Chapter 9

"Ino," Sakura's eyes darted between Sasuke and the blonde as she tried to piece together what was going on. "What have you done?" The blonde's evil smirk turned to a snarl as her blue eyes flashed hatefully. "You're so stupid, human," she hissed, moving in a blur to stand beside Sasuke. She gripped his arm. "Everything was perfect before you came along and ruined it, princess. Sasuke's mine and you tried to steal him from me. And then you became the Hokage's stupid little pet." Sakura growled angrily, baring her canines instinctively and Karin snarled back at her. "And you seem to think you're one of us now, cherry blossom."

"Did you do all this?" Sakura asked with disbelief, gesturing at the fires and battles and chaos around them and Karin smiled evilly. "With the help of the Yamanaka clan and their mind controlling abilities."

Sasuke's being controlled.

"Not to mention the Akatsuki and Hidden Rock and Cloud," Ino added with narrowed eyes, "They were going to win the war anyway. So why not join the winning side, right, Sakura?" Sakura backed away from the three menacing figures. "You're traitors," she said, her voice trembling and Ino rolled her eyes. "You speak as if you're actually a part of the Leaf. But I've had enough of you, human, and now I'm going to make you regret you ever came here" she snarled, "Kill her, Sasuke."

Sakura felt her blood turn to ice as Sasuke lunged for her, left arm drawn back to drive into her ribcage, crackling with electricity. She was frozen on the spot and clenching her eyes shut tightly, waiting for him to strike. Move, Sakura! MOVE! Her body screamed at her and Sakura felt all thoughts vanish as a new instinct took over and she ducked at the last minute and dropped to a crouch, swiping her leg 360 degrees across the ground and catching his legs behind the knees.

Sasuke fell forward but recovered by propelling himself away from her in a backflip with his palms touching the ground as she jumped back to her feet and adjusted her stance. Sasuke, what are you doing?! She almost screamed at him as she evaded another strike and he snarled in response. Sakura doubted he would even hear her anyway as they fought each other viciously and she hissed when he raked her back and drew blood. They broke apart momentarily and Sakura used those few seconds to rip the lace of her gown away, from the knees to her feet, shortening the dress and making it easier for herself to move and fight, ignoring the burning of her new wounds.

"What are you?" she could hear Ino's voice hiss through her head.

Sakura felt tears begin to blur her vision and snarled as she blinked them away, but she was distracted. Ino and Karin laughed as Sakura evaded too late and Sasuke caught her around the wrist painfully and threw her. Her back hit the tree's trunk, hard, and she heard and felt her arm and a few of her ribs shatter before she hit the ground, landing on the broken arm and crying out in pain as stars flashed across her eyes.

"You're just a human."

"Finish her, Sasuke," Ino smiled nastily and Sasuke advanced, ready to deliver the killing blow without hesitation and Sakura felt her heart break. This pain hurt more than her broken bones. He raised his arm and Sakura gaped at him with wide, teary eyes. "Sasuke," she whispered with disbelief as he reached her, cold eyes blank and emotionless. "He doesn't care about you anymore," Sakura could hear Karin's words from her dream ring through her mind as Sasuke snarled and brought his arm down.

Something small and silver whistled through the air and took Sasuke with it, pinning him to a tree by the collar of his shirt and Sakura looked up painfully and saw that it was a silver throwing knife. Ino and Karin hissed furiously as Tenten and Hinata suddenly appeared in front of Sakura, shielding her protectively.

"What, the fuck, is going on here?" The brunette demanded furiously, snarling with bared fangs and producing another two knives, one in either hand. Sakura saw that both girls were weary and bleeding from various cuts on their bodies and that their gowns were torn just like her own. Soot and ash marked their pale skin like messy tattoos. Hinata fell back and gently pulled Sakura to her feet. "Are you alright, Sakura?" she whispered worriedly, looking at the off-angle of Sakura's arm and the blackening bruises through the tears of the gown's bodice with wide silver eyes before she quickly returned to Tenten's side. Sasuke pulled himself free of the tree.

Sakura cried out with astonishment and surprise as the bones suddenly set themselves painfully, before they healed themselves, leaving only a dull ache. But there wasn't time to think about that. She joined Hinata and Tenten as Sasuke joined Ino and Karin and both sides glared at one another, bodies tense.

"They're controlling Sasuke," Sakura whispered and Tenten nodded gravely, "I know. The Yamanaka Clan are responsible for this revolt; they want to overthrow Tsunade and ally the Leaf to the enemy." Sakura gasped with shock. "But Ino and Karin seem to have revenge in mind too," Hinata whispered regretfully and Sakura felt her chest tighten painfully as her and Sasuke locked eyes. His were cold and hateful while her own where anguished and horrified. This isn't Sasuke anymore.

"We need to get out of here," Tenten said in a low voice as the two groups slowly circled one another and Hinata nodded, "We need to get to Suna and figure out how to save the Leaf from there."

"But what about the others-" Sakura began frantically.

"They're gone," she said gravely and Sakura paled, "Are they-". Hinata shook her head, "Not dead, just missing." She said grimly. Sasuke growled and Sakura growled back at him, feeling the powerful sense of wrongness again, and another stab in her chest like a knife.

"They're the enemy..."...

Was it a warning? Sakura asked herself numbly as she watched Tenten discreetly produce a third knife, she spread them out in one hand, between her fingers, as the three enemy vampires charged. She pulled her arm back and released as Sakura and Hinata tensed and readied themselves for the confrontation. But the confrontation never came because Tenten's knives struck them, the silver burning through their clothes as they snarled and hissed with pain. "Sasuke!" Sakura cried as she saw his face contort with pain but Tenten gripped her arm tightly.

"NOW!" Tenten shouted, Sakura went hollow. The three of them became blurs as they vanished. Ino screamed.

Sasuke...

xxxxxxx

Sakura, Tenten and Hinata crouched low, hidden in the smouldering ruins of a small house. Only the blackened shell was left but it made a good enough hiding place. Sakura shook with fury as she watched Akatsuki and foreign vampires patrol the streets and pass their hiding place multiple times without discovering its occupants. They could never seem to find a long enough gap to make their way to the tunnel to the surface at the end of the village without potentially being caught and then captured.

The Leaf had gone quiet. All those that had fought against the enemy had either been captured, or were now being controlled by the Yamanaka Clan. The cavern under Manhattan was foggy with black smoke from the multiple fires that had spread out through the Village. The only sound they could hear now was the distant roars of still raging infernos.

Ino and Karin had sent search parties out looking for the three of them, but they had moved between hiding places too many times to be found. "Okay... now," Tenten hissed and they bolted for the next abandoned house, diving through a shattered window and into what used to be a dining room. An enemy moved in the shadowy corner, "There you are-"

He never got to finish his sentence because a small silver knife hit his throat through the front and exited through the back, sailing out of the window behind him, spattering blood everywhere, and he crumpled to the ground and didn't move again. "That was my last knife," Tenten muttered darkly.

They continued with this strategy until they finally reached the tunnel and hastily climbed the concrete steps. The tunnel was dark but Sakura could see through it as clearly as though it were day, unlike before. Her body was telling her to run away and never return to this horrible place, but Sakura stood still.

She gazed behind her at the Leaf that lay burning, but it would be rebuilt. Sasuke was there with the others, with Ino and Karin. And I never got the chance to tell you I love you. She felt tears prick her eyes again but blinked them away with a cold and bitter feeling as Hinata took her hand and together, the three of them fled from the Hidden Leaf and emerged through the subway.

xxxxxxx

Manhattan looked exactly as it had before Sakura had left, happy, busy and completely ignorant. There was only half an hour left before daylight and Sakura knew that they wouldn't be able to reach Suna in time before the sun burned her companions to dust. It would probably burn me too, she thought grimly as she gazed sadly at the grave and weary faces of her friends. They looked disorientated and Sakura realised that this was only their second time visiting the surface.

"Come," she muttered, taking both their hands and guiding them along the pavement slowly, exhausted, as people walked passed them and gave them worried and strange looks. Cars drove passed them loudly, the humans driving them not sparing the three girls a single glance.

"Will we get there before the sun rises?" Tenten murmured sleepily and Sakura nodded as they turned a corner and passed a middle-aged lady walking her dog. "Good, God," they heard her mutter under her breath as she took in their bloody and battered appearances but made no move to assist them.

They reached her old apartment building and ducked into the lobby just as the sun's first rays lit up the concrete pavement outside, and the three leaned heavily against the walls. Sakura called the elevator and growled with frustration at how slowly it took to reach the bottom before the shiny silver doors opened and the three girls piled inside. The ride to the top was just as slow and Sakura could see that she wasn't the only one on edge. Tenten glared at the floor, hate burned like fires in her eyes and Hinata was grieving inside over her cousin. Sakura understood. They weren't safe yet. Ino could easily track them back here. The elevator shuddered as it came to a stop and the two vampires groaned at the jerking movement. Sakura ignored it, too used to it to be bothered and moved quickly to listen at her apartment door. Her parents weren't home. What a surprise, she thought dryly, unlocking it and stepping inside with Hinata and Tenten behind her.

"I'll get blankets," Sakura told them quietly, battling to keep her eyes open. The three girls made a messy bed on the living room floor and collapsed before closing their eyes and falling asleep immediately. They couldn't be hunted during the day time.

We're safe until sundown.

xxxxxxx

Ino lounged luxuriously on Sasuke's bed while Itachi gave her his report. "They're gone?" she snarled, sitting up straight and feeling fury course through her at the thought of the human and her friends slipping through her fingers and Itachi nodded. "Yes. They've escaped to the surface."

"How could you let this happen?" Karin demanded icily, crossing her arms and standing beside the large bed with Sasuke beside her, watching his brother silently, his eyes cold. My Sasuke, Ino smirked with satisfaction in her mind but kept her face in a snarl as she listened to what Itachi had to say to her. "And Tsunade?" She hissed through clenched teeth, trying to discover the answer through his dark, obsidian eyes before he spoke, but Itachi's face was a mask and Ino found the task impossible. "Arrested and being held in the prison cells. Just as you ordered."

"Good," Karin snapped, "You can leave now." Itachi snorted with contempt as he turned away from them and stalked from the room.

"We did it, Ino," Karin grinned and Ino smiled back and looked up at Sasuke, noticing the dark lines and shadows around his eyes as he watched the door. "Are you tired, Sasuke?" She purred and he looked down at her blankly. "Yes." His deep and masculine voice sent thrills through her and the blonde climbed gingerly off the bed and gestured to it. "Then sleep, darling," she cooed and Sasuke obeyed, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it aside, peeling back the duvet and pulling of his sneakers and socks before lying down and closing his eyes. Karin gazed dreamily at the rippling muscles of his torso and the two girls stripped into their underwear and climbed in beside him, both resting their heads on his chest.

Ino felt the gentle rise and fall of his chest and pictured the image of Sakura's hurt and pained face. If only the human could have seen them now. She chuckled nastily; Sasuke had almost killed the human for her. He would have killed her too, if those two traitors hadn't gotten in the way and stopped him from fulfilling her wishes. Watching Sasuke do her bidding had been thrilling for her and Ino had never felt so alive. And now Sasuke was hers, and Karin's too if her friend wished. Only theirs.

I will find you, Sakura Haruno, She thought as she breathed in Sasuke's delicious scent and allowed sleep to pull her under.

And I will make sure you suffer.