Disclaimer: All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.
I do not own any of the characters.

Notes: Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

DonovanX: I'm glad you enjoyed my uncomfortable sexual writing and yes I will ruin Sakura's life too.

Freyja: Thanks for all the love and support!

I post new chapters every Tuesday.

Constellation Love

Chapter Six-Falling, Don't Let Me

"We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy." -Walter Anderson

-The Next Day-

A ball of paper was hurled at a classmate's head, one of many to head in that direction since the class had begun. Ino closed her eyes slowly and turned in her seat, another paper ball smacking against her cheek as she did so. She completed her turn and slammed her fists down onto the table behind her.

"Cut it out Naruto!" She donned a menacing scowl at the hyperactive blonde shinobi behind her as he crumpled up another sheet of ammo.

"Well then stop ignorin' me will ya?" Naruto squinted as he laid his hands behind his head, tipping back in his chair.

"I'm trying to focus you idiot..." She turned back in her seat and stared at him from the corner of her eye. "Unlike you some of us care about our grades..."

Naruto stuck his tongue out and blew fast air behind it before leaning forward in his seat and over the table, whispering into Ino's ear.

"Have you seen Sakura?"

Ino screamed and her eyes grew wide as she flung her arms up in surprise, one of her hands slapping Naruto in the process.

"Don't do that shit to me Naruto, and no I haven't seen billboard brow, what do I look like her mother?" She pressed her hands against his shoulders trying to shove him off the table and away from her.

Naruto latched onto her, intent that if he falls she fell with him. "Well you two are friends and she wasn't in class at all today, so I just figured!" Ino shook her shoulders trying to break free from his hold.

Ino snarled back, still trying to break from him. "Five head is not my fr-"

"Naruto! Ino!" Their instructor's voice echoed across the large classroom and the focus of their classmates shifted to them. "Would you like to share what about your conversation is so fascinating that you are disrupting my lesson?" Iruka promptly shut his book he was reading from and slammed it against the blackboard he was standing in front of.

"No sens-" Ino dropped her voice down and was soon overpowered by her friend.

"We were just trying to figure out where Sakura-chan is!" Naruto shifted his weight back and leaned against his own table while he shouted to the front of the room.

"Mm..." Iruka closed his eyes for a moment considering the absence of his usually punctual student; he then cleared his throat before addressing Naruto again. "Focus on my lesson Naruto before you start worrying about others, I'm sure she's just not feeling well today." Iruka nodded, satisfied with his answer and dug his finger into his book trying to find his lost page.

Naruto slumped down into his seat and Ino started to think about the last time she had seen Sakura, in that alleyway with Gaara. Regardless what he told her, she knew she had seen her.

Towards the back of the room Gaara crossed his arms over his chest as he stared protectively down at Ino. Sasuke Uchiha's grin grew wider after hearing Naruto's concern regarding their female team member.

Ino absentmindedly began to draw on one of the balls of paper she had straightened out. It start out as a few random shapes, turning into a pair of hands forming her favorite seal; the boar. And before long she completed the human body and began drawing another one beside it. She stared down at them; unsatisfied and began to draw the outline of a heart around them. Before long the first figure had a kanji marked upon their forehead and the other a long single bang.

Ino's concentration shifted as a small sandy object floated over her paper, dropping a few grains as it did so. It spun around, the object now resembling a rather large floating eye, Ino turned around in her chair to look back at Gaara. With one eye closed and a sly smirk on his face Gaara wiggled his fingers playfully in Ino's direction. She turned back in her chair, suppressing a giggle, as she placed a kiss on the palm of her hand before blowing it at the eye.

"Ino!" Iruka's voice caught the attention of the entire class and their focus was directed immediately to Ino. She stuttered on a response as the eye dropped down to her table, turning into nothing more than a pile of sand flowing across the table and over the edge.

"Iru-ka-hahaha!" She glanced down at the mess spreading itself over her desk as she began to laugh out loud gaining more attention from the few students who chose not to pay her any mind the first time.

Iruka closed his book once more and bonked it against his forehead. "Ino, why don't you just go see the Hokage and tell her you were disrupting my class, not once but twice." Ino's laugh died down as the situation became a little more serious, she knew she'd be punished if she was to tell her master that. "And maybe Lady Tsunade will have something for you to do, since my lecture is boring you."

"It's not like that at all Iruka-sensei!" Ino shot up from her desk, planting her hands down into the pile of sand, a small snicker seeping from her lips. Iruka threw his arm out, using his book to point to the exit of the classroom.

Ino sighed as she fished around in the sand and took hold of her doodle and tugged it out. She folded up the paper and began to slide down the aisle behind the chair of students who refused to scoot in for her.

So rude...

Ino stepped out into the middle of the classroom and hopped up the steps two a time, all eyes still following her every move. Once she reached the top she detoured to hop up onto another student's desk, the table Gaara and Sasuke were sharing. She held her folded paper in between her index and middle fingers and slipped her hand down under the table, dropping the paper down behind one of the straps that Gaara wore around his body.

Gaara's eyes followed the paper to its resting place and soon met Ino's hand as her fingers trailed back up the top of his body suit, tickling under his chin slightly as they moved higher. Ino placed her hands against his cheeks gently before leaning over the edge of the desk for a last minute kiss. She barred her fangs as she grinned seductively at him, green eyes meeting their twin. Gaara sat still while their lips met, at some point he heard her name being called out by the instructor and several students making inappropriate comments.

Ino detached herself from Gaara's mouth and ran a finger under his lips as she slowly slid off the table and moved towards the exit with a new spring in her step.

Sasuke turned his attention to Ino as she left, eyeing her form as it left the room. Gaara turned back to face the front of the class when he noticed Sasuke.

"Mm where are your eyes Uchiha?" Gaara fished out the paper Ino had left behind before placing his arms down on his desk.

"On that pretty little blonde who just left," Sasuke ran his tongue over his lips quickly before facing the front of the class. "why do you ask?"

Gaara's fingers moved in the air as if they were walking on a something, sand from his gourd placed against the wall making its way from his home up the Sasuke's chair slowly.

"I would advise you to keep your eyes off of her Uchiha..." His fingers never stopping as the sand moved higher still, coming up to the top of the back of the chair.

"And if I refuse?" Sasuke dropped his elbows down on the desk, covering his mouth as Iruka started up his lesson again.

Gaara's dull eyes shifted to the corners as they stared daggers into Sasuke. "I will not hesitate to kill you Uchiha." The sand slithered along the top of the chair before spreading itself out, most of it floating in small collections around Sasuke's head.

"Relax Gaara... I wouldn't dream of touching Ino. I might get a bad rep if another girl goes missing." An evil grin curled across Sasuke's face while he spoke, hiding behind his hands.

"What happened to Haruno?" Gaara's sand receded, resting back against the chair as it slowly digressed back to the gourd.

"She got what she wanted, after all this time, the bitch got what she wanted..."

It was short walk from the academy building to the Hokage's office and Ino took her sweet time getting there. Finding a new outlook on the world and everything it, with Gaara by her side nothing seemed to bring her down anymore.

She stomped her way to the front doors of the Hokage building, two guards shuffled inwards to block her path to the door.

"Step aside boys, I was sent here by Iruka-sensei!" She announced being kicked from class as proudly as she could as the two guards turned to the side letting her pass through.

Ino made her way through the building at a snail's pace before she found herself walking down the hallway that contained Tsunade's office.

Ino stepped closer to the door when heard the sound of something crashing from within the office.

"Lady Tsunade... Please calm down ma'am." Ino recognized it as Shizune's voice; she leaned herself against the wall and edged closer to the door, pressing her ear against it gently.

"Sakura how could you let this happen?" Ino made out Tsunade's stern voice through the door and pressed her hands against it to get as much from the conversation that she could.

What's forehead doing here...?

"I'm sorry Lady Tsunade, it just-"

Another sound, this time it sounded like something slamming against the wall. The vibration from the epicenter spread to the door causing the vibration to run down Ino's spine.

"Please don't blame yourself Sakura, it's not like anyone would expect him to do something like that. He's more dangerous than anyone could imagine, Lady Tsunade we need to do something. We need to get him out of the village."

Ino's ears perked up after a few more minutes of listening before she gripped the doorknob roughly. She burst through into the office, scanning the room for the pink haired girl.

"Who are you talking about forehead?"

All eyes fell on Ino once she stormed in, but Ino's attention was directed to Sakura's appearance. Sections of her hair were missing or considerably shorter than the rest, there were several cuts and bruises on one arm. The other arm held up by a sling, her legs had thin red lines circling them as well as more bruises. As Sakura turned to face Ino completely she noticed her blackened eye that was swollen shut and the weak smile she was putting on.

"Foreh-Sakura... What happened to you?" Ino crossed the room in just a few strides and took a closer look at Sakura.

Sakura dropped her head and stared down at her feet, unwilling to answer.

Tsunade pulled her fist from the wall, bits of the plaster falling to the ground. "She was attacked," Ino's eye widened as she looked over to the Hokage, her mind flashing back to the glimpse of Sakura she saw in the alleyway. "I had Anbu do some digging around and they reported they found something strange in the record room."

"Record room?" Ino's mind was still processing the thought of Sakura being attacked couldn't find a connection between the two.

Tsunade's eyes zeroed in on the blonde ninja after she spoke. "The record room, the room where all of the files of our ninjas are kept. Someone broke in not too long ago and stole two files. Each of the files has a special jutsu placed on them when they're added. It's a jutsu created to tell false documents or copies from their originals. A jutsu only a few Anbu know so when they checked the room and found two files that were unlike the rest, it wasn't hard to put it together that they had been replaced with fakes."

Ino swallowed down hard, a bead of sweat trickling down from her hairline after remembering what Gaara had told her.

"I got into the record room and took your file, along with another person's. And had someone make copies of the originals to replace them with."

"It's a good thing you came here Ino, it saves me the trouble of sending an escort to get you. Because along with Sakura you are under suspicion."

The small pink pig Shizune carried in her arms snorted quietly from the corner of the room while Shizune nodded with approval.

"For what? We didn't do anything!" Ino looked back at Sakura for support only to see her head still focused on the ground.

"Your files were taken and as of now we have no real leads, but you two are our best bet to find who stole them and maybe who attacked Sakura. Also you may be next Ino to be attacked; you two will stay here with me until this matter is resolved."

"Lady Tsunade that's not fair!" Ino slammed her hands down on the desk in between her and the Hokage when she screamed at her.

"Shizune." The assistant stepped forward from the corner of the room quickly. "Take the two of them to their room, and give Sakura her treatment immediately."

"Yes Lady Tsunade..." Shizune turned to face the two younger girls, slipping a free hand from holding Tonton to gesture to the door. Sakura turned slowly and hobbled out of the room followed by Ino who cursed Tsunade under her breath. Tonton hopped free from Shizune's grasp as she bowed slowly and exited the room after the others.

"Sakura what happened?" Ino begged for an answer, but Sakura ignored it and walked after Shizune who had begun to head down the hall.

"Follow me girls."

-F-

After an extensive healing session with Shizune, Sakura was feeling and looking better than she was before. Shizune had said her good-byes and bowed before leaving, once the door had shut completely Ino jumped off her small cot and over to Sakura.

"Tell me what happened, c'mon!" Ino grabbed onto Sakura's arm gently pleading for answers. "How'd you get all those bruises, why weren't you in class, who were you talking about? It wasn't Gaara was it?"

At the mention of his name Sakura's arm twitched and her eye met Ino's instantly.

"It was him Ino; Gaara stole those files didn't he?" Sakura's voice was frail when she finally spoke up. Ino released her arm and took a step away from her, heading to the small rectangular window placed in the room. "Him and Sasuke, they have our files. They know everything about us Ino, they're dangerous!" Sakura moved to follow Ino before the blonde spun around, landing a swift slap across Sakura's face.

Sakura rubbed her cheek slowly a small red print forming. "Gaara is not dangerous; if you wanna put Sasuke into that category then go ahead. But don't you dare talk about Gaara like that! Not to me, not to anyone..." Tears rose up under Ino's eyes as she spoke, ready to pour over the lids.

"Sasuke abducted me in the alleyway and I saw Gaara down the way I was going. I know he saw me, so why wouldn't he do something? He just kept walking!" Ignoring the sting emitting from her cheek Sakura focused on Ino again. "Sasuke did this to me..." Sakura tore at her collar, ripping some of the threads as she turned to reveal the bruise on her back."

Ino peeked from the corner of her eye at the small dark mark, instantly being reminded of her own mark. "How?"

Sakura pulled her collar back up and shook her head slightly before plopping down on the bed.

"We were assigned to come up a mission scenario for training new Suna students, so we stayed after class once and..."

-F-

Sasuke ran the eraser of his pencil around in circles on his desk while Sakura banged her prominent forehead against it.

"Do we really have to come up with this entire thing? Why isn't Naruto here helping us?" Sakura slammed her fists against the table instead of her head for once, becoming irritated.

"All that idiot does is whine about everything, what good will he do here?" Sasuke halted his absent minded drawing of one-dimensional spheres to scan the blank page of paper in front of him. "He never has any good ideas, and I want this to be perfect."

"Mm... Sasuke-kun, do you think maybe we could go somewhere else and work on this. Maybe getting around will help us get an idea." Inside Sakura a devious plot to parade around the village with Sasuke was coming full circle.

"Sure, we can go back to my place." Sasuke stood up instantly and snatched up the papers they were working with for the beginning stages for their mission.

Score!

Sakura sat still for a moment, the thought that she was being invited to Sasuke's house finally hitting her once Sasuke had started to leave the room. She hopped up from her chair and hurried on after him.

Sasuke noticed Sakura's excitement pulled the corner of his mouth up and shook his head from side to side slowly. "Do you need to stop by your place to get anything first?"

Sakura paused for a moment, puzzled by the question at first. "Uh no, I think we have everything we need."

"Excellent, we can go over together then, ready?"

"Yes!" Sakura looked around for a moment as she waited for Sasuke to make his way out of the classroom before following behind him.

It was a short distance out of the building their class was held in. Down one hallway, down two flights of stairs and then out the main exit. Sasuke held onto his backpack with both hands as he walked leisurely to his residence. Sakura, nervous how well this was all going trailed diligently behind him. Trying her best to remember the surroundings for any later trips she planned to be making to visit Sasuke. After a while she gave up trying to take mental pictures of the buildings and was completely focused on figuring out her next move.

The worst part about this was Sakura didn't know if Sasuke even liked her, she was going off what she felt and what she wanted. For all she knew Sasuke could just be really friendly to let her come work with him. Whatever the case may be, she was determined to have Sasuke to herself.

Sakura ran through her mind all of the possible explanations of why Sasuke was being so nice, why it had been so easy to be invited to his home, and how this afternoon would play out.

Their walk lead them across the village behind several buildings, rarely walked paths and routes that aren't usually taken. They arrived at a small two story building that was similar to the ones lined down the side of the street. Sasuke lifted his foot and stomped it against the wall before doing the same with his other foot. Sakura nodded in silent agreement as she began to follow Sasuke up the wall. Making their way past a line of first story windows and a few open doors of other ninjas living in the building, Sasuke gripped a railing above him and swung over, sliding open the door that led to his room from the balcony. Sakura threw herself over then balcony railing and waiting patiently for Sasuke to turn back to her, then stepping aside giving her the chance to walk in first.

Sakura smiled sincerely as she entered his room.

Sakura turned her head to the right and slowly set it on an automatic system to survey the area quickly, but very anally. She glanced over a dark wood dresser with a mirror attached to the back of it, various bottles, books, and writing utensils were scattered on top. Next was the empty space between the dresser and his bed; a large king sized object that was covered in a dark blue comforter and three grey pillows. Even though all she wanted to do was stare at the bed and then send herself off to her imagination she slowly pulled herself away and continued to observe. She saw a small desk with an open scroll, a table light, and books resting on it. A large chair was positioned next to an open window, two sliding doors that belonged to the closet. She glanced over the room once more before returning her attention to Sasuke who had made his way across the rather large room over to the closet and had tossed his schoolbag inside.

Even though she was only here for Sasuke, Sakura couldn't resist the dulling feeling she got from the room. "Ever thought about adding some colour?" Sakura tapped her fingers against the bland wall to the left as she walked towards Sasuke in the unfamiliar territory.

"Uh," Sasuke's voice made it clear he was confused about the intent of the question as he had his head still within his closet. He took a small step back and closed the doors and caught Sakura in the corner of his eyes, after realizing the comment was about his room he regained his composure. "Yeah, I just like darker colours, they keep me calm." He took a few steps from the closet, running his hand across his wall.

Sakura made a goofy grin as she took her final step, keeping her eyes on Sasuke, seeming not to notice she had closed the space between them. She turned his head up to face him and spoke softly keeping her grin. "That's amazing." Sasuke smiled and let out a soft huff of air that smacked Sakura in the face; she didn't care, and closed his eyes taking in the compliment.

"Do you want something to drink?" Sasuke's eyes opened almost instantly and his voice was as stern as ever as his deep onyx eyes shone brightly at Sakura.

"Uh sure, water is fine thanks." She was taken back a little by the suddenness of the question, but was happy to accept the offer. She dropped her grin into a wide content smile as Sasuke nodded and maneuvered past her out of the room.

She listened to his footsteps heading down the hall and waited for the sound to die before she took her first step around the room alone. Wooden floors, tan walls, the room smelled like him, which was the best part of it all.

She tip toed across the space to the side of the bed, where she reached down and placed her hand down onto the pillow closet to her. She held her breath for a moment while she waited for a sound indicating Sasuke's return.

Nothing.

She quickly snatched up the pillow and pressed her face into it, she was met with a familiar scent, this cologne, but also with a new one, she assumed it was his shampoo, it smelled like apples. She took in a deep breath and let her jaw quiver as she did so, she dropped the pillow back down where she found it and turned on her heels facing the dresser now.

She glanced over the dresser top and up to the mirror. She placed her hands on the side of her head, trying to contain some of her hair that seemed bent on sticking out. Her light pink hair that fell carelessly perfect around her face. She took a step back noticing the six knobs on the dresser, pertaining to the drawers within. She bent over slowly and grabbed hold of the two knobs on the bottom, pulling them out just enough to get a peek at what lay inside. On the right side, nothing but socks, white, red, black, blue, gray, all socks, and on the left were what looked like small towels, or wash cloths. She slowly pushed in those drawers and moved her hands up the wood until they met the next two knobs. Both full of shorts, she pulled back the side of her mouth into a slightly disappointing expression and stood up straight as she pulled at the last two knobs. On the left all of Sasuke's underwear, never before had Sakura been jealous of a piece of fabric, however this was a special case. She formulated thoughts about Sasuke in nothing but the bare minimum and smiled as she looked over into the right drawer. Filled with an assortment of items, broken kunai handles cards, papers, keys, but nothing special.

"Having fun?" Sakura jumped out of her skin and back a few feet at the alarming tone as Sasuke spoke, leaning against the doorway, Sakura eyed him like a scared child who got caught looking for presents. Sasuke held his arms crossed over his chest and watched Sakura plainly. "We're out of glasses." He pushed off from the frame and moved towards Sakura, cornering her into the space between the bed and dresser.

"Oh, alright that's fine, thanks anyway." She couldn't really tell, but she was almost sure her voice was shaking, she felt really warm and nervous as if she was going to be punished soon. "So does it get lonely living alone here?" She was losing the sense of cool and the confidence she believed she had throughout all of this. It was something about the way Sasuke was staring her down, it made her feel weak.

"Nah, I like it, but I could use someone to live with. I do like having people to talk to. I like having someone to be with." He took another large step towards Sakura, closing the gap between them as Sakura had done before. "Maybe you could move in, we can be roommates." A pink tint ran across Sakura's cheeks at the suggestion.

"Or you can be the servant, and I can be your master." Sasuke smiled and chuckled under his breath as emerald eyes opened wide when she heard this and took a step back, her shoulder blades reaching he wall behind her at this point. "Why do you look so nervous, isn't this why you came here, because you want me?" His smile turned into that of a villain, one whose mind was conceiving something evil.

"I know you do; I see the way you look at me during the class. How you're so quick to come and work with me during group activities. If you wanted me that's all you had to say." Sakura couldn't believe this; she had thought she was being careful not to be noticed and to keep her feelings for Sasuke a secret. But now she wasn't sure of anything.

Sasuke lifted his hands and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head; the fabric seemed all too willing to reveal his body. Slender, muscular, like marble, it was a dream. He tossed the shirt to the other side of the bed and smirked at Sakura. He took another large step and slammed his large hand against the wall to the left of Sakura' head as he let his body be supported by it he leaned in closer to her.

Closing the final amount of distance between them against the wall, between the bed and the dresser, Sasuke had her captured, and there was no escape. He moved his head towards Sakura and spoke directly into Sakura' soul. He grinned while he came in closer to her, his lips grazing against Sakura's, onyx clashing with emerald.

"Well here you go."

The next seconds of Sakura' life were filled with overwhelming confusion and the temptation to take Sasuke up on the offer being presented to her. "W-what," Her eyes were the biggest they'd probably ever been, "I-"

Before she could get out the rest of her sentence her lips were being pushed against by one of Sasuke's fingers. He shook his head slowly as he stared at Sakura. "Just stop."

Sasuke slowly shook his head and smirked. "Don't resist me." Sakura began to tremble as her eyes darted from side to side as she made a quick action, jerking herself out of Sasuke's reach and across the bed. She bounced and rolled around on it before frantically scurrying down to the edge and onto the floor. She pushed off from the ground with her hands as she attempted to regain her balance, making a mad dash towards the door, to freedom. She made it from the doorway to the balcony in one quick leap and made a messy leap over the railing. She hooked her hand onto it and swung around, as Sasuke's icy hand clamped down over hers.

Her eyes filled it terror as he slid his other fingers under hers, prying them from the railing, she kicked her feet unable to focus chakra in them to hold herself against the wall.

"Help!" She shut her eyes and put everything she had into a cry out to the neighborhood, but soon another icy hand had reached her. Slamming his fist against Sakura's face, the impact causing her strength to falter for an instant, giving Sasuke all he needed to break her hold on the railing.

"Horse, tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger!" Sasuke's hands moved automatically after realizing how many people probably heard Sakura's cry. "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" Throwing his hands down to his side, Sasuke leaned forward, a large fireball escaping from his lips, flying a short distance across the gap and meeting the neighboring building. Catching fire instantly it was the only thing the curious neighbors saw.

She was still weak when she had finally made it away from the house; she pressed her hand firmly against a tree, ignoring the bit of bark poking her skin, threatening to break in. Her knees were bent and she pressed her other hand against her thigh as she hunched over taking in heavy breaths.

After getting from Sasuke she had made a chaotic sprint through the village and now wasn't sure about where she was. She couldn't make sense of what had happened back in the bed room. She had no clue Sasuke felt like that, she hoped he would, but she wasn't prepared at all. She wanted to build a relationship with him, but she didn't know how far deep in she may have already been. Nothing seemed right to her now. She took in another large breath before forcing her body to stand up straight, a throbbing in her face adding to her overall pain, surveying the area around her.

Sakura caught sight of someone behind her and as she spun around to face them a large hand was slammed down against her shoulder. Crippling underneath the weight Sakura dropped the ground, the hand's pressure never faltering for even a moment. Suddenly Sakura felt an intense burning in her shoulder under the powerful hand. Fire raced through her veins, she tried to call for help, but her mouth soon met the other hand and muffled any attempts at assistance.

-F-

"Then I blacked out and I woke up back inside his room..." Sakura exhaled slowly, her chest deflating as the heavy story burden was lifted from her shoulders. Ino had remained silent through it all, flashbacks of her time in the forest with Gaara swarming back into her mind. "I thought everything was going fine, but then all of a sudden it was like he changed into a completely different person..."

Ino spoke quietly under her breath simultaneously with Sakura.

"And that's when I got my bruise."

-F