Chapter 7

"Papa, Mama forgot your name!" The adorable yet unreal child spoke excitedly as he patted his little hands against Madara's cheeks. My mouth hung open in disbelief as the Uchiha elder looked down at him with an uncharacteristically soft gaze.

"It was already fucked up, but this is just the cherry on top!" I ignored Ino's loud yet entirely true sentiment and tried to remove myself from the warm emotion in my chest as I looked at the two interacting adorably before us.

"Oh my God, Sakura. Not you, too!"

My eyes squeezed shut, and I turned my head away, shaking it as I slapped my cheeks, "N-No, it's not real! I know it's not real!"

Until now, I thought the illusioned toddler was meant to be Sasuke and I's child. The wide array of emotions swirling about my mind was both exhausting and confusing.

Ino hollered, "If you guys are listening out there, come get this thing!"

Madara's eyes began glowing again as he shot her a glare, and hers did the same as she shot one back, "Snap out of it! That's a grown man in your lap, not some cute little kid."

It was easier to tell myself it was all fake if I didn't have to see it, so I decided to remove him from the situation. Shinzo turned to me when I got close, and I made a motion with my hands for him to come to me, and he did, giggling when I pulled him up into my arms.

Madara looked at me with such an emotional expression that my face paled. The look faded when I turned to walk toward the door, but I gave him a warning look, "I'm not going to hurt him." As long as he could see the kid, there would be no talking sense into him.

Although he looked furious, the Uchiha didn't stop me as I sat the boy outside, shooting one of the guards in the hallway a dirty look, "Don't bring him back in here." Shinzo started to cry as I shut the door, but I squeezed my eyes closed and made myself walk back to sit with the other two.

Ino winced as she sat up a bit straighter, and it was as though Madara just noticed her pregnant belly, "You're-!"

My sister shot him a warning look with tears rising, "I don't wanna talk about it, or I'm gonna start crying again, so shut the hell up." To say the hormones were affecting her would be an understatement. It probably explained her out-of-character personality the day we got captured.

I turned to the Uchiha and spoke hushedly, "Have you learned anything that can help us get out of here?"

That tender expression came to his face again, and I awkwardly looked away, "Kaguya is apparently getting weaker every day, and they think it's because of you."

My brow furrowed as I recalled her saying she thought I was meant to be her reincarnate. "Why haven't they killed me yet, if that's true?"

Ino rubbed her belly with a frown, "Because she wants revenge for Tenji's death." We both turned to look at her, and she shook her head with a frown, "If someone killed Sai, I would let myself get torn apart if it meant the ones who did it were also suffering." I couldn't help but agree. If someone even hurt Sasuke, my rage would be unbearable.

"So, how do we use that to escape?" There was a long silence as we pondered, but none of us could devise a plan.

That night, I woke up as Madara laid down beside me and tossed an arm over my waist. I gave him a warning glare and went to move away, but he held me still. My eyes searched his face, and I shook my head when he stared at me as he had earlier.

My voice wavered as I whispered, heartbroken, "He's not real, Madara."

His brow furrowed as he nodded, "But he could be."

I frowned, shaking my head as tears rose, "I love Sasuke. No one will ever take his place, not even you." It didn't feel good to shoot him down so roughly, but it'd be worse not to make things clear and risk his misunderstanding.

He didn't bother hiding the anger my statement caused, and it was apparent he was trying to keep his voice down so we didn't wake Ino, "You say that now. Are you sure you won't change your mind, even after hundreds of years?"

My brow furrowed, and for just a moment, I let myself be honest with him and myself, "When we first met, if you hadn't done all that you did, things might be different, but that's not the case." My sincere words disappointed him, but I couldn't relent, "I only want him, Madara. That's not gonna change."

The Uchiha stared at me in silence for a moment before closing his eyes, "It's so easy to imagine you as the mother of my child, especially when I see how naturally you interact with him."

My tears overflowed, and I placed a hand on his chest, giving him a pleading look when he reopened his eyes. I repeated, voice cracking, "He's not real. You can't fall in love with him, or it'll tear you apart."

His eyes watered up, too, surprising me, "You'd know, right?" I nodded, closing my eyes as I reached up to cover my mouth with my hand to muffle any sounds I might make.

A week or so later, I woke up to see Kaguya sitting in front of me with her red eyes staring unblinkingly.

It was true what Madara said about her slowly losing her power. Her white skin didn't seem iridescent like it had a month ago, and the glow of her eyes wasn't quite as bright. Even her presence wasn't as overbearing.

I glanced over to see both Ino and Madara sitting entirely still, likely frozen by the terrifying woman before me so they wouldn't interrupt her.

"I must commend you on your perseverance. Most would have succumbed to Hamura's technique by now." So the long-haired man that'd morphed into Senzo was named "Hamura". "Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. A reincarnate of mine would naturally be stronger than the rest."

Finally, I was not so scared of her since her aura had faded slightly, so I spoke up, "What's your goal, coming in here to compliment me? Either get to the point or leave me alone."

She pulled her lips back slightly, her pearly white fangs glistening in the light menacingly, "I can see that you are mistakenly not afraid. Perhaps I have gone soft because you remind me so much of myself in my younger days."

Her fingers were suddenly around my wrist, and I watched her face as she squeezed so hard that the bone crushed in her grasp, but her expression remained calm as if it were a leaf in her palm. I grit my teeth, refusing to give her the satisfaction of crying out in pain.

"I could break every bone in your body, heal you, and then do it again. Would you fear me then?"

My eyes narrowed with determination, and she raised a brow, "What if I allow the men to use your body? If I recall, you have past trauma in that regard." I tried to keep my glare steady as terror sank in my stomach, but she had to have noticed a difference because her grimace turned into an amused grin, fangs still showing proudly, "There are a few that have requested permission for such a thing. Should I allow you to choose which you'd like? Or perhaps I should let them all in at once?"

Her smile widened as she glanced over at the Uchiha elder, still frozen across the room, "Maybe I should let that one have his way before I kill him."

My body trembled in fear as I asked in a defeated voice, "What do you want from me?"

She spoke as though answering a question on a school test, "I want you to surrender and beg for mercy."

A wave of anger came over me, and I leaned in slightly closer to her, making her red eyes narrow slightly, "We can't all get what we want."

I'm not sure what made me do it, but my uninjured arm moved independently, and I touched the side of her face. A surge of energy came over me, and I felt my broken wrist heal as quickly as the snap of the fingers before Kaguya tore herself away from me and took several steps back toward the door.

She was breathing hard and had a look of disbelief on her beautiful face, "What do you think you're doing!"

The intense feeling over my body remained even though she'd moved away, and I got to my feet, "Let us leave, and we'll never bother you again. I know you're getting weaker because I'm so close. That will at least slow down if we're gone."

Her red eyes were suddenly ablaze, and black veins traveled across her entire face from them as she came back to speak angrily within a foot of me, "You will come to regret laying a finger on me. Come."

My legs moved without permission, and I followed her as she left the room. After traveling through many winding halls, I was taken to a large room with nothing but a chair inside. "Sit." No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't disobey.

She left, but I still couldn't overcome her order, and after a minute or two, the door reopened, and my eyes locked with Hidan's. My head shook frantically as he grinned and shut the door behind him, "What was it you said last time? That we're going to fight?"

I barked at him angrily, "I said after I turn! Not while you have someone else keeping me down."

"Oh, please get up then." His eyes were red, and I could suddenly move my limbs.

Rising from the chair, I took a few steps behind it with a hand in his direction, hoping to keep him at bay, "You know this isn't fair. I'm human."

He tossed his head back and laughed loudly before giving me an amused look, "Fair? Who gives a damn if it's fair?" Then he had me cornered against the wall, gazing into my eyes with a wide grin, "I won't bother glowing you. I'm too weak, remember?"

His lips pressed roughly against mine, and a loud, disgusted sound stuck between them as I tried to shove him off me, but he didn't budge. Large hands roughly slid under my shirt and groped my body, making my skin crawl.

The memory of what Kabuto did was all I could think about as I desperately hit his chest and shoulders with all my might. After a few moments, he pulled his lips from mine and ripped the cloth of my shirt from my shoulder so he could sink his teeth into it. I sobbed and continued to struggle, "Stop it, Hidan!"

To my surprise, he did pull away from my shoulder and pulled back to look at me with blood running down his chin, "You know why she sent me in here?" My brow furrowed, and I wordlessly pleaded with him to stop. "Because she knows how scared you are of me."

A cry of shock left my lips when he threw me roughly to the floor, and I looked up at him, shaking as I held my ripped shirt closed. He wiped the blood from his face and knelt to whisper teasingly, "I'm flattered, Sakura."

Large hands shoved me onto my back, and he ripped the remainder of my shirt away despite my fighting. I kicked and scratched and did all I could to defend myself, but I couldn't stop him from reaching under the hem of my skirt. Rather than hold my hands down as Kabuto had, he seemed to enjoy my attempts to hurt him and simply let me keep trying.

"With guys like Kakuzu and Kisame around, the fact that you find me the scariest is quite the compliment." He slid his fingers beneath my underwear to touch me in the last place I wanted him to, and I felt disgusted.

"It's been a long time since I've been with a human. They're too breakable, y'know?"

I yelled through my frantic sobs, "Sasuke will kill you if you do this!"

He laughed loudly, pulling his hand out and giving me an incredulous look, "That prick can't find a hideout right under his feet. How the hell is he gonna kill me?"

My eyes widened at his words. He's that close? My realization was interrupted when he suddenly lifted my skirt and dropped down to bite into my inner thigh, making me shout in surprise. One of his hands held my skirt away, and the other roughly kept the other leg apart.

My anger was, thankfully, starting to overtake my fear, and I sat up to hit him while pulling my other leg free and shoving him away with my foot on his shoulder. He chuckled when I tried to get up, "You're making it fun. I like that."

He wrestled me against the wall, fighting my underwear down a bit before giving up and ripping them off. I shoved against his chest uselessly as he reached down to pull himself out of his pants, "You'll tell me if I'm better than that Uchiha, won't you?"

Something came over me the moment I felt him rub against me, and I don't know how I did it, but I hit him with every fiber of my being, and my fist went through his right shoulder completely.

He stepped back with a bewildered look, "What the fuck?"

I gathered myself and hit him again, afraid that if I hesitated, he'd take advantage of it. My fist went through his stomach. He yelled angrily and threw me against the wall, knocking the breath out of me.

After fixing his clothes, he gave me a glare before cursing under his breath and retreating out of the room. I slid to the ground, panting for breath as I stared down at my blood-soaked hands. What the hell was that, just now? Before I realized it was happening, I passed out.

When I came to, I was back in the room with Ino and Madara. My sister immediately started asking questions, "What happened? Are you alright?"

I looked down at my body. I was still just in my bra and skirt. Luckily, he hadn't ripped it when he got to my underwear, or else I'd be showing the world what I had to offer. I ignored her and sat up, looking in disbelief at the dried blood on my hands.

"Sakura, answer me! What happened to your clothes?" I looked up to see both of them staring at me with an obvious question in mind.

My head shook, and I swallowed anxiously, "I, um, I fought Hidan and won."

"You what?!"

I nodded, looking down at my hands again, "He was trying to…I-I put two holes right through his body." My eyes widened, and I frantically tried to look at my shoulder, "Am I bleeding? Is there a bite here?"

They both shook their heads with confused expressions. I stared, wide-eyed, at them, "I was injured, but they healed. What the hell is going on?"

Madara spoke and actually made some sense, "It's probably because you've been so close to Kaguya. I wonder if you've been gaining some of her energy."

I nodded slowly, recalling the odd feeling that came over me when I touched her face, "I think you're right."