Chapter 14

"Before we begin, please keep in mind that exercising caution is of utmost importance. The wrong decision can and will start a war." Fugaku addressed those of us in his office with a firm look of warning.

Morning has come and now it's time to start making a plan of rescue for Obito.

This is my first time stepping foot into Konoha's king's personal office. It's almost exactly what I imagined, if I'm being honest. A massive desk carved of blackwood is the centerpiece of the room and an elegant bench sits before it for when guests are present. The office is almost completely vacant of wall decorations and the desk itself is as organized as can be.

Present for this important meeting are the king himself, Sasuke, Sai, and me. If Madara was here, he'd undoubtedly be included, too. Sai, Mikoto, and Fugaku all three forbid Ino from getting involved because of her status as a new mother. Inojin is officially in line as an heir to Konoha's throne and his upbringing is being taken seriously. So, the queen and my sister are to focus on my nephew until he comes of age.

Ino's not happy about being excluded, especially since she was imprisoned in Sonokuni, just like me, and the act that Amegakure is at least pretending to be angered by happened in the tiny village. I tried to talk her down from a red-faced rant this morning after breakfast, but it was Sai who ultimately had to bring her to reason.

The conversations they had right after our rescue must've been heartwrenching. Hell, even Sasuke and I sat down and talked, which is very rare since he's so reserved and we aren't the ones who suddenly have an unexpected child.

"To start, I need to know exactly how you supposedly killed their advisor and why."

Sasuke and I glanced at one another, but I responded, "He was about to kill me and Sasuke tore his heart out. We both saw him die right away."

Fugaku addressed his other son, "Sai, can you confirm this?"

The more expressive twin shook his head, "I was focused on my wife so I didn't see it happen, but I did see his corpse before we left."

The king's frown tugged somehow lower, "Very well. At this point, it's just word against word. We need to either find proof of their advisor's crimes or approach this from an entirely different angle." His dark eyes flitted over to me, "Is there anything you can think of from your time as a captive that may help?"

My brow furrowed as I searched my memory for something, anything, that I may have forgotten to mention since my return and shook my head, "I can tell you everything he did in detail, but there's no way to prove I'm speaking the truth. All of my injuries have healed."

The room became silent for a few long moments before the king spoke again, sounding a bit less confident in the success of this meeting, "Write a detailed report of every encounter you and this advisor had while in Sonokuni while the memories are still fresh."

The word "memories" suddenly brought to mind the day Kaguya pressed her forehead to mine and my mouth opened slightly in surprise before I snapped out of it and refocused my eyes on the king's, "I just remembered something Kaguya did that might help us, but I don't know if I can do it."

"What is it?"

"She, um, she was able to go through my memories and then show another person what she'd seen."

Sasuke and Sai both gave me varying looks of surprise, the latter speaking, "Why haven't you or Ino mentioned this before?"

I frowned and shook my head, "I don't know. I guess I kind of forgot about it with everything else that happened. Ino was under Kaguya's control at the time so I don't know if she was able to comprehend what was happening."

Fugaku's jaw flexed before he spoke in his gruff voice once more, "Try to verify if you inherited this ability. In the meantime, we need to come up with a backup plan in case you didn't. I fear if we don't act within the week, Obito's life will be in danger. Amegakure may assume we've chosen to ignore their warning and take action themselves."

Two hours passed, full of multiple plans coming to fruition only to be nixed when we'd realize a flaw in our logic.

After last night, when Sasuke and I traveled into the woods to work on my new abilities, I've kept in mind that we can always use it as a last resort. Up till now, though, Sasuke hasn't said anything about it to the others either, so he likely doesn't want me involved if violence is afoot. If I do end up having the ability to show others my memories, a fight can be avoided altogether, so that's why he hasn't objected to his father and I's conversations yet. As time passes, I keep getting more and more desperate to offer myself up as the frontline in a head to head fight to save Obito's life.

Finally, the meeting came to a point where all other ideas had seemingly been offered and turned down for one reason or another and I bit the bullet despite knowing the prince wasn't going to like it. "What if I just-"

"Sakura no." My eyes darted over to Sasuke's and the angry glare I expected was there.

Fugaku and Sai looked between us, the prince being the one to speak, "If it's something that can help our cause, we should know about it, brother." Sasuke's gaze didn't leave mine.

My brow furrowed and I reached over to hold one of his hands in mine, "I don't think there's another way that's going to be quick enough." His fingers wrapped around my hand and his jaw flexed with irritation, but he didn't say anything.

Sighing, I came clean, "I can sneak in and try to rescue him without a fight, but if I'm discovered I'm fairly sure I can hold my own against multiple enemies and get us out of there. After breakfast yesterday, I realized I can use my powers if I'm angry enough, I just can't control them yet."

The king met Sasuke's gaze for a moment and they shared a look of understanding, "Just to be clear, you want me to send you into Amegakure's castle by yourself?"

I nodded, "If anyone comes with me and I lose control, I could hurt them. It's better if I'm alone."

Sai piped in, surprising us all, "What if we cause some sort of distraction so the castle isn't full when you go in?"

Fugaku nodded, warming up to the idea, "We can summon Kakashi and stage an attack somewhere in the city. So long as none of us are seen, the royal family will have no way of knowing its true cause."

The conversation continued as the four of us began ironing out some more details when Sasuke's fingers tightened around mine again and I squeezed back. Neither of us have to say anything. I know he's going to insist on coming along on my mission and there's nothing I can do to change his mind.

After dinner that night, Sasuke and I sat cross-legged across from one another on the bed in our room. Following Fugaku's request, the two of us are going to try and find out if I inherited any of Kaguya's other abilities, starting with the mind-searching power she'd displayed.

"Okay, when she did it she touched her forehead to mine…" I thought he'd just lean forward, but instead he uncrossed his legs and pulled me closer.

Face warming slightly, I put my legs on either side of his body and nervously held handfuls of his shirt. After a brief look of warning, he rested his forehead against mine and I closed my eyes. Nothing happened. I tried thinking of things that make me angry, like Karin or Hidan, but it didn't change a thing.

Grip tightening on his clothes, I sighed, "It's not working."

"What are you trying?"

I released his shirt, but kept my eyes closed and my forehead to his, instead running my hands up his chest and over his shoulders to embrace him lovingly, wordlessly thanking him for the support. "I tried getting angry like yesterday, but other than that I don't have a clue what to do."

Sasuke paused before softly pressing his lips to mine, making warmth spread throughout my chest. When he pulled away, he said, "Are you overthinking it?"

My eyes shot open to see his were still closed and I squeezed them shut once more. Am I? What if it's as simple as thinking "okay, show me your memories now"?

The moment the question crossed my mind, an odd numbing sensation vibrated where his forehead met mine and then I was seeing swift images pass by my closed eyes. A gasp passed my lips and I pulled away, a hand to my mouth as I searched Sasuke's confused face.

Hesitantly, I asked, "Did you not feel that just now?"

He shook his head, "Did you do it?"

I nodded, hands shakily reaching up to cup his beautiful face, "I…I think so, yeah. Can I try again?" He nodded and I cautiously took a deep breath before pulling him down a bit so I could do so.

Just like before, the images passed, but it was happening so fast that I couldn't comprehend a single thing I was seeing. Hoping the logic of activating the skill itself would carry over, I simply focused on slowing everything down.

It worked!

The scene playing was slowed to the point that it appeared to be happening exactly as he recalls it. I could hear, but couldn't feel any sensations or hear Sasuke's thoughts at the time like I expected. His emotions were clear as day, though.

In this particular memory, he was angry. No, he was livid: beyond pissed off. The prince was walking down the hall in the castle and turned into Madara's room, where his uncle looked up from his desk with a knowing smirk.

"What the fuck were you thinking!"

The elder stood and moved to lean his back against the desk with a smug grin, "I was thinking she smells good and I want her blood, so I took it."

Sasuke's anger just kept on increasing, "Why did you not heal her? If I'd found her even a moment later, she would've died." Unease crept up my spine as I began to put the pieces together. I think this is the morning after I was attacked for the very first time.

"Who cares if she dies? She's just another human."

The prince's hands gestured in a way that beckoned Madara to shut up and listen to his words carefully, "She's not normal, we all know that. Sakura, she-"

"She's delectable, isn't she? You had to have tasted her blood when you healed her."

Sasuke became uneasy and a little guilty as he paused, but eventually responded as though he no longer wanted to be a part of the conversation, "This can't happen again, Uncle."

Madara suddenly rose to his full height and took a threatening step toward his nephew, the smile on his face becoming less relaxed and more tense as his dark eyes began to glow, "I'll drink whoever I want to drink and I'll kill whoever I want to kill."

To my utter disbelief, an ice cold terror washed over Sasuke then. It's only logical that he was scared because, as I'd find out much later, the entire Uchiha family knows of Madara's ability to easily control them. Up until now, though, I didn't think Sasuke could feel fear to this extent. It almost makes him seem more human than before.

Luckily, Madara only told Sasuke to get out of his room and leave him alone, deciding to show mercy and not hurt the prince for some reason. The Uchiha twin then felt overcome with shame and irritation as he stalked back to his own room.

Then I pulled myself away from Sasuke and put a hand to my heart as I searched his face. Deep, dark eyes searched my face before he spoke in a suspicious voice, "What did you see?"

I shook my head, "Nothing bad, just you and Madara arguing, but this…this is insane! It's like I was there, in your body!" Things that I've previously thought unimaginable are swiftly becoming reality for me.

Before he could ask me more about what I saw, I shook my head, still feeling exhilarated from successfully using a new ability, "Okay, let's find out if I can show you anything. Hold my hand. Just squeeze it if you need me to stop, alright?"

He interlaced the fingers of one of our hands, leaving the other to rest on my thigh as I hesitantly reached up to press my palm to his forehead. The moment I visualized the intent to share my memories with him, his body stiffened. His eyes didn't close, but zoned out as though he was far away.

A minute or so passed before I realized I hadn't focused on a specific memory and I pulled my hand away with a gasp. His pupils shrunk as he refocused and his fingers tightened around mine, "Sakura, you…"

Anxiety furrowed my brow, "What did you see?"

His jaw flexed and he shook his head as though refusing to tell me, but the look in his eye had me extremely worried. Rather than seeing me, the expression on his face was as though he was looking at an injured puppy or something. The hand on my thigh came up to gently wrap in my hair as he kissed me so softly that it felt as though he thought I'm going to break within his arms.

I pulled away after a moment, "Sasuke, what's wrong? What'd you see?"

A fire began to burn in his eyes and he gave in, voice terrifying, "Kabuto."

Tears began welling up in an instant, the mood of the room taking a much more serious tone, "Oh…I wish it would've been literally anything else…"

His rage melted away, leaving a sad frown, "You thought it was me."

I nodded before bringing myself closer into his embrace and attempting to make him feel better. To this day, I know he blames himself for what happened even though none of it's his fault.

"Which makes me love you that much more, knowing you're nothing like that."

The room became quiet as he slowly released my hand and wrapped his arms around me, but he eventually returned the sentiment into my hair, "I love you." My eyes shot open in surprise, but I didn't pull away because I don't want to ruin the moment.

That's only the second time he's ever said those words. The fact that he doesn't vocalize his feelings doesn't hurt me because I know he's a man who prefers to show it rather than say it, but it's still so lovely and reassuring to hear such adoring words in his deep voice.

After a bit, I pulled away and offered in a half-joking way to try and rid the room of its serious aura, "Want me to show you another one?" His brow quirked, but he nodded and let me press my hand to his skin.

This time I did picture a specific memory. To be exact, I recalled the frantic sex we had in the bath the day I convinced him to let me go to Amegakure with him. If showing others my memories works the same as me looking at theirs, he can't feel the sensations or hear my thoughts, but surely he can feel the unbearable arousal and attraction I felt that day.

Proving my hypothesis correct, his eyes gradually came to glow and I released him when I realized a specific body part of his was hardening between my legs. He blinked a few times before speaking in a thick, forced voice, "Give me your wrist."

I obeyed, heat beginning to pool in my lower regions just in response to his demanding tone. He tightly grasped it as he bit into it, offering me his other hand. A smile tugged at my lips as I accepted it, biting greedily into his tan skin and immediately becoming overwhelmed with arousal.