One-shot

'I am not Sasuke,' he breathed weakly into her hair as her lips brushed along his jawline. For a moment, she tensed, and he knew that she had not wanted to hear those words. The knowledge made his blood boil and his breath became harsher. He grasped the back of her head by her hair and forced her to look at him. Her green eyes were wide and glazed with passion, and his anger became desire once more.

He pushed his own lips against hers in a kiss that deepened as her body lost its tension and melted desperately into his. Her arms snaked their way around his neck and pulled him closer, so that she could feel every shaky breath he drew, every ripple of his muscles as he moved. She could feel his breath hot against her lips as they pulled apart for a moment to breathe. An instant later, their lips and tongues once again met in a passionate dance, soft moans coming from her and deep sighs from him as their long-suppressed desire raged freely.

His warm hand moved slowly up from her hip, over her ribs, to her back and down to the waistband of her shorts. He took hold of the hem of her shirt and dragged it upwards, forcing them to break apart as she let him remove it. And then his mouth was on her again, this time travelling over the sensitive skin of her neck, lingering at the dip of her collarbone.

'I know who you are,' she finally replied, her voice a trembling whisper. Her eyes closed as she savoured the sensation of his soft lips burning trails across her skin. Her hands roamed over the fine contours of his back, desperate to feel his skin, hidden from her beneath the thin material of his black shirt. She pushed him away for a moment and tugged at the tight garment.

He understood immediately and pulled it off, wasting no time, and she gasped softly as her back hit the wall, her body propelled by his strength. Their passion seemed to roar to new heights, and panting, they attacked one another with their mouths and hands, each desperate to feel as much of the other's body as possible, and to elicit the small sounds from one another that fed their lust.

One of his hands clutched her hip, pulling her tight against him and she could feel how much he wanted her. With something close to a growl, she rocked her hips against his as they kissed, satisfied at the way he moaned into her mouth and his fingers dug almost painfully into her flesh as she did so. She knew he was still holding himself back, still unsure of what she wanted. Of whoshe wanted.

She repeated the words that she knew would reassure him. 'I know who you are, Itachi. You deserve some happiness, even it is just for a few moments.'

Hearing that, he raised his face and met her gaze for a few seconds. His eyes, too, were glazed with desire, but she could see the look of gratitude he gave her, and the pain that he tried to hide but couldn't, not now. She cupped his face with both hands and kissed his lips chastely, pulling away again to look into his eyes, wanting desperately to comfort him in some way. The man who had for so long stood impassive and cold, a statue, seemed now so much more human, and so much more vulnerable, than she could have imagined in the past.

She kissed him again, and this time he pulled his lips away from hers to brush them against her neck again, moving further and further down as the fingers of one of his hands caressed the delicate skin between her breasts, almost teasingly. Hearing her sigh with pleasure made him hold her to him more tightly, and the hand at her chest moved to firmly cup the weight of one of her breasts as his lips and breath wreaked havoc on the skin of her shoulders.

She gasped softly. He loved the sound. This moment, with her in his arms was all he needed and all he wanted. The world that he despised could not touch them here, could not take her away from him as it had taken everything else he had cherished. And it could not make him ruin her, as he had ruined so many things in the past. He would ensure that those sounds of contentment did not one day become cries of despair.

Keeping her close to him, he led her backwards towards the small futon that lay hidden in the shadows of the dark room. He stopped next to it and she kissed him again, unable to keep herself away for too long. As they kissed, he removed her bra and let it drop.

She lowered herself to the futon and gently pulled him down to follow her so that he knelt half beside her, half over her. She pulled him to her in a tight embrace and ran her hands through his hair, as black as a raven's wing, throwing out sparks of blue where it was touched by the moonlight. Hair so much like… And his eyes… Sakura forced away all thoughts of that other person. She would remain in this moment, in this reality. She was fully aware of who this man was, watching her with such desire in his eyes. Desire that was reflected in her own.

Itachi pushed her gently down so that he hovered over her, bracing himself with his hands on either side of her head. His eyes slowly took in the sight of her exposed body, so lithe, so desirable. Obsidian eyes met emerald briefly, and then he pushed his lips against her neck, trailing languid yet fiery kisses down her body, between her breasts and over her firm stomach, his caressing hands following the path his mouth made. He came to a stop at the obstruction of her shorts. In one smooth movement, the garment was discarded and Sakura was left in only her underwear.

Reciprocating, she leaned up and reached for his trousers, undoing the fastening with trembling hands. He kicked them off absently and dove in for a heated kiss. Sakura writhed against him, loving the sensation of his warm skin so close to hers. Her movements caused him to growl softly in the back of his throat as the passion of their kiss escalated. All they could register was a whirlwind of smouldering sensations, of heat, of meeting mouths and feverish hands and gasps.

By now, they were both naked, their undergarments having been pulled off at some forgotten point in a near-frenzy. Itachi's hand slid up the smooth skin of her inner thigh and found the neglected place between her legs that radiated such heat. As his fingers moved skilfully, she groaned in new pleasure and arched her hips up towards his, feeling his hardness and knowing full well what effect this would have on him.

His ministrations intensified. She caught his lips in another kiss to avoid the wanton cry that threatened to escape from her throat. A tension was building within her that she needed to satisfy. She needed release. And she needed to hear his voice twist in pleasure, as hers was doing, she needed to feel his body lose the control that he had so carefully honed as it sought to find its own release within her.

Her lips were brushing his neck and her fingers were drawing faint lines up and down his powerful back. A smirk pushed up the corners of her mouth as she heard him emit a sound that was halfway between a groan and a sigh. She had a good idea of what her hot breath and low moans in his ear were doing to him.

She was right. Abruptly, his fingers stopped their work and he raised his face so that their gazes met, intent on each other. Neither of them said a word, simply exchanged a look. If he still had reservations, she would never know. And as for her own, if she had any, it was too late to turn back now. She closed her eyes as he entered her. There was discomfort at first and he knew it, so for a long moment, neither of them moved. And then the dance began. He moved slowly at first, gently, but as she began to move her body to meet his, their actions roughened and gained pace.

The lovers moved together, melting together more and more fervently with each passing moment. All they could hear was the sound of one another's breath matching the speed of their movements. All he could feel was the beautiful body beneath him, moulding to his own, and all she could feel was the warm strength pinning her down so enticingly.

Sakura felt that tension in her core building to extreme heights. Her fingernails dug into his back for an instant and then she drew her palms over his skin, desperate to feel his body in a way more intense than was possible. Her fingers found their way to his hair, knotting in the loose, black locks. Small sounds escaped her lips. He brought his own hands up to free hers from his hair, and forced them upwards so that their fingers intertwined on either side of her head. As her legs wrapped sensually around his thrusting hips, he devoured the side of her neck with his lips, feeling his own release nearing.

Then Sakura's body stiffened. Her eyes squeezed closed in rapture and her spine arched with a strength that only came from such moments of passionate bliss. A name came unbidden to her lips, one that she did not intend to voice, and she stifled it with an incoherent cry.

He caught the almost-uttered word, and though he was too far gone to stop, Itachi's body noticeably tensed. In the lingering waves of pleasure, Sakura was suddenly aware of a coldness that rushed upon them. She felt the way that, although he kept on moving, his tensed body seemed to want to create a space between them. And she noticed the way that he lowered his head against the side of her neck so that she could not see his face.

He came silently, moments after she had. They stayed together for a minute or two, catching their breaths. Sakura could not find a single word to say to her lover. Had he heard her? Had he realised what she had been about to say? Please, no. Although the utterance had been unintentional, it was cruel, so cruel of her to have implied that he was the furthest thing from her thoughts, that she did not even compare him to the man she had just made love to, when in fact…

A sudden movement from Itachi snapped Sakura back into this cruel reality. As he pulled away he did not meet her eyes. Sakura watched him, her hands clinging to his even as he gently extracted his fingers from hers. He rose to his knees and methodically began to pull on his clothing. The silence was unbearable.

'Itachi…'

He glanced at her then, and what she saw in the black depths of his eyes was not the anger, or iciness, or even the hurt that she had expected. What she saw was a wall of blank indifference, the very same wall that had come tumbling down in the past few months they had spent together. It brought a lump to her throat. In a single, fleeting moment, she had rebuilt that damaging barrier, keeping herself locked out of the emotional labyrinth that she knew this man carried within him.

She watched mutely as finished dressing and sat, unmoving, at the edge of the futon with his back to her.

'Itachi,' she tried again. 'Just then, I -'

He stopped her with a shake of his head. All she could see was his hair, glistening in the dim light and covering his eyes.

'Don't say anything, Sakura.'

At last, he turned his head and looked at her.

'Thank you.' He said softly. Coldly. 'For those few moments of happiness.'

A/N: Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed.