~Oh, How The Mighty Fall In Love~


I'm dizzy on dreams...


His back was flat against the wall, the red paint flaking off around him, dropping gently on to the dust that swirled disgustingly around his aching feet.

He was back once more.

It had been almost two years since he had last visited his little diamond-in-the-rough – not that he treasured her in any way, but no one else had the unjustified privilege he had – since apparently his schedule had become so busy. With Madara cooking up a war and his band of merry miscreants scattered, he had not been on the radar for quite some time. So with just a little free time to himself, his mind would treacherously lead him back to thoughts of her...

Her lustful gaze, her laboured breaths and hoarse moans, her sharpened nails clawing at his back with pure, unadulterated need, the softness of her pale thighs, the calloused fingertips with the touch of a deity, the small scars that littered her slender arms, shapely and toned torso and stalwart legs, aged from fights, battles and time, the curve of her cheek that highlighted the most vivid green eyes he had ever-

He would shake his head and focus on the task at hand. She only had one meaning to him: an old bridge that he had torn down, yet finding a way across the valley between them for his own godforsaken pleasure.

Why did he go to such lengths for her? There were at least several whorehouses among the villages he had recently pillaged, not all strictly legal, yet easily accessible with... decent quality, so why her? Why come back here just for her?

His brow furrowed and his jaw clenched until it hurt.

He looked to the night sky – we are creatures of habit, he supposed– and sneered. He was sure he had timed it right this time, and if he did, it would be three o'clock by the time he was on top of her once again.

The skies were empty of any disturbance, just a sea of stars delivering a message of awe upon those who would watch them. He was not one of those.

He had some things to do... or someone to do.


Before he knew it, he was in her apartment. It was all second nature now, doing this. Coming and going as he pleases, the easy spots to slip into Konoha unnoticed, the quietest way to steal into her residency, the most satisfying way to get what he wanted, then leave again, without a speck of dust out of place – a creature of habit.

But something was wrong, so unnervingly wrong.

An extra place mat at her dining table. Picture frames (more than previously). A set of CD's that he knew were far off her taste. And was that a hint of aftershave sifting through the air from the bathroom?

As scarcely as possible, he reached her bedroom door. It was closed. Why was it closed?

He opened it. He froze when it creaked slightly against the floorboards; someone shifted in the room. But it wasn't her. From the angle through the space in the doorway, he could make out two bodies under her (new) bed sheets. Not cuddling, not close, but enough to let him know that they were comfortable sleeping next to each other. He could feel the second chakra rather familiarly, but not enough to clarify who it was.

This wasn't fair. When did this... stranger move in? Since when was he just... forgotten? She was his. Only his. Why had she...

Is this what jealousy feels like?


He had waited for four hours, moulding his back into the trunk of a tree. Periwinkle bags formulated under his eyes – when was the last time he slept anyway? – his arms were draped over his knees and his head resting on them, his bloodshot sclera's fixated on the door. Dawn was about an hour and a half ago, he calculated, so why wasn't she leaving for the hospital? Was it this new person interfering with her routine?

At that moment, the wooden frames swung open. Concealing his chakra as swiftly as possible, he watched as she stepped out onto the road, dust thickly coating her sandals already. She lifted her head the rising sun with a peaceful smile. The light that reflected in her greengreengreen eyes shone with genuine contentment, even he could see that. The other resident followed suit. It was one of the two that he first met in the Chūnin exam, he knew that much, his name he wouldn't bother trying to remember. He was carrying a backpack in one hand whilst replacing kunai in a thigh pouch with the other.

He watched her turn to her... boyfriend? Roomate? She kissed him lightly before asking him something. He watched how her eyes lit up as she listened to him, something he didn't get to see anymore, he deciphered. The Chūnin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek when blood rushed to it, leaning down to press his lips tenderly to hers. Things he never did. And just look at the way she looks back at him. A face that he never saw her make all the countless times he would look over her.

She waved him off, wishing him luck. He supposed the guy was being sent off, and hopefully wouldn't be back for a few days.

For the rest of the tiring day, he studied her. He wasn't sure what he was doing, or why he bothered. He tried to believe it was curiosity that got the better of him, but that was out of character and he knew it.

She had made several changes from her usual routine, one he used to know much about, to accommodate for this extra person. He wondered if she had accommodated anything for his returns. Not that he would give a fuck about noticing.


She stayed at home and cooked for herself that night, and after confirming that she would be alone, he decided to slip through her bedroom window. He could hear her humming to herself, listening to the ding of the timer, and scurrying about in her quaint kitchen. The smell of rice balls, raw fish and... tomatoes filled the air, reminding him of just how hungry he was. He would have remembered had he not been so obsessed with-

No, that is not what this is. It's just...

What was it?

Her voice stopped as soon as he took a careful step forward.

"I made you your favourite." She calls out. He begs to whatever god there was up there that she wasn't talking to him just yet. Fate was never on his side though. He kept still, waiting for any other signs of movement he might have missed – impossible – respond in reply.

After a minute, she raised her voice. "Stop hiding, will you?"

He didn't recognise her tone of voice, yet had to assume he was busted.

He left her bedroom and stood in the doorway of the kitchen. She looked up at him, her hands still laying salmon into sushi rolls. Her smile was welcoming, but it was far from the one he had seen that morning.

"I was wondering when you would show up again." She returned her attention to rolling up the seaweed paper with precision and delicacy.

"Mhm." He nodded, focusing on nothing in particular out of the window.

If he had never been in an awkward situation before, this was his first and he clearly had no idea how to handle it. Sakura sighed at his stiffness and motioned for him to sit at the table. She set the chopping knife down.

"Sak-"

"I know you've been following me Sasuke." He noted the lack of the usual suffix. He shifted awkwardly.

"What, you think I wouldn't notice?" She laughed half-heartedly, shaking her head. "I'm not twelve anymore, I can tell when someone's in my apartment at three in the morning." She glanced at his pacified face, the one she was fed up of seeing.

She took his silence as a "carry-on". "I don't blame you, I would have been curious too, if I was in your position." She revisited slicing the sushi, placing it on the plate with pre-cut tomatoes on the side. She rested it in front of him.

Sasuke stared at it before looking back at her. Still nothing, Sakura sighed.

"Sakura,-"

Something snapped.

"I'm happy now, okay?!"

It was the tension.

"I'm happy, and the reason I didn't say anything sooner was because I'm not afraid to prove to you that I'm finally beginning to move on." Her voice didn't crack anymore. She was strong. Resilient. New.

"I've got someone I think I can start to love and have that love reciprocated. Something you would know nothing about." She barked, one hand on a hip.

"Sakura, I-"

"No. I'm moving on now." She turned her back to him and untied her apron. "I've wasted too many years of my life that I'll never get back on you."

Sasuke stood up abruptly, demanding a chance to voice himself. "Sakura, would you shut up an lis-"

"No! No, Sasuke, you listen to me. Fuck off. I'm done. I'm fed up crying, I'm fed up of waiting for you, I'm fed up of being torn apart when you leave. So just... just go. Leave again, that's what you're fucking good at, isn't it?!"

He could still see no signs of tears, just unvented anger that was finally being released. And deservedly too. He took gentle steps toward her, while she kept backing away.

"I'm happy." She breathed, wincing as her head finally hit the wall. "I can't do this anymore." She waved a dainty hand between them. "I just... I can't."

Her voice had lost its power and she was left standing defenceless in front of him. Sasuke didn't stop moving forward until their noses were touching.


They say I got screws missing, well hell...

Only when I'm missing you...


Right then, he knew what he wanted to say to her. Analysing the patterns of her irises, and how he remembers how they would still mesmerize him every night, hearing her steady-unsteady breaths, the tingle of her skin under his, now he knew what he wanted to tell her.

He wanted her to know that he needs her. For so many reasons, he needs her. To keep him at bay, to not go overboard, to put him back in his place, to remind him of what's what. He needs her for sanity's sake, for reassurance, for comfort, to be reminded that there is at least one person that still believes in him, despite what he's put her through.

He wants to take back whatever he said about being weak and stupid and pathetic, that he's so sorry for the pain he caused her, and that he admires the strength she still has to love him and wait for him, knowing the eternal heartbreak she receives in return. He admires that she can carry on, regardless of what people have told her, notwithstanding the fact that she knows that they both know he's only going to hurt her again. He knows that it takes someone with incredible mental stability, a feature she rapidly developed, something even she herself had not recognised she had, to carry on the way she has.

That's why he wants her. Because she is more than everyone thinks she is, because she is strong in ways he refused to realise. Because she's stubborn, tough, yes, she flakes sometimes, but she rejects showing it, because she's too proud to admit defeat.

Because she's like him.

And he likes that, wants to keep it for himself, because she is something only he knows how to treasure, because he doesn't want anyone else to try when they both know it's futile.

...But it's too late now. Besides, he's an Uchiha after all; he still has his pride.


I can't stop it when there's chemicals keeping us together...


He kisses her.

It was tender, compassionate, not forceful and dominating the way he used to. He gave her all he could.

He tried to tell her every thought caught up in the whirlwind in his head through that kiss. And this time he prayed fate was on his side.

When they separated, her eyes glittered in anticipation. She seemed to have understood.

Sasuke didn't waste another second in capturing her lips again. Her hands wandered about his arms, his torso, his hair, vigorously clinging to him. Pulling her away from teal-green wallpaper that adorned her kitchen walls, he wrapped her up in his arms in the most protective way he could possibly achieve. Their tongues danced, their breaths mingled, and amid the fervent chaos, he made a silent promise that for just one more night, he would leave, and never hurt her again.

And Sakura knew.

She knew that feeling of her heart breaking again all too well. But she still gave into him.

She knows it's the last time; she knows it's over now. She knows that no one will give her what she wantsneedscraves the way he does, but she knows she won't regret it. She knows that this time she can have closure. She won't hurt, won't cry, and won't die a little inside. She knows that this time it matters to him too, and that she won't feel the stinging tears that cascade as she watches his back retreat from her.


I just hope that when you see me,

I'm not see-through...


They know that this is the first and last time they will love each other, and they know that this time...

Maybe this time, he can love her properly.

Fin.


I'M BACK!

I know it's been like forever since I last wrote anything and I can't express how sorry I am (basically I managed to lock myself out of my account, and it took forever to get back in, as well has have a pretty shite year, and starting my new job is exhausting...alright, enough with the excuses)

So I've written this as a sequel to "1000 Lies And A Good Disguise" as a "Sorry for disappearing my awesome self off the planet and leaving my darling followers with nothing to continue reading, I love you all, please don't hate me" gift.

Beeteedubs, if you're new and haven't read 1000 Lies, I suggest you do, things might make a bit more sense :P

I hope this was alright for you guys (any of my followers that I still have left), this is the first thing I've written since 1000 Lies, so I'm sorry if it was a bit naff, I wanted it to be a bit different from its mother-story. So please, please review, I need to get back into this, and I need your darling support.

Right, now that's all said and done:

I so totally co-wrote the song "The Might Fall" with Patrick, Pete, Joe and Andy, coz we're all like super cool when we're jamming together. I co-write a lot of their songs, don't y'know?!

And I dedicate this to:

Insert username 98, for the idea of this sequel (couldn't have done it without you, thanks!),

My staying-strong followers that can be bothered to read this and review (I love you more than the ones who have unfollowed me...whoever they are),

For my little (not-so-little) Scottie, that's helped me through so much these last few weeks,

And last, but certainly not the least, my dearest, most wonderful, co-ruler of the universe and all that I love, adore, admire, and created, my soul-fricken-mate, Kiho-chan. You have no idea how much I love you girl, and everything you have done and still do for me, your support is phenomenal. I love you so much.

Keep your eyes posted, my red darlings, I'm gonna try and finish TATAAP.

I love you all.

Roux-chan x