Disclaimer: This chapter contains violent content. If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, please seek immediate help.
The sun was now completely eclipsed by the burgeoning twilight as Arthur rested against the edge post of the village gate with the scroll securely behind his back.
A moment later, Sasuke was seen walking quietly towards the village gates.
Sakura glanced nervously in his direction. Was that really him? She had been coming to the gates each night, waiting to ensure her intuition was wrong. Not once had he shown himself. So why was he here now?
"What are you doing here, Sakura?" he asked upon reaching her.
"This is the only road that leads outside of the village," she replied, feeling quivery. "I've been coming here every night to make sure you won't leave."
Sasuke fell silent.
As the seconds passed, the tension built.
Swish!
Arthur materialized right behind her. She turned around, only to gasp.
"Who're you?" she demanded as she instinctively took a step back near Sasuke.
Yet Sasuke remained calm, not at all flinching at Arthur's arrival.
"You're Sakura Haruno, right?" Arthur asked. Her hand quickly reached toward her pocket, but her eyes became shocked. "Looking for this?" Between Arthur's fingers was the Flying raijin paper. It was illuminating with a red hue. "It's sealed, so Jada can't teleport here."
How could he not understand a technique that both Jada and he shared?
Simply ripping the paper up or crumbling it wouldn't have any effect, for she would still be able to sense it and teleport to it. But sealing it in the manner Arthur had done prevented both actions.
Panic filled Sakura's insides. Because not only did Arthur know about the paper, he also knew about Jada.
"You! When did you—?!"
"When you least expected it, of course," Arthur interrupted her.
Sakura's heart beat hard against her chest.
"Sasuke, get away from him!" she shouted after getting in a defensive stance.
"Sakura, don't—" Sasuke began, but Arthur interjected before he could finish.
"You're wasting your time, Sakura. Sasuke doesn't love you. Never has; never will."
Fury sparked in her eyes as she brought out a kunai. "You don't know anything about us!"
"Don't I? You're overly obsessed with him for no reason. Just like a stalker." Sakura growled. It was cute how easy it was to manipulate her. "Get this through your head: there is no 'us,' Sakura..."
His words were sharp, cutting through whatever feelings she had latched onto. But she didn't understand. Just who exactly was he and how did he know so much?
When she looked toward Sasuke, she saw that he wasn't responding.
"Go home, Sakura," he coldly said.
The absence of his support felt like a definitive blow, causing sweat to drip on her face.
Arthur made his move.
Swish-clang!
The kunai was knocked right off her hands. She tried to scream for help, but he grabbed her by the mouth and raised her up.
Bang-bang-bang!
Her thrashing on his body felt like a toddler hitting him. So he slammed her to the floor, knocking the wind out of her and almost breaking the ground.
"So weak…" he mocked. When he let go, she coughed to try and return oxygen to her lungs. Arthur stood right above her. "Get up…" She continued to cough, so he caught her by the collar and lifted her off the ground.
Her flailing attempts mimicked the horror in her eyes. "Sasuke!" she begged, her words struggling to come out. "Don't… let him…"
This pink-haired girl was truly weak; she hadn't progressed at all since the last time they met back in the Land of Tea.
And Arthur knew why: because she had been influenced by outsiders—those not from her world.
The old Sakura would have been crying out for help by now. But this new Sakura thought she was mature enough to handle this situation on her own.
With a swift hand, Arthur jabbed at her belly, making her spew out stomach fluids. He then cast her to the ground, letting the impact do the rest of the work.
"You should have gone home," he hissed.
Sasuke just stood still expressionless. It was as though he was a spectator watching in a theater despite his own teammate being abused.
Many people never liked Sakura to begin with. Whether her character had evolved or not, Arthur wanted to kill her.
The confrontation quickly escalated as he sat on her and rained down a series of blows. The girl's face became a bloodied mess.
But he still wasn't done. "I said get up…"
Lifting her up by her hair, he struck at her side twice, her belly once, and then heel-kicked her shoulder, sending her toppling backward to the ground.
Stars swirled in her vision as she battled against unconsciousness.
"You're that obsessed over one boy?" Arthur hissed again.
She couldn't respond due to the persistent beating she had received. Not as if he wanted to hear an explanation anyway.
When he looked into her eyes, he could tell that her world was quickly fading in and out of focus.
So he stood above her and said, "Remember this girl: nightmares are real, and I'm your worst one…"
Bang!
One final strike and her mind was engulfed by shadows.
Her body was limp, but she wasn't dead.
It had also felt alleviating to let out his internal frustrations from having been stuck in this world for so long.
Arthur was right not to have killed her. Of course, leaving her mind untouched could lead to complications, especially with her volatile affections for Sasuke.
So after stepping forward, he positioned himself over her limp form and formed a series of hand signs.
'Eye-mind reading jutsu…'
His eyes slightly glowed, pulling Sakura's memories from the depths of her consciousness. Memories were erased, leaving no trace of their encounter here.
This would have been a lot easier if he had the Sharingan, as that would have allowed him to replace those memories instead of just erasing them. That would have given Arthur enough time to bring the Uchiha to Orochimaru without any problems.
Nonetheless, he finished his technique and withdrew himself, allowing her weary mind to rest.
As destroyed her face looked, he couldn't just leave her like that. Especially with those brutal wounds—it could eventually kill her.
So Arthur took a moment to heal the unconscious girl before moving her to the bench.
With assurance that she wouldn't awaken to remember the encounter, he turned to Sasuke, who had remained an unflinching observer through the entire beatdown.
"You ready…?"
Sasuke's eyes lingered on Sakura for a moment longer. Yet they were void of any emotion. "Yeah… Let's go…"
✟
As morning came, Sakura arose from her slumber, rubbed her eyes, and sat up on the bench.
Things were quiet, and she couldn't seem to remember last night's events. The last thing she recalled was waiting by the gates until everything went dark.
"I guess I fell asleep," she said, glancing around.
Then her heart sank as if she had forgotten something very important. But she couldn't tell what it was.
When she finally stood, ready to go home, a familiar figure sprinted toward her, panting heavily.
"Sakura!" Alice called.
"Alice! What's wrong?"
"Sasuke, where is he?!"
Sakura's brows knitted together, momentarily taken aback by her urgent tone. "I-I didn't see him at the gates last night."
"Are you sure?!" Alice's eyes flared, searching Sakura's face. The way she asked sent a chill through the pink-haired girl. "Because I can't sense him anywhere in the village."
Sakura's stomach dropped as denial set in. "H-he's probably on a mission with Kakashi-sensei."
"No, Sakura. He's not allowed to leave the village, remember? And what happened to your shirt?"
The girl had failed to see that her garments were torn.
Arthur might have been a genius when it came to medical ninjutsu, but he wasn't a renowned tailor.
Without another word, the two girls rushed to Tsunade's office.
✟
The Hokage's manor.
Alice instructed Sakura to wait outside since she didn't want Sakura worrying any further.
After she agreed, Alice quickly made her way into the main office. The sight that greeted her was expected: Tsunade slumped forward on her desk with drool pooling at the corner of her mouth.
"Wha... what?" the Hokage mumbled, stirring awake. "What's the problem, and why is it so early?"
"Lady Tsunade, Sasuke's missing!"
Tsunade wiped away the remnants of sleep from her eyes before Alice's words finally registered. "What?!" The shock jolted her upright. "How long has he been gone for?"
"I'm not sure, my lady. But it's undoubtedly Orochimaru."
Tsunade was well aware that Orochimaru was after Sasuke. To be frank, it was Alice and the others who informed her of this after she was inaugurated.
Her expression shifted to one of gravitas. "This is not good." Then, like a composed Kage, she sat down to make a proper judgement. "Many of the other ninjas are out on missions or away from the village. If he's been taken… we need to do something fast."
"Shoot!" Alice panicked. "I knew this would happen."
"What? What do you mean by that?"