Chapter 42

"Let me get this straight; you willingly spent the last week locked in a hotel room with those two?" Ino hissed.

Hinata and Naruto were visiting the castle. After crying and hugging me like a child, the blonde wandered off with Sasuke and Sai as they entered the cellar to interrogate Hidan. I thought it was a bad idea, but he insisted he had words to share with the irritating vampire responsible for my torture.

So, Hinata, Ino, Mikoto, Tenten, Itachi, Temari, Izumi, and I sat around the large coffee table in the family room, the fireplace alight to give the room a comforting aura. Since it's been pushed back so many times because of me, the couple decided they wanted to have their wedding within the next few weeks.

At first, I was against it because three very dangerous vampires were at large and could potentially show up: Yahiko, Kisame, and Konan. Then Hinata, surprising everyone except her fiance, suggested we use the event as a trap to lure them closer. I couldn't believe she was willing to use one of the most important nights of her life to help us.

Stunningly stubborn, the Hyuuga woman refused to hear any arguments, as did a proud-looking Naruto. So, the king, Madara, Shikamaru, and Neji disappeared into Fugaku's office to begin concocting a plan. The rest of us not working the prisoner in the cellar were starting the planning for the wedding. Itachi joined, though Izumi and Ino teased him for it.

Blushing, I nodded and tried not to think about the incredibly promiscuous things the three of us did in that room, "I was just as surprised as all of you are at first. Believe me."

Izumi flipped through a booklet of chair covers with an uninterested face and said, "Boring. We want the juicy stuff." She, Tenten, and my sister shared a look of excitement.

"It's too embarrassing! Besides, the queen and Itachi are here. I'm sure they don't want to hear about that."

Mikoto giggled, bringing a delicate hand to her lips, "Would you look at that, ladies? It seems I'm ready to begin delegating tasks to the Militia. If you'll excuse me." My mouth fell open slightly, and I watched her leave with a pretty grin, feeling completely betrayed.

"Alright, Handsome. Get outta here, or you're gonna hear things you don't want to," Izumi waggled her brows at Itachi, whose face fell into a mildly annoyed expression. Temari and the Uchiha girl shared an amused look when he wordlessly left the room, likely to join his uncle and father in their strategy meeting.

"The coast is clear, so spill! How'd you manage to tame not one Uchiha but two?" Tenten demanded with a smirk.

With a face as red as a cherry, I explained how the three of us were attacked on our way to Sunagakure, leaving out the parts about my losing control and going on a rampage and the exact things the boys said while arguing because that was too personal. The peanut gallery seemed satisfied with just "they fought over me", so I didn't bother elaborating further.

I explained how and why I ran away to search for Tsunade and Jiraiya on my own, receiving mixed responses from the women. Temari and Hinata agreed with her decision, while Izumi, Ino, and Tenten disagreed.

"Though I have no master, I can imagine the urge to protect them is stronger than anything else. I think it was noble of you to try and prevent their interference," Temari murmured diplomatically.

Hinata nodded, "If I were in your shoes, I'd have done the same thing. I couldn't ever dream of asking Naruto to risk his life for me."

"He totally would, though," Ino added in a sing-song voice.

The Hyuuga girl blushed and averted her gaze back down to the booklet of flower arrangements, pretending to focus to hide her bashfulness.

"No, no, no! That's all wrong!" Izumi pouted, not bothering to act like she was interested in the wedding planning.

Ino nodded while Tenten argued on their behalf, "You might be an all-powerful badass now, but you weren't then. If you died of dehydration or ended up losing control and murdering someone, how do you think they'd have felt?" She frowned with a firm gaze, refusing to falter as she waited for my response.

"You're all right; that's the problem. I made my choice. There's no going back now."

"Let's move on. When're we gonna get to the sex?" Izumi asked as casually as if she were asking about the weather.

Humiliated by her lack of restraint, I continued with my explanation. Skipping over most of the imprisonment in Amegakure felt like the right thing to do, so I did.

After half an hour of story-time, I sighed, "And then I woke up in a hotel room with both of them. The rest is history. The end."

"No way! Give us some details, Sakura!" Tenten whined. "I'm living vicariously through you. Don't you know you're living every girl's dream right now?" She and Izumi squealed, grasping one another's hands with dreamy smiles.

Sighing in defeat, I lowered my voice further and said, "Okay, fine. It was…. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I was worried they wouldn't be able to participate in that kind of activity without butting heads, but I was super wrong." The girls were relentless, so I decided to save myself time and effort.

Ino beamed, looking proud, "Go, little sister! Look at you bringing the tyrant to his knees!" By "tyrant", she obviously meant Madara.

My mind automatically corrected her, and I thought, "More like he brought me to my knees…literally."

She laughed loudly, covering Inojin's ears as he sat in her lap and quietly played with a sensory toy, "You little perv! …Tell us; who's bigger?" All of the girls, even Temari and Hinata, leaned forward expectantly.

Waving my hands sheepishly, I swallowed and said, "That's a little too much information, I think." Unconsciously, I thought about the question, making Ino's grin widen further, but she didn't say anything about it.

"Well, I'm happy for you. It feels like you're more comfortable," Izumi hummed with warm eyes and a smile.

Returning the look, I tilted my head and changed the subject, "When did you get back, by the way? I thought you were going back to your masters."

"Ah, yes, about that." The mood in the room became solemn, and I feared I'd mentioned something I shouldn't have.

The pretty Uchiha girl tried her best to smile, but the attempt was sad: "While traveling home, I suddenly felt this awful pain in my chest and fainted. When I woke up, I realized they were dead. Both of them."

"Oh, God! I'm so sorry," I whispered, tears welling in my eyes because I could genuinely imagine how that'd feel.

She gave up trying to smile and simply nodded, "I had to be sure, so I kept going. When I got home, they were there, in pieces. Whoever assassinated them killed the advisors, too."

I shook my head, wiping my eyes, "So you came back in case they're after you, too?"

She nodded, "The king and queen offered to let me live here."

Temari wrapped an arm around the sniffling girl's side and pulled her closer to offer her shoulder to lean on but said nothing. Izumi closed her eyes, accepting the kind gesture, "Everyone's been so nice to me. I'm grateful."

As the room fell silent momentarily to think about her fallen masters, Shisui and Kagami, I studied her and the Suna princess with curious eyes. Itachi's wife treated Izumi more warmly than I've seen her treat anyone but her husband, even her brothers. It was strange to me, but I'm also just glad Izumi has someone there to rely on while she's grieving.

"Goddess, are you busy?" A familiar voice met my ears and made my spine straighten in surprise. Turning in my chair, I saw Madara smiling casually and greeting the others, "Hello, ladies. Sorry, but I need to steal her away."

The perverted trio, also known as Ino, Izumi, and Tenten, did little to hide their excitement at his arrival, which undoubtedly stroked his ego. Giving the bride-to-be a small smile, I rose, "I'm sorry. I'll come back if I can."

Hinata shook her head with a tiny grin, "Please don't worry about it. I understand things are stressful right now."

Madara didn't hesitate to pull my hand into the crook of his arm once I was close enough. Blushing, I hissed quietly as he led us out of the room, "I told you not to call me that!"

He chuckled, leading me down the hall, "Last I checked, I'm the master in this relationship."

Rolling my eyes, I scoffed, realizing he was leading me toward the laundry room and becoming uneasy, "Where are you taking me?" Seeing Hidan is the last thing I want to do right now. Looking at his face reminds me of all the torture I suffered at his and the other advisors' hands.

"If we restrain him, will you search him for information?"

My feet stopped moving, and the Uchiha man turned to offer a knowing look. They want me to go through his memories? As I thought about it, I realized I should've expected this. Unlike others, I don't need someone's submission to get answers. Gritting my teeth, I nodded, apprehensive but understanding that many lives were at stake.

At the bottom of the cellar's steps, Madara placed a hand atop mine on his arm and spoke quietly, "How is everyone taking it?"

As we walked, I smiled down at the ground, "Give it time. We'll all figure it out as we go." An affirming sound left his mouth, but we spoke no further.

Once close enough, Hidan's familiar, angry voice became detectable, "-fucking human piece of shit! Wait until I get my hands on you. I'll skin you alive!" Obviously, the silver-haired vampire was livid.

Turning the last corner, I tensed when my eyes fell upon the loud man in question. Ankle still chained to the cot. Blood dirtied almost every inch of his clothing, but he had no injuries, so they likely hadn't figured out how to drain someone with a gift for healing like him.

Hidan's magenta-colored eyes locked onto me and narrowed, only to widen when Sai and Madara grabbed each of his arms and forced him to sit on the cot. Sasuke's dark eyes were serious as he held out a hand. I grabbed it, feeling uneasy, and allowed him to lead me to stand before the silver-haired vampire currently cussing up a storm.

"Oh, what? Are you guys gonna fuckin' let her torture me? Good luck! She'll only hurt herself."

Frowning, I released Sasuke's hand and came down to somewhat of a kneel so our faces were level. No matter how much he hurt me, I couldn't find any words to say to him, so I asked Sasuke nervously, "If I squeeze your hand, will you please pull me away?" The prince didn't verbally respond but slid his fingers between mine.

"Sakura, you don't have to do this!" Naruto argued, but I ignored him. No one else has the ability to search someone's memories like I do, so I'm the only one capable of performing this task.

With my free hand, I gingerly grabbed Hidan by the back of his neck and pulled him slightly toward me, "Hey, what the fuck are you-!" His angry voice cut off when I pressed my forehead to his.

Immediately, a specific memory caught my attention, and I focused on it for more details. It was the last thing I expected to see: Hidan hooking up with Konan, the queen of Amegakure. Since I was in his body for the scene, I inferred that this was prior to his affiliation with the city.

"Why don't you stay here a while? We're always looking for new additions to our family."

He was put off by the invitation, feeling uneasy and suspicious, "Politics bore me to hell and back. No thanks. I'll have my fun and leave."

Konan's lips turned into an amused smile, her pretty blue hair tossed messily on the pillow beneath her head, "I guess it can't be helped. Just remember I tried to do this the easy way."

Incredible surprise overwhelmed Hidan when his vision suddenly went black. When he woke next, the blue-haired woman stood beside her husband with a smirk. Yahiko spoke bluntly, "Our sources have informed us of your resilience. We've let you bleed for three days, yet you are now fully healed and awake without having fed on a human. Tell me how you received this gift."

"Why the hell should I tell you anything? What's in it for me?" The silver-haired vampire was furious but not scared in the slightest.

"Well, to begin, we'll allow you to live. If your information leads to something substantial, I will reward you with anything you want. Name it, and it's yours," Yahiko stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hidan was stunned. He didn't believe the king; that being said, he responded with the truth, "I don't give a fuck about the guy, so who cares? I got some blood from a pale guy with yellow eyes and long hair in Kumo. He wasn't from there. That's all I know."

The king and queen shared a knowing look before gesturing for Nagato, who'd been silently watching at the sidelines, to unchain Hidan. "Say we find this yellow-eyed man, and things go well. What will you ask for?" Konan asked, not seeming all that interested.

Hidan rubbed his wrists when the cuffs were finally gone, "Status. If I tell someone I'm part of the royal family here, you'll have to agree, even if I burn a village to the ground." The queen scoffed but offered no further response.

Moving on, I flipped through the hypothetical pages of his life story until familiar scenes began to appear, scenes of me in the dungeon in Amegakure.

Initially, I was going to move right past it, but then something happened that I was either unconscious for or had been glowed by someone strong to forget. Kisame. He was draining me, which wasn't all that shocking because that happened every day. What alarmed me was that he was collecting it in a large glass bowl.

What's that all about?

Even though I'm in Hidan's head, looking into his memories, I can only feel what he felt and see what he saw. I can't hear his thoughts.

So, with no way to verify the purpose, I moved on.

After throwing the keys and leaving Sasuke and me for dead, Hidan got to the floor level of the castle to find it in disarray. A massive hole had blasted the wall where the entryway used to be, and dozens of soldiers were filing their way inside to clash with Amegakure's defenses.

It was barely a moment later that the floor caved in for part of the castle. When Hidan realized what it was, his blood ran cold. He was overwhelmingly concerned and guilty for just a moment, but then he was angry and shook the emotions off.

Somehow, he located the queen and king, only for another surprise to hit me. "We're retreating for now, Hidan. Once Kisame and I make sure Konan and the heir are safe, we'll return," Yahiko didn't wait for his advisor to respond and ushered his wife in the direction of the exit, fighting a path through the enemies there.

Hidan fought, too, feeling almost happy to let loose and murder those around him until a massive weight suddenly took him to the ground. When he was forced onto his back and opened his eyes to identify his attacker, the air in my lungs dissipated.

It was Madara, but it barely looked like him.

Dark veins scattered about the skin around his glowing eyes, and his canines were sharp and terrifying. Nothing was scarier than the murderous expression he held, though. It was one even I'd never seen.

"Where is she?"

"If you hurt me, you'll hurt her, asshole! Go ahead and try it!"

Madara's hair was wild and messy, somehow adding to his intimidation. He wrapped his hand around the silver-haired vampire's throat and half-yelled, half-growled, "Tell me where she is, or I'll paint these walls with your entrails."

Surprisingly, I picked up on the fact that the Uchiha man was ordering Hidan, and he couldn't resist for long. Hidan was terrified, then, but responded, "She was in the dungeon, but it's buried in rubble now. If she was quick enough, she might've gotten out."

An air of satisfaction came over the Amegakure advisor despite his fear, and the furrow of Madara's brow only heightened it when he said, "She could barely speak when I left her, much less move, so it's likely she's been crushed. That Uchiha-" The smug feeling disappeared, and both he and the Uchiha elder grasped at their chests as though they were being hurt.

A sudden groan rumbled loudly through the air. It was so intense that everyone stopped fighting to look around, confused and wondering what'd caused it.

"...It's Sakura…." A female voice met their ears, and they both turned to see Tsunade glaring at the caved-in floor a ways away. She met Madara's eye, "Do what you need to do and get far away from here. Quickly! This castle won't be able to withstand what's about to happen."

Hidan was confused about who Tsunade was and what she was talking about, "What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"It means it's time for you to go to sleep," Madara suddenly said, disgust thick in his tone as blood dripped from his lips, likely from Sasuke and I being inches from death beneath the remains of the dungeon. Unable to disobey the much stronger vampire, Hidan's vision began to blur and darken, but not before a white-hot light flooded the room.

Gasping for breath, I tore away from Hidan, falling backward onto my bottom with wide eyes. Sasuke's arm shot around my back to soften the fall, kneeling at my side with attentive features.

"What'd you see?"

Hidan glared, an unmistakable warning to keep my mouth shut about whatever I'd seen, but I couldn't.

"The Queen…. Konan is pregnant."