Trigger warning: blood, scenes of torture, death and sex
"And we had to leave? Just like that?" demanded Naruto, who was unbearably cranky after having his heated morning interrupted. "We were finally about to—"
"Spare me the gory details," she muttered, shuddering.
It was far too early in the day to hear about the pair going at it, especially considering she'd been the one to drag the mutt out of his love nest. The scenes were already branded in her mind—punishment enough for such an abrupt departure.
"Why did we have to leave?" he whined. Sakura was bitter that she wasn't the one driving, or else Naruto would have found himself swiftly unbuckled just in time for her to flip the damn car. "I forgave Shisui for poisoning me—"
How the hell could he even say that with a straight face?
"—and things seemed to be going well with you and Itachi… right?"
"It's called a strategic retreat," she grouched.
But Naruto was unfazed by the surly mood—how could he not be, given who his soulmate was? "Call it what you want. Itachi's under your skin."
Unable to form a witty retort, Sakura tilted her head towards the window and gritted her teeth. She hated herself for the endless responses the silence offered up to the hybrid, that turning away was a display of weakness, but what else could she say that wasn't a barefaced lie or a show of desperation?
Gaara was right in his forewarning of sacrificing a few of her pieces in their mental game of chess, but to think that it was to such an extent nauseated Sakura.
Itachi was under her skin.
Last night was intimate. Far more intimate than she'd initially believed possible given the circumstances. But it appeared in her attempts to chip away at Itachi, he'd scurried under her radar like the weasel he was and chipped away at her also. Going for the weakest part: her heart.
After last night, there was no way she could continue to deny that a part of her did indeed continue to love him. He still held a place in her heart, no matter how miniscule it may be, and that realisation devastated her. What made it all the worse was knowing Itachi was only too aware of her personal findings.
Hence her strategic retreat.
She knew upon waking just as dawn was about to break that she needed to get out of there. Being in his arms felt too natural. And witnessing how peacefully he slept in her presence, seeing how relaxed he was in her embrace, only solidified that incessant urge to run before he fully awoke.
No, not run. It was a strategic retreat.
"Sakura-chan—"
"Don't make me snap your neck again." She was supposed to growl, but instead it came out as a spoilt whine.
The tone wasn't lost on him—made obvious by the knowing pursing of his lips as he redirected his attention to the road. Still, even with the pitiful attempt to hide the smirk, Sakura knew it was there and it only added to her inner turmoil.
Heightened emotions were a valid excuse, however, try as she might to tell herself otherwise, they weren't wholly to blame.
No, the fault lay with her and her weakening heart.
And he knew it too.
Cringing at her situation, Sakura reached out and turned the radio up in a clear display of not wishing to talk. She half expected Naruto to complain about the music the station played, but he proved that he adapted with the times by listening intently for the first couple of songs. Then, he tapped on the steering wheel in time to the next set. Soon enough he was humming along, unaware of Sakura's glowering from the corner of her eye.
But it was the closest to peace she was going to get, she soon reminded herself, head dropping to the window with a thud. Even though instincts screamed otherwise, she needed to let him be.
The repeated vibrating of her phone prompted Sakura to reluctantly glance down at it, dreading who it could have possibly been, before smiling minutely at her son's name.
Gaara-san says we'll be heading home soon. – Mitsuki.
Do we still have plans for a family outing? – Mitsuki.
The reminder of the promise she made brightened Sakura's morning considerably, and she pondered the possibilities of what they could do.
Without a doubt, Ino would enjoy a hike into the forest so that she could showboat her impressive knowledge on plants and herbs—she'd learned about the latter in the hopes of aiding their son with his trickier spells, though it came after the incident that had them realising it was too risky to be seen together. Sadly, she'd yet to live up to the promise she made to herself.
How do you feel about a hike? Sakura tapped out, and her heart melted at the swift response.
Like when I was younger? I would like that. – Mitsuki.
Done, she promised in return. Though you do know what that means, right?
A hike was a good way of easing back into things, she told herself. A way of wading into leaving the mansion as mother and son without being surrounded by crowds of people. While it wasn't impossible to detect another vampire, it wasn't the easiest task either; Sakura would rather she didn't waste the day with her son feeling paranoid.
Shopping? – Mitsuki.
In return for the scared emoji he tagged onto the end of his message, Sakura promptly found the purple devil to add onto the end of her own.
I can't hike in my heels now, can I?
That's a terrible excuse, Mama. You own plenty of boots. – Mitsuki.
See you when you get home, love!
Mood brightened after the short but undeniably sweet conversation with her son, Sakura glanced to the hybrid who had also perked up. Apparently, she was the cause, if the meeting of their eyes and his wolfish grin was anything to go off, and she huffed with amusement.
She kept up the light-hearted mood by saying offhandedly, "Sorry for giving you blue balls."
"You should be," he told her, pouting. "Itachi's not the only one who was desiccated for fifty years, y'know."
Funny how they kept dismissing the fact that he put Sasuke through the forced slumber also.
Sakura tilted her head in Naruto's direction and looked him over, knowing from their encounter alone that it hadn't been fifty years since he last got laid. Being so similar to Ino, she knew he likely had a string of unattached sex, though could also tell that it wasn't what he desired above all else. The hybrid was far too soft-hearted for such meaningless entanglements.
He yearned for his soulmate.
"Surely you had some time together before he jumpstarted this whole mess?"
"We couldn't hang around for long. I wasn't exactly gentle with Shisui when I figured out what they'd done to him," came his vague explanation. The pout then grew more pronounced as Naruto slumped in his seat. "And Sasuke's thirst was too intense—he bolted the second he could sense humans."
"Bolted?"
Weary eyes met hers. "Despite what the others think, he has tried to control himself."
Unfortunately for her, she was beginning to understand that Sasuke was genuine in his attempts. The problem was his family. Rather than hold him accountable, they fed into his affliction. They justified the predator's rampages. That second personality that came with being a ripper was… difficult to overpower, to say the least. Having such a weak support system made it thrice as hard.
"Do you think he can do it?" Sakura asked while watching him closely. "Do you think Sasuke can overcome his ripper urges?"
There wasn't even a second of hesitation. His response was swift but more than that, it was heartfelt. He meant it with every fibre of his being and more. "Yes."
A thousand years' worth of memories was playing out in his mind, she could see in his haunted eyes. The good and the bad. Sakura supposed there had to be something redeeming about Sasuke's character for someone like Naruto to stick around, unless she was looking at a tremendously warped case of Stockholm syndrome.
No, Sakura deduced by the look in his eyes. Naruto really was a helpless fool in love.
"You idiot," she sighed half out of pity, half understanding.
They made remarkable time as Naruto flew down highways and backroads, amusing Sakura when he was eventually pulled over by the police for the dangerous speeds he was hitting. He played his part of a sheepish human well until the policeman asked for his license, to which he fell back on good old compulsion to get out of trouble. When it happened for the third time, however, Naruto reluctantly decreased his speed and sulked about it the whole drive afterwards.
"This sucks," he told her for what felt like the hundredth time, either unaware or uncaring that he'd long lost Sakura to online shopping. "What's the point in these cars if you can't drive them how they're supposed to be driven?"
"Like a madman?" she hummed, adding another outfit to her basket.
"Don't make cars that can hit two hundred if you can't hit two hundred."
Sakura rolled her eyes at that but didn't bother arguing that humans didn't possess their reaction times and were sickeningly fragile so unable to walk away from such a wreck—hell, she doubted she would be able to without the link between her and Sasuke. Although she would simply revive unless she was staked, her heart was torn out, or she was decapitated, that would do her no good if the car combusted. Fire could just as easily snuff the life out of her.
"We're about to enter Konoha so you need to slow down anyway," she warned.
"Hoh?" came his teasing response. "Are you playing by the rules now, Sakura-chan?"
She snorted without looking up from her phone, too entranced by the latest line of her favourite designer. "By all means, continue your idiocy. But I know these roads better than you do."
"What do you mean—"
His sudden intake of breath warned Sakura to brace herself for his reckless switching of lanes, and she rolled her eyes once again at the typical domino effect of others being affected by his driving. The blaring of horns and show of middle fingers in passing had Naruto pouting at the pissed off drivers and mumbling about how everyone nowadays suffered from anger issues.
Soon enough the backroads that they turned onto were barely wide enough for two cars passing side-by-side, demanding he slowed extensively lest he wished to crash. Blind spots in the forms of corners and dips in the roads had him focusing intently, whereas Sakura made another mental note to shake Sarutobi down for the road makeovers.
As badly as he wished to preserve nature, it was a turn off for the tourists meaning a decrease in supply. Their agreement relied on his allowing her clan to feed on the tourists, yet he was at risk of rendering it void by not updating their town to keep their meals flocking to them. Soon enough, if he wasn't careful, they would become one of those rundown areas that people did all they could to avoid.
"Shit…!"
That sound…
Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto's overdramatic response of braking so suddenly she was lurched forward—like he couldn't see it coming a mile off. Rather than voice her disapproval, however, she braced herself on the dashboard and looked to him from her peripheral, idly playing around with ideas as to how he may respond because she sure as hell knew how it was going to turn out. Those tyres up ahead were struggling to maintain a grip of the road. She gave it four—no, two seconds before—
Exasperated when the oncoming car reappeared from the dip in the road, she could only watch the spectacular fuck up as it went airborne, the revving of the engine completely unnecessary but certainly adding a flare to the damn near cinematic sight. And as though that wasn't enough, the pitiful driver managed to flip it the moment they touched down again, making her shake her head when she caught sight of the teenager behind the wheel.
"Fucking humans," groaned Sakura with a disbelieving roll of her eyes. "Always demanding to live on the wild side but never able to handle the consequences."
Luckily for said human, other than their two cars, the road was empty. That meant his ridiculous actions wouldn't result in the ending of his life that day.
But Naruto beat her to the punch by throwing himself out of the car and vamping over to the wreckage, taking less than a second to assess the situation before the smoke coming from the engine had him ripping the door from its hinges.
Always so dramatic, Sakura thought with a touch of approval.
She was substantially slower in approaching the flipped car, knowing that her presence wasn't really necessary but being too nosy to stay back. However, it was halfway over to them that a distinct dripping caught her attention, and she felt Naruto's eyes immediately taking in her falter.
"Stay back if you can't handle it," he warned at her swallow. "It's bad."
Of course it was bad. The idiot flipped his damn car driving straight. She thought that only happened in action movies.
Sakura shook the temptation from her mind and forced herself to concentrate on remaining in control. It wasn't the first time stumbling across someone who was bleeding and she vehemently refused to lose control now after all her talk on self-control.
"Lucky for him, I'm not that thirsty," she assured Naruto.
Still, despite the conviction in her words, Sakura chose to stay back to allow Naruto his hero moment just in case Sasuke's urges decided to make a reappearance.
From the looks of things, the driver was barely even of legal age—his passenger was no different, though fortunately for his sake, he was out cold. If he'd been aware of the driver's predicament, it undoubtedly would have been chaotic as hell and they simply didn't need the added drama.
No traces of alcohol, though a brief glance throughout the car alerted Sakura to the presence of bagged up marijuana. It was impossible overlooking the stench of a plant that dominated the era she grew up in, but it was evident in the scent of the driver's blood that he wasn't under the influence in that moment—hadn't been in recent days, either.
Naruto kept a firm hand to the younger man's neck, taking a few moments to gather his thoughts and decide on the best course of action. Already, blood was seeping into the mid length dark brown hair that was brushing the ceiling of the car, his entire face flushed red from strain and his unfortunate positioning.
"You'll need to move faster than that," Sakura called out chirpily. "He'll bleed out in the next minute, if not sooner."
But for the first time since meeting him, the hybrid didn't rise to her teasing nature, and she pouted at the seriousness he displayed. It was unlike the man she'd gotten to know, and she found it left her torn on whether she appreciated the change or not—he was supposed to be an idiotic mutt, after all.
"Stay calm, I've got you," the blond told the human sincerely.
He shuffled closer to offer more support as he began tugging at the seatbelt that kept him in his seat, catching the man carefully once he was freed and easing him onto the road. It seemed he was mindful of the shattered glass from the car's windows, though Sakura believed that to be pointless considering the extent of the injuries already. A few grazes were hardly going to matter.
"What's your name?" asked Naruto, frowning.
"Shi-Shika-maru," came his gargled response.
Oh, he was growing quite the sickly shade of grey, Sakura noted. Already blood was pooling beneath him, and during the distraction of asking for his name, the hybrid removed the jagged piece of glass piercing his carotid artery. Maybe a minute was too generous of her, especially since Naruto was clearly taking his sweet time in healing Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru," said Naruto. His lips twitched with a minute smile that didn't quite touch his eyes. "People are gonna have plenty of questions as to how you walked away from this crash—"
Sakura was entranced by the dilating of the hybrid's pupils and the responding jolt of awareness from the man in his grasp. Light brown eyes were overtaken by his pupils as they contracted in response to the compulsion and instantly, all fear faded from his expression, leaving him staring up at Naruto like a compliant doll.
So, that was his plan?
"—but you'll be as oblivious as the rest of them. You won't mention my presence here today, and for the next twenty-four hours, you're gonna be a recluse. No dying, you got it?"
"No dying," Shikamaru confirmed, bewildered.
Such a peculiar creature, Sakura couldn't help but marvel. With his intentions being revealed, she didn't bother hanging around, instead choosing to return to the car and resume her shopping.
The occupants of the wrecked car were clearly coming from Konoha, meaning she couldn't take the risk in dismissing their plight. Sarutobi was a pain in her ass so she would prefer not to give him something else to drone on about—not when he was undoubtedly waiting for the perfect opportunity to corner her about Danzo's untimely demise.
She grimaced at the reminder of her own brattish actions. It may have been a little rash of her to—
"Perfect," Sakura delighted at the sight of the rucksack. Mitsuki was in dire need of one if they were going to go hiking, given that he was still human and required sustenance.
Add, add, add, add, add, add—
Wait, she was originally thinking about something she'd done wrong, wasn't she?
Her thoughts were forgotten about by Naruto's cheery return to the car—with company. They didn't appear half as cheerful as the blond, though that could be chalked up to the totalled car that Shikamaru continuously stole glances of. His expression was a mixture of uncertainty and remorse, leading her to believe Naruto should have been more precise with his compulsion.
Still, not her problem.
…Yet.
"You're getting awfully arrogant, Naruto," noted Sakura without any real malice, keeping her voice low so they wouldn't overhear. "Bringing strays back with you."
"You don't mind, right?" he asked like she was even going to argue. "There's no telling how long they'll be stuck out here for."
Or who could potentially be hanging around.
Dismissing the hybrid with a roll of her eyes, Sakura looked to the two uneasy humans standing a few feet behind him and offered up a charming smile. The effect was slow but undeniable as they finally felt comfortable enough to scoot into the backseat of the car.
"You were coming from Konoha, right?" Sakura questioned with a glance over her seat.
There was a substantial amount of blood on Shikamaru that warned her not to take him back to the mansion, though simultaneously warned her against setting him free also. They needed to clean the pair up first—being drenched in blood without a mark on them was suspicious and screamed vampire activity. The last thing she needed was for the hunters breathing down her neck, since they weren't the most trusting bunch.
"We're from Konoha," Shikamaru responded easily enough, sparing one last look at the wreckage before sighing dejectedly. "How do I even explain that mess?"
She waved off the concern. "At least you're alive, right?"
"We got incredibly lucky," agreed the man at Shikamaru's side. He removed his rounded sunglasses like they hindered his sight before slipping them back on, muttering more to himself, "How many people walk away from an accident of that magnitude?"
Green eyes briefly met blue, and she wondered if he was smart enough to pick up on his lacking compulsion. If he was, then Naruto kept it to himself, choosing to set off instead of rectifying the mistake before it could grow bigger.
One of Sarutobi's many exhausting rules was the protected ignorance of the humans. They feared her kind without knowing what they were—couldn't say specifically who was the oddity but understood they were in the shadows. Darkening their streets with their bloodthirsty presence.
Chances were, Shikamaru and his friend naturally possessed suspicions, or at the very least heard the whispers of the more superstitious characters. To keep up with Sarutobi's terms and conditions, they would need to wipe their minds. Tie up the ridiculously large loose end that Naruto left bared.
Sakura supposed the pair looked like the stereotypical stoners who loitered around the town, but could they really take that chance? One throwaway glance over her shoulder in the guise of looking to Naruto was all the answer she needed, and she raised her hand to brush aside his shaggy hair in a seemingly intimate gesture. Then the second their gazes connected, no matter how brief, she pushed her thoughts out to him.
You have until the end of this car ride to fix this before I do it my way.
He glanced to the humans via the rear view mirror, only to drop his focus back to the road upon realising they were already watching him. His nod was discreet—had her hand not been touching him, she never would have seen it.
"So," Sakura spoke up with faux friendliness. She turned in her seat and offered a smile to the two men. "Were you guys late to something or…?"
Shikamaru grimaced at that, his hand coming to the back of his neck to rub at it. "No, I…"
The distance entering those light-brown eyes forced Sakura to smooth out her expression to keep the suspicions from showing. However, it was at his admittance to not knowing why he was driving like that that confirmed her thoughts; could tell from Naruto's tightening grip of the steering wheel that he caught onto what was amiss.
Compulsion.
One of hers? No, it was impossible. Her clansmen were nightcrawlers who were trapped in the mansion during the day—hell, they couldn't even leave at night anymore either due to the looming presence of the Uchiha clan. But it seemed equally implausible that an Uchiha would compel Shikamaru to drive so recklessly—what was the point? What would it achieve?
Sakura settled back into her seat as she contemplated the possibilities.
Did the two behind her hold any significance? They weren't chosen ones—Naruto wouldn't have been able to compel them otherwise. Maybe hunters but again, the compulsion had her ruling it out. Itachi warned her they would have a supply of vervain, meaning they were warded against their abilities. The only way to bypass that was to prevent them from ingesting more and wait for what they'd already taken to leave their system.
They were too young to be hunters anyway, Sakura noted. Konohamaru was perhaps the youngest chosen one in decades (even if his appearance since awakening that side of himself stated otherwise), and she'd yet to see anyone of a similar age in the ranks. They all underwent some form of extended training to try and close the gap in strength between them.
"How bizarre," she replied both to their inability to explain their driving and her own thoughts.
An uncomfortable silence emitted from the back seat, potent enough to prevent Naruto from returning to his earlier singing even though the radio continued to play. Subtle glances through the mirrors showed Sakura the two men's attention was fixated on the world outside the car, and she could tell from the rigidness of their muscles and widened gazes that shock was likely setting in, if it hadn't already. She—
A sudden heat exploded from deep within her gut, stealing Sakura's breath and demanding that she ducked her head forward to hide the physical effects of her vampirism. The bag at her feet had never been more intriguing, and she willed her rampaging heart to slow down while making a show of digging through the contents.
Sasuke was feeding.
Usually, it was enough to sate her also. The effects of Sasuke feeding were euphoric—the greatest high that dug its vicious claws into the ripper, and the comedown was fucking brutal. Powerful enough to send a person into total madness.
It seemed being trapped in a car with two humans coated in their own blood was to be a test on her restraint.
The shaking of her hand was stilled by the large one that firmly engulfed it, with the added benefit of hiding it from view. Sakura wanted to snatch hers away—she didn't need his goddamn help—but that ridiculous sentimentality that she was fighting against the past couple of days immobilised her. The comfort was a hundred times more potent than his subtle anchoring her, and she allowed herself to drown in it.
"You okay?" called one of the men from the backseat—she couldn't be sure who.
"She's fine," Naruto answered for her, barely sparing them a glance.
Her mouth was watering. Fangs cutting through in preparation. The veins around her eyes shifted almost in time with the pounding of the hearts behind her. Although there were no longer any open wounds, that didn't matter to the predator within who'd already caught onto the scent of their blood, who was viciously reminding Sakura of how much blood Shikamaru alone lost in the accident.
Remaining hunched forward in her seat with a vice like grip on Naruto, she brought her free hand up and over her eyes.
"Motion sickness," she grumbled in the hopes it would stop their staring.
One of them promptly looked away, though she could feel the eyes of another piercing into the back of her head. In her heightened state, Sakura could smell their uncertainty and wariness. She could hear their human hearts and the pumping of their blood. It—
He'd stopped.
It took her a few extra moments to regain composure, and in that time, she blindly opened her window to air out the car. They were at the average speed limit on Konoha's main roads by that point, though she was sure the pair of humans would much rather deal with a bit of wind than her thirst.
A hesitant deep breath allowed Sakura's muscles to unclench bit by bit during the following exhale, and Naruto's small smile spoke volumes as he brought their clasped hands up to his lips. A peck of gratitude for the display of clearly tricky restraint, of pride that she hadn't allowed instincts to overrule her. Unable to resist during the indirect blissful moment she lingered in, Sakura's head fell back against the seat, relieved eyes sliding shut.
"Sorry about that," she called out lightly. "The change in speed always gets to me for some reason."
"You don't have to apologise."
"You guys went out of your way to help us, after all."
Offering up a single squeeze of thanks, Sakura released her death grip on Naruto's hand and turned her focus to the phone on her lap. Planning the trip with Ino and Mitsuki kept her thirst at bay for the remainder of the journey, but she couldn't deny it wasn't soon enough when the two humans were dropped off at one of their addresses. Naruto leaving alongside them (no doubt to strengthen his compulsion) granted Sakura a moment of privacy to bask in the overwhelming relief from being so close to losing control.
She peeked down at her phone when it vibrated once, frowning at the unsaved number.
Good morning, my love. It is fortunate Shisui thought to provide me with one of these devices, seeing as you left without sharing your plans to retrieve Obito. I shall assume you require my presence and will join you in a couple of days. – Itachi.
She was half-tempted to reply with the irritating 'text talk' that she knew her former love would struggle to decipher. Instead, with an irritable sigh, she tapped out a simple enough response to his long-winded text.
I can't sleep the day away—I'm a busy woman. Send word when you have Madara's location, and we'll go from there.
The response was considerably slower and didn't come until Naruto was sliding back into the driver's seat with a huff.
Very well. Until then, my love. – Itachi.
Unable to resist the temptation, Sakura purposely confused Itachi by responding only in emojis that ensured her phone was undisturbed for a short while.
"I don't know what's worse," she muttered conversationally as they headed in the direction of her mansion. "The fact Itachi has dark objects, or that he now has a phone."
Naruto snorted at that. "Definitely the phone. Now no amount of distance will rid you of him."
She groaned dramatically.
Unsurprisingly, they beat Gaara and Mitsuki home. Sakura suspected it to be a few more days before they returned unless they had set off shortly after messaging her son.
A brief visit with the coven allowed her to send word to the heretics—only possible thanks to the blood Gaara spilled while attacking them both. She was pleased to note that there was enough for another two vials after already using one; if they happened to try anything then they could retaliate with a tragic spell or two.
"Do you know Mitsuki's status?"
"His status?" she questioned, irritated by the nerve of Kabuto. When all that met her was silence, Sakura glanced over her shoulder in her pause to leave and scowled at the combined concerns of the coven as they loitered in their main room together. "Safe."
"Is he?" Anko pushed bravely. "Can you be sure of that?"
Disconcerting stoicism took over her expression while shutting the door to the coven's wing once more and she turned to offer them her full attention. What was more irritating than someone stepping out of line was when others meekly tagged along, hovering like they currently were.
"Spit it out."
"That clan is a monstrosity," Guren said without holding back. Her hand was fixed on Yukimaru's shoulder protectively, lips pursed to prevent her revealing how she was feeling inside. "To place him under the care of someone like Sabaku no Gaara is unnerving to us all."
Understandable, Sakura tried to remind herself. They'd heard the rumours of their depravity and had yet to see any other side to Gaara than the ruthlessness he exuded. She reminded herself of that. Multiple times.
That didn't mean she accepted their words, however.
"Mitsuki may be destined to be your coven's next leader but let's get one thing straight," Sakura started softly, attempting to reel in her composure, but it was obvious to them all that they'd hit a nerve. She could tell from the uneasy glances they shared. "Mitsuki is my son. You do not get to question decisions I make as his mother."
It was infuriating beyond belief to have them question her not as a person in general, but as a mother. Sakura accepted that she'd made many reckless and quite frankly idiotic decisions as of late, and there was a considerable weight in the air around them that reeked of Uchiha Madara's bloodlust. However, she had never intentionally put her son in harm's way. That boy meant everything to her. She would rather die a thousand deaths than ever see him come to harm.
Inhaling deeply just as the rage swelled suffocatingly, Sakura added more calmly, "I understand your concern. Gaara's reputation is not one to be overlooked. However—" she muttered, unable to keep the fury from leaking into her voice and turning it into more of a growl. "—the next time you overstep there will be dire consequences. Do not push me."
Her upper lip curled at their silence, and she forced herself to leave before she seriously lost her temper with them.
Many avoided eye contact with Sakura when her mood became apparent; her clansmen greeted her with subdued bows of their heads in her journey to the grand hall but otherwise avoided her. The direction she was headed in had them clearing out if they happened to be too close, having learned from past experiences that it was where she went when she needed to clear her head.
What kind of mother are you?
Growling angrily at the return of those impudent thoughts, Sakura slammed the double doors shut with unnecessary force.
Control yourself, she willed just as her demon eyes activated.
It's not that deep, she tried to rationalise.
Nails scraped through her long locks, pulling at them until they once more tumbled down her back.
It was her own fault why they were questioning her judgement; she purposely withheld Gaara's devotion to her from everyone (sans Ino, who obviously knew everything). To them, it likely appeared as nothing more than lust—a powerful physical connection and little more.
Like hell she would entrust her son to someone she didn't—
Breathe, Sakura willed.
Perhaps it wasn't so much the questions asked as it was the implications behind them. She'd factored losing face when it came to the vampires of her clan but hadn't anticipated the coven's faith in her to be shaken to such an extent. Never had they questioned any decisions she made when it came to Mitsuki—everything was accepted with grace and the understanding that she was his mother.
Once the anger passed it left inertia in its wake, and Sakura sat on the stool belonging to the piano. Weakly, she accepted it brought her a minute bout of comfort, and after many minutes of consideration, she tenderly lifted the cover to reveal the keys, fingertips soon grazing along them without applying any pressure.
All she really picked up during her lessons was a simple four chord melody and Sakura quickly discovered even that was rusty. Nothing like the masterpieces Itachi both played or created himself; watching how effortlessly he got lost in his music like it banished all darkness from the world never failed to sweep her up in the moment. Hours could pass before they returned to reality.
Her fingers lightly pressed the keys, for the first time in over fifty years filling the grand hall with music—albeit jumbled mindlessness but notes regardless.
It was a crying shame that she didn't pick up the skill, Sakura thought to herself idly. It really was a pleasant pastime. Before she realised it, the sun had set leaving nothing but the moonlight to illuminate the hall and gradually, her repetitive playing of the one melody she knew drew to an end. No doubt the others would be questioning her sanity, or their own as they remained trapped with the melody until the sun set and granted them fleeting freedom.
"Sakura?"
She shut the cover of the piano without looking her way, asking softly, "What is it?"
Ino approached calmly but with notable concern shining in her blue eyes, the tilting of her head only magnifying the expression she wore. Nobody touched the antique piano, though only she knew that it belonged to Itachi. No doubt the sound of it being played had concerned the blonde upon her return to the mansion.
"Join me for a walk?"
Something was up with Ino, Sakura deduced and frowned. Never typically one to show when she was struggling, they knew when it did show that whatever was clawing at her was devastating. Without saying a word, she stood up and joined her righthand woman on a stroll of the gardens, their arms soon linking up to keep one another close.
"You really worried them," she announced quietly, wary of being overheard.
The coven.
Other than their footsteps and words, the night carried only the sound of wildlife and a mild breeze that rustled the leaves above. The lack of clansmen must have been her doing, Sakura noted. It appeared they'd disappeared into the town—Temari and Kankuro also, though that was likely to keep an eye on them. She'd missed such peaceful midnight walks.
The anger had well and truly passed. All she had to offer instead was a weary sigh of, "They questioned my judgement."
A light squeeze of the arm looped through Ino's brought her attention back to the blonde, and Sakura took a moment to appreciate the luscious platinum hair that appeared almost silver in the moonlight. Her hair was a feature Ino prided herself on and it showed in the healthy shine that attracted the light no matter where she was.
"You would never put him at risk. We know that," Ino agreed softly, though Sakura could tell from her pained grimace that she had more to say. "But you need to consider the indirect danger he faces, Sakura. Gaara has ample enemies—what will they think if they suddenly see a child at his side?"
…It wasn't Gaara himself who was the threat, she belatedly realised.
The reason why Gaara's enemies didn't concern her was because she trusted him. Nobody could get close enough to harm him; the last time he was so crassly betrayed was the night he was turned. How could she not find comfort in knowing nobody was able to cross him in over a thousand years? That the only time he had been taken by surprise was because of her (and she hardly thought that counted, considering Naruto was a different breed altogether that nobody could have anticipated)?
"Why am I being so irrational recently?" she nearly whined, dropping her head to Ino's awaiting, comforting shoulder.
"You're defensive. After everything that's happened, it's understandable."
Perhaps, but she was supposed to be a leader. A leader at war with Uchiha Madara. If she didn't get her act together then she may as well stake her entire clan and herself in the heart, because going up against someone like Madara in such a condition was as good as.
"They understand that too—or now they do, anyway," Ino continued when Sakura remained silent. "Remember that these guys have dedicated the past ten years of their lives to Mitsuki-kun. While that in no way overrules you, they have every right to be concerned about his well-being. Just like I do."
Sakura hummed at that and tried pitifully, "You're his parent too—"
"Me?" the blonde scoffed. "Please. I'm much better suited to being the aunt who spoils him rotten."
"You just can't say no to him."
"That's precisely my point." A significantly more comforting quiet fell over them as the pair traipsed the gardens, taking their time around the water feature that sparkled under the starry night sky. "You know, I never believed in love at first sight until that moment."
She paused in dropping a delicate purple flower to the fountain. "What moment?"
"When we found him."
Smiling wistfully at the memory, Ino sat at the fountain and gazed up at the stars. The tilting back of her head threatened to dip the ends of blonde locks into the water until it was brushed over one shoulder.
"Your humanity was back on but you were trapped in just one emotion: rage," recounted Ino. The thoughtfulness of her expression prompted Sakura to join her, the backs of her thighs instantly growing cold from the stone. "Then we stumbled across him and—" She snapped her fingers. "—you couldn't hold the rest back any longer."
More like she couldn't focus solely on the rage any longer.
Before assaulting Sasuke with her emotions, Sakura would have been inclined to agree with Ino's words, but now she knew different. The returning influx of emotions was overwhelming at the best of times, all of them being heightened due to her vampirism. And because she'd never held back when it came to sharing her burdens with Ino, Sakura soon shared all that happened with her righthand woman. As always, she listened attentively and offered up advice where necessary, or doubled down on the decisions Sakura believed to be right in the moment.
"Enough about Itachi," she soon pleaded softly, green eyes drifting back to the ripples in the water. "He's messed with my head enough as it is."
A quiet hum was her only agreeance before Ino eventually called out, "Sakura?"
"Yeah?"
"Humans don't linger like the supernatural do… right?"
There was that look of discomfort once more—the one that left her seeming so unsure of herself when Ino first approached her. Sakura cursed herself for being so self-involved to have believed it was down to something as frivolous as the piano being played. Of course it would be something major; something was burrowing deep under the blonde's skin.
"What happened, Ino? Where's this coming from?"
Blue eyes forcibly remained dry, but there was no controlling the tiniest of wobbles to her voice that she knew to look out for. It told Sakura that Ino was trying hard to mask how much pain she was really in, and a vicious whip lashed at her heart in response to the suffering of her soulmate.
"…I think Mitsuki-kun has been seeing Sai."
Shit. "What makes you so sure?"
"He knows things I know you'd never tell him," she said with a light snort, their eyes meeting when she rolled hers. "That silly boy thought he had me fooled by suggesting you're the one who told him of how we met—he should've said he'd overheard it somehow."
Ah, Mitsuki-kun, Sakura mentally chuckled. You should know by now that your aunt is an excellent people reader.
Sighing at the difficult situation that put her in, she allowed her gaze to lower to Ino's daylight necklace. A gift from Sai when she turned eighteen—she could recall the story of him saving for months like she'd been there. The amethyst stone was as captivating as he found her, Sai had told Ino while presenting it to her. Nobody could wear purple quite like her, he'd added as he fastened it around her neck.
"Would you want that?" Sakura asked lightly.
She huffed out a weighted breath that caused Ino to visibly close in on herself. "I've been asking myself that since they started teaching him the art of clairvoyancy. I can never come to a definitive answer."
Of course you can't, Sakura thought sadly. Her aching heart was torn between yearning for her lost love and longing for him to have found peace. The whole reason why she hadn't wanted Ino to know the extent of Sasuke's curse was because she knew it would devastate her. Believing Sai was at peace was perhaps one of the few things that dragged her through the grieving process and kept her from fixating on his death in a negative light.
"Sometimes, it's as though I can feel him," Ino continued more fondly, and she reached up for her necklace. "I play around with the idea of him checking in when he senses I need it most."
Guilt crippled Sakura in that moment. The weight of her own heart begging of her to share what she knew with Ino. But if she did then she knew her righthand woman would suffer immensely, likely until it drove her mad.
"He was an orphan, so maybe he was from some kind of mystical family he knew nothing about," Ino then sighed.
Was she selfish for keeping it from her?
Unable to trust her voice, Sakura reached out for Ino and tucked her into her side, their heads soon pressing together.