This will be easy, I only have six people to thank for reviewing. I worked long and hard on this you guys, I hope I've made you proud, we're coming to the end soon.
Index of Characters:
Kakashi: The Virtue: Patience, he lives in a houseful of dogs.
Tsunade: The Virtue: Hope, she hired Sakura as soon as she realized who that Sakura was Gabriel.
Special thanks: baby's breath, Laura-chan, AlexiaWinters, Obfry, koolerthancool, kagome's heart102
A/N: I don't blame anyone for the low reviewing on the last chapter I wasn't feeling it, but I sure as hell know where I'm going with it and how it'll all end so of course, I hope I did you proud with this chapter... it is rather long. I also must celebrate for now being in five, count them, five C2s.
Sleep now
Dream- of the ones who came before
They are calling
from across a distant shore
-Into the West
He could hear a faraway voice, soft and low. It was his name on the feminine voice. It was coaxing him to open his eyes. Soon the voice was not faraway at all, he could hear the tears laced on the sweet voice, could feel the tears fall onto his shoulder, all his senses were awake, it was a matter of opening his eyes.
"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, please, open your eyes." It was Sakura and she was crying. He had to open his eyes for her if not for himself. Oh, but there was so much strain and he liked being in the void, he had never been there long, unconscious with no pain and no worry. "Why won't he open his eyes?" Sakura asked.
Someone answered, saying it had to do with the medicine in his system. He felt lightheaded but he had to try to open his eyes. "Sasuke-kun, please wake up." she cried, bowing her head over him, he could feel her hair touch his eyelashes.
Soft, she had such soft hair and he could smell the floral scent of jonquil. "Shut up." he ground out, furrowing his brows from the intense headache creeping up on him. "You… make me hurt even more." he did his best to get his hand out from under the covers and he reached out for her hand. She sniffed back her tears and slid her fingers over his hand and he closed his fingers around her hand.
She pressed her forehead to the knuckles of his hand and he could feel her tears run down his knuckles, in between his fingers and into his palm, so this was what it was like to catch someone's tears. He pushed himself into sitting position against her protests and the protests of his body. Sasuke wrapped his arm around her and held her close.
Sakura paled and pulled taut with tension, she did not know whether to hold him or stand perfectly still. She could not stand to see him run away again because she had been too brash, too forward with her need for him. He could see Naruto at the doorway. His friend turned away when Sasuke coaxed Sakura's arms around him.
"Are you okay, Tsunade-sama said that… you got in a fight and-"
"I'm fine, let's not talk about that… I want to apologize." her fingers were in his hair, stroking soothingly. "I'm sorry. There all's forgiven." he listened to her gulp of laughter and he pulled her closer, listening to the rhythm of her heart.
He pushed her back a little and she looked down at him, his eyes locked on hers for a few brief seconds before examining the room, hoping no one was around, he didn't see Naruto at the door anymore. "I have to protect you, it's my… responsibility." He tugged on her wrists until she fell onto the mattress, her thigh pressing against his knee.
"Sasuke-kun it's my fault I shouldn't have-" he kissed her, partly to shut her up she could be so annoying. He kissed her partly because her lips were so inviting, a pale pink, her bottom lip thicker than the upper, giving her an adorable pout.
Lifting her hand, she gingerly pressed her fingertips against his chin as if he would break under her touch or she would scare him away. Yes, he was scared; he was scared of giving himself over to someone who was not Gabriel. However, he was losing all that fear in her chaste kiss, her tentative embrace. He almost died… he would not die! "Sakura, don't worry about it anymore, okay?" she nodded as he brushed her hair back from her face.
She smiled at him and he came and kissed her on the cheek, kissed her on the other one. He almost died without doing this… feeling how soft she was how delicious she tasted under his lips. He smirked and kissed the silken eyelashes that smudged against her cheekbones and pulled back and started to get out of bed. She tried to hold him down, but he uncurled her fingers from around his shirt.
Sasuke's feet touched the cold hardwood floor and he stood, stretching his arms out. He wondered how long he had been under, for her to be begging him to open his eyes like that; he turned around and looked at her. "Was I out past the sixth day?" Sasuke asked and Sakura shook her head, either he did not or she did not know. He staggered a little in his walk, but he found his balance rather quickly and made his way outside the room and into the kitchen.
Neji, Kiba and Shikamaru sat at the table; a dog was in Kiba's lap, with white fur and brown patches on its ears. Sasuke sighed and found Naruto leaning back against the cabinets; Shino was on the floor, leaning against the wall near the door that led outside. "Itachi's almost done." He said walking in, ignoring the petulant pout on Naruto's face.
"How do you know?" Neji asked, leaning back in his chair, propping one elbow on the table so he could rest his cheek on his knuckles.
"Did you have a vision?" Shino asked, picking himself off the floor and pulling out a chair to sit down on, though he was more comfortable on the floor. Sasuke nodded, hiding his eyes in his hand. He rubbed his temple, pinching the skin at his forehead together before looking back at the five of them.
"The seal's almost complete?" Shikamaru wondered, scratching the back of his neck, muttering out a 'troublesome' that somehow lightened the mood from its simplicity. It was troublesome, if you paired it up with Hinata's dream, her vision, whatever it was she was calling it.
"Earth… air, fire and water and of course…"
"Spirit," Naruto interjected, sitting down finally, his arms folded over one another on the table, he was staring hard at Sasuke with those deep blue eyes that belied his anger with mirth. "So what does the seal look like?" Naruto was genuinely curious, but then he was by nature.
"They've funneled out the earth and filled it with water and they started making air-ducts." Sasuke said, closing his eyes, he was still feeling weak from whatever drug Tsunade had used on him, he could not remember. "They should be starting the fire soon after and then of course they need to find someone to be the spirit."
"So we should just storm in there and stop them before they have a chance to unleash Leviathan." Rock Lee interrupted, making his way into the kitchen.
"You're imposing, why don't you get out?"
"Don't be so hostile, Uchiha-san." the Virtue pulled out a chair and sat next to him, cracking his fingers in his fists with fire blazing in his eyes at the thought of swooping in and saving the day and of course Sakura with it.
Sasuke, himself, felt the urge to slam his head repeatedly against the table, anything to dull the pain that this flippant, over-zealous Virtue sprouted from his poetic mouth.
"Ow." Naruto said and Sasuke looked up, everyone in fact looked over at him.
"'Ow'?" Lee echoed, looking confused, but the others understood, because it was happening to them too. Neji pushed the chair away from him and stood, gripping the end of the table and bowing over it, his forehead meeting the tabletop.
"Shit!" Sasuke hissed, falling out of the chair and onto his knees.
"This is not a joke I like, I must ask that you refrain from such joking at once." Kiba's Anima, Akamaru, was yipping as Kiba pressed his hand down onto his shoulder, shaking and trying his best not to fall onto the floor. Shikamaru was grinding his teeth together, pressing harder into his shoulder so much that the bones in his fingers cracked.
Lee looked from Naruto to Shikamaru to Shino, Neji and Sasuke and Kiba. "Friends," he asked, looking at them and the pain etched on their faces. "Do you require assistance?"
"Just shut up, just fucking shut up!" Sasuke ground out, he was panting and grunting in pain, bunching the shirt in his hand, trying to get at the seal on his shoulder. There was no medicine to take. Nothing anything or anyone could do to relieve the pain; it had to pass on its own.
Sasuke landed hard on his ass, the pain was reclining, he lowered his head, his forelocks falling over his eyes and he sat there for a moment, needed a moment. "That… was bad." Naruto said pulling his hand out from under his collar and observing his hand smeared with blood.
Sasuke pulled his hand out and found that he too had bled from the mark on his shoulder. "Sasuke's right… Mammon or whatever he's calling himself… he's coming."
"What are we talking about?" Lee asked as Sasuke slapped his hand onto the seat of the chair and pulled himself up, of course he was right, why would he lie… he could not lie. He could be unsure, but he could not lie, that was the rub of being an angel.
"We're talking about Mammon. Remember him, from the last millennium?" Shikamaru flung out, recovering from the pain and staring down at his fingers coated with his own blood. "Just great and I already took a shower. This is becoming more of a drag every time we do this. I am so ending it this era."
Sasuke nodded, rubbing his hand against his dark blue shirt. Oh, his stomach churned when he tried to get up. "The summoning is almost done, Mammon's on his way and we need to think of a new location to move Sakura." Neji said, looking like he too, was going to lose his lunch.
"What about me?" they turned their gaze to the doorway where Sakura stood, holding onto the frame. Sasuke forced himself to his feet and pushed Lee back when the idiot tried to go to her. Sasuke took her by the shoulders and led her out of the kitchen hallway and back to the room he had just came from.
Sasuke closed the door behind them and closed his eyes, the sunlight seemed brighter in here, it hurt his head, made his eyes sting. Sakura asked him what was wrong, "Close the blinds, please." She moved away from him and he slid to the floor, his stomach churning again.
Sakura was back at his side, holding his arms; he pushed her off with as much ease as he could muster. He had been feeling sick since the vision, since after the fight, and now it doubled because of the burning and bleeding of his seal, it was not broken, just tormenting him and the others.
"You're bleeding, Sasuke-kun." she gasped and started to get up, but he pulled her down.
"Don't touch me," he warned, his stomach rotating like clothes in a dryer set on tumble. "Just sit here with me." He opened an eye, just a little, so that he could see the look on her face. She looked concerned and he liked it. He closed his eyes again and pressed his head to the door, moaning low.
He just needed to breathe, in and out, concentrate on just breathing. Sweat rolled down his brow. He did not like the feeling of it running down the bridge of his nose and onto his cheek; sticking there as if he was under the hot desert sun. "Kiss me," he said and she blinked, he could hear her lashes click together; it was strange that could hear it. "Don't touch me with anything but your lips," he instructed.
She took a few seconds to comprehend what he told her, but he had an idea, he would not share it, she was his after all, but he had an idea all the same. She braced her hands on the floor and leaned over him, softly she pressed her lips to his. He lifted his lips to make the connection complete.
It was nice, he liked kissing her, it made him feel cool, relaxed as if he were sitting under the shade with a tepid breeze kissing his skin and nipping at his hair playfully. It was the same as being in heaven, however faraway that time had been.
His stomach stopped churning, finally, and he could feel the blood on the back of his shoulder near his nape begin to dry up, it was just as he had predicted… she was healing him. Sakura did not know she was healing him, but he could feel the warm glow, it was lime green behind his eyes and it reminded him of the fresh, crisp grass he and Gabriel use to sit upon. He would like to do those things with Sakura.
Sasuke thought about them sitting in a field of wildflowers with her sitting between his legs, her cheek against his chest as he stroked her hair, inhaled her sweet fragrant. Slowly he cupped her face; she kept her hands on the floor just as he had told her.
Sasuke applied a little more pressure on her mouth, leaned into her, wanted to feel more of her. Primal, back to the source… things he had been thinking all along flooded his head; he had to get away from her. He broke the kiss, pushed himself to his feet, made his way into the bathroom, and locked the door behind him.
Sakura called out behind the door, knocked and he punched the door, heard her take a step back as he let his forehead touch the wooden door. He could taste the sweet jonquil and strawberries she had used to make herself smell pretty, could taste it on the back of his tongue.
He pushed all of his weight against the door and sighed, what he wanted from her was intense and wrong… she was wrong if she thought him pure, angel's were anything but, they could so easily be swayed, they just needed the right temptation. Sasuke knew for Itachi it had been power beyond power.
Sasuke would not use her for his own gain; he would rather suffer then hurt her or scare her just for his own purpose. Sasuke peeled his body away from the door, yanked off his shirt, and pulled off his boxers and pants. He threw them in a heap by the door and turned the water in the shower on.
"Sasuke-kun, I'm sorry!" he heard Sakura say, but he ignored the muffled voice that called out to him. Sasuke stepped into the shower and shuddered as a barrage of tiny little freezing water droplets assaulted him. He shook his head and began washing off the crust of dried blood.
Sakura called out to him again before she gave up and he sighed, thankful that she did, one more time and damn the shower, he would have gone to her and pulled her against him and onto the bed and he would have fucked her until she couldn't move, until the only name she knew was his own.
Outside the bathroom door Sakura sat down on the bed, cradling her head in her hands, she did not know what she had done wrong, if she had done anything wrong. Was she suppose to touch him when he held her face in his hands, deepen the kiss? She did not know, if she did anything wrong she was sorry and she had apologized, but he ignored her, locked himself in the bathroom and slapped the door when she knocked.
He was taking a shower now, she hoped he was taking care of the blood that stained his shirt. She could not sit in here alone. She had sat by his bedside with him all the while he had been unconscious. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palm and sighed.
She scooted off the bed and pulled the blinds up, the glow of the sun was starting to go down, she liked nighttime around here, especially when the moon was big enough to light her way. She opened the window and the scent of lilacs filled the room, she wondered if Hinata would like to go out for a walk with her, maybe Tenten.
She pulled open the door and stepped out to find that the kitchen was now deserted, but she could hear voices and she stepped inside and looked to see Tsunade talking to Kakashi, the dogs were lying down at his feet, except for little Pakkun who was trotting through the grass, pulling at blades with his small, sharp teeth. She left the kitchen and headed down the hallway.
Lee was sleeping in the sofa while Neji and Tenten were softly talking to one another. She watched them for a moment and then moved on unnoticed; she went in search for Hinata and found her in conversation with Naruto on the front porch. So much for her little plan, she would have liked the company, after Sasuke had barricaded himself in the bathroom.
She got past them unnoticed and made her way down to the pond near the pathway where she had sat that night when Hinata played for her. She sat down on the bench, after dusting away some stray leaves; it was strange to see leaves falling in August.
The mornings had been hot and humid except for inside the house, but the nights were cool and peaceful and she liked the reflecting pond where Naruto had swirled the leaves around. He had told her she could do something like that with water. She flicked her fingers towards the water, but it only ripped with the sway of the breeze.
Leaning back on her hands she sighed and then inhaled deeply. The clouds roamed along the darkening sky, they were pulling together, turning dark as they gathered, she supposed that was why it was turning so cold, it was going to rain, the leaves shook on their branches, she looked about, wondering if Naruto and Hinata had seen her after all, but they were not there.
"Look at that, a shorn lamb, all alone." a voice said, that was not good, it was never good to hear voices that one… were not familiar and two… coming from nowhere she could see. "Trembling, is it the cold?" she stood, okay, time to go back to the house, only an idiot would stay out here when she was so clearly listening to a voice that sent unpleasant chills up her spine.
The voice was gruff and deep, clearly a man's voice. She shuddered, not from the voice, because that had stopped after his question, no she shuddered because it started to rain. She was not that far from the house. A body landed in front of her, bringing up dust from the impact of the fall.
She screamed and stumbled backwards, bracing with her hands as she fell onto the bench. He turned, he was dark haired but bandages obscured his face. Another body landed behind her and she looked to see a… was it a girl or a boy, the body structure declared man, the wide shoulders and the height, but the hair was long… maybe he liked long hair. "Strayed from the flock, eh, Haku."
"So it would seem, Zabuza." the other man, Zabuza chuckled, deep and throaty.
"Itachi wants you so you Itachi will get, please don't resist, I don't want to have to hurt you." he pulled free a huge sword from behind his back. She took a deep breath and the other, Haku, came closer.
"No one is coming to save you." Haku said, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. She pulled back, instinct of course kicked in. "I won't hurt you, if you cooperate." he said, she could not tell his expression from behind that red and white mask, but he sounded sincere.
"Haku, your name belies your-" he was thrown to the side, a white blast of crackling electricity knocking him away. Haku's grip tightened on Sakura's wrist, his other hand wrapped around her waist, and he lifted her up and jumped back over the pond. She was amazed, but not surprised; she had been seeing a lot of weird things since she met Sasuke and the others, strange things since she met Itachi. He started it all; he was the first one to cut open her back…
It was strange now to think that she had pretty much healed up. "Let her go." It was Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto was holding something in his hand; it shone bright blue like a glass orb, swirling white and saxes-blue within. Relief washed over her, despite still being in someone arms, someone who wanted to take her to Itachi.
"What's wrong can't you-" He was jumped; it was the last thing Sakura saw. Haku put his hand against Sakura's eyes and everything went black, permanently.
Sasuke watched Sakura go limp in Haku's arms and he had the choice of course to help Naruto out or go to Sakura and get her away from one of his brother's lackeys. Kakashi seemed to make that decision for him. Sasuke had one thing on his mind: protect Sakura.
Haku pushed Sakura out of his arms and braced himself for Sasuke's attack, he ducked and Sasuke swiped air and took a blow to the ribs, he jumped back, coughing hard. Okay, that hurt. He tried again. He did not know how many times he would be trying. "Let me guess: Pride?"
"…Sloth."
"Sloth, huh, you move pretty fast with name like that." There was a lazy lift in his shoulders and he supposed the drawl in his speech could account for the languor, maybe he was Sloth after all. However, he moved like a fire on oil. "I have some advice for you."
Sloth looked up at him, listening and standing close to Sakura. "That's unusual, giving your enemy advice."
"How about a warning then, Sloth, get out of here with your buddy over there and leave Sakura alone and maybe… I won't have to kill you."
"You think you can kill me, Michael?" Sasuke's lip twisted at the sound of his praenomen, not a name anyone should be calling him unless that person was asking for it. He cast that name aside long ago with Gabriel's death; he would let them get away with it, but not this one.
"No, I don't think… I know!" Sasuke rushed at him, arm drawn back for a punch. His eyes turned blood red as his fist met the mask; it creaked under the pressure and fell asunder. Haku staggered and fell back, rolling to his right as Sasuke's fist came down, nailing the ground.
…
Sakura opened her eyes, felt the rain, not in separate little splats against her, no it was bathing her, a curtain of rain and darkness. Her heart started racing as she scrambled to her feet. Mud coated the front of her, it squished under feet, it soaked in through her shirt and her jeans, she wiped her face and it came off with ease as the rain took care of the rest.
Sakura took a couple of steps forward and tripped over something solid and heavy, but rolled with her all the same. She sat up, tears rolling down her cheek or it could have been the rainwater, but she knew she was crying, because the sobs fell from her mouth.
She peered in through the dark and could see a pair of brown eyes staring wide open at her. She screamed at the blood that ran from a cut on the cheek and down the mouth, at the gaping hole in the center of his chest. She pushed herself to her feet and started backing up.
This was what she was afraid of, dead bodies, rapist, and murderers. These were the real monsters; these things were what would damage her psyche. She remembered Sasuke had been there, Naruto too.
"Sasuke, Naruto!" she screamed, hoping one of them would hear her.
"Sakura- over here," Sakura ran over to where Sasuke wavered on unsteady legs. Middle ribs, right side- red with blood that mixed with the rainwater that fell angrily down from the heavens. He reached out for her as she met him, her hands grasping the fabric of his shirt at the shoulders.
Blood at his mouth- bright blood, the brightest in the whole body- leaked down to his chin as he spoke to her over the slapping of raindrops. "You really are the most annoying woman," Sasuke chided, coughing out blood that coated his teeth. "Look at all the trouble you've put me to."
She looked over at the dead body of Sloth, Sasuke had killed him in order to protect Sakura, again and Naruto and Zabuza were missing from the scene, Sasuke told her that Kakashi had gone after Zabuza too, but he did not know where they were.
"I'm sorry," she yelled over the pour of the rain, eyelashes fluttering rapidly to keep the rainwater out, she took his hands between hers and pressed a kiss to the red and bruised knuckles, sore from repeatedly punching. He nudged her hands away, cupped her face and pressed his lips against hers.
Oh, he was sorry too, for distancing himself, he had almost lost her again, she was hard to keep track of, once he thought he had her by his side she was off playing with danger. Sasuke did not think he would have to start killing so early into it, but he had killed before and he was doing what was necessary to protect Sakura.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, he pressed her closer, and she whimpered, pushing him away. She did not have to have a medical degree to know that he was severely injured. He looked down at her, eyes narrowed to keep out the rain.
"Sasuke-kun you're hurt." she told him and he pulled his hands away to survey his still bleeding torso. He looked back at her, took her hand, and pressed it against the wound.
"Then heal me," her eyes went wide as she shook her head. "You won't?"
"I can't!" she cried out, tugging her hand away vainly as he pressed her hand over the bleeding gash harder. She could not heal him, she did not have that kind of power, the power they all seemed to think she had. Gabriel had that power. His blood was warm, coating her hand, slippery and wet, like the rain, but the texture was so very different, she could feel his torn skin. She thought she would be sick.
"Yes, you can, I know you can, just think about how much you love me…" he whispered into her ear, making her blush. It was starting to get real cold out in the rain, his bones rattled with the cold, making him hurt all the more, she had healed him before, back in the bedroom, she only needed to do it again.
"Sasuke-kun." she could not help but lower her head and begin crying, but she missed as a green aura engulfed her hand, stitching his wound shut. It closed until his skin was a pale patch as if he had grown new skin, there was faint scarring, but it was hardly noticeable and there was no rise to the skin.
He bent low and pressed his lips back against hers, she looked up at him when he pulled away. He jerked his head for her to look at his side. "See… I told you that you could do it."
She let out a breathy laugh but stopped when he lifted her up, cradling her in his arms, taking them away from the waterlogged landscape, the mud stuck to the soles of his boots, squishing loudly with every step he took. "I can walk Sasuke-kun," she told him, wishing not to be a burden, he just smirked, pressing her a bit closer to his chest.
"Aa." he pressed his cheek to her forehead and she buried her face in the curve of his neck and shoulder. It was not long until they were back at the cottage; he let her down then and they removed their shoes before he took her hand, bringing her inside. No one was there and the lights were all off. "Strange… everyone's gone. Come on." he ushered her inside.
Everything was dark as if they turned off the lights before they left, Sasuke thought maybe they went off to help Naruto and if that was true then where were the Virtues… aside from Kakashi, whom he knew was out helping Naruto with Asmodeus. He could only hope that idiot was not getting himself killed, as far as he was concerned, their little pack still stood, this time vice versa.
Her hand tightened around his as he led her stumbling in the dark. He pushed open the door to her bedroom and turned the lamp on and a soft glow illuminated the room. "Are you okay?" she nodded. She was soaked thoroughly, leaving very little to the imagination, he tried his best to ignore it, but she looked so inviting, so cold.
He wanted to heat her up and he knew more than one way to go about doing so… he closed his eyes, pushing those thoughts aside, he was concerned with that looked on her face. She was not, thankfully, hurt, just stained with mud and sopping wet.
"I'm just worried about Naruto, shouldn't you go-"
"No. No one else is here so I have to stay and look after you." Sasuke walked over to the bathroom door and pushed it open. He clicked on the light and wiped his face with his hand. "You should get out of those wet clothes and take a hot bath so you don't get sick."
"What about you?" she asked, trembling from the cold.
"Do you require my assistance?" he gave a smirk that made her blush, he chuckled. "I was kidding, don't look so wide-eyed." he came over to her and cupped her face, bent to her level and pressed his lips to hers. He was doing that a lot lately, kissing her.
She was not complaining, on the contrary, she loved the contact of his lips- she loved him. He pulled back, his eyes darker than normal and his breathing just a little ragged. Sakura rose on her tiptoes to kiss him, her arms wrapping around his neck.
Sasuke pressed his hands to her waist, pulling her closer. Her lips were as chilled and wet as the rest of her, freezing and endlessly soft. The only sound between them was their breathing and the slapping of the rain against the roof and the window. He lifted her off her feet and swung her around lowering her onto the bed, not caring if the mud came off on his clothes, he was already soaked after all.
He disentangled her arms and knelt in front of her, untucking every single button of her blouse with minimal difficulty. His teeth clenched as he had trouble with the middle button. "Can you do it?" Sasuke looked up at her with a frustrated look, frowned, experienced enough so that he could undress a woman, but he had never felt this eager, this excited before.
He came up and kissed her brow then the center of her breast where the pale scar splotched her skin and then pushing down her blouse he kiss her shoulder. With the last button freed, he flung the shirt across the room, listened to it rumple against the floor in a haphazard heap.
When she could see his intense black eyes, her fingers traced the angles of his cheekbones, glided into his mass of thick wet hair and connected their lips. He traced his hands down her arms, her wrists, their fingers lacing together.
She drew in a shaky breath when she broke the kiss, her fingers fisting his shirt in her hands. He lifted his arms above his head as she pulled off his shirt. He could not help but smirk again with the way her guileless green eyes studied the muscles and definition of his smooth chest.
He had almost forgotten that she had never been with a man before; he tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed the shell. "Are you afraid of me?" He knew this would be the decisive moment, no matter what she said he knew she would very soon see him for what he truly was.
"No." Her answer did not really shock him, but it still made his chest fill with a sense of pride. He kissed her again, agonizingly slow. He began working on her jeans, releasing the button with greater ease then he yanked down the zipper, sliding the jeans down her thighs and legs, away from her feet with her perfect toes.
She had perfect bone structure and muscle tone, everything was taut, smooth, and soft, it was like a flawless beauty in a portrait. Of course, she was better than any painting. He bent her leg, as he looked over the injuries, he did not know she had, her jeans still in his hands.
He discarded them and kissed her scraped knee. She really did put him through a lot. He pressed between her knees and kissed her cheek, dragging his lips down to her throat. She let out another of her breathy laughs and she buried her face in his shoulder. "It tickles." she whispered.
Encouraged, he did it again, just to feel the shake of her laugh against him, then he dragged his mouth harder against her, tasting her neck, more serious, and her breathing grew strenuous and her hands more restless down his back. "Do you accept me?" He breathed the question against her neck and she arched against him as he worked on unclasping her bra.
She nodded slowly, her lips forming the word 'yes' that she could only breathe when his hand caressed lightly a sensitive part of her stomach, eliciting another of her breathy laughs and she involuntarily recoiled. She dropped to the bed and he climbed in after her, his hands peeling the wet nylon material of her bra away from her breasts.
Tentatively he moved to cup her breast, running his thumb over the luscious and pink nipple until it was erect then he bent low and covered it was his mouth, sucking until she was gasping, until her fingers threaded through his hair. He did the same to the other, pulling with his lip, nipping with his teeth and soothing with his tongue. She was moaning now, pressing him closer, wanting to hold onto the feeling.
He pulled away and pressed a kiss to her forehead and her brows and eyelashes, he kissed her cheeks, he kissed the tip of her nose, and even her chin was within his line of worship.
"I love you." He stopped… his breathing, his heart, his body they all stopped when she uttered those words in the glow of the lamplight and just the way she held his gaze and her lips parted softly told him that she meant it.
He had no other words for her except, "Tell me again."
"I love you."
Sakura accepted him, and she loved him and she was not frightened of him at all, nothing could be better, and for the first time everything was new and everything was right.
He leaned back to remove his jeans but she knocked away his hands, surprising him again as her fingers freed the button and dragged down the zipper, her hands in the waistband of his jeans and boxers.
He moved his legs out in front of him and lifted his hips in amusement of her impatience, he watched her rustle him out of them and held his breath, and she was looking him over the way he had looked her over.
Oh, how he wished he could read her mind. However, when she lifted her lashes to meet his gaze he could read her expression and knew she was pleased with what she saw.
He took her by the shoulders and pushed her back against the bed, her hair fanning out to color the white pillows. He dragged down the material of underwear and let them fall on the floor next to his pants. That wolf-like gaze of his tracing over her body, he pressed flat to her, his chest over hers.
She was beautiful and he told her so, his fingers tracing the sensuous curve of her lips. She smiled at him, one so radiant that he had to kiss her again. His fingers dug into her back and he lifted her slightly off the bed, she followed, determined not to break the kiss.
Her eyes were still open, because she wanted to see his face, wanted to see him and see what he was doing to her. His other hand came up and Sakura felt him brush his palm against her face, sliding from her temple to her eyelids, blocking out the light.
"Close your eyes." She did so and his hand cradled her cheek. "It's only for a while." he whispered, his voice low and gravelly, into her ear.
She nodded, not knowing why. His mouth brushed her temple, her cheek and her jaw. Her perfume invading his nostrils, she covered in the scent of strawberries and jonquil, an interesting yet pleasant mix. She bit into her bottom lip, trying not to make a sound as her fingers pressed harder against his shoulders as he pushed into her, sinking further as she lifted her legs, tears seeping free from her eyes tightly shut.
Sakura moved uncomfortably under his weight, trying to find an angle in which the pain would recede. She gasped and stilled, cradling him with her knees, her chest lifting and falling in short, staccato bursts.
Pressed against her, stomach to stomach, chest to chest, he waited. Because she was new to this and she was precious to him. Ardent and throbbing inside her, he would wait. A shiver tumbled through him, heaven-sent.
She made the soft, breathy moan he had been waiting for and lifted her hips, just a slight, feminine motion that was his downfall. He could not stop himself now; he pushed deeper, met her mouth and filled her with his tongue that caressed everything in her mouth: teeth, tongue, fleshy walls.
Sasuke was unwilling to spare even a tiny hollow, exploring her thoroughly. Her hands pressed against the side of his face and she pulled away, breathing hard. "Sa-Sas-Sasuke-kun-" she huffed as they moved together.
She made a low, keening moan that matched the agony shooting through his bloodstream. A flickering thought of death came with the pleasure of her, lustrous, wet, and hot against his skin.
Sweat beaded along her temple and the back of her neck as he framed her face, immobilizing her head for his kisses. "Sakura," he gasped, plunging, unable to stop, no desire to still. Her hips lifted again, taking him deeper. Oh, he wanted the feeling forever.
Holding back for so long, he had forgotten what he was missing. He nuzzled her neck and pulled out, inch by inch until he was almost completely out, only to plunge back in, because it wasn't right, not interlocked in her, not captured in a dance as old as time.
Suddenly she cried out. She sobbed, her eyes falling closed. Tears were coursing heedlessly down her cheeks. It curbed him, enough so that he slowed and combed his fingers through her hair. "What is it?" Caught between her pain and his own release, Sasuke tried to concentrate. "Am I hurting you?"
"Yes." she whispered, clutching at him and raising her hips against him continuously when he stilled, trying to make him move again. "Please, d-don't stop, I want to be yours." she lowered his face back to hers, kissing him and running her tongue along his teeth and over his tongue.
Sasuke kissed her back, moving, as she so desired. "Hold on just a moment longer," he told her, stroking her hair back from her face, pressing a kiss to her ear. She nodded, trying to keep her eyes open and that was when he knew that she was in foresight.
What she saw, he did not know, but he sought to soothe her. He was selfish at first, but now it was becoming about her, he wanted to touch all the right spots, wanted everything to feel good, and appease her when she begged him just to apply a little more pressure.
Sasuke did whatever Sakura asked of him, had to because her pleasure meant more to him than his own, more than life… he would die for her, if she commanded him to he would do it. Just to know that she was smiling. Sasuke brought her lips back to his for another kiss, held her close, moving inside her, making them one.
The sound of the rain mixed with their heavy pants, the soft creak of the bed under the weight of their conjoined bodies. He could feel her move inside him; their energies intertwined more than their bodies ever could. The energy wove and danced like some invisible thread, knotting, tying, and gliding in and out of him and her. He could feel it, his seal falling away, like ice and snow under the intense heat of the sun coming out for spring's disposal.
Color burst behind closed eyelids and he arched, when her climax triggered his own. His skin tore and blood flooded down his back and her hands slipped down to his ribs as he ground out a brutal cry and his wings shot forth, splotched with slick crimson, blood splattering against the walls of the room.
Her head tilted back, she let loose another muffled cry, and he pressed his hands to her face. "Shh… don't be afraid." Sasuke caressed her face and kissed away her tears. She reached up; he would not deny her, because she gave him more than what he sought. She gave him her love and her body, so he would allow her to touch his wings.
She took a slow caress; let the silver and gold-white hair fill the spaces of her fingers. Her lips took the shape of a small circle as tears continued to fill her eyes. She ran her hand over the ridge and bend of his wing then touched his face with tenderness, still she wept. His wings stretched and folded against her as he buried his face in her neck, listening to her uneven breaths and her soft cries. "Ego amo te." he whispered to her in Latin.
Sasuke was not lying, he loved her, she had become his everything in that one intimate act, he loved her from the first moment he laid eyes on her, and he loved her when she soothed away his own malediction. He loved her when she kissed him and told him that Gabriel would not hate him for letting himself love again. Oh, how he loved her.
She watched him; her own reasons for loving him reflected in those perfect green eyes, she was perfect. Haruno Sakura, Chief Resident of Medicine of Konohagakura Hospital. He loved her for her, not for being the vessel of the one he had loved before. He still loved Gabriel… he always would, but he loved Sakura as an individual being.
Sasuke watched her lashes flutter until she could no longer keep her eyes open, her demons quelled once again as she fell into a sweet slumber. With one last look at her beautiful, peaceful face, Sasuke rested his cheek against her breast and let her heartbeat lull him to sleep.
…
The first rays of the sun brought a white golden hue over the land and into the bedroom. Sasuke sat on a chair, already bathed and dressed, watching Sakura's lax form. The blankets covered from her thighs to her chest, one arm bent up, and fingers touching her cheek while the other stretched out over the side of the bed, both legs resting at the edge of bed, knees and ankles touching.
Sasuke's thumbs cradled his chin, his fingers woven together. He watched with dark eyes the rise and fall of her chest as she took in air through those slightly parted lips swollen from his deep kisses.
He had never seen her look so peaceful before, she was just intoxicating and pacifying. His cross was around her neck, he gave it to her when he woke that morning. Was this was what it was like to be in love again?
He could only stare at her and listen to her steady breathing. He wished he was still in bed with her, but her earlier fear had gotten to him.
He was worried about that idiot, last night was a perfect time for Sasuke and Sakura to be alone, but he still thought Naruto and the others should have been back sometime sooner.
The forceful opening of the door caught Sasuke's attention and he turned to see Naruto there, his name leaving the idiot's mouth in a burst. Sasuke lifted his hand and pressed his fingers to his lips, gesturing for Naruto to be quite, and then he got up from the chair when he caught Naruto gawking and quickly pushed him out of the room.
Sasuke closed the door behind him and Naruto blurted out, "What the fuck was that?"
"That was none of your business, the only thing about that you need to know is that I broke the seal." Naruto blinked those big, clueless eyes of his, his mouth agape. Sasuke walked past him and into the kitchen. He was hungry; he peeked into the living room and found everyone there, on the floor or on the sofa and couch, sleeping out their exhaustion.
Sasuke made his way to the fridge; he pulled it open and found nothing he liked, so he settled with a glass of milk, he then went in search for the honey, Naruto finally said something: "What are you talking about now?"
