Chapter 4

Sasuke stood over the sleeping figure lying across his bed, it had been almost 48 hours since he had left the leaf village and in that time sakura had only woken briefly once before passing out and she was yet to regain consciousness; he must have hit her harder than he had at first thought. Focusing his attention to the soft muscles on her slim neck, he could just make out a slight flickering of a pulse indicating that she was still alive. Moving his gaze over her chest he could see the small rise and fall of her breasts showing that she was still breathing. But she was, lying very still and it was starting to concern him.

Moving away he took a seat by the window, looking out he could just see the sun settling over the rim of the trees. 'This was some fine predicament that he had got himself into' he thought to himself. When he had raised that kunai he had had every intention of plunging that knife into her heart, but instead he had found himself stopping at the last second and cracking her across the cheek, rendering her unconscious instead of dead. His body had just moved of its own accord, and before he knew what he was doing he had gathered her in his arms and fled into the night a fast is he could. As the sun had risen in the sky the following morning he had looked down into the face of his unconscious prisoner and realised that he would never be able to kill her. This realisation didn't make him feel any better however, it just made his frustration worse, and ultimately when it came down to it, he knew he was still too weak. He was going to have to find another way to vent his anger, and he had had more than enough time to think about a suitable punishment. If there was one thing that he had learnt from Orochimaru it was that there were things that could be done to a person that were far worse than death.

Looking up he could sense that there was someone on the other side of the closed door. Walking over he opened it to find Karin standing there, 'spying no doubt' he thought.

"What do you want Karin?" he asked sharply, indicating that he was in no mood to deal with her at the moment.

Ignoring his tone of voice she peeked over his shoulder and spotted sakura lying on the bed "what is that!" she spat pointing a finger at the sleeping figure on the bed.

"That, is none of your business" he said, his voice deadly as he closed that door behind him. "Why are you still here anyway I thought I gave you three orders for a mission last night!"

"yes well Juugo and Suigetsu said they didn't want me around annoying them so they left without me, and so I thought I'd come and find you and see if you wanted any company?" she asked coyly

"No I don't want any company, in fact I don't want to see you at all, I gave you and order and you disobeyed me." He said his voice rising in anger

"Yes well I already explained that, and it looks to me like you have all the company in the world. Who is that stupid bitch in there anyway, I didn't get a good look at her, but she did look familiar?" she asked spitefully

"Who she is does not concern you Karin, now I want you to leave!"

"Are you replacing me?" she asked jealousy lacing her voice "because I won't allow it, you are mine sasuke!"

She made to move towards the door and confront this new rival but sasuke was too fast for her, grabbing her by the throat he lifted her off the ground and slam her against the far wall cracking her head in the process.

"I'm warning you Karin" he said his voice dangerously bordering on murderous "if you come anywhere near this room again I will not hesitate to snap your pretty little neck, do I make myself clear?" emphasizing his point his applied just enough pressure for her to need to struggle for breathe.

"Ok ok I get it" she choked out

"Make sure you don't forget" he said releasing her "now get out of my sight before I change my mind"

Watching her walked down the corridor he waited till he was sure she was gone before he walked back into the room, sasuke had a plan and the last thing he needed was for Karin to mess it up. Closing the door behind him he approached the bed and noticed something very interesting.

"How long have you been awake" he asked watching the sleeping figure on his bed

Slowly sakura opened her eyes and looked at her captor "how did you know? She asked suspiciously

"One of the benefits of sharingan is that I can see all jutzu, what was it some form of sleeping jutzu?" he asked

"No, it is a sedation jutzu that we use on patients when we need them to be still." She replied

"I see that make sense, I'm guessing that you haven't been using it for very long as I didn't notice it a moment ago when I was in here, so I come back to my previous question, how long have you been awake?"

"Not long, maybe just before you left the room. What gave me away?" she asked

"Rest assured there was nothing wrong with your jutzu, it's just that I am able to detect any type of jutzu no matter what it is."

Sakura watched as he walked over to the window, what was going on here? She had woken up merely moments ago to find herself in this strange unknown room with nothing so much as a scratch on her. She could only just hear raised voices outside of the room, listening she could only recognise one, which apparently belonged to sasuke. Concluding that she must have been taken somewhere she had lain back down and activated her jutzu. She still couldn't believe that she was actually alive, she had seen that look in his eyes, and he had wanted to kill her with his whole heart and soul. What had happened, why had he brought her here? What was he planning to do with her?

"Sasuke I...why am I here?" she asked timidly

Sasuke continued to stare out the window how did he answer that? "Your here because I brought you here" he replied bluntly

"But why, I thought...?"

"You thought what!" he spoke stiffly turning towards her "what, that I was going to kill you, yes well that still might happen yet, but I decided that for the moment, death is too good for you. You are going to stay here and be my prisoner for a while."

"What!" she said shocked, for a few brief seconds she had thought that maybe he had spared her due to some old feelings that he might have had for her, but it seemed that was not the case.

"No sakura, do not mistake this brief reprieve for weakness, the fact the we used to be team mates means nothing to me now" he said as if reading her mind "and you have nobody but yourself to blame for that"

Sakura looked away, yes it was her fault that he no longer though of her that way, but perhaps she would be able to work this in her favour, after all it sounded as if sasuke was planning on keeping her here for a little while at least, and maybe she could use this time to fulfil the promise that she made to itachi. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing.

"Yes, I see, so what are you planning to do to me?" she asked

"Well..." he laughed 'that's for me to know and you to find out, but I assure you that it will be soon rather than later."

Sakura watched the amusement on his face; it hurt her to see him like this, itachi had been right, sasuke was lost and in the darkness, the sasuke that she had know had been replaced by this cruel, revenge filled man, was there even a way to save him, to bring him back?

Suddenly he was right in front of her, looking down he hooked his finger under her chin and raised her face to meet his. "Sasuke..." she whispered, but was cut off as his lips descended upon her own. The kiss was fierce and demanding, it was if he was branding her as his own. Crushing her lips he took from her everything that she was willing to give, she wanted to resist but in the end it was futile. How could she resist something that she had spent her entire life longing after. It was over almost as soon as it had begun.

Stepping away from her he left her hot and wanting more "you are mine now sakura, Mine to do with as I please."

It was if a she had been suddenly slapped in the face, he had played her, deliberately proving his point. She watched as he walked to the door closing it behind him. 'sasuke' she thought 'dont you understand, I've always been yours'