Chapter 17

Sasuke and Obito appeared at my other side, the former taking in the situation with a look of disbelief before shaking his head, "Sai, you have to land the killing blow." Then all hell broke loose. As if they've fought together a million times, the Uchiha twins and Madara took over while Obito grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the four men.

"Three masters! I've never heard of that!" He mused in disbelief.

I was too stunned to fight against him and simply watched the other three Uchiha's almost instantly gain the upperhand on Hidan. As Sai's hand plunged into the vampire's chest, though, the same sharp pain as before shot through me and it was like someone was holding my soul in their hand, squeezing it as tightly as possible in their fist.

My legs turned to jelly beneath me and I heard Obito yell my name just before things went dark. The only thing I could think the entire time was this: How the hell did Madara become one of my masters?

I came to again, seemingly not long after fainting, feeling utterly terrified with the urge to protect myself from anything and everything. I struggled out of whoever was carrying me's arms, catching myself in a crouch rather than falling and shooting a warning look at those around me with my eyes ablaze.

"Sakura, it's us! You're safe!"

A thick, electric haze was overwhelming my mind. All I could focus on was fighting for my life. Everyone was an enemy with intentions to kill me. Someone tried to grab my arm and I slashed at it in fear. Someone pulled them away and I realized they were speaking, either to one another or me, but I couldn't comprehend any words. I don't even know if my hit landed. All I knew is that I had to get away or they'd continue trying to hurt me.

So, I turned and I ran. As fast as my feet could take me, I ran through alley after alley, street after street, until a whiff of something delicious met my nose and my body froze on the spot.

Slowly, I took staggered, uneven steps into a dark alley nearby where a man was propped against the brick wall, his hands bleeding and blistered, likely from trying to fight the fires nearby. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw me approaching. His mouth opened to call for help, but I bid him to be silent and it clamped closed again.

Crouching down in front of him, I closed my eyes and inhaled the wonderful scent of his blood, a growl rumbling my chest hungrily. My canines had grown longer. I could feel their sharp points aching to stab into the man's flesh.

Loud footsteps approached from the way I'd come and my head snapped in that direction to see another man approaching, but I didn't care about anything other than draining the injured human before me so I crawled forward, in between his arms and legs before moving his head to the side so I'd have access to his neck. Before I could bite, strong arms were pulling me off of him.

A snarl left my lips and I clawed at whoever dared interrupt me. My fear from before was gone and all that remained was hunger and rage.

The man and I wrestled for a moment before I was able to turn around. The moment I locked eyes with him, a suddenly familiar voice growled out, "Stop," and my body obeyed. Realization finally hit me and I recognized Madara slowly climbing off me, his hands up just in case I began fighting again. Loud whines and pants passed my lips as my bloodlust tried to fight his orders, the familiar pain of disobedience shooting through my limbs.

My voice sounded inhuman as I turned my neck to see the injured stranger still hadn't run away, "Madara…the blood…I-I don't want to-"

The Uchiha man bit his wrist and held it out. I shook my head frantically, something akin to a sob tearing through my chest when every cell in my body ached to run to him. I can't drink his blood, not when I know what that kind of thing will do to me.

"Where's Sasuke?" It sounded like a demon speaking rather than my own voice.

Madara shook his head, "Looking for you, just like everyone else."

The man with the injured hands suddenly seemed to break from whatever trance he'd been in and shot to his feet to begin running. My instincts kicked in and I chased after him: a predator after their prey.

"Sakura, stop!"

Just before I could grab the man, I was tackled to the ground and a strong arm held both of mine down to my sides as a wrist was placed to my lips. My teeth sank into Madara's flesh in an instant, a pleasured moan rolling through me when it tasted just as good as it smelled.

Madara sat up on his knees, pulling me with him and cautiously loosening his hold. My nails dug into the skin of his arm as I bit down harder. His chest moved against my back with each breath and it made a heat flood through me in a way only Sasuke's done before.

After a moment, I tore my teeth from his skin, licking the wound closed and turning around to look at his face. An energy crackled through me when I realized he was feeling just as aroused as me and it took everything in me not to jump his very bones.

Thankfully, Sasuke and the others finally arrived then and the moment my eyes met the prince's I was on my feet and running into his arms, "Please take me somewhere else!"

He immediately understood what I meant and grabbed my hand, pulling me along while instructing the others to head back to the hotel and that we'd meet them there. My lungs and throat burnt wildly with desire to drain someone, anyone, of their lifeforce and only began to be quenched when Sasuke suddenly pulled us into a different alleyway and pressed me against the wall.

I sank my teeth into his neck with a desperate moan, hands gripping onto whatever part of him they could reach. Strong hands lifted me up, guiding my legs around his hips as he lifted my skirt and slid my underwear out of the way so he could thrust into me. Then he began moving.

After a minute, I tore my teeth away and angled my head so he could take his turn. He didn't hesitate to bite me, pulling a barely muffled moan of pleasure from my chest. Ten minutes later, we were finished, my emotions were back under control, and we were smoothing out our clothing as we headed at a more casual pace back to the hotel.

I sensed that he was uncomfortable about what happened with Madara without him even having to say a word, "About before…I'm sorry. I tried not to, but I-"

"It's fine. He's your master. It's impossible for you to deny him now."

The tone of his voice broke my heart and had me turning my head to see his expression was very guarded, "...I don't love him, Sasuke, not like how I love you."

He looked at me and the hard look softened as he nodded, "I know. Thank you." The prince paused before adding on, "How did he…?"

I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes, "I have no idea. I mean, I let him and Ino drink my blood so they wouldn't starve, but it'd been over twenty four hours at the time I was turned."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and his lips formed a firm line. He's undoubtedly thinking exactly what I am: Madara knew all along he was one of my masters and kept it secret on purpose. We just need to find out how he did it and what his plan is.

Back at the hotel, I was surprised to see that everyone had returned safely and then some. Not only had Kakashi arrived, but another new face stood at Obito's side. It was a short woman with shoulder-length brown hair and bright eyes. She all but trembled in fear as she held onto his arm and looked at everyone around the room as though she didn't trust a soul.

When I realized his other arm's shirt was tattered and bloody, I recalled lashing out at someone after waking up. "O-Oh God, Obito. I'm so sorry!"

He held up his hand in dismissal, "It's alright. It's all healed up anyway."

I searched his eyes, ignoring the room full of people staring at us, before nodding and turning my eyes onto his companion. Dark eyes widened in surprise before looking at the woman as well and then his cheeks turned a soft pink, "This is Rin, by the way. She was being forced to be a donor. …I couldn't just leave her behind."

My brow furrowed and I met the woman's unsteady gaze with a frown, "You're safe now, okay? That kind of thing won't ever happen to you again. I know Obito will make sure of it." She nodded, but moved slightly behind the man in question.

Sai offered, "I think your eyes are scaring her, Sakura. It may be best to calm down first." That's when I realized my vampiric traits hadn't receded yet and felt confused. I'm not overwhelmingly emotional right now so why…?

"It's because one of your masters was just killed. You'll likely be unstable for a few hours," Kakashi said. I moved to stand close to Sasuke once more and he grabbed my hand, understanding that I wanted him to keep a close watch on me just in case.

Fugaku then addressed the room and everyone listened in silence, "This mission has been an overwhelming success. It's too dangerous to leave immediately while the city is crawling with guards, so we'll leave tomorrow evening. It's best if everyone remains inside the hotel." The room relaxed, soft chatter filling the air as the tense post-battle aura faded.

Before I could decide what I'd like to do, Kakashi approached, "I read of your condition in Fugaku's letters, but they don't compare to how you are in person."

I bowed politely, "It's nice to see you again. Thank you for coming to our aid."

He grinned softly, surprising me by how attractive the unfamiliar expression seemed on his face, "How could I deny assistance to an angel?"

Heat broke about my face and I felt a protective anger begin to emanate from Sasuke, but the white-haired vampire nomad put his hands in front of him in defense, "I'm not trying anything funny. If I'm correct, that's what you are: an angel. I've never met one in person, but I've come across a few in my travels that have and how they describe them is similar to your new traits."

I relaxed slightly, "Angels? That doesn't make sense…"

The man shrugged, "If you think about it, not much does in our world. I've lost the ability to feel surprised at this point."

Kakashi wasn't able to provide much information to back up his hypothesis, but did give us directions on how to find one of his acquaintances, last seen in Sunagakure, who claims to personally know an angel. Then, the next evening we left in groups over the course of a few hours so no red flags would be raised by such a large group moving at once.

The seating was the same as before, but with Itachi joining us in the back row so Obito and Rin could sit in the middle row with Sai. That meant the nearly three day trip was incredibly snug and awkward since it didn't feel right to confront Madara until we've returned to Konoha. The vehicle was tense, quiet, and uncomfortable. I just tried to sleep as much as possible or talked casually with Itachi about whatever topic arose.

Finally, we arrived home and I stalked right up to Ino once greetings were exchanged and everyone was indoors. I took Inojin from her arms and handed him to Sasuke, who gave me a half-panicked and half-confused expression, before pulling my sister out of the family room and into the laundry room down the hall where no one would overhear us.

The look in her baby blue eyes told me she knew exactly what my problem was, but she still remained silent as I hissed, "Tell me what you know about Madara being my master right now!"

Her face paled slightly and I sensed the guilt undoubtedly flooding her chest, "First things first, you should know the only reason I didn't say anything is because one: I only caught him feeding you his blood the morning of the day we escaped and two: I wasn't sure until I realized you were dreaming about him that his blood even had a part in your turning."

Heat rose to my face. My eyes must be as wide as physically possible, "H-He fed me his blood? When?"

She averted her eyes to the floor and scratched her arm awkwardly, "While you were sleeping."

My anger and disbelief flared, my eyes burning bright suddenly, but she didn't seem scared and simply put her hands up to keep me silent so she could explain further, "Listen to me, Saku! I understand why he did it! Honestly, I'd been thinking of doing the same thing. We all knew things were going to get rough and he didn't want to risk losing you. He did it because he loves you, I read his mind."

Tears welled up in my eyes and I released my hold on her shoulders defeatedly. My voice became much softer, "But Sasuke, it broke his heart when he found out. I can tell he's trying to convince himself to trust me, but…"

Ino shook her head, tears falling slowly, "I know it was messed up to let it happen, but I couldn't take the chance of you dying. I'm sorry, Saku. I've put you in an awful situation."

I wiped at my tears as they overflowed, shaking my head, "It's already done so there's no point in fighting about it. There's nothing we can do to change it now."

She nodded, plump lips in a frown. The two of us took a moment to calm down and cut the waterworks before she tried to lighten the mood, "Y'know, they say splitting masters affects them, too. Maybe you three can work something out."

My head turned swiftly to see a perverted glint in her eye and my mouth fell agape, "I-Ino! How could you even think something like that?"

She shrugged, "Konoha's literally the only place where that kind of thing's not considered normal, I'm just saying." Even if I did want to consider such a thing, which I very much do not, Sasuke would never be open to it. Madara honestly might, though.

Then, an idea popped into my head, making my sister look at me with wide eyes, "What if we try to find Madara a woman?"