Chapter 41-Finale

Someone was frantically shaking my shoulders in an attempt to wake me. My eyes shot open as I recalled the events that lead up to this moment.

Ino looked relieved, but a cry of pain came from my lips at the sharp ache that ran through my torso. Orochimaru must've broken some ribs when he hit me carelessly like that.

My sister helped me sit up, "I know it hurts, but we need to move!"

Finally, I realized that both Sasuke and Madara were fighting Orochimaru while Itachi, Sai, and Temari held off a small group of his followers. We were still in the ballroom and if we didn't move, we'd undoubtedly get caught in the crossfire.

Ino's hands were firm as she helped me upright. She took on most of my weight as I struggled to overcome the pain and then we were slowly making our way toward the stairs. The beautiful chandelier has fallen from the ceiling and broken shards of diamond and ruby littered the floor while a small fire burned about the chandelier itself.

Someone's body hit the ground with a sickening thud and I fought my sister's hold to turn and see Sasuke get up from the ground, blood splattered about his entire body. My heart rose in my chest and I tried to pull away to go to him, but Ino wouldn't let me.

My eyes widened as Orochimaru then landed an incredible hit to Madara and he was thrown in our direction as quickly as a bullet. We couldn't get out of the way in time and tumbled to the ground in a pile. A groan left my lips and my eyes crept open slowly after taking a moment to gather my strength.

Ino rolled the Uchiha elder onto his back in between us. His glowing red eyes faded down into their usual black as I sat up with shock on my features. A large hole went through his entire body to the right of his navel and blood was pooling at an alarming rate around him. My sister frantically tried to put pressure on the wound in hopes it'd start healing, and it did, but the speed obviously wasn't quick enough.

I struggled up to my knees at his side and argued with my own emotions. This was the vampire that's been a source of my distress for nearly a year now and has committed unforgivable atrocities. There shouldn't be an ounce of me that cared about his well being. As he blindly reached over for my hand, though, I couldn't stop the tears that rose up in my eyes as I firmly grasped it between both of mine.

Our eyes locked for a moment and I froze, only to be shaken free of my daze by Ino's panicked breathing, "He's dying…" She doesn't like Madara just as much as me, but ever since our return he's been defending us without ulterior motives. She seemed to be struggling with the same dilemma as me. Her blue eyes were desperate as her bloodied hands pressed against his stomach.

My chest tightened in fear, but I tore my hands from his and shoved my wrist toward his face. Both he and Ino looked at me with wide eyes. My limbs shook nervously, but I spat out in as firm a voice as possible, "Drink."

He only hesitated for a moment before I felt his teeth slide into my skin. Even though I couldn't hold back the wince from the sensation, the pain was nothing compared to everything else going on with my body at the moment.

Ino looked between us with an expression of understanding before returning to her actions of aiding his wound. After a moment, she gasped, "It's working!" I looked back down at Madara and his eyes were once again glowing as he stared up at me with both of his hands holding my wrist to his lips.

Sasuke's body hitting the ground with a loud thud pulled my attention back to the fighting pair. I tried to pull my arm from Madara's hold, reaching my other hand out toward the prince, who quickly sprung back to his feet so he could continue fighting. His movements were becoming noticeably slower. Tears filled my eyes as he and the doctor exchanged hit after hit. The sound of their skin hitting each other was so loud and painful sounding that it took everything in me not to cover my ears.

Madara tightened his grip further and removed his teeth from my skin, but I tugged against his hold desperately, "Let me go! He'll die!"

His brow furrowed, but he didn't do as I requested, instead growling back at me, "So will you if you get anywhere near them right now."

I huffed with a frown in his direction before turning my attention back to Sasuke, continuing to tug against his iron grip, "Where are the others?"

My eyes were trained on my Uchiha prince's back as he managed to pin down Orochimaru and land a few slashes on the monster before being thrown off once more. The queen and king were nowhere in sight. Surely they were able to break free of Orochimaru's control and were somewhere in the halls fighting for their family. There were sounds of fighting growing closer and closer from the entranceway at the top of the stairs and I suspected it was at least one of them slowly making their way toward us.

One of the followers' bodies was thrown at us more quickly than we could realize what was happening and move out of the way. My wrist was released as we were thrown back onto the ground a few yards apart. I rolled over onto my front before shakily rising to my hands and knees so I could look up and see Orochimaru steadily approaching a still-downed Sasuke.

My blood ran cold.

He wasn't getting up.

Desperate adrenaline set my body in motion and I rushed in between the doctor and his prey before anyone could stop me. Orochimaru's eyes landed on me and his lips turned up into a sickening smile, "I can't tell if you have a deathwish or if you're just stupid."

I put my arms out from my sides with as hard a glare as I could muster in my battered state, "Stay away from him!"

I heard Ino's yell of distress as she realized what I'd done, "Sakura! No!"

None of the others in the room were free so it was up to me to defend Sasuke until help arrived.

The doctor slowly approached and my heartbeat sped up quicker the closer he got, but once he was within an arm's reach, he froze and appeared distracted. Yellow eyes were suddenly red and I followed them down to my wrist and realized what had caught his attention. Blood was still dripping from Madara's teeth marks.

Slowly, as if beckoning a raging bull while trying not to trigger it, I moved away from Sasuke and Orochimaru followed despite looking like he didn't want to. Red eyes glanced over to the prince as though he was about to overcome his blood lust. I panicked and raised my wrist in his direction, digging my nails into the wound to make the blood flow more quickly. The act successfully pulled his eyes back to me.

After a few more steps, he suddenly lunged forward and tackled me with a hand wrapped firmly around my neck. A gasp of air left my lips when my back hit the ground, but I couldn't take a breath because his grip was so tight. One of his knees held my other arm to the ground while he sank his teeth into the wound of my already bleeding wrist with a sickening groan.

I didn't have enough energy to put up much of a fight and it would've been useless anyway, so I opted to look over at Sasuke. If this was it and I was going to die, I want his face to be the last thing I see and not this awful monster's. When I looked over, though, his body was gone.

My chest was burning hot as my lungs screamed for oxygen. Disgusting sounds of pleasure were coming from the doctor as he recklessly drank from me. I could tell he wasn't exercising much restraint by how quickly my energy was fading.

Suddenly, the hand around my neck loosened up and I was able to suck in a ragged breath. After blinking away the black dots marring my vision, I realized Orochimaru's entire arm had been torn from his body and he was being dragged away from me by Sasuke, whose fingers had dug right into his skin.

Bile rose in my throat and I shoved the dismembered arm away. My mouth fell open in disbelief as I watched the prince throw him to the ground, only to straddle his waist and start tearing him apart with his bare hands. The older vampire tried to fight, but was obviously at much more of a disadvantage than he had been before.

Sasuke seemed to be in some sort of trance as blood splattered every which way from his prey. His face was chilling. The veins around his eyes were so dark they were nearly black and they protruded from his skin. The glow of his red eyes was brighter than I've ever seen on any vampire and his canines were nearly twice the length they usually are. Terrifying growls and snarls left his mouth, sounds I never expected to hear from him.

My skin prickled as I realized I was actually kind of afraid of him like this.

It soon became clear to everyone that Orochimaru was dead and the fighting around the ballroom ceased. Even his followers gave up to watch Sasuke in silent disbelief. He didn't stop his wild attacks even though the body beneath him stopped moving long ago.

I steeled my nerves as I shakily got to my feet. My entire body trembled, but I forced it upright. This was Sasuke, a man that's risked his life for me on more than one occasion. This man was my first, last, and only love. If I couldn't suck it up and be there for him now, when he needed me most, then I don't deserve him at all.

Every instinct in me was screaming to get away as I limped toward him, but I ignored them.

Once I was close enough, I hesitantly lay a soft hand on his shoulder. His head snapped to the side and bright red eyes angrily rested on my face for a fraction of a second before I was roughly shoved away. A cry of shock came from both me and a couple of the onlookers nearby as I fell. His trance was deeper than I thought it'd be.

I turned onto my side, hugging my aching ribs with tears in my eyes as I waited for his next attack, but it didn't come. Instead, his ragged voice met my ears, "Sakura…" My eyes shot open to see him knelt at my side with tears in his eyes and an incredibly regretful expression on his face.

I winced as I sat up with shaking limbs. "C-Can you please-" If the bleeding wasn't stopped, I'd surely be in big trouble. I held my heavily bleeding wrist up. His eyes widened before he quickly grabbed it and ran his tongue over the wound.

A sigh of relief left my lips and I used the remainder of my energy to tightly wrap my arms around him and let my tears fall freely. His skin and clothes were caked with wet blood, but I didn't care. Multiple moments passed by where the room was silent and he was stiff. My voice cracked as I spoke through sobs, "It's over."

Strong arms firmly returned my embrace and I felt him bury his face in my hair. His hands trembled as he let out an almost inaudible sound of grief. The last thing I recalled before finally allowing myself to pass out was the feeling of both of us falling to the side, toward the ground, and multiple people shouting at us from across the room.

In the week following Orochimaru's attack and ultimate death, a lot of time and effort was spent repairing the palace. The family took the opportunity to mix a bit of color into the decor, adding some blood red and cobalt blue.

They also started placing the Uchiha crest onto the decorative tapestries. Ino and Sai apparently really liked how the Amegakure royals had done it with theirs and the queen was happy to oblige since she was on a tirade of trying to make up for what she'd done while under the awful doctor's influence. Every one of us reassured her that she wasn't to blame, but she wouldn't give up anyway.

The king even offered a short and straight apology before retiring to his office, where he spent all his time for multiple weeks after the attack. I suspected he was ashamed at being overpowered so easily and was hiding from that fact by not showing his face.

Madara survived his injury because Tenten arrived soon after the battle ended and allowed him to drink some of her blood. Ino told me in secret that while tending to him, his thoughts were as unguarded as they've ever been. She learned that the elder had approached Sasuke before the trip to Amegakure and made his feelings for me known. The prince apparently didn't take the news well, which didn't surprise either of us, but Madara also vowed to at least try and control himself. Ino said he really meant it, too.

After she shared her revelation with me, it suddenly made sense why Sasuke was in such a terrible mood during the trip. What surprised me more was that his uncle said he'd at least try to leave me alone. Part of his personality had been true during the first few months of my stay in the castle and that included his selfishness. Something made him suppress his desire to take what he wants because he felt he deserves it and I wanted to know what it was, but couldn't bear to look him in the eye after all that happened.

Ino and Sai decided to travel back to Amegakure to personally deliver the news of Orochimaru and Kabuto's defeat to Konan and Pein.

We also received word from Naruto that my mom had shown up one morning on the Inuzuka's doorstep with no excuse for where she'd been or why she disappeared. Hinata visited her for me since I was too injured to travel and said it appeared as though she'd been glowed so whoever had taken her was at least in the presence of vampires. Regardless of the details, I was just happy to hear that she was alive and well. My sister and I will eventually solve the mystery of where she'd been, but we had the rest of our lives for that.

Sasuke healed as many of my injuries as he could, but most of them would ultimately have to be healed the old fashioned way: time and rest. We didn't talk a lot about what happened. We didn't talk much at all, honestly. After fighting so hard and stressing out for so long, both of us were simply too exhausted to have that kind of conversation immediately so we wordlessly agreed to focus on recuperating for a bit.

Luckily, silently enjoying one another's company was something we both enjoyed.

"I-I'm-!"

My cry of pleasure was cut off as Sasuke expertly threw me over the edge and I clenched my teeth to hold back what would undoubtedly be a much too loud moan if I let it out freely. My body arched up against his chest and my insides squeezed and quaked around him. He made a few more movements before he froze within me and I felt his hot breath pant against my shoulder. A familiar warm feeling pooled within me.

After both of us took a moment to catch our breath, he pulled back slightly to press sweet kisses into my lips. Without stopping, he gently pulled out of me and moved to lay by my side. One of his hands reached up to gently brush my hair from my face before he pulled away to study my face.

The moment I was able to get my sister alone after the incident, I'd broken down into a pile of terrified tears because of what Kabuto had done. He hadn't even pulled out and the thought of a child being conceived as a result of such an unthinkable act had me on the edge of hysteria. My sister talked me off the ledge by explaining that it's incredibly rare for a human and vampire to have a baby. It's not impossible, but the rate of conception is barely a fraction of a percent. It explained why there weren't more naturally-born halflings running around. Obito's the only one I've met, to my knowledge.

I wiggled closer to him, glad at the moment that he normally ran a bit cool. He spoke in his usual deep voice, making my stomach flutter, "I didn't hurt you, right?"

It took weeks for me to be able to let Sasuke, or any male for that matter, get too close and everytime I'd cringe away in terror, a heartbreakingly guilty look would rise to his face. We gradually worked our way back to being able to be physically intimate, but it still wasn't quite the same as before.

He was almost obsessively attuned to my reactions and would freeze at the slightest sign of my discomfort, not to mention he was incredibly gentle every time as though he was worried he'd scare or hurt me. It broke my heart that he felt the need to walk on eggshells around me, but I was also grateful that he was being so caring.

I gave him another short kiss, "I'm fine, don't worry."

An unreadable expression crossed his face and he hesitated for a moment before speaking in a slightly softer voice, "Do you want to talk about Kabuto?"

I slowly moved to press my forehead against his chest so he couldn't see the traumatized look on my face, "Why would you want to talk about that now?"

He pulled back a bit so I'd be forced to meet his gaze, eyes dark so it was clear the rage he felt had yet to be satiated, "What he did…" he paused to take a calming breath, "You didn't do anything wrong. None of this is your fault."

I averted my gaze once more, a frown on my lips, "I know that. He was a monster and he got what he deserved, just like Orochimaru."

He pulled my chin up with his free hand and gently pressed his lips against mine before pulling back again so he could study my expression with a firm look on his face, "I will never let someone hurt you like that again."

He meant it.

Rape is always an unforgivable act, but it held an even deeper meaning for vampires. Whether their mate is human, vampire, or some other race, if a vampire has laid claim to someone, all other vampires can tell by their scent.

One of the race's only laws is not to advance on another's mate without permission from both parties. According to what Ino told me, almost all vampires follow this law strictly, which is why polygamy is so common. Vampires respect one another in that regard so it's rare for rape to occur. Not only that, but it's incredibly easy for them to tell if the terrible act is done because of their heightened senses.

Apparently, Sasuke woke up not long after passing out and had to be physically removed from the ballroom by multiple members of his family when he re-noticed Kabuto's scent on me and nearly went into a feral state of rage again.

My heart flipped as I buried my face in his chest again, "I know, Sasuke. Thank you."

He's not very good with words, but it was obvious how much effort he was putting into being there for me. I'd be lying if I said his worry wasn't warranted. The first two weeks after what happened, Sasuke took the couch and Ino would watch over me. Not a single night could pass without me waking up in terror and my sister would have to comfort me because I was too scared to have Sasuke do it.

I slowly overcame my unease around him and she was able to leave so Sasuke could take over the duty. The nightmares were slowly becoming less frequent, but I still had them one or two times a week so that's probably why he felt the need to bring up the topic of Kabuto.

He returned the embrace, rubbing soft circles into the bare skin on my back. His voice became even softer then, but the emotion behind it brought tears to my eyes, "Please stop almost dying because I don't know how to…" he trailed off.

My brow furrowed and I pulled back to look at his face. He was completely serious and met my gaze head-on, "I love you."

My eyes widened in shock and after a moment my chin quivered which led to me crying heavily into his shoulder.

He hesitantly held me and spoke in an unsure voice, "I didn't mean to upset you."

I spoke through my relieved tears, "I'm happy, you idiot."

He was silent for a moment before a soft chuckle rumbled through his chest and his arms tightened around my body.

"I love you, too, Sasuke."