Marionette
Everyone noticed how he manipulated her, everyone but her. AU
Disclaimer: M for intercourse and references to drugs, alcohol and violence. If you are uncomfortable, don't proceed.

Chapter 9

Sakura had nagged him all morning into sitting out with her next to the pool. He'd said no at least fifty times. And then she'd looked at him with such disappointment that he'd pushed her out of his way and dug out his swim trunks from his closet. She'd lit up like a goddamn light bulb at that point. Which is how he'd found himself lying back on an angled pool lounger, with her between his legs, reading a magazine in the sun.

She was in a skimpy lime green bikini and a flat brim black cap that he was certain belonged to him at some point, but he'd lost track of.

She was using his chest as a backrest and he could feel the sweat begin to form from where their skin was making contact.

He sighed in annoyance, "Well aren't you going to get in the water?"

She looked over her shoulder at him and grinned.

"Not yet!"

He groaned and dropped his head back against the chair.

He needed to get rid of her today, there were things he needed to address outside the house. He knew his burner phone had been blowing up all throughout the night but he hadn't had a chance to sift through the contents.

She'd been over since Thursday, and he'd left business unattended for two days since. At the rate Siugetsu was botching jobs... his mind shifted back to the disaster that was Thursday night. He was lucky Sakura had gotten drunk enough before he'd gotten home to lose sight of what would've surely been an ugly interrogation if she'd been sober. Though, fuck the fact that she had been sitting in his house without him, getting inebriated with his fucking prim and proper dumbass older brother.

The Hidden Mist marketplace was burning up. It had suddenly gained too much popularity, in too short of a time frame.

Fucking... secret websites on the dark web weren't supposed to go mainstream! He grimaced as his thoughts plummeted down a rabbit hole.

He was in blatant denial that they were potentially in over their heads.

His finger tapped against the armrest of the lounger with impatience. He'd scrubbed the nail beds raw the second he'd left the kitchen on Thursday night. Sakura had observed him from the doorway of his bathroom like she was worried he was going into a manic episode.

Whatever. He didn't get those anymore.

"Is something wrong?" she asked lightly as she turned a page.

Before he could answer, his brother popped his head out from one of the massive sliding glass doors that faced the pool courtyard. Sasuke's fingers clenched the metal of the armrest in silent agitation.

Sakura perked up and waved. He could see his brother's mouth lift up in a soft smile. What the fuck.

"I'm going out for the day. I will be back tomorrow. Sasuke," at this he fixed his gaze onto his little brother.

"What?"

"Stay out of trouble."

Sakura could feel Sasuke's body tense behind her as they watched Itachi disappear through the glass and walk down the hallway towards the front door.

She felt him take a deep breath, and then he reached to the dark metal end table on their left and haphazardly grabbed her vodka lemonade.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, "That's mine!"

"What the fuck is this?" he growled as he drank from the cup, "Is there even any vodka in this?"

He slammed the now empty perspiring glass back onto the table and then brought his icy hand to rest flat against her thigh.

She eyed the glass in irritation. That was her refreshing summer beverage!

She glowered, still not facing him. Then sniffed.

"It's noon. I only put half a shot in there you jerk."

Sasuke remained silent, still tense but seemingly subdued.

As she turned another page she froze. She turned her head to peer at him over her shoulder. Her button nose was slightly pointed at the tip, and he could see a smattering of her freckles in the light.

"...Are you... are you getting hard right now?" she questioned.

He lifted an eyebrow at her in response and looked away.

Sakura faced forwards. Took a deep breath. And dropped her magazine on the end table.

She began moving herself annoyingly against his crotch and he moved his hand from her thigh to her hip to stop her.

"Don't," he ground out.

She sighed in exasperation, "Why not?"

Because I don't feel like letting you be in control, that's why.

He remained silent.

"Don't you want to?" she asked with a hint of uncertainty.

Behind her head, he shut his eyes. How did he end up with this annoying, tiny, pink haired little girl? Why was half his life, half the time he'd been alive on this earth centered around this one stupid person. Why, why, why.

He hated having feelings.

He slumped his forehead to her shoulder in frustration, then reached back with his other hand to move the pool chair to a flat position.

Sakura perked up and moved her legs to a reverse straddle as he laid down. He eyed her back from his view below and ran one hand from her back dimples up to her shoulder blade and kept the other rested at her hip.

Her hand came to rest over his at her side and she ground herself into him with no restraint. She giggled at the sensation. They hadn't done it outside in a while and she was having fun.

Abruptly, Sasuke sat up. He lifted her up with one arm and used the other to shove his black swim trunks down his legs. Then he put her back in place and lied back down.

Surprised at the sudden movement, her hands had flown to his forearm around her waist.

He squeezed and then said in agitation, "Well, get on with it."

She laughed again and reached down to move her bikini bottom to the side before dropping herself onto his length.

He groaned from underneath her, but otherwise did not move. His legs were extended straight, his feet hanging off the edge of the lounge chair. He'd kicked his trunks off his ankles into a crumpled heap on the hot brick below.

She gasped lightly. Brought her hands to feel herself up as she faced forwards, eyeing the glimmer of the pool water beneath the sun and then began to move up and down. Sideways. Clenching. Unclenching. He eyed himself disappearing inside of her. Looked at her taut ass, at the bikini bottom bunching to the side of her rear.

But mainly, Sasuke simply laid there, letting her lead and moving his hands all over her scantily clothed body. Across her ankles, grasping the soles of her small feet and then moving back up. He pulled at the tie on the hip of her bikini bottom and yanked the garment away, tossing it uncaringly.

Sakura kept moving, her rhythm slow, then fast.

"Pull my hair?" she questioned.

He was zoned out. Looking at her but also looking at the sky and the backyard around them. His eyes slid once again to her back, and he lifted his hand from her hip to wrap it in her long tresses.

She let out a sound of approval and continued to circle her hips on him, her head slightly angled back. The hat on her head had long since fallen off to the ground.

He could tell she was getting tired, Sakura didn't have the stamina to lead for long. Not like he did. So he pulled her back by the hair, her back now flat against his chest.

"Ow - wh-what?" she breathed.

"Lie back."

He bent his knees, his feet now flat on the lounge chair, then grabbed her legs and arranged them between his. He wrapped one arm across her chest, her head now resting on his shoulder and then used the other to reposition his length in her sex. He glided that hand to her clit and proceeded to drill into her from below.

She gasped. Her hands gripping his arms tightly as he took over.

"Oh."

He bit at her ear and did not cease the punishing pace, even when she began to squirm away at the sensation.

He felt her body tensing. At some point her legs had splayed open around his of their own accord. Both of her hands were gripping the arm at her chest tightly now as she began to pant out.

"I'm going to... I'm going to come," she exclaimed.

He grunted, picking up speed as she tried to catch her breath. And then they both tensed and came together.

She laid on him a moment longer, then slid her body to his side, tucking herself in and threw an arm across his chest.

She was spent and content. He kissed the top of her head and zoned out again, his eyes half lidded from the sun.

"Are you going to get in the water now? he asked.

She swatted his shoulder, laughed and rested her head against him.

A short while later, he was sliding his swim shorts back on. Sakura abruptly ripped the top of her bikini off, pushed off the chair and ran into the water.

He edged backwards in his seat as the water from the resounding splash got uncomfortably onto his skin.

She surfaced, smoothing her wet hair behind her head with a serene smile.

She looked at him, and laughed out, "Why do you look so sullen? Are you getting in?"

He shook his head in the negative, his feet now flat on the brick, forearms resting on his knees as he absently looked at her exposed tits.

She swam over to the edge of the pool and folded her arms against the side.

"Bring me my phone," she demanded.

Begrudgingly, he picked it up off the side table and stood up to hand it to her.

She reached up to accept it from his hand.

He stood above her a moment longer, staring at the top of her head and made a comment.

"When's the last time you dyed your hair? Your roots are showing."

She frowned as she squinted up at him against the sunlight, "Don't be rude," and then, "Get me another lemonade."

He turned on his heel in irritation, heading inside.

Get me another lemonade Sasuke, he mimicked to himself. Get it yourself.

She was bossing him around like he was some shitty errand boy instead of worshiping him for being the best lover she's ever had.

The only lover she's ever had, he corrected. He could feel himself getting worked up at the thought of another man's hands running down Sakura's body, another man giving her multiple orgasms, another man seeing her naked, another man waking up to her everyday and then abruptly snapped himself out of it.

He hadn't allowed anyone else. Once they'd started college he'd inwardly panicked at the prospect and had aggressively staked his claim before anything could happen.

He stomped his way through the hallway, looked back to see her attention raptly consumed by her cell phone, and then took the stairs two at a time to get to the office near his bedroom.

He'd stopped in his room to grab a key for the office door from his nightstand. With Itachi suddenly residing in the house, he was erring on the side of caution in the off chance that his brother decided to leave his side of the estate to snoop around Sasuke's.

Fucking asshole.

Shutting the door to the office behind him, he approached the large wood cabinet nested between the bookshelves and threw the doors open.

His current burner phone was lighting up nonstop, so he picked it up off the shelf of the cabinet and gave the notifications a quick scan.

12:01:26 Transaction

12:01:27 Transaction

12:01:27 Transaction successful

12:01:35 Transaction denied

12:01:40 Funds transfer complete

12:01:42 Transaction

12:01:43 Transaction

12:02:02 Seller requests settlement dispute

12:02:04 Transaction

12:02:10 1 star review: 'This supposed 5 star mercenary took out the wrong guy. It was some other dude that had the same name as my hit! I want my money back!'

12:02:12 Currency exchange initiation

12:02:14 Faulty item flag

12:02:15 Item not as described: 'Seller advertised ivory from a country in the East. The ivory I received is from a country in the West.'

12:02:20 3 star review: 'It's the correct gun, but the serial number is still on it...'

12:03:30 Suigetsu: Yo. You should probably stop by today

12:03:38 Customer requests settlement dispute

12:03:59 Transaction

And then a lull in transaction notifications, but he ignored this for expected lag. The server typically reset around noon.

12:05:40 Suigetsu: Karin's being annoying

12:10:22 Suigetsu: Like REALLY annoying.

12:30:50 Suigetsu: Come through soon

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and itched at a random spot on his bare torso.

Those two just need to fuck it out and be done with it, he thought.

Flipping the phone over in his hand, he removed the back cover, sim card and motherboard, and then with a practiced professionalism, he broke the device in half with a grimace. He dropped the pieces into a drawer of the cabinet, then reached for a new phone out of the dwindling pile of extras and tore the packaging off.

Walking towards his desk, he powered it on and opened his laptop.

The wide arch shaped window behind the desk was bright and overlooked the back courtyard and swimming pool below.

He spotted Sakura with her unclothed back towards him, sitting on the entry steps of the pool and kicking water around with her toes.

Turning again towards the room, he glanced up at the wood shelves lining the perimeter of the space from floor to ceiling. He noted the shape of his foot imprinted into the plush area rug below, and then he directed his focus to his devices with a furrowed brow and an expression of concentration.

He downloaded his favored remote desktop application into the phone, clicked and typed in a number of commands on the laptop and then initiated a custom sync from the computer in order to program the phone.

He texted Suigetsu.

"New number."

Then he put the phone on silent and stuffed it into the pocket of his shorts.

Sakura was floating on her back, still naked when he came back out.

She switched to a position where she was treading water as he walked through the glass door. She looked at his empty handedness with irritation.

"You took THAT long and still didn't get my lemonade?"

He froze in place. Glared at her. And then headed back inside to get her stupid drink.

As he walked towards the kitchen, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and checked it again. Siugetsu had responded with a 'confirming receipt' from a number he didn't recognize, which signified that he had rotated phones as well.

At least that's one protocol he can fucking follow properly. Moron.

He approached the fridge, grabbing a textured glass from a cabinet on the way.

Standing at the island to pour her drink, he reached for the middle drawer and pulled out some rolling papers.

Sakura was kicking her legs in the pool, feeling herself grow frustrated. What the hell was he doing in there? It had given her more leeway to connive with Ino via text, but now that he was taking his sweet ass time to come back outside, she was worried her plan wouldn't work.

She spotted him coming back out, this time with her lemonade in one hand and a joint that he was sealing across his tongue in the other.

She swam up to the edge of the pool again, and rested her chin on her hand as she watched him approach.

She'd just painted her fingernails blue and her eye fell to her nail and the flash of a petite silver ring she'd donned on her middle finger.

He put the glass down in front of her and turned away. He'd filled it with crushed ice, placed a metal straw in it and topped it with a piece of mint. Sakura smiled at the gesture.

She took a sip as he lit his joint. He parked himself on a wicker chair nearby and positioned himself in her direction.

"So, you know how you said you won't come to my commencement next week?"

He flicked the ash from his joint and dropped his lighter on an adjacent wicker end table.

Sakura continued, "Naruto and Ino both think that's a dick move."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I think… I'll forgive you if," she started "You let us use your house to throw a graduation party?"

Sakura lowered herself into the pool. That last part had come out with less of a confident delivery than she'd intended.

He extended his legs out in front of him and crossed his bare feet at the ankle, inhaling smoke.

"When?" he asked.

"Tonight?" Sakura supplied.

Inwardly he sighed. He thought again to the two days of not rendezvousing with Suigetsu. He needed to go check on operations in person, but she was giving him that look.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"I'm not looking at you like anything!" she chirped as she popped back up.

He exhaled a cloud.

"Fine."

Sakura flashed a cheeky grin at him and then reached for her phone. She was standing straight up in the shallow end of the water now.

"Put some clothes on," he muttered.

She laughed melodically, "Oh, shut up. You know you like it!"

TBC...