Chapter 25

Since Madara, Sasuke, and I finally came to a compromise, no matter how shaky it may be, the three of us returned to the party. It was wordlessly decided between us to wait until we weren't smack in the middle of a celebration to have a more in-depth conversation.

I primarily danced with Matsuri and left both Uchihas to enjoy the party how they wished because I didn't feel like dancing with Madara after such a tough encounter. Sasuke isn't the type to partake in such rowdy activities with so many strangers around. I pretended to drink the alcohol served to me, but I would take it into my mouth and then let it return to the glass. Everyone around me wasn't doing that, so they were too drunk to realize.

The crowd was most intoxicated in the early morning hours, and I excused myself with a clever ruse of needing to visit the ladies' room. Instead, I snuck to the castle's clothing storage and changed into clothing more appropriate for traveling in the desert: loose tan pants and a long-sleeved brown shirt. I've worn pants before when Ino was training me how to fight, but it's still such a foreign feeling. Before leaving, I snagged a thin cloak and left the castle via window so no one would see me using a primary exit.

As quietly as possible, I navigated the castle's large courtyard, searching for the travel pack Matsuri had prepared for me. Once I located it, I swiftly pulled it onto my shoulders and fled the vicinity; the cloak's hood pulled up to hide my recognizable hair color.

Honestly, I wanted to locate Sasuke before leaving, so I could have a fresh image of him to encourage me, but it was too risky. He'll also be close enough to see me if I'm close enough to see him. Then he'll ruin my plans.

The speed I traveled between the time I left Sunagakure castle and sunrise was borderline reckless, but I didn't have much of a choice. Everyone will begin searching for me when they notice my absence, so there's no room for hesitation.

I also made a point to do the opposite of what I usually would; that way, the Uchiha men couldn't track me as easily. For example, when I happened upon a small village mid-morning, I didn't stop at the inn to rest. Instead, I glowed a family to allow me to use their home. It felt awful to take advantage of strangers like that. I told myself it was for the greater good because if Amegakure got their hands on me, I could destroy countless families just like this one.

Sleeping a full eight hours would allow chasers to catch up, so I had the homeowners wake me after just two. Then I scrounged up a light meal and vacated the village to get back on the road to Kakurega.

The heat was sweltering. When walking around Sunagakure with Matsuri, I thought I'd faint due to the blistering atmosphere, but that was a cakewalk compared to this. Any time I raised my eyes to the horizon, the image would wave and distort.

Unlike elsewhere, the Land of Wind doesn't have numerous villages scattered around. In the vast desert, there was only the one I'd just rested at in between Sunagakure and my ultimate destination.

For hours, I traveled without a moment's rest. By the middle of the night, my legs felt akin to jelly. If I attempted to change the measured pace my feet had been moving for the entire day, I knew I'd collapse, so I just kept walking. Matsuri's map said I should reach Kakurega in roughly thirty hours on foot. It's been over twenty-four by now, so I can't give up. I'm too close to stop.

With shaking hands, I lifted my water canteen to my lips, only for it to be empty. Even if dread washed through me, I didn't have enough energy to react outwardly. I'm hungry as hell because I haven't eaten anything since leaving Suna, but more than that, I'm parched. The thirst wasn't just for water, either. An uneven burn was searing the flesh inside of my throat, begging for relief.

After sweating profusely throughout the day, the biting cold served as a stark contrast. The Land of Wind doesn't know mild weather, only extremes.

As I lifted my gaze ahead, I perked up when lights appeared to be in the very far distance, upon the horizon. Is that…? Can it be I've arrived already? I don't know how much rest time Matsuri had factored into her arrival estimation.

Before I could start making hypothetical calculations, the sand gave way under my feet, and suddenly I was falling. My mouth was too dry to muster a scream, so all that came from me was a terrified gasp. When I landed roughly on my back at the bottom of a deep hole, the air was knocked out of me. On instinct, my eyes began glowing because my mind unconsciously sensed I was in danger.

For a long time, I simply lay there and tried to intake a breath. By the time I managed to, I picked up on the sound of multiple sets of feet coming nearer up above. My fingers twitched to feel the earth below me, and I noticed some metal netting separating me from the cold mud.

"We've got a live one, boys!"

I stared wide-eyed at the top of the hole, still trying to make my body move, and saw the familiar glow of a torch, but no one peeked over the edge after I began paying attention. I could feel my body repairing itself from the fall, but it wasn't working quickly because I hadn't had a substantial amount of blood in days. It felt as though my spine had been shattered on impact, and it honestly might have.

The pain was so severe that I couldn't move or make a sound. All I could do was lay there, stunned. That is until the net beneath me shifted. A raspy gasp of agony crawled from my chest as I watched another net stretch across the top of the hole before I was lifted slowly upward. Once I was near the top, someone finally leaned over the edge, and I saw that they had some sort of handheld weapon, like the one Usotsuki, the inn-keep in Sonukuni, had used to take down Madara, Ino, and me.

Before I could react, a loud "bang!" echoed off the walls of the hole, and a stinging pain erupted in the middle of my chest. When I looked down, though, the massive hole I expected to see wasn't there. Instead, some sort of needle or syringe was sticking out of my shirt, my blood seeping slowly around it.

What is…?

Everything went black before I could finish my thought.

~

A groan stung my throat before I could open my eyes. Wherever I am, I'm no longer outdoors. I can tell by the air pressure. Something hard and cold was clamped around my wrists and neck, and a sickening throb of pain netted from those spots that seemed to coarse through my entire body.

"Are you awake, Sweetheart?"

An unfamiliar male voice chased away the remainder of my slumber, and my eyes shot open, but I still couldn't see. That's when I realized I was blindfolded. My wrists were fastened to something on the back of my neck. So, my arms were bent upwards and tingling wildly with a lack of blood.

Terror is one way to describe how I'm feeling. Matsuri warned me that Kakurega is dangerous, but I didn't think I'd be captured before even stepping foot in the city.

Even if it hurt and even if my voice was almost too hoarse to comprehend, I asked, "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

I tried to step toward the voice, but the metal around my throat dug into my skin and kept me in place. That's when I realized spikes were digging holes right into the skin of my neck and wrists. I'm bleeding.

"Don't go tearing up your skin, Beautiful, or you won't fetch as good a price."

Price? Do these people intend to sell me? To who? And why?

The man answered the question before I could ask it, "A pretty little vamp-whore like you is gonna make us enough to get outta this shithole. Right, boys?"

A few sounds of agreement came, and I picked up at least two unique tones, meaning a minimum of three men had a part in my capture. I could tell by their leader's voice, who I assume is the one doing the talking, that they're likely from a lower class area like me.

Tears fell heavily down my cheeks, making the black cloth over my eyes suction to my skin, but I didn't bother begging for them to release me because I knew it was futile. If I regain my vision, I'll easily get out of here by glowing them.

I'm unsure if I need to see my target to use my other abilities, and I'm not eager to attempt using them because Sasuke's not around to help me regain my composure when all is said and done. There've been times I've managed to calm down alone, but I can't trust that that'll happen.

Something suddenly pressed against my lips, and I clamped them together in a panic, only for the man to speak, "Do you wanna dehydrate?"

Hesitantly, I parted my lips, but a frantic sound rumbled through my chest when ice-cold water met my tongue, and I drank eagerly. The burning in my throat was only slightly quenched, but it was more manageable than before.

"That's a good girl."

He eventually pulled away, taking the water with him, and I gasped for air, my head turning slightly every couple of moments as I listened for even the quietest sounds.

"I'd offer you some food, but what you want's not on the menu, so you'll just have to wait."

With my throat no longer as arid as the desert outside, I began yelling for help, to the dismay of my dignity. A sharp pain erupted in my stomach, and I choked on my own blood, silencing all screams.

"Now, I hate it when you lot make me hurt you like this. Quiet down, or I'll gag you, too."

My limbs trembled with fright as I felt the blade slide back out of my skin and sensed the man take a step back. Blood dripped over my lips, but I ignored it and choked, "W-Who are you?" He didn't answer, and I listened as he walked away.

Unsure of what else to do at this point, I began trying to make myself angry. I thought of Karin's assault on Naruto, Amegakure's torture of Obito, and the time Hidan tried to rape me in Sonukuni. It did the trick. Loud breaking sounds erupted both above and below me as the lightning beneath my skin crackled and popped around.

"What the hell's going on!"

My teeth grit to the point that it hurt, and I tried desperately to focus on the blindfold. Surprisingly, it ripped into shreds and fell to the ground, but I also felt something akin to slashes against the skin around my eyes. It was bloody and clouded, but I could see.

That's when I noticed I wasn't the only woman shackled to the wall. Another was right beside me, and her body was slack. In my heightened state of senses, I realized her heart wasn't beating. She was dead. Her clothes were torn and bloody, and I could also differentiate multiple men's scents.

Beastlike growls left my mouth as my gaze darted across the room, where five men stared at me in terror. The ground began to shake as I lost the last of my composure, dust falling from the cracked roof. All the men turned to run, but I caught one of their lines of sight, and he had no choice but to walk right up to me.

He unlocked the shackles on my wrists, and my arms fell lifelessly to my sides. When he removed the spiky collar from my neck, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into his jugular, taking him to the ground as I growled hungrily. The taste was delectable. I couldn't exercise restraint, so the man was entirely drained within a single minute, and then I was on my feet and searching for his four friends.

Power and rage overshadowed anything else within me.

The moment I caught a glimpse of movement in the dark hallway outside the room, I shot in that direction with incredible speed. It was one of the other men, and I mindlessly threw his body up against the ceiling, then down to the floor, before pulling it across the room so I could attack him with my hands. The sound of breaking limbs and cries for help would've made me sick any other time, but it just fueled my fire instead.

I slashed and tore, even after the man was dead until movement nearby caught my ear, and I sat up, straddling the corpse's waist to see two unfamiliar people approaching, both with eyes glowing.

All I wanted to do in my state was experience violence, so I threw them against the wall and got up to begin descending on them, too. To my surprise, once I got close enough, I became frozen.

Enraged snarls tore from me as I fought whatever force inhibited me, only for a strange voice to float through my head, "Breathe. Grab the reins. The danger has passed."

If my humanity was drowning, it was like that voice was someone offering a hand to pull me out. Desperate not to cause further damage, I grasped that hypothetical hand and held it for dear life. As quickly as I'd lost control, did I regain it, and then I fell to my knees with a heavy flow of tears and blood dripping from my eyes.

Ragged gasps for air shook my ribcage as I stared at the two strangers moving to stand before me. Now that I had my sense, I could tell they weren't part of the group I'd seen fleeing the scene. One of them was female, too.

Through my hyperventilating, I managed out, "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?" Even though I don't know these newcomers, something tells me they're not foes.

The man, who had the appearance of someone in their late forties or early fifties with long white hair and tan skin, grinned wide, "Don't worry, Sakura. This old man's not gonna kick it that easily!"

I flinched when they both knelt to my eye line, shying away in case I lost control again, "How do you know my name?"

The man sheepishly offered a hand, "Well, Kakashi said a beautiful girl with long pink hair and emerald-colored eyes would visit me soon; not many people fit that description."

Surprised beyond belief, I accepted the man's hand.

This is Jiraiya, the man I've been searching for all this time.