Chapter 9 – Lurking Shadows

Sakura stared into the darkness, her gaze dull, she couldn't find it in herself to answer, they were right, she wanted to feel loved, to love someone, but for a shinobi like her it was just hopeless thinking, her life was always at risk, she didn't want to make it harder for herself, she wasn't that naive as to believe in fairy tales, this was a real, cruel world that she lived in.

Still her heart throbbed, painfully even, feeling almost foreign after being pushed away for so many years.

"Why don't I get this ball rolling by crumbling those walls of yours, what do you think Sakura?" she heard a whisper.

"Let in the sexual desire that is trying to reach you, it that dark man you fantasize about isn't it?" The voice was whispering into her ear. She felt shivers running down her spine. "Allow him to take you, to corrupt your body, mind and soul completely." She felt another whisper reaching her ears.

"He has nothing to do with all of this." Her eyes were fierce staring into nothingness.

"He is a good asset and made your progress faster, but not as fast as it should be." She thought she heard the voice in the dark deepen. She felt her blood boiling.

"Shisui is not an asset!" Sakura's eyes darkened. This voice in her head is not going to dictate her how she's supposed to live her life and how she should treat other people! "Then what he is to you?" Sakura felt her heart starting to beat faster. Who was Shisui to her? She was uncertain if she could call him a friend yet, but what she knew is that he wasn't an asset especially one, she would be using. "He is a dear…friend of mine." Sakura could've sworn to god this voice was trying to make her have some sort of self-inducted crisis.

"A friend can't be considered a good asset for this mission. You need a lover that's what we agreed on the last time." She heard the voice chuckling. "Although, don't worry we can change that easily if you really want that so called Shisui to become something more than friend I'll lend you my hand, but only this time." Sakura's eyes widened again.

"I told you that he has nothing to do with this, so I would appreciate if you would not force him into this." There was a short silence as Sakura felt her words sinking into the darkness.

"You already did, I didn't choose him for you." The voice replied after a couple of moments, as if confused by her previous statement. "At this point we will have to work with what we have. Next time you will see Shisui Uchiha you will start to get attracted to him, the more you will see him the more attracted you will become to the point you won't be able to handle it."

Sakura's eyes widened, a sick feeling rushed straight into her gut. "You are sick, you can't play with someone's feelings like this, especially his!" She was breathing deeply in an attempt to hold back her frustrated tears, she felt horrible, she didn't want to break the friendship they formed in a way like this, she can't use him in that way… She was aware of Shisui's situation and she was not about to use him and then leave him later. Sakura felt even more sick in the stomach, as a tight knot was forming inside her gut making her feel uneasy, nauseous almost.

"Look around, your walls are starting to crumble, you won't be able to hold it for any longer." The voice informed her practically ignoring everything she just said. The next thing she felt was a blast of wind hitting her body and all she could feel was a stinging sensation that was crawling around her body inside out.

Once she opened her eyes again she noticed something that made her eyes widen in fear even more. The inside world she had built for years was falling apart, everything she was trying to hold back was rushing out, making its way outside. All the hard work she put into suppressing her feelings, it was all for nothing now, she was doomed as a shinobi.

"Leave me alone…I didn't ask for any of this, shannaro!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs frustrated tears made their way down her cheeks. Was she the one to blame for the whole situation? What did she get Shisui into? What she knew for sure was that she won't be able to forgive herself anytime soon. Maybe never.

"I will look forward to the day you will find yourself realising your true feelings. Once you find them, it will be impossible to suppress them any longer, then you definitely will be embraced by Shisui Uchiha. As for now, you won't be able to remember any of this, I won't have you interrupting any of our plans. Sleep Sakura." a ghost of a voice touched the shell of her ear, and she shivered.

The next morning Sakura woke up exhausted, she wasn't sure what caused her feeling like this as she was sure she had enough sleep last night as she fell asleep just after Shisui left. Brushing her long hair aside she moved her head to the window. The sun was high in the air which meant it was probably around noon. Has she really overslept that much? She slowly left her bed and made her way to the window. She opened it, letting some fresh air in. Breathing in the fresh air Sakura decided to rest her elbows on a window sill.

Her vibrant green eyes scanned the busy streets of Konoha, as it was noon already it only made sense that the market and the village overall would be quite busy by this time. It only made the rosette woman sigh and a few moments later she caught herself thinking about last night and then about the events with a certain…Uchiha. The young medic-nin shook her head immediately, incredibly long strands of silky pink hair fluttered around the small of her waist and tickled her elbows as she did so.

When she came to realisation by letting that clever head of hers remind her of the events that unfolded between her and a certain Uchiha last night she was sure that her cheekbones were now tinted same colour as her hair. That was just fantastic.

She couldn't help but think about the words she heard from Shisui last night. For some reason she really found herself wanting to continue on the things that were left behind yesterday. The sudden rush of excitement she felt within a moment filled her senses and it was like nothing she had experienced before. Blushing even more heavily she tried to force the goddamn Uchiha out of her head. She couldn't be thinking about him in that way, she clearly was losing it.

Scared of her thoughts she decided to get ready and head to the hospital earlier today, since she had a short six-hour shift, which was strange as most of the time she would start early in the morning and finish at around five or six o'clock in the evening, if she was lucky of course.

It was yet another uneventful end of the shift when Sakura was walking out of the hospital and to her great surprise she noticed a very familiar figure…yet again. She felt her heart flutter tiny bit faster as she saw the curly haired man approaching. She took a quick glance around making sure no one was paying them extra attention.

"You already came back from your mission?" Was all that she asked upon his approach, a wide grin was spreading across her lips.

"It wasn't one that required me to leave far away outside of the village, Sakura." He touched one of the locks of her soft pink hair before closing long fingers over it and giving it a gentle tug. He noticed the slight rosy tint her cheekbones gave away in response to his actions.

She gave him a tremulous smile. "I was hoping for that, actually." she said teasingly, her bright smile turning mischievous.

Onyx orbs glinted mischievously as well. "Why is that so?" He couldn't help but ask, although he felt as if he knew the answer very well, still he wanted to hear it directly from the pink haired female's lips.

Sakura didn't know what came into her mind the moment her mouth opened to voice her thoughts.

"I think we still have some unfinished business." It didn't take long for Sakura to realize what kind of a mistake she just did by voicing her thoughts out loud. Just who the heck made her do that? She was really a stupid woman indeed.

Shisui couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised at the bold statement that just came from the pinkette's mouth. He was pretty sure that someone like Sakura couldn't really voice her thoughts when it came to things…like this. But it was a pleasant surprise to him, nonetheless, he couldn't say he didn't like what she said. The pink haired female sure had something within herself and that somehow resulted in a surge of fierce possessiveness that flowed through his veins within a moment.

"Is that so?" he said, his brows furrowed slightly. He knew exactly what kind of business she meant, but it would be no fun if he would let her go that easily, especially as she made it as far as demonstrating that bold side of hers. "I don't remember mentioning any business, mind telling me about it or perhaps..showing it in more detail?" He couldn't help but smirk at his mischievous remark towards the pink haired medic.

Sakura could only curse herself for being this dumb. What came into her? Was she possessed or something? At this moment she was really considering getting that dumb head of hers inspected with a good amount chakra, presumably with the help of her Shisou.

"Forget about it Shisui, I must've been daydreaming today so don't take into consideration the things I say." She tried to wave him off nervously. This is not going to be easy.

"Oh, so you've been daydreaming about me, Sakura?" The older male couldn't help but tease the pink haired woman a little more. Something about her was tempting him, yet he couldn't recall the reason why. Was it her sudden boldness or the innocence that other women were just purely lacking? Shaking off the thought he decided to do something else instead.

Instead the older Uchiha swiftly grabbed the pink haired woman by her waist pulling her closer to him. It didn't take long for one of his hands to snake around her waist gently, but firmly at the same time. Surprised pure green jewels stared at him as if questioning what were his intentions.

He could only smile at her as he quickly moved his head to meet her ear. "Did you miss me that much, kitten?" Shisui murmured in his silky timbre letting his hot breath hit the side of her neck. He felt her inhale sharply. Yet his tongue was already sliding across her ear, hidden between the curtain of the rose-pink hair.

Sakura was shocked to say the least, she wasn't sure what shocked her more, was it his words or the actions he dared to demonstrate in such a public place? Sakura's eyes narrowed, clearly not amused with the new pet-name she was given. She exhaled sharply, strangely enough all she could feel was his body close to hers, the proximity they shared.

It felt so good to have him so close to her that she couldn't even acknowledge it logically, yet her body was already responding to his. She leaned closer into his blissful embrace, letting out a small, barely audible moan, right into the shell of his ear.

"It seems that you indeed missed me, so I'll let you get away this time." He said letting the last of his breath hit her neck. His body slowly moved away from hers as if letting her gain some of the control back. Between the two of them, he was the one in control. The thought of it made the corners of his lips curl slightly, amusement filled his very own being.

She was breathing hard, her body was almost vibrating, and she couldn't understand what caused such a reaction. After she felt him move away instead of feeling some of the control she had in her body come back, she felt fear. She gave a quick glance around, but it seemed that there was not a single soul around here. She could only pray that no one was bored enough to watch a sinister scene unfold through one of the hospital's windows, be it one of the nurses or the patients themselves.

"You do realise we are in a public place?" She looked at him as if he was crazy, yet she couldn't hide the fact that she was somewhat satisfied with the response she got out of him.

"I didn't do anything indecent, did I Sakura?" She saw him act all surprised, and she could only blush in a response. That damn bastard, sure as hell this was nothing indecent. She made a note in her head to make him suffer in a similar situation sometime in the future.

"Kami, you are an idiot Shisui." She let out a sigh, there was no point in arguing with the older Uchiha, she knew she wouldn't win this one.

The pinkette swiftly moved from the place she was standing, enough was enough, they couldn't be standing here all day, after all it might become suspicious.

So she started walking leaving the curly haired man behind her. Yet, soon enough she found herself being irritated by the fact that the Shisui was not following her.

She quickly turned around letting her silky long hair flow into the wind momentarily. "Ano, are you going?" Her eyebrow quirked up as she was scanning the curly haired man that was still standing near the big green tree outside of the hospital.

Without any words she turned back around and decided to start moving to the direction she was walking before. After she felt a familiar chakra approach her just moments later she couldn't help but smile in response.

Itachi was always intelligent. He was smart enough to understand that there was something off about his cousin for the last few days. His suspicions were confirmed, especially after today. After he and Shisui were done scouting around Konoha's borders for the night, and after they were done wrapping up their mission with a report to the Hokage, he couldn't help but notice the way his cousin was urging to come back. This was unusual as Shisui was never the one to track fast, especially without a valid reason. He could describe the Anbu captain as a rather lazy person when it came to things like this, Shisui reminded him of Kakashi in some way.

Itachi couldn't lie, the way his cousin was acting up recently was quite intriguing. The younger Uchiha was always observant, as much as it didn't even seem that he would be into it, but long years of being a ninja, especially a high ranked one shaped him into a person he is today. So seeing his cousin act even slightly out of character didn't go unnoticed. Nothing can get through Itachi's eyes unnoticed, not even his dearly beloved cousin. As much as he was trying to surpass the sudden changes, he couldn't do it without Itachi noticing. He should've known better.

After Shisui said he would meet Itachi later at home because he had something to take care of Itachi was already standing outside of the Hokage's tower. He knew that something was off right away. It was small details like this, but Shisui would always choose to go home together with him, women were completely out of question at this time. Not even one of the Shisui's women could interrupt them, Itachi could only acknowledge their small tradition being broken for the first time ever.

As much as he wanted to believe that his cousin had something urgent he had to take care of, he couldn't let himself be fooled. Unfortunately, he came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the pink haired woman he recently noticed his cousin taking interest in. Was he courting her?

So he did what he thought would be best. He followed his cousin.

He noticed that Shisui wasn't really paying much attention inspecting his surroundings, probably thinking that his cousin wouldn't dare to follow him. Too bad for him, that Itachi just did the opposite of what he thought.

After seeing his cousin follow the path that was leading to the hospital, his suspicions about the person he was meeting were only increased. Was he really going to train with her right after the mission? He could've just let her wait a little longer if she was so in need of training. Itachi just couldn't understand. It just didn't seem that important.

He was already positioning himself on the tree when he noticed the petal-haired woman leaving the hospital. She was bathing in the rays of the warm evening sun, walking towards his cousin. He noticed her footsteps becoming faster as she noticed Shisui, but she was aware as to not let them become too fast. Her hair was loose from her usually long ponytail, letting her hair flow in the wind. Her curves were hidden by the white lab coat she was wearing, but he could still make out the red shirt and a black skirt she wore, as the clothing was peeping out from underneath.

Itachi was even more intrigued, just what kind of secret were they hiding? One thing he knew – Shisui without a night's sleep would never rush to a woman, let a alone to a woman who was not willing to become his bed partner.

Itachi could hardly make out what the two were talking about once their paths crossed. By the time he was able to activate his sharingan he only understood both of them mentioning something about some unfinished business. Yet the way the rose-haired woman was acting seemed rather unusual. Itachi noticed her being slightly uncomfortable, while his cousin on the other hand was rather intimidating, amusement played on his face.

The younger Uchiha couldn't help but feel a bit surprised when he noticed his cousin picking up one of the loose strands of her long, petal colour haired and twirling it around his fingers gently. This was getting far too interesting, for Itachi's own good.

A moment later the vice-captain of anbu almost chocked himself seeing his cousin embrace the pink haired woman. One of his hands held her waist gently keeping her close to him, while his head was leaning towards her ear. Itachi was sure Shisui was saying something to her, as her eyes became wide instantly.

After a second, he noticed the pink haired woman close her eyes, he couldn't make out what Shisui was doing as he was hidden by that long hair of hers. Yet, her reactions gave everything out. Itachi finally came to a conclusion about everything that was happening after he noticed the woman in his cousin's embrace moan, silently, her cheeks were tinted in a pale rosy colour.

For some reason he couldn't stop watching, the image right before his eyes was captivating, her green-spring like eyes were cloudy, and filled with lust that was hiding away her judgement for a sparse moment. The way she was trembling in his cousin's hands, it just made him think of how pure and innocent that woman looked like while being embraced. Looking at her he almost dozed out, but before he could finish watching the scene unfold between his eyes any further they were separated already.

He noticed her figure almost disappearing from his point of view and all that was left was his cousin, that was casually standing, his posture relaxed and his eyes were locked on her figure.

"What kind of business do you have with her? It's clearly not only training, is it? My dear cousin." Itachi asked his cousin, he knew the other Uchiha was well aware of his presence right now, because he didn't left right away with Sakura as he was probably intending to do.

"It has nothing to do with you Itachi, I didn't think you'd follow me." He said quietly to him, yet his eyes were still on her. He could tell he was not very happy with his presence, angry even.

"It may have nothing to do with me for now. But what about her? What if she will find out?" Itachi almost spat out almost venomously, yet Shisui still remained silent.

"Don't forget that you are going to become the next clan head soon, so you should be looking out after your fiancé instead of chasing my little brother's teammate." Itachi's voice was quietly silky, not letting anyone overhear their intimate conversation. Without another word the younger cousin left first, leaving the older one behind.

Author's note

I'm finally back! Not only with a new chapter but with new fanart on my tumblr as well (Shisui x Sakura as well, if you want to see some steamy action make sure to visit my tumblr, its under the same nickname as my account here on !) I was really thinking for a long time how should I end this chapter and if I should do some foreshadowing, I did some on the last chapter but I don't think any of you noticed it as it was only a few words, but if any of you did props to you! Anyways, thank you so much for more than 170 follows! I hope we could reach more than 70 reviews by the time I will post next chapter, if you enjoy my writing please make sure to follow and add my story to your favorites! Love you loads, till next time! x