Yes the last chapter was short so I started to get to work on this chapter right away!
The support has been amazing! Thanks for reading!
I don't have much else to say, so let's get this chapter rolling shall we?
Chapter Eight: Dark and Light
Sasuke angrily slashed his sword at the practice target in front of him. To say that he was frustrated was an understatement. Itachi felt the need to have a talk with him late into the night and they were all things he didn't want to hear, regardless if there was truth to his words or not.
As much as he wanted to deny every single bit of it, his brother was right, but he would only ever admit that in the privacy of his own mind.
How did it get this way? From the beginning he didn't want this marriage, he'll he had even decided to be as mean and rude to that pink haired woman as he could be. But slowly, that's not how it played out. Itachi's requests were one thing. He respected and loved his brother deeply, but this pink haired woman was becoming a tempting little nymph. He decided that ignoring her would have been so much easier if she didn't pique his interest and if she wasn't so damn... Pretty. Yes, he'd admit to pretty.
Yesterday she had evoked an animalistic urge in him he had never experienced before. Sure, he'd have sexual intercourse with women, most of them beautiful in their own right, but he had never wanted to just rip the clothes off of a woman and ravish her the way that he wanted to last night. And when he leaned into her and smelled her sweet, intoxicating scent, he knew that it was a mistake. Everything about her drew him in.
And the worst part was, he didn't know why.
But he felt it too. The way that she reacted to him. Her face flushed, her eyes locked with his, her lips slightly parted, her rapid heart beat. He was almost positive that when he whispered into her ear, he could feel the shiver that ran through her whole body, and those eyes. Those fierce wildly captive eyes.
Sasuke let out another cry as he against attacked the practice dummy, releasing some of his built up tension.
Her leaving would be a good thing. Not only because he had no interest in marriage or love, but because he wouldn't have to worry about this ridiculous attraction to the pinkette.
However as fate would have it, wishful thinking nor luck was on his side today because the said pinkette had stopped in front of the training room and was openly staring at him, but quickly looked away when he whipped his head around to glare at her.
"I thought you would have been gone by now dear princess." He said coolly as he turned back around to once again focus on the dummy. He could hear Sakura's footsteps as she approached him. Sasuke once again turned around to see Sakura with her hair down and wearing some simple black pants and and a red shirt on. She wasn't wearing makeup and the cut on her cheek was clean but visible. Proof that last night that she had been hurt.
"Well unfortunately for you I am just taking a morning stroll." She replied sarcastically. Sasuke looked at her. She stood there with hand on hip with a not so amused look on her face.
"Does that mean you are leaving after?" Sasuke asked. The tone of his voice caught Sakura off guard since she was half expecting another rude remark from him. Whether he asked that as an actual question or a statement, she wasn't sure.
A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Sakura couldn't help but be very aware of the shirtless Sasuke in front of her. When she walked in she stared at his shirtless toned back and he was just as perfectly toned in the front with chiseled abs. She could smell sweat but noticed a very musky scent with a hint of spice a and sandalwood. He smelled... Good. His hair was slightly matted from his sweat.
"I'm staying. So I suppose we will both just have to deal with it." Sakura finally said. Sasuke could tell that her reply didn't have much confidence in it like it did just moments before. He grunted.
"You don't sound so sure about your decision." Sasuke stated, but deep down, a part of him couldn't help but be a little relieved, and another part of him become irritated. This was definitely a bad idea he decided.
"Well not everyone gets put in ideal life situations." Sakura sighed. She turned and began to walk out of the room which earned a frown from Sasuke. She was just going to leave like that? Where did her fiery fierceness go?
"Where are you going?"
"To ride my horse." She replied, not even looking back at his direction. Sasuke sighed in frustration. She was positively annoying. She sheathed his sword and silently followed her.
"You don't have to come you know. " Sakura stated when she heard him catch up to her.
"You still have to have an escort." Sasuke replied.
"I'm sure there are other available." Sasuke simply 'hn'd'.
"Meet me at the stables when you are changed." He stated. It was not a question or offer. It was almost a command. Sakura muttered something to herself but Sasuke didn't catch the words.
Hinata stood by Itachi as she watched her husband interrogate the man they had arrested last night for assaulting Sakura. In truth, Hinata wanted to befriend the pinkette, especially since her husband was best friends with the prince, but she couldn't bring herself to face Sakura. She felt like it was her fault that Sakura had been hurt.
"Naruto is good at what he does." Itachi said as the two watched him calmly pry answers from the man. Hinata nodded.
"He is. He has a way with people." She replied. She stared at Naruto fondly. They had met as children, Hinata from a noble family and Naruto an orphan. Usually marrying between different social hierarchies were next to impossible, but Naruto had worked hard, becoming a soldier and befriending Sasuke. it was because of his determination he was able to become worthy of his title and marry her. She was snapped out of her reverie when the two heard footsteps approach them.
"How is it going?" Tsunade asked as she decided to stand by Hinata.
"It seems like it's going good. Naruto seems to be getting answers he wants." Itachi replied. Tsunade stood there with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She had failed at keeping Sakura safe last night, but with Sakura being distant and confused, it made it hard for Tsunade. She resolved to protect her from afar if she had to for the time being.
"Have you guys seen the princess? I looked for her this morning but she wasn't in her rooms." Tsunade asked. Hinata shook her head no but Itachi had an answer.
"Yeah I saw her headed to the stables earlier. My brother is probably escorting her." He informed.
Just after, Naruto stood up and exited the interrogation room.
"I'm sorry ladies, I must speak with the King privately." He said, serious in tone. He gave Hinata a nod, and a small smile as he walked into another room with Itachi in tow.
"So what did you find out?" Itachi asked when they closed the door behind them. Naruto rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, it is as he said. He did mean it as a prank and he had no weapons on him." Naruto began, but he immediately became very serious. "But, the concerning part is the amount of knowledge on Sakura he has. He knows when Akatsuki invaded her kingdom, exactly who she is, and apparently Akatsuki has released a ransom for her dead body. The Akatsuki know as well as we do that if she is alive, Haruno could be retaken."
"This is serious indeed." Itachi agreed. "If something like this spreads through the kingdom we could have a serious problem on our hands, more than just her protection and her upcoming marriage to Sasuke."
"That's just it. The information this guy had was easy to obtain according to him."
"How so?"
"It's being sold by someone they call 'the beggar'. It's only a small prince in coin."
Sasuke was already waiting by the stables when Sakura finally appeared. She looked at him acknowledging that he was there, but didn't say anything when she pushed passed him into the stable to go saddle Kuro. Sasuke cooked an eyebrow at her sudden cold attitude, but decided not to say anything. He just silently followed her lead.
He let her ride in front and take whatever route she wanted, staring at her back. Riding behind her had its... advantages. He looked her curves up and down and the form fitting riding outfit outlined her round butt. He looked away. Good god he was not going to get caught staring but his mind was already far in the gutter and he wondered how that ass would feel when she was riding something else, or rather someone else... He frowned scolding himself silently in his head.
But, he also couldn't help but notice the way she had looked at him earlier. In fact, it brought an amused smirk to his face. She had obviously stared him up and down and he could see curiosity in her eyes and a slight blush to her cheeks that looked beautiful on her porcelain skin. He was yanked from his thoughts when Sakura asked him a question.
"So... Um... is what Kosuke said about his relationship experiences really yours, or did you make that up?" She asked timidly. Sasuke cooked eyebrow. What a daring topic to bring up! But well, everything she admitted to Kosuke she admitted to him so he decided that it really wasn't all that suprising.
"I'm a little more... Experienced." Sasuke replied stoically. If he could see Sakura's face, he guessed she would have to be blushing.
Sakura was blushing. It was a stupid question to ask, she knew but she couldn't keep the shirtless Sasuke out of her mind since she saw him this morning.
"Have you ever been in love with someone you've been with before?" She bravely asked.
"No. I havent had an interest nor do I care to. I am not soft. I do it for stress relief." Sasuke replied. Sakura immediately could hear the darkness in his tone, and that dark aura emanating from him. She was embarrassed but a fear welled within her. It was stupid to ask instead of just deal with it in the moment. The knowledge and anticipation was just going to make it worse.
Sasuke didn't expect her to have a reply to that. He was honest, but in a way he was still hoping that this honesty would make her want to leave because he knew that if she stayed he would play a dark game with her. He would rip away her virginity and ravish her, release his stress in her and there would be no emotional attachment.
At least, he was trying to convince himself of that.
He was afraid of his own emotions betraying him.
Could he be sexual with her without eventually getting attached? He could avoid it with all the other women since he didn't know anything about them and it happened once and one time only and he always dismissed them or left right after.
But she stayed. And even with this out in the open, she wasn't running. She could have dashed off on her horse but instead she stood her ground and kept leading Kuro along like nothing.
It was funny how their horses seemed to symbolize their current choices. Sakura was stepping into the darkness, surrendering to temptation, and Sasuke was being faced with the light, it calling to him to eradicate his darkness and bring him out of the loneliness, fear, and anger he held.
Hinata sat in the guest room that was given to her and Naruto, sipping on some jasmine tea. She was waiting for her husband to return to her. After they finished interrogating the man, Itachi and Naruto left to talk about something that seemed rather serious, Naruto telling Hinata that he would be a while so not to wait up for him
Hinata had just retired to her room seeing as even if she wanted to apologize to Sakura, she was out with Sasuke. She mused on the topic of them both. Hinata knew Sasuke in a way Sakura didnt, only because Naruto knew him in a way no one did other than the King himself.
Sasuke had many things he hid by the way he appeared and acted on the surface, but deep down, he was loyal and cared deeply for the people he loved. He had been through things that caused him to shut that part of himself off from the world, but maybe Sakura could help him? She was to be his wife all and it was already a good thing that she was standing her ground. Hinata knew that the way Sasuje outwardly treated women made them avoid him unless he pursued for sexual interests because no matter how much of an asshole he could be, he was good looking.
Hinata heard the door to her room open causing her to look I'm that direction. She smiled upon seeing her blonde haired cerulean eyes husband standing there with a goofy grin on his face. That goofy grin that she fell deeply in love with.
"Sorry Hinata." he said sheepishly as he leaned in to plant a chaste kiss on her cheek, lingering there for just a moment. Every time her husband kissed her, it still made Hinaya blush.
"It's okay. I know you have duties." She replied with a small smile before putting her tea down and reaching up and grabbing the nape of Naruto's neck and pulling him to her for a kiss on the lips that he immediately deepened, linking her lips and when she parted them, plunging his tongue into her mouth to play with hers.
They broke apart when they needed air. Hinata could see the need in his eyes and understood it but of course her husband was a goodball.
"Hey you," he grinned. "Let's have a quickie." Hinata blushed furiously and punched Naruto playfully on the arm. Her husband could hardly be serious and was so playful. She giggled. Every since they had decided to try and get pregnant, they went at it every chance they got, and there was never anything quick about it.
Hahaha!
To the reviewer 2lazy2login, I had a good laugh about the guest name lol.
Again the review responses are amazing! I have been appreciating them very much! It makes me more inclined to update this quickly! Thanks for all the suggestions, and trust me, I plan on there being a lot more sexual tension mwahahaha.
I promise that the next chapter will have a big SasuSaku moment, so excite me with your thoughts! I will start writing it.
As always, thank you for reading and your support!
Xisa
