Chapter 4-Mature Content Warning

For the next three days, my life was a living nightmare. If I wasn't on the cusp of passing out from blood loss, I was being fed on by one or more of the Amegakure vampires. Even if they promised to keep an eye on me, all Obito or Madara could do was help me safely regain my energy once the others were done.

Two of the advisors were worse than the others when it came to both scaring me and drinking more of my blood than the others. The first was Hidan, unsurprisingly. He had a knack for waking me up in the middle of the night to do it and taunting me when others were.

The second was, to my utter shock, Sasori. He didn't do anything on purpose to make me uneasy, but the odd way he treated me during and after that first morning made my skin crawl. Not only that, but he always drank way too much and I had to warn him each time that I was going to faint if he didn't do something.

Deidara was a close third because of the mouths on his hands. I was driven to sobs the first time because he didn't warn me that they, too, can be used to suck blood. Other than that, though, he was one of the only ones that stayed with me for a bit once he was done to make sure I was alright.

I didn't want to admit it, but Madara had been right when he warned me about the level of trauma I was experiencing. The sense of defeat rising steadily in my body was akin to what I felt when I was locked in that cell in Oto, being tortured each day.

Every time I'd get a moment to myself, all I could do was wish for Sasuke to somehow appear and comfort me, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. If he couldn't be here with me, I wished I could at least have that god awful fang hidden in my underwear drawer back at the castle in Konoha. It'd helped me through those long three months, so it could probably do it again.

When I get home after this, I'm going to hug him close for as long as possible to try and undo some of this damage.

Finally, in the early morning of day five, Ino returned. When she walked in on Hidan on top of me, I thought she was going to actually end his life. The silver-haired vampire got bested almost instantly and left, mumbling under his breath about how crazy Tanaka women are.

Once I was healed and both of us had a chance to shower and get dressed, we walked to Yahiko's office hand in hand to finally end this awful chapter of our lives.

"I'm impressed, Ino! Not only did you get the files we requested, but you managed to snag some others as well. Are you sure we can't convince you to relocate to Ame with your husband?" Konan grinned at my sister, obviously joking.

Ino shook her head, "I'm flattered, but what I really want is to return to my home. Is there anything else you require of us before we leave?"

The blue-haired queen shared a look with her husband with an odd expression. We both noticed, "What is it?"

She seemed hesitant, but the ruler admitted, "Per your request, we've done so asking around about what happened to your mother and we may have found something useful."

I glanced at Ino as we both perked up and waited for the woman to continue.

"We have some friends in Kumogakure who said they saw a human woman matching your mother's description with a vampire named Tenji who hails from Sonukuni."

"Where is Sonukuni located?" I asked without hesitation.

"It's in between Konoha and Kumo. I've never been there, personally, but I'm told it's an incredibly small and private village."

After formally bidding the royal couple farewell, we packed our bags and met Madara outside so we could leave. He was finished with his business, as well, and offered to drive so we wouldn't have to ride with the others again. Somehow, I convinced him not to outright tell Ino how bad things got while she was away, but she still might overhear either of our thoughts if we weren't careful.

As Obito helped him put our bags in the trunk of the large vehicle, some of the advisors came outside to see us off. I gave Hidan a hard warning glare when he automatically smiled. "It was lovely to see you again, ladies. Safe travels," Deidara grinned politely as he bowed.

We both returned the gesture. Sasori didn't say anything, but watched Obito approach once our luggage was successfully loaded. With as close to a smile as I could manage, I bowed to him before repeating the gesture to the other two and turning to enter the car. The Uchiha cousin knew how hard I was trying to keep it together and didn't take offense to my distant goodbye.

I froze when I heard Hidan snicker after whispering something to Deidara and turned to shoot him another glare, "Hidan."

Ino glanced at me with a curious expression.

The silver-haired vampire's grin widened when he met my eye, "I'm coming back here after I've been turned and we're going to fight."

He laughed loudly, "Alright, Baby, I'll be waiting."

Madara snickered when Ino and I got into the backseat and closed the doors so he could drive away, "I hope I get to see that." I ignored him and lay my head on my sister's shoulder, mentally drained.

As soon as we pulled up in front of the castle in the middle of the night days later, I shot out of the car and ran inside without a word to my sister or Madara. My heartbeat sped up in my chest more quickly with each step.

I ignored Mikoto's surprised welcome when I passed her in the family room and rushed up the stairs. The door to Sasuke's room opened just as I got to it, since he likely heard his mother try to speak to me downstairs, and I threw my arms around him as sobs tore heavily from my chest.

"Sakura?" He tried to push me back so he could see my face for a few moments, but I just held him tighter and he eventually gave up and wrapped his arms around me.

My composed facade barely managed to stay up until this point. Now that it'd fallen, the emotions toward all the terror and pain I felt over the past week were flooding through.

Careful not to move too quickly, he pulled me further into the room so he could shut the door before moving us so he could sit on the edge of the bed. I let my knees fall to the floor in between his feet and kept my face buried in his shirt as I sobbed. He slid off the edge of the bed and came down to the ground so I could reach his shoulders.

It felt like my body was going to give out any second. My heart was beating so quickly and I could barely catch my breath as I cried.

"Sakura, tell me what's wrong."

He was trying to keep his voice calm for my sake, but I could tell how panicked he was. One of his hands held me firmly against him and the other gently ran up and down my back in a soothing manner.

"What was the point of asking me not to tell him if you were just going to act like this once we got home?" Both of us looked toward the door to see Madara standing there with his arms crossed and a glare on his face.

Sasuke spoke in a gruff voice, "What aren't you supposed to tell me?"

The older royal met my teary-eyed gaze hesitantly and I bristled before bursting into sobs again and turning to bury my face in Sasuke's shoulder. He instinctively brought a hand up to hold the back of my head, "What happened?"

"What do you think happened? They almost killed her in the first eight hours and we were there for over four days."

If I wasn't a trembling mess of tears in his arms, I'm sure he would've gotten to his feet, but he couldn't and settled for angrily questioning his relative, "Where the hell were you and Obito?" I bet if I looked, his eyes were glowing with rage.

"I wanted to kill them all, but she insisted she could handle it. Obviously, she was lying." Madara was starting to sound angry, too, as he spoke in an accusing voice directed at me.

The room was silent except for my slowing sobs for a moment before Sasuke spoke in a slightly softer voice, "We'll speak later." I heard the door shut after a few moments, signaling the elder vampire's departure.

Neither of us spoke for a while and he just let me cry, which was exactly what I needed. My sobs eventually slowed and a wave of exhaustion came over me as tears continued to slowly fall from my closed eyes onto his shirt.

I was right the other day. He made everything not feel so bad.

Slowly, likely trying to verify if I was going to break down again, he pushed me back a bit. I gingerly rubbed at my eyes, trying to hide my likely red face, and he shooed my hand away before leaning in to kiss me softly. When he pulled away, he brushed my hair behind my ear before gently wiping away the few remaining tears with his thumb, a soft expression on his concerned face.

My eyelids felt heavy as he helped me change out of my clothes and gave me one of his shirts, knowing I'd appreciate the extra comfort. I cuddled up close to him in bed and immediately felt like I was about to fall asleep.

My voice sounded awful, but I tried to relay the only sentiment that's crossed my mind over the past week, "I missed you."

He didn't need to say anything and pulled me more tightly against his chest with his arms around my body.

When I woke in the morning, I didn't feel well at all. A soft groan rumbled from my throat and I rolled onto my stomach, feeling overheated and stuffy. Sasuke didn't say anything, but I sensed that he was paying attention, especially after how I'd come home last night.

Needing to empty my bladder, I moved to sit up, only for a wave of nausea to come over me. I nearly fell out of the bed as I rushed to the bathroom to make it to the toilet just in time to not throw up on the floor.

I shooed Sasuke when he came to check on me so I could use the restroom and brush my teeth, but as soon as I finished and rinsed my toothbrush under the water faucet in the sink, I had to hurry over to the toilet to throw up again. By the time I was done, there couldn't possibly be anything left in my stomach and I reached up to flush it.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a crumpled pile on the floor and Sasuke was kneeling next to me. I groaned when he helped me sit up and my head started throbbing. A cold hand pressed against my forehead and he let out a sigh before picking me up and carrying me back out to the bed.

When I tried to shove the blankets off because it was so hot, he pushed them back over me and spoke in a threatening voice, "Don't." I groaned again and rolled onto my side before passing out once more.

When I woke again, I heard Mikoto speaking in a hushed tone, "Ino caught it, too, whatever it is. The poor girl can't keep anything down."

My voice was hoarse as I croaked out, still feeling incredibly feverish and sweaty as I opened my eyes only to wince as they adjusted to the lighting, "Vampires can get sick?"

Mikoto and Tenten both looked at me with wide eyes. The queen was seated in a chair bedside while the maid stood near her with a tray holding what looked like soup and maybe some medicine.

"It's rare, but it can happen, Dear. How are you feeling? You're still burning up." Her cold hand pressed against my forehead before moving to cup my cheek. I leaned into her touch, the chilled sensation feeling wonderful against my heated skin.

"You don't have to take care of me. I'm alright."

Tenten remarked in an annoyed voice, "That's not what it sounded like when Sasuke told us you puked your guts up and then passed out."

Mikoto gave the young woman a look due to her vulgar way of speaking before gesturing for me to try and sit up, "Drink some water so you don't get dehydrated, Sakura."

The room spun as I sat up, but my stomach was empty so there wasn't anything left to throw up. I sipped some water through the straw of the cup I was handed and it stung going down my scratchy throat.

Tenten sat the tray she was holding on my nightstand, "After surviving all that you have, I've never imagined you getting sick."

Mikoto gave the girl another warning look before speaking in a polite yet firm tone,"Tenten, why don't you tend to your other duties while I look after Sakura. Whatever she has may be contagious and you're more likely to contract it since you're human, Dear." The queen and I shared a look as the maid respectfully bowed and left the room.

I sat the glass of water on the tray and put a hand to my sweaty forehead, "Is Ino alright? You said she's sick, too."

The queen handed me the bowl of soup and a spoon, gesturing for me to attempt to eat some, "She's in a similar state as you, just without the fever. I'm not sure it's possible for one of our kind to get one."

I sipped the hot broth, stomach churning, "What about Madara? He was with us. Did he catch it, too?"

The woman gave me a slightly surprised expression before quickly masking it, "He and the twins have been in Fugaku's office for hours now, debriefing the trip, so I'm not sure."

The queen was obviously taken aback by me even saying her brother in law's name because before this, I couldn't stand being around if someone brought him up. It's not as though I've suddenly forgiven him for all he's done, but I had to choose to trust either the castle full of vampires who struggled not to drain me dry or him, and I chose him.

As if on cue, Sasuke came through the doorway and I tried to frantically fix my likely tousled hair with one hand. Mikoto swatted at me, "Stop that and eat, Dear." She turned to watch her son walk around the bed to sit on the edge across from her, "How'd it go, sweetheart? Any news?"

His dark eyes danced over my frazzled appearance before shaking his head with his jaw flexing in irritation.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone, then. You keep a good eye on her while I go check on Ino, alright?" He nodded as he picked up his current book from his nightstand and promptly buried his face in it. His mother got up, kissed the top of my head, and then grabbed her chair before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

I frowned at the bowl of soup in my hands and placed it back on the tray before picking up the medicine and washing it down with a drink of water.

"You're never leaving this town without me again," he said with finality.

I ignored him, turning my back to him as I laid back down. He reached over and pulled the blankets up higher over me without another word.

Over the next few days, I recovered from my bout of illness, as did Ino. Sasuke and I finally had a conversation about what'd happened in Ame. He was angry because nothing any of them did technically went against what was agreed upon, so there wasn't a reason to retaliate. Everyone had just assumed they'd act with a bit more decorum than they did. As expected, nightmares plagued me and I was getting more and more fed up with it all, but they eventually went away after a couple weeks passed.

"Absolutely not," Sasuke denied me firmly as he sat on the edge of the bed with narrowed eyes.

Since Ino and I were officially healthy and raring to go, I wanted to investigate the village Konan had told us about. I frowned, standing a foot or two in front of him with my hands on my hips, "Why not? You and Sai can come with us!"

Annoyed black eyes bore into mine, "Do you remember what happened the last time we went to investigate a village?"

My mouth clamped shut in shock, but I argued immediately, "This time will be different. Come on, Sasuke. Please!" I grabbed one of his hands in both of mine, but he tore it away before swiftly grabbing my waist and pulling me down onto his lap with my back to his chest.

His arms wrapped tightly around my middle and he leaned down to kiss the back of my shoulder, "I'll send some Militia to check it out when I get back." He and Sai were leaving in the morning for a trip to Kirigakure on behalf of their father. They'll likely be gone for at least a week.

I pouted, arching my neck slightly so he could move his lips there more easily, "How will we know if they do a thorough job or not? I want to see it for myself." A wave of arousal came through me when one of his hands reached up to grasp my breast through my thin nightgown.

Hot breath dusted against the sensitive skin on my neck as he spoke in between kisses, "I said no, Sakura." I slowly parted my legs as his other hand dipped down so he could reach the sensitive area between them.

My back arched, but I tried to remain focused, "You're not the boss of me, you know."

He chuckled against my skin, moving my gown out of the way so he could slip his hand beneath my underwear, "No, but I can be pretty persuasive."

I tried to keep it together as he teased me, but after a few more moments I couldn't hold it back anymore and let out an aggravated groan before giving in and pulling my gown off over my head.

His arms tightened around me as he adjusted us further back on the bed a bit, a triumphant feeling suddenly on his movements. I contorted my legs a bit so my knees were against the mattress and lifted my body a bit so he'd have room to pull his member out before carefully coming down on it, letting it enter slowly so my body had time to adjust. Once it was fully inserted, he moved his hand back up and grabbed my jaw so he could turn my head and press his lips against mine.

While kissing, he leaned back slightly so I could adjust my legs again to where my feet were on the mattress instead and then I carefully started moving against him. My head fell back to rest on his shoulder when he finally let my jaw go.

One of his hands held my hip to assist me in pretty much bouncing atop his sex while the other reached around to resume rubbing circles against my lower regions. Toned muscles flexed against my back as a wave of intense pleasure rocked me and I felt my insides squeeze him for a few moments in reaction.

The air was punctuated with heavy breaths and small sounds of pleasure as a familiar pressure built within me.

I became a bit annoyed with the position because it limited my movements a bit, so I pulled off of him and turned around to straddle his hips and take him in that way, pushing his chest slightly so he'd lay back on the bed. Glowing red eyes looked over my body as I resumed moving atop him.

Calloused fingers brushed against my bare thighs as I got closer and closer to the edge. They moved slightly upwards, toward my hips and I grabbed them with my own and pulled them up to my breasts, throwing my head back as I finally climaxed. My hips ground against his more roughly as my insides shook and rocked my state of mind into bliss. Somehow, I managed to keep the moans leaving my mouth to the minimum.

Once the brilliant moment passed, I released his hands and he wrapped them around my waist to pull me down so he could slide his tongue into my mouth and continue pumping into me. Slowly, he switched our positions and my legs curved up around his hips as my back hit the mattress.

He tore his lips from mine and stood up, pulling me closer to the edge of the bed by my hips as he continued. Almost roughly, he pushed my legs further apart and held them that way with his hands on my knees, making the pressure start to rebuild within me with the intense heated expression on his face.

My eyes danced down his body as he moved and my brow furrowed when he suddenly hit that oh so deep spot that made me see stars, "A-Ah, there!" One of my hands shot down to rub the sensitive spot near where he was expertly thrusting into and my back arched off the bed.

Sasuke released my legs and came down on top of me again, sinking his teeth into my neck. An attractive sound shook his chest and I pulled my hand from in between us so I could wrap my arms around him and feel his back muscles move.

Again and again, he attacked the exact spot until I was tossed into oblivion yet again. This time, though, he pressed into me as firmly as possible and another wonderful sound met my ears from his throat as warmth spread within me. I crossed my ankles around his hips as my insides squeezed and flexed around him.

Once both of us came down from our highs, he removed his teeth from my skin and closed the wound there before pressing hungry kisses into the crook of my neck as we tried to catch our breath.

I'm so glad that we were able to get back to this level of intimacy after all that happened with Kabuto because I was truly worried he'd never allow himself to be rough again.

My voice was light and breathy, "Sasuke…" He made a noise of acknowledgement as he continued abusing my neck, "You're really sexy."

A short chuckle rumbled his chest and he spoke against my skin, "So are you."

A small laugh passed my lips and he pulled back to look me in the eye with an amused expression before giving me a quick kiss on the lips, "You've gotten more confident lately."

Blush rose to my face as I recalled what I'd done while climaxing on top just minutes ago, "I-I was just caught up in the moment…"

He snickered as he buried his face in my neck like before, "You should get caught up in the moment more often."

I groaned, embarrassed.