Chapter 33

"I still think I should go alone, but you two aren't going to let that happen, so let's go ahead and skip over that part," I grumbled unhappily before sipping some of the delicious sake Matsuri realized I'd taken a liking to.

"Oh, good. You're aware of an argument's irrelevance." I scoffed at Madara's half-serious taunt.

After relaxing in the spring for a while, we ate a late dinner, and now we're winding down for the night with drinks and a discussion on what we should do going forward. It was a great relief when I realized Gaara lightens up, if only a bit, when drinking. At the very least, his eyes wandered over to his bride-to-be more often, increasing as he continued sipping his drink. Matsuri didn't pretend not to notice or that she wasn't ecstatic to receive his attention.

"It would be best to lure them away from the city. My people's safety is my biggest priority."

The table nodded in agreement with the king's statement. Above all else, unnecessary casualties are something I want to avoid. Many have been hurt already, and I don't know if I can bare the guilt if the number continues to rise.

"South of Sunagakure, there's an abandoned fort from the last war. Its condition should be sound enough to provide shelter should we find the need to linger." Kankuro's focused tone and expression starkly contrast with what I've come to expect.

His usual grin returned when he noticed my poorly-masked intrigue, "What? If I hope to stand a chance of spending a night in your arms, I need to take this seriously!" I rolled my eyes, ignoring Matsuri and Madara's snickering.

The Sunagakure prince returned to his less-flirtatious persona, "The fort is only half a day's travel away on foot. Should we leave first thing in the morning?"

Sasuke spoke for the first time since dinner ended, "We don't need you to come along."

Everyone turned to give him a surprised look, but I could tell he was being misunderstood, "What he means to say is that we don't want to put any of you in further danger by asking for your involvement."

Sasuke continued, intention clearer this time, "May we use a few dozen of your soldiers? That should suffice."

Gaara nodded, face as stoic as ever, "I'll have my captains prepare fifty of our best."

Matsuri surprised me, and likely everyone else, by suddenly arguing, "I want to go, as well! Please allow me to help my treasured friend, Lord Gaara."

The redheaded vampire's eyes darted to her instantly, "I forbid it."

Stunning us further, she ventured to talk back to him, "What does it say of my character if I don't fight for those I hold dear?"

Gaara's eyes suddenly flashed bright red, and the woman closed her mouth quickly, eyes wide, "It says that you understand the importance of your role as my queen. You are not to leave this castle until the battle has ended." Matsuri was silently crying and didn't bother wiping her tears but seemed about to retort with another argument.

I cut her off for her own sake, "He's right. I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt. Please say you'll listen to Lord Gaara." Watery brown eyes met mine, and I offered her a reassuring smile, "Please promise me, Matsuri. As my friend."

Reluctantly, she nodded, wiping her tears at last.

"My brother will join you as Sunagakure's war general."

Kankuro bowed slightly as a sign to his brother that he accepted his role, "We'll leave at first light. Goddess, you and your masters will travel ahead by twenty minutes." I nodded, glancing at the Uchiha men in question.

The Suna prince directed his attention to them, "Should you encounter any enemies, I trust you can survive at least that long." His last statement was almost mocking, pulling looks of varied annoyance from them.

"I will join you, Cousin." Sasori, who'd been completely silent since joining us once we left the hot spring, finally spoke.

"No, you can't!" I gritted my teeth after unintentionally blurting out the words.

The man's light brown eyes met mine with dull emotion, "It is my duty to protect my master and my friend. Nothing you say will deter me."

Kankuro butted in before I could respond, "Join me in the morning, Sasori."

I didn't look away from the redheaded man's face, nor did he look away from mine as we wordlessly challenged one another. He'd undoubtedly been told all of the information Deidara gave me and was out for vengeance against Amegakure.

As much as I can't blame him because I'd be uncontrollably angry if I were in his place, I also can't allow him to fight those advisors. They know all of his tricks and abilities and would likely target him because of that. It doesn't help that Hidan's probably going to be present. The silver-haired menace will want revenge for his "betrayal". To top this off, Deidara begged me, in tears, to make sure Sasori escaped and lived.

The night drew late, and I excused myself, comfortably drunk, to prepare for bed since I was the only one who needed sleep. Sasuke and Madara shared a look, and I was utterly shocked when the elder of the two rose to join me while the prince remained seated, offering me a reassuring expression.

I gave Sasuke a confused look, but he surprised me by pulling me down and kissing me right there in front of everyone. Before I could respond, he pulled away, and my other master pulled my arm to lead me out of the room, "He has something to take care of, so you're stuck with me for a bit. Lucky you." With one last glance at the handsome prince, I allowed myself to be pulled around the corner and had to focus on what was in front of me, ripping my arm out of Madara's grasp and changing the direction we were walking.

"How did I know you were going to see him?" I ignored his rhetorical question and quickly found the door to the dungeon and descended the steps.

It's been exactly a week since I last saw Deidara, so his unwanted response to my blood should have worn away by now. When we arrived at his cell, I was relieved to see that while he didn't look any better than last time, he also didn't look worse.

Dark blue eyes crept open as I knelt to reach through the bars, and he quickly came forward to grasp them in his own, "Sakura! Where have you been? They said you ran away!" His gaze raised slightly from my eyes to my forehead, "What is that?"

I shook my head, trying not to fall into tears in my intoxicated state, "Deidara, shut up and listen to me." He clamped his mouth shut in surprise but nodded after a moment.

"Tomorrow, we're going to try and lure the advisors into an ambush. Sasori is coming."

A frantic edge touched his voice, "No! You can't let him do that!"

I shook my head, squeezing his hands more tightly, "He won't listen to me, and you know it."

Madara suddenly spoke up, a threat in his tone, "Sakura, don't do what you're about to do." I figured he'd realize my plan but chose to ignore him completely.

Instead, I came closer to the bars as I studied Deidara more closely for any sign of deceit or ill-intent, "As someone willing to forgive all you've done, I'm begging you to be honest with me."

The look of surprise on the blonde man's features grew more substantial, but I didn't pause to allow him to speak, "If I set you free, will you join our side or betray us?"

His mouth fell open slightly as he stared at me with wide eyes before suddenly bursting into tears and coming forward to press his forehead to the bars, his face downward. My own dam broke, and I cried silently as I waited for his response. I could feel the heat of Madara's rage on my back, but I continued to pretend he wasn't there. He won't tell Gaara or the others. I know he won't. He warned me harshly because he knew he couldn't deliberately betray me like that without ruining the fresh alliance we'd made.

"You're a great and merciful woman, Sakura, and I don't deserve your forgiveness." My brow furrowed as Deidara raised his head enough that we could meet gazes, and I knew what he would say before he said it, "I would pledge my fealty to Konohagakure if it were possible, but it's simply not."

Even I recognized the desperate tug in my voice, "You said Nagato can't control us, Deidara! We can win tomorrow, and I'll protect you until Yahiko is dead. I promise!"

The fingers intertwined with mine trembled as he shook his head, "You don't know what they've made me do, what they've done to me. If there's even a chance word will get back to the king of my betrayal… I-I can't do it!"

I stared at him momentarily before changing the plan, "Okay, so you won't join us out there. Will you tell me how to win?"

He frowned, releasing one of my hands so he could wipe at his eyes, "I'll tell you everything I know, but it'll take time."

I shook my head, pulling my other hand free, "No, it won't."

I got to my feet and turned to face Madara, who was glaring at me, the whites of his eyes darkening as he obviously tried not to let his irises glow, "Make me feel happy." Right now, it's too hard to focus on my beautiful memories because I'm so upset that Deidara's been traumatized to this point.

The rage on the Uchiha man's face melted into confusion, and I explained, stepping closer, "I need positive emotions to control it. I know it's an odd request, but can you try?"

Understanding met his features before unease crept up to join it, "As much as I'd like to say it isn't the truth, I don't know what to do."

My brow furrowed, and I glanced back to see Deidara watching us with a look of defeat. Turning back to Madara, I pulled his hands into mine and tried my best to ignore my body's natural reaction of discomfort.

Dark eyes stared at me in surprise as I brainstormed with a red face, "I-I don't know. Just glow me or something."

His brow furrowed, and he said nothing, but his irises changed in color. I flinched on instinct, which made his jaw flex, but a moment later, a light-hearted and peaceful aura enveloped me, and I sighed as I turned to face the cell again, "Thank you."

The familiar tingling sensation came over the upper half of my face as I basked in the comforting flow of energy through my limbs. After confirming I was entirely in control, I knelt and stared at the cell bars. So far, I've only managed to stop Hidan in his tracks, throw a weapon, and lift a rock with my new, less wild abilities. Bending thick metal is a stretch, but I can't ask for the key to Deidara's cell. So, I took a slow, strengthening breath before beginning my attempt. It didn't move but did emit a loud groan as it resisted my strength.

"What're you doing, hm?"

I ignored the blonde man's inquiry and rose to my feet, remembering Tsunade's advice not to ball up or crouch because it hinders energy flow. The metal groaned more loudly, and I spread my fingers widely apart because I had the urge to clench my fists.

The water's flow became more erratic as I tried harder and harder until its speed became strong enough to make my grasp on the reins begin to slip. That is, until I felt a hand slide into mine, distracting me from my panic. Then the metal bent just enough that no one could climb out.

Gasps of breath sucked past my lips as I relaxed and became severely light-headed. Madara's hand left mine, and he grabbed my waist to keep me from stumbling. I offered him a grateful glance before catching my breath and kneeling before the bent bars.

Deidara came to kneel right in front of me, disbelief on his features, "I've only ever heard of this type of thing from the others when they'd return from Sonukuni!" I reached forward to cup his face with both hands, obviously stunning him because he tensed up and offered an unsure frown.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Trust me." It took multiple moments, but he eventually allowed me to guide him closer, and I offered him as calm an expression as possible as I came closer so I could press my forehead to his.

Images and emotions flooded through me as quickly as light itself, and I hypothetically flipped through the pages of Deidara's memories until I began getting glimpses of familiar faces. I saw his turning of Sasori, along with many intimate moments of which I was both embarrassed and guilty to have peeked. Here I thought the redhead was uninterested in physical pleasures. It turns out he's attracted to vampires, specifically blonde ones.

To respect their privacy, I skipped any other memories involving Sasori and opted to focus on the other Amegakure residents.

Anything involving Yahiko alone was so awful I could barely stand to witness it. The king of Ame was already intimidating, but to witness his cruel and ruthless methods of molding his less-obedient advisors into submission was the stuff of nightmares.

And, God, Deidara was so scared and full of helplessness. The emotions were hard to bear since I could feel them when I'd slowed down to focus on specific memories, but I made myself endure.

Finally, I began locating little tidbits of information that could be useful. For example, I had no idea that Zetsu could split in two and the halves could travel and act independently. I also wasn't aware that he has camouflaging abilities, regardless of the setting. That's definitely something we need to focus on.

There was information on the others, too.

Kisame doesn't do well in extreme temperatures or dry conditions, making me wonder why they sent him into the desert, but I digress. What truly surprised me was the knowledge that the blue-skinned vampire hails from a branch of the Hyuuga family in Konoha. Orochimaru captured him as a human, turned, and experimented on him until he became what he is today. Rather than clutch to his humanity like Kakuzu seemed to do, Kisame embraced the lifestyle he was forced into. By Deidara's memories alone, I realized Hidan and Kisame were close and possessed incredibly similar personalities.

Finally, I saw Nagato. In fact, I watched as Yahiko treated him with as much violence and abuse as some of the advisors. Having seen that and many more things, I pulled myself out of Deidara's mind and fell back onto my bottom when it felt like all of his negative emotions swept over me at once.

Wiping feverishly at my tears, I sobbed and trembled as I struggled back onto my knees, "W-Why does Yahiko treat Nagato like that?"

The blonde man glanced behind me as he reached forward, seeming intent on comforting me, before backing off, "Are you alright, hm? What happened?"

Slowly, I calmed down and shook my head, wordlessly telling him to forget those questions. "Why does he beat him? I thought they were brothers."

Deidara nodded slowly, "They are, but Yahiko is much stronger." I simply stared as I wiped the last of my tears away and waited for him to continue. "There are few who know what I'm about to tell you. I hope you understand what I'm risking."

After an uneasy pause, he explained, "Konan is not pureblooded. Yahiko and Nagato are both her master." He cut me off rather than allow me to interrupt with many surprised questions, "Both fell in love with her while she was still human, but she chose Yahiko after being turned."

"Yahiko was already the stronger of the two, and Nagato took the rejection badly. He didn't use to be as submissive as he is now, if you can believe it. Over the years, he lost his confidence while the king became stronger."

Blue eyes narrowed as Deidara offered a disgusted sneer, "If he hadn't sat there and taken it all these years instead of doing something, I'd almost feel bad for him."

He finally let me get a question in, "And what about Konan? Why doesn't she do anything?" Whether she loves him or not, Nagato is one of her masters. Even if I borderline hated Madara when I first found out that he'd slipped me some of his blood, I still would've died trying to protect him if it came to it because I wouldn't have been able to resist the bond.

"That's the sickest part of it all. Nagato told her he doesn't want her to intervene because she could get hurt. I guess after a thousand years of looking the other way, it doesn't affect her anymore. Heartless bitch…."

So, with a book's worth of information on our enemies, we said our goodbyes for the night. I promised to release Deidara when I could slip away before we head out in the morning. He won't come to our aid in the battle; I know that because he said so, but I can't leave him in that cell when I now know that he's a sitting duck if someone like Zetsu comes around.

I'll tell Kankuro about it once the fight is over. I'll take whatever punishment Sunagakure wants because I know Deidara's a victim.

As Madara and I entered the bedroom, I glanced at him before turning into the bathroom to wash my face. It was stiff from all the dried tears. He suddenly spoke when I was dabbing it with a towel, making me jump in fright, "I hope you aren't making any assumptions after hearing all that."

Still pretty tipsy from the many drinks I had after dinner, I sat the towel on the counter and absently reached up to begin taking my hair out of the intricate braid one of the maids had put it into after our trip to the hot spring, "Hm?"

He watched my fingers with a frown, "I don't intend to play the role of Nagato or Yahiko. My nephew doesn't, either."

A small smile tugged at my lips, a warm feeling brewing in my chest at his reassurance, "I know. Thank you."