...


All her life she had wondered what it would be like to kiss Uchiha Sasuke; now she knew he tasted like salt and steel and ever so faintly of tomatoes. His arm slid around her waist—a tight, possessive grip—and she gasped when she felt his hard erection press against her lower torso, blood rushing to her cheeks and heat pooling deep in her core. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, pulsing so wildly out of control that she feared it might escape from her ribcage and take flight.

"Sasuke," she whispered as they broke apart for air, his lips still brushing hers. His eyes slid open partway, mismatched black and violet, and there was so much intensity in his lidded stared that it caused desire to sear right through her. He had the most dark, piercing eyes. No one could make her weak in the knees with just a single glance like he could; his gaze oozed confidence and raw masculinity and sex. She could spend forever lost in his eyes.

"I want you so badly right now." he murmured, the husky baritone of his voice saying those exact words unspeakably erotic. Sakura trembled and melted against him, her hands sliding up into his thick, dark hair as his mouth slanted against hers hungrily, deepening the kiss. His tongue pushed past her lips, taking her entirely by surprise. She had kissed before but never like this; never so intimately nor with such unrestrained passion. It was like a little spark that slowly grew into a blazing inferno and they were swept away quickly into the heat; the flames at them whole, burning away all her fears and inhibitions until there was nothing left but her and him and their snowballing lust. They stumbled towards the bed, falling back against the mattress in a tangle of limbs. She grasped at him with more fervour and wrapped her legs around him tightly—afraid that if she let go of him even for a moment he would slip away from her again.

'Take him! Take him now!' Inner-Sakura screamed.

"Yes," she panted her encouragement as he shoved his hips against her roughly and she felt the stiff length of his arousal grind against her through the barrier of their clothing. "Yes, I want you too, I've always wanted you..."

And to be wanted by him in return. She was so happy she might die; though if her heart would fail her she hoped it did so after she'd given him her virginity. It would be a good death. It seemed too good to be true. She ought to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming...

"Sakura..." his lips passed over her neck and she arched towards him, letting out a ragged moan. "Sakura ... Sakura-san..."

'Sakura-san?' That was awfully formal, but whatever he liked. Sasuke had always been peculiar so it only seemed natural that he should have certain idiosyncrasies in bed as well.

"Sakura-san? Hello? Wake up please."

"Uh?" she grunted and came awake with a suddenly, nearly fall out of the cot on which she was sprawled, wrapped like a vice around a poor, abused feather pillow. A pair of eyes not belonging to Sasuke stared down at her, effectively dragging her out of her steamy dream and she surfaced with with a startled noise, shooting upright and hitting her head on the bunk above hers. "Oh! Ow."

"Ah, sorry." the young man said. He was one of her coworkers at the hospital and she was napping in the on-call room in between patients. Between her late light last night, her early start this morning, and the fact that she'd been woken up in the middle because Sasuke had been having nightmares she hadn't gotten much in the way of sleep. "I was asked to wake you."

"It's fine." she muttered, rubbing the back of her head and smoothing at her ruffled pink hair. She was completely ignorant of the way the young medic-nin (what was his name again? Shuu? Shou?) looked at her with admiring eyes and a big, dopey smile. Other men were all but invisible to her—at least where romance was concerned. Were she a little more self-aware she might have realized that she was actually quite popular with the opposite sex, but though she may have been intuitive and observant, in this one area she was honestly clueless. "Do I have a patient?"

"No." he answered quickly, shaking his head. "You're being assigned to an important mission. The Hokage has summoned you. You're excused from the hospital today."

"Oh." she said, genuinely surprised. She wasn't often put on missions lately—not when they were so busy at the hospital and her clinic and she was essential to things moving smoothly. Whatever it was, it must have been important—and urgent. She tried to bite back a wave of disappointment. Sasuke had only just arrived and there was no telling how long he would be in the village. If she left now she might miss her only opportunity to spend the tiniest bit of time with him. Even if it was only a day or two while he recovered and resupplied, it would be better than nothing; chances to see him were few and far in between and he had made it clear to her that he didn't plan on staying in the village long. She wanted to make the best of the time while he was here.

"B-by the way, Sakura-san, I was wondering if sometime you might like to..."

She yawned and didn't hear him finish his sentence. "Thanks for letting me know, Shuu. Bye."

She gathered up her things and left the room before he could say another word, let alone correct her that his name wasn't actually 'Shuu.'

When she arrived at Kakashi's office it was the mid-afternoon; the sun was bright and high overhead and the streets were full and lively. He was expecting her and she was shown inside immediately.

"Sakura." he greeted her affectionately, setting aside his paperwork—and frankly looking grateful for an excuse to do so. Desk work suited him ill but he made a fine Hokage nonetheless. Kakashi had always cared deeply about the village. "I presume you've been told?"

At first she wasn't quite sure about what he was referring to. "The mission?" she blinked. "Oh, you mean Hinata and Naruto. Yes, I found out yesterday."

"No, I meant the mission, although it is good news, is it not? You've all grown up so fast. It seems hardly yesterday you were all genin, dropping chalkboard erasers on my head and trying to steal the bells..." he trailed off as he reminisced fondly for a moment, before getting back to the matter at hand: "I'm officially assigning you to accompany Sasuke as he follows the traces of Kaguya's chakra to the north. It will be a long trip, as I understand it, so you'll need to get your things in order. Tsunade has agreed to take over your responsibilities at the hospital in your absence and Ino will be taking charge of the clinic. I thought he would have told you that himself, did he not?"

She could scarcely believe her ears. It sounded like a dream come true—yet her first response was that of great anxiety. She didn't want to get her hopes up. No matter if it would have been everything she'd ever hoped for ... she didn't want to burden Sasuke or force her presence on him when he didn't want it. Kakashi was kind and he looked out for her, but she shuddered at the thought of becoming an annoyance. She was a capable Shinobi and she knew this better than anyone, but if Sasuke didn't want her with him then she would serve little purpose.

"Kakashi-sensei, I don't think Sasuke would want that." she said quickly, feeling her heart sting as she said so. But if it had been his intention to bring her with him he would have asked her when she'd implored him to stay.

Kakashi only smiled knowingly at her. "On the contrary." he said. "He was the one to ask that you accompany him. That's why I thought he would have told you, though I suppose, it is Sasuke..."

Her world shifted. She swore she felt the ground move beneath her feet as she stood there, floored, and stared at her Sensei in stunned silence. She was still dreaming. She was still asleep in the cot in the on-call room and soon she was going to wake up and realize that this was all a figment of her overactive imagination, shaped by the fiercest longings of her heart.

Slow seconds ticked by. Finally, she managed: "Sasuke-kun did? Sasuke-kun asked?"

"Mhm." Kakashi answered her cheerfully.

"Sasuke-kun ... wants me ... to go with him?"

'Shannaro!' Inner-Sakura had less trouble believing him; she was praising the lord with her fists in the air in the midst of a victory dance. But outwardly she could not help but be a little more cautious;

"Yes, Sakura." Kakashi insisted.

"It's not a joke? You mean it? Was it really Sasuke? It wasn't just Naruto pretending to be Sasuke? He's done that before. Sasuke—the real Sasuke—said that he wants me to come with him?" she rambled on, taking a few wobbly steps forwards and planting her hands on the Hokage's desk as she stared directly into Kakashi's eyes, waiting for any sign that it was a prank or a trick. "Really? Really?"

"Yes, Sakura." he repeated, placing a hand gently on top of her head and giving her a pat. "You don't think I could tell the difference between Sasuke and Naruto's chakra? The real, genuine Sasuke was here this morning and he asked me to give you leave to come with him. I've arranged it so that you can go. Take good care of him, okay?"

She wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry. Slowly, a smile made its way onto her face until she found herself absolutely beaming from ear to ear, her cheeks tinged pink and eyes aglow with pure delight. It had pained her to hear that he wouldn't stay, and she'd almost convinced herself that it was beyond all hope—that he would forever be just outside of her reach, but then he'd gone and extended his hand and welcomed her to join him instead. But she was confused: why hadn't he just asked her himself? Surely Sasuke knew that she would follow him anywhere if he so much as crooked a finger in her direction. There was no need for him to take such a roundabout method as having Kakashi assign her to a mission.

And then, she questioned, why? He was more than capable of taking care of himself. It made her uneasy sometimes to know that he was gone, fighting unseen evils where she could not help him nor protect him, but Sasuke was strong.

'He wants us badly.' Inner-Sakura proposed saucily and she blushed at the very thought. Should she follow him if that was the only reason he had asked? She was not a ... thing. Of course she wanted to be with him, however he would have her, but should she be so willing to offer herself up only for sex? She liked to imagine that she had some dignity.

But neither could she easily demand that he love her; to do so would be unrealistic and unfair. She did not know which was better: that she deny herself the opportunity of having any deeper connection with him—even if it was only physical—to preserve her dignity, or that she should indulge herself and be with the man she loved and have those experiences she longed for no matter how one-sided. Her pride demanded that she hold herself to a higher standard, but her heart insisted that it wouldn't matter if he never loved her back so long as he didn't send her away; that she could live her whole life quite happily just on the doorstep to his inaccessible heart, never setting foot inside.

"Sakura?" Kakashi patted her head again to draw her attention, watching her rapidly changing array of emotions with amusement. "He needs you. I don't think he realizes just how much yet, but he needs you. Don't stop fighting for him. He'll come around."

She softened, a little reassured by his words. Was it alright for her to hope that his interest in her was not only sexual? Was it alright to imagine that this might be her golden opportunity—the start of something beautiful?

"I've loved him for so long." she said.

"I know you have." Kakashi replied. "So go with him, Sakura."

Pause. He smiled slyly.

"And don't forget to use protec-"

Red-faced and frazzled, she bonked him over the head with her fist before he could finish his sentence, knowing full-well what he was about to say.


TL;DR version:

Sakura: *naughty dreams*

Random scrub: I love you

Sakura: holy hell you're not Sasuke ew

Random scrub: have my babies

Sakura: kthnxbai

Kakashi: go, follow your dreams

Sakura: Omg ok

Kakashi: you gonna bang hohoho /wise guru