Sakura was avoiding him again.
She was polite and friendly when she spoke to him, but she never allowed herself to be alone with him again. At group dinners, she sat away from him; whenever they hung out at Ino's or Naruto's, she found ways to occupy herself so she was never forced to converse with him one on one. She made sure to excuse herself from activities if there was the slightest chance she'd end up in his car.
After the progress they'd made – the decision they made, together, to attempt to be friends – Sasuke felt this was unacceptable.
He was aware that he was allowing her to become an obsession, but he knew right down to his core that there was something going on that she wasn't telling him. And the thought that she was still holding out on him after all this time drove him crazy.
She told me why she left, he thought, discreetly watching her flounce around the kitchen with Ino, laughing as they mixed drinks together. Madara convinced her it was in my best interest if she broke up with me. But that doesn't explain why she left.
Or how freaked out she was when we ran into him the other day.
"Want one, Sasuke?" Sakura asked suddenly, smiling at him with a margarita in her hand.
"Aa," he said, standing and crossing Ino's living room to accept the drink. He intentionally brushed his fingers against hers to gauge her reaction. Predictably, she flinched and recoiled the second the drink was passed, her cheeks flushed.
His eyes narrowed as she skittered back into the kitchen like nothing had happened.
They were hanging out at Ino's, what with the bad weather outside forcing them inside. Most of the wedding preparations were already taken care of. The dresses had been bought, the tuxedos had been rented, the reception hall had been booked, Tenten's Aunt Anko agreed to bartend for free, and international rock sensation Akatsuki was playing the reception for free. Now with everyone on break from school and work, and very little left in the way of wedding planning, they all had quite a bit of free time with an entire week before the wedding.
Sasuke found himself increasingly desperate to get Sakura alone, the more she attempted to avoid him.
They'd hated each other at first, kissed each other in the heat of the moment, resolved to be friends, hung out a few times as friends, and then, out of nowhere, Sakura was back to treating him like a leper. And he despised it, because he knew something must have happened to make her react like this. Something she didn't want him to know.
But how do I get her alone to find out? He wondered, downing the entire margarita in one swallow and setting the empty glass on the table.
"Hinata," said Neji, his voice cutting across the music playing on Ino's stereo. "It's time to go. We'll be late for dinner."
"Already?" Naruto whined, setting down the Xbox controller and wringing his hands. "Aw, man!"
"Tell me about it," Tenten agreed with a roll of her eyes, as two Hyuugas and their two significant others stood to leave. "They treat dinner like a goddamn debutante's ball. Hinata can I borrow a dress? I'm sure if I showed up there like this," she indicated her T-shirt and shorts combo, "your dad would throw me out on my ass."
"N-No problem," said Hinata with an understanding smile.
"You takin' me out tonight, Shikamaru?" asked Ino with a grin, that brooked no room for refusal.
"Shit," he mumbled. "Guess we're all leavin', then. You guys coming?" he asked, of Sasuke and Sakura, whose plans had yet to be announced.
"Nah, I'm gonna stay in tonight," said Sakura with a wave of her hand. "I'm a little tipsy. Think I'm just gonna watch a movie or something."
Bingo, thought Sasuke. Here was his opportunity. Naruto, Hinata, Neji and Tenten would be at the Hyuuga dinner, which was bound to take hours; Shikamaru and Ino were going on a date, and would likely end up at Shikamaru's for the night. And Sakura wasn't going anywhere.
"Going home," Sasuke said, knowing he couldn't outright say he had no plans to leave; if Sakura knew he was determined to stay and drag some answers out of her, she would have hastily joined Ino and Shikamaru just to avoid him. He stood up, too, shoving his hands in his pockets and joined the exodus leaving Ino's apartment.
"Bye, everyone!" Sakura sang, closing the door behind her.
Sasuke waited while the others filed into their cars and cabs, then immediately reentered the apartment complex. Determined, he stalked back up the stairs he'd just taken down, and opened the door. Unlocked. Typical Sakura.
She wasn't in the living room when he slipped back inside, shutting the door quietly behind him. He listened for a sign of Sakura, and heard the water running in the bathroom.
Remembering her much-adored habit of taking baths while it was raining outside, he smirked. Got you.
Sure enough, he heard music coming from the bathroom, followed by a soft, luxurious sigh that told him Sakura was in the water and thoroughly enjoying herself. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He had her exactly where he wanted her.
The possibility of seeing her naked again – the first time in years – wasn't exactly a turnoff either. She'd gotten exponentially more beautiful over the past two years, he had to believe that applied to her killer figure as well.
With soft, purposeful steps, he made his way down the hallway, paused for just a moment outside the bathroom door, then opened it and stepped inside.
"Didja forget something, Pig?" she asked, thinking it was Ino, but when she turned and saw him instead, her eyes went wide and her cheeks turned scarlet. "S-SASUKE?! What are you doing here, I'm taking a bath!"
The generous amount of bubbles she'd added to the steaming water concealed her body from view, but just the enticing sight of Sakura with her hair pinned up and her face flushed was enough to send a spike of desire right through his whole body.
"We need to talk," he said flatly. He shut the door behind him and folded his arms to show he wasn't moving, and neither was she.
"I'm naked!" she squealed.
"Nothing I haven't seen before," he said shortly. Or would mind seeing again.
"Sasuke this is crazy, you can't just run in on people taking a bath, go wait in the hallway!"
"Not giving you the chance to run away again," he snapped. "Something's goin' on with you. I want to know what it is."
"This again?" she demanded, looking angry – and a little nervous, which was telling. "Damn it, Sasuke, you're being paranoid! Nothing's going on!"
"You're been avoiding me," he accused, watching guilt flash through her eyes before she reached for her anger again. "Don't try to deny it. What the hell's going on with you?"
"I am not having this conversation right now," she sniffed. "Get out of the bathroom, Sasuke."
She snatched a towel hanging on the rack beside the bathtub and before he could see anything noteworthy, she was standing with the terrycloth wrapped around her, clinging to her soaking wet curves. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he fought his attraction; right now wasn't the time to ogle her like a horny schoolboy.
"I'm just stressed, okay?" Sakura snapped finally, climbing out of the bathtub. She stalked up to him to glare in his face. "I've got so much waiting on me back at home," and he hated the way she called Suna 'home,' "and my job's been calling me nonstop to get me to come back to work, and I don't have a ton of time before my next med school quarter, and my landlord's complaining that I've been away for so long, and…"
All of these were legitimate reasons that might stress Sakura out; a month away from her job and apartment was bound to take a toll on anyone.
But he knew her better than that.
"That doesn't explain why you won't be alone with me," he murmured, intentionally lowering his voice.
He watched her eyes darken with a familiar desire, and tried not to let that distract him.
"Maybe I'm afraid of this," she hissed, referring to the rapidly-dwindling distance between them.
"Never took you for a coward," Sasuke murmured.
Sakura rested her forehead against Sasuke's collarbone, and his nostrils flooded with her natural floral scent. His hands clenched into fists as he fought the urge to pull her into his arms.
"It's best if we don't do this," she whispered. "It'll make it…it'll make it so much harder, next week."
Sasuke understood 'next week' to mean when she returned to her life in Suna.
One of his hands slipped to the back of her neck, and he felt her pulse quicken. Growling lightly under his breath, he murmured, "It doesn't have to be like that."
"I can't be with you, Sasuke," Sakura said weakly, and he couldn't see her face, but he knew she was crying.
Abruptly, through the haze of lust and determination, Sasuke felt a stab of wild anger.
No, he thought furiously. I'm not gonna take this shit anymore.
"That's not good enough!" he snarled, and he felt Sakura flinch at the sudden change in his temper. She lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him, teary eyes wide and eyebrows knit in confusion. He didn't blame her; he could count on one hand the number of times he'd raised his voice to her.
His hands dropped to her biceps instead, her skin damp from her interrupted bath, and as smooth and toned as he remembered it.
"I deserve more than that," he snapped.
It was Sakura who closed the distance between them.
What have I done? Sakura thought, eyes wide in alarm as she took off down the street.
Everything had happened so quickly. She'd gone to take a bath, convinced that she was completely alone, Sasuke had accosted her wanting answers she simply couldn't give, they'd fought…
Followed by an hour of the roughest, wildest, most violent, most beautiful sex she'd ever had.
Everything they couldn't say to each other, they'd communicated with their bodies. She hadn't slept with anyone after leaving Sasuke two years ago and he admitted he hadn't, either; two years of anger and rage and frustration and longing culminated in that complete and utter surrender they'd just engaged in. It was only after he'd made her scream his name and see in new colors that she realized how badly she'd fucked up.
Madara wants me to stay away from Sasuke, she thought, her feet moving quick as lightning on the sidewalk, bathed in the streetlights overhead. So I avoided him. I made sure if he was with me, someone else was there so there wouldn't be anything for Madara to worry about. I fucking know he's watching me. What was I thinking. What the HELL was I thinking?!
Easy. She hadn't been thinking. She let the tension boiling between she and Sasuke erupt. She let her heart win out over her head. Knowing how dangerous Sasuke's uncle was, knowing she'd been threatened to keep away from him, she'd gone and slept with him.
The feeling that she was being watched hadn't gone away. Her heart pounded. Her thighs were bruised, the area between them sore; she couldn't even enjoy the endorphins. Catching a glimpse of her reflection in a store window as she hurried past, she spotted none of the afterglow that should have been all over her body.
There was only fear.
It felt like she couldn't breathe.
I have to get out of here, she thought, panicking. Sasuke was coming after her. She'd run out on him the second he'd rolled off of her, pausing only long enough to throw some clothes on. She knew he would catch up to her soon, and that if he did, she wouldn't be able to keep all of her secrets.
I have to go home, she thought firmly. To Suna. I can't stay here. It's too much. I can't risk this anymore.
Sasuke didn't know where she lived in Suna. She sincerely hoped the same was true for Madara. She would be safe there. She could come back for Naruto and Hinata's wedding – one day – but there was no need to stay in Konoha until then.
Ino would understand. Ino could cover for her. She needed to get to the airport. Buy a fucking plane ticket and get the hell out of here.
"SAKURA!" she heard from behind, and she let out a cry of terror. It was Sasuke.
Stay away from me, she thought, racing to the street corner, her head whipping left and right to check for cars before she crossed. Please please PLEASE, Sasuke, you can't know. I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
"Sakura wait!" Sasuke shouted. She heard his footsteps pounding on the cement even through the heavy rain. She gritted her teeth and took off across the street. "SAKURA LOOK OUT!"
There was a terrible screech, and Sakura whirled around, eyes wide; a van was speeding towards her, in the street.
They're not even trying to stop, she thought, in numb, hollow dread.
She was too shocked to even move. The van sped towards her, highbeams illuminating her stunned, panicked face; just before she was struck, though, someone threw an arm around her waist from behind and yanked her out of the van's trajectory.
"Damn it, Sakura!"
She hit the sidewalk in a crumpled heap, Sasuke crushing her to his body in a desperate protective motion. If it hadn't been for him – if he hadn't seen that van coming, if he hadn't pulled her out of the way…
"What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded, sitting up and shaking her. He was soaked with rain, his eyes wild and panicked and desperate. "Sakura you were almost killed! What the hell are you doing?!"
It was Madara, she thought, staring at Sasuke, both of them wet and shaking and breathing hard. He really…he really meant to kill me.
I can't. Sasuke please forgive me.
"I'm getting away from you," Sakura said harshly, injecting as much animosity into her voice as she possibly could. She shoved him away from her and jumped to her feet in the same instant.
"From…"
"That's right, asshole!" she screamed, wiping rain and tears from her eyes. "I knew you'd fucking use me again the second I came back here, and you did! You took advantage of me, you prick. You got me alone and…"
"Shut up, Sakura." Sasuke's voice was full of so much rage, she was astonished he hadn't slapped her right across the face. He stood up, too, his T-shirt clinging to his muscled chest, his fists trembling at his sides. "That's not what happened."
Hate me, Sasuke. Make this easier for both of us. Hate me like I hate myself.
"I don't love you!" she lied, snarling her words like an animal. "I never did! I should never have come back here. This whole night was a mistake. I'm going home, Sasuke. I hate Konoha. I never want to be here again. You can tell Hinata and Naruto I'll be back for their fucking wedding but until then I don't want to see or hear from any of you!"
The look on his face shattered what was left of her heart. There was still so much anger, such a fierce, wild intensity…but underneath that, in the darkness of his eyes, was an agony Sakura could more than understand, because she felt it, too.
I love you, she thought desperately. I'm sorry you can't know. I'm sorry I came back. I'm sorry for everything.
"Then go," Sasuke said coldly.
Ice settled between them on a warm, rainy summer night. Ice that could sever the tenuous bonds they'd clung to like desperate children over the years. She watched the pain in Sasuke's face morph into something else entirely.
Hatred.
It's how it has to be, she thought, horrified at the reality. He has to hate me. It's the only way he'll let me go.
"Get the hell out of here," he snapped. "I won't stop you. I never could, and I sure as hell won't try anymore."
Sakura turned her back on him, refusing to let him see how his words – the words she needed to hear, to protect them both – destroyed her.
She knew then, that it was over. Whatever Madara decided to do next, if he spared her or if he had her run down the next morning.
It was all over. He'd won.
She'd never try again.
note.. i wrote a sex scene for this jawn, too. doing some polishing and what have you and i'll have it up on my livejournal later on. link's in my profile. (y'alls know MA content is against the rules. i don't care if everyone else is doing it.)
anyway. hope you liked it, i know it's been awhile. if you did, let me know. if not, blog about it somewhere else :)
xoxo daisy :)
