.

The demon was scared. He was scared of what he was feeling, but more than anything, he was afraid Sakura would never recover from something this awful. He'd underestimated how horrible such a thing could be. He was disgusted with himself for the times in the past he'd done this to the helpless souls in purgatory. He was also angry that he felt that way because he was supposed to be a demon and not care about trivial things like human emotions.

Suddenly a voice met his ears. It was familiar. "This is the body of a dancer's daughter? I understand why Father couldn't help himself, now."

'Is that…?'

It couldn't be who he suspected. No, because Sakura would've said something immediately, right? But she blinked in the memory, temporarily clearing her vision enough to make out dark green eyes, blood-red hair, and a disgusting, amused expression on Hihara Haruno's face as he stole his sister's innocence and relished in the act.

Sakura managed to empty her mouth of whatever gagged her and begged, "P-Please, stop! It hurts!" And it did hurt. Every centimeter he moved felt like her core was being torn to shreds.

Akuma was too engrossed to pull himself from the memory, too stunned by the truth. He felt the poor Haruno woman struggle the entire time, experienced the gut-wrenching sensation of self-disgust when Hihara told her she was a whore and that she'd ruin everyone's name if she told a soul about what happened.

As Akuma watched the redheaded man dress and leave the broken woman alone, his rage began to mix in with Sakura's angst. His vision became coated in red as he looked down at her bloodied body and bedsheets.

'How dare he…! I'll tear every vein from his body, one by one!'

There were muffled voices meeting his comprehension, but he couldn't focus on them as Sakura struggled off the bed only to fall into a heap on the floor because the pain between her legs was too severe.

'She's hurt. She's bleeding. I have to help her. I have to get her out of there!' Those weren't his thoughts, just then, but Sasuke's.

'The magic must be affecting him, too.' It was enough to snap the demon from his uncontrollable state, and he deactivated the spell.

Suddenly, Akuma was back to his own body, his own consciousness. His eyes shot open to see blank green ones filled with tears. Sakura didn't blink as she sat in a daze as though hypnotized. She was only taking in short, quick breaths. Her hands were clutching his as tightly as she was probably capable. He felt hot, wet tears force themself from his own eyes, though they were made of blood since he was a demon, remnants of what he'd felt in her mind, and a growl rumbled low in his chest.

"Did you see who it was?" Itachi asked, snapping the demon from his stupor.

His head jerked to the side to fix the prince with a menacing glare, "Watch over her," he barked, slipping away from the traumatized, frozen woman.

Kisame called after him, "Who was it!"

He ignored it.

The swine responsible was so close, under the same roof. Akuma searched room after room, slamming each door open as he hunted Hihara Haruno, only to encounter a few maids in the final room of the manor.

"Where is the man with red hair?!" He bellowed, barely containing his murderous energy.

A brunette one that sometimes tended to Sakura pointed toward the stairs to the first floor as she cowered with the others, "H-He left by horse while you were with Lady Haruno. He said something urgent had come up."

The demon didn't stop to put on a coat before sprinting from the manor. He used what little mana remained from that knight to quicken his steps as he tried to track down the swine responsible for hurting Sakura. He ran and ran for hours until the first signs of sunrise met the horizon.

The exercise hadn't dulled his rage. No, he roared with all the might of a beast, ripping through half-dead trees with bloodied claws. Akuma yelled to no one, "I'll rip out his throat! I'll drink every ounce of his blood!"

He didn't stop his outburst until the sun rose and he had no choice because Sasuke shifted into control and wasn't capable of the same level of devastation. Panting heavily from all the activity, the Uchiha prince let himself fall onto his back on the snow, his dark eyes wide on the cloudy sky as he attempted to comprehend all that'd happened through the night. For a long time, nothing happened, and his thoughts were hardly structured.

Eventually, he snapped out of it and spoke in a raspy, eerily calm voice, "I will kill him."