I have no feelings for her.

The mate bond carries it all.

It's a forced sequence.

Sakura sat up with a start, heaving from suppressed lungs as she panted crazily. Her mind felt foggy and her body ached all over, as if she'd been in one position for a long time, and she was sweating profusely. It was like she had just woken from a bad dream.

As her breathing slowly picked up a normal pace and the fogginess in her brain cleared, she was able to make out the place she was. Slowly, she stood to her feet, looking at her surrounding.

It was pitch dark, there was nothing in sight other than pure darkness. She wondered why and how she got here.

She walked down memory lane and everything came flooding in. She had decided to play a game with Death and had allowed Sasuke to mark her. It was suicidal but she believed she could endure it.

She looked around in the darkness once more and sighed. Guess I haven't woken up in the real world since I'm here. What about Sasuke? Is he okay? Well of course he'd be fine. I just hope he's not worried about me. He tends to...

Her thoughts stopped when the ringing in her ears came back and she slumped to the ground. She brought her knees up and hugged them.

Right. He has no feelings for me. He wouldn't disturb himself in worrying about me, except the bond prompts him. Even if I wanted to, I'd just end up being in a one sided relationship with him. She rested her chin on her hugged knees, staring into space glumly. He's bound to me.

"You know one thing I promised myself while I was in the orphanage?" She asked in the darkness, speaking to no one in particular. "It was that I will never have unrequited love for somebody or be in a one sided relationship with anybody." She smiled a little. "I'm aware I want his wellbeing, but is it too much to ask though? It would've been better if I didn't know anything about this mate bond."

"Would it though?"

A panicked squeak came out from Sakura as she noticed a person before her. She shifted away, keeping her eyes on the figure. There was a small child crouching before her, about six or seven. She had long flowy white hair that swept the ground and shinning white jewels for eyes. The garment she wore was long and white with slight designs of gold here and there, and she was barefoot.

Sakura stared at the girl in awe. Where did she come out from? She looked around. Are there other people lurking in the darkness besides us?

"Don't worry, we're the only ones here." The girl told her, beaming a shining white set of strong teeth.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. She's a supernatural being. I should keep my guard up.

"You were saying something." The girl said inching closer to her. "I don't think I agree with you."

"What?"

The little girl hummed thoughtfully, puckering out her lower lip before sighing. "I guess it can't be helped. The most effective way for you to understand the mate bond is for you to learn. I'm pretty sure you will as you grow." She paused. "I guess before you're sacrificed."

Sakura frowned. What's she talking about? "Can you tell me? It seems I'm the only one who doesn't know why all of these are happening to me. I'm pretty clueless, you see."

The girl giggled. "That you are." Then she stopped and inched closer again. "Tell me, what is your desire?"

Quick change of subject. Sakura sighed. I'm not getting anywhere with her. "I guess I might as well talk with you since I'm still unconscious."

"Eh?" The girl pouted, tilting her head. "You're not unconscious. You can still hear what's going on outside right?"

Sakura thought for awhile before she nodded. "Yeah, I guess." She propped her knee up and rested her chin on it. "It's not very pleasant." She added.

The girl stared at her for a moment and Sakura could swear that she could see flourishing wisdom passing through those eyes, before they were replaced with a gleam of childishness.

She knows more than she looks. Sakura assessed. But she won't fill me in.

"You haven't told me what your desire is."

"Hmm, I don't know." Sakura threw her head back. "I haven't really sat down to think about it." Why are we talking about this again?

"That's not what you're showing me."

Sakura frowned and looked at her confusedly. "Showing you..." Her mouth immediately dropped and her remaining words flew when she saw what was behind the little girl.

Unconsciously, she rose to her feet, the little girl following suit, smiling and walking behind her. For the first time since she's awoken in this dark world, she was seeing light. A really bright light.

It wasn't just that. It was more of a scenery infront of her. It was like she was standing before a stage, a real life stage.

The sun was high and bright but the rays it gave out was harmless and refreshing. The grass and shrubs were green and glowy. Dews flowed from the veins on the leaves until it dripped form the pointy ends, like gentle beautiful drops of clear water. There was a house in the middle of this bright, lovely scenery. She remembered it was Sasuke's.

She didn't have time to think about why and how she was in the compound as another thing caught her eyes.

It was her.

She was sitting on a wooden chair which was set infront of a mahogany table which had all these balloons and confectioneries on it. There was also a big white cake, covered, in the center. She was reading a book, and she looked so peaceful and unbothered.

Sakura immediately looked herself over, then at the woman before her. How am I..? What am I..? She squinted her eyes. How is this happening?

Suddenly, something appeared from beside her.

No, it wasn't a something. Sakura turned to her side and saw a chubby little creature toddling on two small feet, stretching out her hands and babbling incoherently.

It was the most beautiful baby she had ever seen. Awed, Sakura crouched to one foot and observed the baby.

It didn't seem to notice her. It had raven turf of hair on her round head, her eyes were big and black and shining, it reminded her of someone, and the sound that kept coming out of her mouth were accompanied by overflowing saliva and puckering of her tiny lips.

Sakura straightened and watched as the woman, who resembled her a lot, put down her book when she saw the baby and grinned, spreading out her own arms and catching the baby in them.

Sakura let out a shaky breath. She didn't understand what was happening but she could tell that that was her baby and today was it's birthday, and the baby had a striking resemblance to someone she knew. Why was she seeing all these? Was this her desire? She wanted to tear her eyes away and look for the little girl but she couldn't stop watching.

The pink haired woman held the baby tight in her arms and nosed her soft cheeks lovingly. "Care to tell mama where you went?"

The baby clapped her hands and babbled again, laughing as she stared at the woman's face. "Bu..bu bahu ba."

"Oh?" The woman's green eyes went wide. "You went there? Really?"

The baby shook her head, balling up a handful of the woman's long pink hair in a fist and shoving it into her mouth.

"You don't want to tell me?" The woman laughed. "You keep things like your father."

A head suddenly appeared by the woman's face and Sakura felt her heart skip a dangerous beat from where she stood.

"Papa!" The baby babbled loudly, stretching out her arms upwards with strands of pink hair caught between her chubby fingers.

"What?" The pink haired woman frowned. "It's mama, say ma-ma. Ma-ma. This one right here is duckbutt dude. I'm ma-ma."

The baby laughed, spilling over in incoherent words as she glanced from her mother to her father.

Sasuke. Sakura's mouth was left open as she stared at the man her heart was thumping for. He hadn't changed a bit. He still had those god-like features and his eyes were as intense and calculative as ever. And there was something in the way he looked at her... the other her.

"Come on, let go of your mother's hair, only I get to hold it like that."

"Pa-pa." The baby said, laughing bubbly

The woman turned her head to the side and faced the raven haired man with a frown, not minding their close proximity. "It's no fair she chose you as her first word."

The man faced the woman, closing the space between them as he pecked her lips, stealing the baby away in the process. "She probably likes me better."

As if connected by an invisible thread, Sakura and the woman blushed. Sakura's was unconscious and the woman looked away after that.

She got to her feet and paid attention to the baby. "Come on now honey, say mama."

The man placed a hand by the side of the baby's face to shield her from the woman and walked away.

"Sasuke!" The woman ran after him. "Sasuke, bring her back!"

With their backs to her, Sakura could see the man stopping for the woman to catch up. Then he put his arms around her waist, pulled her close to him and walked into the house with her.

"She still likes me better." She heard the man say.

"Talk again and I'll shove your face down that cake."

"Don't be mean. It's her cake."

"It'll be pleasurable to see your perfect face merged in the cake."

"To think I'd get a perfect wife with the perfect imagination."

"I'm not buying that."

And so and so they argued til Sakura couldn't see them again and the scenery was suddenly replaced with a familiar darkness.

Suddenly, realizing how her legs felt like jelly, Sakura slumped to the ground, seemingly catching her breath and trying to recall everything that had just played before her.

"Now you see too?" The little girl's voice was instantly behind her. "What your desire is?"

"What was that?"

"Your desire." The girl answered, stepping infront of her.

Sakura looked up at the girl with a scowl. "You know what I mean."

The little girl sighed. "Sadly, I can't make you understand."

"You're not trying to." Sakura sighed. "Anyways, now I know that I'll wake up soon. I don't want him blaming himself, it's something he can do. And I don't care if he's forced to like me, as long as I'm involved in it, I'll follow my heart." Even so, all these things are beyond my understanding. "I don't understand a few things and you're not helping."

Sadness coursed through the little girl's eyes as she smiled. "You are strong, child."

Sakura eyed her. "I guess it's not supposed to be ironic that you're calling me child since you're probably five hundred years old."

"I'm ten thousand years old"

Sakura's jaw dropped. Well, hello legendary ancestor.

"It was nice talking to you, Sakura." The girl beamed, smiling toothily.

Sakura's eyelids suddenly felt heavy. She shook her head and tried to be aware of her surrounding but her brain felt fuzzy and her vision was altered. What is happening? Is this a part of my desire too? I guess sleeping should be counted.

"Mind telling Sasuke something for me before you go?" The little girl asked as Sakura's head began to nod. "Tell him, one of these days, he's going to pay for all he's been saying to me."

Sakura smiled, out of her own free will. "Yes Selene."

She frowned immediately. How do I know her name? She thought as her eyes closed and she passed out.

The day is burning hot. Hinata thought as she made her way towards her and Ino's apartment. She was done with classes for the day and her team had a day off. She still hadn't told ino anything about Sakura, she had made a resolve that today would be the day, supposing Ino was back from wherever she went to.

She sighed as she got to the front porch of the building. She hoped Sakura was alright. She feared for her wellbeing especially after being bitten in the neck, by an alpha, as a human. She so wanted to check up on her, even if it meant going to Isekai, but she had to take care of Ino first. Also, she had to apologize to Naruto for bailing on him like that. They almost made skin to skin contact.

Just the memory of it made her cheeks high with pink. She covered them with her hair sheepishly. How can I stand by him if I'm too shy to stand by him?! She let go of her hair and took a deep breath. "I wonder if he's mad."

"Not sure, but your father certainly is."

Hinata's breath caught in her throat as she felt the presence behind her.

"My lady."

Her blood ran cold and all the color drained from her face as she turned around slowly. Her eyes were wide and her body shook a little as she came face to face with three long brown haired men. She recognized them as her father's royal guards.

"You're needed at home." Their faces were straight and there was a noticable scowl on them. It meant they'd have to use force if she resisted following them peacefully.

Her heart pounded crazily, threatening to explode within her as she stared at them. They found me.