Title: Toil and Trouble
Rating: M (sorta)
Summary : Sequel to Bubble, Bubble
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"You're not trying hard enough," he bites out as she, once again, removes her bare hands from his forearms.
Perspiration beads on her forehead and she pants tiredly. "I am," she grits out.
It had been an hour since their first session together had begun, and already she loathes Sasuke Uchiha. In the beginning she tried to be understanding of his moodiness, after all, he did tragically lose a partner not too long ago. But his constant snapping and nagging has pushed her to the edge.
"Obviously not hard enough. I don't get how we could have possibly been partnered together." He spins around as if heading towards the door. "You're useless."
"Both of you, enough!" Tsunade yells before Sakura gets a chance to retort. "This is not the way Matches are supposed to treat each other." She exhales exasperatedly through her nose. "Partners need to support one another, make up for each other's weaknesses and amplify the other's strengths."
She turns to Sakura. "Haruno, you need to push harder, magic is power and for power to work, you need to be strong. You are too hesitant. And you, Uchiha," she whirls on Sasuke, her eyes practically flaming now. "You need to remember what it is like in the beginning, you need to adapt to Sakura's style and assist her. She is not Karin."
"Obviously," he bites out before turning on them and bursting out the door.
Sakura's jaw drops at his action. She feels as though she has been slapped in the face. Her vision starts to cloud over as she feels tears being to pool. Her Match's rejection and stress of being uprooted from her "normal" life just slam into her. She wants to run away from KA and never come back.
"Don't cry," Tsunade warns her sternly.
"What am I supposed to do?" Sakura responds, biting back the tears. "I don't understand any of this, I obviously can't compare and even out Sasuke. I'm sick of feeling so weak and helpless."
"You're not weak," Tsunade interrupts. "You just need to tap into your reservoir of power. You need more training."
"How am I supposed to do that if Sasuke keeps storming out of our sessions? He doesn't talk to me; he barely even looks at me. How are we supposed to work as partners?"
"We need to work on your personal training some more," Tsunade sighs, "You need more work on the basics since your powers emerged so much later in life you're lacking the foundation lessons that the other students receive before it's their turn to face the cards."
Tsunade begins walking Sakura towards the door of the private training room. "How committed are you to being a stronger witch?" she asks.
"I don't want to be weak," Sakura replies, new determination etching on her face. If this is her reality, damn it if she is not going to strive to be the best. "I want to blow Sasuke out of the water with my strength. I never want to be looked down upon again."
A smirk appears on Tsunade's face at the young girl's words. "Well then, I'll have some extra private lessons added to your schedule. They'll be either very early or very late in the day, so make sure you sleep while you're able."
"Thank you, Headmistress," Sakura says with a nod of her head. "I'll do you proud."
With that, Sakura exits the room and begins walking back to her room. She has grown accustomed to the mostly empty corridors; it is not uncommon to pass only two or three other students when walking across the campus.
When she gets to the door to her room, she hesitates for a second.
Ino and Shikamaru had broken up last week and since then, her room has been a disaster zone. One day Ino had flooded it; the next day one of her poor shirts had burst into flames. Sai's been trying his best to comfort the distraught blonde, but even his calm attitude is unable to completely cancel out Ino's temper tantrums.
Sakura leans her ear against the door to see if she can hear anything and it is surprisingly silent. Taking this as a sign that it is safe to go in, she slowly opens the door and steps inside.
"Sakura!" Ino yells out in glee, "Oh my gosh, you look exhausted! Do you want me to make you some tea?"
"Uh," Sakura is at a loss for words. The room is in perfect order, the window's open letting in the red glow of the sunset and all of tissue boxes and cookie dough wrappers have disappeared without a trace. "I'm okay. You seem awfully happy."
"Yes! Oh it was amazing!" She does a little spin and smiles widely. "I was so upset in my conjuring class, I couldn't do anything. I was almost on the verge of tears when this little puppy stumbles into me. He was so cute he made whole day so much better. Anyways I was trying to find who summoned him and this guy in my class walks up and we start talking." Her eyelashes flutter a little. "He's so handsome and rugged and says that he knew I was upset so he summoned the puppy to make me feel better."
Ino flops back on her bed, and Sakura finally notices the single rose in her hand.
"His name's Kiba and we have a date tomorrow night," the more experienced witch sighs contently as she strokes the flower petals.
"That's great Ino," Sakura tries to sound excited for her friend, but honestly she's absolutely drained from her lesson.
Ino sits up, her smile falling a little bit. "Are you okay?"
This time it is Sakura's turn to plop onto her bed. "Yeah, just my Match hates my guts and I'm awful at magic."
"Well, that's Sasuke for you," Ino mutters under her breath as she begins moving around the room in the whirlwind. Before Sakura even realizes what is happening, Ino has a circle of candles lit, with a red ribbon lying in the center of them. Ino's eyes glaze over as she begins chanting rhythmically. She brings one of the flames up and lights her rose on fire.
"Ino, what are you doing?" Sakura asks as the flames of all of the candles turn a dark red in unison.
"Shhh," the blonde snaps. "I'm helping you."
At that, Sakura keeps her mouth shut. The dangers of interrupting a spell had been one of her first lessons at the academy.
Soon enough, Ino finishes her chant and candles snuff out one by one. "Here," the young witch says as she hands Sakura the ribbon. "Wear this the next time you see Sasuke, it'll help."
She gives Sakura a mischievous wink before returning to her own business.
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The next evening, Sakura arrives at the practice room a little early for her and Sasuke's private lesson. She wears the ribbon that Ino enchanted, cursed, actually she is not quite sure what Ino did to it, but nevertheless it rests in her hair.
Making herself useful, she begins lighting the numerous candles that encircle the dark room. As per usual in any of the rooms in the Academy, the lights are dimmed and there is incense burning in the corner, creating the perfect atmosphere for magic fluidity. Just when Sakura is about to light the last candle, it flickers on its own and a small piece of paper flutters out.
"Sakura and Sasuke, something urgent is in need of my attention. I will not be attending today's lesson, please continue working on reaching each other's auras. Tsunade."
"Shit," Sakura curses aloud, now she's going to have to deal with Sasuke on her own.
"What?"
Sakura jumps at the voice and spins around, not realizing that Sasuke has entered the room. She regains her composure and hands Sasuke the note.
Irritation rests on his face as he finishes reading. Sakura begins removing her gloves and sits cross-legged on the ground, directly in front of a large candle that rests in the center of the room.
Sasuke scoffs before turning towards the door.
"Wait!" Sakura yells and jumps up to stop him. "We're in this together! We're Matched, we have to help each other out!"
Sasuke turns to face her. "You don't get it. There is no 'we,' being Matched doesn't mean anything. I don't need to help you with anything and you certainly can't help me. I can do this on my own."
The words sting, but Sakura is more angry than hurt. "Listen here, asshole!" she yells, her face beginning to burn with her temper. "I have put up with all of the shitty things you have thrown at me this week. I get it, something bad happened to you, but bad things happen to everybody. You need to get over it and move on. This is the present and I am you Match, now get over yourself and help me."
Dark eyes widen slightly at her unexpected anger, but they quickly become cross. Angrily, his gloved hand wraps around her wrist. He pulls her close to his face and looks into her eyes. "You know nothing," he practically spits out before pushing her away from him.
Without even thinking, Sakura slaps him across the face, too angry to even care that she has never done anything like that before in her life. However, the moment the back of her hand connects with his cheek, a wave of heat washes over her.
She looks at Sasuke's face once again, taking in his handsome appearance. Of course she has always found him attractive, but now she truly takes the time to appreciate the strong jaw line, his endless eyes, his soft skin. She reaches up and touches his cheek gently, brushing her fingers over the enflamed skin where her blow had made contact.
His arms wrap around her waist and she finds herself pressing into his body, wanting to feel more of him on her. His hands travel down to her her butt and he squeezes it through the dark material of her skirt. Not being able to stop herself, Sakura leans forward and crashes her mouth to his.
Instantly, she is hit with his thoughts. As she feels his soft lips on her own, she senses all of his own sensations. His thoughts are muddled but a strong sense of need pushes through him. Sakura jumps up and wraps her legs around his hips, grinding into him. Their bodies resonate with passion. Not a want, a need. They need each other.
Sasuke sucks on her bottom lip and she lets out a slight moan. His lips travel down her neck and rest on the side of it. Goosebumps run down Sakura's body and she curls her toes at the sensation of him breathing on her sensitive skin. Her hands run up to his hair where she presses him harder to her. She continues traveling through his thoughts, feeling the sensation from both ends. She almost goes into a trance at the pleasure, her body and mind humming in approval.
The temperature of the room feels like it has increased ten fold. Sakura briefly opens her eyes to find the flames of the candles practically shooting straight up in the air, their intensity fueled by the passion of the magicians. It all is so much. She feels Sasuke grind against her and a fire ignites within her. She needs him to extinguish it.
Both of them are so caught up in the moment that they do not notice the puff of smoke and the man that now stands in the room.
"And here Tsunade said you guys weren't getting along," the masculine voice booms.
Suddenly Sakura finds herself on the ground, Sasuke's back turned to her at the complete opposite side of the room, between them stands a big man with long white hair.
"I'm Professor Jiraiya," he extends a hand to her and helps her up from the ground. When her hand touches his, she sees her memories of what just happened fast forward through her mind. Her cheeks flush in embarrassment as she realizes how she just acted.
"I think this is your problem," Jiraiya removes the ribbon from Sakura's hair. "Whoever enchanted this did a decent job at it. You're lucky Tsunade sent me to check on you two."
He holds the ribbon over one of the candles, the flame back to a normal level, and it catches fire. Dark red smoke curls from the ribbon, an almost intoxicating sent radiating from it.
The door slams as Sasuke exits the room, snapping Sakura from her daze.
Nu uh, she thinks to herself. He does not get to just ignore that.
Sakura races out of the room after him, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the brightness of the corridor after being in the dark practice room. She finds him beginning a teleportation spell, but she's able to grab a hold of his arm at the right moment, sending her with him.
Her stomach drops and she feels a brief moment of weightlessness before her feet hit the ground. She falls to her knees painfully, and looks around. She finds herself in a dark, dusty room with creaky wooden floorboards. She finds Sasuke's dark form to her right, his head in his hands and his breathing labored.
She moves towards him, in attempt to comfort him, but his voice stops her.
"Stay away," he rasps out, as if in pain.
Teleportation is not an easy feat; Ino's talked about it before. She mentioned that she always needs a boost from Sai or she gets really faint and shaky.
"Sasuke, please just let me help you." Sakura begins moving closer to him but his hand juts out as a warning.
"I said stay away, Sakura." Without thinking, Sakura grabs his bare hand – both of them had left their gloves back in the room. He lets out a gasp of relief. She does not know exactly how she is doing it, but she feels some of her own magic flow into his body, healing him like what he did with her burned hand.
She finds herself in his mind once again, but this time it is clearer. She can make out actual thoughts and memories. It's almost like wandering through a dark hallway with each memory being a room with an open door. Curiously she continues on, peeking her head in a few. They are just little things like classes or mealtimes. But then she stumbles across something odd, three large doors, each with dark engravings that practically burn on the surface.
"Get out!" She hears Sasuke's voice echo, but she ignores it. This is her chance, maybe if she knows what he has been hiding, she can understand him better and unlock their bond.
She reaches towards one of the doors, pressing her hand against it. The markings shutter and begin to shift, leaving no trace on the dark wood. Sakura begins to push the door open but only finds darkness. She steps into it, looking back to make sure the doorway is still there.
It is dead silent, almost as if she has wandered into a vacuum of space. Then the air is gone from her lungs, like the darkness is suffocating her. She gasps, trying to get some form of oxygen. Then as quickly as it came, the sensation is gone. She collapses to the ground, gasping for the air that has returned. Her lungs burn as she quickly fills them over and over again. She wants to stand, but it is as if she is glued to the ground.
She begins panicking, yelling for help, but she stops when she hears another woman's scream cut through the darkness. It is gut wrenching and despairing, but what makes it far worse are the words it forms.
"No, Sasuke, please don't kill me!"
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Note: Back by popular demand, here ya guys go. Don't forget to let me know what you think :)
