¤ Chapter 26: Kabuto ¤

Some time had passed since Sakura left the witcher's mansion.

She was passing through her native land right now. She knew she should hurry, but as she took a deep breath to absorb the familiar scent of the home she so desperately missed, she found she was taking her time.

A light breeze caused the hood to fall off her head, revealing long strands of her pink hair flowing down the length of her back in soft waves.

She walked pretty slowly. She wasn't moving as fast as she had to.

After long days of tension and stress, she let her thoughts free. She felt it was just what she needed: cleansing her confused soul.

Her whole life turned upside down.

A cynical smile crept onto her lips, lifting the corners of her mouth at the memory of her protests when the Goddess of Love informed her that she had been assigned a mission called Uchiha Sasuke. How foolish she was to think back then that her biggest problem would be keeping the black-haired boy with the cursed seal a secret, lest the heavenly guards immediately take him away and dispose of him for the good of the human race, as they would consider his existence unstable, as if in his inside was a ticking time bomb.

Sakura stopped and tilted her head to look up at the full height of the palace.

How could she have guessed that she was not protecting him but instead that he was protecting her? How was she to know that he was the one who had been waiting for years to live out his life in peace until he was old enough to seek her out again one day so they could walk through their destiny together?

She shook her head.

On the other hand, she realized that her stupidity didn't just lie in this mistake regarding the black-haired witcher. There was also a second inherent aspect that—and not just by chance—was associated with it. A blond jinchuuriki also won his place in her life, who sowed in her the seed of sparkling and fickle joy from the feeling that she was no longer alone in the world.

Finding out and knowing that Naruto and Sasuke, the two most influential men in her life, were not ordinary people still gave her mixed feelings.

Despite having the most dangerous-tailed demon sealed inside him, Naruto was not one of the downworlders. Although he did not know it all his life, he held the status of a demigod. Like Sakura, he, too, was born from the feeling that once blossomed between the Goddess of Love and the Shaman.

She should feel the infinite joy of never being alone in the world again because someone is there with the same blood running through the veins. But the smile that formed at the thought always froze when the memory of that beast emerging from his body in the form of a transparent aura appeared in her mind; the memory of those terrifying eyes, huge fangs, and the chill that ran through her body. She couldn't forget the bloody look Naruto gave her that day.

And then there was the worse, darker side of the truth.

Uchiha Sasuke was the witcher's name. At the same time, it was the name of the man who stole the life of her only sibling. He was also why she had never known Naruto before she was in Konoha. Her heart was owned by the one who also owned her fate, which was irrevocably sealed with his.

Honestly, you're not wrong if you thought that Sakura should be upset and blame him for Sasuke being selfish enough to want a friend from Genie. Likewise, you're right if you think she should hate Itachi for taking advantage of the post-war situation to ask Tsunade for a child of surprise.

Indeed, these feelings of anger, injustice, and bitterness were inside her. Just for this moment, she decided to let gratitude for what she had come to the surface rather than anger for what she could have had.

Sakura lowered her head.

She could be angry, feel betrayal, regret, or sadness, but none of it made sense. He was still the owner of the heart built from the ice castle.

- FLASHBACK –

The pink-haired girl said goodbye to all the downworlders who headed back to their residences like her. However, Sakura headed home, unlike them, knowing she wouldn't stay there any longer than necessary.

The witcher followed her to her house without saying a word. He only walked a few steps behind her as they climbed the stairs to the first floor, but Sakura didn't feel his intense gaze on her back like she had on other days, so she could easily guess that something was on his mind.

During that time, she was able to pick out enough words for a possible sentence formulation from his silences, snorts, arrogant smirks, and growls. She would dare say that she could create a manual titled "How to Understand Uchiha Sasuke's Language," co-authored by Uzumaki Naruto. She just rolled her eyes in amusement at the thought.

She decided to be patient. She knew there was little point in encouraging him to tell her what was on his mind. Sasuke was not the type of person who confided in others and revealed his thoughts.

Right now, she was packing her essentials and a few weapons. The last thing she grabbed was her traveling cloak. Her gaze rested on the lower part of the hem of the cloth, studded with millions of colorful flowers. She only looked up from her activity when Sasuke's voice reached her ears with the request he had hidden in her name.

"Sakura,"

She saw him enter the room and put his back against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her with a frown.

Sakura stopped in the middle of her activity. She put the cloak she clutched back to its original place. She knew from the first moment that Sasuke was even more reticent than usual that he would try to stop her. She didn't know when she would come up with this argument.

When Sasuke didn't speak even after a brief moment in which they exchanged intense glances, Sakura instinctively held her breath. Cautiously and somewhat timidly, she stepped closer to him but finally stopped at a safe distance.

She was sure that anyone else in her place would have been terrified under his stern and dark gaze and would have immediately put their feet up on their shoulders. But Sakura could see through the curtain behind which she always caught a small, almost imperceptible glimmer that appeared there whenever they found themselves in the same room, regardless of whether they had company.

When he didn't change his stance after another moment of silence, Sakura sighed and turned on her heel to return to her original activity. But she didn't even have time to take the first step to increase the distance between them because she suddenly felt a slight pressure on her wrist.

Sasuke grabbed her wrist and turned her around to face him again, causing him to pull her closer to close the distance that had previously separated them.

Sakura closed her eyes briefly and let herself be carried away by the intoxicating spicy scent that was so characteristic of him. She then placed her hands on Sasuke's chest and pulled away slightly.

"Sasuke…" she whispered. "I have to go. Naruto needs us.''

She watched his chest rise and fall regularly. She only got a muffled grunt in response. She crumpled the white cloth in her fists between her fingers.

With a gentle touch of his index finger under her chin, the witcher bent down and made her look up to meet his eyes.

She shook her head in protest.

"I can't stay here, Sasuke. I'm so sorry. I know what you're thinking, and I get it, but—"

Her breath hitched as his lips rested in a light kiss on the center of her forehead.

With his lips still glued to her skin, he mumbled, "Don't do anything stupid."

He pulled away and turned his back on her.

"I promise," she said with a bright smile.

- END OF FLASHBACK -

Sakura had a hard time resisting the urge to touch the spot where she could still feel his hot and soft lips.

She no longer felt anger towards Sasuke because his one look and the four words he had been determined to say for so long told her everything that was needed and never said. She could see the answers to all her questions in his obsidian eyes.

Until Sasuke found a new perspective on what connected them, Sasuke did not consider their sealed fate a burden; on the contrary, he thought it an inseparable part of his life, which he did not intend to fight or defend against. He left the decision up to her, giving her free rein, unlocking the invisible handcuffs on her wrists so she could leave at any time, knowing that even if he wanted to, he wouldn't stop her if she decided - of her own free will - that she didn't want him to he was a part of her life.

Sasuke didn't see his older brother's decision as right or wrong. He looked at the world with a different perspective, which the pink-haired woman lacked.

Likewise, he didn't see right or wrong his wish to create a friendship between himself and Naruto. Sakura could tell from his brief narration that he hadn't planned it and that the blond wasn't his target. In reality, it could have been just a coincidence - which the witcher didn't believe in - or fate that it was Naruto that the Genie had chosen for this difficult task to be the witcher's friend.

It was because of this that the daughter of the Goddess of Love chose to trust him regardless of his background, the past stained by the blood he had spilled, and the decisions he had made.

Sakura decided to trust Sasuke, not the cold-blooded witcher everyone saw him as.

Before she even had a chance to raise her arm to touch the ornate doorknob that opened the door to the palace, the gate swung open by itself. The jade eyes widened as her gaze rested on the gorgeous, full-figured woman.

The blonde woman smiled slightly as Sakura threw herself into her arms. She returned the firm sacrifice with a motherly kiss to her soft hair, stroking it a few times.

"Mom,"

Tsunade was intelligent; she thought it was only a matter of time before her only daughter found her. As the two women separated, Tsunade gestured for her to follow.

They walked through several long wall corridors until they stopped in the middle of one of them.

Sakura looked back to one side, then the other. She blinked a few times in confusion to make sure that what she was looking at was indeed just an uninteresting wall. She looked back at her mother with a puzzled expression.

Tsunade focused on the middle of the stone wall that rose before them. A touch of nostalgia and sadness mingled on her face before she shook her head slightly and gave her daughter a small smile. She waved her hand in the air with an elegant movement. With that movement, the air a few centimeters in front of the wall trembled.

Sakura gasped as an azure blue door appeared in front of her vision on the stone wall that had been empty just a moment ago. Several skeletal squiggles were drawn on it.

The goddess stepped forward and grasped the golden handle on the newly discovered door in her slender hand. She took a deep breath and entered, leaving the door open behind her for Sakura to follow.

After Sakura crossed that room's threshold, she could no longer hold back her gasp. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped slightly as she looked around curiously, gradually realizing she was in the child's room. The toys there consisted of miniature wooden ships, colorful paper parrots, and blunt-pointed sabers of various sizes and lengths hung on the walls. The floor was not a typical wooden color; it was covered in a dark blue color reminiscent of the sea. Squinting her eyes, she was surprised to find ripples on the floor that gave her the appearance of water with her color. Tilting her head to meet the ceiling, she wasn't surprised that it resembled the sky with a few white wisps hanging like clouds.

Sakura's gaze rested on Tsunade. She didn't miss the sad glint in her hazel eyes.

Tsunade bent down, picked up one of the colorful pieces of paper resembling a winged creature, and hid it in her palms.

"He wanted to be a pirate when he was little," she laughed softly; she opened her palms, from which a live parrot flew out. "Once he got something in his head, it was almost impossible to talk him out of it."

Sakura walked over to her mother, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Mom, we have to find him."

Tsunade sighed tiredly and shook her head.

"It's pointless, Sakura; I've already tried that. Several times," she emphasized. "Naruto doesn't want us to find him."

"Unlucky then," she straightened proudly and pointed her index finger to her lips. "Because I don't take no for an answer."

.*.*.*.*.

A brief flash of a smirk appeared on his deathly white face as his snake minions told him who had decided to enter his underground lair.

With a light movement of his hand, he touched the frame of the thin round glasses, which he moved almost to the bridge of his nose. He then moved to a crimson upholstered chair, where he settled comfortably to await the arrival of his visitor.

The former warlock's apprentice couldn't hide his delight at this moment, which was becoming a reality. After so many long years of leaving him to rot in this hole, he finally came to him.

Finally, they come to begin their plan.

The massive old door riddled with cracks creaked before finally opening to let the figure enter.

"Welcome, it's about time," Orochimaru's apprentice greeted. "Did you like my little performance? Well, wasn't it perfect?" after the silence that followed his rhetorical questions, he decided to continue his monologue. "And you saw their expressions, you—"

"Kabuto,"

After the stern voice carrying his name reached his ears, the young warlock snapped to attention and frowned.

The heads and bodies of baby snakes peeked out from the cracks in the walls, under the threat of danger to their master. Kabuto waved for them to retreat to their hiding places, and then his attention returned to his companion.

"I call off the attack,"

Kabuto's face deepened after his companion spoke the words. A moment later, the muscles in his face relaxed again before the first signs of a wide smile began to appear on it. Just another second later, his loud laughter echoed throughout the room in response. His laughter was deafening; it almost seemed like the moment would never end.

Kabuto glared at the tall figure standing before him, who hid his identity under a dark cloak.

"You can't be serious! You will throw away all our efforts to destroy the Gods because of stupid sentimentality…" he trailed off, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. "...to the Gods? Don't be crazy, let's think it over and—"

Kabuto approached furiously but immediately stepped back as he felt a dangerous and dark aura emanating from his companion. He opened his mouth to convince him but was cut off.

"We are done,"

With these words, the dark-cloaked figure turned its back on him and started to leave.

The young warlock clenched and unclenched his fists furiously. He could feel the anger getting under his skin and beginning to flow through his veins.

"They're going to die," he hissed. "They all."

Kabuto didn't even have time to react as his visitor turned again and approached him. All he felt was a sudden sharp impact and the coldness of the marble on his back, where he found himself pinned and gasping as the hand around his neck tightened its grip.

"I said it's over, Kabuto,"

With those words, the warlock dropped to the ground along the length of the wall and watched as the assailant left with the door slamming.

Kabuto tilted his head, slammed into the wall behind him, and laughed out loud. The snakes crawled out of the slits again and crawled towards his body, surrounding him and coiling around him before the warlock looked up, his golden pupils glowing ominously.

"You're right. It's over," he hissed between laughs. "The End of Them."