Hey friends! I want to start by thanking everyone who reviewed last chapter. I haven't been able to reply to all of you, but want you to know I read everything and took all your feedback into consideration when putting this chapter together. I'm hoping this gives Sasuke a more rounded character and keeps you engaged. As always, I hope you enjoy this and thank you for reading. Warning: Totally did not keep a sharp eye out for typos or grammatical misses when I was doing some light edits.
CH7
Friday morning.
"The polar vortex has its eyes set on the Northeast, state officials are encouraging residents in the area to ensure they have enough food and water for one week per household and expect mass transit to be shut down starting Monday at midnight-"
Sakura was running on automatic that day, completing patient reports and double checking lab results that had come in that morning. The news coverage had been nonstop and seemed to be broadcasted everywhere the past few days. She should have known better than to expect anything different at work this week.
"Record high winds and snowfall for New York City and potential power outages are being anticipated-"
"Have you put any thought into it?"
She looked up and blinked at Ino a few times before recalling what she was talking about. For the past few days people had started accepting this less-than-there version of Sakura that had taken up residency. Except Ino. "I still don't know, I forgot to call my aunt and see what she was going to do."
"It would be so fun, though! Naruto and Shikamaru already stacked half the living room with cases of water and Hinata and I are working on a killer chili and sandwiches to take us into next month. Plus, come on, booze."
When Sakura still didn't react, she sighed and rested her hand on her hip. "I still haven't heard from him either, if you're wondering."
It had been two weeks since Ino's party and Sakura's fight with Sasuke. While Sakura was doing a piss poor job of hiding her broken heart, Karin hadn't even bothered to say 'boo' at work. Meanwhile, Sasuke hadn't been seen by anyone since that night. There was a steady wave of texts and calls from everyone but Sakura, but no one got a single response.
"Fuck him," Tenten had said, trying to help her friend channel her emotions into running more.
"Was I overreacting? I think I was overreacting. I just was so surprised by how he took it to the next level. I was hoping he wasn't that kind of guy." Sakura had told her over their breakfast ritual. "He's definitely a bastard, but I'm the fool for trying to make something happen there."
She wanted to see the good in him, she wanted to believe there was something in him she could find more of herself in. But, she was wrong. Just like she was with Kiba. She wasn't enough on her own to bring him around. And if not her, then who? It came in waves, her rollercoaster of confidence and cocktail or unanswered questions. Bigger than Sasuke was her own sense of self that was a dark pit inside her. Was moving out here too big of a change? Instead of taking control of her future was she just making one mistake after another?
"Sakura," Ino called to her again. It was the end of the day and a Friday. She couldn't handle seeing her friend like this and needed to take action. "This isn't a request, so don't think you can say no. We're performing some of the strongest magick tonight to help you."
As predicted, she took the bait. "What kind of spell are you planning?"
The Witch smiled. "It's not a spell, it's a sleepover."
Friday afternoon.
He refused to answer his phone, he barely touched it unless absolutely necessary these days. But from across his desk, he could see the screen light up and then eventually go silent before adding another voicemail to the running list he hadn't responded to yet.
'And you say I'm the idiot!' Naruto's voice rang in his head, as it had been on loop without mercy for the last few hours. The moron had convinced him to meet for lunch earlier that day. Since Sasuke had been MIA far beyond what Naruto deemed acceptable, he said he either needed to meet him for lunch or expect an ambush at his office. Not having the energy to prepare for the latter, he accepted his fate and met him at the Japanese restaurant Sasuke would go to whenever he needed some quiet. The irony was not lost on him in the moment.
"Explain to me why you haven't reached out to her," The blonde extended his chopsticks to Sasuke's plate and helped himself to an eel roll.
"I told you already. I didn't do anything wrong." He glared across the table.
Naruto sat back in his chair and folded his arms. "You, Sasuke Uchiha, didn't do anything wrong. Right."
Sasuke sighed. "It's not like I told her I was searching for my fucking wife. I only took her on one date. We didn't even kiss. She has no right to be upset with me."
"That's where you don't get it!" He slammed his hand down, causing his tea to splash onto his plate. "This isn't one of your devil deals. These are emotions and feelings, Sasuke. This is what I've been telling you for years you need to pay attention to. You're both at a loss now and you need to fix it." He grit his teeth, his canines sharpening as his own emotions heightened. "This is bigger than you or this girl feeling better. This is your chance to prove to Them you should stay."
Them. The two who let him break free of his eternal duties Down There. How long had it been since he had spoken with Them last?
Sasuke stared at him with a completely impassive face. His companion remained hunched over the table, his hand planted to the table with a desperation to be heard. Eventually, his shoulders softened as well as his eyes. "You're going to listen to me one day… Have you thought over what you're gonna do for the storm?"
"Hn," The brooding man drank the rest of his tea and poured the last of the kettle into both their cups. "I'm not changing my mind, I'm staying at my place to work. I'm not going to trap myself in an apartment with you and everyone else trying to interrogate me about something that shouldn't concern them."
Naruto rolled his eyes but there was no humor in them. "Whatever, dude. You're the one who wanted to be human and I'm just trying to help you since I'm the who succeeded."
When they parted ways, Sasuke could feel the sickly warmth in his eyes as he made his way back to his office. Sleep was never an incredible priority, but he had started avoiding it the last week or so. It left him too vulnerable to this new thing Kakashi had told him was his conscious when he first surfaced in the human world. Naruto wasn't wrong, he did want to be human. He took a lot of pleasure in these indulgences he had available to him. Most recently, alcohol seemed to be his vice of choice. There was never a shortage of bars in the city, so he had taken to blindly wandering into a new one each night. When the liquor alone wasn't cutting it, he headed to the Financial District to that inconspicuous door he knew so well, sometimes with Ino and Shikamaru, sometimes without. This was what it meant to be human, he thought, tangled in a bed of limbs and hot mouths. He would have called Karin, but she was at the root of his problems so she might as well have been dead to him. Still, whether it was Karin or the next warm body, it just wasn't proving to be enough anymore.
Had it ever truly been to begin with?
He tried to place himself back in time just weeks earlier when he and Sakura were outside in that damned line and he could feel a heart racing. That heart was his own, he admitted. It was like he had been submerged in a frozen lake and dragged out to face his world with new, uninvited clarity. She had been his damned undoing.
With the exception of Naruto at lunch, he hadn't spoken to anyone else directly in days. People he worked with were doing everything in their power to avoid him like the plague. He was a monster in a suit sulking like a lion with a sword through his paw. He was most recently rumored to be unshowered, but even when he was, he was a menacing cloud you hid in conference rooms from. All communication was through emails and all deals were signed off on without a hand shake, just an e-signature.
An email he had been waiting on hit his inbox late in the day when everyone else was packing up to go home. The order of groceries he had set up had been delivered and the doorman had placed them inside his apartment at his request. With so many people wrestling to collect last-minute supplies, he was in no mood to take on the grocery store madness and was grateful for his scheduled delivery. It was more than enough to probably feed a family through the next week, but no one would ever accuse Sasuke of leaning on the conservative side. It also didn't hurt if he could prolong his isolation away from anything and anyone that would drive him to murder in his current mood.
Grabbing his jacket some time later, he felt some relief when he noticed he was last to leave the office. Deciding the fresh air may in fact do him some good, he made the executive decision to take the long walk home before locking himself in his apartment until his own internal storm had passed.
It was oddly quiet outside. For the most part the sidewalks were empty and Sasuke didn't think until then to check the time. It was closer to nine than it was eight, but he shrugged it off. He was working and being productive, he decided. He concentrated on the cold air in his nostrils.
"I just didn't think you were this heartless."
He shook her voice from his head and trudged home a little faster. Once he reached the marbled lobby signalling home, he gave a quick nod to the doorman and shot up in the elevator. A breath he didn't realize he was holding escaped his lips.
The quiet was only amplified after he closed the door behind him. He took a few minutes to rustle through the groceries in their neat bags and relished in the busy work of sorting and storing the meats and produce. The building had two backup generators inspected just the day prior and the management company had emailed all the tenants a vote confidence for the storm ahead. His industrial fridge could without a doubt fit a few bodies and was guaranteed to keep them at the perfect temperature, even if Hell did rise up to freeze over.
Once he could sort no more, he migrated to his home computer set up by a wall of glorious windows overlooking the Williamsburg bridge. Headlights and tail lights glittered in the lanes of traffic going either way down below in the distance. After the first browser failed to connect to the internet, he restarted his router without wasting even a second. When that didn't work and he was taunted by a blank screen, he checked his TV and was faced with pure static. He called the internet and cable company only to be greeted by a recorded message letting him know his area was experiencing an unexpected outage. His brow furrowed at that, but his eyes began bleeding into an acidic red when he heard crews wouldn't be able to investigate until potentially the next day.
"Heartless."
Teeth sharpened into fangs and ground against each other. With speed faster than what that world would ever understand, he stormed into his room and began throwing shirts, underwear, pants, and other articles from his drawers and closets into a duffel bag. He couldn't stay there if he couldn't work. He needed something else to keep his mind busy. He needed distractions. A toothbrush and some toiletries were thrown in after.
The kitchen was targeted next. He opened his black leather backpack and strategically piled in his vegetables, some potatoes, deli meats and bread. His office desk drawer had a few cans of soup he kept as his 'in a hurry' solution. Calculating the meals he could make from the contents of his bag, he zipped it up with set intentions and headed back out the door.
Friday night.
"Alright, I give up, I'm feeling better!" Sakura laughed, her mouth full of dark chocolate and raspberries. "For the most part. I may need more chocolate."
"We didn't say this would fix everything, no magick can do that. We're helping you get there yourself, is all." Ino lounged across the bed next to her, stealing a few berries from the bowl between them.
After Sakura signed her evening away to Ino, they braved the chaos that was the pharmacy by her apartment in Brooklyn and raided the shelves of all its best sour gummies, decadent chocolate bars and shiny nail polishes. They were pulling out all the stops, Ino explained, packing a few ice cream pints in her basket. Hinata had been quick to respond to the group text and stopped at their corner store for fruits and extra candles to really make sure they hit their marks. This night, Ino had explained, would be a love letter to themselves. Because they deserved it.
"Hot chocolate's ready," Hinata called, both hands balancing a tray of mugs and a dish of marshmallows. Ino rolled off the bed to help her roommate set up the tray in the middle of the floor and threw some pillows on the ground around it for them to gather on.
"Thank you both so much," Sakura spoke, reaching for a marshmallow in front of her.
"It's the least we could do." Ino sipped her mug thoughtfully. "Did you have a chance to call your aunt yet?"
"I did," Sakura tried to sip the cocoa herself and the chocolate burned the tip of her tongue, so she opted to cradle the mug against her chest. "She's already in Florida. I forget she spends Thanksgiving down there some years, so she had flown down earlier this week for a long holiday."
Ino's face lit up. "So you mean you're staying over Monday?"
Sakura sighed in defeat, feigning disappointment. "It looks like you lucked out."
The blonde squealed and fist pumped the air multiple times. "This is going to be the best snowpocalypse ever!"
Sunday morning.
"We can make it quick, I swear! One power hour and that will get all the endorphins pumping before we're all trapped inside for the week!"
"First of all," Sakura started, putting her finger in Tenten's face. "It's not going to be a whole week. Second of all, I don't have workout clothes in my bag." She bounced her overnight bag on her shoulder as though this would allow her over-excited friend to see right through it.
"I'll lend you a sports bra and shorts! Come on! Don't make me do this alone." She whined, clearly restless in her own skin.
"Okay, fine. It's just an hour, right?"
"Yes, yes! I'm only few blocks from here. We can change, catch the last class and then you can take the train to Ino's."
Sakura sighed in defeat, already drained from this workout class she had only heard about. Tenten would owe her, although she swore Sakura would be thanking her later when she was all cooped up.
The studio was on the top floor of a six floor walk-up downtown and had floor to ceiling windows that gave way to a breathtaking view of the city. The snow had started coming down as the lightest dusting but wasn't going to stick to the ground until much later in the evening. Sakura found a space next to Tenten and texted Ino about her detour that afternoon. She wondered what all these other people were thinking, just hours before the storm of the decade was scheduled to take the region. It had been about seven years since she had seen snow last and couldn't gauge if the storm was expected to live up to the hype on the news or if it would just close schools the next day. Either way, the instructor was already barking. Snow or shine, the instructor yelled, she was going to break a sweat.
Sunday evening.
His eyes were red, but not just in his irises. No, it was the white of his eyes that were bloodshot. He smelled of sweat and depression, but was too invested in his own denial to notice. At best, he would acknowledge it as a form of frustration. Staring at his inbox, he waited for an email, any email, to call for his attention. None came. He scanned his spreadsheets, his reports, the spreadsheets based off of his reports and the reports exploring the data in the spreadsheets. There was nothing left to dissect or disseminate and he was at a loss. He had nothing left to do. And it had only really started to snow a few hours ago. The latest weather update claimed the true storm hadn't even made its way across state lines.
Being so caught up in his own head, he hadn't noticed the slow and steady crumble of his human form. From deep inside him, his demon self was bubbling to the surface. He ran his hand through his unbrushed hair and winced. His nails had grown long, darkened and formed sharp claws. He took a deep breath to steady himself as he stared at his hands that were starting to resemble those of his former self, the one locked inside.
Bzzt. Bzzzzt.
'Sasu stop ignoring me im serious'
Another one of Karin's texts came through in a preview on his phone, but like the rest, remained unopened. All weekend she had been relentless, the barrage only ceasing for a few hours out of the day. He growled with annoyance and flipped his phone over.
Was Sakura as distraught over this mess as he was? The irritated whites of his eyes grew dark like his nails, but he chose to ignore it.
His heart clenched and its beat began picking up speed. He checked his email inbox one final time. Still nothing. A pained groan echoed from his chest and across the office, through the vacant floor. If he had already exhausted his list of tasks in the two days and nights he had been there, what would he do with himself through the storm?
Bzzt. Bzzzzt.
'You cant just say its not enough. You cant do this to me'
Her green tear-rimmed eyes burned through his thoughts and he covered his face with his hands in a desperate attempt to hide himself. His hair began to bristle slowly and lengthen a few inches down his neck and back. Reality was setting in, his human self was coming undone and he needed help. If this storm couldn't give him his time with her like he had originally intended, then he would at least use it to figure out how to rectify this situation he had been at least somewhat at fault for putting them in.
An undiluted panic overrode his innate pride and he began stowing his belongings back into his duffel bag, and then ran.
Bzzt. Bzzzzt.
'Youll regret this.'
"This fuckin' sucks," Naruto groaned. "If this storm ends up being as legit as we think it is, I could go a week without pay!"
He fell back across the couch dramatically. Ino rolled her eyes and pushed off the armchair to busy herself in the kitchen. She sensed a mini tantrum and wanted nothing to do with it. Hinata sighed and began stroking his hair, which always had a calming effect her demon boyfriend. She looked out the window and noted she could only see three buildings into the distance when an hour earlier it was four. The sun had mostly set then and the final rays of sun barely filtered through the thick clouds of snow rolling in without any sign of stopping.
Shikamaru was leaning against the partial wall that divided the kitchen from the living room. He chewed the inside of his cheek, a foggy memory nagging at him. It had something to do with Naruto, but he just couldn't place his finger on it…
"You don't really think it's going to last a full week, do you?" Ino asked, only partially pulling the man from his thoughts.
"Hm? Nah, I heard it's only going to be a day or two…" His eyes widened as his words suddenly caught in his throat.
Across the underground bar, Naruto and Sasuke each knocked back their countless round of shots that night and prepared to duke it out at the pool tables. "Let's make a bet," Naruto suggested in a hushed tone so Hinata couldn't hear him.
"You sure you want to do that, Stupid?" Sasuke knew Naruto was a victim of liquid courage, but he made himself too easy sometimes.
"Bet!" Naruto shouted back.
Hinata's ears perked at this from the bar and turned around. Did he just say 'bet'?
"Fine, have it your way." He adjusted his sleeves, pushing them further back. "What's the wager?"
"If I win, I want a paid week off from work!" His fist pumped into the air with excitement.
Ino caught just enough of what the loudmouth was yelling to know what was happening.
Sasuke withheld his full smirk. "And if I win, you get half a week off-"
The two women pushed their way through the crowd to get to them.
"What!?" Naruto threw his hands up.
"-Unpaid."
"You bastard!" Naruto shouted with a feral grin. "It's a deal!"
"Fucking troublesome," Shikamaru rubbed his temples, "Half a week at worst…"
A fury of knocks on the door shook everyone and their heads spun in unison towards the noise. Ino, being the closest, shuffled over to take a look through the peephole. "What the fuck," she muttered before unlatching her locks. "Sasuke-"
The towering mass of frosty layers burst into the apartment. Ino took a few steps back, unsure of what was happening. He unraveled himself from his coat and scarf, his body hunched and panting. His raw demon eyes were trembling. "I'm changing," his voice cracked. "Help me."
"Oh no," Hinata whispered. Naruto squeezed her hand and hunched his torso over in front of her protectively.
At that moment Sasuke was straddling two worlds in his now half-mortal body. His hair was thick and untame, a tinge of midnight blue shining against the backlighting of the kitchen. Blood red eyes scanned the room and were wild with need. Ino knew without a doubt he was taller than when she saw him last and swallowed hard at the sight of his talon-like nails. Not a complete demon, but clearly ripping at the seams of his human binding.
He turned his gaze to his Witch and furrowed his brow. She was biting her lip, literally chewing on her response.
"Ino," His voice deepened in a way she had only heard when he was discussing deathly serious matters. "Please."
Ino stepped towards him with her arms up to usher him backwards. "You can't be here right now, you have to go-"
He stood his ground and straightened his back. His lip curled to reveal the full length of his fangs. "Are you serious? Have you forgotten our deal?" Naruto stood up reactively and ready to put himself between Sasuke and the others.
"It's not that, it's just-"
"You need to help me..!"
The front door behind him opened, still unlocked, from his untimely entrance. The room froze in a collective helplessness as they watched the chain of events unfold before them. Sakura's coat was already open as she appeared in the doorway with her sweatpants hanging just below a loose crop top. She had on her face, at least for a moment, a carefree smile. But as she pulled her headphones out from her ears and looked up, everything changed.
Sakura's eyes were completely wide with terror. Her mouth opened as she was on the verge of screaming. "What...What is… Oh my god..!" She suddenly sobbed into her hands, unable to look away. There was a man, or what she believed was part man, standing closest to her. Everything about him was sharp, predatory, and setting off every innate alarm in her to run. It was so clearly Sasuke, she realized, but not. The blood had already drained from her face and she couldn't feel her legs. Everyone else remained paralyzed, except for one. Ino hurried to the shell-shocked woman and grabbed her by both arms.
"Sakura, look at me."
"I-I, oh my god, what….Ino..!" Her eyes jumped from Sasuke to her friend over and over.
"You're safe. Everything will be okay, I need you to trust me. Can you trust me?" Her big blue eyes locked with Sakura's wildly panicked ones.
"Get away from me!" She ripped herself from Ino's grip and ran back out the door.
"Sakura, stop!" Ino yelled after her, her eyes brimming with tears.
Silence swallowed the apartment again.
Before a full thought could be formed, Sasuke shot out after her. His long arms slashed through the air as he flew down the hallway. The elevator button was still lit and he knew she had taken to the stairs, hearing her frantic steps echoing below.
"Sakura!" His voice resounded behind her, but she didn't slow down. "Sakura, listen to me!"
Although she didn't know what in the hell Sasuke was, she knew he was just behind her and impossibly faster. Her heart was in her throat and she ran out of fear of the fangs she imagined latching into her flesh. She didn't know what had happened to him, or what he was, but she knew it was only a matter of seconds she had to escape or she would more than find out what he was going to make of her once she was captured.
She could see the landing of the first floor approaching and she tried to will her body to move faster, to just reach the damn door and keep running. His boots slammed the stairs just two steps behind her and she couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't stopped her yet. Still, her adrenaline sent her hand for the front door and just as she pushed at the handle and felt the lock retract-
"SAKURA!"
Looking back, she wasn't able to figure out if it was that she knew he was inevitably going to catch her, or that she was shocked into stillness by the booming volume of her name ripping from his throat, or if she had cracked and wanted to see what he had intended to do. Whatever the reason, she had released the handle and turned to face him.
He stood on the last few steps above her, white-knuckling the railing but not at all out of breath. He looked unnaturally controlled with the exception of that one detail. By contrast, she was on the verge of hyperventilation, shaking, and pressed hard against the door. Black and red eyes locked with petrified green ones. Neither said anything.
She sucked in a breath, a failed attempt to steady herself. "What do you want from me?"
"I just want to talk," He tentatively let go of the railing and watched her eyes follow his hand.
"Talk…" She repeated back, testing the word. "If you want to talk, you need to start by telling me what...what you are."
"Hn," He sat down on the stairs and sighed. "Let's go back upstairs and I can-"
"No, Sasuke. You're telling me right now. I-I don't know what's going on and I'm terrified." A few hot tears streamed down her cheeks and he watched them bleed into the collar of her shirt.
"Fine. We'll sit in this fucking stairwell and I'll tell you. Will you come back upstairs after?" He didn't want to deal with her running out into this storm and he knew Ino would only be that much harder to convince to help him if she did.
Sensing she wasn't in danger anymore, she slid to the ground and hugged her knees close to her. "Okay, I will."
Sasuke took a deep breath to center himself and to will some hope upon his wretched soul.
"I'm a demon, Sakura." He finally confessed.
As he said this, her eyes widened again and he heard her breath suck in. "I served in Hell until a few years ago when I was given a chance to find my ultimate fulfillment in my own humanity."
Her head grew foggy for a moment and she had to ground her nails into her arms to bring herself back. "What?" She was beyond incredulous. "Hell..? Like...Satan? That Hell?"
Sasuke chuckled, which did not comfort her. "Yes," He smirked at her and Sakura leaned in. "I technically am Satan."
He watched her pale and held up a hand as if to pause her racing mind. "There isn't a single 'Satan'. We demons work in a hierarchical system, using rank and Sin to determine which Circle we work in."
At this point, she knew she had to suspend her disbelief and focus on not fainting from the sheer shock of it all. "Sin?"
"The 'Sin' that lives in you, not too far off from how you relate to your astrological sign or natural element. People like to use these primal inclinations to control others, but it's what drives you towards your deepest desires." He watched her swallow and so terribly wanted to run his fingers down her throat. "I encourage you to explore them more."
Sakura looked back at the time she knew Sasuke and the lifestyle he pursued...and his personal brand of Satanism. He was consistently seeking and chasing pleasure, stopping at nothing to achieve it. It was a quality of his she privately admired.
When she looked up at him she noticed his grin had faded. He was looking down. She followed his gaze down to his hands, claws and all, and felt a wave of sympathy for him.
"I thought once I had figured out what my true source of fulfillment was, the thing that would serve my soul, I'd be set to live the human chapter of my life…" His expression darkened. "But then I met you."
'What?' She felt her stomach drop and didn't know what to say.
"Sakura," The way her name rolled off his tongue sent a shiver down her spine. She dared herself to meet his gaze. "You've made me feel some things I haven't felt before."
"I don't think I understand.." She tensed as he slowly rose from sitting.
"I don't either," He stepped down the last of the stairs and squat on his knees right in front of her. His thumb extended to her cheek and wiped away tears still silently rolling down her face. "It's absolutely terrifying."
She felt her lip quivering again. "Sasuke-"
"I'm sorry, Sakura." He was looking directly into her eyes. "I'm sorry for being so selfish and careless about your feelings."
She broke her gaze and lowered it to her knees. "I just thought you wanted something more than sex from me."
"That's just it, though." He chuckled again. "For the first time in my life I think I do. Listen," He took both her hands into his palms, careful not to nick her with his claws. "I want to show you the real me, all of it. I don't want to promise you anything because I just don't know what is going to happen, but at the very least I want you to be able to trust me to be honest. Do you think you can do that?"
She felt his palms underneath her and studied his large hands holding hers. Could this truly be Satan himself in such a vulnerable state? No, she realized, because he wasn't Satan. At least not the one she had in her imagination. This was Sasuke, and although she didn't know him all that well-certainly less than she would have guessed that morning-she believed he had a good heart.
"We can make a deal," She offered with a small smile. "I'll help you figure this human thing out however I can, but I get the couch."
He grinned and held his hand up to shake hers. "Deal."
Those left in the apartment decided it was best to wait for one or both of them to come back instead of interfering. That was the unanonymous decision at first, but Ino decided she couldn't handle just waiting and left to stand at the top of the stairs. She sat down and pressed her temple to the railing, listening as best she could to what they were saying.
"What do you want from me?" She heard Sakura half-cry out.
"I just want to talk," His voice was different, and not just because of his transformation. He sounded afraid.
She continued listening from her hideout, a small sense of relief rushing through her when she realized he wasn't yet going to tell her how it all happened yet. It seemed she'd have a chance to explain herself, after all. After some time, their footsteps soon started up again so she quietly retreated back into the apartment and whispered to the others that they were coming back up.
"Great," Naruto flopped back down again. "Sasuke gets to just walk in and make things weird, we're all still trapped inside, and I'm still gonna be broke."
Hinata's eyes suddenly shot up to meet Shikamaru's tired face. He knew she had figured it out as well but gave no further indication of this. They would find a time to discuss it later.
Sakura peered into the apartment from the open door, picking up her duffel bag that had been abandoned in the hall.
"Hey again," She smiled sheepishly as she stepped inside.
Ino ambushed her with a full body embrace and then cupped her face with both hands. "I am so sorry, Sakura. Please forgive me for all of this, I promise we'll explain everything."
Sasuke's intimidating form emerged from the dark hallway and he sulked through the apartment and over to an open seat.
"So what gives?" Shikamaru asked, not waiting for the demon to settle in.
"Hn." The creature sat back and closed his eyes.
"I know you're the real reason this storm is here." Sasuke looked up and smirked upon hearing this. He turned to Naruto and scoffed at his oblivious expression.
"Why am I not surprised the idiot who bet me in the first place hasn't figured this out yet?" Naruto, being the person in question, had bunched up his face in a pout but was no less confused.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" He sat up in a rush, immediately pissed he was out of the loop.
"The bet you made at the bar, dumbass. Remember? A half week off and unpaid?" Shikamaru pressed his hands together as if to pray for Naruto's realization.
"Oh yeah!" He shouted, finally up to speed. "I can't believe this is how you're cashing in on this! Were you hoping for a blizzard orgy or something?"
Sasuke shrugged. Sakura looked at Ino for answers. She stayed quiet for the moment.
"Exactly how you intended? Or an accidental final hoorah?" Shikamaru taunted behind his stony expression.
Sasuke's smirk faded into a grim line. He deflated then and cast his gaze out the windows. It would be completely black out within the hour. He wondered if that was going to have been his last day in this world. He wanted to laugh. Weeks, just a collection of a couple hundred hours ago, he was happy. How ironic was it that a serpent like him had fallen to a fate at the hands of his own forbidden fruit? He wasn't exactly sure why the spell Ino placed on him was coming undone, and at such a vicious rate. What he was most sure about, his thoughts becoming grave, was that magick like this had a sickening way of completing its cycle. It was a simple concept, one children even knew: With every action follows an equally awesome and terrifying reaction. It was time to pay the price and fate was looking right at him with an open palm extended.
"I'm going to take a shower," Sakura excused herself and vanished down the hall.
Once alone in the small room, she exhaled deep from inside her and dropped her bag to the tiled floor. From her peripheral she caught a glimpse of her face and turned to take in her blotchy cheeks and puffy lids. She ran the faucet and scooped some cold water to her face to soothe her skin and clear her thoughts.
Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt.
She recognized the alarm as a work email notification and decided she'd check that another time, as more pressing things were on her mind.
As she closed her eyes she pictured Sasuke in his completely human form. She felt the ghost of her stomach butterflies and wondered if they would ever come back, if she even wanted them to. As she warmed up the water she shed her coat and workout clothes. Her fingers traced the lengths of her arms and clutched at her shoulders. Could she let him touch her again like he had before?
The mirror began to fog with steam and she climbed into the claw foot tub, under the beating force of the shower. There was an assortment of shampoos, conditioners, oils, rinses, potions and mud masks lining every possible surface in there. Opting for a rose scented bottle, she lathered her hair and inhaled the intoxicating aroma. This one was probably Ino's, she figured. Feeling like she deserved a mini spa moment, she slathered on one of the mud masks from a jar. The label was scrawled in Ino's handwriting that she had grown to recognize. The mixture smelled of honey and oats, spreading easily across her skin. A breath resembling some form of relaxation echoed off the shower tiles.
All of Ino's apprehensive behavior surrounding Sasuke was all starting to make more sense. Clearly she had befriended this devil, but she wondered just how much she trusted him and what she was trusting Sasuke not to do to her. Was Ino a demon, too? And what about Hinata and everyone else?
Her heart began pounding again and her head was swarming. Quickly she washed all the accumulated oils, washes and masks from herself and shut off the water. She took her time drying off and stood in the center of the bathroom deciding what she was going to do. It was too late to attempt traveling anywhere else and calling the police felt oddly irrational. She was going to stick out this storm, but all bets were off the minute it was safe to leave. For now, she concluded, she would trust whatever goodness she felt was in Sasuke's heart and hope the others would do their part to fill her in on the rest.
Back in the living room, Hinata was lighting some candles and had turned on a few lamps across the room. Ino was tending to a large pot of chili on the stove and keeping an ear open for Sakura.
"So she's okay with this," Shikamaru asked with heavy skepticism.
The satanic man nodded. "She knows I'm not trying to hurt her."
Naruto scoffed, standing above them on the couch as he fiddled with a projector shelved high on the wall. "You're not a threat to anyone."
"Oh yeah? That's interesting, coming from someone who ranks below me." The demon sneered.
"What!" The blonde jumped down and brought himself face to face with Sasuke. "You know that's not true! I was top dog in my Circle! And you-"
"I was the Alpha in my Circle, the deepest one, responsible for overseeing the most treacherous souls of them all." He looked smug and Naruto only reddened with anger. "Careful, I don't think you want to actually try to take me right now." He bared his fangs at Naruto, whose smaller ones were poking past his lips.
"Sakura, do you want some tea?" Ino asked, signalling to the men to cool it.
"That would be great, actually." The human padded out into the room as Naruto grumbled to himself on the far side of the couch. Sasuke watched her carefully as she decided to seat herself in the armchair farthest from him. He so badly wanted to feel her next to him, but restrained himself.
"So I think I have some questions," She stated with intention. "If that's okay with everyone."
Hinata joined them and sat next to Naruto, pulling his hand into her lap to calm him. "I think the least we can do is that."
"Ask away," Ino chirped, handing Sakura a mug before sitting on a pillow between her and Shikamaru.
"I guess the first question I have is if anyone else is a demon." She scanned the room and saw a smiling Naruto shoot his hand up.
"Just me! And for the record, I'm a way better one than Sasuke." He snickered, completely ignoring the death glare he was getting from across the couch.
She felt some relief knowing Ino and Hinata weren't demons, at least. "So you're human now? No demon transformations?"
"I wouldn't say I'm all human. I still have my moments." He scratched the back of head sheepishly.
Hinata patted his hand in her lap. "What he means is, at his core he is still a demon and nothing can change that. He is now able to live his life as a human, but certain demon qualities remain since those are in a way what make him Naruto."
"So like your fangs," Sakura wondered out loud, eyeing his grin.
"Only when he gets too excited," Ino answered, sending a less than subtle look at Naruto who immediately sealed his lips.
"Are there others? Like from your party?" Sakura looked to her blonde friend below, who was leaning her shoulder against her knee.
"Anko was the only one."
"But what about-"
"Gaara and his family have always been involved, but are human." Sasuke interrupted, his voice deeper but sounding more like what she was used to.
"How does a demon become human, then?" With this question Sakura felt the energy in the room change and everyone averted their gaze or shifted in their place.
Sasuke broke the silence. "We know a deep-rooted desire for a new purpose or way of life is where it starts. We become less satisfied with our lives in Hell, less fulfilled. This usually happens once you have completely mastered and dominated your Circle, and then you find yourself here."
"So you just wake up one day as a human?" Sakura found this a little too far-fetched and looked to Hinata who only shrugged.
"It requires an invocation of sorts, which is where people like Gaara come in. They sense this change in the demonic energies and performs a ritual to bring us to this realm of existence." The sun had completely blacked out and Sakura watched the shadows dance across his face. He was still beautiful, she realized, just a little scarier maybe.
"But once human, demons have an uncertain amount of time to find what it is that will truly fulfil them and anchor them. Otherwise, they will have to return to Hell and their lives out there." As Sasuke finished this explanation, his gaze fell to his lap, attempting to hide the sadness he felt.
The blonde Witch sighed beside Sakura. "When Sasuke first realized he hadn't anchored himself, he went to Gaara for help. Gaara was good friends with both Sasuke and I at the time, so he introduced us but chose to leave out that tiny detail about the demon situation… Long story short, Sasuke eventually asked for my help. In return for performing a black magick spell to ground him, he granted me some of his demon powers in the form of divine energy to make me a more powerful Witch." Her tone was dry towards the end and Sakura suddenly felt the tension between her and the troubled demon.
"You knew what you were getting into, Ino." Sasuke added, his tone by comparison more defensive.
"I didn't know you would hold this over my head! Look where it got me, Sasuke! Essentially blackmailed by my deal with the devil, forced to just stand back and watch you take whatever and whoever you want to please yourself. And now," She blinked back unshed tears. "Now you're back where you started and I'm going to probably lose all my divine abilities I have been working on my whole life."
Shikamaru bent down to rub her back and she shielded her face with her hand. Sakura looked at Sasuke, who hid his thoughts and feelings behind a stoic face. Nevertheless, she knew it was probably eating at him.
"So!" Ino sniffed back her tears and snot, forcing herself to smile. "I'm hoping with all of us here, we can help figure this out. Naruto somehow found his way, so surely Sasuke can too."
She shot up to her feet so as to not give her tears another opening to break free. Sakura turned a critical eye on Ino, observing how her friend put on a strong face. "I'm going to say the chili is probably ready, so let's eat! Afterwards, we can watch some movies if that sounds good."
"And drink!" Naruto amended with a very unnecessary volume.
They piled in around the table and Ino lugged out a giant pot to the table. As she lowered it to the trivets, the table creaked under its weight. "I figured we could reheat the leftovers with some eggs for breakfast," She explained to her friends who were slack-jawed by the sheer volume of chili she had prepared.
"So what movies are we gonna watch tonight?" Sakura asked the room, passing the packed bowls around the table.
"Well..." Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "When I was picking them out last night I obviously had no idea what was going to happen today, so…"
"What did you bring to watch?" Shikamaru deadpanned.
The blonde slid down in his seat. "Devil-centric horror movies?" He squeaked.
Ino groaned and Sakura winced. Not only were these movies going to call all the attention to the demonic elephant in the room, Sakura was deathly afraid of horror anything. Fortunately, Hinata was quick to step in.
"We can use my Netflix account to pick something," She offered graciously.
"And to think the storm hasn't even officially hit yet." Shikamaru mumbled.
With a little group effort, the dishes were all quickly cleared and dealt with in as little time as possible. The furniture was mostly pushed aside and the two Witches pulled out all the extra blankets and pillows so everyone could stretch out on the floor for the movie. Ino eventually pushed the guys aside to arrange the pillows herself and Sakura stood by one of the windows to watch the storm roll in.
"Here," A familiar voice offered behind her. She looked down and saw a glass of red wine being handed to her and smiled.
"Thank you, Sasuke."
She could smell the musky fragrance of Ino's soapy potions he had used in the shower wafting off of his warm skin. He stood beside her and watched the snow fly by with her. It was simultaneously the most uncomfortable yet peaceful experience he could recall as he looked down at this human woman who had affected him so seriously. She was wearing a worn out mens sweater and wondered if it had belonged to her ex-boyfriend. Mentally he took inventory of what he packed Friday before he decided to camp out in his office and couldn't remember, but he made a mental reminder to see if he brought one of his own sweaters he could offer her. At the very least he knew his would be better quality.
"It's funny," Her voice pulled him from his thoughts. "I should probably be a lot more afraid of you than I am right now."
He watched her grin, still staring out the window.
"But honestly, I feel like I'm less afraid of you now than I was the last time we stood here together." Her grin stayed on her lips as she brought the glass to them. He wanted to find reassurance in her words, but couldn't. Maybe his transformation was clearing the fog that had settled in when he came to the human world, he wondered. How had he overlooked the genuine fear he had instilled in this woman?
"Why were you afraid of me?" He asked, not fully understanding.
It was then that she faced him. "You were acting like a predator. And I was the prey."
"I didn't mean to actually scare you." He tried defending himself, but couldn't even convince himself, much less Sakura.
"Then tell me what you were trying to do, besides end up in my bed?" She jut out her hip and waited for a response. He hadn't seen this bold side of her yet and wasn't exactly regretting it.
"It's all I know, Sakura. I'm trying to learn." He was tired of all of this restraint and just wanted to a sliver of satisfaction. His body inched closer towards her and the extra height on him forced her to tilt her head back to keep eye contact. "I want you to teach me."
One of those quivers she should have started to expect rolled down her spine. Since he was so clearly giving himself permission to look at her this way, she figured she could quickly take him in from this close proximity. He was only in a fitted black shirt with long sleeves rolled to his elbows. It was a finely ribbed fabric and looked incredibly soft as it stretched across his hard chest and well built biceps. His snake tattoo was almost completely exposed and she internally strangled herself once her brain registered that she had actually reached out to touch it. Her hand recoiled almost instantly as though burned by the contact.
"I got it with Gaara one of the first nights we went out," He explained, flipping his arm over so she could get a better look at it. "I won't beat a dead horse and explain its symbolism to you."
She laughed at that and he felt his heart swell in his chest. It was that feeling, he was starting to understand, that he needed to chase.
"Is everyone okay with When Harry Met Sally?" Ino half-shouted to everyone who had spread themselves all over the apartment.
They all collected across the comical number of pillows as Naruto turned on the projector. The lamps were shut off and the apartment was submerged in darkness, with a smattering of candles in small clusters in the corners and windows. Sakura could see Shikamaru already laying his head on Ino's lap and Naruto bundling Hinata into a quilt with him.
"Do you want to sit with me? I brought the rest of the wine with me." Sasuke asked, lifting the open bottle as proof.
"I'd be a fool to say no to that," She joked as she took the spot beside him in front of the couch for back support. "This is one of my favorite movies, by the way."
He turned to look at her but didn't say anything. The candles by the window created a halo behind her head and he smirked at this angelic imagery he was witnessing. "I'll make sure to remember that."
A few times during the movie, everyone shifted around a bit. Shikamaru was definitely asleep and Sakura and Sasuke were working down that bottle like it was water. She wasn't sure when exactly it had happened, but found herself during the infamous fake orgasm scene resting her head on Sasuke's shoulder with his arm loosely wrapped around her. She had felt him stiffen while Meg Ryan's character began moaning and she looked up to see him glaring at the movie projection.
The wiser half of her brain convinced her to not ask if he was okay because she knew he absolutely was not. He was wired to seek pleasure and he was sitting in this candlelit room in a sea of pillows with her and a bottle of wine, and Meg Ryan faking a very convincing orgasm on the giant projection. Hell, even she was starting to feel antsy and she was almost positive he was just contagious.
So, when a hand gently grazed her outer arm over her sweater, she shouldn't have been so surprised. "Is this okay?" He asked, his throaty voice vibrating in his chest and warming her ear. She nodded, her throat too thick with nerves to speak.
He began running his hand down the length of her arm and only let the backs of his fingers barely come into contact with her thigh before running back up to her shoulder. His touch felt good and she suddenly wanted more of it. She allowed herself to lean into his side and rest her head more on his chest. She felt it rumble with a low sounding noise of approval at this and blushed.
"This feels good," He half purred. "I feel so foolish for not discovering this sooner."
They stayed like that for the rest of the movie. As Billy Crystal barged in on the New Year's Eve party and confessed his true feelings, Sakura was as far as she could be from concerning herself with her own situation at hand. She wasn't reflecting on her still fresh heartache or the fact that the man at fault was a living devil. No, she stayed there wrapped in Satan's arms, sharing this moment while watching one of the greatest rom-coms of all time.
Sasuke dipped his chin and let his lips rest in her soft hair. His lids lowered and he let himself take in her presence next to him. It was a foreign sensation, to be so still with another, and so satisfied. When he eventually looked up, he found he was being watched by a sneaking blue eye in front of him. When she realized she was caught, her head jerked back around to face the movie and he grinned.
When the credits began scrolling up the wall, Naruto stood to let out a dramatic yawn and stretch. "I'm ready for bed!" He announced. Hinata was already rubbing her eyes, having fallen asleep towards the end of the movie. She wished everyone a good night and shuffled off to her room with Naruto in tow.
Ino had shaken Shikamaru's shoulder to stir him so he slowly lifted himself off her lap to sitting straight. "Do you want to go to bed, too?" She asked him. He barely nodded back.
None of this had unfolded at all as she had predicted. First of all, Sasuke wasn't even supposed to have been there in the first place. She was hoping the storm was going to be an easy-going couple of days off for her and her friends to lay around, play some board games and drink too much just feet from her bed. But there he was, and with Sakura almost all to himself. Her trust in him was always complicated, but was more mercurial in the last few hours than it had been throughout the entirety of their relationship until that day. Was he sincerely looking to find expose his vulnerabilities and risk his ego to secure his chance at being human or was he cutting his loses and about to go out in flames, taking down powers and Sakura's heart with him?
"Um," Ino shifted her weight, standing between her door and where Sakura was on the couch. "You already have all the blankets and everything, so I guess we'll see you two in the morning?"
Sakura gave her a reassuring look, knowing she was worried about her being alone with Sasuke all night. "Thank you, Ino."
If Sakura was willing to take a chance, so would she.
"I'll keep her safe from any monsters you have around here," Sasuke added as he put out some of the candles. Ino didn't look all that amused but brought herself to her room anyway. When the door reluctantly clicked shut, the remaining two guests could only stare at each other.
The wind had picked up quite a bit during the movie and was blowing snow horizontally past the windows. Sasuke stood in the haze of the moonlight and turned to watch the storm carry on. His skin seemed to be glowing, Sakura noticed, watching his emotionless silhouette. It was hard to look away, even when his shocking red eyes were on her again. She could see him taking her in, cataloguing her entire body. There was a pooling heat in her core and she imagined him laying her out on the couch to feed his hunger and indulging her own. In reality, he held his distance and she remained seated in the corner of the couch.
"I want to tell me more." She asserted as she straightened her back.
He arched an eyebrow. "I'll get us another bottle, then."
He glided across the apartment and seemed to melt into the darkness in the kitchen. She heard him pushing a few things around until he emerged with a new bottle of wine. Her eyes never left him as he approached her with a new glass ready for her to take.
He sat facing her on the couch with a stoic face and his arm thrown over the back of the couch. "Tell me what you what you would like to know."
It was a simple statement but she had no idea where to start because she wanted to know everything. Logic was no help in trying to understand what this creature from another world. She let out a long breath and decided to just jump into whatever crossed her mind. Sasuke had no shame, so there wasn't much to lose.
"Let's start with what you did in Hell." She could've sworn he smirked for a second, but it was so quick and the room was too dimly lit to be certain.
"Did you ever read Dante's Inferno?" She nodded affirmatively. "While not entirely accurate, the basic architecture and ongoings in each Circle are pretty spot-on. A key difference from the literature and reality is that each Circle has devils overseeing the controlled chaos in them. Naruto, for instance, was once in charge of the Seventh Circle of Violence." He sipped his glass before going any further. "Specifically he was in the First Ring, ensuring all those who were there for violence against their neighbors were eternally boiling in the blood of those killed."
Sakura shivered. "That sounds miserable,"
"Maybe for a mortal, but it was what he was born to do." He shrugged. "It's a job."
"You didn't tell me what you did," She reminded him, her brow creasing.
A glint could be seen in his eye and he ran a hand through his hair. "I was in the Ninth Circle of Hell for Treachery."
He continued to drink more from his glass as he watched the wheels turn in her head. "Isn't Lucifer himself supposed to be trapped in the Ninth Circle?"
"Very good, Sakura." He grinned. "Another misleading detail. There a few devils down in the Ninth, each tormenting their own batch of damned souls frozen in the lake. The highest ranking devil, the one synonymous with Dante's Lucifer, stays posted at the center of Hell with the most treacherous souls."
Even in the dark he could see her pale. Despite the fact that this was guaranteed to scare her away, he couldn't stop himself from enjoying this delicious fear he was evoking from her. "Ask me your next question."
"What...what was your position in the Circle?" She stammered.
"Come on, Sakura," He feigned disappointment and leaned in close. "I think you can do better than that."
She steadied herself. "Were you Lucifer?"
His smile was damningly beautiful and most wicked. "Yes, I was."
As she recalled the details of the classic poem, a hard one to forget, she tried to imagine Sasuke at the literal center of all the unspeakable torture described. The same Sasuke who was just cuddling her as they watched When Harry Met Sally and unsettled by Meg Ryan's moans.
"Was that all you wanted to know?" He asked, his arrogant tone not going unnoticed.
"No," She straightened herself up again and he pulled back with some surprise. "I'm just getting started."
He smirked, deciding he was happy with this unexpected reaction. "Help yourself, I've got all night."
And so she continued on, rattling off any and all questions that crossed her mind. Was there a Heaven? Yes, but he felt it was hyped up too much like kids who obsess with Disney parks. How old was he? He existed for a few centuries by her measurement, but he didn't relate to time in the same way. Did he have horns, a tail or wings? The horns and wings, yes. The tail was a not real, but he did have a long and sharp tongue. She blushed when he slid it into his glass.
They continued in this fashion for a few hours as the remaining candles burned down almost to the ends of their wicks. She asked him about famous names and if they had been sent to Hell. He told her about the otherworldly politics of the Circles, how the most cunning rose in the ranks and the on-goings for when the devils weren't tending to their duties. The bottle was finished and Sakura got up halfway through to fetch another. There were multiple cases, and she figured Ino couldn't get mad at her because, well, everything.
"So," She continued with the help of her refilled glass, "what do you like about being human?"
"It's a more interesting existence," He offered at first. "Conscientiousness and the temporal world. There is just so much more to experience, like love and loss."
"Have you found anything you love yet?"
The effects of the alcohol were weighing on her more than they were on him, so he recognized she wasn't asking that with a hidden agenda. Still, he was taken aback for a moment and mulled it over. As he did, he let himself enjoy the flush across her cheeks and how unguarded she had become. Yes, the wine was without a doubt playing a role in this, but he knew as she was collecting information and normalizing his existence in her mind, she was genuinely more comfortable around him.
"I thought I had, fully embracing my carnal desires." He watched the wine flush darken and she averted her gaze for a moment. He wondered how red he could make her if she would let him show her what kind of dark magic his hands could perform on her body.
He figured he had at least earned the right to ask her a few questions now. "Have you ever explored your carnal desires, Sakura?"
Completely red in the face, she couldn't even get a sound out of her throat. A finger lifted her chin and forced her eyes to align with his. "Do you want me to help you?"
"S-Sasuke," She stammered, her mind flooding with unimaginably sinful images of him offering more than just a helpful hand.
"There really is no reason to be afraid of me, Sakura. Don't you think if I was going to hurt you I would have done so by now?" She then hesitantly looked at him through her lashes. "I told you. I would worship you."
So where are we at? How are we all holding up? Please let me know what you think, because it's your feedback that helps me keep the plot moving and shaping the story to best entertain us all. :) I appreciate you!
