"Mmm," Sakura sighed in contentment as she felt those strong, familiar arms wrap around her waist. She smiled, stretching her neck as he snuggled closer, and his sharp nose and soft lips caressed the juncture between her ear and shoulder.
Lying on their sides, he shifted even closer till she was merely a ball curled up and spooned, and she felt nothing but safe and secure.
But the atmosphere changes, morphs. That familiar sickly-sweet taste, that unbearable, pounding heat.
She squirmed as long fingers trailed across her nape and collarbone, leaving tingles behind. She felt his open mouth against her neck, sharp teeth nibbling on her pulse in that sweet spot she liked as his hard hand gently cupped her breast. Since falling pregnant her breasts had been sore and tender, painful to the touch. But his hands and fluttering motions bought no pain. No pain but they sure as hell bought a different kind of feeling.
Sakura tried to muffle the moan that wanted to escape at the feeling of his warm hands massaging her, shivering in the combined pleasure of his hands caressing her whilst his teeth violated her neck. She felt herself uncurl against him, stretching her neck back to give him better access and opening her legs so she could loop one over his.
Words were meaningless, it was as if he could read her mind. His hand travelled lower, brushing across her curved stomach, and circling her hips. He sucked on another pale spot of skin, marking his territory while his hand slipped between her legs.
Sakura felt the immediate flush from head to toe. Her eyes rolled back in her head at his mere, fluttering graze. She arched her body against him, suddenly feeling too hot, her skin too tight, blood pounding in her ears. Squirming against his hand, she felt sweat slither down her neck and back as an uncontrollable wave of shivers wracked her small frame.
She gasped desperately for air, thrashing from side to side, unable to keep up and wholly disassociated from her electrified body.
She managed to regain control the instant she shot up in bed, the heavy touch leaving her in a painful instant. Gasping for air she looked frantically around herself, searching for his powerful, comforting presence, but found nothing.
"Shit." Sakura cursed to herself, putting her head in her hands before repeating it, "Shit, shit." She pulled her hair back from her sweaty face as she wrenched herself out of bed to open her window, pulling her soaked t-shirt off in the process.
She managed a deep, shaky inhale as the cool outside air hit her, the sight of the still-sleeping Konoha doing little to soothe her nerves. She could still feel her clit throbbing. The moment she closed her eyes she could still see him, feel him even.
Huffing in annoyance at her own body, she tied her hair back as she pulled her body up to sit on the wide windowsill, her body halfway out the building and she didn't care that anyone who walked by would see the state of the young kunoichi, with her exposed baby bump, swollen breasts in nothing but a thin crop top and sweat-soaked hair with pink roots, all packaged in a small fourteen year old body. Well, she certainly didn't feel fourteen. Not anymore.
She didn't think any of them ever did.
Regardless, the pregnancy was wreaking absolute havoc on her hormones. And the insanely vivid dreams were only a small part of it. If she wasn't feeling completely disheartened and upset by the world and its vices, she was screaming bloody murder at her toaster or crying over a packet of crisps. Or worse still, imagining her fellow shinobi in all sorts of compromising positions just to pass the time.
Sakura's inner grumbling and shame were interrupted but something catching her eye. Jumping down from the ledge, she crouched slightly to bring herself to eyelevel with the books stacked across her windowsill.
She ran her fingers across them, counting each one, reading each spine closely before she stopped abruptly and pulled one out, staring at it in abject horror and shock.
As she read the title of the complicated book the horror slowly shifted to confusion.
"An extensive guide to chakra masking during pregnancy."
oOo
The next morning was a strange dip out of the usual for Sakura. Rather than float in a trance lost in her thoughts of all the "what if's" and "what really happened", she was more heavily invested in her surroundings. She kept her eyes peeled, constantly searching for signs that there was either someone watching her or watching over her. No matter how she contemplated it, it just didn't seem to fit within the image she had built of Itachi to be so… overindulgently thoughtful. He was caring in his own way, but often in a manner that affected the general flow of natural events very little. She always had the distinct feeling that he was trying to keep himself above the tide of time, not getting involved where he could but occasionally, as was the case with her capture, unable to turn a blind eye.
Whilst she had a wavering certainty within her that Itachi was committed to letting these babies live at least, and preventing her from dying if it was within his convenient means, she didn't think he would go so far out of his way to protect her, or offer a means for which she could learn to protect herself. It just didn't fit.
It also meant, that if Itachi had snuck into her shared apartment to deposit the book then one of the windows of opportunity would have been whilst she was sleeping, because she was certain she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary that morning. Would he have heard her? Crying his name and writhing in her sleep? Sakura's face flamed red at the very thought and she fanned her cheeks, trying to shake the thoughts.
Worse still was the possibility that it hadn't been Itachi in her apartment that night. That if it had been a friend rather than an unidentified, twisted foe, it could have been Kakashi or Naruto.
Or Tsunade. And if Tsunade had heard Itachi's name, she was wondered if there would be a manhunt for the Akatsuki the very next day, regardless if Konoha had the resources to spare or not.
If Kakashi…
Despite their recent closeness, Kakashi's reality and Sakura's were still vastly different. She suspected, that whilst it apparently didn't matter much to Sakura who or what Itachi was, and that the commitment she was likely to get from him was minimal if not at all, it probably bothered Kakashi very much. It wasn't like she didn't care entirely, she just thought it was okay like this. She was happy with the time she had with him and not unhappy with the unplanned outcome. In her weaker moments, when she remembered those lonely days in her cell, Sakura was able to feel grateful for avoiding what could have been.
Steering right towards the training grounds, she headed to meet the very person on her mind. Kakashi had encouraged Sakura to continue to strengthen and train her body for protection against what may come and to bolster herself against the increasing physical strain.
Seated on a bench, Kakashi waved lazily at her as he watched her approach. She wondered if he was different now, or if she simply saw him differently after everything they had been through. With her focus off Sasuke she was certainly opening her eyes to more and more of those around her, and Kakashi had surprised her with facets to his personality she had never realised would be so appealing to her.
This particular morning Kakashi was looking like a veritable snack lounging without his flack vest in nothing but his jounin trousers and shirt, his headband lying atop his jacket on the bench and his hair flopped over his Sharingan eye, as he sometimes did when he was hot or uncomfortable. The small differences changed his whole outward appearance, and in that moment, he seemed much younger and more human than their untouchable sensei had.
Their untouchable sensei who had had his ass handed to him by Uchiha Itachi at one point.
Sakura smiled as she approached, handing one cool bottle of plum tea to Kakashi as she settled next to him on the bench, cracking the top on her own and taking a sip as she greeted him.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked gently, as he had been doing more and more of lately. She wondered if her complexion looked poor.
"Tired," she huffed, not wanting to admit it but not really having many others to share her symptoms with. "I've been… having dreams."
This in itself was true. Without revealing the more… clandestine of her trips to dreamland, there had been others, different. They were vivid and visceral just like last night, but they were intangible like the thread of another story; hard to grasp without context but with the overwhelming feeling that there was more too it. Something important to be learnt, some warning to be harkened.
Kakashi for his part seemed to hum in understanding, as if this were a common symptom, and he said as much but without an explanation for the how or why. There was a frown evident in the creases of his mask, as if he were thinking just like her, that the person that could answer this was the person they would struggle to ask.
Jumping up from her seat, Sakura dusted her dress off and turned to Kakashi, intent on shifting the mood to a more positive light.
"Should we get started?" she smiled.
Kakashi smiled back weakly. His one student who he never worried about, amidst all she was going through, still tried her best not to be bothersome.
"Should we try hiding today?"
"Hiding?" Sakura practically snorted in laughter, suddenly feeling like it was her first day with her genin sensei again and they were going to snatch his bells.
"You need to be able to disappear at will. If things go south and you are in trouble, your best bet is to hide."
It was a testament to Sakura's incredible growth this whole journey that she didn't immediately oppose him and insist on learning to fight rather than hide like a coward.
Pleased at her lack of resistance Kakashi continued, "first you will hide as best you can, then I will try to find you with my senses and second with my Sharingan." He showed her the stopwatch cradled in his palm before continuing, "I'll time how long it takes to find you each time, and our goal will be to double or triple that time by the end of today."
Sakura hesitated. Why was testing her with Sharingan, was he trying to assess her so he could teach her a means to escape from it?
"Okay." She didn't want to think too much into it. Kakashi always had his reasons.
Pulling off the baggy jacket (much like Hinata's) which she wore over her dress and leggings, Sakura stretched briefly as she tied her hair into a bun and readied herself. It was freeing to not have to cover up her bump in front of Kakashi at least.
Glancing at her surroundings, she categorised potential hiding spots with a calculating eye. Kakashi moved to the middle of the grounds indicating for her to follow and hung the stopwatch around his neck before he nodded once to her and pressed go.
The second the timer began Kakashi moved and Sakura disappeared in a plume of smoke. The smoke was merely dust she wrought from a hard kick to the ground as they had agreed for the time being in all of Sakura's training she was to avoid overuse of jutsu as much as possible as neither of them were experts in understanding its effects, but simply knew chakra deprivation was dangerous during pregnancy.
Kakashi's gloved hand shot through the dust, fingers closing around her slim neck. But Sakura's neck was gone, and in the second it took Kakashi to clear the air he found himself standing in the grounds all alone.
Sakura had disappeared completely from visible sight. He looked around, single eye narrowed as he scanned the nearby trees and seating area; he couldn't see nor feel anything. He even focused his chakra to sense around himself but could sense nothing. Eventually he switched to his Sharingan, and for one absolute moment he was awestruck.
He could see her nowhere. His crimson eye flicked rapidly around the area but could pick up nothing. Horror lanced through him for a short second as he feared she had been abducted but he had to remind himself that this was part of the assignment. This is what she was supposed to do.
He just hadn't expected her to excel at it so immediately. Not that it should be any surprise, Sakura was his one student who always excelled with ease. He guessed he had just forgotten.
It was then he felt the faint humming beneath his feet. In one rapid movement. he snapped his head to the ground, the pinwheel in his eye spinning as it pierced through the dirt beneath.
With a deft turn of chakra through his fingers, Kakashi slipped his hands through the ground and pulled Sakura up by her shoulders, and out.
She merely stood there, staring at him blankly like she was expecting something from her frozen sensei while she dusted off her dress.
"Sensei, the timer?"
"Huh? Oh, of course." Kakashi shook his head; clicking the button on the timer as he glanced at the number.
"Sakura," he began, words slightly choked, "how did you learn to do that?"
For a second Sakura thought: ah so this is what it must feel like to be Sasuke.
To be treated as a genius.
"I had a good teacher." Sakura couldn't help the smile on her face, but her response made the awe drop off Kakashi's.
"Sakura… have you been meeting him?"
"No! Well yes, but no this was from before—" Sakura cut herself off as she realised her mistaken revelation. She hadn't intended to tell Kakashi.
Looking down at her fingers as she twisted them nervously, she mumbled quietly, "he taught me before… before everything happened."
Kakashi seemed to sigh in relief, visibly sagging and in that moment a sharp twinge of anger shot through Sakura. She had to swallow thickly to stop herself lashing out, realising that her anger wasn't justified nor would be taken well.
"Would that be so bad?" she struggled to keep the emotion out of her voice and Kakashi's eyes refocused on her as if his mind had been elsewhere, a sudden tightness weaving into his expression at her words.
"Sakura…" he paused, looking away as he searched for the right words, scratching his head in frustration. "It wouldn't be good."
"Why?" Sakura persisted, not trying to sound like a petulant child but unable to step away from the deep emotional commitment she found herself embroiled in.
"I know things happened between you two, but that doesn't change what he is Sakura. Who he is." His eye snapped to her, suddenly imploring, wanting her to see what he saw and unable to distance himself from the worry that Sakura was more emotionally invested than he realised.
"I know who he is Kakashi. More than anyone! But…" Sakura trailed off, what could she say that would be justified? Kakashi hadn't seen him save her all those times, comfort her in that depressing cell, the turmoil in his eyes when she had asked for what she did or the darkness when they spoke of Sasuke. He didn't know him like she did.
"But what Sakura? He's 'good' now?" the exasperation started to leak into his voice and he struggled to stay calm, "he put me in tsukiyomi for 72 hours Sakura, I was out of commission for days, he kicked the shit out of Sasuke and practically pushed him into Orochimaru's arms! And that's all besides the fact that he murdered his whole clan and defected to a terrorist organisation."
It was maybe the longest she had ever heard Kakashi rant outside of battle, and certainly the first time she had heard such honest anger and frustration in his voice.
Sakura sighed, her body trembling. She felt herself close to tears but fought hard against them. She wouldn't be weak anymore. This was her bed, she would lie in it.
"Kakashi…" swallowing thickly, she met his clouded eye, a desperation in her face, "but you saw him. Then. You saw him."
She couldn't continue, the memory too strong and overwhelming. The raw emotion on Itachi's face as he fell to his knees and pressed his forehead to her stomach.
Kakashi shook his head, seeing the same image she saw and struggling to stick to his defence.
"I know Sakura, but that doesn't change who he is. That doesn't change what he does and who he is affiliated with. It doesn't change the fact that one day he and Sasuke will go head to head and one of them will die." His voice was a whisper by the end, the words weightier than they ever had been before. The Sasuke saga they had all lived through suddenly impacting them in a way none of them had ever expected.
This time Sakura wasn't able to hold back the tears. They poured freely down her face and she felt the chakra simmer around her as the blood raced through her veins, carrying all the frustration and pain with it. She could hardly hold herself back from screaming wordlessly.
"What-"she choked on the words and the tears, her emerald eyes glistening, "what the hell am I supposed to do then!" she cried, the ground around her splintering from the aggressive force of her chakra.
"I can't help it Kakashi! After everything I went through, how can I not feel this way! I know who he is and I know what he did, but I know he also saved me multiple times, and put himself at risk in doing so!" she huffed, shaking her head as she tried to reign in the car crash of emotions flooding through her.
"I know what's going to happen! But no matter how hard I try I can't not love him!" Sakura sobbed her last words, all the electric energy and ire dissipating from her in an instant, her body hunching over as she breathed raggedly through the tears.
Kakashi didn't know what to say. He had expected to some degree that this would happen. Sakura had the highest emotional intelligence of all his students, she would not be oblivious to the different facets of others, she did not see people as merely black or white as maybe Sasuke did. He had resolved himself that when the time came and they had to discuss the "Itachi matter" he would convince her otherwise, reason with her and give her the logical argument.
But the logical argument and all its reasoning dissolved the second he saw his young student, so out of her depth, breakdown. He wouldn't argue with her about this. Not today. Maybe not ever.
Sakura's cries were muffled by Kakashi's jacket as he pulled her against his chest, wrapping his strong arms around her in a consoling embrace. The warmth only made her weep harder, and she found herself gripping tightly onto his back as she wept out all the pain and anguish bottled inside.
She was surprised when he didn't lecture her further on her unintended proclamation but instead walked her home in companionable silence. Sakura was far too exhausted from her outburst and the prior training, to feel ashamed or even fret over what would happen next. They were quiet, each occupied with their own thoughts, all the way to Naruto's apartment, where they paused outside as Sakura turned to say goodbye.
Kakashi hesitated before his gloved hand reached up and ruffled Sakura's hair. There was a weary smile on his face mostly hidden by his mask.
"Don't worry Sakura, I'm sure everything will work out somehow. And well if it doesn't, we'll be here for you." He moved back to turn away and Sakura thought he was finished, but he hesitated and added on: "What is meant for you is meant for you. You can't fight destiny. God knows we have all tried." His words ended on a deep sigh and he gave a half-hearted wave as he nodded and walked away.
Sakura watched in shock as he descended the staircase before disappearing round a corner. She had never heard Kakashi speak of destiny before. Truthfully, she was quite shocked, she hadn't thought he believed in such a thing as destiny. Especially being as powerful and driven as he was.
Her gaze turned to the stars stretching across the now dark sky. A part of her had always felt like this had been some mistaken fate, that she had accidentally stepped into the wrong timeline and had been twisting the flow of events ever since. Maybe this wasn't supposed to happen. Maybe she was supposed to never have gone on that mission (it had been last minute after all), or maybe she was supposed to die that day, never having met Itachi or fallen in love with him.
Maybe she was supposed to go on waiting and praying for Sasuke to return. Waiting for news of his safety, or news that he had finally killed his brother, and his mission completed he would come home.
But now it was different. In a mere few months everything that would have continued as normal had been flipped on its head. Now she was bringing two humans into their tumultuous world that would have the bloodline of the Uchiha, and now she no longer wanted to support Naruto in finding Sasuke. Not because she didn't want to bring him home, but because she didn't want to be responsible for aligning with him, she didn't want to be on Sasuke's side if it meant they would one day kill Itachi.
She sighed heavily as she felt the weight of this looming outcome settle in her chest. One day she would have to face this. She would have to decide where she would keep these kids and how she would label them, but more importantly she would have to decide who she would side with.
Would she side with the father of her unborn children, the man who had saved her and she had fallen for, or would she side with the village she had been born in and had raised and protected her ever since, the village that was home to her best friend and their wayward teammate who was justly owed his revenge against his brother.
Sakura turned and walked away from the stars into their apartment. She already knew her answer, she didn't even need to think about it.
oOo
Sakura towelled her hair roughly as she stepped out of the shower, frustratedly drying her body and yanking on her clothes, slapping on her body cream haphazardly, only remembering to be gentle as she smoothed the cream over her bump. Looking down at it, she felt her irritation ebb slightly, knowing the reason for her sleepless nights was not their fault but a result of them, nonetheless.
Despite her sheer exhaustion from the night before and the heavy thoughts weighing on her conscience, Sakura had faced another night of wretched dreams. Hot and sticky and clouded with a hungering lust she had never felt before. She was just so itchy! It was like she had a full body rash that was tingling all over, and she turned in the mirror, but her skin was clearer than ever before.
She groaned as she exited the bathroom, stopping in the kitchen for a quick bite before she grabbed her bag and jacket and made her way over to the Yamanaka shop for her shift. Ino was back from a long mission today and she was looking forward to catching up with her.
It wasn't like she missed missions after her last lifechanging experience, not to mention her whole team dynamic had collapsed since Sasuke left, so she never really got that same rush anymore, however it was still exciting to hear tales of the outside world as Ino often so aptly put it.
"Sakura!" Ino chimed as she entered the shop through the side door, a bright smile on her face and a towel around her neck, her long hair dripping onto the marble. "Your shift is almost done right? Let's chill in my room."
Sakura smiled as she untied the apron from around her waist, folding it on the counter before moving to lock the front door and turning the sign to "closed".
"Sure you don't want to get something to eat first?"
"I grabbed a pizza on my way over, though it might've gone a little cold while I showered." She frowned at the prospect of cold pizza as Sakura followed her out the side entrance and up the stairs to the adjoining living quarters.
As they settled in Ino's room, munching on pizza, Ino turned a curious stare on Sakura.
"You seem tired." She questioned, noting Sakura's lacklustre attitude. Though her best friend had been through her fair share of mood swings amidst all the drama she was going through, Sakura was never often down. She tackled problems head-on, and it was rare she appeared so defeated.
"Pregnancy keeping you up?" Ino guessed correctly, as Sakura turned a weary smile at her, brushing her hands on her skirt as replied.
"Yes and no." Sakura sighed and Ino couldn't help noticing the blush spread across her checks and how she averted her gaze.
"I've been having dreams. Weird dreams. And I feel so antsy all the time." She titled her head to the side as she tried to think of the right word, "like I'm waiting for something to happen or needing something."
Ino frowned as she ran through the basic pregnancy symptoms in her head, trying to match up Sakura's description.
"And the dreams have been keeping you from sleeping?"
"Yeah…"
"What kind of dreams?" Ino prompted when Sakura offered nothing further.
"Weird dreams. Sometimes its of the cell I was in when I was kidnapped, sometimes its of Naruto and Sasuke and people I've never met before," Sakura's eyes glazed over as she recalled the details of her vivid dreams, "sometimes Sasuke is older and his eyes are lost somehow, and Naruto is there too and he's strong but he's tired, slightly more broken than before. And there's war and fighting, and I don't know where I fit in all of it, but I'm not there." Sakura's expression is dark as she remembers, her brows furrowing as she meets her best friends gaze with a fear lingering in her eyes.
"Sometimes Ino," she whispers, feeling as ridiculous as she sounded, "I think I'm seeing the future. Of what's going to happen. We always thought we would find Sasuke quickly and drag him back, but we never thought of what it would be like if we didn't. If those months stretch on into one, two or three years. Or if we never manage to convince him at all."
Ino frowned, she hadn't thought of that either. But with Sasuke and the way things were going it was a likely possibility.
"Well, its normal to have dreams when pregnant because of the bodily changes and all, and I think, though don't quote me on this," Ino's face crumpled as she tried to remember a distant memory, "there's something about chakra and how it affects the mothers body. Women pregnant with kids from strong shinobi families are often affected by the chakra of the unborn." Ino huffed, annoyed that she hadn't paid better attention to the gossip between her mother and one of her pregnant friends all those years ago.
"In any case, if there's a strong lineage there, it's probably something to do with that." Ino shrugged, not realising just how on the mark her assumptions were.
"But it really sucks that you are plagued with nightmares. I hope its not all doom and gloom." Ino chuckled but paused when she watched Sakura freeze and turn red.
"There are other dreams too…" Sakura mumbled, hiding her face in her hands.
"Sakura," Ino prodded, a sly smirk on her face, "what kind of dreams" she was practically squealing with delight, watching her ever-bashful friend squirm.
"You know what kind!" Sakura huffed, kicking her friend from where they sat on the floor, wishing it would open up and swallow her whole.
Though she couldn't help laughing at Sakura's embarrassment, Ino turned serious as she reassured her friend.
"That's normal! You're all hormonal, it's to be expected."
"Really?" Sakura felt her embarrassment subside, a sudden relief spreading through her.
"Yes! You're in your fourth month now? And with twins too, it's expected you will have all sorts of hormones raging through your system."
Sakura sighed in tangible relief, feeling a weight off her chest as she slumped against the bed.
"So…" Ino prodded expectantly, "what are they like?"
"Ino!" Sakura cried in horror, trying to kick her friend again but she missed.
"What, you might feel better if you talk about it."
Sakura felt her face heat up again but thought Ino was probably right.
"He is always there. And my skin feels like its on fire and the whole atmosphere is suffocating, and when he puts his hands on me I feel like I can't breathe, but if he stops, I won't be able to either."
She sighed, running her hand through her hair in frustration as she recalled her agitated morning.
"When I wake up, I feel so itchy. It doesn't go for the whole day, and there's no rash or nowhere to itch. But there's just this tingling beneath my skin…."
"Its because you want to be touched!" Ino exclaimed, and Sakura gasped as her words slotted perfectly into place in her mind, immediately identifying exactly what she had been feeling all this time.
Ino smiled sadly at the shock on Sakura's face and she leaned over and patted her hand.
"Its normal Sakura. Its just because your hormonal and have no outlet, and those dreams are leaving you unsatisfied."
Sakura nodded in agreement, almost feeling herself on the edge of tears at the ache being identified but not resolved.
"Ino, I thought Kakashi was hot yesterday." Sakura hid her face in her hands at her shameful admission and Ino burst out laughing.
"It took you this long to realise!?" Sakura looked aghast at Ino's words and that only made her laugh harder.
"Sakura, it is literally a known fact that Kakashi is like the hottest jounin sensei. Everyone wants to be on his team. Have you never seen the way other kunoichi come on to him?"
Sakura was surprised to find that her friend was exactly right. They had been on many missions where women were literally throwing themselves at their sensei.
"Wow, you must really be into your guy to not notice that." Ino observed in a serious tone, sad to see Sakura's face drop at the mention.
"Ino I can't even describe it. I have never felt about him the way I do about anyone else. Its scary sometimes, how consuming it can be."
Ino nodded in empathy, Sakura had always been an all or nothing kind of girl.
"What was it like?" Ino questioned softly, curiosity getting the better of her, and when Sakura looked confused Ino merely raised her eyebrows to indicate exactly what she meant.
"Oh." Sakura hesitated, looking down at her hands. "It was… something else." She shook her head in disbelief at the memory.
"How did it happen?"
"When they told me I was going to die, I panicked." Sakura shuddered as she remembered the feelings, the dark cell and her heavy sentence. "I knew it was bound to happen, but when it did, I didn't know what to do. I felt so powerless."
"Then he asked me what I wanted but I knew there was nothing he could give me. But when I looked at him, I just… wanted to be close. I just wanted someone to hold me and make me feel safe."
"Honestly," Sakura felt shame flood her face as she admitted this, "I didn't mean to ask for it. I had never even kissed anyone before, so something like that was scary." Sakura sighed remembering Itachi's face, the war in his eyes.
"But when he touched me, and pulled me close, and then his lips were on mine. It was like I left my body and became a different person. I was no longer the shy and cautious Sakura. I was on fire and he was a body of water. I couldn't stop. It wasn't till he touched me that I realised just how much I wanted it. How stupid it would be to die without doing something like that."
Ino sighed dreamily at Sakura's recollection but as her story reached its end, her heart ached as Sakura's expression turned forlorn.
"I know it won't be easy but… I really hope things work out for you guys somehow." Sakura was surprised at Ino's words, surely if she knew who he was she would think very differently. "Any guy that can make you feel like that and treats you well, is worth keeping."
"In any case," Ino had a serious look on her face that Sakura hadn't seen in a while, "it sounds to me like you're a lost cause, so I sincerely do hope it works out. Regardless of who he is."
"What do you mean?" Sakura pressed, feeling like there was more to her words.
Ino tilted her head to the side as she appraised her, choosing her words carefully.
"I just feel like if he asks, you will go. Not that easily of course, but if you chose to stay you would always be longing for the time when you were in his arms."
Sakura exhaled deeply, her gaze turning to the setting sun outside the window.
"I already am…"
oOo
Sakura's mind was heavy as she walked home from Ino's house. In her new schedule of work, in which she avoided anyone and everyone for the sake of escaping speculation, she had also lost the social aspect of her life. Not meeting others had taken its toll on her, and just speaking her troubling thoughts aloud with Ino had really eased the weight off her shoulders.
Unfortunately, identifying the source of her discomfort had only intensified Sakura's longing. Now that she realised why she was itchy all the time, she felt even more agitated that there would be no relief. She hadn't seen Itachi since he had stormed out weeks ago and she could find no justifiable reason to summon him back, asides from I want to see you.
She found herself taking a detour through the lesser travelled parts of town, not quite willing to go home and face another sleepless night just yet. It wasn't till she was standing outside the vine-covered wall did she realised where her meandering had taken her.
The Uchiha compound.
She sighed as she made move to turn away before she changed her mind suddenly and decided it would do no harm if she stalked around inside. Maybe it would help her feel a little peace to linger in the places they had been together.
This time she traversed the wall easily, carefully dropping to the ground without making a noise. She quietly crossed the grounds, quickly finding the familiar storeroom. She felt herself gravitate strangely to the room, and though she hadn't intended to go inside, merely walk around, she found herself shifting around the awkward structures to the hidden door at the back.
Sakura was immediately disorientated by the thought that she had somehow stepped into one of her lewd dreams as she opened the door and found the room bathed in light with the very object of her desire pacing in the middle of it.
Reira: Thank you for the lovely, amazing reviews everyone. I apologise for not replying and will try to from here on out. I hope everyone is surviving these horrifically tumultuous times, and I hope this extra long chapter makes the shitshow that is 2020 fractionally more enjoyable.
Thank you for everyone's support, as mentioned in the last chap its been hectic for me work-wise, but on the plus side I did manage to find what I was looking for and it does mean I will be updating hopefully much more often. (Follow your dreams kids, no matter what age!)
(Hmu on tumblr reirashi for some kakasaku/any qs/hellos)