A/N: More SasuSaku fluff in this chapter!

Fallen

It was the fifth time that night that she had yelled and cried in her sleep yet she didn't wake up, only continued to sleep, having nightmares of her childhood. For the sixth time, he sighed, removing his right hand that was previously over her forehead. Her fever had died down, yet she was still sweating and panting, as if her temperature had gone higher.

"…No…" she murmured, a disturbed look on her face.

Curious, he closed his eyes and placed his hand over her forehead once more, concentrating chakra on it as he took a look at her subconscious, her mind, her dreams and thoughts. His brows creased together as he found her form on the floor, on her knees. Her shoulders were slumped and she was shaking in the dark. He approached her, careful not to let his presence known until he stopped when he saw a Secular just a few feet away from them.

Before the rogue was another Sakura, the child one, and she was terrified as the rogue advanced towards her. Then, he saw a woman rush head on at the Secular, attacking it but in the end, gave up her life to protect the little Sakura. Once more, the creature walked closer to the kid, but just like before, another woman came and performed a few seals, crying out an attack and killing the rogue.

"Tsunade..?" Sasuke thought, seeing the blonde woman stand before the little Sakura with a soft smile on her face. Sakura only looked up at her with tear-stained eyes as her savior slowly got up and walked away. When she was gone, a man took her place. He had a sinister smile and long silky black hair. Pale yellow eyes shone in the darkness and nails growing sharp, turning into claws as teeth became fangs. Three pairs of black bat-like wings sprouted from his back as he rushed at the older Sakura, the one he was just inches away from.

Chapter 5: Nightmares

She quickly sat up and panted, staring wide eyed at Sasuke who was catching his breath as well. He looked back at her, a questioning look on his face as she placed a hand on her head, touching her forehead. "How did you..?" he took a deep breathe in and looked down. "One of a Fallen's specialties is entering someone's dreams. If I didn't enter your mind, that man, Hellarium, would have taken you for sure."

Sakura shook at this, instinctively hugging herself as she bore her eyes at him. "H-he can do that..?" he saw fear in her eyes, and it just made him feel bad of not being able to help her with it. "Aa. That's why it's dangerous if you're alone. He could attack you in your sleep."

"Have you ever experienced that?"

"No, pure-breeds and half-breeds have NI, it can also protect us from him when we sleep. But as for gifted ones and the Chosen, they are vulnerable in their sleep." She pulled her knees up to her chest and started to tremble once more. He knew that if he told her that, she'll have trouble sleeping, but he had to, she needed to know sooner or later.

Without knowing what else to do, he ignored his pride and usually cold attitude, and pushed her down gently on the bed as he too, lay down beside her, making her head rest on his chest as he held her protectively, his eyes closed and body emitting blue aura, making both of them glow in the dimly lit room.

Sakura blushed when he had pulled her into his arms, getting a whiff of his vanilla scent. She heard him speak in a gentle and reassuring tone: "Relax, I'll be here, I won't let him take you." He pulled her closer. "I passed a bit of NI to you, it can prevent him from hurting you within your dreams, but he can still enter, and you'll still see him, but he won't be able to lay even a finger on you."

"Why is that?" she asked, slowly closing her eyes and snuggling closer to him. He stiffened a bit and eventually relaxed as he gave out a sigh. "I'm an Angelus, enough said." She gave a nod at this and tried to get some sleep. Fallens are considered the strongest, and surely, if there's one thing that can prevent Hellarium from taking her, it would be a presence of an Angelus, much less, the Fallen's NI.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He opened an eye and looked at her. "It's been a while since she last called me that…" he thought, waiting for her to continue. She raised her head a bit, lifting herself up so her head hovered above his as she looked at him with an unsure expression. He opened his other eye and gazed back at her. "What is it?" he asked, feeling his insides beginning to churn. "There's that damn feeling again!"

"Thanks." And she lowered her head, brushing her lips against his in a light kiss. Although their lips barely touched, he can still feel her soft natural cherry colored lips on his as she went back to her previous position, finally able to snooze safely. Sasuke blinked, absentmindedly tightening his hold around her waist and pulling her body closer, careful not to wake her up. Softly, he whispered a "You're welcome" in her ear and he too, went to take a nap.

It annoyed her, sickened her even, seeing that girl with her crush. They were always together, day and night. She wondered what the girl had that she didn't. She had a lot of fans adoring her, boys are dying to go out with her, yet this Fallen, this particular Angelus, had chosen someone else. "Bitch." She thought, seeing the pink haired girl and began walking away after giving a dark glare towards Sakura.

Again, he took note how the half-breed Demon had given a disgusted look towards the Chosen. It made him narrow his eyes and made a mental note to keep a close watch on that blonde girl. Aside from the Sand siblings, this girl could be a threat. He turned back to Sakura when he saw her raise her hand to touch her forehead and her facial expression one of fatigue.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Y-yeah, I am." She said, forcing a smile.

Sasuke only gave her a worried look then stopped in front of the girl, placed a hand on her forehead and frowned when her eyes drooped a bit. "You still have a fever Sakura." He said, feeling the warmth of her skin as she grinned sheepishly, her cheeks flushed due to her high body temperature. "I'm taking you to Shizune-san." He said, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the school's clinic.

"No need to," she said, pulling her hand back and gave one more smile at him. "I'll be fine Sasuke, it's nothing, really." He scowled and she avoided his look, feeling other students staring at them. "Look, I'll just have Shizune-san check your temperature, give you a medicine and then I'll leave you alone, how's that?" A sigh escaped her lips "Fine then." She said, giving in as she let him hold her hand and continued pulling her to the clinic.

He opened the door as Shizune greeted them and asked what was wrong. Sasuke had explained everything and the nurse only told Sakura to have a seat as her temperature was taken. After three minutes, Shizune took the thermometer from the sick girl's mouth and checked her temperature. She gave out a whistle and turned back to Sakura.

"Haruno-san, you're temperature is quite high, you shouldn't have gone here." She said, walking to a cupboard and taking out a tablet for students who have fevers. She handed it to Sakura who took it, along with the cup of water the nurse offered. Sakura kept her gaze away from Sasuke when she felt him glaring at her. "Well Uchiha-san, I guess Haruno-san will have to stay here until school is over, then you can take her home. In the mean time, I'll stay here to take care of her, and you can come back on your lunch break."

"Aa, thank you Shizune-san." He bowed slightly and gave a stern look to Sakura who laughed nervously. He bent down and poked her on the forehead as she yelped and rubbed her sore temple, giving him a pout. "Next time, don't lie." He said and walked out of the clinic, heading for his classroom.

"Uchiha-san seems to be really worried to take you here himself." Sakura blinked and smiled slightly. "Yeah," Sakura murmured. "Although he has a funny and strange way of showing it…" The nurse laughed at the girl's comment and gestured her towards a vacant bed, instructing her to sleep and rest. Sakura lay down and closed her eyes, drifting off to dreamland.

"So according to the text book, the marks of every half-breed differ, yet it can also be the same to pure-breeds who have the same kind or type of genes…" Kakashi held onto the book with his left hand and his other writing and drawing the different marks of half and pure-breeds. "This," he said, pointing to an "X" with his chalk. "Is the Hunter's mark, as it says in this book, the marks can be found on the backside palm of their hands." He searched the class with his eyes. "Ah, let's call on Temari shall we?" he asked, his eyes crinkling in amusement when the blonde teenager stood up, her eyes clearly showing how she was bored and uninterested with everything that's going on.

"Show the class your marks Temari." Kakashi said as the girl gave a nod and raised her palms, the back of it facing the class. "Here are the Hunter's marks; two on each." He then drew another one on the board. "Next, we have a Demon's." he wrote the word on the blackboard and without looking, "Naruto, stop talking with Shikamaru and come up here to show us where your mark is."

With a groan for being caught again, Naruto trudged onto the front, standing beside Temari and then lifted his white polo's left sleeve, along with the black shirt's sleeve inside, showing his exposed left arm. A circle above an upside down cross, with a curve supporting the circle like a smile.

Kakashi nodded his thanks but didn't tell them to sit down yet, a somewhat discreet punishment for Temari, for always being so inattentive despite her grades, for Naruto being, well, Naruto. "Here is the mark of an Angel." He drew a cross with an "X" over it, writing the word "Angel" below it. "Hinata, please show us your mark."

"H-Hai!" Hinata got up and walked over to the front, standing beside Naruto who grinned at her as she blushed and returned his greeting with a small smile. Like Naruto had done earlier, she lifted her right sleeves of her uniform and showed the class the mark of the Angel."

"This one is the Angel of Life's mark." He drew a number six facing the opposite way and another one inverted. "It is located on the right neck." Then he drew another mark: a somewhat look-alike of a number six and a curve supporting it below (i.e. ANBU mark). "This is on the right neck of Death." He drew another one, like the yin and yang symbol minus the circles and shades, only the middle of the circle was there and the two dots on the very end of each curve, a somewhat smile and sad curve supporting each circle. "This is the Chosen's mark, located above the left collar bone."

He looked back at his book. "A Chosen, as you all know, is a gifted, only special. He or she has four guardians and two advisers. You already know what the four are, as for the two, they are Life and Death." He turned back to the board and drew three commas, the pointed curve facing outwards as it formed a swirling type of shape (i.e. Curse Seal). Kakashi wrote the word "Angelus" below.

"Now then, the slang name for Angelus is Fallen, and I assume everyone knows why?" he turned to the class, receiving nods. "So Sasuke, please come to the front." The said teen averted his gaze from the window and to Kakashi. "Why me?" he only got a chuckle from the teacher. "As you know, it will be a delight for your fans and most of all; you're the only Angelus in this class. The rest are in other sections." He raised a hand and ushered him to come over. "Show us where your mark is."

Sasuke sighed and got up, passing by a few of his female classmates who giggled and whispered words with each other until he reached Hinata's side. With another sigh and a signal from Kakashi, Sasuke removed his white polo and slid down the left side of his black shirt, his back facing the class. Naruto snickered when the girls began to squeal with what he did. In his mind, he cursed them all to hell. "What? I'm not topless you idiots! I'm just showing the back left part of my neck! Geez!" He gave Kakashi a desperate look of "please-tell-me-I-can-put-my-polo-back-on" and the teacher only smiled behind his mask and nodded, much to his relief.

"Okay girls, settle down."

Sasuke then hit Naruto on the head, pocketed his hands and muttered a "dobe" then headed back to his seat, eyes closed and ignoring the calls from the girls. Naruto only stuck his tongue out at Sasuke's back and returned to his seat, followed by Hinata and Temari. "Damn… how slow can time get?" Sasuke thought and turned back to face the window.

"Uh… N-no… please… stop…"

She mumbled a few more words and kept tossing and turning. The blankets of the school's clinic that once kept her body warm lay on the floor, her uniform wrinkled and the skirt slightly rising to her mid thigh from all the moving she did. Her half-pony styled hair was disheveled, the middle button of her white blouse about to open as she continued to struggle in her dream.

He was just a few more steps away, a sinister grin across his face as he continued to advance towards the girl, ready to bring her to Hell so that he could cause chaos to the world and rule the whole universe. "S-stop, keep away!" she yelled, crawling away from him backwards, stumbling at times as her eyes remained widened and pupils dilated in fear. "S-stay away… Stay away!" when his hand was within a few inches away from reaching her, a blue barrier shielded him, stopping him from touching her. "W-what?" he narrowed his eyes at this and charged at her but was only deflected by the shield.

"A Fallen's NI…" he said, eyes widened as he stared at Sakura who was on the ground, kneeling and crying from fear. His lips curved upwards and he laughed. "So Sasuke has figured out a way to stop me from taking you in your dreams; very clever indeed." He stood up and slowly stepped back. "I shall come back for you, once he lets his guard down."

After taking a sharp intake of breath, she sat up abruptly and panted, staring down at her skirt, fists clenched and shaking. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she continued to catch her breath. Sakura felt a sudden sharp pain on her mark as she placed a hand over it, touching the burning sensation, trying to drive it away by caressing it with her hand.

A hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, pulling it away from the mark. She looked up to see Sasuke staring at her. "It won't help ease the pain." He said and sat down beside her, lowered his head on the mark and blew on it, not noticing how she shivered from his warm breath. "Does it still hurt?" he asked. She gave a nod, shutting her eyes when the pain came back. Instinctively, she raised her hand to touch it but his hand stopped her from doing so. "It won't work Sak," he said, and gave the mark a light flick of his tongue, ending it with a chaste kiss. "Still hurts?" he asked. Sakura remained silent and looked at him as he raised his head to meet her gaze, a smirk adorning his face.

"How did..?"

"Just one of a Fallen's tricks." He said, nearing his forehead on hers as he closed his eyes. "Your fever has lowered, your body temperature is returning to normal, and I assume you're hungry?" he asked, opening his eyes to look into her eyes. She gave a small nod and he got up, offering a hand to her which she took. "I asked Shizune-san if I can bring you home earlier, I explained everything to Tsunade as well, and they both agreed that I can take you home and stay with you there."

"But what about your afternoon classes?" she asked, feeling a bit light-headed from her encounter with Orochimaru in her dreams. "Like I said, I already explained everything." He said, not taking his eyes off her as they neared the door. "He paid you a visit, didn't he?" she only nodded and touched her head, knitting her eyebrows when she felt her head ache. "Sakura," she looked at him with half-closed eyes as he stopped for a while and grabbed her shoulders. "Hey, are you okay? Tell me the truth this time."

"No, not exactly…" she whispered, feeling like fainting. "How do you feel?" he asked again. "I feel like fainting, I must be really tired, that's all I guess, I mean, I didn't get a good sleep since he kept coming back." He furrowed his eyebrows at this and carried her in his arms. She didn't bother to protest and just closed her eyes when he held her closer, his mouth hovering above her right ear. "Just get some sleep, I'll take you home." He whispered and walked out of the school building, gaining everyone's attention.

"H-hey, why is Sasuke-kun carrying that Haruno girl?" one girl had asked. "I don't know, why is he holding her like that, like he's hugging her!" the other one exclaimed. Nearby, the half-demon woman heard it, her fists clenching when her blue eyes saw her crush carrying the same girl she loathed. With a mad dash, she stopped right in front of him and gave an annoyed look, which he returned with a stoic one.

She raised her finger and pointed it at Sakura. "Why are you with her, of all people? Why are you with her?" she half-yelled, half-asked. "What is it that you see in her? Why are you carrying her like that? What does she have that I or any other girl in this school doesn't? What made you suddenly care for her? As far as I remember, you don't give a damn or a shit about any girl, so why start now, with her of all people?"

"Why, does it have to be you?" he asked, not seeming fazed or affected with her words. "You're not the boss of me, nor can you tell me who I should carry or worry about. If you think you deserve to be in her place, then you're wrong." He started to walk again but she stomped her foot on the ground and didn't move away from his path. He glared at her. "Move, Yamanaka."

"No."

"I have no time for this, move."

"No."

With his patience growing thin, he glared some more, his eyes turning red as her whole façade slowly slumped and her knitted brows slowly fading, eyes turning to one of fright, confusion and defeat. "Move it, bitch." He never meant to say it, but she dared him to, not in words but the way she acted. "If you don't fucking move I'll end up killing you." He said, as calmly as he could, which was usually a bad sign.

"Sasuke…"

He looked down, eyes turning back to normal when Sakura had whispered his name. She slowly opened her eyes halfway and looked up at him, one hand reaching up to touch his right cheek. "Let it go… don't… hurt anyone…" she said as loud as she could, though her voice didn't obey as her body slowly grew more tired than ever. He sighed and looked up. "Ino, please, Sakura is really sick, and I need to take her home now, otherwise, it could get worse."

Absent-mindedly, she stepped aside and gave them way, watching his fading back after he whispered a "thanks" to her. Ino only slumped in defeat, scolding herself for making a scene in front of everyone, in front of him, in front of the sick girl she felt bad for calling a bitch. "Sorry…" she whispered to the wind, hoping it would deliver the message to the girl he carried. "That was the first time he called me by my first name." she thought, eyes half-closed and lips curved into a small smile. "You win, Sakura." And she walked back to the school.

"Sasuke,"

"Hn?"

"Thank you…"

"For what?" he asked, his pace not slowing down one bit. "For not hurting anyone because of me." She continued, resting her head on the crook of his neck when he brought her whole body a bit higher so she could have a comfortable position. He supported more of her upper body, slightly lowering her lower part. "Hey, is it okay if I fly? You really need to get home quick." She gave a small nod. "Mm, go ahead." Not bothering to open her eyes to look at him. Sasuke brought out his wings and flew towards Kakashi's house.

"You want anything?" he asked after laying her down on his bed and pulling the covers over her. She shook her head and gave a weak smile to him. "Thanks for taking care of me..." Without giving it much thought, he managed a smile and gave a nod, indicating that it was nothing. He was about to leave when her hand reached up to grab his wrist, stopping him from walking away.

He turned to her, seeing her eyes closed. "Sasuke, can you… please stay here with me?" Her voice sounded like she was pleading him, whether she did or not, he would've stayed anyway. "Aa." And stay he did, sitting down beside her. Although, she wasn't content, every time she closed her eyes and was left alone, she always remembered Hellarium, and that caused her grip on him to tighten. She moved aside a bit, rolling to her side to face his seated figure as he raised a brow at the excess space she gave. "Lie down…" she murmured.

Sasuke didn't know, but every request and demand that came from her mouth, he couldn't bring himself to reject it. He concluded that it was because she was sick, nothing more. He obliged anyway, lying beside her, facing her as she gave a content smile and move her hand over his, intertwining her fingers with his own. He absent-mindedly did the same, only a bit tighter. With her eyes closed, she asked one more question. "Sasuke,"

"Hn?"

"Tonight, can you take me to the roof, and gaze at the stars with me?"

"Why tonight?"

"Because I heard from Shizune-san that the stars will shine their brightest tonight at this year, so, can you?" he closed his eyes and wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer as she buried her head on the crook of his neck. "Aa." He answered, lowering his head a bit, his nose breathing in the scent of her hair. He felt her lips curve into a smile, and heard her whisper another "thank you".

There was a soft knock on the door and he stirred slightly. He stopped when the smell of cherries and a mixture of strawberries invaded his nostrils and he slowly opened his eyes, nearly jumping when he saw Sakura lying on top of him, her fists clenched on his shirt. His face immediately turned red as his room's door opened, Kakashi's voice ringing in his ear.

"Yo, Sasuke, Tsunade told me that you…and…Sakura…went…home…" he said, with every pause and hesitance after seeing the two teens sharing a bed. "My, you've become quite naughty." Sasuke only glared at him, his eyebrows twitching as Kakashi chuckled and took out an orange book, opened a certain page and showed it to him. "This is the part wherein the two characters are doing the same thing you're doing!" he grinned beneath his mask as Sasuke struggled to get out of bed without waking Sakura up. "Well, I only came here to say that it's 18:32 PM, so, dinner's ready." And he left, closing the door behind him.

"Melanin-less hair pervert…" he muttered and shook Sakura gently, making her furrow her eyebrows and slowly open her eyelids. She looked up and blinked at him with half-lidded eyes. "What's up?" she yawned afterwards. Sasuke just sat up as she did the same, then place a hand over her forehead. "Your fever's gone." He looked at her. "How are you feeling?" She gave a grin and raised her hands into fists, giving a childish action of saying she was strong, curling up her arms as little muscles formed on her arms. "Great!"

"Hn." He smirked and got out of bed while she still stayed seated on the mattress, eyeing him as he raised a hand behind his head and scratched it, giving out a small yawn. His ears picked up the sound of her giggling and he turned to her, raising a brow. "Nothing." She said innocently and got up as well. "Hn." He shrugged. "Come on, Kakashi's back and said that dinner is ready."

She blushed and looked at him with wide eyes. "Does that mean… he saw us..?"

A shrug answered her as he took off his white polo shirt, leaving it on top of his desk. "Come on." She nodded and followed him downstairs. Kakashi greeted them, holding up three bottles of beer. "Let's celebrate the victory of chasing away Sakura's fever, as well as driving Hellarium for the time being!"

"Kakashi, how'd you know? And isn't it unhealthy for Sakura to drink something alcoholic after just-" he was cut off when Kakashi ignored him and rushed to Sakura, handing her the opened bottle and clinking his own with hers. "Drink up!" She only twitched the corner of her lip, trying to force a smile. Kakashi grinned some more. "Alright, let's get drunk and stay awake the whole night!"

Sasuke took the bottle from Sakura and threw it at Kakashi who caught it without spilling the contents. Wide eyes coming from Sakura and an annoyed look from Sasuke as Death continued to dance around and be hype, waving the two bottles in the air. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Sasuke asked, giving him a weird look. Kakashi stopped and glanced at him. "I'm feeling giddy today!" he said, tossing him a bottle. "Drink with me Sasuke!" he said and downed the remaining contents of his own bottle. "No way." He said, placing the beer on the table and walking away. Death only smiled at this. "Chicken."

He stopped and turned to Kakashi with an icy glare. "What-did-you-call-me?" he asked, slowly and dangerously low. The adult only shrugged. "I'm just saying the truth; you're chicken to even drink. I bet you get drunk faster than I can!" he grinned boyishly and downed the other bottle. "I have two cases more, minus the case where I got these three bottles from."

"First one who gets drunk washes the dishes for a month!" Sasuke said, taking a seat across Kakashi who opened a new bottle, slamming it down on the table without spilling the contents or breaking the bottle. "Deal." And thus, the drinking contest begins.

Sakura continued chewing on her rice and teriyaki as the two men who sat in front of her and across each other continued to down one bottle after the other. She glanced at the one and a half empty case and then turned back to their faces. Kakashi's visible eye was crinkling yet in a lazy look, a red tint across his cheeks. Sasuke was flushed as well, eyes in a half-lidded state but giving a determined look.

"Are you two drunkards?" she asked out of nowhere and took a sip from her canned orange juice, courtesy of Sasuke for he didn't want her to drink and get herself sick again. They only shook and immediately, they felt a bit dizzy. She sighed and glanced at the clock then stood up and walked over to Sasuke who looked up at her, his facial expression not changing.

"What is it?" he asked, hiccupping in between the lines. Sakura raised a brow and pulled him up with his arm, placing it over her shoulder. "Come on, you're taking a cold shower and coming with me to watch the stars." She grinned at him. "You said you will."

"But Ka-"

"I'll handle Kakashi." She said, eyeing the said man who blinked at them. "Kakashi-san, how about all of us take turns washing the dishes? You start tonight; I'll do tomorrow and Sasuke for the day after." The pure-breed gave a nod, hiccupping for a while and then stood to clean the mess up. "Thank you!" she beamed and helped the male teen beside her to climb the stairs.

"Sakura…" he muttered but she only pushed him inside the bathroom and tossed a towel. "You told me you'd watch the stars with me, so freshen up and we can go!" she grinned and he sighed, nodding and closing the door, locking it as he stripped his clothing and turned on the showers.

The Chosen smiled in satisfaction and turned to her bags, taking out some clothes to change into. She picked out a red shirt and a white skirt reaching below her knees then started to change. She sat down on Sasuke's bed and waited for the Fallen to finish. When he was, he stepped out clad in only a towel around his waist. His hair still retained its spikes yet a bit flattened out. She blushed and stared at him with wide eyes as he used another towel to dry his hair.

He opened an eye to her, then his other one followed suit. "What?" she blinked and stared at him. "You're topless…" he shrugged. "So?" she blushed some more. "You don't care if you're topless in front of a girl?" He narrowed his eyes at this. "Why should I? Are you thinking inappropriate things because of me being topless?" she looked down and stammered. "W-well, I-I'm j-just not u-used to it…"

"Hn." He said and took out a pair of dark blue jeans and a white shirt over it. "So, if you see someone naked, be it a girl or a boy, you won't care?" she asked. He pulled on the shirt after putting on the pants. "Look, it's only the mind that makes it look… bad." He turned to her. "Even if you're naked in front of me, it doesn't mean anything bad, unless I think of thoughts that are not supposed to be thought of."

"Well, yeah, but what about dignity or respect?"

"Mind you, everyone looses it when they see a baby naked."

"But that's different!"

"Why are we having this conversation?"

"Um…"

"Let's just go." He said, pushing the door open and waiting for her to step out of his room. He led her to the attic of the house and opened the top window, climbing out of it as he checked if it was safe. He reached down, offering a hand to her as she took it, feeling her feet leave the wooden floor when he pulled her up with ease, since he added a good amount of chakra in his arm.

What he did next made her yelp, since he carried her bridal style again, and jumped off the roof. Sighing since she knew and was a bit used to it, Sakura eyed him when his black wings sprouted behind his back and he headed to somewhere she didn't know. "Where are we going?" she asked. He glanced down at her then turned back to looking ahead. "You'll see."

He stopped on a small clearing, trees surrounding it and a few mountains afar. She looked up, eyes wide when she saw how big and round the moon was, illuminating the whole place, the grass glowing thanks to the amount of dew. The stars were still visible, but a bit faint, thanks to the light the moon gave, yet it was still a beautiful sight. Sakura gasped when a hand pulled her down as she fell onto the grass, landing on her butt as she glared at Sasuke who smirked at her.

"You should've told me, I wouldn't be wearing a white skirt if I knew…" she muttered, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them, resting her chin above her knees. "You never did ask, plus, it's a sort of, surprise, as well as a place that I go to when I want to be alone or just feel like being alone."

"Then why did you bring me here?"

"Why not?" he shrugged, leaning back a bit, his elbows supporting his whole weight as his left leg was bended, the other resting on the ground. His eyes turned to the night sky as dark grey clouds began to hide a few parts of the moon, giving the stars the spotlight for the time being. "Besides, I remember that this clearing is a good spot for star gazing."

She gave a nod at this and watched the twinkling diamonds high in the sky. "I agree." She turned back to him after a few seconds. "Sasuke," he glanced at her. "What are you exactly afraid of?" she asked. He pondered a bit and closed his eyes. "Loosing someone close, why?"

"I notice how you distance yourself to other people, and I think that we wouldn't even be this close to each other if I wasn't a Chosen, am I right?" as much as he hated to admit it, he nodded slowly, unsure of his answer. "But you know what?" he turned back to her as she gave a smile. "I still would've tried to befriend you and get closer to you, despite what may happen, or whatever you do."

"Why would you do that?"

Sakura's smile only broadened. "I have a thing for loners like you, and I don't want anyone being alone and feeling lonely, no matter how much they deny it. Deep down, I know they want someone to be with them, I should know, especially after loosing my family to a single Secular."

"So, you just befriend any loner-type of guy, I don't see you doing that to Gaara."

She stuck her tongue out. "You told me to keep away from him, and besides, he's a little bit impossible to befriend since anyone who gets closer to him, except teachers and his siblings, would be in coffin-like sand."

Sasuke snorted. "Not me." He murmured and only earned a giggle from Sakura. He raised a brow at her as she continued to stare at the stars. "Sasuke," she didn't wait for a reply from him. "Do you… like someone?" he gaped at her as he sat up straight, not tearing his eyes off of her. "What made you ask that?" she smiled a bit and half-closed her eyes. "It's nothing really; it's just that, I really like someone, but… I doubt he'd return it."

"You'll never know unless you try, right?"

"Yeah, but I can tell, just the way he acts, and just how… his eyes look at me. There are times when they show concern, worry and care, but I bet it's only as a friend type of thing." She looked at him with those eyes, they were slightly watery, making them shine as a cool breeze blew at them, swaying their bangs and pushing back their hair. He stared at her, thoughts running wild as she kept her gaze locked on him. "How do you know?" he asked.

She shrugged, not knowing how she was leaning closer to him, and her eyes slowly drooping. "I just know, and I think I can prove it." He knew that she was referring to him, and he found himself frozen on the spot, though there were no tints of red across their cheeks, even a slight pink was not evident. He was aware that his eyelids were closing, halfway though, he stared at her, her face close, her lips just a mere inch away, and without much of a thought, he closed his eyes fully and leaned down to close the gap for them both, for her.

To be continued…

Next on Fallen: Chapter 6: I want to…

He made a jump shot and the ball went in. "I asked you if you feel anything towards me, and you said no. If that's true, then you don't even care if I die?" he bent down a bit, hands on his knees as he panted, sweat trickling down his face. "Do you care only because it's your job as my guardian?"

A/N: Another chapter done! Voting is closed, the winner: Yakuza II!