Taint Me

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Smiles for Sai does not own Naruto.

Enjoy~

xXx

The following morning, Sakura awoke with the warmth of the sun rays about her once again. Instead of first seeing the red of her every day dress, the pinkette was surprised to find a darkly colored afghan bearing the familiar Uchiha symbol draped over her body. Enticed by the quality of the material, Sakura ran her fingers over it until it was suddenly snatched away.

"If you're up, you can make yourself useful," Sasuke's voice said. Sakura turned her body around so she could face him. It appeared that he too, had recently just woken from sleep. His usual arrays of black spikes were more disheveled than usual, and the look in his dark eyes was dim and bleary. He squinted at the sunlight casting through the window. Sakura surveyed the scene of her sleepy-headed crush and inwardly smote her wobbly Inner self as she melted into a puddle in her mind.

"Um…something useful?" Sakura recited. "Like what, exactly?"

The Uchiha reached behind his head to scratch the back of his hair. "Make some tea," he suggested, and then turned his back to her. "I'm getting dressed, so don't bother me until it's done,"

Sakura nodded silently and then listened as he disappeared into the dark hall, bare feet padding softly against the wooden floor.

"Tea…" the pinkette slid off of the couch, and sauntered into the kitchen. Sasuke had brought back many kinds of useful things from his last outing, but none of them were useful in making tea.

What, was she supposed to just…?

Sakura's brief scan of the dining room brought her eyes to a bag of small packets of tea sitting on the table.

So this was it.

Soon after discovering said tea, Sakura got to work. Carefully, she boiled a good measurement of water over the stove in a pot which she had found after some rifling though the various cabinets. When the water had reached a boiling point, she poured the contents into two mugs that she had also happened upon, and placed a tea bag into both.

"Smells good, at least," Sasuke's voice emerged from the hall way. Sakura frowned at the discouraging comment, but said nothing in reply. Was he expecting her to fail at the simple task of boiling water, or what? She wasn't that useless…

Sakura picked up a cup and offered it silently to the fully dressed boy, but instead he made his way to the door. "I'm going out for a bit," he announced. "Stay here. If you don't, I will definitely kill you".

With that, Sasuke pulled open the door and slipped outside, slamming it shut behind him. Sakura let out an audible groan and lowered the mug to the table.

"Geez…then, what did I bother making this tea for?" the kunoichi asked, mainly to herself. She thought of all the trouble she hadn't actually gone through upon his request, only to have him completely dismiss it. Truly, it hadn't been any trouble at all, but it was the fact that he'd been so ignorant that irked her so. More and more, she was beginning to detest her current situation. It was unbelievable that, at one time, she might have been able to accept such an incident into one of her frivolous fantasies.

But the boy she'd been held captive by for the past couple days had turned out to be no more than a confounding monster.

"That's what he is," Sakura hissed, stacking the tea cups into the sink. "There's no way that I want to be with someone like this…"

xXx

The intolerable Sasuke Uchiha did not return until later that night. Once again, he came back with things such as fruit, water and this time he even brought fish.

"They're still alive…" Sakura mumbled wretchedly, making a face when Sasuke set the bucket of wriggling fish in the sink. She shivered with displeasure at the sight of their scales shining and their mouths moving.

"Of course, they're alive," Sasuke replied. "You don't expect me to bring something home that is not fresh, do you?"

"But…Sasuke…" Sakura frowned. "How am I supposed to cook these…?"

The raven smirked and left the kitchen for Sakura to commence the preparation for their dinner. "Come on, Sakura," she heard him say. "Surely, as a shinobi, you know how to do something as simple as cooking,"

xXx

The kunoichi put her heart and what little knowledge of basic cuisine she knew into prepping the fish that Sasuke had brought to their makeshift home. After everything was finished, she set the table and went back to the kitchen to take the tray from counter. She was just admiring the golden fillets, when a hand suddenly slid around her waist and snatched up a piece with no lack of stealth. Completely alarmed, the pinkette nearly lost her balance.

Sasuke had come up behind her.

Without a word, she listened to the sound of his voice close to her ear as he lifted the piece of fish to his mouth, crunching as he took the first bite.

"Tastes good…" he whispered, his voice a low, pleasant hum. It took everything that Sakura had to fight the tremble that threatened to quake through her, as the upper half of Sasuke's body leaned against her own. The warmth emanating from his chest traversed through the material of her dress, sending a series of pleasant chills down her back.

The scent of tropical shampoo mixed with the subtle hint of vanilla captivated his senses, and the raven, without any notion of what he was doing, pressed his mouth more so to the shell of her ear.

"Mmm…" the Uchiha sighed softly. The gentle wave of his warm breath sailed over her skin, sending the stray threads of her roseate hair fluttering about. Sasuke's left hand lifted, still arrested by her strangely alluring scent, and slid his fingers through the coral tresses.

Sakura was forced to the edge of the counter, as the Uchiha took a step closer, and her body careened forward in a half-panicked, half contented reaction, quickly becoming rigid with caution as the raven let out a small huff of amusement. His hand came to slide over the very surface of her right arm, tracing ever so softly with the pads of his fingers along an inconsistent path. The kunoichi frozen and remained still until the fingers playing across her arm firmly wrapped themselves around the top of her shoulder, all the while a pair of lips still ghosting along the surface of her rapidly flushing skin.

"S-Sasuke…" she whispered, finding her voice and hearing it faintly under the expeditious beating of her heart.

"What are you doing…?"

The ravenous lips of the dark-haired male abruptly abandoned the pinkette's ear, taking with it their warmth and softness. Yes, what was he doing? He couldn't even dwell upon the thought for more than an instant. Grabbing greedily, a hand full of fish sticks, Sasuke briskly swept past the puzzled young girl.

"Nothing," he said in the most maleficent voice he could muster, and promptly left the kitchen.

The bewildered kunoichi found the strength to pull herself away from the counter shortly after a moment. The phantom warmth and pressure of Sasuke's chest against her back still remained, until she turned, reluctant to readjust herself and resume her work.

Something had definitely just happened. No way was it nothing.

xXx

For the remainder of the night, and the next morning to come, neither Sakura nor the sulking Uchiha said a word to each other. Sasuke would leave on his usual quest for food. Sakura would stay indoors, doing whatever she could possibly find to busy herself with and pass the time.

Neither of them could find anything to say.

The extensive space within the cottage was starting to make the pinkette uncomfortable, she realized. I could also use a shower… she added as an afterthought, while raking her fingers anxiously through her short hair. She'd managed to find a bathroom around the corner-side of the kitchen, but for some reason, there hadn't been a tub or a shower.

Sakura recalled seeing a small lake just before the small wood of the area by the cottage. Unheeding Sasuke's previous warning about facing her death if she decided to leave, she left the Uchiha a brief note and then set out to have a bath.

xXx

The river she'd been thinking of had been far larger than Sakura remembered. Trees grew around its opposing sides, accompanied by the occasional patches of wild flowers, some of the lower branches even leaning down to dip into the stream. Without a thought of anyone else wandering about, Sakura disrobed of her clothes and stepped into the flowing estuary.

The water was cool and had a natural texture to it that left her skin feeling smooth and soft. The afternoon sun sparkled along the bubbling brook, as she held her hand over a protruding rock and allowed the gentle waves to lap over it. The feeling of nature cleansing her body was simply divine. With a soft giggle, the pinkette threw her head back and splashed the water over her dampened hair.

"Sakura," a dark voice growled abruptly. A shiver convulsed through her exposed body, as a gentle breeze sailed over her back. Crossing her arms over her chest, she sunk lower into the water and turned around.

The Uchiha was already advancing toward her, legs kicking up splashes of water with each angry step and a menacing glare.

"W-wait! Sasuke, stop!" pleaded the denuded kunoichi. Before she could protest any further, the boy had already grabbed her arm, yanking her out of the stream. With a sound splash, her bare body was revealed for her captor to see, which immediately sent hot chills of embarrassment creeping to her face. He looked at her square in the eyes without any hint of bashfulness, and began to drag her mercilessly through the woods.

"What did I tell you?" Sasuke growled, his fingers clenching tighter around her wrists. Sakura was so utterly humiliated that she couldn't even think of the pain that had followed the action.

Sasuke saw me! Like that! Even her Inner self had begun to panic. Despite her wishes not to follow him back to the cottage, her every effort to resist was failing. The Uchiha's pull was both compelling and painful. By the time they'd reached the area of their current residence, Sakura's arm was so sore, she felt as though it just might fall off.

Once through the door though, it became clear that Sasuke wasn't through pulling her. Naked still, and trembling like a leaf, he dragged her across the room and through the frame of darkness. For only a second, her will to not pass through the unknown territory had become strong enough for her to shuffle her feet. One great tug had been enough to get her to move forward.

Into the darkness again…

xXx

The hall seemed narrower than Sakura remembered. The distraught heart of the petrified kunoichi had now begun to hammer inside her chest, as she wondered what sort of things would happen to her; death, without a doubt. She was certain of that.

"Sasuke, please! I just wanted a bath!" Sakura called out weakly. He made no acknowledgement that he'd even heard her. It seemed they were now nearing the end of the hall. More fleeting thoughts overwhelmed her as her legs began to wobble like jell-o beneath her. What will be done to me? her mind began to chant.

What will be…?

Sasuke came to a halt at something in the darkness. A door, she assumed. The hand constricted within the Uchiha's grasp began to tremor beyond her control. Sasuke continued to fumble with the lock on the door.

I'm going to be killed, she thought. The realization truly frightened her now. He's going to kill me, right here. I am going to die…

Even with this recognition continuing to swim around in her head, Sakura could not bring it beneath the surface of her subconscious to truly believe it.

It just can't be she told herself, but her Inner was solemnly telling her otherwise. She jumped with a start as she heard the lock on the door finally click in front of Sasuke. Even in the darkness, she could still see the outline of his disheveled spikes.

He was twisting the handle now. Sakura whimpered audibly, and then the door slowly swung open…

A blindingly strong light dissolved the darkness that had once masked the halls. Before she could take a brief glance around, she was suddenly yanked forward inside the newly opened room. The décor of the room was only a blur to the pinkette upon first view, as Sasuke's fingers slipped from around her wrist, sending her flying ahead of him. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever her unprotected body was about to collide into.

For all that, though, she was completely surprised when she felt the soft material of satin sliding under her back side. Tentatively, she opened her eyes, where she found herself lying on a bed.

"What's this?" the question bravely fell from her lips without apprehension. She'd managed to survive the transient toss her body had gone through, but something told her that things were far from over. The sunlight completely enveloped this room, leaving the still frightened kunoichi's body completely exposed to the eyes of the Uchiha. The look in his obsidian orbs held not a sliver, nor a shred of embarrassment, when beholding the form of the young woman.

From his pocket, Sasuke produced a knife.

Sakura elicited a sharp scream at the sight of the weapon, and hastily began to scramble across the bed.

"Please don't do this!" the frightened kunoichi pleaded to her former team mate, curling her legs up to her bare chest. "I promise I won't leave again."

A sardonic smirk played on the lips of Sasuke Uchiha.

"Day four, Sakura…today I was going to leave you here; alive…" the boy began to crawl onto the bed, edging toward her ever so slowly, prolonging his deadly approach with a strange, twisted gleam of desire in his eyes. "It's too bad things have to be this way…" he continued, and then smirked when he added, "I'm guessing this isn't the way you always envisioned yourself being with me in your little fantasies…is it? Sakura!"

Sasuke lunged forward to pin the pinkette against the bed, and held her there, knife in hand and rose in the air. His freer hand crawled up the bare side of her left thigh, making her shiver in an uncomfortable manner. Sakura's emerald hues rested on the hand that remained on her leg, warily anticipating the danger of his next move.

"You've always wanted to understand me," the Uchiha said, gripping the handle of the knife in the other hand. The sunlight filtering through the small, right side window did not reflect into his eyes even as it clearly shined at them. Like black holes terror raided through her very soul as she watched the dark orbs take on a garnet gleam. "I'll show you," he whispered, his voice low and ragged. "I'll show you everything you need to know about me!"

The knife-wielding Uchiha lifted the knife blade higher, brandishing it in the air. The light in her trembling eyes was stolen immediately by his all-consuming shadow. As he came down swinging, Sakura slowly closed her eyes; she lifted her arms…

Silence swallowed the sunny little room, following after the sound of flesh being invaded by a keen, metal blade. The raven froze, unable to rise with ease from his current position. He had successfully stabbed the girl; the job had been done, and he could now continue his mission. He watched with maddened eyes as the crimson flowed from the wound, not even finding it strange that he relished the metallic scent of her blood.

"S-Sasuke…" Sakura's voice came out weak and muffled. He noticed then, her arms were wrapped around him. The intensity of his midnight eyes lost its luster at the realization that she was still alive. Sasuke stared down at the ruined flower in his arms, as her face contorted painfully and she struggled to speak.

"I…I'll feel your pain for you…a thousand times over, if it can only help you. Even a little…"

What did she say? She wanted more?

Sasuke gripped the handle intentionally and watched the ends of the girl's pink locks become stained with the blood of her own wound. He'd been clumsy; reckless. It was merely a deep shoulder wound.

"Sakura…" the Uchiha's eyes narrowed, staring down upon her. Her half lidded eyes casted up to meet his own. A smile crept weakly onto her lips, but it was all she could manage.

"I know it's the last day, but…" her arm slipped weightlessly away from the boy's neck and fell limply at her side.

"…For a long time, I didn't know at all who you were. What you were really like or what you were going through. I guess, when I started to figure it out, that's when I truly did fall in love with you…There are things in your life that I know you need to do. I see you're troubled. I know I can't make you happy, but…" her second arm slipped away, fingers briefly caressing the side of his face.

"What is there…that I can do? If I can't do anything for someone I care about, I can't do a thing for myself…"

The Uchiha hovering above the girl suddenly began to tremble. Ungracefully, he lost his balance and fell with his head against hers. Sakura let out a small, congested huff but became silent when she felt a soft breath fan against her ear.

"You're as foolish as ever…" Sasuke mumbled, burying his face into the silky coral tresses of her hair. A waft of vanilla intoxicated his senses, but the scent was just all wrong. A darker ingredient had been added in to her sweet essence; something bitter. Something tainted.

"Useless…" Sakura whispered, closing her eyes. "Until you tell me otherwise, I guess that's what I'll always be, huh…"

Sasuke's hand slid away from the pinkette's hair, and traveled down her face, unseeing with his own still buried into her locks. Without sight, his fingers traced over every contour, every line that formed into the shape of her soft, pink lips. His thumb and index finger took either side of her cheeks, slowly drawing down to her chin where they came to meet at the bottom. Even with unopened eyes, he could easily shape Sakura together. Find, and identify every lithe curve, and every dimple that he may or may not have ever noticed before.

Beneath everything that made her irritating, and everything that built up the hard exterior that she plated around her surface, Sakura was still a girl; a girl with feelings, thoughts and a heart.

And she cared about him. She would do anything to prove it.

A tremor ran through Sakura's body, as Sasuke's hand suddenly slipped away from her chin, his tracing fingers slowly from her neck, and bringing them to the start of her chest.

"S-Sasuke…" she whispered, her breath hitching at the contrast of his warm hand against her cold skin. His other hand settled on the handle of the knife protruding from her shoulder and he pulled it out quickly before she had time to feel it. The injured kunoichi let out a guttural cry; seconds later feeling the open wound begin to sting. As his hand return to slide further down the rise of her chest, her cries reduced to whimpers.

"I'll tell you…" he mumbled into the tunnel of her ear, "…When you're useless…"

Tears leaked down the injured pinkette's face then, mixing in with the drying blood of her mortal wound. The sensation of Sasuke's lips now traveling to press a soft kiss to her cheek seemed to suppress the pain momentarily. If she were to die now, it would be okay, she admitted. Even like this…

The hand that rested atop Sakura's chest now traversed its way down in a slow, tentative manner, passing between her breasts with a hint of hesitation, and stopping just below her navel. The Uchiha's voice then slipped into her ear, warm and comforting like the heat from distant flames.

"What can I do..? Sakura…Maybe, I…"

"Maybe?" the word, whatever it meant, she held onto it with a faint amount of hope. Even in this moment, as he'd said, she was desperate to contribute to whatever fragment of happiness remained in his heart. She would do so with her dying breath.

A small, tingling sensation traveled down the underside of the kunoichi's cheek, as Sasuke titled his head to place a trail of kisses along her jaw line, descending to her collarbone. He stiffened when he was close enough to smell the blood of her wound, and rose to remove his shirt, and began to wipe away the excess blood before tossing it somewhere in the corner of the room. He studied the broken skin, noticing that the damage wasn't as bad as he'd thought, and had mostly stopped bleeding.

With an inaudible sigh, Sasuke lowered himself down beside his kunoichi and resumed the position he'd been in before he'd left.

"There are things I wish I could have in my life Sakura," he whispered, brushing the stray rosette strands away from her brow so he could see her face clearly. "Untainted things. Family and friends that I could smile with…" again, his lips moved to the girl's cheek. Sakura closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly so that it rested against his own.

"We…we could have those things," she insisted, but she felt the Uchiha shaking his head.

"It just can't be like that," he told her, his mumbling lips tickling the very surface of the side of her face. "A tainted person can never obtain any of that,"

"A tainted…" the pinkette repeated.

"Sasuke…"

"Yes?"

"I want you…then…" her lids slowly open, releasing more tears that glittered over the green orbs of her eyes.

"…to taint me."

xXx

TBC

Smiles~