“Now this is the Sakura I remember,” she sighed. “I’m glad you’ve gotten better, but I wish you’d let me stay and help.”
“I probably should have,” I admitted. “That was kind of a manic impulse. But I think I’ve fixed myself pretty well, so it worked out in the end. How was your visit with Naruto?”
“Wonderful!” She exclaimed. “It was a little odd being in your body, but I’ve been getting used to that. He left a pair of clones in the village to play our parts, and we spent the whole loop traveling. He was so good to me! It’s too bad I can’t merge with the other Hinata anymore, because those memories would definitely win her over. I feel like all those years alone are just a fading dream.”
“Really? Sounds like miss lethal curves might be losing her edge,” I teased.
“Oh, you’re just jealous,” she replied airily. “Don’t worry, mistress, I’ll still happily dismember our enemies and bathe in their blood with you. Just not anyone who doesn’t deserve it. If he found out I’d killed an innocent he’d be disappointed with me, and I couldn’t bear that.”
I chuckled. “Hinata, have I told you lately that you’re psychotic?”
“I know,” she chirped happily. “Aren’t you glad I’m on your side? Well, yours and Naruto’s, but it’s not like either of us could handle him alone. I almost died of exhaustion!”
“Lucky girl. Well, as long as you’re happy,” I told her. “So, is Naruto going to summon us again this loop?”
Her mood turned more serious. “Yes, in about ten minutes. He isn’t very happy with you right now, but he’ll get over it.”
“Hmm. Well, I’ll handle that when the time comes. You can open your eyes now, we’re here.”
Hinata opened her eyes, and gasped in delight. I’d stopped by a deep pond filled with koi under a stand of towering sakura trees in full bloom. Before us was a small open field of lush green grass, with a steep rocky slope beyond. A near-replica of the cozy little home I’d built on my mountain hugged the slope, but this one was built in the path of a fast-moving little stream that cascaded across the roof and down the sides in a dozen miniature waterfalls.
“Sakura, you’ve changed it so much!” Hinata wiggled out of my arms and stood perfectly still for a moment, which I’d learned was the Hyuuga equivalent of spinning and staring. “It’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. Everything here is a part of me, so please don’t break anything. But I know there are going to be times when you don’t have a body in the material world, so I tried to shape it to be a good home for you.”
She threw her arms around me and kissed me soundly.
“I love it!” She exclaimed. “I had no idea you could make something like this. But, um, is there someplace I can train?”
I laughed, and mussed her hair. “Workaholic. Yes, there’s a door to the place where violence happens, and I’m sure you’ll be right at home there. But this is a better place for anything but breaking things, so this is where I’m going to anchor you. Hold still for a moment, I don’t want to make any mistakes with this.”
I shifted my awareness until I could see the silver collar that represented my claim on Hinata’s soul, and unwrapped the golden thread I’d attached to it when we were last together. I embraced the dangling end of that connection to Naruto, rooting it in my heart as firmly as I could. Then I took hold of the slender chain that ran from my heart to Hinata’s collar. Carefully, with a precise awareness of what I intended to accomplish, I moved my end of the chain to the center of one of the great trees that ringed the pond.
“There,” I said. “Now when a loop ends or you die you should find yourself here, instead of the jungle outside.”
“That’s perfect. I certainly don’t want to wake up out there again. But wait, isn’t the jungle some kind of psychic defense? That would make this the place you’re trying to defend, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said seriously. “The jungle is the wall around my heart, and where we are now is the most vulnerable part of my soul. I’ve put a lot more of myself into my new mindscape than I ever did with the old one, and you could hurt me terribly if you went on a rampage here. I’m trusting you not to do that, just like you had to trust me not to edit your memories when that’s all you were.”
She looked up at me with wide eyes. “Sakura, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes I do,” I said firmly. “I owe it to you, after what the demon put you through. I may not be able to release you from our contract, but I don’t want you to be helpless against me.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, with a hint of moisture in her eyes. Then she gave me a troubled look. “Does this mean we’re going to go back to how things were before?”
I’d thought long and hard about that question, back on the mountain. In my long mental housecleaning I’d found the affection, respect and budding love my original self had felt for Hinata, and it had been tempting to embrace it and try to recapture our old relationship. But then I’d found the hard, sharp diamond of my demon side’s love, and reconsidered. My demon had loved Hinata with an immortal’s devotion, a passion that could burn unchanged for millennia. She hadn’t known how to express such feelings, but the ghost of the Sakura that Naruto had made certainly did.
Then I’d thought about Hinata’s devotion to Naruto, and wondered if her dragon ancestry had affected more than just her eyes. Was this how she felt about him? Could she ever feel that way about me as well? I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to find out.
“Is that what you want?” I asked. I knew what I wanted, but I’d die before I hurt her again.
She dropped her eyes. “No,” she whispered.
I nearly sighed in relief, but I knew this was no time for a display of uncertainty. If I was right about her, she needed me to be stronger than that. So instead I caught both her wrists behind her back with one hand and pulled her forcefully into another kiss, with my other hand tangled in her hair. She surrendered eagerly to my attentions, leaning into me and squirming delightfully as her tongue danced with mine.
I smiled as I pulled away. “That’s what I thought. Hinata, if you actually wanted me to let you go I would, because I love you and I want you to be happy. But unless you change your mind someday our bargain stands. You’re mine, and whenever I want to I’m going to carry you off to do terrible… twisted… wicked things to you, and make you love every second of it.”
“Oh!” She shuddered delicately, her breasts pressing into mine. “Yes,” she breathed. “That’s what I want!”
I chuckled. “That’s my girl. How can you be such a ruthless killer, and still be such a sub?”
“You like me this way,” she pointed out with a naughty grin. “You have no idea how hot it is to know that I can’t resist you. Besides,” she paused, and bit her lip. “I… really am crazy, Sakura. I know that, and I know I can’t entirely trust myself not to do things that would disappoint Naruto. But I can trust you. You’ll tell me who to kill, and who to spare, and help me find my way back out of the darkness. It’s so much easier when I can just let you lead me, instead of trying to find the way on my own.”
“I… see,” I said, not sure how to take this new revelation. I was flattered that she trusted me that much, but disturbing to hear that she still felt so lost. I thought she’d been getting better after her talk with Naruto, but then again her relationship with my demon self spoke volumes about how fragile that recovery must have been. She’d lured poor Hinata into indulging her worst tendencies, and lavished her with praise and affection and unbearable ecstasy after each episode. She’d been equally quick to punish anything that smacked of softness or ‘impractical’ compassion, and they’d been together for… six months? A year? My memories of that time were less than complete, but that seemed about right.