Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Haruno Sakura was not a weak woman, nor was she ever vulnerable.
If you upset her, she would definitely let you know, with chakra enhanced fists. Many a ninja had made that mistake one too many times, namely Naruto.
She was an intelligent kunoichi, always thinking before acting. It was no wonder when she surpassed her own mentor, the Hokage herself, Tsunade. Her strength was virtually unmatched, her chakra control perfect. To many, she seemed to be almost the perfect ninja.
But Haruno Sakura was human.
And it's human nature to have flaws. Hers just happened to be the biggest and most childish flaw to have.
When Uchiha Sasuke returned to the Hidden Leaf Village after finally fulfilling his revenge on his deranged brother, he was broken. And Sakura, being the compassionate woman she was, cared for him. She healed his broken bones, she mended his open wounds. She took care of him after he was released from the hospital; she was at the hearing deciding his future fate. She tried to convince herself that she wasn't in love with him anymore; it was just a childhood crush.
But she couldn't deny it any longer. She knew she still felt the butterflies in the pit of her stomach whenever he was near. She knew she felt dizzy and light-headed whenever he would talk to her, touch her. Sakura did indeed still love him, even if he showed no emotion other than mildly annoyed, which was usually directed at Naruto.
Sakura had grown up, though. She wasn't the same 12-year-old girl that would have followed Sasuke to the end of the Earth. This was a different kind of love, she felt. She could feel herself around him, she could talk to him without blushing, although the feelings were still there.
She didn't know when it started, or how she submitted, but she found herself trapped underneath Sasuke's body, naked, sweaty, and in pain.
"Sasuke, please stop, it hurts," she wimpered.
His only response was a grunt as he continued to hammer into her relentlessly.
Sakura couldn't believe she was in this situation. It both frightened her and pleased her.
She was frightened because this was unfamiliar territory for her, and she was in pain, and her first instinct is to attack whoever was bringing her pain, but she couldn't do that to Sasuke.
She loved this moment because this was what she had been waiting for since he first left, that he would come back and make love to her. Granted, it went a little differently than she imagined it would, but it was happening, and that's what she cared about.
But, again, the pain was too much for her to bear.
"Sasuke, stop, please," she cried. Surely he would stop soon, right? He could sense she was in pain, couldn't he?
But then the pain slowly turned into pleasure, and, although it still stung a little, she could feel herself stretching in the most wonderful ways to accommodate him, and it brought her a ripple of pleasure.
"Uhn…" he grunted. He was getting close, he could feel it, the pressure building up in his loins.
"Oh, God, Sasuke!" she cried as she felt herself spilling over the edge. Sasuke followed soon after, enjoying the ways her inner walls had gripped him so tightly when she climaxed.
He gave one last thrust and one last grunt, and collapsed on top of her. Both were panting heavily, both sweaty, and both completely spent.
Sakura had never felt so good before, and she felt so much love in that moment, she couldn't hold in her statement that would so perfectly ruin what they just shared.
"I love you, Sasuke," she whispered into his hair.
Sasuke lifted his head slightly to look into her emerald eyes. She supposed she knew what he was going to say, but a girl could dream, couldn't she?
"Sakura, I don't love you. I never have and I never will. Tonight does not mean anything emotional, it was purely physical," he said with the same cold voice he had always had since she remembered him. It made her feel slightly sick. Not to mention his words were just sinking in, and Sakura felt a fresh wave of sadness sweep over her, new tears to cry over him forming in her eyes.
"But, Sasuke…"
"No, it doesn't mean anything."
Sasuke rolled off of her, disconnecting himself from her body and sat on the edge of the bed. Sakura suddenly felt cold, and she wrapped her arms around her body to try and keep warm. Sasuke had taken the blanket.
"None of this means anything to you?" she asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
"No." His words were cold, like his eyes, and Sakura found she couldn't locate any other emotion in them.
"Then why did you do this? I waited for you Sasuke, I saved myself for you, I never gave up," she finished with a choked sob.
"Don't cry, it's weak, it shows you are vulnerable. Do you think I cried at all when I
killed my brother? No, so get over it," he finished harshly.
Sakura didn't answer, she just got up from the bed and collected her clothing, silently putting them back on.
Before she could walk out the door, however, his voice stopped her, "I expect you to be back here tomorrow night, as well. Just because I don't love you doesn't mean we aren't going to sleep together. You're still mine."
And Sakura nodded, having nothing else to say. She couldn't say no to Uchiha Sasuke, nobody could.
And she did go back the next night, and the next night, and the next, and the next, and every night after that. She couldn't help herself. He didn't love her, but in those minutes they spent being as close as two people could possibly be, she could pretend. And every night, when they were both dripping sweat and completely worn out, she would tell him, "I love you," and she would always get the same reply, "I don't love you."
For any normal woman, after a guy says "I don't love you," it usually means the end of the relationship. But Sakura was not normal, she was Sakura, and she never gave up, never.
And her dreams almost came true when Sasuke asked her, "I need a wife to help restore my clan, marry me." It was actually more like a command, but she accepted anyway.
She smiled her biggest smile, gave him her biggest hug, and chanted, "I love you" over and over again.
She felt his hands come to settle on her waist for a second, then push her away.
"Sakura, I can give you anything. Anything you want, anything but love. Just remember that. I don't want you having false thoughts of us in your head."
"I know." She replied.
They married on the 26th of August, and perfect day in Sakura's opinion, but the mood was not perfect. She felt absolutely miserable, on her own wedding day.
Sasuke did indeed look absolutely handsome, but his facial expression said he just wanted this to be over with. Sakura couldn't have agreed more.
She had no idea how she got herself into this situation, but it was getting old fast.
Every night, he would make love to her. He was in desperate need to have children, and he would stop at no means to make one.
Sakura felt so used, so dirty.
After three years of marriage, she tried to get out of it, reasoning that she didn't think she was fertile, having not produced any little Uchiha's yet. But he said those words to her again, "You're mine," it chilled her to her very core. She knew she asked for this, she knew she deserved it, she knew all this stuff that her friends would tell her. She already knew she was dead inside, she already knew she had no way out. She had no choice but to stay.
She finally had her first child six years after she had married. He was to be the next Uchiha heir, and Sasuke had never been more relieved.
Soon after the first, Sasuke was pushing for a second, and after the second, the third, and so on until she had given birth to five babies; three boys and two girls.
She was stuck in this life that she never wanted, with a man she loved no more.
She never told anyone about her plan; she didn't feel the need to.
Nobody would really care, not even Sasuke.
He never loved her.
And as the kunai plunged deep into her chest, she thought about the life she could have had, the husband who might have actually loved her, not used her to make kids.
She had never regretted anything more in her life than sleeping with Uchiha Sasuke that one night.
000
Haruno Sakura was a weak woman. She opened herself up in her most vulnerable state, and let herself be taken over. She could have stopped him, but she loved him.
He could give her anything but love.
000.
Song reference: Apocalyptica- SOS (Anything But Love) feat. Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil.
Thanks for reading.
The.epiphony