TK: Greetings! This is a recovered version of an old story that I took down during my retirement a few years back. I was very depressed and wanted nothing to do with Naruto, mostly because everyone was dying and it was all about Sasuke… My own personal Dark Ages.

Anyway, this is semi-AU, since Sakura is a member of Akatsuki. The premise is a simple assassination mission—not a Jinchuuriki hunt. In fact, for the purpose of this story, Akatsuki are mercenaries. Because shut up.

But honestly, there is no plot to this. It's just fluff. Pretty, pointless, fluff.

As You Wish

TK Grimm

Dedicated To Sonja

"They're staring again…"

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow as a slight smirk crossed the features of his face. "And…?"

Sakura suddenly tightened her grip on Sasori's hand, looking at him rather than the other people in the village. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"Should it?" he asked simply.

"Well… I-I guess not…" Sakura swallowed hard and tried to calm down again before continuing. She looked at him once more. Well, not directly at him. She looked at his hair, then his neck, his hand—anything so she didn't have to look at his eyes. There was just something about his honey brown eyes that was so captivating and mesmerizing that they, well, made her want to do things she couldn't exactly get away with in public.

As if he could read her mind—that bastard—his grin widened. "Are you all right, Sakura? You trailed off for a minute there."

How dare he be so calm? "Sasori," she started, squeezing his hand briefly and looking around. "This is Suna… What if someone recognizes you?"

"Would you rather I traveled with you inside Hiruko?" he replied, gazing straight ahead as he resumed leading her through the crowd like he had been. She just knew he was smirking. "If they do, oh well. Nothing we can't handle."

"I guess," Sakura said, a slightly pink hue crossing her cheeks as her mind traveled elsewhere. Gods, Sakura… nineteen and you still blush like a little girl. She barely caught Sasori glance back at her with his usual amused smirk. Oh, how she wanted to just wipe that wise-ass smirk right off his face. But if she did that, she'd miss out on oh so much… She blinked, her blush increasing. Resist all temptation…

"Regardless," she continued once she had recovered herself, her voice rather hush-hush, "the fact that they're staring says you look familiar…"

Sasori didn't even miss a beat when he replied. How typical. "Or perhaps they're staring at you – it can't be every day a pink haired goddess enters the Sand Village."

If the sweet, slightly corny comment hadn't turned her on, she would have slapped him.

And he knew it.

Sakura shook her head once to get rid of those thoughts. "Whatever," she said. "They're still creeping me out."

"Akatsuki is normal and yet nosy villagers creep you out? How amusing."

"Sasori…" Her voice was a mixture between whining and playfulness with a touch of need. Perhaps she wouldn't last long without getting her hands on him, after all.

Sasori relinquished his grip on her hand and placed his hand on her shoulder opposite him instead. "Relax," he said, bringing her closer so they were shoulder-to-shoulder. "There's really nothing to worry about."

Sakura leaned her head on his shoulder, smiling despite herself. Stupid Sasori and his magical charms to get her to bend to his every whim. Stupid, almighty, arrogant, ungodly sexy Sasori. Whose hand slid down her shoulder to her hip. She was now wondering if he knew they couldn't possibly be any closer than that—well… in public, anyway.

Her sea-foam green eyes slowly drifted down, getting a nice glimpse of his other hand. Oh, how she wanted to take those fingers and just—

"Zoning out again?" she heard his voice. "Relax," he said again, turning his head slightly to take her ear between his teeth gently. "You can have me all you want once our mission is over."

As hard as she tried, Sakura couldn't suppress the soft moan of delight, even as Sasori turned his head forward once again. There was something about him—his touch, his words, his body language, oh gods, what was it… Whatever it was, it was dangerous. Especially for Sakura. A little more of that and she knew she'd lose it.

Then it hit her. That sly, sneaky bastard was doing this on purpose. That had to be it. He was testing her, no, toying with her – seeing how much she could take before she gave in to desire. Sakura mentally sighed. When it came to the battle between rationality and desire—and Sasori was involved—desire usually, oh hell, desire always won.

Sakura had to look at the bright side. At least they were in the middle of a mission. Even though that mission was what was causing her current misery, she would use it to her advantage. She could take it out on the target. A nice, clean kill. That oughta help her kill some steam. And then regain the steam and then some in the bedroom for a couple hours.

She absent-mindedly touched her index finger to her lips in thought. 'Hell with a few hours. She'd take him right there on the target's bed—or floor—if she had to.

No, no… she inwardly scolded herself. That was just dirty. The floor is what people walk on, so that was out of the question. But their target's bed? Oh dear gods, I want him so bad I actually considered that. That was just gross. No… she'd have to wait.

Or perhaps she could treat herself to a little taste… NO! Public street! Bad! She groaned in dismay, but when she heard Sasori's chuckle that soon followed, she wanted to smack him once again. But once again, she refrained. She'd make him repent for all those annoying nuisances. Oh yes… now that was a nice train of thought.

Her heart nearly leapt for joy when she saw the village's conference center. It was like a godsend—they'd kill the target, steal his jutsu, and then head on back to headquarters for a nice round or two.

"Behave," Sasori said, grinning once again. How dare he be able to read her so easily…

Sakura looked at the building with slight distaste. In all honesty, she never did like the Sand Village. It was just so… dead and withered, was the best way she could put it. Akatsuki's current headquarters was in the midst of the Waterfall Country. It was filled with lush forests, fields, meadows, and, obviously, waterfalls. A few mountains, too, of course. Then again, being an Akatsuki mercenary (and thus a ninja who'd abandoned her home country), she supposed she didn't have the right to complain.

Right to or not, she'd complain all she damn well pleased.

As they entered through the main doors, Sakura couldn't help but smile. A lot of people had such biased beliefs of ninja who left their home countries, but really, did they ever stop and consider why they did such? Honestly. Like she'd be able to withstand taking orders from lowly fools for the duration of her life.

All in all, she was just so much freer now.

It was amusing how easily the two of them were able to just pass right through the crowd of people demanding meetings with each of the officials at the conference center. Security had really gone to the dogs, that was for sure. Sasori opened the door to the last room on the right casually as if they weren't about to kill whoever was inside. If you're going to kill someone, why not enjoy yourself?

That thought in mind, Sakura leisurely freed herself from his grip and gathered a decent amount of chakra to her hand. She couldn't hold back her frown when she saw their target asleep in a bed with a woman at his side. For fuck's sake, was everyone and their mother out to get her?

Putting these thoughts aside, she released the chakra from her hand, knowing she wouldn't have to use much force. Sakura also didn't want to waste it on people who annoyed her when it was unnecessary. Taking a kunai knife instead which she kept secured to her leg beneath her black dress, she effortlessly slit the man's throat. He gurgled for a few seconds before giving in to death and dying. In her opinion, it was a few seconds too many.

Heading back towards the door, she saw Sasori was already there and waiting for her. To her delight, he hadn't opened the door yet. To hell with morals, was her last coherent thought.

Sasori knew full-well what was coming. He could see it easily in her eyes. Hell, he could read her like a book if he tried hard enough. Of course, it helped that she unknowingly wore her desire for him practically out on her sleeves. And he loved every minute of it.

Sasori and Sakura had been many things in their lifetime. Enemies once, and she'd even killed him. Well, sort of. He still had his human body waiting once his puppet form was destroyed. He'd yet to rebuild his puppet form, but Sakura kept him plenty occupied away from that detail. They'd met again while hunting the same target three years later, and things had never been the same.

Sasori made eye-contact. It was over. Once they did that, Sakura was mentally paralyzed. All knowledgeable rationalizations were completely obliterated with desire and lust. Then again, seeing her reach out like that, Sasori smirked—he wasn't exactly one to talk.

That mere gesture was all it took, all the signal he needed. He took hold of her outstretched hand and pulled her closer to him. Before she collided with him, he turned her around and pinned her against the wall, placing a searing kiss on her full, scarlet lips.

By that time, everything was lost. A normal person would have been disgusted to commit such an act in the presence of corpses. But since when were Akatsuki normal? Besides… at this point, Sakura couldn't stop if she wanted to.

She tilted her head back when he began trailing these enticing kisses down her chin and neck. Her bright green eyes drifted closed, taking in every ounce of delight available for there was a lot to take in. Sakura ran her hands over his shoulders, tingle after tingle going up and down her spine.

What was that she said about making him repent for teasing her in the streets earlier? Yeah, at this point, she didn't remember nor did she care. Hell, she probably couldn't even figure out what day it was.

"We have to get going," she heard him say. Still no coherent thoughts. "They'll find the bodies."

"Ungh…" How was she supposed to reply when he reached a particularly sensitive spot on her neck? It wasn't her fault.

"Unless you'd like a trip to ANBU." She could swear he was teasing her.

"Deidara will… mmm… bust me out… ah, gods… he promised…"

"M-hmm…" If she didn't know better, she'd say he was smirking again. Oh, but she knew better. "But it'll… take a week."

She considered this, even in her Sasori-intoxicated mind. A week of ANBU-torture she could deal with, but a week without the legendary Akasuna no Sasori's touch? She might as well be dead and in hell early.

"Fine…" she moaned, running her fingers through his short, crimson hair. It was always messy anyway. A few more spikes and tangles weren't going to hurt.

When Sasori finally pulled away, Sakura was a little extra unwilling. Oh no. Not yet. Deny me your body,fine, but you're gonna wait a few more seconds. With that thought, she pulled him right back to her with her hands effectively placed behind his neck, forcing him upon her lips once more.

"Sakura…"

"Mmm… Don't… care…" she said.

"You… should…"

"Can't…" she breathed.

"Sakura…"

Damn him… Sakura mentally cursed. He knows he wants this, too. Her traitorous realistic mind reminded her that Sasori was being the logical one. They had to get out of there. When she paused for a breath of air, Sasori put his index finger to her lips, giving her an all-knowing smile. Damn him again…

As easily as they had entered, the couple left. A few stares here and there, but unlike Sakura's slightly paranoid versions of what they would be thinking, the majority of them were mentally commenting on what an obviously intimate couple they were.

"Do we have to report to Leader?"

Sasori glanced at her briefly with an amused stare before returning his gaze straight ahead.

Sakura sighed. Stupid question. "Fine, but right after…" she grinned, "you're mine."

To say she was surprised with what he did next was an understatement. Sasori stopped right in the middle of the street and turned her around, kissing her deeply once more. It was a random, sudden spur of affection, but hell, at the moment, she didn't give a damn about where they were. People would only stare if they were envious, anyway.

When Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss, Sasori took her left hand in his and interlocked their fingers. Sakura would have sighed if she wasn't preoccupied. That bastard. He was only using their escape scroll to teleport them back to headquarters. With a swirl of fog and mist, they vanished from the streets of Suna.

The familiar surroundings of a well-furnished, dimly lit cave surrounded them, and Sakura knew she was back in Waterfall. At least the mission was over. Sasori pulled away, to Sakura's annoyance, and led her by hand past the amused Kisame and Hidan towards the dark double doors that lead to the meeting room.

"You're back," Leader stated unnecessarily. His appearance was shrouded in darkness as usual, only outlined by the meager amount of light in the room. It was barely even able to reflect off the metal of his several piercings.

Sakura tossed him the kunai knife she had used to kill the shinobi in Sand. "That's got his jutsu—is that all? Sir," she added quickly. Her impatience and desire was getting the better of her.

Though she couldn't see in the darkness, she knew he was smirking. "Dismissed."

Sakura didn't need to be told twice. She stalked right out of the room, this time being the one to pull Sasori with her by hand. She gasped with surprise as he whirled her around by that very hand, pushing her back against the door that she was originally going to open. She smirked when his lips came crashing down on hers.

Patient my ass, she mentally mused. We both know he hates waiting more than anyone else.

While one hand held onto the back of his neck, she moved her right hand behind her back to take hold of the doorknob behind her. Turning it (which is surprisingly difficult to do when it's behind you) and pushing backwards, Sakura managed to open it. She stepped backwards a couple times, leading him with her.

One of his hands relinquished hold on her waist to lazily push the door closed behind them. Sakura stealthily ran her fingers around his neck to the front as they kissed, undoing the first button in his Akatsuki cloak. Her fingers slid lower and lower, unbuttoning them one by one until she was able to slide the robe off his shoulders with ease, relishing the sound it made as it hit the floor.

She vaguely registered his hands slide behind her neck, carefully pulling the string to untie the knot that held the straps of her dress together. Without the knot, the red dress Sakura wore slid off her shoulders as if it were nothing but a towel. Sakura took back her hands from Sasori for a quick moment to remove the scratched headband that held her hair back, letting her layered pink locks fall, the tips barely able to touch her shoulders. As her hands explored Sasori's bare back, he ran his fingers through Sakura's hair, relishing each and every moment.

They removed the remaining parts of their clothing, carelessly tossed away in different corners of the room.

He was teasing her. He had to be. She knew he was. If she had to beg on her knees, then by God, she'd do it at this point. "S…Sasori…"

"M-mm…" he refused.

How typical… how amazingly, wonderfully, horribly typical. Gods, he was such a fan of torture. Slow and painful was just his style. But hell, he was damn good at it.

"Impatient…"

Sakura removed her lips from his when he murmured that, bringing her mouth down to his neck. "You're one to talk…" she counted.

Sasori wrapped his arms around her back, holding her close as she kissed and nibbled at his neck. "Touché…" he grinned, twirling a few strands of Sakura's pink hair around his index finger.

He let her hair fall back down and lifted her chin with the same finger, kissing her lightly this time, rather than the demanding, hard kisses from before. Perfection.

"How long has it been…" she whispered, opening her pale green eyes and gazing into his auburn ones.

"About a year," he told her, running his index finger down the side of her face from her forehead to her chin. It surprised her at first, to hear that a year had passed since she had been reunited with him and joined Akatsuki. Surprised her and delighted her.

Sakura smiled serenely for a moment before it turned into a sly grin. "That's a start," she mused, kissing him once more. "How about an eternity more?" They had already promised to stay together forever, but hearing the words was a real delight.

Sasori grinned as he kissed her back, taking hold of the side of her neck. Sakura found herself lost once again in his captivating amber eyes. "As you wish."