Royal Blood 37

37. A Shocking Truth


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When Sakura entered the house, the first thing she saw was Suki conversing with the others. Suki looked like she was just one of the others, easily fitting into their small group. As Sakura looked closure, there was a small marking on the back of her neck. It looked like three sixes circling around an invisible central point on her skin. She recognized it as Orochimaru's symbol given to one that he claimed when syred. In that instant, Sakura lost all conscious thought as old ways came rushing back into her system. Rushing forward, Sakura slammed the woman down onto the floor. She held a vile filled with fatal toxins at the side of her neck.

"Sakura, what was that for?" Naruto shouted. She ignored the shocked stares and bent down to Suki's ear.

"You led him here, didn't you?" she whispered coldly. She ignored everything else around her and focused only at the task at hand. Apparently, it was just that easy to fall back into an old routine.

"W-what? I don't know what you're talking about!" Suki shouted, struggling in Sakura's vile-like grip on her arms. It took the century-old vampiress to not snap off the woman's appendages and just get rid of her now while it would still be so easy. It wouldn't even take that long. Like she thought before, routine was just that easy to get back into when your body remembered the steps all on its own. But control was going to have to be a main element here.

Damn.

"You're working for Orochimaru!" Sakura shouted. "You lied to us earlier, you have his symbol on the back of your shoulder, and we have less than a minute until he's here!" she said accusingly. That was all that really needed to be said for the mood in the room to take a 180.

Immediately, everyone in the house stopped what they were doing. The room was completely dead silent; even the wildlife outside had frozen still. As they listened closely, they heard distant laughter, loud and maniacal laughter. Such a sound was known for the battle cry of a Sound Vampire. And by how many footsteps there seemed to be, there were many of them. Maybe even around a hundred more than who was present in the house. Listening closer, it was soon realized that the enemy forces were already coming into their section of the mountain. It would be mere seconds until they arrived.

"Everyone, scatter!" Sakura whispered. The entire house heard her and silently went to different parts of the mountain, all keeping an ear and eye on the enemy. Leaving immediately, Sakura and Itachi waited a mile in front of the cabin for the Sound Vampires, Suki still in Sakura's vice grip. Sakura noticed that the man next to her was practically tapping his foot in anticipation, his jaw firmly clenched. "Calm down, Itachi," she said flatly.

The man did his best to relax, though considering the current situation that was just a bit difficult. He was going to come face-to-face with his brother, Orochimaru, and Kabuto for the first time in months. He had every reason to be tense and stiff. But at this moment, they all needed to be strong and keep a straight face.

Less than three seconds later, it was three standing against three. Orochimaru smiled at Sakura and Itachi. "So, we meet again for one last time. I see you have Suki," he said slowly, nodding towards the captured woman.

"Yeah, we have your little spy," Itachi said lowly with a sneer. Kabuto chuckled, making Sakura and Itachi both frown.

"A spy? Would we honestly do something so low?" he asked. He didn't wait for any answer from them. "You see Sakura, Itachi, Suki there does not belong to Orochimaru in any way."

"What? Do you two think we're that stupid?" Sakura shouted, her eyes a cold glare. "Just by interrogating her, I knew there was something that seemed off. When I saw the Sound symbol on her shoulder, my suspicions were confirmed!" she declared, giving the woman in her grip a firm shake. By the arm. Orochimaru began to outright laugh. "What's so funny?" she nearly screamed, more enraged than she thought possible. Sakura could feel herself shaking, could sense the tint of red on the edges of her vision, but thought nothing of it—at the moment, nothing else mattered but ending this damned battle.

Orochimaru almost smiled. He could remember the old days when Sakura had truly been one of the smartest vampires in history. He had almost feared the power that she welded. Unfortunately, someone had to go and make the girl good and sensible. Sometimes, he really missed the old Sakura. The real Sakura. The one that might still be alive in this doll that stood before him.

Itachi watched in almost horror at the new woman he was seeing. The new Sakura he was seeing.

He could vaguely remember the stories that his great grandfather had told him back when he was a little boy. About a girl who was more powerful than her creators. She had powers that were unimaginable and dangerous. She had plans of destroying the world. She was a dark force to be reckoned with that made all other vampires tremble in her wake. She thought nothing of human life and sacrifice to her was never really a sacrifice because she didn't care about anyone or anything but herself. She could kill mercilessly without hesitation and had the ability to convince an army to follow her lead. And she had done those things.

It was in these short moments that Itachi hoped beyond anything that the stories didn't revolve around Sakura.

"Sakura, the time you've spent with these fools half of our existence has caused you to lose that common sense of yours. You have overlooked everything. When my symbol is forever engraved into the skin of a vampire, we never put it in easy view. On Suki, it would have gone either on her lower back or under her breast, above the ribcage. She had that tattoo before we found her. Also, she doesn't belong to me because she is sexual property of someone else," he finished calmly, a sly smile adorning his thin lips.

Sakura blinked in confusion at the older man's words. Didn't belong to him? 'But that doesn't make any sense! He recognizes her—he admitted to finding her. But why didn't he take her as his own slave? And who could she possible belong to? Kabuto isn't interested in that sort of thing. So that only leaves. . '

"Oh no . . ." Sakura looked to her right at Itachi. She carefully studied his features. His face was strangely contorted in the worst of ways. His dark eyes were wide. Surprise. His brows were slanted downwards. Anger. His top lip was slightly curled up. Disgust.

Following his trail of vision, Sakura found what he was glaring so harshly at. Or rather, who he was glaring harshly at.

Chin pointed slightly lower than usual; eyes carefully averted, though not seeming like it; lips a thin line. All signs of deeply hidden guilt.

Sakura's entire façade fell as she stared at Sasuke in complete and total disbelief. Her hold on Suki slowly fell, letting the woman sprint away, fearing the tense atmosphere in the area. Sakura couldn't even believe it. All the signs were there, she saw them, and they had made perfect sense. But for some reason, she still couldn't grasp the concept that Sasuke had used an innocent woman as a sex toy.

But then again, the more she thought about it all, the more she started to truly believe it. Sasuke was syred by Orochimaru, has been with Orochimaru for nearly five months, and also, he had little respect for women even before he was a vampire.

"I can't believe you," she whispered.

Sasuke's head slowly turned, sending Sakura a cold stare directed towards her. He raised a brow, as if questioning her. All traces of any guilt were whipped clean off his features. Sakura glared even harder than him.

"I can't believe that you would stoop so low. But I guess lies and deception and betrayal are just a part of life that we all have to accept. But do you know what else we all have to deal with every once and a while?" she asked. Her tone faked a sweetness that was truly so cold in its core that even Itachi had to fight off the chills of fear that raced up his spine. He watched as her expression became icy and twisted in a way he'd never seen on anyone before.

"Uncontrollable murder."