::CHAPTER XIV – His game; a one in a million girl::
.
.
.
"You will not order me to stay on the sidelines and be a simple voyeur to the destruction of my Village like the first time Uchiha Sasuke–kun."
Metaphorically, Sasuke couldn't decide the source of that pabulum filling her angelic demeanor with so much acerbity in an instant turning her into another mask –one of the multiple faces that Sakura fostered deep into her conscious– but it trimmed into his own skull, making him tilt his head to peep to her over his shoulder and literally drank the fire in her luminous crystalline orbs, seething in exacerbation as she held his apparently breviloquent claret saturated hues.
"What?" Putting aside her blustering response, Sasuke pondered about the meaning of her seemingly trenchant way of adding a mocking suffix to his name, giving it a less important resonance in contradiction to how she literarily spilled acrimony when enunciated his family name somehow, silently conveying to him that she was not fretting out by the resonance of his notorious clan`s reputation –in discordance to how the ninja before her nearly wobbled in fear.
"Don`t try to be a fetching heroine because you will not impress anyone and nor will you be able to confront that ninja all by yourself while being chakra depleted."
To amuse and perplex Sasuke further, a quixotic smile slithered along her lips, one that was contemptuous and ritzy as it was delicious and daring, responding with the same coltish zeal with a smidgen of self–gratification that he was underestimating her severely.
"It`s time for you to stop assuming that I am simply a weak defenseless woman who is not capable of holding her ground and stepping with pride and fortitude in a world dominated by men."
Having proclaimed something pertaining to the doctrines of a proud feminist, Sakura swerved from the momentarily astounded Uchiha`s back, encircling his form until she came in front of him and haphazardly she hurdled straight ahead with the agility of a splendid feline landing gracefully with her toes tapping on the tattered vegetation, without making a single ruffle through the blades of the grass or the maze of leaves, the sound of her body perishing through the maze of silence.
"That idiot... tsk," Sasuke clicked on his tongue in sheer exasperation at Sakura`s brazen attitude ransacking a hand through his ebony locks to temper his flaming annoyance, orbs gyrating hypnotically in the pattern of a constellation blazing their unparalleled power as he focused on his target but not letting Sakura stray away from his field of view; somehow, the mere figment of her being injured during her moment of wading into the solstice of acting like a sacrificial piece and die as a hero, made his chest ache and clench painfully. "she is going to get herself killed."
He let her taste the sweetness of her illusory victory not wanting to shatter that dream for her as he understood that she needed it to moor to something palpable in the moment when nothing around her seemed to make any more sense; his presence caused a turbulence, a rift into her seemingly unsoiled existence and thus he will let her pander to that moment of shining and feeling herself important and having a purposein life.
And that was exactly the motivation that Sasuke needed in order not to interfere when Sakura landed right behind those brazen shinobi and, gluing her digits together as she flung her hands in front of her like a gracious dragonfly seemingly designing a shield in front of her in a familiar gesture that ancient warriors versatile and skilled in the arts of Kung Fu fancied, gracefully letting her right foot slide in front of the other one as she kept her left one slowly bent and stable, dropping into clearly fighting stance, ready to strike, her position harboring so much elegance and fluidity that it was beautiful even to someone as formidable as Uchiha Sasuke.
Deciding that he would have plenty of time to amuse himself, Sasuke flickered his form to a high branch of a nearby tree, letting his enemy know that he will not intervene for now. Their perplexed figures as the Iwa shinobi realized it just how blatantly they were being ridiculed was pure comedy relief.
Of course, his moves were too rapid and subtle for anyone to notice the sudden change in the atmosphere around while Sasuke`s lips curled into a content side smirk, one that even Sakura overlooked or mistaken for his regular arrogance.
'First, we set up the stage and then we invite the actors to play before the gasping public.'
"Hn. If you so desperately crave to impress me Sakura... then who am I to stop you?" He crisscrossed his arms over his sculpted chest as his pectorals swelled displaying all the ranges of his toned muscles, gaze pinned to the comical scene before his eyes until his keen orbs caught a tiny detail about Sakura that had his stance stiffen abruptly as entertainment has been vanishing from his sight and immediately his star-shaped irises bled and swirled hypnotically, focusing on Sakura only and her wrists.
'What the hell?' She should not be capable of draining chakra and yet... Sharingan blazing an ominous luminescence as he focused on how Sakura`s smothered chakra –her unique pink imprint– gleaming through her chakra vessels seemed to be seeping in small soupcons with the help of his chakra that was percolating from his Jutsu around her wrists, like a planet attracting its natural satellite, giving her an ounce of strength, but instead of it baffling and scaring him, Sasuke found it incredibly entertaining and interesting.
"So… the Jutsu is having a flaw, huh? Interesting." Prompting his shoulder against the trunk of the tree arms folded upon his chest not even paying it much need about the calloused bark which was grazing the soft skin of his shoulder, with his smirk glinting from behind the sheltering leaves, amused to no end by what he was discovering and at the same time, basking into the insane delight of feeling Sakura`s feelings mixing with the adrenaline venturing along her every pore as a vestige of the blood of a warrior crammed into her veins, Sasuke simply stared as the air around turned into a sober coldness and a lush tension lingering into the air as the quietude before the storm enveloped the entire landscape.
The electrifying indescribable sensation of anticipation right before an upcoming clash was always unique and rather beautiful to Sasuke.
"The core of a shinobi never changes." Sasuke remarked with amusement as something welled inside of him prideful and contemplative while seeing Sakura being so brave, albeit her flimsy fragility shimmered inside her as she was barely kissed by the cusp of womanhood.
Never losing the earmark finesse and elegance in movements, Sakura closed her emerald orbs for a moment and huffed twice seemingly controlling and regulating her breathing and suddenly, the entire atmosphere around her volte-face into something serious, fluid and overwhelming but at the same time pleasant, perfumed and so reminiscent to the caress of a wind which could be so fallacious as it was both a lethal weapon or a pleasant breeze and when she opened them up again, she was already laughing forward with pride and courage, despite the tremendous disadvantage.
Leashing to powerful enemies while being chakra depleted and without any choice weapons to balance the inequity of power at her disposal, was something that only a crazy shinobi would do, but Sakura did it without any smidgen of diffidence in her naturally gutless nature, and thus Sasuke soon realized that her sentiments for the Village were strong and genuine if she was adamantly diving head first into a fruitless clash without hesitance.
'She is so going to hate me for this when she finds out...' Sasuke inwardly chuckled as he witnessed Sakura`s heels revving like she was a fugitive shadow in the wind and, being as easy as the embroidered veil of silk and sateen of a bride, speeding to the first shinobi that was currently with his back on her, waiting in an obvious tension for the enemy to reveal his face.
"Come out come out wherever you ar–" His pathetic chanting that was so shaky and betrayed anxiety and incapability of controlling his own emotions during a fight have been cut short when Sakura dashed to him with her palm thrusting forward in a similar fashion to how he used his Chidori infused palm to strike, but her martial arts were so very different than what he was used to; truly fitting for an ancestry that has been meticulously preserved into a sophisticated exclusive circle of Priests and Priestesses and practiced diligently and with flawless skill.
In all honesty, it was beautiful to watch her fight someone else because as much as she had her finesse intact, Sasuke knew that Sakura was a worthy opponent especially for a woman and her control over her movements, so smooth and impeccable was admirable as she used that infinitesimal portion of chakra to pour it into her blow and the moment her palm connected to the back of that careless shinobi`s nape expertly targeting a lethal point, he could almost envision a spiral of wind oozing from under her fingertips as his Sharingan allowed him to see how Sakura bent and molded the air around her as it was her Chakra Nature and sent him whirlwind like a broken wooden puppet, as he hit the wet canopy ungracefully landing on his jaw and the sinister sound of broken bones reached Sasuke`s ears.
Said imbecile groaned once in pain as it broke from his limp body before he rolled his orbs on the back of his head, defeated, humiliated and unconscious and in all honesty, Sasuke was surprised that Sakura didn't show any mercy to her opponent considering the fact that she was a Priestess and naturally she was neutral to any of the miseries and hatred simmering within the shinobi world, but he understood that she didn't take any more risks –like she did with him.
'Smart girl, she learns fas.'. The more he witnessed her unabashedly display of emotions that were kept secluded into the depths of her mind, the more a primal need kindled a strong desire to have her again, taste her and nip on her lustrous skin as she would probably revolt and try to fight him, but that rough manner to sleep with her when witnessing her resolve to dissipate under the multiple layers of obvious lust and need to stir something urgent inside him; overwhelming, sizzling and demonic.
"How much more of a sweet enigma can you be Sakura?" Deciding that her passion was worth following the sophistication of her moves, of her precise and flawless martial arts as she thrust and bent her limbs with so much artistry, skill and mastery was sublime.
It has been such a long time since Sasuke has seen someone being versatile in such ancient martial arts without relying on Ninjutsu at all, only using elements of the nature in their purest form to add magic to her kicks and honestly, he was being delighted by her; by her entire being, both the young woman and the kunoichi.
She was a captivating mirage, beautiful but strong and serious but at the same time never losing grace and innocence. And she was so very fast! How was it possible to combine that level of flexibility and speed was almost surreal especially for a woman whose suave body shouldn't be capable to summon so much power, but there she was laughing into the face of all his preconceptions.
Something very explicit, sinful, forbidden and graphic flickered into Sasuke`s body and the need to have her again, rough, animalistic and unleashed while being inside her hard, merciless and hot, deep and delicious made adrenaline and hormones blind him with a raging lust that was as overwhelming as it set a latent beastly side of him free from its cage.
She was so very conversant and ingenuous with using both her hands and legs to strike, his Sharingan followed –and of course copied– her rapid precise strikes, how her palms were fluttering like they were snakes swiftly lashing to her enemies, sparring every single blow of the ninja`s seemingly sloppy Taijutsu moves and the difference in class, in style and smoothness was implacable and artful.
Sakura moved like she was playing the notes of a Grand Piano instead of controlling the flow of the battle smartly, not granting her enemy the advantage of using their Ninjutsu since she could not unleash her enigmatic techniques to witnessed her versatility with swords and somehow... Sasuke felt disappointed that Sakura was not using her own katana to fight those shinobi for he was positive that she would look more enthralling and captivating while fighting rebelliously dotted in his clothes.
Damn if that panoramic side of her supple long legs adding the final finishing to her swift movements was not a picture to kill, to seduce, to beguile and enthrall then Sasuke didn't know the true meaning of the word 'sensuality'.
Sakura moved like the wind, sharp, elegant as her blows and blocks came in rapid staccato succeeding simultaneously to her attacking as those shinobi simply couldn't comprehend the pattern of her effortless fighting moves as they kept on getting in a succeeded in a striking cadence.
All the distinctive noble Chines elements from their culture mixed together with the symbols of Boar, Snake, Monkey and Rabbit as she completed multiple fluid moves and what was even more mesmerizing about her fighting skills was that she was bare-handed, without any ninja tools at her disposal and armed with only her zeal to protect what she behold dearly and a ferocious ambition that even baffled Sasuke.
If Sakura was capable of nourishing so much love for her Village and its residences, then what about when she found a man that she adored? Will she bestow him the same type of strong feelings of affection?
"What the fuck am I thinking about?" Sasuke shook his head scoffing at his own train of thoughts as he quickly he shook his head to scatter those traitorous feelings away as a fine-grained perfumed breeze flittered through his raven locks, and he hastily focused back on the fighting scene, impressed that Sakura was succeeding in stopping any single hand sign of her enemies that might have vouchsafed them to use their Ninjutsu.
Of course, those shinobi had some noticeable strength at their disposal but they had no brain at all; luckily her that they were to as intelligent and conniving as he was when he was her opponent otherwise, without her Ninjutsu she wouldn't have been able to engage them face to face into a Taijutsu showdown.
"Why are you hesitating you spineless morons, she is just a weak woman! Get her!" Their leader hollered in visible stupefaction and vexation as his men were scampered around a Sakura who was exchanging strong and precise blows engaging them into an artistic display of beautiful Kung Fu martial arts, a technique that had no adversary among them and that made him fret out.
Their leader knew precisely that she was not the strongest opponent out of the two of them, but something else made him hesitate and prevent him from acting impetuously as his comrades fell into a forlorn free with this woman; she wore a disheveled oversized article of clothing with an intriguing symbol sewed on its back and, albeit he was not precise whether it truly belonged to her or was just a chivalrous gesture to preserve her modesty, he recognized the fearsome symbol out of millions.
Had it been someone else in his place, then Sasuke would have already been rolling on the ground laughing hysterically at what was transpiring before his eyes, but he had more dignity and pride so he only tittered darkly realizing that everyone was completely oblivious about what was happening.
The abominable sight of a red and white flag ebbed on the dark fabric stood out proud, arrogant a defying being the symbol of power, of notoriety and unknown powers.
That was what Uchiha name was capable of doing to an enemy as he goes more cautious around this woman.
But he knew from the whispered rumors that Uchihas had striking peculiar traits and this exotic beauty with angelic feats ebbed on her serious and determined warrior feats was in complete antithesis to what she was. Looks can be deceiving, though...
He flickered his cocoa brown orbs to his left side as his companions spurt forward roaring on their heels as they drew their kunai's from the ninja pouches wrapped in bandages around their thighs, curious about what would she do as the woman didn't exude much versatility in the arts of ninjutsu or ninjutsu and that was also puzzling; an Uchiha was gifted and skilled in all the three ninja arts, but not this woman. Interesting.
Two of the ninjas with peculiar shaped honed kunai drew from their ninja pouch leaped to her from opposite direction and a quick peep on both her sides had Sakura already anticipate their movements as she blocked them with her hands thrust forward under their jaw, then she crisscrossed them in a circular motion, while serving on her heel revving to gain speed and let her heels upshot from the ground smoothly, effortlessly like a white swan into a beautiful prim-ballerina and performed a circular kick with both her feet digging into their chests and sending them ricocheting on their backs as she landed swiftly with an impeccable fluidity and balance, quickly collecting their dropped kunai from the ground swirling them into her skillful lean fingers and adjusting them into a very interesting grip to suit her fashion of fighting.
"You," The Leader seethed through his gnashing teeth as he casually stepped beside his fallen comrades as they were having a shaking hand warped around their midsection trying to stand up and focus between droplets of mood and grass dirtying their forms and clothes how he spat at a slightly surprised Sakura. "are you from the Uchiha clan?"
Sakura didn't fathom his purpose of asking her such a derisive question at first since they already recognized Sasuke who decided to be a bystander and was probably enjoying himself as seeing her fight alone, but a quick glance to the hem of Sasuke`s T-Shirt that brushed past her thighs was enough to provide a plausible explanation for his confusion and she tilt her head to the side to hit the flurry feeling in her chest when he involuntarily made that association with him and provided a fallacious answer that any shinobi would, considering how they had to make perfect use of the deception and the element of surprise.
"Will it make your sound defeat less humiliating and revolting if I did?" Didn't anyone know that the Uchiha clan was extinct except for one single survivor?
'then why have they…'
Sasuke was befuddled at her sudden switch of attitude because for one moment... Sakura seemed to have lost that pristine figure with rutilant cheeks of a child receiving candies for Christmas and smelling a vanilla and cinnamon bread loaf made by his grandma and her sly smile was as fallacious as it was sensual, seductive and almost... dark. She looks different in a way that I cannot explain.
"You are forcing your luck with us you conniving bitch!" The man`s fists trembled in pure choler as he saw this fine-grained woman with traits of innocence ebbed all around her person not actually believing his eyes that the raven haired mysterious man was granting a woman the privilege to fight. Was he being derisive or just underestimated their skills?
Still... he narrowed his gaze on the stoic male who was being just a silent voyeur somewhere close to them almost like being a referee or an alley to intervene when things will get out of hand and he could not help when a sudden figment trimmed against his brain.
What was that strange sensation of dizziness suddenly brimming through his mind and why was that man looking so… familiar to him? What the heck?!
Unlike this woman with questionable ancestry, that half naked man with sculpted lithe physique and obvious shinobi training had something distinctive and very unique about him, something that has travelled all around the shinobi world, being latched to all the whispering lips in both fear and grudge; those black sapphire eyes shining of a smoldering intensity that could melt any smidgen of defiance in a heartbeat without even batting an eyelash.
His handsome face and phlegmatic attitude betrayed absolutely nothing, he was the perfect embodiment of a Roman sculpture statue, representative for the beauty and strength of a sturdy emperor but it gave nothing of what was churning inside his mind away, and that overflowing diffidence had its core into an enigmatic power that he obviously kept concealed for now, so as he allowed himself to be so casual and discompassionate, almost amused.
Then everything fell into place as she pieces of the puzzle whirled together into a spiral and his orbs went wide in consternation; and when his gaze landed back on the man`s seemingly focused figure seeing those demonic irises glowing in the unmistakable shades of a bleeding horizon and realizing that the woman was just a bait, a distraction as she obviously wore his clothes with an Uchiha crest on it –that a poser will never dare to counterfeit if not pertaining to the family– he nearly stammered.
'Didn't this just happen moments ago? Is this a deja-vu?' Confusion started to take roots into the Iwa shinobi`s minds as their leader was caught into an obvious internal battle as he blinked slowly several times then shaking his head almost like the figments in his mind couldn't make much sense.
"Y-You!" He nodded to Sasuke whose orbs were latched to Sakura as her magnetic presence was capturing his attention and he simply could not diverge his eyes from her person. "You are from the Uchiha clan!"
Sakura, along with the falling Iwa shinobi`s orbs traveled between Sasuke and the leader who had a furious expression tinge with a bit of apprehension as he darted his orbs to Sasuke who in return did only flickered his orbs to him, a hollow expression dropping his seemingly impassive figure. "You are that Uchiha Sasuke! The famous criminal!"
Here is when he nearly scoffed at the man for disrupting the beautiful flow of action with his genius rant and his sarcasm could not get any further.
Sakura on the other hand couldn't comprehend a single thing about whatever was happening around. It was almost like they suddenly forgot that they have just realized it for starters that Sasuke was from the Uchiha clan… almost like the time frames didn't match.
'Sasuke, what is going on?' Whatever was affecting those enemies was clearly not influencing her but other than that, Sakura was just at loss of words and baffled, but she decided to trust Sasuke and thus she did not turn around to look at his lissome form, never removing her eyes from the enemy, not saying a word about this.
It was almost like they never had that moment of psychological confrontation of exchanging names and claiming that they knew about Sasuke and his group. Sadly she realized that Sasuke was indeed infamous for his malapropism if basically any single rogue shinobi knew about him.
'But they don't know him like I do, no one knows how gentle and caring he could be…' Like the perfect secret lover.
"What gave me away?" Sasuke`s velvety baritone voice brimmed through everyone's spine as it sounded velvety rich but implacable, unscrewing with a bit of boredom in it, but Sakura knew better that he was rather displeased with being recognized.
"My clothes on her?" And he actually curled his lips into a side mocking smirk cocking his head to Sakura as she seemed to be melting under his stare into the ground.
"Damn it!" The leader of the group of attacking shinobi was quick to realize that Sasuke Uchiha was his real adversary and not the woman, albeit she too had her fair share of skills.
"Minna listen to me," He snarled at his falling comrades which barely stood on their feet without their knees to buckle as he ordered. "we have to take Uchiha down first if we want to crush the Leaf!"
Sasuke could simply not stifle a short chuckle when he heard that feeble amusing ambition. They could not even defeat a chakra-depleted Sakura and there they were aiming to take on him? Were they stuck in the head?
Duh, obviously! They must have gone bananas to even consider such a thing.
"Neither of you is going to lay a finger on the Leaf because you must get through me first!" Shockingly, it was Sakura the owner of that dogged feminine voice as all the orbs present landed back on her and Sasuke`s smirk only widened as it slain across his lips.
He watched as her strong-willed inner personality, one of the two masks that she swept with the artistry of an actress, had her dash to her enemies as they had no reaction or weapons to fight her.
Whatever Sasuke was scheming and planning was clearly not hindering her movements and thus he entrusted her with this fight for a reason that she couldn't fathom, but she has learned it rather quickly that Uchiha Sasuke was someone who did nothing on a mere caprice, nothing! He was always calculating his steps and never mistaking, he never acted excessively or in vain.
To Sasuke, it was simply stupendous how Sakura was able to effortlessly perform all those rapid successions of circular movements in simply sublime rotations, using both her legs and arms to block all the kicks and deflect from all those amateurish looking less grateful blogs and attacks of her opponents.
His Sharingan allowed him to fully satiate from that delicious display of her pure battle skills as following her moves in slow motion with much flaring effect; her lustrous hair was whirling around her in ethereal suave strokes as it was so long and sateen flimsy meandering around her lissome form and she looked like a warrior Princess defending her kingdom.
He clearly pictured her among the red blazing dragons with ruby scales and eyes of jade and expensive bright red and royal golden Chinese embroideries and silken kimonos and all that was sadly missing was her luscious fine sword to add to that aura of beautiful display of a woman`s strength without losing any single smidgen of elegance, beauty, and charm.
The eternal fascination for discovering the multiple faces of such an unpredictable woman, seducing him with implacable moves as her hands and legs were seemingly made of air, palms hitting her opponents as she handled her kunais masterfully, the weapons fluttering around her in maddening hypnotizing moves that even his Sharingan felt it challenging to copy, predict and keep up with.
Watching her so unleashed, strong and independent was like a fresh rush of adrenaline sending him into a coltish frenzy of both hunger to join the fight or challenge her after she was done humiliating those cretins and she was not even granted access to her chakra... what more could she possibly do to amuse him?
What if... he allowed her to use some more of his chakra as it would unlock her own as well? "I wonder if..."
Focusing intently on the intimate connection between the Jutsu as those filigree intricate Kanji designed on her skin tinged with a warm but intense purple glow as Sakura was not aware of what was happening focusing on her task at hand, Sasuke tried to envision his chakra fusing with the one that was suppressed into her veins and allowing her faster and stronger hits, realizing that the only way for it to work was to genuinely desire something so strongly, and he did. "Now let me see how splendid you are, my little Priestess. Amuse me further."
"Earth style: mood bullets!" Their leader waved a succession of rapid hand signs understanding that this woman`s Taijutsu was high-caliber and to something that they could top so he figured that his only chance was to surprise her with his ninjutsu as he realized it that the kunoichi was hardly infusing any chakra in her attacks and that particular detail disconcerted him.
"Wha–?" Sakura hoped that they would attack her from close distance so as she will have the advantage of her Taijutsu but when a shadow spanned around her from the rain of bullets made from solid rock and mood she panicked because she had no techniques available to dispel them if she couldn't use her chakra–
-she felt it! The familiar spike of Sasuke`s chakra infused into her system, so magnificent, delicious and potent, so distant and peculiar like she could never mistake it for anyone else`s own aura pervading through their connection as the purple radiance around her wrists enhanced in the glow.
"What the fuck is that?" Said caster of the technique had his hands fisted before his chest narrowing his orbs to slits as he tried to depict the core of the abnormal bracelets made of purple energy around Sakura`s wrists, a thing that he overlooked until now.
Leaning forward on her right leg quickly being her knee almost crouching down like she wanted to bow in front of him, Sakura shot her hands up with her palms facing the shower of earth style bullets and, focusing her energy and summoning her chakra as her fine-grained control was present and perfect, she didn't even have time to marvel at the easiness and nonchalance molding someone else`s chakra like it was her own; so natural and fit.
It was not just anyone`s chakra, but his chakra, Sakura`s inner self jubilated in pure frenzy at the visceral, essential and very personal connection between them. A technique whose purpose was to bind her into imprisonment turned into something so intimate as Sakura truly felt a warm sensation traverse her entire body at the concept of having a bond with Sasuke, one that had so much in-depth and poetry behind it.
"What?! No way man, how did she do that?!"
She heard the enraged shinobi simmer and bristle from behind his technique as the bullets hit the nearby trunks of the trees making the wood explode and shatter diagonally seemingly strike by lightning and drilled into the branches of the tree above, but never touching her.
Because somehow, Sakura summoned an invisible windshield around her from deflecting and eluding every single one of them as her heels slid backwards having difficulties in successfully blocking such a strong technique, but at the same time Sasuke`s chakra, as short as it was since Uchiha was not a nitwit to risk and give her large amounts so as to escape him or attack him, it was sufficient to help her overcome that pinch.
"Hm?" Sasuke himself was delighted and surprised to witness such a technique and not because it was something spectacular but because of something else that the cheap fools did not depict because their inquisitive and analytical shinobi skills were just that mediocre.
"She didn`t use any hand signs for that weird Jutsu." Albeit she definitely suffused it with chakra and that was something that Sasuke felt sound and clear resonating through their spiritual connection, along with her zeal to deflect it and a silent calling and a plea to him to help her.
'Oh, Kami she was begging for his help!'
No, not help but more like assistance and that nearly made Sasuke chortle at her arrogance. She considered them equals and overlooked the difference in power between them simply because Sasuke allowed her a moment to prove her stellar skills and be superb, when in reality his purpose was to lift up her mood and prove it to her that she was still valuable as a shinobi, despite her losing the traits of a Priestess; which was so futile and sapless in his opinion.
A side smirk slid across his lips as he realized it that Sakura had so many similar traits to him without even realizing it and that made the game even more captivating and entertaining. He must be really bored if he indulged into something so trivial...
So if that was not a normal Jutsu that required a pattern of hand signs, then... Could it be a Doujutsu? Now that made Sasuke curious and ruffled.
He knew that her past was shrouded in obscurity but could it be that she was pertaining to a certain clan and possessed a bloodline limit which allowed her to unleash such techniques?
If so... then why were her memories locked away and she was not allowed to remember her ancestry?
Simply because they did not want her to have any distractions from her purpose as a Priestess? To protect her from knowing about her identity and history? Somehow, Sasuke found it ironic and satiric how Sakura`s faith having its core into self-sacrifice was reminiscent to his brother`s sacrifice and both of them assumed and accepted their role with pride and devotion –a power that Sasuke did not possess.
"How stupid." Hystory and family was giving one his value and defined his personality, so the whole point in severing her from her roots and family was only to crush her personality in for this, a simmering hatred made Sasuke bridle in rage at her so called 'mentors'.
'More like captors…' He remarked sarcastically as they acted more like her captors and masters than him, who openly claimed it that she was his prisoner but unlike them, he was not trying to lie to her.
A mentor and a teacher were supposed to help one find his way and define his personality and not to turn her into a marionette without a shadow.
He could not forgive those people for what they did to Sakura albeit he was aware of the fact that this was not his problem and thus he had no reason to feel affronted but he did.
He returned his gaze back on a fighting Sakura, deciding that she was quickly losing the sparred iota of energy and her uneven puffs and gasps became irregular as her moves decreased in speed slowly but surely.
Of course, it was almost unnoticeable how she was slowly getting slower and less sharp, but his Sharingan caught every single detail and he was still marveled.
The precision, her amazing flexibility, that astonishing balance of a real ballerina as she was casually supporting herself on one leg as the other was suspended in a way that Sasuke might have deemed as humanly impossible landing a descending leg thrust against one of her opponents` skulls, even before he had the chance to toss a net of kunai in her way, catching him with his guard conveniently dropped.
Sakura looked like a suave dragonfly in its unperturbed flight, a gracious cherry blossom petal carried by the wind as human`s narrowed vision couldn't cup her jolly fluttering entirely, she moved as the wind itself turning into perfume and spreading around as her opponents had absolute zero ideas of how should they approach such a formidable fine enemy.
"You should have stayed away from off my Village!" Her musical warrior voice betrayed determination and strength but was oh– so delicious, so musical and beautiful and not to mention sensual. Sasuke simply couldn't peel his gleaming orbs off this woman; she entombed the captivation of a beautiful mirage.
He was afraid that if he tried to graze her skin with his fingertips, she would dissipate like smoke under his touch, melting like dew drops into the palm of his hand.
She was the polarized mirror of the young woman who gave herself to him completely earlier. That woman was still ravishing in her innocence as she waded and reveled into the first taste of being desired by a man, being with a man, obsequious but not entirely submitted or tamed, but still obedient and beautiful granting him full access to her body, to touch her gingerly and passionately.
Something dark stirred inside him to unravel this warrior side of Sakura more often as something else seemed to be overcoming her and that was something that his Sharingan could not submerge and dent into.
It had to do with those locked lost memories about her missing past and that perplexed the Uchiha more, along with the oath to unravel her every enigma.
He had clearly belittled her, underestimating her full capabilities but soon enough something has been confirmed.
Her spirit was stronger than her body and her fire burning determination kindled that passion for fighting for what she believed in without caring about her safety and that made Sasuke`s respect for her mount.
Just like her motives for offering her purity to him –from all the people– without losing her earmark ineffable and grace, in fact, now that he depicted the traits of a young lady trapped into the cusp of womanhood as finesse made her more mature and self-confident, she was even more enthralling now.
Something inside Sasuke`s chest flittered as a frisky sensation sizzled inside his chest when he watched her so confident, so intense about her fight, so serious, mysterious and yet angelic, distant and stupendous and that unnamed feeling felt so alien and yet so pleasant touching him gingerly making him nearly revel into the intensity of it as it mirrored the one in his Sharingan spinning orbs.
One particular move nearly had Sasuke wink twice in surprise to make sure that his Sharingan was not deceiving him; he only witnessed something similar to his older brother Itachi during his harsh years of training.
Sakura has just tossed a kunai at one of her opponents who approached her blindly from her left side trying to catch her unguarded in mid-air while she was still swirling like a hurricane with her hair draping her in a pink bride`s veil almost like she would turn into a cherry blossom tree or sprinkle into million petals hitting him straight in the forehead and that blow was nearly impossible for someone who did not possess a formidable vision or a doujutsu to enhance the precision of her aim and target.
Panting while her irregular breaths sent her adrenaline rush into overdrive and whipping her sweaty forehead with the back of her palm, fine-combing a hand through her virgin pink locks to brush them off behind her ear as they obstructed her view, Sakura looked around her carefully with a contemplative stare as the shinobi hastened to regroup and suddenly, they stood in line with their fingers latched into the same hand sign probably plotting the last Earth attack.
"You won`t escape us now bitch, I`ve got you cornered!" It was their leader the one to arrogantly grin at her as the trembles of the ground alerted Sakura about an upcoming decisive strong attack.
"Oh no... I cannot drain chakra anymore." Sakura noticed in horror as she tried to infuse some more of Sasuke`s chakra into the pattern of her own technique in vain because she has been left drained and withering like a flower without its essences.
She knew that it was only so much that Sasuke allowed her to use and actually she whipped her head over her shoulder to look in his general direction and froze in shock as she took in his expression; demonic, devoid of any emotion and not in the bit fazed by the event unfolding, casual and apparently relaxed and... smirking at her.
What was so amusing to him?
"Sasuke...?" He saw her murmur his name and his only regret was that he was not able to hear it clearly as she added that iota of suppressed affection and feeling into how she unrolled it out of her glossy mouth, inquisitive about his reason for sliding his hands into his pockets and, in an instant before her coltish eyes were capable to catch him, Sasuke vanished from her sight of view and before she blinked, he flickered his lissome form materializing right before her eyes a little bit too close to her, sauntering casually into her personal bubble and still smirking down at her; only acknowledging her.
"Wha– wait, what are you–?"
"—relax, Sakura." She reveled into the delicious sensuality of the quiver that flittered along her spine at the way he belted her name in a rich tenor resonance knowing exactly how to anticipate her desires, following her every reaction and breathing in every single fine detail about her demeanor with those red eyes of his.
She knew they were deadly weapons, lethal tools to destruction but at the same time, they are the vestige of Uchiha clan`s manifestation of smothered emotions bottled up in the vault of their hearts as they resurface as their earmark Doujutsu, making them rather beautiful and poetic in Sakura`s opinion.
A Priestess` deep insight and intuition will always see underneath it all and depict the beauty and the depths of every darkness, unraveling the grace in it because after all, the rarest most beautiful pearls resided encased into the deepest oceans and not just anyone could reach to them. "Sasuke? Oh no, the enemy–"
Swiveling on her heels as she mentally slapped herself for getting into a perfect trace around Sasuke as his mere presence beside her veiled her into a mantle of protection and safety as she turned to face her enemy, only... they all stood frozen and pinned into their place while their orbs were lackadaisically half lidded and drooling, unmoving and mumbling incoherent sentences seemingly trapped in a dream.
Confusion took over her senses as Sakura assessed those males waving her hands in front of them, comically to capture their attention with all those cute gestures resembling a cartoon heroine.
A wide range of comical facial expressions from pouts to frowns creased her beautiful face, all making Sasuke nearly snort audibly at how she immediately returned to her normal clumsy cuteness and innocence.
She was truly an allegory of spring`s abundance of fresh warm breezes and perfumed valleys filled with exuberant flowers and all those multiple faces that she displayed in her complex tenue thrived into a splendid and fascinating young woman.
"W–What is this Sasuke?" She asked glancing in the Uchiha`s direction as he was casually leaning against the trunk of the tree, smirking down at her in contemptuous satisfaction making her even more perplexed. "What is happening? Was that an illusion? Are we under a genjutsu? Oh, Kami we have to break through it!"
She was pretty smart for someone so frail and insecure about her own skills including her tortuous past, Sasuke decided but then again this kunoichi Priestess was astute and scheming and definitely intuitive when it came to ninja arts. "In a way yeah, this is indeed a Genjutsu."
"What is that supposed to mean?" She puckered her lips pouting at him while she kept on darting her orbs everywhere around like anticipating an upcoming blow, probably still not getting the gist of what was going on around her. "And why are you so relaxed? The enemy could be close and attack us while we are not on guar–"
"–the enemy and you," He interjected leaping casually until he was in front of her, noticing that he had his nin pants on –thanks Kami– meaning that he had enough time to idle and get dressed while she was fighting alone, hands in his pockets and keeping a preposterous expression coating his visage. "are under a genjutsu, but not me."
The look she gave him was enough to make him titter low and smug because she resembled one of that dumbfounded expression that Naruto had when they were discussing strategies, political affairs or negotiation.
"So… you have already broken from that illusion and did not warned me beforehand, knowing it all too well that I cannot break free from it without the help of my chakra or someone to infuse his own chakra into my body and wake up from it?"
She nearly scolded him and that audacious retort nearly had him frown, undeciding that she was already very amusing fretting out while submerging into her ungainliness, he decided to enlighten her.
With a single glimmer lowering his eyelids just enough to conceal those beautiful black pearl orbs from hers, he revealed another familiar shade of his irises to her this time, Sakura finding her breath hitching down her throat when the smirk slithering across his lips mirrored the sturdy arrogance netted with the saturated claret shade of his blood irises swiveling in torpid circles around his pupils, flouting her for not noticing the first time –but then again, he also tricked his enemy with it.
"Aa. I have not warned you prior to hurdling to those idiots because I knew that you won`t be harmed. They were already entrapped into my genjutsu from the very beginning."
And that was the simple explanation to why the enemy seemed to have never recognized Sasuke from the moment when he leaped into the tree and vanished from their sight, having enough time to casually return to the lake, get half dressed, return to witness Sakura`s splendid fighting skills, all the while maintaining his Genjutsu intact without any of them to notice.
Sasuke shrugged casually while she was left catching flies like it was all the outgrowth of his inner masquerade projected on the outside, and the others were just a bunch of pawns and mindless puppets. "You merely fought an unnecessary battle."
"T–Then why have you let me oppose them in vain if everything was already under your control?" Surprisingly she did not agonized at his choice of playing them all like they were part of an orchestra and he was their diligent conductor and the master of all the harmonies, not considering their feelings –or pride– in the bit and that hungry athirst to dominate and manipulate the flow of events really vexed Sakura.
"Did you have fun watching me engage into an illusory battle, while my feelings to protect what I hold dearly were real? Is this your awry way to humiliate me and laugh at me for feeling commitment for something while you are incapable of something so profound?"
She finished with a sizzling fluttering under the curve of her eyelashes as moisture nearly seeped from her lustrous orbs, polishing all the faces of the rough emerald diamond in her eyes.
Those elaborated insults about the obscurity in his narrow mind and limited vision about the surrounding world and ineptitude to connect to people`s hearts and care for them made the Uchiha`s smirk fade away and a slight scowl to create his handsome face.
Putting one foot in front of the other swiftly without making any ripple in the air molding into the shadows shattered by the million leaves of the trees, he traipsed towards her rasping.
"Yeah, I had much fun seeing you care so much for something that does not reciprocate your supposed feeble feelings enough to come to your rescue or even inquire about your identity or even your given name or family name... Sakura."
If her desires swayed into the direction of attacking each other psychologically by pointing to their flaws in life and feelings, then Sasuke too had his own weapons of choice at his disposal.
Sakura took a whooping step backwards when Sasuke stopped right in front of her entering her personal bubble like he owned that space too –owning her– tracing the tip of her tongue over her sateen lips and nearly stammered when his cruel words registered into her mind, but she refused to fall prey for his captivating smart illusion like his enemies.
"I don`t c–care... my purpose is not to question but to offer my help to the ones in need, in addition to p–protecting something valuable tremendous importance. Do not attempt to make me feel remorseful and guilty for something that has never crossed my mind so far."
"And this only proves that you are indeed very stupid, precisely because you are blindly following orders and this spineless attitude is what angers me the most at you Sakura."
Wrapping a muscular hand around her flute waist before she evaded him, Sasuke brought her flush into his bare chest making her gasp softly locking gaze with his intense one and drowning into his hard words.
"This servile humble little fairy Priestess who is not even interested in learning about her origins while keeping her amazon side well hidden deep inside her mind and only acts like an innocent frail lamb pleasing the others. What is wrong with you?"
His voice was huskier and going into a grave crescendo nearly losing his composure but this woman genuinely perplexed him with her dubious attitude.
Tears welled under the curve of her eyelids when his words ricocheted back and forth into her chest, pounding against her heart and stirring something inside her that brimmed into her brain and enkindle a torch that she did not know it existed, shaken by the resonance of Sasuke`s implication.
"I–I... am not a–" A soft breeze fluttered through the lavish leaves of the trees inspiriting the vegetation around, electrically charged, cool and symbolic ruffling their hair and clothes while whispers molded into the lush quietude around them.
"–a foreigner?" There has been a fleeting glint of a trenchant smirk traversing his lips but her befogged vision prevented Sakura from seeing clear while Sasuke`s resolute words tapped against her mind and the tension in her chest caged her like needles pinning the wings of a butterfly.
"A stranger… a foreigner with no roots or even a family name? Yeah that is what you are for this Village. So how can you still harbor feelings and foster caring for it when no one is actually blood-related to you or affiliated to you in any way?"
"Because of the Will of the Fire... his words," Her grim orbs still preserved a flickering luminescence deep inside of them surprising Sasuke as he stared deeply into those glimmering eyes and the more tears she tried to smother, the more his chest ached with a dull unexplainable pain.
"The honorable Third Hokage taught us all that as long as there is a strong Will to protect this Village and think of it as something precious and dear to us, then our feelings are all connected and thus this makes us all related."
Seeing as his orbs narrowed ever so softly in pure confusion probably mocking her for her convictions, Sakura went on with the same feverous faith and commitment as she took a bold step forward so as her full chest that was rounded and firm under his pampering cotton shirt brushed over his barren sculpted one. "There are more than just blood bonds connecting our hearts as one... I am pretty positive that you now perfectly clear what I am talking about..."
"...seeing how close you are to Naruto–kun and your other comrades, aren`t you? Even if you try to play the almighty King of loneliness and darkness, you cannot fully estrange yourself from the others, "because if there is at least one single person who still thinks about you and waits for you to return, wherever that person might be then you still have a home to return to and thus you are never lonely for real. Loneliness means complete abandonment," she eschews her gaze from inscrutable one as something about those sapphire orbs seemed to swallow the light from her own viridian ones, muttering softly barely audible.
"Loneliness and succumbing to darkness can only be accomplished when not a single soul spares a single memory of you or thinks about you anymore. But this is not the case because of as much as you try to rebuff, you still do behold your comrades dearly... and the memories of your family."
The tension and silence between them turned magnetizing and sizzling and suddenly Sakura felt like suffocating. She didn't dare a peep at the Uchiha`s face but his entire body language and his general aura betrayed suppressed fury.
She went on boldly as her emerald orbs waded into burning tears that contained all those amassed emotions that begged to be set free as butterflies carrying missives to the sky –to him.
"You don`t really want to be alone. Is this why you are so afraid of connectedness?" It was an automatic gesture to brush her fingertips along his cheek and cup his jaw and shockingly he was too stupefied in trying to disavow her words to shriek away from her tender and warm touch. "Because they show the truth about your inner feelings?"
That triggered something coltish inside Sasuke churning deeply into his chest and shaking the solid foundation of his heart up to the quintessence and thus he placed his palm over her small elegant one and, wrapping his long digits around her own he tore her hand away from him twisting her wrist in a swift motion which allowed her no time to respond and tucked her to him until their chests collided making her heart skip a beat and oxygen got stuck midway her lungs in surprise when he pulled her up to meet his intense gaze.
"Don`t play with me and don`t you even try to bewitch me with your well-chosen deceptive words Sakura, for I am not an idiot or a sentimental fool. I will not fall prey to any of your little charms... ex Priestess."
"What? I am not the one trying to charm you it is the other way around. You are the one trying to twist my mind by putting words into my mouth that are not reflecting what am I really thinking about. And stop mocking my role as the messenger of Heavens. Is this so much fun to an atheist like you?"
The contemptuous smirk that she got from Sasuke was enough to trigger a zealous fury inside her that Sakura was not aware that she was capable of feeling but then again, she has been living in solitary for all her life and Sasuke was a turbulent storm in the middle of the sea submerging her into his own abysses and she couldn't help but wish for a lifesaver or an anchor to moor her to the shore, but the Uchiha was both the darkness of the bottom of the sea and the shimmering light of the lighthouse –a dainty fire in the night sky during a storm.
"Yeah, you are making me laugh with how incredibly naive you are Sakura even though you are just a humorless fool. One that is having her own fair share of allurement,"
He enunciated daily and sensually while letting those shimmering pearl orbs of his skim up and down her body mentally smacking his head against the trunk of the thickest tree at how imbecile he was to get athirst for the swells and outgrowth of her curves molding over his slightly damp T-Shirt stuck to her form. "but still incredibly foolish."
"You are completely insane." Sakura blabbered between her pouts comically shaking her head while droplets of cold water sparkled around her with much effect as the rays of the moon spilled through the lush leaves making it look like there were a million fireflies swarming in spirals around her diaphanous form, emphasizing the look of a forest`s fairy; truly a Priestess of the succulent tea leaves.
"Naturally," Deciding that he was indeed completely lunatic, Sasuke decided to dance with the limbs of that newfound preposterous mental state since the cards were already on the table so that was the reason why he had a fleeting transfiguration of attitude becoming more playful than lackadaisical, leaning forward to press his lips against shell of her ear making electric jolts traverse the column of her spine, breathing.
"because how would I not be crazy if all that I am picturing in my mind is how captivating you look into my clothes, dripping wet and so helplessly lost on the path of life, hm? Sakura..."
Sasuke couldn`t remember the time when he has ever been coquettish because even though his looks alone propelled him into the category of a lady-killer, he was hardly a Don Juan, but somehow such kittenish missives flew smoothly from his mouth in the presence of Sakura.
"your name has a delicious resonance to it, you know?" And the way he basically murmured her name like a lulling harp and violin melody made Sakura`s knees wobble and she shivered while she stood frozen listening to the spell of his voice and his warm breath fanning behind the lobe of her ear, while his regal nose was nuzzling into her damp coral hair.
"Sakura." In less than a heartbeat, his sateen lips captured her own with unhinged passion and pleasure before she had the chance to whisper his name in a light soprano run, stealing her breaths away, capturing and enthralling her mind and everything that she was capable to perceive in that moment was Sasuke`s overwhelming sensual presence; he was too good overflowing through her system.
.
.
.
His steps were heavy as his mind reeled in bottled up fury and guilt as he made his way down to the already familiar dim lighted route, back to the cage of an angel and ignoring the fugitive stare of Jūgo who would never judge him for the transgression and the other Leaf shinobi`s reproachful, bitter and hateful spats and insults thrown his way, he only had one particular cell in his field of view and that was everything that occupied his mind and stole his nights as slumber hasn't found its way back to him anymore.
And there she was gossamer and broken as his heart shattered like fragments of a broken mirror slowly seeping from its frame; a diaphanous angel curled into a ball with crushed wings but never losing its gossamer ineffable and purity like a Shrine to salvation, to his own redemption.
Naruto felt the lump in his throat choke him painfully as he has suddenly been reduced to a clumsy innocent and scared child from the past, testing the waters with the tip of his toe and running to a hazardous horizon; her grace, her bravery, her delicacy was still stunning him.
She was an oxymoron, an enigma in that decadent world stained with blood and ambition and yet, a Hyuga preserved the ambiguous fascination, an engine, a mystique creatures with orbs pristine like pearls and shining like the moon above, ethereal but fallacious; beautiful beyond words, indescribable and magnetizing as his fingertips burned against the metallic bars of the cage that imprisoned her form but never her spirit.
An indescribable emotion as ancient as the time as it was written from the beginning of humankind and passed to them by Gods along with the first kindled flames, has coursed through his entire being while his teeth gnashed in pure vexation upon seeing her pellucid form so broken, so obsequious, vanquished and fine-grained and he swore that his chapped voice never felt so broken, so empty, so desperate and pleading when he whispered softly, delicately to her.
"Hinata... Hinata-chan..." Naruto literarily felt her pain in pure anguish when a sharp pang made his pulse accelerate thumping in maddening cadences and he squeezed his orbs shut tight resisting the need to punch the bars down and act like a manic. "...just–"
The metallic clang of keys sliding into the lock had Hinata turn her head over her shoulder weakly to gaze at her late night visitor while she was clearly trapped into a torturous slumber trying to regain whatever energy she could muster in order to make her plan work, but her heart stammered upon seeing his lissome coltish presence saunter to her, swift paddlings pelting against the pavement as he approached her.
She quickly pulled herself into a sitting position sauntering with her back tapping the rough walls of her ceiling, legs folded under her in a seemingly apprehensive defensive stance, but what made her oxygen stop midway her lungs and a frisky sensation simmering though her chest and the pit of her belly were his eyes.
Those crystalline orbs as warm as the sun rays bathing into the ocean and embracing the azurite sky made Hinata completely wade into his stare and submit to the paradisiac world that he conjured and a soothing feeling brimmed along her spine electrifying and powerful.
His stare comprised everything from guilt, remorse, pity, pain upon seeing her like that, regret, apology and somehow sympathy for her and she felt briefly stuck by how many emotions creased his boyish figure when he smiled a genuine energetic smile to her, and her pulse hastened as she became alerted of her heart thumping into her eardrums.
Hinata honestly didn't envision his return to her cell voluntarily as his words might just have been a bittersweet fallacious way to torture her mentally and break her spirit completely, but Naruto Uzumaki seemed genuinely soothed by the fact that she was still alive.
When Naruto saw Hinata so encased in that miserable cell like a Phoenix Fire with broken wings trapped in a silver cage with her spirit fluttering without a heart and its own fire to enkindle all that beautiful freedom and passion, he swore that something tore his own heart in half.
What were they doing here? What was the purpose of imprisoning such fine-grained creatures? He submerged into the enthralling spell of her pearl eyes and wished nothing more than to kiss those smothered tears away from her ivory rose cheeks and foster her all through the night into an intimate embrace and away from that depressing place that was meant to break the spirits.
Her moony sateen orbs were so beautiful, they encompassed all the grace of an enthralling exquisite nymph of the forests and Naruto realized just how she belonged to the forest as her grace was a sonata dedicated to the romantic shimmering nights under the radiance of the full moon, and he would happily lead her to those paths, holding her hand instead of having to twist the key into the lock of her cell.
It was the worst type of torture that Naruto has ever experienced; to see this woman so broken, so frail and shattered and vanquished by the prospect of losing everything, starting with her own soul, but he will return it soon enough.
He vowed to her and to himself that he will set her free and Sasuke will have nothing to argue about because he too knew of such explicit feelings, even though he was desperately trying to smother them and eschew front them.
"N-Naruto…?" Oh– how beautiful was to delight into the sound of her light soprano voice and suddenly Naruto found himself embraced by those lips that whispered his name between dried tears and void of any spirit or motivation to live, but at the same time, she sounded so soothed and genuinely curious about his presence in her cell.
Of course, she was probably considering his previous words as simple bravados in his attempt to ridicule her, but she didn't know him and his ninja way yet; a creed that has led his steps through life and the impulse that sent him here tonight, back to her.
'No, it is more than my Nindo… it`s feeling –its her! I am such an idiot, a nitwit, a knucklehead for not being capable to let her go… damn it!' It was written all over his blue crystalline sad eyes –words that he couldn't say shimmered into those clear genuine eyes and they stole Hinata`s breaths away.
Even trapped into this hallucinate infect cell surrounded by an implacable darkness as he barely depicted the hollow of her lunar orbs, only aided by the pale sickening yellow light from the candles flickering along the halls, Hyuga Hinata was still a royalty, a mystique princess whose starry beauty was out of this world.
She couldn't see the stars or the moon and the sky that should have been her den, the realm of a suave crane like her. "W-Why are you h-here a-again N-Naruto?" Oh Kami– even the way she murmured such simple words felt like her tongue was coated in honey and vanilla while her lips dripped with ambrosia.
Her voice, her appearance were so soothing, calming Naruto`s raging mind with her mere presence, with her moony radiance exuding from her pearly glossy skin and he wished for nothing more than to kiss her lips softly, tenderly and feel it on his own skin how it would be like for a sinner like him to drop on his knees in pure gloating in front of the endless rivers of Paradise then satiate from it.
She was absolutely suave, angelic, pure and formidable in her beauty and it was so easy to imagine her grace as a sonata dedicated to romantic shining nights belonging to lovers; her portrait was picturesque and artistic and her beauty and elegance shone brightly, even in such a hostile environment.
'Kami, I want to trade place with her. I want to be the demon that will make her rise back to the Heaven.' She would never know that the one who was a prisoner was him because, from the moment when his azurite orbs found their way to her form, Naruto hasn't found his rest.
Every single figment that traversed his mind led back to her and the need to canoodle her, to caress her gingerly and foster her into his arms in such a lupine and intimate embrace.
"Of course that I did return to you Hinata." Sauntering to her until she had to glance skyward so as to depict his warm peculiar features as he melted the darkness around into an optimistic feeling frisking inside her and making her fingertips tingle pleasurably in need to touch his skin and let him warm her was incandescent, pure and sincere but she abstained from such an affectionate gesture that might betray vulnerability and desperation.
She must not stray away from her purpose and that was to gain his trust and escape there in order to regroup to the other shinobi that managed to escape and were probably scheming against him and his friends.
There mere representation of herself having to face him into a battle one day had Hinata panic as she nipped on her lower lip while looking from behind hyaline orbs as Naruto kneed before her like a knight, propelling his back on the wall beside her and silently as his luscious eyes pleaded with her softly to trust him and for a moment… Hinata submerged into that moment of complete exposure and weakness and yearned so much to let his lenitive stare and vivacious smile to enliven her completely.
But when his muscular bare arm spanned to her deliberately to melt the distance between them like a hand of hope outstretched to her –who was in need– like a bridge over two clashing lands threatening to carry her to the realm of darkness, he reached for her flute like slender waist and delicately with a touch that was as captivating and magnetizing as it was unexpected and firm.
Carefully Naruto maneuvered her easily into his embrace as he pulled her into his lap and wordlessly, his sturdy arms encompassed her tightly wreathing around her small back and her shoulders, and she inhaled sharply in surprise at how simmering hot his body was.
"Oh!" Hinata squeaked when a bolt brimmed along her spine at the unanticipated contact but in the moment when she realized that Naruto was indeed embracing her with such an overflowing emotion and affection, she nearly felt tears trembling into the corners of her eyes not expecting her to resolve to crumble like fragile porcelain under his touch; Kami his arms around her petite frame, overwhelming and spooning her so intimately entirely felt like she has been just a wandering spirit without a place in Paradise finding his eternal rest, bathed in eternal light –that feeling was beyond words, poetic, lyrical and emotional.
'A husband… a lover… only someone like him could make me feel this way, could only give her such an amazing sense of belonging somewhere and being desired, adored and idolatrized by someone… Kami-sama, help me fight him off!'
No, she was not that weak, Hinata mentally tried to reason with herself, but Naruto`s body warmth and the way his lips pressed gingerly in pure affection against the crown of her head, touching her like she mattered the world to him was too strong to resist.
What is going on here, why is he acting like this?
She couldn't depict that powerful emotion that coursed her entire system when she felt his sculpted body press intimately into her own exuding raw virility, strength that was as formidable as it was tempered, calmed and controlled, albeit the energy brimming through him was evident and lethal and not to mention the unparalleled feeling of being protected and cared for by him and Hinata simply couldn't represent it into her mind what his motive could be.
He cannot be sincere about his feelings towards me, no way! Uzumaki Naruto was just trying to play with her probably satiating from that malapropism of seeing her beg for the smallest soupcon of pity and understanding, but she will not step so low and forgo her pride to him, no matter how rewarding and sincere his words seemed.
She tried to ignore that traitorous large part of her trying to peep from behind the thick layers of growing pathos and athirst for revenge, pleading for being listened to and alerting her about the possibility of Naruto`s words to be completely sincere.
He didn't seem like a manipulative liar similar his raven-haired companion who was probably a master at playing with the others` minds, twisting them and making their resolve crumble, no way.
But at the same time, a ninja`s most trusted powerful weapon was the ability to deceive. She must never forget those words.
"W-Why?" Hinata inquired with a broken soft voice soaked in muffled crying while flimsy tears shimmered along her cheeks wetting Naruto`s dark t-shirt but he didn't seem to shy away from her or mind her moment of exposing her inner emotions.
He simply held her dearly to him with a comforting possessive hold around her petite form remaining quiet as the sudden intimacy and candor between them bloomed like a timid red rose.
She couldn't imagine what might transcend his mind in that moment, Hinata had no idea of what was Naruto thinking about. There were no coherent ideas or words that filled Naruto`s mind currently, nothing but her presence and how right it felt to have her so close to him.
That night, he had to see her more than anything in the world, so Naruto simply let his steps blindly and mechanically carrying him down the prisons as he was traipsing aimlessly through the night streets of the Leaf reminiscing about his days as an Academy student, only clad in a simple dark T-Shirt and his nin pants giving him a more mature touch, but still… his striking solar features shone brighter than the rays of hope that his presence aroused into Hinata`s chest.
His hold around her gracious form tightened as he seemingly wanted nothing more than to burn any distance between them, almost like she was a star that he was desperately trying to reach and hold forever in his eyes, on his palm, on his lips, into his arms.
She felt more fragile than a bellflower fluttering into the spring wind, beautiful beyond words as it encompass all the beauty and innocence in the world and so natural, so right to be into his arms and Naruto simply buried his nose into her lavish long hair, inhaling her floral scent and he nearly did something totally out of character and excessive, but Naruto hindered his movements on time, right before she had the chance to completely confirm her suspicions about him; he nearly leaned forward to kiss her glazed porcelain cheek when he realized that she was openly crying on his shoulder.
So instead, squeezing his orbs shut tight as he bit the inside of his cheek hard, Naruto just held her in his embrace, dipping down his head and burying his face into her glossy lilac hair puffing his warm breath against the sensitive skin of her neck and earlobe and her pulse speeded up because of his mere proximity.
Naruto was gingerly touching her with a feather light touch, he didn't caress her in any insolent inappropriate way, he was just being so graceful with her like trying to hold dew drops in his palm but kept on falling prey to that illusion of intangible beauty, being his own enemy because she was so far out of his reach, afraid that she would perish from his sight.
"I had to see you angel... I absolutely had to come to see you Hinata." His rasped voice was crisp and uneven as he looked troubled and nearly stunned her with such endearing words and appelatieves.
His azurite orbs were so exposed gleaming with unshared emotions as Hinata turned her face to glance at his masculine profile and nearly froze when she realized just how clumsy her gesture was because she has miscalculated just how close to her he was. "I couldn't stay away from you... I simply could not. You are on my mind always, I can't stop thinking about you Hinata."
"N-Naruto–" Oh– how badly she wished that she could kiss his lush chapped lips! They looked so masculine, so inviting and so warm, just like the rest of him.
Kami, how could she ever think about something like that? That was so crazy, what was wrong with her?! She had morals, an education, dignity and decency so why was she thinking about kissing an enemy?
He knew how much she was hurting but Naruto had no idea about how conflicted she was; the lines of her drenched tears staining the every opaline of her white lily skin were cruel reminders of her suffering and she was most likely the avatar of the other shinobi`s similar pain."—forgive me Hinata."
Those simple words nearly crushed her resolve completely; a lock has been twisted with a golden key and Hinata closed her orbs when tears smothered started to burn but she quelled them because she was focusing on draining his chakra; that task must be done inconspicuous as it required finesse, spectacular precision and concentration.
She was draining and stealing his chakra while he was whispering to her words of affection, of an empty tormented man… she felt guilty, broken and dirty by doing such a thing to him, but Hinata knew that she had no choice. It was the correct thing to do –find her way out of there.
'Why do we hurt each other so much and why do I feel each your pain so vividly while wanting nothing more than to estrange from you?'
"You don't have to say anything else Hinata… just don't hate me, please. I will die if you loathe me Hinata."
Something that was beyond her mind`s reach made Hinata raise her trembling hands that were hapahazdly dropped on Naruto`s sides inconspicuously and softly tapping his arm as she was already working on her jutsu, and curled around his firm chest, pulling him into a timid embrace reciprocating to his own.
The feel of her embracing him like that stirred something warm, beautiful and comforting inside Naruto and if his naive untrained mind was to describe the feeling, it would be similar to that exuberance of returning back home to someone who waited for him lovingly and fondly.
He silently wished that Sasuke and his friends could feel that too, even for a moment, because it was just like a stairway to bring peace into the world.
So pastoral, so romantic and chaste and void of anything erotic, explicit and sinful was their embrace as his right hand slowly threaded through her long hair fine-combing her locks gingerly, affectionately like sealing his possession on her and she literarily melted into his embrace.
Hinata pursed her lips so as to smother an unexplainable beam when she felt Naruto`s entire form tauten in surprise at her embrace, but he quickly relaxed and gave her shoulders a little squeeze tightening his own embrace around her form. Distance between them suddenly melted into a pleasant warmth.
She knew that she shouldn't feel this way about him and let herself be carried away along with his waters, but she couldn't help those feelings. Hinata was not expecting him to perplex her with such gestures and there he was acting like he was her secret lover.
But his words, his closeness, that connectedness, the unexpected intimacy found within the confinements those putrid stained cold walls in that cell was something that hit her like a hurricane; his smell was lenitive, protective and he looked so lost so lonely and vulnerable; a virtual image of their auras projected on a blurred road swept past her burning tears draining them as they nearly fell off her phantasmagorical hues.
To just forgive him... there she was, spending her days entrapped into her own plans to escape and hate this man and suddenly he comes back to her like he promised, bringing a plethora of new feelings to her as she tried desperately to understand, to sketch and analyze them but words failed her as her self-discipline vanished in thin air.
Hinata suddenly found herself poetical and artistically playing the image of purity that he had about her holding her outstretched hand for him to take while Naruto was helplessly dashing to her blinded by solitude, tears and hope holding it firmly as she led him to salvation.
She couldn't help that image to pervade her mind while his chakra –his orange calescent chakra– started to flow through her fingertips in slow unnoticeable rivers while she let her hands wrap around his sinewy shoulders in a loose embrace, faking reciprocation and vulnerability –irony finest deception lied in their reversed roles– Hinata felt bits of him flowing along and all that suffering slowly dissipating.
'I am lying to you… forgive me.'
"My angel... my own salvation... resides in you..." Naruto was rambling onto her skin words that fell from his lips in response to the plea of his heart.
They have hurt so many people so it was time to pay back for everything. He hurt this angel, by killing the ones dear the her and then keeping her as a prisoner in this hallucinating place.
She was stealing his chakra with the finesse worthy of a prodigious clan`s heiress and Naruto was completely oblivious to it because Hinata knew that what she did was subtle, perfect almost artistic but effective, but deep inside, she was enveloped in shame, guilt and pain as she felt like betraying him; which was stupid since this unforeseen conniption might just be a crotchet of him to seduce her out of boredom.
Hinata bitterly tried to imagine just how many women has Naruto charmed with the same sleek romantic words?
I don't trust you… I am sorry.
In another world of spirits ingrained deep inside his consciousness, the peacefully sleeping Kurama has opened up an eye, sensing the flow of Naruto's chakra suddenly dissipate –it was in fine portions but the Nine Tailed Demon clearly perceived it and thus narrowed his menacing orbs puffing a hot steam of air through his flaring nostrils growling at its vessel and friend. "Naruto! Wake up you blind idiot."
.
.
.
A/N: So as I`ve promised, here is another smaller chapter from the much longer one that I have split in order to make it easier to read and for me to check on the mistakes.
Hope that you enjoyed it as well as I am not quite the fan of action fighting scenes. I do enjoy those Kung Fu female warriors so I hope that my depiction of Sakura`s fighting scene was capable to evoke the image of those beautiful warriors and give you guys a glimpse of those scenes.
I apologize if the trick with Sasuke`s genjutsu felt confusing as well as the sequences and the transitions of scenes, but I will explain further in the next chapter if necessary, ok? To summarize, he cast his genjutsu from the very first moment when he came face to face to the enemy.
Thank you: ILoveSxS , helloitsmarissa , guest , iWhoReads, Yami no Emi , anime1angel , Angelic Blossom for your reviews. I am delighted to hear that you guys enjoied my previous update and that you have been anticipating it. I love you guys!
To all the readers of this story, you guys are awesome for giving this story a chance! Thanks a lot!
I truly hope that you guys liked this chapter as well. I will do my best to update as soon as possible.
So until next time, hugs and kisses, minna-sama!