Title: one last night
Summary: In the wake of bad news, one that could potentially tear them apart forever, Sasuke and Sakura are pushed to spend their last night together trying to make up for all the time that kept them apart.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Prompt: tension
Warning(s): smut, but quite briefly, and it's smuff so it's not really explicit.
Comments: Who knew watching Scorch Trials was going to inspire me mad hardcore about writing a smut in an apocalyptic world? I'd started writing this like right when the movie came out but when I saw the prompt I was like OKAY YES OMG THIS FITS SO NOW I HAVE A REASON TO FINISH IT NOW.

Tsunade had told her. Sasuke knew that as soon as he stepped into their tent, late that night. It was too still, too silent; tainted with the wretched heartbreak of betrayal.

He found her by their cot, folding the clothes he'd helped her wash and hang earlier that day, a cup of soup steaming at her side. He could tell she had just been crying by the way she faintly sniffled, and the puffiness of her eyes, half-wiped tear tracks still glistening on her cheeks.

"So when are you leaving?" she asked him, voice quiet.

Hearing her like this, so spiritless and broken, had his chest tightening. Sakura had never been one to give up, to relent—even in this hellish world of starvation and blood and god, so much death—and it killed him to know he was part of the reason she'd been torn down like this.

"At first light," he replied, just as muted, taking soft steps to join her side. Sakura's shoulders shook, but she said nothing. Her unspoken agony twisted at his heart.

"Sakura," he whispered, sliding beside her on the hard makeshift bed and reaching to touch her. "I'm—"

Her fingers jerked to clutch at his shirt, and he stiffened, words he'd wanted to say lost in a snagged breath. He watched as she buried her face in his chest, trembling even harder, and his throat grew tight. "You can't go," she said to him, shaking, clinging. "Sasuke-kun, you can't fucking go on that rescue mission—you—you can't go—"

"Sakura." His fingers slid to the back of her neck, eyes closing tightly as he threaded through her hair with a most gentle touch, remorseful. A slow breath slipped from his lips. He never wanted to hurt her like this.

He could hear the whispering growing outside their tents, muffled sounds of people wondering what was going on. His eyes narrowed. The intimacy of the moment wasn't something he intended to share with their overtly nosy community of survivors.

Tugging her away gently, Sasuke looked at her and said, "Let's go somewhere we can talk more privately."

A look of confusion swept over her, disoriented, upset green eyes settling onto him in query; but with the flourish of whispers, it wasn't long before she seemed to understand. Hands wiping at her misty eyes, she nodded in agreement.

They left the tent wordlessly, avoiding the pointed, curious stares of the people around them. Sasuke led them both towards the Eastern end of their camp site, where the world was more quiet, more dark. Most of the community tended to stick to the open fires at this hour, and he was thankful for that. It likely wouldn't be hard to find a place to be alone.

Alone. How long had it been since they last had time together like this? Months? A year, even? He couldn't even remember. They hadn't had such a luxury in what seemed like forever.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun..." Soft fingers curled around his sleeve, and he blinked, steps coming to a halt. Turning to look at her, he watched the awe grow in the depths of her eyes, as she raised her hand and pointed in the distance. "Look. I don't think I've seen one of these in ages."

It was a car, he realized, when he followed her gaze. An old Cadillac model, sometime from the 1960s, much like the one their mentor in battle-training had a couple years back. Cars weren't exactly hard to come around in a world-dead time like this, but to stumble upon old models like these was remarkably uncommon—especially those unscathed.

"Looks like it belonged to someone," he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "There's no way a car that old could look that good without someone taking care of it."

"Do you think... they're still alive? Whoever owned this car, I mean."

"Doubt it. No one would keep a car like this far away from camp."

She grew quiet at this. Sasuke shifted to look at her, eyes softening at the sadness she wore. He didn't need to ask what she was thinking about.

Grasping her wrist softly, he tugged, meeting her somber gaze. "Come on," he murmured. "We might never get an opportunity like this again."

He didn't expect her to grow visibly more upset, like his words had struck a chord. Sasuke's jaw tightened, frustrated with himself. He hadn't meant to imply that this could be their last chance to do something like this if he died trying to rescue Naruto.

Still, Sakura nodded at him, her steps small and noiseless as she followed him to the old vehicle.

It was strange, almost nostalgic even, when they finally slipped inside. With red leather seats and a black leather dashboard, it almost felt like this car belonged to another time, another universe. It didn't feel like it belonged to a world like this, full of nothing but destruction, famine and disease. This was a car that belonged to their childhood, just before it all started going wrong. Before his family died, murdered by sick, crazed, starving survivors; before Sakura's parents perished in the hold of the military.

For a few long moments, they sat together in silence, eyes distantly drawn to starlit skies and minds trapped in the past.

"He's as good as dead with them, you know that, right?" Sakura whispered suddenly, her voice so small, so soft. When he turned to look at her, he found her sitting with her knees tucked to her chest, arms wrapping around herself for comfort.

He sighed, slow and deep. Closing his eyes, Sasuke tipped his head back. "He's alive," he replied, just as quietly. "The idiot always barrels through."

Warm softness pressed onto his side, and Sasuke nearly stiffened, eyes blinking open to see Sakura leaning against him, delicate hands curling in his shirt. His neck warmed, throat running dry, but he let her push herself closer, swallowing tightly as she buried her face in his shoulder. She'd never leaned on him quite so intimately before. If the moment wasn't so heavy with unspoken grief, it would have sent his heart pounding.

"No one has ever survived being in their hold, Sasuke-kun... You know how many people we've lost to them..."

Gaze softening with reassurance, Sasuke reached to gently touch her arm. He squeezed lightly, hoping to be encouraging. "Naruto's not anyone, Sakura...You should know that."

Sakura's hands gripped him tighter. She started shaking, trembling, body overwhelmed with distress. "Even if he is, Sasuke-kun, you know how dangerous it is—" She cut herself off, breath snagging. He could feel his shirt growing damp, the wetness of her tears burning through. He gritted his teeth. "You—You're sending yourself to get killed and I can't—I can't—"

She sobbed, then, and Sasuke's eyes slipped shut tightly. He gripped her harder, more desperately, dark, dark eyes watching her so painfully. "I can't bear to lose you both... I can't bear the thought of going through all this without you... Sasuke-kun, I—I could never—"

Mouth pulling in a sharp grimace, Sasuke slipped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace, unable to stand seeing her this way anymore. Sakura didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him, desperate for his comfort. Fingers twisting furiously in the material of his clothes, she clung to him and cried harder. He held her tighter, burying his face in her hair, features contorting with grief.

"Don't go," she begged him, shaking furiously. "You can't go, Sasuke-kun..."

Throat tight, he whispered, "I need to, Sakura..."

"No!" She shook her head, gripping him more desperately. "No! You can stay here! Stay with me and we could—we could—"

"I'll come back—"

Sakura wrenched away from him then, pushing at his chest as hard as she could. "Don't say that!" she shouted, her voice a mix of heartbreaking rage. "Don't make promises you can't keep!"

"Sakura—"

"I love you!" He swore he felt his heart drop at her furious shout. How long had it been, since he'd heard these words last? How long had he waited—how long had he dreamed of a moment he could finally hear those words tumbling out of her mouth?

Still as stone, his eyes stayed locked on the crown of her hair, and the way she held him, her grip so hopelessly tight. Holding his breath, he watched as she slowly sank into his chest, shaking.

"I love you..." she said, her voice now nothing but a whimpered cry. "I love you so much... I can't lose you, Sasuke-kun... I won't bear it..."

When she looked up at him, Sasuke could practically feel his heart shattering at the sight of the hopeless, painful love painted all over her features. She cupped his face in her hands, and his fingers trembled, eyes flying shut tightly as her forehead pressed against his.

There was nothing he wanted more than to tell her how he felt, right then; to spill those three precious words he'd wanted to say for so many years now. But they were caught in his throat, held back by his inability to ever properly express himself since the massacre of his family.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, anguished, drawing him from his thoughts. "I love so you much. I—I can't let you go. I'll go insane if you—"

He couldn't help himself—his lips caught the end of her sentence. He kissed her fiercely, desperately, with all the pent up love of a man who had been waiting for too many long years, brows furrowed with sweet, heavy emotion. Sakura stiffened against him and gasped, taken off guard, but it wasn't long before she wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him back, mouth moving over his own with the same sentiment. He almost wanted to groan, the feeling so wholly satisfying, so profoundly delicious that he couldn't help but to kiss her harder, hands slipping to her neck to hold her firmly in place.

And when they broke away a few moments later, panting for breath, Sasuke couldn't help but to think about how wrong he'd been, when he thought about what their first kiss might be like. It was supposed to be slow, tender, unsure; lips moving achingly gently, in a stolen moment of peace, away from the destruction of this world—in their bed, perhaps, or on a quiet hill, watching the sun rise from its sleep. Alone, in love, and embraced in a flurry of soft, peaceful warmth.

But he'd never imagined it would be like this. On the eve of what could be a tragic parting, overwhelmed with grief and stress and a suffocating love, broken hearts crying out for more time; years of waiting, trying, wishing—all wrapped up in one, single desperate moment that could very well end up being their last. Hoping that loving each other for so long—silently, thoughtlessly, unconditionally—was enough.

It had to be enough.

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to do that," he whispered to her after a long, tense moment, his voice strained with a silent anguish. A half-sob fell from her lips, and he grimaced, pushing his forehead more heavily against hers as his hands pulled her closer. It wasn't enough, he realized, with the painful thudding of his heart. A single kiss could never be enough to make up for everything he could have had with her—for everything he wanted to have with her.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, jaw clenched tight. "I wish we had more time. I wish we could have done this a long time ago. I wish I didn't have to—"

She didn't give him time to finish, slipping her mouth over his to swallow his words with another hard kiss, hands fisting tightly in his shirt and tugging him closer as she shook against him, crying. Sasuke couldn't help but to kiss her even harder, fingers thumbing away her tears before he slipped his hands from her face to wrap his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap. He was going too fast, he knew, but he couldn't seem to keep himself in check, his desperation, his need to be close burning through his ability to pace himself. He wanted more, wanted everything, desperate to convey the depth of his feelings, to be connected for once in this hectic life, the years of tension and quietly suppressed love unraveling his self-restraint—and as he felt Sakura's hands slipping through the opening of his collar, running over his back, his chest, the lines of his hard abdomen, he found that he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

(She wanted this just as much, too.)

There was no mistaking where this was going.

"Sakura," he whispered, hands smoothing over her hips and bunching around her shirt, breathing hard. "Are you sure about this? I don't want you to feel like we have to because this might be the only time we can—"

"More than anything," she replied, voice thick and heavyhearted. She buried her face in his neck, slipping thin fingers to grasp at his dark hair. "Even if it's just this once, I want—I want to feel as close to you as I can be, so that if you..." She choked on her words, and tightened her hold on him, her grip near-painful. "For once, I don't want to know how much you love me, Sasuke-kun, I want to feel it..." She moved away, hands shifting to cup his cheeks, green eyes glistening with tears as she pressed her forehead to his and whispered, voice tight with emotion, "I need to feel everything that you hold in your heart for me..."

Swallowing with difficulty, Sasuke looked at her through heavy-lidded eyes and nodded, kissing her deeply.

It wasn't clear to him what happened, from that point on. Mind blurred in a whirlwind of remorse and heart growing heavy with every heartbreaking look, every desperate touch—he couldn't seem to focus, couldn't seem to remember when her shirt came off, or when she tugged off his, or even who between the two of them reached out to slip off her shorts. But it was clear to him when she finally sank down on him.

His head tipped back against the back of the red leather seat, fingers digging fiercely into her hips as his mouth parted with a moan. Dizzy, breathless and stiff, Sasuke could only watch her moonlit form through heavy-lidded eyes, a whisper of her name leaving him. He couldn't help thinking how beautiful she was, like this, and the thought made his heart lurch. Mouth tightening, he ran a hand through her hair and leaned forward to kiss her, pushing dark thoughts from his mind.

He wouldn't move, at first. With her tense thighs, sharp grimaces and soft whimpers, it was evident she was in pain—and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Their first time together was supposed to be special, tender, patient;something they would both enjoy, and treasure in their hearts for the rest of their lives. So he remained still inside her despite his bliss-staggered mind, anchored by her discomfort, hands running gently over her sides as he pressed soft, tender kisses to her face.

Slowly, surely, Sakura relaxed, easing the pinch of her nails into his skin. His mouth met hers in a sweet, languid kiss, and she sighed contently, moving her lips back onto his. Sensing she was comfortable enough, Sasuke rocked his hips lightly, hesitantly, sliding his hand to cup the side of her neck when she made a sound of uneasiness, brows pinching tight.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked, jaw clenching. "If it hurts too much I—"

"No," she whispered, shaking her head and holding him closer. "No, please don't I just—I need to get used to it, that's all..."

Eyes slipping shut tight, Sasuke nodded, squeezing down on her soft flesh. They moved slowly, gently, sharing long, deep kisses, uneven breaths mingling together. Cautious, weary, they took their time, tried to make it last, drowning in the weight of their intimacy. It wasn't until soft, sweet moans started falling from her lips that he started rocking into her more evenly, encouraged, pressing his forehead to her own as he locked their gazes together.

Panting, rasping out small, breathless groans, Sasuke gripped her harder, dark eyes holding hers with all the affection and sorrow in the world. Fresh tears pooled within her depths, but he didn't have to wonder why she felt so overwhelmed, his own throat growing tight with the love he so strongly harbored for her.

"Sakura," he breathed, swallowing, grinding, fingers playing softly with the sweaty locks at the back of her neck. He could feel her own affections seeping into his skin, his pores, rushing into his blood as it snared its way around his heart, the force of her own feelings so suffocating it sent his mind spinning. A sob tore out of her lips, and Sasuke's jaw went stiff, fingers reaching to wipe away her tears with a sharp grimace, his own heart twisting with grief.

So close. So connected. How could he leave a love like this behind?

He didn't want to.

His end reached him moments later, and Sasuke lost his thoughts, pushing his mouth on hers in a hard messy kiss as he gave gasping moans, wholly consumed by the waves of bliss.

It wasn't until he came down from his high and found Sakura crying weakly against him that he realized his own stupidity.

"Shit," he cursed, putting a hand on her flat stomach. "I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," she said, voice still thick with tears. She pushed her face into his neck. "Don't worry about it."

Swallowing tightly, Sasuke tipped his head back against the seat. "I'm sorry," he whispered, delving a hand into her hair. He had been so stupid, getting carried away like that. Why hadn't he thought about pulling out? This wasn't something he wanted to impose on her, should he never come back. Sakura didn't deserve this.

(What a mess they were, so broken and in love. What a wreck this world made them out to be.)

Pressing his nose to her silk locks, Sasuke let out a slow, tired breath. "When I thought about us having a family," he said, "it wasn't in a world like this. I never wanted to bring our children into a world like this."

Stiffening, Sakura pulled back from him, eyes wide and still glistening with tears. So very softly, she whispered, "You thought about us having kids?"

His gaze softened. Pressing his forehead to her own, he murmured, "I never thought I'd want a family again after what this world did to mine but with you... Sakura, with you, there was nothing I wanted more than that."

A sad, nearly broken smile twisted at her mouth. Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she said, voice trembling, "You realize what this means now, right? You have to come back to me, now. You have to-so we can get things right, so we can have more nights like this. So we can get married, and raise our kids together. You can't leave me alone after all this, Sasuke-kun. Not when we've come this far. Not when we've waited this long."

Long ago, when the world of his childhood had started crumbling, dying, Sasuke had learned not to make promises, that life could not be warranted by the mere strength of love. No matter how much anyone was loved, no matter what they had waiting for them—nothing could protect them from the grasps of this disease, of this war with the authorities of the old universe that was now all but burned to the ground. Nothing could insure safety.

Still, as he looked into those green, green eyes, filled with a love and a hope forever burning true, Sasuke could see: there was no other choice. He would survive. He would bring back Naruto. He would come back, and make everything right.

"I promise."

This story was such a fucking bitch to write in some parts because of my terrible writer's block, but man at least I'm pretty content with how it came out in the end. Hope you enjoyed! I had so much fun writing them in this world :)

Hopefully I can catch up to what I missed!

DeepPoeticGirl