AN: Written as part of a prompt exchange with the lovely MoonlightPale, also known as torranceblack over on tumblr.
Just a short piece while I write the next chapter of Heat!
The First Secret
When they were young, the rumour about him liking long hair had been true. In the academy, Sasuke used to watch how Sakura's rosy hair kissed her elbows in the breeze, and thought - maybe, I wonder, that might just feel nice against my cheeks.
And it was a nervous habit, he knew now, but when she'd comb her fingers through the ends and sweep her bangs from her face it wasn't just Sasuke that watched. Every self-conscious toss of her hair would be followed by dozens of pairs of adolescent eyes, that vibrant pink the subject of many a hushed changing room conversation.
When they ended up on the same team, he wondered idly if he'd get the opportunity to touch it. But as her pink locks littered the ground in the Forest of Death and her lips bled from grinding her teeth against the pain, he wound his fingers into the shorn strands in the earth and vowed never to think of it as soft again.
The Second Secret
He accepted Orochimaru's offer of a prostitute once and once only.
Two years into his defection from Konoha, after the disastrous reunion with his former teammates, he was ill at ease in the underground compound when the Sannin summoned him to his receiving room.
"Sasuke," his mentor said in his dry voice of defiant death. "It's disadvantageous to feel too much."
"Tch."
"You'll never be stronger than Naruto-kun," and there it was, the forbidden phrase, "unless you learn to channel your hatred into something productive."
"Go on." He was leaning against the white pillar in front of Orochimaru's throne-like chair as the older man spoke. So when slender arms wound around him from behind and his mentor's yellow eyes glittered, Sasuke stood very, very still.
"Let Ume here look after you for the evening," the Sannin offered. Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but Orochimaru held a manicured hand up, stalling his refusal. "Don't say no so soon; she's one of our best."
Sasuke looked down to where her arms were pressed against his chest. At the sight of her nails painted a shade of green he'd seen earlier that day, his mouth went dry.
"And I hear you've always had a penchant for blossoms."
At that, he felt his eyes slide shut, as though he was afraid to turn around and look at the woman behind him. But that was probably Orochimaru's plan, and so with a withering stare he shifted to face the girl who encircled him in her arms.
"Sasuke-kun," Ume whispered, and it sounded wrong but in this light she looked so similar, pale red hair and bright jade eyes reminding him of someone he'd sworn to never think about again.
Even her blush as he looked down his nose at her was a shade or two away from the reality. And as he leaned down towards her and she stuttered breathily against his cheek, he felt his famous eyes slide shut as thoughts of another spring flower crept insidiously behind his eyelids.
But worst of all was the way she looked up at him in the darkness of his chambers and said - you can call me whatever you like, Sasuke-kun - as he slid her yukata from her shoulders and dipped his head down to see if she tasted the way he'd always imagined.
The Third Secret
In the month after his return, Kakashi pulled him into his office one evening with accusations of stalking.
"You're doing what?" the Hokage asked, twin grey eyes boring into his own mismatched gaze.
"Walking," Sasuke replied, trying for unaffected but definitely sounding sullen.
"The same route, every night for a fortnight."
He shrugged. "It's a nice walk."
Kakashi didn't look convinced. "It's a residential district."
"Hn."
"Sasuke…" the way Kakashi said his name, with long-suffering sigh and his fingers pinching at his temples, made the Uchiha feel twelve years old again. It was surprisingly comforting. "You do realise that the sight of a former international criminal patrolling the streets at night is frightening the civilians."
"Then I'll stick to the rooftops."
The ANBU standing unobtrusively to Kakashi's left made a poorly concealed attempt at a snort. When both ninja stared at him, the boar-masked man fell into attention and looked dead ahead, ignoring the scrutiny of his Hokage and the number one most notorious ninja in the village.
Sasuke wondered whether he knew him.
"That's not the issue here, Sasuke," Kakashi continued. "I've been receiving reports from the ANBU with concerns about erratic behaviour, even stalking."
"I'm just walking," Sasuke repeated.
The thud of Kakashi's palms hitting the table in defeat startled Sasuke into meeting his gaze again. The force of the movement had disturbed some of the precarious piles of paperwork shoved hastily on his former teacher's desk, and as a few pages floated ponderously to the ground Sasuke tried to resist shifting in unease.
"I'm too busy for this, you know," Kakashi announced. "Stop walking in circles around Sakura's house and show up with something for dinner one evening."
At that, both Sasuke and the ANBU stiffened in surprise. Yes - that was definitely a curious former classmate. Likely even one of Sakura's secret admirers, if Naruto's amused stories had any truth to them.
"Uh," he managed, taking a step back before he could compose himself.
"And don't bring tomatoes," the Hokage said, already waving him away in dismissal as he turned back to his paperwork. "She hates those."
The Fourth Secret
When he'd imagined their first time together - something he had done on a number of occasions - it went something like this: they'd be resting in one of their houses and he'd slowly, carefully, place his hand on her knee and they'd take it from there.
When Sakura shoved him against the wall of a cave, the impact so hard he felt the metallic touch of blood at the back of his throat, Sasuke was surprised. But he couldn't say he was disappointed, especially when he let his hand wander across the bare skin of her arm and she moaned with such intensity into his mouth that he felt himself immediately grow hard against her.
She had started it but Sasuke knew he'd finish it, reversing their positions despite her protest and pushing her deliciously into the hard stone wall.
Pulling back, he couldn't resist smirking down at her clouded gaze and parted lips.
"Thinking of our first kiss?" he asked, holding her tight against the wall with his body while his fingers traced the curve of her lips. It wasn't a thunderstorm and they weren't in Rain but the intimate quiet of the cave felt the same.
Sakura, being Sakura, snapped at his fingers in a bite before she replied. "Be quiet and kiss me again, Sasuke-kun," she commanded with a ferocity of lust that would surprise him had they not just fought for their lives.
The way her hips ground against him felt like a demand for more than a kiss and he was happy to oblige, watching her flush as he slid his fingers down the length of her until they curled into her underwear.
Once, twice, three times he brought her close to her peak, her mewls of thwarted release echoing in his ears as he pushed against her again and again.
She swore like a sailor when he finally relented, and he was still laughing when he pulled apart her legs, where he proceeded to make her call out his name like it was her new religion.
No, he wasn't disappointed at all.
The Fifth Secret
It was cliche, maybe, but his head was between her legs again when he realised that that was it: Sakura was his end game.
Afterwards, when she walked stark naked into the river to wash herself off and he lounged against the riverbank, he watched as she crinkled her nose in poorly disguised disgust at the tomato in his hand.
Sasuke kept his face smooth as he held the red fruit in his hand, head tilted questioningly at her as he waved it invitingly towards where she stood.
"No thanks, Sasuke-kun," Sakura managed. "I'm not... hungry."
"Hn. Okay," he said with a shrug. Then watched her eyes follow the movement of his tongue as it darted out to capture a few stray juices trickling down his chin.
"Um…"
Sasuke watched as Sakura looked between the tomato and his face again. Then blushed at the way her hand drifted down her navel, disappearing under the water on an unmistakable path.
"Um, actually, maybe…"
She didn't finish her sentence before he stood up and waded into the water towards her, hand reaching down to intercept hers, tomato forgotten on the shoreline.
Yes: Sakura was it for him, and he'd tell her, but not quite yet.
AN: I'd love to know what you think.