Amour de Pecheur chapter seven: Slowly bursting

Standard disclaimer applies.

Warning: This chapter is not for kiddies, so skip it while you can, or your eyes will be permanently scarred. This isn't rated M for nothing.

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Love is not flawless,

Nothing is.

You can expect that.

I'm just merely warning you.

So get your armor,

And get your sword,

Prepare to take many hits

To the heart.

-Unknown "Battlefield"

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"I wasn't too bad was I?" Sakura asked him, biting her lip.

Neji chuckled a bit. "I've seen much worse, actually, you seem like a natural. But I don't know much about flirting… or seducing. What I'm trying to say is, if this guy is perverse, you'll definitely be able to… yeah." he finished awkwardly.

She sighed in relief, "Thanks. I better be getting to bed, you too. It's almost ten and we have to get up early." she got off of his futon and headed towards the door, and paused straight in her tracks. "Fuck." she cursed loudly.

Neji's brows dipped a bit. "What's the matter?" he asked her.

She turned around to face him again. "We are going to a masquerade party, therefore, I'm going to need a damn mask. I totally forgot to look for that today!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, well, we can always get them when we're on our way there, I mean Cloud is three days away from Mist, and it's going to take us another three days to get to Mist." he told her promisingly, his lavender eyes softening.

Sakura smiled largely. "Good idea! Thanks." she resumed her tracks to the door. "Goodnight, Neji." she added softly.

"Night." he replied quietly.

With that, Sakura shut the door and walked a few steps to her room. Stretching her lithe limbs, she got out of her clothes and pulled out a baggy t-shirt. Flicking the light off, she walked to her soft futon and crawled onto it's surface. She set her alarm to 4:00 a.m., just in case she wouldn't wake up late. Closing her eyes and counting to five, she fell asleep easily, due to the stressful events of the day.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Breathe.

She opened her sea-foam eyes, dried mascara streaks crusted on her delicate cheeks. Dry lips ever so slightly parted, red lipstick smeared violently under her lips, onto her chin. Down on her knees, begging, pleading. Pink hair frizzled and frazzled. Burnt. Broken. Nobody likes useless, ugly dolls, they want pretty ones, with long hair, perfect smiles, and flawless makeup. Not ones that have been dropped on the floor, that have been shattered.

Forgotten.

Unloved.

Loathed.

All the poor thing wants is a friend. Someone to understand her.

Bare and battered feet walked on the edge of the cliff. Tears blurred her crystal vision. She sufficed one last smile. Drop. There she goes. People ignore her suicide, in fact, they all laugh. So young, the girl was.

Falling.

Subsiding.

Suffocating.

Choking.

Closer, closer, the icy waves of the ocean come. Closer, closer, she is coming to deaths door.

Thrilling.

Exciting.

Almost there…

Smack.

"Sakura! Sakura! Wake up…" Neji's harsh whispers filled her ears. He was gently shaking her awake.

Sakura opened her sleep laden eyes slowly. She saw somebody on the side of her futon. "Neji? Is it time to get up?" she murmured almost inaudibly.

He shook his head. "No. You were screaming," he told her, traces of worry in his deep voice.

Sakura's eyes widened. "…That dream. Or, I should say, nightmare." she paused, remembering bits and pieces of it. "I… committed suicide. Did I wake Naruto and Hinata?" she asked him, then pausing to say one more thing. "Sorry I woke you up…"

He shook his head. "It's fine, I'm a very light sleeper, compared to Hinata and Naruto. Also, you didn't wake them up."

Sakura just mumbled a small 'good'. She glanced at her clock, it was 11:04. Hopefully she'd be able to fall back asleep. In her dream, that was nothing like her, in fact, probably the exact opposite. She's never thought about killing herself before. Sure, she's been sad, but not to that point. What she didn't understand however was, why was she having those types of dreams? Maybe the nervousness of the mission. But still, that'd be a bit much.

Neji's voice broke her of her thoughts, "Do you think you'll be able to get back to sleep?"

Sakura bit her lip. "Yeah… but," she paused and stared at her hands. "do you think you can… stay in here with me? Please? It'll make me feel safer…" she started to trail off, avoiding his silver gaze.

Neji smiled in amusement and pushed stray hair away from her eyes. "As long as it'll make you feel better, sure."

Sakura finally looked up at him and smiled warmly. "Thank you. You're such a great friend." friend she repeated in her mind. A flash of feelings flooded over her, but she pushed those aside for now. She scooted over in her futon, making room for him. Her hand patted the spot next to her, silently inviting him.

Neji moved on the futon beside her, pulling the covers that she left for him over his body. "You sure about this? I can sleep on the floor or-"

Sakura interrupted him. "No, no. Its fine, I don't care at all. Is it okay with you?"

A few moments passed by before he finally answered, "Yeah."

Sakura smiled and let the darkness take over, and this time, she had no more bad dreams.

The blaring of the alarm woke up the two, it took Sakura a few moments to register what was going on around her. The first thing she noticed was the warmness around her. Looking down, she saw a large arm wrapped securely around her waist. She smiled softly and turned her head around a bit. She was surprised at herself, she didn't feel awkward or anything, she felt… warm and fuzzy inside.

She smiled softly and turned her head slightly around, to see his face. "Morning." she whispered.

The corners of Neji's mouth lifted ever so slightly. "Morning." he mumbled back.

Sakura leisurely got out of his grip, then turning off the earsplitting beeping of the alarm clock. After that, her an Neji both got up off the futon. She blinked a couple of times, clearing her blurry vision. She felt a chilly gust of wind pass her. Wait, wind? She looked over at her window, and just now realized she had accidentally left it opened a bit. It made her hairs stand up. Now, looking at her attire, she was just in a black t-shirt, and panties. She was practically half naked in front of Neji! Blushing, she went to her drawers and quickly pulled out a pair of black shorts.

"Any more nightmares?" he asked her quietly, walking over to her.

She looked up and smiled. "Nope. Again, I want to say thank you." she finished, turning around, she pulled him into a tight hug. She finally told herself silently to admit it, the feelings she had for Neji. It's useless to try and deny them, they're already there, and I don't think they're going to go away for a very long time…

Neji returned the embrace softly, wrapping both of his arms around her lithe waist. He set his head on top of hers and nodded as his response. They both stayed like that for a few more moments, until Sakura broke apart.

"Well, we'd better get our stuff packed and have some breakfast. Sound good?" she asked him.

His expression remained stoic and he nodded. After that, he left her room and went next door, to his room. While he was doing that, Sakura was getting out her pack. In her drawers, she pulled out her normal outfit she took to go on missions with, her beige skirt, red top with the Haruno emblem on the back, and lastly her black boots that went right below her knees. Changing out of her pajamas, she slipped into that, but before she was about to pick more clothes to put in her pack, she turned around on her heel. She almost forgot to put her Jounin vest on. Silly me. She mused, chuckling at her own actions. Making her way back to her drawers, she bent down to the very last one, where the kimono she would be needing was. Touching its silky material, she sighed.

"I wonder if I'll ever wear this again after this mission… maybe I should give it to Ino when I'm through with it." she whispered to herself. Shaking her head, she put the short kimono in her pack, then went back to her drawers, once again.

She pulled out clothes that would be good to travel in, and some that would be comfy and casual, even a few more pairs of shoes. She walked to her vanity and pulled out her make-up bag, also putting that in her pack. Getting ready to close the small drawer, she took a double-take inside of it. She chuckled at what she saw. It was the romance novel she bought some weeks ago, in case of boredom.

"I guess I could take this too… in case I don't want to read that other book." she told herself, picking up the book. Putting something in her pack this time was a bit of trouble, it was practically full.

She looked around at the plain room. There was something missing to it… well, it had no closet, maybe that was it. No. Then it hit her, "Color! That's all it needs. I'll need to go buy some paint after the mission and-"

"You really should stop talking to yourself, anyone could be listening," Sakura swiftly turned around, she saw Neji leaning on her doorway, looking at her with a small smirk. "And, you might say something you wanted to keep only to yourself." he continued, finally stepping into the room, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sakura gasped softly, "Well, people shouldn't eavesdrop. It's not polite." she huffed mockingly, plastering a small scowl on her face.

He snorted. "But, that's what triggers them to eavesdrop in the first place." he pointed out.

Sakura's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine. You win, again. As always," she muttered the last part under her breath.

Neji just smirked smugly, his expression turning impassive after a moment. "Anyways, I'm ready if you are,"

Sakura nodded and zipped up her pack, then slipping it on her back without effort. She saw Neji was ready as well. Out of curiosity, she asked, "You have a suit in there, right?" her small hand pointed to his pack.

"Of course."

Sakura nodded once. "Okay." she paused for a second and think of how she was going to say this. "Well, we'll have to be extra careful traveling through Cloud. What I mean is, we've been in war with them a long time ago, and… the situation they had with your clan." her lips twisted into a small frown.

Neji just nodded somberly before saying, "Let's head out."

She remained silent as they both left the room. She left a note on the refrigerator for Hinata and Naruto saying:

Naruto and Hinata,

As you both probably realize, Neji and I are off on our mission by now. All I wanted to say was: Hinata, you have to teach me more of those wonderful hairstyles when I get home! I'll probably need them later in life, ha-ha.

Well, anyways, don't do anything too naughty while we're not home!

-Sakura

After she put that up, they left the house quietly and headed for the gates.

They mostly traveled in silence, maybe exchanging a few words to each other. Although, Neji could feel the nervousness from Sakura in her chakra. Mission, maybe? Personal issues? He wasn't going to ask, because it wasn't really any of his business, he still kept a close eye on he, though. Sometimes, his eyes traveled where they shouldn't be, one side of his conscious kept telling himself to stop, yet the other side told him he was just a man, and that it was okay. But it was not okay to ogle ones that have no relationship between them besides friendship, or acquaintanceship. His eyes kept traveling, no matter what either sides of his mind was saying. Dammit, Neji! You love Tenten… right? Was the question he asked himself right now. But his chances with Tenten were practically blown by now, he heard rumors that she was dating Lee. But, he didn't blame her. Over the years, Lee had finally found out that tweezers were very useful and started plucking a great amount of his eyebrows every day. He'd said to him once that it took some time, yes, but it was worth it. He also doesn't have that unattractive bowl-cut hairstyle, it's a tad bit longer, going past his ears. He'd also got over his childish crush for Sakura years ago, thankfully.

Neji shook his head, maybe he should just give up. But how can someone give up on love? It almost seemed impossible. Almost. Tenten was really the only woman - practically the only person - he opened up to. But… now Sakura, too. He would admit that she was very precious to him now, ever since they started spending a lot of time together; on walks, at the house, going to the grocery store, etc. After spending all that time with her, she had made an impact on him, for example, she made him feel like he didn't have to hide all of his emotions anymore. Also, he wasn't training 24/7, he still got his good fix of training, but it wasn't his whole life. And, he liked his new changes, to be perfectly honest.

Neji felt a flat palm on his chest. "Neji? It's dark out… I think we should set camp here," he turned his head to face her.

Glancing at the sky really quick, he saw it was dark out. "Wow. I must've lost track of time." he paused to look at her face again. "Yeah, let's set camp." he slipped his pack off of his shoulders, taking out his sleeping bag.

Sakura smiled softly and took her hand off his chest. "Yeah, you did seem kind of distant when we were traveling." she giggled a bit, covering her mouth with one hand. Then she also shrugged off her pack and brought out her own sleeping bag.

They both rolled out their sleeping bags, but not getting in them right yet. They still needed to catch dinner. Which was probably going to be some kind of fish, because there was a river near by.

They had talked about who should stay and watch their camp, while the other one would go and catch dinner. They had ended up deciding that Sakura would go get the dinner, even though Neji didn't particularly like the idea. While Sakura went off to get the food, he gathered the nearest small logs of wood and started the fire. Now, he would have more time to think. He pondered on the question he asked himself earlier: Do I really love Tenten? He had loved her years ago, now, his strong feelings for her were… fading. He still loved her very much as a friend and teammate, of course. It was like ever since he really got to know Sakura, he didn't think about Tenten as much. Could it possibly be that he was starting to… love Sakura?

Sakura ended up gathering four fish; two for her and two for Neji. Her stomach just growled, she was very hungry, after all, she didn't have anything to eat today. But, that was her own fault for skipping meals. She should've known better, she was a medic, for Kami's sake! Shaking her head in shame, she made her way back to the camp sight.

She found Neji leaning on a tree, from what it looked like, he was out staring at nothing, like he was in deep thought. Glancing at the other surroundings, it looked like he had started the fire. I wonder what he's thinking about. She mused herself.

"Foods here!" she voiced in a sing-song manner, chuckling when she made him jump slightly. "Thanks for starting the fire, Neji." she walked over near the fire and placed the fish over it, then sat down cross-legged near close to its warmth.

He snorted in response and moved to sit next to her.

Sakura could feel the proximity of Neji - their thighs were touching - and she didn't really care. If Neji minded, he wasn't showing it either, he was remaining poker-faced and calm. As usual. Although, he did open up to her the tiniest bit, which she was very thankful for. She smiled broadly mentally, but on the outside she just settled for a small smile.

They waited another five minutes in silence before finally taking the fish off of the fire. The fish had turned out to be a tad bit burnt, but no one was complaining. Sakura had eventually brought out two water bottles out of her pack. Dinner was also ate in silence, a comfortable one.

As it got later, the temperature had dropped, so it would be around 32°. Good thing I brought my cloak, I'm already shivering. Sakura got up from her spot on the ground and walked over to her backpack, pulling out her cloak.

"I think I'm ready for bed." she stated simply, yawning and walking over to her sleeping bag.

Neji nodded. "Yes, we need to be prepared for traveling tomorrow." he answered blankly, copying Sakura's actions by moving to his own sleeping bag.

Sakura kneeled down and crawled into her sleeping bag, while furrowing her eyebrows. Neji's acting sort of strange tonight… is it something I said? Or haven't said? "Are you okay, Neji?" she asked him, her voice filled with concern.

He glanced at her really quickly, then looking back up at the sky. "…Everything's fine, Sakura." although his voice didn't really assure it.

She frowned. "Alright. Night." but she didn't close her eyes yet.

"Goodnight." he merely replied.

Sakura waited for his breath to become steady and soft, indicating that he was asleep. When it did, she crawled out of her sleeping bag very quietly, making sure not to wake him. Her light footsteps patted on the soft dirt; she was going to take a small walk, to clear her thoughts.

She took the path that led to the small river. Once she got there, she jumped on a tree branch and sat down with her legs stretched out in a relaxed position. She let her head fall back on the hard bark of the tree, then let out a loud sigh. Placing two fingers on each temple, she started to rub them, easing her small headache. Her mind wondered back to what she had been asking herself earlier: what was up with Neji tonight? It had seemed like he was basically saying 'leave me the hell alone, or I will rip your head off'. Her coral eyebrows moved downward in result of confusion.

"Did I do something to piss him off, or something? I mean… we barely talked. He's my friend, and he shouldn't be hiding stuff from me, damn it!" she whispered to herself austerely, her hands going to her sides now, fists clenching.

Her face changed into a small pout. Is it about Tenten…? A strong gust of wind almost knocked her off balance, resulting her to wrapping her cloak tighter around her small figure.

"I guess I should admit that I'm… jealous of her," she muttered to herself. "B-but Neji's practically wasting his love on her, she told me herself that she thinks of him as a brother." she said to no once.

Sighing again, she hopped off the tree and headed towards the camp sight to gets some well needed sleep.

The next five days seemed to have come and gone in a short second. They had picked up her masquerade mask when they were in Mist. It was a simple black one with turquoise lacing, it hade a velvety material. Plain, but it was the only one that matched her kimono.

Now, Neji was tugging at her arm, urging her to walk in the ball, but her feet stayed planted to the ground. "I'm nervous…" she murmured quietly, her teeth sinking into her fat bottom lip. The taste of thick coppery liquid filled her mouth.

Neji turned to where he was facing her, then put a hand on her chin, firmly yet gently pulling it up to look at him. He had a sympathetic smile on his attractive features. "I'm not going to say everything's going to be okay, because in your eyes, it isn't. One thing I do know is, you're going to do a great job. As a woman, and as a kunoichi." he placed his hand on her cheek in an comforting gesture. "I wish you the best of luck they can offer."

Sakura was touched by his simple words. "…Thank you. Now, let's go and get this over with." he nodded and moved back at her side, looping her arm with his, then stepped inside the large double doors.

Her eyes widened to see the huge amount of people here. It was almost jam-packed with people dancing, talking, and people at the bar at the end of the room. Her eyes scanned around the room, looking for the host, aka their - her target. Her breath hitched as she saw him, but then her face softened. He wasn't that bad looking, actually pretty good, he had bluish-black hair that was sleek and went down to his shoulders, a boyish face with bright amber eyes and thin lips. Just as the scroll described. Thank Kami he isn't fat like most perverts… Inwardly, she wiped her head in relief. She nudged Neji's side softly. He looked at her.

"What is it?" his smooth voice asked.

Not taking her eyes off her goal, she replied, "Him, the one with black hair, bright brown eyes." she pointed to him, making sure nobody could see her pointing, though.

Neji looked over to where she was pointing to, then saw him. "Ah, well then, I'll let you do your part of the job." he unlinked their arms and gave her one long look before she went off.

Her high heels tapped on the hard ground as she went towards the host. Taking a few deep breathes, she swayed her hips a bit more, then found she was right behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder with a long slender finger.

He turned around with a small smile. "What can I do for you, ma'am?" he spoke suavely, taking a sip of what looked like, red wine.

Sakura grinned a little, "Oh, nothing really," she spoke slowly. "I just wanted to get to know you… if that's alright with you?" she looked up at him and tucked a small strand of pink hair behind her ear.

His smile got wider. "Of course. Are you here with anyone?" he asked, leaning a bit closer to her.

Your doing good, now keep it up! She praised herself. "Uh, just my escort, that's all…" she looked up at him, he was at least a head taller than her. "So, what's your name? Mine's Haruno Sakura."

He grabbed her hand lightly and placed a small kiss on it's soft surface, which she blushed at. "Michi Katsuo, it's very nice to meet you, Sakura-san."

Sakura giggled a bit, "It's nice to meet you too, Katsuo-san." Okay, okay, now its time to take another step… She put a dainty hand on his covered chest, making it look like she was examining his suit. She moved a step closer to where he could feel her warm breath on his earlobe. "What a handsome suit, I like it." she purred.

She felt an arm twine around her slim waist and pulling her against his masculine chest, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him set down the glass of wine on the table next to them. "Why thank you." he whispered, a low chuckle emitting out of his throat. "You look absolutely marvelous,"

Softly, her teeth nipped his earlobe, then swirled her damp tongue around it. "Do you… want to take this somewhere else?"

"It would be my pleasure," his hand ran up and down her back. "There's a small room in the back that stores wine." he pulled her off of his chest and they made their way to the back.

On the way there, Sakura spotted Neji and gave him a wink, as in to say 'mission almost accomplished', he just nodded his head, then turned his head again. Katsuo had his arm wrapped securely around her waist as he led her to the small wine room. Sakura felt the nervousness creep up on her as she heard the music get quieter, and the lights getting dimmer. What if I chicken out? What if it hurts so much that I cry? What if he realizes that I'm tricking him? What if - One thing I do know is, that you're going to do a great job. Neji's voice rang through her ears, it made her feel a little bit better.

What snapped her back into the real world was the sound of a door opening. Her fists clenched tightly at her sides, making crescent shaped markings in her skin. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she closed the door behind them. It was pitch black in the room, so she could barely see anything, there was a tad bit of room to move in, not crammed like she had imagined. Suddenly, she felt herself bump into a wall, and a pair of warm lips on her pulse point, making her shudder in pleasure. Her hands moved up to his shoulders, putting slight pressure there. Once he got finished devouring her neck, she felt his puffs of breath on her lips. Slowly, she placed her lips onto his moist ones. She angled her head to the side so their noses wouldn't bump.

His tongue slid across her bottom lip, kindly asking for entrance, which she gladly let him have by parting them. This is going way too slow, I want to get it over with very quickly! Her hands reached for the hem of his shirt, her fingers crawling under it, moving over his toned stomach, then pulling it off him. He caught up to her pace and untied her black obi, letting the kimono fall around to her ankles, she was only clad in a black thong, that she usually never wore, but thought it'd be appropriate for the mission. He made a low growl in approval, then bringing both hands up to cup them. He squeezed lightly, running one thumb over her pert nipple, making her gasp and arch into him. He bent his head down slightly and latched his mouth around her breast, grazing his teeth and sucking, earning a ragged moan from her.

Thank god he's not being rough. She wiped her forehead inwardly. She whimpered slightly when one of his hands came off of her breasts and started moving downward… she knew what was coming next. His fingers teased around her, finally moving down to her silky thong, messing with the edges of its lacy material, then carelessly removing it from her body. She was completely stark-naked in front of him now, which what she was thinking, wasn't very fair, he still had his pants and boxers on. Her hands moved from his broad shoulders down to his pants, her fingers fumbling with the stubborn button. After a few moments, the button came free, she anxiously pulled down his pants, he helped by stepping out of him. Her own fingers danced around the waistband of his boxers, then slowly pulling them down inch by inch, until they reached his feet. Deep breaths… its almost time. Her hands went up to stoke his aroused length, making him hiss slightly and buck into her hand slightly. He grabbed her hand and whisked it away from his manhood, then pinning both of her wrists above her head.

He crushed his lips down on hers, she gasped softly when she felt his tip brush against her pink curls. He took that opportunity to slide his tongue past her soft lips. "Go softly, please…" she murmured throughout the kiss.

He nodded and entered inside of her slowly, the kiss helped distract her from the pain, but it still hurt badly. After a few more unhurried thrusts, the pain started to subside and turn in to pleasure, like she had imagined. Whoa, Sakura. Remember this is a mission! You're not losing your virginity to a random guy for no reason! Her inner self reminded her.

"Faster," she muttered, while unlocking her wrists from his one-handed grasp, then planting them around his neck loosely.

He easily complied to her request by picking up his pace. She writhed under him, her eyes sliding shut, small whimpers and moans coming out from the back of her throat. Pay. Attention. Mission! Her conscious reminded again. "So, uh, I heard you, - ooh god that feels good - stole a scroll from the Mist Country, huh?" she asked between her panting breaths.

She felt him smirk slightly against her cheek. "Heh. Sure did, cool isn't it?" he asked himself, his voice slightly strained. "Wrap your legs around me," he added quietly.

She obeyed by wrapping her long legs around his waist. Her fingers fisted in his black locks, her head dipped back and hit the wall slightly. "V-very… so where d-did you decide to hide it?" she tried to make her voice sound curious and not suspicious.

His mouth attacked her neck again and she felt his lips move on her jugular, making her shiver deliciously. "Inside the statue outside of this place," what an obvious place… why the hell couldn't the Mist do this?! Lazy asses-

Unexpectedly, she came. He kissed her to muffle her screams and moans, thrusting in and out her harder before in a crazy frenzy. Her nails dug into his shoulders, breaking the skin terribly. Then, he collapsed against her, heart beating as fast as her. She could feel his exhausted puffs of breath on her sweaty skin. Oh my god… amazing.

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A/N: So, how did I do? This was my very first lemon… please, tell me how I did, things I need to improve on, etc.