What Does It All Mean?

Part I, Chapter IV: One More Plea

Author's Note: Rated T for sexual scene. You have been warned!

"This… is… boring!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, filling Shikamaru's apartment with his voice. "Shougi is for old farts!"

Shikamaru sat opposite of him and slowly moved a piece. Then, he looked at Naruto.

Naruto stared at the board, hoping a clue would light up for him. He looked to his right, where Chouji was sitting, bag of chips open at his lap, scarfing down five chips at a time. "Do you see anything?" When Chouji shook his head, Naruto sat back, arms crossed, squinting at the board.

Meanwhile, Ino and Sakura were in front of the kitchen sink. While Ino washed the dishes, Sakura wiped the excess water and placed the dishes on the drying rack.

"You haven't said much during lunch," Sakura said to Ino.

Immediately, a smile appeared on Ino's mouth. "What do you mean, Sakura?"

Sakura looked at her and immediately raised an eyebrow at her. "Your fake smile is more obvious, Ino. What are you thinking of?"

Ino's smile faded and looked down at the soapy sink as she said, "Well, it's just… Chouji told me about what happened yesterday." She watched Sakura's eyes soften and look down at the plate she was drying. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sakura nodded slowly. "I actually did talk to him."

"What did he say?"

"He told me not to look for him ever again."

"Oh."

"You can't do that!" Naruto's voice screamed.

"Yes, I can," Shikamaru's voice answered. "Are you sure you know how to play?"

"I can play but I can't play well," Naruto admitted quite proudly. "There's a difference."

Sakura snickered, listening to them from the kitchen.

Ino noticed her friend's expression as a result to hearing Naruto's voice. "Sakura," she asked, "have you ever considered to, you know, be with Naruto? Like date him?"

Sakura nearly dropped the plate. "W-what?"

"Well, you never had a boyfriend and well, it's really obvious how Naruto feels for you." Ino watched Sakura put a glass away. "Don't you think it's time to move on?"

Sakura shook her head. "I couldn't. I know you're trying to help but… I couldn't do that."

"Why not?"

Sakura sighed before she answered. "I'm still in love with Sasuke. At least, a part of me still is. Maybe I'm still just that 13-year-old girl," she shrugged, "but I love him still. I can't be with Naruto and still devote my heart to Sasuke. Naruto deserves better than me."

"Hm…" Ino handed her the last dish. "Ninjas grow up so fast… but sometimes, we hold onto our youth in ways never expected."

"Maybe," Sakura took the plate from Ino and wiped it with the dishtowel. "But you know how it is, right? I still hope that someday, I would be able to do something to make Sasuke smile. At least, a part of me still does."

"But Sakura," Ino began to drain the sink. "There is a guy in your life who smiles everyday just because you are in his life."

Naruto's laugh rang from the next room.

"If it would be anyone," Sakura put the plate in the rack and hung the rag over the faucet, "it would be Naruto."

"Sakura-chan! Tell Ino that her stupid, lazy fiancé is cheating!"

"Geez, you just can't play," came the grumble of the lazy fiancé.

--

With one stroke, Sakura wiped the steamed mirror to view her face. She stood in front of her bathroom sink, wrapped in a white bathrobe. Her fingers traveled to two small cuts on her neck.

"Don't come looking for me if you wish to live."

His name escaped her mouth in a whisper.

She hung her towel on the rack and exited the bathroom. Dwelling on it won't help, she told herself as she headed to her room. Maybe Ino is right and I should… move on…She flicked the switch of her bedroom wall that lit a dim paper lantern. When she looked up, she was in alarm: a figure was crouched on the floor, right in front of her window. When the light turned on, he looked up at her. "Sa-Sasuke-kun?"

"Damn," he cursed and stood, only to fall back down on his knees as he seethed in pain.

Worry immediately hit her and she disregarded why he was there. She rushed to his side and saw the dark stab wound on his thigh. "You're injured," she said, leaning beside him.

"Get away," he warned, hand over his cut.

"Just let me heal it," she advised.

"I said get away from me," he gritted through his teeth.

"Sasuke-kun, you must have come here for a reason."

"I didn't know it was your apartment."

"But you needed something to treat it, that's why you snuck in an apartment," Sakura made sure her robe was tied securely around her waist and pulled her sleeves back. "Just let me do my job and heal an injured ninja." Before he could protest any further, she reached under her bed close by and pulled out her backpack. She pulled out a yellow scroll and yanked it open. Sakura channeled her chakra to the palm of her hand and held it over Sasuke's cut. Then, she touched the area around his wound, and picked up a bit of blood on her fingertips. She streaked a line across the scroll. The kanji written on the scroll moved as if it was dancing as the yellow paper twirled and spun on its own. It circled around his leg, all while mending and healing the cut; it fused the skin together and cleaned the sticky crimson liquid off his body. Then, the scroll circled other parts of his body, such as his left upper arm and trunk, tending to other scrapes and bruises. The scroll fell with a soft clatter after it was done. "How's that? That scroll was supposed to heal all your wounds…"

Sakura trailed off as Sasuke stood and moved his leg. Then, his hand flew to his arm, his fingers rubbing his shoulder. He was silent as Sakura stood before him. He looked at her in the eye and instantly saw the emotion flooding into her gaze. He saw the sadness and pain written in her green eyes. Then, her hand slowly made its way to his face. Her fingertips brushed over the scar that ran from the bridge of his nose to his cheek. She gazed at it with a pained expression. Sympathy? Pity? Sasuke turned away and was about to leave.

"Wait!" Sakura asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving," he said simply.

"Where?"
"None of your concern."

"Why are you in Konoha anyway?"
"I have unfinished business. Leave me alone."

Sakura scurried so she stood between him and the window. "You're going to find Naruto, aren't you?"
He didn't say anything.

"But you can't!" she backed up against the window.

"Get out of my way," he growled.

"I won't."

"You think you can stop me?" he raised an eyebrow.

Sakura gulped, wondering what kind of mess she put herself in. "I… I may not be as strong as you, but I'll make it more difficult for you to get to him."

"Save yourself the trouble," he stepped forward.

Sakura stood at defense, without a weapon. "Why would you try to kill Naruto? He was your friend."
"Precisely."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You'd kill your old friend?"

"If that means power, then yes. And you're in my way of getting that."

After all this time, his quest for power is still just as strong. Sakura's eyes filled with tears. "After all… you're strong, Sasuke-kun. You don't need to do that--."

"You know nothing--."

"Was all this time a waste?"

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You risked your life at the Chuunin exam. You left the village. You tried to kill Naruto once. You trained under Orochimaru--."

"Shut up, Sakura."

"But Itachi is still alive!"

"Shut up!"

"The Akatsuki was spotted by our allies recently so we know he's still alive. After all this time, Itachi is still alive! You left to be strong," Sakura moved forward and clutched his shirt, her head against his chest. "Were these seven years a waste?"

In one breath, Sasuke grasped her wrist and pushed her against the window. Her back hit the windowsill and she nearly cried out in pain. "I told you," he loomed over her, squeezing her wrist, "to shut the hell up." He let her wrist go, but did not pull away from her body. He nearly pressed against her as his eyes burned into hers. She shook under his gaze.

The tears finally fell from her eyes. "Sasuke-kun… revenge isn't everything…"
"Don't pretend you now what is going on."

"I may not…" she choked, "understand what it's like to lose my whole clan, but I know what it's like to lose… to lose the ones I love. My parents…" her arms found their way around his neck. "You…" she stood taller. "I lost you…" she tilted her head, "Don't leave."

Her kiss was her blind attempt to shake reason into him. To prove to him that there was more to his life than revenge. I love you, I love you, she repeated in her head. Please understand it, she pleaded. Yet his lips were so stiff and cold. Her hands were locked behind his neck and she continued to kiss him. But her heart nearly broke when she realized he was not responding to her.

Just when her lips relaxed against his and she was about to pull back, he leaned forward. Still in a kiss, he backed her up against the window. Her back hit the windowsill again, and she gasped against his lips. A pain shot down to her feet and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss when her mouth parted. His tongue dove in her mouth, caressing hers and he enveloped her in his arms.

Sakura tried to breathe, but he wouldn't allow it. Just as her mind began to spin, he pulled away to unstrap the katana on his back. It fell to the floor with a clatter and he kissed her again. His hands roughly moved across her body as her hands clutched his sleeves.

Oh gods, gods, gods, what's happening? Before she could answer her own question, she felt Sasuke's hand clutch the collar of her bathrobe. He released her lips as his lips trailed across her jaw and down her neck. His tongue's tip grazed alongside her cuts; she shivered in response to him, shaking. He pulled on her robe, hard, and it loosened around her. It fell to her elbows, exposing her bare chest. His eyes loomed over it for a bit, then he dove for her neck. He clasped his mouth at the crook of her neck and sucked on it. "S-Sasu-ke… kun…" she stuttered his name. She managed a firm grip on his shirt and she helped him pull it off. The moment her arms were at her side, Sasuke ripped the tie of her robe and her bathrobe fell to her floor with his shirt. Sakura stood only in her underwear, exposed to Sasuke's fiery eyes. Sasuke moved forward, putting his hands at her bottom and lifted her so her feet were off the floor. He pinned her against the wall and pushed his lips against hers again. Sakura wrapped her open legs around his waist.

This isn't happening, this isn't happening… Sakura kept trying to tell herself as they found their way to her bed. Her mind continued in a furious spin as his hands moved down her neck, over her breasts, across the plains of her stomach, to her hips where he started to pull at her underwear. It was like an out of body experience. She knew exactly what she was doing, what was being done to her, but she still didn't stop it. It felt too good for her to ignore, too good to stop. Then, her brain stopped moving at 1000 miles an hour and one clear thought filtered through: show him that he doesn't have to be lonely. Show him he can be happy.

She would do anything so long as he stayed.