Rising: Interlude
Sleep
He slumped into her room. The various plants swayed in the breeze form the open window. The thing known as Tiger-san made soft gurgling noise every now and again. He ignored all of these and focused on the pink tresses that lay sprawled across her pillow. His kunoichi was sound asleep underneath her warm blankets.
He was dead tired. He shuffled over to her, close to collapsing. He lifted the covers after a moment's pause. This could be seen as very immoral, but he didn't care. Tsunade herself could condemn to oblivion for this but he didn't care. He just wanted to sleep beside her. He snuggled in next to her. She made a few sighs, but settled against him without waking.
The moonlight played upon her perfect face. She really was beautiful, his kunoichi was. He couldn't help himself. He ran his fingers through her soft hair. She sighed contentedly.
"Kaka-sempai…three's a crowd…"
He smiled tiredly. Her sleep talking always made him smile.
He had come back from another mission. Blood and death and wanting to be home with her. He felt the need to cry suddenly. He wanted her arms around him. He wanted her warmth, her comfort. He wanted her to tell him she would never leave him. He wanted to be able to caress her. He wanted to hold her and never let go. He wanted to be close to her. He wanted to be so close to her that their bodies, hearts, minds, spirits, their very souls became intertwined. He wanted her. He wanted. He wanted. He wanted.
He pulled himself on top of her and buried his face in her neck. It was then that he realized he loved her. More than he was supposed to. More than he was allowed to. More than he had ever loved anyone. More than he could handle. He didn't care if she didn't love him back. He was happy to hold her like this. But…
More than anything, he wanted for her to love him back.
It was impossible to ask, but lying here on top of her, he wanted it so badly it hurt.
They fit together perfectly. And he'd be damned if he ever let her go. He let his sad eyes droop shut and his limbs relaxed around her.
"I killed three men tonight, Sakura-chan. Do you hate me?"
"It was never so far… from my mind, Kaka-sempai…"
His brow furrowed and he squeezed his eyes shut against the tears. He was so tired of it all. His voiced cracked on the next question.
"Do I really deserve to hold you with these blood-stained hands?"
"There's blood on mine, too, Kaka-sempai…"
He buried in further into her neck, breathing everything that was her. This shinobi life scarred everyone. But that was the way of the world. Her tone told him this and he was glad she understood, even in her dreams, no matter how sad that understanding was. He pulled her to him so hard he shook. She didn't seem to mind.
"There's light, Kaka-sempai…and spring comes next…"
He calmed at her unconscious words. He lay there, simply sprawled on top of her and trying to breathe in time with her.
He had gotten no bloody wounds from this mission. His bones were not broken and his joints were all in their proper places. He usually made a point of at least getting a shallow cut big enough to require her medical expertise. Then she would heal him and he could feel the warmth of her attention and her chakra inside of him. The enemy was too good on this night for him to risk such a wound and still keep the client safe. He hadn't used his Sharingan, he was still so tired.
It was another lone mission. He had wanted her by his side. He didn't want to be alone. Not anymore. Not ever again. It hurt to be alone, even if he deserved it. He pressed himself as close to her as he could and her hand came up to comb through his hair. He took one of her legs in his and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her upper torso and, screw the rules, kissed her neck.
"Spring comes next…"
Her breathing evened out and her hand stopped running lazily through his hair, but still remained tangled there. He knew her sleeping talking had ended until her next sleep cycle.
He believed her. His spring would come next. He would make sure of that. He kissed her neck again.
He started drifting off. He really was very tired. But, somehow, it was different with her next to him. Now, it was more sleepy than tired. He decided a little sleep would do him good.
He curled them together and was soon sleeping soundly in her warm arms.