"So let me get this straight. You actually think you have a better shot at killing Itachi by doing this?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"And you think these people will be helpful in doing that."
"Stop repeating everything I say, Sakura."
The night had a different feel attached to it. Mysterious and unpredictable, it had the potential to shelter a dream from the harsher reality.
The wind ran slower, careful, as if not to disturb the world's peaceful slumber. In the night, people often felt compelled to show bits and pieces of themselves that otherwise would remain hidden and locked deep within. The darkness and the silence made way for emotion.
Sasuke and Sakura could be found seated in a modestly decorated room with nothing and everything between them, save maybe for two cups of mint tea.
Sakura sighed. Not because it was a frustrating situation, but because it was a very frustrating situation.
Fortunately enough, Suigetsu left to rest way earlier than anticipated, and that gave the young kunoichi a bit more time to play her cards.
It had been a long, eventful day. At that point, both her and Sasuke were sick and tired of fighting with no productive outcome whatsoever.
She was right to suspect he might give in and save himself some nagging, for they had miraculously managed to forge a conversation of some sort after all.
All things considered, Sasuke wasn't a very easy person to talk to. Although undoubtedly tired, he had been very cautious as to what information he divulged regarding his plans.
Regardless, it pained Sakura to find that he never even considered asking Team 7 for help. He looked almost offended when she asked. It didn't take a genius to understand that they were more than suitable for the job. More so than a bunch of strangers who knew nothing about him, that's for certain.
Well, save for the assassination part. Not a single member of Team 7 was particularly keen on killing (including Sasuke). Disliked it, even. But Itachi was a sought after, bingo-booked international criminal. Dangerous, cold-hearted and maybe even deranged. The killing could be definitely overlooked in this case.
"I'm sorry, it's just," she complained, "what's wrong with me and Naruto? You know we wouldn't tell anyone. Kakashi too. You can count on us."
"You're wasting your time."
Sakura scoffed. This again. The unjustified assumptions, the distance, all of it before her eyes, straight to her face. Typical. All this talk about growth, about change, all this big talk. And for what? The very minute he identified any small trace of vulnerability, he shot at it.
The thing with Sasuke? He'd make absolutely sure your resolve is weakened. Anything to stop people from prying into his personal business. Too bad Sakura had already developed a resistance to these tactics.
Maybe it was time for a different approach. Perhaps, a more argumentative one. The both of them have matured and left their childishness behind, but how was Sasuke supposed to know that?
Besides the obvious improvement of skill, how was he supposed to know Sakura wasn't just a lovesick girl who wanted to have him for herself? She'd already went ahead and kissed him. Multiple times. On more than one occasion.
It had already been kind of awkward between them, and now, with the impulsive kissing…absolute disaster.
Feelings are difficult to comprehend for regular people, let alone people like them. But it's just as true that the nature of Sakura's feelings, however complicated, shifted into something of sincere depth. So maybe she should find it in herself to approach Sasuke differently. See things from his perspective for a change.
Sakura wanted another kind of ending for this familiar scene. One over which she possessed more control. One where words and emotions didn't scare her as much as they actually did.
"I am not the same person I was, and neither are you. I get that and that's exactly why I can't accept your answer."
She moved closer to his side of the table. Determined, green met obsidian. Any traces of reluctance she might have felt, none of it sneaked through her ambition.
There was no fixing Sasuke Uchiha. He didn't need any fixing. His troubles and pain have helped him become the brilliant person, the outstanding shinobi that he is today. He was no patient of hers. He was someone Sakura loved immensely, someone who deserved the closure he so recklessly wanted.
Besides, this is the life they chose as shinobi. And it had no place left for fear. It never had a place for shame.
"Look. It's pointless to pretend there's nothing going on anymore. But that's not the point. The point is that you already know how I feel about you, about all of this. You already know I won't give up no matter how much you pressure me.
I'm not embarrassed by what I feel. And if you think I'm looking for some silly romance, you're delusional. I am your ally, your friend. You can trust me, Sasuke. I couldn't ever betray the man I love."
The black haired man took a few seconds to study his former colleague: she appeared to be serious, maybe even a little bit angry. Uncharacteristically wary somehow, as if saying all of that damaged her ego beyond repair.
It was quite the surprise, he had to give her that. Sasuke had rarely ever seen people own up to their actions, let alone admit to something they could easily be misjudged for.
Of course he knew. It's almost impossible to be oblivious to something like that. He couldn't lie, there were many times he shamelessly took comfort in knowing there was someone out there who still thought about him, undeserving as he was. He took comfort in knowing that person was Sakura.
It irked him though, how she managed to sneak her way under his thick skin and make him wonder about her, too.
So now that Sakura brought her feelings to light and put them up for debate like the foolish girl she was, Sasuke wasn't exactly sure what to do with himself.
"Tsk."
He got up and walked closer to the windows. He needed to distance himself to be able to think, focus on something else. The moon looked familiar, and it made his stomach turn with something he'd rather not name.
Sasuke had a hard time coming to terms with this ridiculous situation. Alone in a room with none other than Sakura Haruno, who no longer than a minute ago called him "the man she loves". Who no longer than a few hours ago managed to kiss his lips and make him question everything he thought he knew, all at the same time.
"You're gonna have to do better than that." He heard her complain.
Sakura was the epitome of everything he was trying to avoid. Emotion, warmth, attraction, distraction, hope. He never asked for this. He never asked her to fall for him.
She was tempting him. Only each and every goddamn time she did, it got harder and harder for Sasuke to refrain from taking.
"I was mistaken. It's best you leave in the morning."
He needed silence, training, resilience and distance. Most of all, he needed Sakura to be somewhere far away from him. No more green eyes, no more pink. He needed to get away before it was too late.
"Excuse me? You're the one who demanded I come along in the first place. Why the sudden change?"
Sasuke didn't want Team 7 interfering. He made that painfully clear with every occasion. She had never planned on staying, instead Sakura wanted to help in ways that didn't include abandoning her morals or her home.
It would be the smarter alternative, too. Information was the ultimate key to any successful mission. Inside the village, Sakura had access to every rumor, document and sloppy gossip. Not to mention perks for being The Fifth's adored apprentice.
In spite of that, hearing him blatantly tell her to leave and failing to provide any reason as to why he wanted her gone, it just stung.
"If it's because of what I said earlier, you-"
"Dammit Sakura! Of course it's because of what you said. You run away from the village, track me down, kiss me every goddamn time we disagree on something and expect me to what? This isn't a game."
"What I said doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything!" He angrily turned to her, daunting red spilling from his eyes.
Devoid of any composure, they now stood facing each other, desperately trying to grip on any sense of rationality left.
"There can be no distractions."
"That's all I am to you, huh."
"There are people seeking my eyes, my blood, Sakura. They're dangerous. My brother is just one of many I will have to defeat."
"I don't need your protection if that's what you're on about. I am more than capable of looking out for myself. I wouldn't be so insistent on helping if I knew I'd just be a burden, but things are different this time and you know it."
"Leave."
"Why?! Give me one good reason. Because I honestly don't get you at all. We finally managed to have a semi decent conversation and after insisting I follow you guys, you all of a sudden tell me to leave. You suck!"
"Need me to spell it out for you? So be it."
A gush of wind startled Sakura, until the coldness of air was suddenly replaced by unimaginable warmth. She felt calloused fingers grace the sides of her face and before she knew it, Sasuke took her lips with his own.
It was slow at first, tender. But then his hands started wondering towards other places and what started as an impulsive gesture turned into fevered electricity.
"Foolish, annoying girl."
Sasuke grabbed her milky legs and wrapped them around his hard torso, all while never breaking contact with her mouth. Her fingers carefully worked their way through thick, dark locks, as foreign sounds unapologetically deserted her bitten lips.
The tension was almost palpable. And as the kisses quickened, as the hands claimed, as the need prevailed, something completely shifted.
Sasuke wasn't a man of many words. For him, communication was primarily done through action.
It was only through his touch that Sakura felt him. It was through his biting, touching, caressing, that he was speaking to her.
His words were his hands, his mouth, his desperation.
What a shame that Sasuke's gallantry was about the last thing Sakura could focus on. Not when her body moved on its own. Not when it ached in ways and places it had never before.
"This-"
Kiss.
"is why-"
Bite.
"you can't stay."
He confessed, making Sakura moan with ecstasy. She eagerly wrapped her slender arms around his neck, leaning into his magnetic touch.
Sasuke's white shirt now lay wrinkled on the floor the same way her red tunic had long lost touch with her body. And it felt right. Unlike anything else, it felt right. Like coming home after a very long time.
She grabbed one of his hands and placed where it ached the most.
"Please..."
He groaned into her ear and furiously pinned her to the nearest wall. After licking two of his fingers and adjusting the positioning of her legs, he softly slipped them underneath silky lingerie.
He looked at her then, all teary eyes and red cheeks. She looked achingly beautiful, all flushed and needy for him.
The power of the Sharingan surfaced once again and she might hate him after this, but Sasuke was a selfish man and always took what was rightfully his. He was aware that what they were about to do would change everything forever.
But in that moment, when his name became a prayer for her lips, he truly didn't care.
He memorized the soft contours of her face, her lips, her sensual body, he memorized everything about how Sakura looked when he allowed himself the tragedy of loving her.
Feelings of exhilaration erupted in his heart, because it was just as she said: no point in denying anymore.
He had been waiting just as long. Far too long.
Years of suppressed anger, frustration, emotion, it all became too much. Sasuke thought himself an impeccable warrior, but he spent far too little time thinking of himself as what he was before anything else: a man.
He wanted her, only her. All Sakura was willing to give, he would take. She proclaimed herself as his and when his fingers touched soft, wet skin and Sakura cried in pleasure, he felt all restraint abandon him completely.
He was fucking her with his fingers, biting her with his teeth. Her reactions turned him into something foreign, something primitive and raw.
"Don't stop...!" She begged and Sasuke could feel her folds tightening, brows burrowed in concentration and need for release.
She was close but he was greedy.
Sasuke decided he wouldn't let Sakura have her first orgasm be by his hand, so he removed his fingers.
Before she could think to complain, Sakura found herself breathless on the floor. Sasuke positioned on top of her body. She looked into swirling red and understood his silent plea.
"I won't be able to stop." He warned, gently caressing one of her exposed breasts.
Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, saying:
"I never want you to." Sakura sealed the truth with the softest of kisses, saturated with nothing but love.
That was all the reassurance he needed. Sakura wanted him as much as he wanted her. And they were about to change things forever.
But for the first time in the entirety of his life, it all felt right.
Morning came sooner than expected, and it filled the horizon with hues of pink and yellow, celebrating a new rebirth of the sun.
Dawn brought along an entirely different feeling. The promise of reverie faded along with the moon, leaving hopefulness in its place.
When Sakura woke up, she found herself covered in wrinkled sheets that smelled of him.
She was alone.
The first instinct was to cry and condemn what happened. Condemn herself for allowing it to happen. She wanted to hide and disappear from the world, for the unfairness of life mercilessly burned the insides of her heart again. Exactly as he did, only it was more straightforward and easier to accept this way.
Because when you play with fire, you get burnt.
Sasuke left.
He made love to her, moved above and inside of her with a passion she thought him incapable of. Only to cowardly sneak away after she had fallen to sleep, only to slip right through her fingers again.
Sakura felt like a fool. And she certainly was, because in spite of all that happened, she couldn't bring herself to regret a single thing. Sasuke Uchiha was the man who took not only her heart, her body, but her virginity too. He was the man she fell in love with and that he couldn't ever take away. It had always been him. It was always going to be him.
She was disappointed, but not surprised. She had hoped it would be enough, but truth be told, if he had stayed, then he wouldn't be the Sasuke she knew. She was upset. Hurt.
But somehow, in the bitterness of it all, she knew it was never going to happen for them. They both took advantage of a moment, a moment in which consequences didn't exist. They freed themselves of a wretched destiny for a few hours.
Twisted as it was, Sakura was glad she was able to have at least that.
Holding onto herself, she got up and started gathering her discarded pieces of clothing. It was a fairly long way back to Konoha, after all. Naruto was waiting and probably worried out of his mind and even though Sakura wasn't necessarily eager to return, she knew he would be there whatever happens.
Lost in thought, she mindless grabbed her skirt off the floor when suddenly, a strange piece of paper fell next to her feet. After determining its origin, she picked it up immediately. Sasuke wasn't known to leave messages.
"Forgive me."
A single tear fell from her eyes, staining the paper which carried a handwriting she could recognize anywhere. She carefully ran one of her fingers over it, focusing on the two unusual words.
He didn't say was sorry. He wasn't sorry. He didn't regret what happened either. That part she understood. But Sasuke was someone who never needed nor asked for anything, let alone forgiveness.
She folded the paper and placed it in her pouch. Their story was a lacking one. It had holes and patches everywhere. Not a proper beginning.
But not a proper ending, either.
Author's Note:
hi. :)