A/N: Yes, I am back in the building with an update! Sorry it took so long, though. I was managing my stories when I realized that I had kept 34 faithful people waiting! How could I bare to sleep at night knowing I did such a thing!? I also revised it plenty of times, since I wanted to make it perfect. Enjoy!

X

She smelled sweet. Amongst the many delicacies that could be used as a description,'floral' was the best. The skin blanketing the crook of her neck was warm, and her silk-like hair tickled his nose in a way that was comforting. It was hard resisting resting your head there. Her breathing only made it all the more difficult; it was slow and steady, fitting the tranquility of her beating heart.

Sasuke could smell her as he buried his head between her shoulder and head. Her hair tickled him again for a second, but he didn't bother in swiping it away. His body felt warm against her bosom, and he could only hear her whispers of sweet nothings in his ear.

It was loud around them; he could hear the buzz of voices in the distance. That all went away, though, for her voice was the only thing that stayed clear in his ear. A hand stroked his hair, then the back of his neck, then his back. Soon it was rubbing circles into the latter, and he sighed in content.

A few pats and pokes of his feet caused him to grunt, and he curled his toes in retreat. He attempted to reposition himself, but the voice returned, and he was settled again. His hands fisted the front of her shirt in security.

"Sasuke.."

Everything was well, but for a period of time. Soon, screams were all he could hear. Piercing as they were, they never ended. The owners of the voices didn't seem to tire out. Heavy, rough movement surrounding him was not enough to block out the increasing pace of her beating heart. He clutched harder on her shirt, then began to squirm.

A shriek passed his lips when a pair of hands were clutching his sides, nearly squeezing him with little to no effort. Despite his clutching, he was ripped from the warmth, the sweetness, the steady breathing and heart beats. He was derived from his light, and all he could do was scream and shriek, kicking with all his might. The might that did nothing.

"Sasuke!"

He jolted upright with a start. The first thing he could regard upon his waking moment was the vicious beating of his heart. Shakily, he let a hand rest on his chest, stationing it just over where his heart laid within; he was nearly shocked that it was moving this fast. Blood pumped wildly throughout his being as he observed his quivering circulatory organ. Equally, his lungs were expanding at a rate that burned his throat. Air left him in broken pants.

Slowly, as the burning died down to a numbing sensation, Uchiha Sasuke turned his head to his right. He felt reassurance, and a jump of his heart upon looking at who was beside him. The jump of his heart wasn't anxiety, but rather a reaction of affection. Laying down next to him, in an evidently peaceful state of mind, was Haruno Sakura. The first female in his life that not only swooned over him, but was able to make him swoon over her in return.

The aforementioned pinkette was laying on her side, facing him. The blankets covered her just below her upper arm, the latter visibly curled up beneath her head for support. She wore one of his old training shirts, and her strawberry blonde hair was a tad bit tousled from sleep. Though he never minded when she had bed head, she hated it. He began to theorize that she wanted to avoid it so much, that she subconsciously told herself to keep still at night as she slept.

Sasuke found it to be pretty…adoring, of her.

As if she felt him staring, Sakura stirred and squeezed her eyes shut tighter. After a moment of soft writhing, she relaxed her eyes and let them flutter open. The emerald orbs shone in the early afternoon sunlight, which peeked in from the torn bedsheets that acted as curtains for the window above the bed. Sasuke wasn't sure of how he was staring at her, but it made her blush and smile before sitting up with him. Silence stretched between them as she hesitantly reached a hand out and cupped her cheek.

Her body relaxed with obvious relief when he nuzzled his face against the soft palm of her hand. Then, like magnets, they leaned in towards each other. Sasuke tilted his head when he captured her petal-like, naturally pink, full lips with his own. Sakura whined very quietly, and her hand slid from his cheek to cradle the back of his neck. They didn't kiss for long considering Sakura had morning breath, and it bothered her more than it ever could Sasuke.

"Good morning," she whispered against his lips after she initiated the end of their kiss. He smirked softly and leaned in for a peck, then returned the salutation before lying down again. She mimicked this action, though a little softer, and scooted in beside him. He glistened in the light due to a thin layer of sweat covering his body. A touch of his bare chest confirmed that for her, and she frowned with concern.

"Were you hot last night?" she asked him. Sasuke wiped his forehead upon her questioning, and cursed when his palm nearly slid right off the damp skin. He hated whenever she worried about him. Mostly because she worried more than the situation actually warranted. He shook his head slowly.

"No. Nightmare."

"About?"

He said nothing this time. Sakura respected this; it'd been only a week since the party, and although they continued a healthy sexual relationship with each other since then, they didn't exactly confirm that they were dating. At least, not verbally. Sasuke allowed her to kiss and cuddle with him, while she allowed for him to hold her at night and brush her hair voluntarily. She soothed her occasional worries with the thought that their relationship was with silent mutual consent. However, if one of them felt like something was too personal to share with the other, they backed off. Sasuke was most likely the shy one in all cases. He never asked about her past life, and he never revealed too much about his own.

Despite the secrecy, she had an idea of what might be bugging him and disrupting his slumber. She gently wiped a little more of his forehead before leaning over and giving it a kiss. He made a small noise in response, but rather no attempts to stop her. Not that he ever had when she did things like this to him. She pushed his bangs back and ran her fingers through his soft hair, her lengthy nails gently grazing over the skin of his scalp. Now he moaned softly, his eyes fluttering closed as she massaged his scalp with rhythmic movements of her fingers.

Their moment was broken, however, when the house phone shrilled loudly throughout the room. It sat on its base, which was located on the top of Sasuke's nightstand by his bed. The raven slowly sat up once again. He gently grabbed Sakura's wrist and moved it from his head to place it in his lap, then roughly yanked the phone off of its base. Before he pressed the accept button, it had stopped ringing, and the small screen depicted that the line was in use.

Still, the raven brought the phone to his ear out of curiosity.

"But sir, your appointment has already been made. Payment was also made entirely." Judging by her voice, Sasuke could tell that it was a receptionist from the clinic he'd called a couple days prior. He frowned; what was she talking about?

"Thank you, ma'am. If necessary, you can send the money back. But really, it won't be needed. That, and the appointment. It's been decided that I stay home to rest, instead." Now Sasuke was appalled. That was Itachi talking. Sakura's own eyebrows furrowed as she observed her raven's expression, but it was out of concern. His was out of anger. Said anger morphed to full-on fury as he listened further.

"Oh…alright. We won't send a full refund, since there's the cancellation fee. But you will receive your money back."

"Thank you, again. You have a nice day."

"Likewise."

The line went dead from there, and Sasuke pressed hard on the decline button to end the call. His thumb increased its pressure even after the phone performed his desired function of it, and the button eventually emitted a loud crack before shifting out of formation. His thumb slowly bled crimson behind the paleness of his skin, and his hand quivered entirely before launching the device across the room. Sakura flinched when it shattered to pieces against the wall in a loud crash.

How dare he? How dare he, after all that time of subjecting Sasuke to work for hope of finding some money, deny treatment? How dare he, after all those years of claiming to love Sasuke like no other, chew up and spit his determination back in his face? How dare he, after promising to always be there to protect his precious Otouto, deliberately insist on certain death? How dare he lie, and succumb himself to the horrifically twisted ways of the Uchiha?

Like their parents, how dare Itachi abandon him?

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted in surprise as her raven leaped out of bed like a pouncing jungle cat and ran for the door. He gripped the knob with the same vigor as holding someone's neck in a chokehold. The door was swung open in the blink of an eye, and the force that he used caused it to slam loudly against the wall beside it. She got up off the bed after him, though he was much faster in his running down the hallway. The fact that he had a head start didn't make the situation any better or easier in her position.

Itachi had been in the small living room, seated on the couch beside Naruto. The little blond was snuggled up against his side since his pleas to sit in the weasel's lap were rejected, time and time again. The elder of the two heard the heavy footsteps thudding from down the hall after he placed the house phone on its base. He looked up, and was met with the devious glare that belonged to none other than his little brother. The hallway was dim, and it brought out the red undertone in the deep color of Sasuke's eyes.

Immediately, he moved Naruto from his person and stood with a newfound energy from the racing in his heart. Like a raging bull with a red flag flapped in its face, Sasuke lunged for his brother, knocking Itachi over the couch. Itachi gasped, and accepted the impact of his back hitting the floor behind the couch with a grunt. Sasuke sat up and straddled Itachi's waist, then raised his cast-free arm to give his brother a punch.

Unexpectedly, the elder was like a blur with the way he grabbed Sasuke's wrist and twisted it. Itachi bent it while keeping it in its abnormal position, but once his little brother cried out, he loosened the amount of force put into cracking it. Instead, he used Sasuke's distracted state to sit up and throw the raven off him by the arm. Said raven landed on his hands and knees ungracefully, for he was caught off guard by Itachi's sudden…strength.

"You piece of shit!" Sasuke remembered his anger then, and it gave him another rush of adrenaline. He launched yet again for his now standing brother. Itachi seemed to have had his own similar rush of adrenaline, for he withstood Sasuke's attempt to tackle him. The raven's force had the weasel dragging his feet backward, and when Sasuke finally stopped, he began to feel that Itachi was definitely moving out of preservation for himself.

He felt a fistful of his hair being yanked, followed by powerful blows to the back of his neck and along his shoulder blades. It was enough to knock him back to the ground, but he didn't fall in a heap of limbs. He kneeled, giving himself the ability to sweep his legs past Itachi's and knock the weasel down with him. He put enough effort into it that it threw his elder off and flipped his positioning entirely. Yet another surprise: Itachi landed on his hands in a perfect handstand, gracefully, and swung his own legs down in a semi-circular motion across Sasuke's face.

"Argh!" His feet knocked the raven in the nose, striking him twice. How did he have such agility? The raven was too livid to figure out an answer; he ignored the warm blood dribbling down his face as he scurried to his feet alongside Itachi and got to throwing punches. His emotions caused him to be heedless in his tactics. Had this been a fight on the streets with money at stake, he would have put more thought into his moves. Right now, however, he was only focused on channeling his ever-growing frustrations.

Itachi blocked all of the punches, up until the very last one, which hit him right across the mouth. He made a small noise of surprise as his side slammed up against the wall from the force. He spit blood out at Sasuke's feet, then closed his eyes as the younger gripped his shirt and busted his back up against the wall. Due to being limited to one hand, the raven pushed his body up against Itachi's to keep him still, then used his good hand to continue with punching his elder brother.

"Stop it, Sasuke!" Sakura's cry came suddenly from behind the raven. Her plea did not hinder his anger, yet it had caught his attention for a brief second. One wouldn't be able to catch it from afar, but since he was so close, Itachi caught the way Sasuke's eyes brightened with focus. He also took note of the slight hesitation of his arm, which quivered as his younger brother took a second to reconsider whether or not he should actually retreat. The weasel could tell that Sakura had some form of effect, influence, on his baby brother.

In that brief moment of reconsideration, Itachi grabbed Sasuke's wrist in a near vice-grip. He didn't give the younger much time to struggle from there, for he firmly twisted his arm and pushed him back. At that moment, little Naruto ran in between them. He held his arms out to them, "Stop it, please! You're making sister cry, this is no fun!"

The child's presence didn't seem to do much for Sasuke, for his eyes were still spinning with rage. Itachi was quick to grab Naruto and shield the blonde behind him before Sasuke could do harm. Though he wished not to resolve anymore of the conflict with physical violence, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt Sasuke if he dared to injure Naruto. Said boy whimpered behind Itachi, cowering under Sasuke's gaze despite it not being directed at him.

The brothers panted softly for a moment. Just as the younger of the two began to take a step towards Itachi, Sakura threw herself in front of Sasuke and placed her hands tenderly on his chest. He looked down at her upon feeling her touch, and his face relaxed by a fraction. Her cheeks were rosy red and glistened from fallen tears, and her lips quivered as she held back sobs. Her emerald eyes contained apparent fear. This encouraged Sasuke to calm down a bit more. However, he still felt the urge to channel his anger. Bring the reasoning behind his hostility to light. With a renowned scowl, Sasuke locked gazes with Itachi.

"I heard you on the phone. What the hell has gotten into you that's made you suicidal?! What have I been working for all these years?!" he yelled, beginning to shake as his emotions took over. Itachi only blinked, the sole sound from him being his audibly soft panting. This frustrated Sasuke further.

"Answer me, dammit! Fuck, Aniki, w-why?!"

"…"

An agonizing silence stretched between every occupant of the room. Naruto's little hands clutched to the fabric of Itachi's loose sweatpants, and small whimpers escaped him from behind the eldest of the room. Said eldest reached a hand down and gently pet Naruto's shaggy head of golden tresses. The gesture was obviously of affection more than reassurance. One of Sasuke's eyes twitched, and he caught his lower lip between his teeth as his temper ticked dangerously. He couldn't hold it in any longer, for the lack of an answer from his brother was just mocking. A pure mockery to everything he'd vowed to live for.

"You know what? I hate you! I fucking hate you! You want to go die?! BE MY GUEST!" Sasuke spat in Itachi's face. He didn't miss the glossiness of Itachi's eyes before he left the room, storming out of the apartment entirely. Hot tears dripped down his gradually flushing cheeks as he left, huffing dangerously like a caged animal. He was ready to strike out on anything at that moment. However, at the same time, he felt like nothing. Absolutely nothing.

X

The wind was gentle on his sticky, warm face. Like a loving caress of the cheek, a breeze swept past Sasuke as he laid out on the cold concrete beneath him. He observed the sky above him, taking note of the beautifully correlated colors of the sun's setting. The soft pink of the sky reminded him of the woman he was growing to be madly in love with, and the vibrant purples and yellows, of her younger brother. He took a deep breath and let his eyes fluttered closed. They burned from the previous exertion of waterworks.

Despite not being fond of such a display of emotions, Sasuke was able to admit to himself hours ago that he felt better. Both physically and emotionally had he improved. Though he wasn't completely healed of the cold revealing of Itachi's true intentions, he felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest. The burning anger had subsided with the tears, and he didn't feel the tingling in his limbs that begged for some hostile movement, anymore.

For a minuscule moment, Sasuke felt almost…at peace, with coming to acceptance of his feelings. It wasn't something he did often, not since he was ten or eleven. As another light gust of wind swept through his face and hair, like the leaves of a tree, he heard the loud scraping noise of the roof door against the concrete. He didn't open his eyes, but kept his auditory senses on high alert. The door's hinges creaked from old age, for the door was being pulled and pushed, back and forth, in apparent hesitation.

Eventually, it was decided that the door be closed. It did so in a dull clanking noise. All was silent again, save for the soft footsteps that sounded. They were advancing towards him at a rather slow pace, and Sasuke let his guard down with a quiet sigh. It added to the tranquility of his current state of mind. Thus, he let it happen. After a few more delicate steps, the noises stopped altogether. A rustle of clothing replaced it, in addition to the bottom of sneakers against the rooftop's concrete. In little time, he felt body heat radiating over to his side.

"Sasuke-kun.." Sakura's voice was a hoarse plea, but it also had a quality of dryness that indicated her tears to be gone. Sasuke stayed still, which allowed the pinkette to look down at him. He looked almost as if he were sleeping; his facial expression had never looked so calm even when he was actually sleeping. The only sign of disturbance was of the black and blue spread over the bridge of his nose. That, and the dried blood. As she observed longer, she realized that he looked to be more dead than in slumber. She reached a hand out and cupped his cheek, gently running the pad of her thumb over the delicate skin.

Like a snake being lured with the hypnotic tunes of a pungi, Sasuke leaned on his good arm and sat up altogether. He kept his eyes closed until he was completely upright. They only opened halfway, giving off a soft look that was directed towards Sakura. She pursed her lips, though having meant to smile initially. Her hand fell to her lap, and she shifted her kneeling position to sitting with her legs crossed.

"You don't mean what you said to Itachi-san." she said softly. Though she made a comment, he heard the underlying tone of questioning. He heard the reassurance that she was asking for. He was nothing short of the truth for her; she'd come to love the family connection that formed over the past several weeks between her, Sasuke, Itachi, and Naruto. She cherished her developing relationship with the raven, and appreciated the evident affection between the weasel and the blonde. The thought of such bonds being broken left a dull ache in her chest. A harsh rip of a bandage, revealing an old wound to the freezing cold of the wind.

Sasuke blinked tiredly, then smirked softly with a quiet chuckle. He looked down at his lap. "You remind me of one of my cousins. He was always protective of mine and Itachi's brotherhood."

Sakura couldn't help but to give a small smile at that response. Then her curiosity struck her, and she nibbled at her lower lip with anticipation. She fiddled with her thumbs childishly for a little, her eyes casted downwards.

"…Where are your parents, Sasuke?"

She mustered up the courage to look up for his reaction. She always tried to read his body language when she asked something considerably risky. This enabled her to cover up any mistakes and keep her foot from falling too far down her throat. In this particular case, she would definitely need to know when to save herself. However, surprisingly enough, Sasuke only sighed. His smirk fell, and his eyes seemed to soften even more as he turned his head up towards the sky.

He slowly laid back down as he deliberated how to answer that. She picked up on this uncertainty, and out of an attempt to ease it, she laid down with him. She stayed close to against his side, and slowly rested her head onto his chest. Her small smile returned when she felt his arm slide around her back and pull her in closer. Her own arm stretched over his chest, and she could feel his heart beating from under her palm.

"I don't know." he answered truthfully after a while longer of staring up at the sky. The colors were darkening, signifying the quickening approach of dusk. Sakura frowned in both confusion and concern.

"What do you mean?"

Another pause between them as Sasuke closed his eyes, then reopened them.

"They left Itachi and I here, a long time ago. They never came back after that day."

The hand that rested above his heart had slithered over to cup his jugular. She caressed the skin there for a minute or two, then reached up and fingered the raven tresses of his hair. He felt soothed enough to ward off any unwanted emotions, and continue with his answer. "I was seven years old, and Itachi was thirteen. My parents had been behaving….strangely, during the few weeks prior. Itachi and my father were staying up late at night to discuss things that I did not understand. Then, one morning, my mother woke us up in a nervous haste. All of our clothing and personal belongings were packed, and they loaded us into our car before driving us here.."

Sasuke's voice began to trail off from there. Sakura found it odd, but equally scarring. Two young children being left to embark on an entire life ahead of them without any parental guidance. And all without cause, or explanation. Even if their young minds wouldn't comprehend it, it was only fair to at least try. Now she was beginning to form an understanding as to why the both of them were the way they were. Especially Sasuke; the young raven was protective and possessive of his elder brother in the beginning of their relationship. She could see the plain jealousy and annoyance in his eyes whenever he caught Naruto getting a bit too close with Itachi. She also noticed how he was quick to defend Itachi's sharp, rude actions towards her. Though she had been irked by it at first, it was more clear to her now that Itachi was all Sasuke had left.

"I had….cried. Begged my mother to stay. She cried with me, and fought my father about the entire ordeal. In the end, it only took him a few words to convince her to silence. The last thing I remember was her holding me in her lap. She soothed me to sleep in her lap with a backrub. I relished in the warmth, like any foolish child would, without knowing that I'd never feel it again."

"Or maybe you did know," He looked at her in slight shock, though she didn't meet his eyes. She kept her eyes casted down at his chest as she caressed him. "You took advantage of that moment because somewhere in the back of your mind, you knew that you'd never be able to relive it."

Gradually, the widening of his eyes decreased to their normal width as he turned back up towards the sky. He'd never thought of that, and he began to try and think back if that was the case. The only thing he was faced with was the harsh reality of waking up to the cold air and the stiff cushions of the couch. And of course, she and his mother were gone. Itachi was sleeping at the foot of the couch, just before Sasuke's head, and the apartment seemed dark despite the shining light of the morning sun peeking in. He'd stored such a memory so far in the back of his mind, bringing it back seemed like reliving it all over again. His chest ached for a long while, and he began his usual defense mechanism of changing the subject. The memory was yet again locked in a durable trunk, to then be set in a dark pit at the very furthest back of his brain.

"What about you?" he asked Sakura, though his words drawled out with a sigh. Now it was her turn to shoot him a partial look of surprise.

"What about me?"

"You're a young girl, as is Naruto a very young child. Where are your parents?"

She wasn't too saddened by such a question that it left her silence. She simply wasn't used to the question entirely. No one really cared that she was alone with a such a small child. Let alone did they care enough to ask about her situation behind it all. They simply assumed that she was a single mother struggling to get by. "They're still alive, and I know where they are. I just have no reason to visit them. And Naruto stays with me because he's my little brother. Naturally, I care about his safety more than anything."

Sasuke wasn't too satisfied with that answer. He pressed for an answer by giving her back a brief pat. It was by means of encouragement. She knew this, and she sighed as she closed her eyes to trace back. "Erm….my parents weren't exactly the best. At least, not when Naruto was born. When I was a child, my parents treated me well. We were poor, but we made the best of what we had. Then everything went downhill when my father lost his job. They started to breakdown from stress, and it only got worse when my mother got pregnant. It was originally a set of twins, but one of them died during the delivery. For that, my parents found a reason to despise Naruto. They neglected him as an infant, often beating him when he cried too much. I hated it. I always made sure he was okay. I got a job to provide for him because I knew that they wouldn't get up off their asses and do it. Once I turned eighteen, I bought my own place and took Naruto with me."

Sakura was fairly angry by the time she finished. Thinking back on the way her parents treated their own son worked her gears. It was ridiculous how they dwelled on someone they never met, someone that was never coming back. It wasn't Naruto's fault whatsoever that his twin didn't make it, and it was disgusting that his parents couldn't realize that as adults. She protected her little brother because she loved him, and she pitied him for having to be born to such twisted people. Her tense state gave way once she felt Sasuke's tender hand rubbing a soothing circle into her back.

"Hn.." He didn't say much on the matter, but instead internally idolized Sakura for such morality. He enjoyed her motherly actions towards him sometimes, though it was now tragic having to know where it stemmed from. It was even more tragic that such maternal responsibilities had been forced upon her at such a young age. It made him pity Itachi for a moment; the weasel was stuck in a similar predicament, for he had to raise a considerably damaged child at the sensitive age of thirteen. Despite Itachi's high maturity level at a rather young age, it wasn't fair to him.

The couple stayed on the roof of their apartment complex together for a while. The sky gradually reached a midnight navy blue in color, and the stars twinkled brightly in a scattered pattern of beauty. Although they were close to the city, the stars were still pretty to look at. It was a full moon that evening, and when the both of them looked up at it, they couldn't help but to stare in awe. Sasuke eventually turned his head and looked to Sakura. She was fairly peaceful in her expression, and the shine of the moon emphasized her own bright beauty. Her hair gave a soft rosy glow in contrast to the dull grey of the concrete she rested on. In addition, her eyes sparkled brighter than the stars that she silently admired.

He stiffly moved to lay on his side as he faced her fully. Though she felt his stare before, she didn't return it until now. Sasuke's casted arm reached out, and his partially covered palm cupped her fragile cheek. He stroked the skin, pushing some of her hair back all the while, and leaned in slowly. She caught on to his intentions, and slowly leaned in towards him as well. The two opened their mouths halfway, and soon their tongues were sliding against each other lewdly. Sakura noted her raven's enjoyable taste despite him not having brushed his teeth upon waking. He did regularly before bed, with the previous night being no exception, so he never had foul breath in the morning. He tasted the mint of the toothpaste in her mouth, which was clearly still fresh.

"Mh.." she moaned. His tongue pushed hers back into her mouth, then proceeded to run laps along its base. He paused to taste every crevice of her mouth, then returned in focusing on mingling their tongues. During the process, he unravelled his good arm from around her back and used it to prop himself up above her. This enabled him to push his head further down, and get his tongue in just deeper. By then, Sakura was tingling with a brewing heat that could only be solved with his touch. As if he could feel it, she felt him move his tongue out of her mouth and press their lips together, then pull back from the kiss entirely. A thin thread of saliva connected them once more, but only for a small moment.

His lips started for the skin just beneath hers, then her chin. It migrated along her jawline, under her ear, behind it, then right at the lobe. He opened his mouth there, his warm breath sending goosebumps to arise on her skin, and gave it a teasing nibble. He caught it between his teeth to tug gently, then moved back. He observed her expression now, which happened to be much more disheveled than just moments before. Her eyes were heavy, being half-lidded, and the lust in them was as obvious as their green color. A dark flush had spread to her cheeks, and her lips were parted to release inaudible, soft pants of air. He couldn't help but to smirk at this; he definitely enjoyed his ability to charm women when it came to his effect on her.

After many engagements with her, he could tell what this body language was saying: she wanted some. "Are you cold up here?" he asked, masking the painfully clear question that she wanted to hear. Sakura was used to his teasing by now though, and she simply sat up before chuckling with a weak smirk of her own. He sat back to allow her course of action to be easier.

"Yes. Let's head back." Sasuke rose to his feet first, then helped her up to join him. His good arm returned around her, though at her waist this time. The couple walked to the entrance of the roof, and Sasuke had to disconnect their half-embrace to pull the heavy metal door open. He briefly cursed himself for having left her for a moment to open the door on her own. This cursing was short-lived, however, when she pecked his cheek to show her grace. She stepped into the cold stairwell of the complex first, then waited for him to hold her again before she began her descent down.

Not only did she enjoy being close to her raven, but she also secretly feared the stairwell. It lacked any lights, and if it had camera systems set up in the ceiling, she doubted their functioning abilities. It was also really cold, which gave her shivers from being bare and afraid. Not to mention its density; every noise they made echoed throughout the whole set of flights. Though she should be thankful that it gave her a warning in beforehand, she was incredibly disturbed at having to be reminded of the mice's residency. The squeaking wasn't as bad as the scurrying to her. She could practically feel their little nails tickling her skin as they ran across her, in her imagination, upon hearing it against the floors or railings. She marvelled at how unbothered Sasuke seemed to be by it.

Sasuke knew of her phobia towards pests. The mice and roaches didn't move him simply because he had gotten used to them over the years. This was courtesy of Itachi, who had the decency of purchasing bug sprays and safe rat traps. He prevented any actual encounters as much as possible, which aided in his little brother's immunity.

Once they reached the end of the stairwell, he again let Sakura through the door of the top floor first before following behind her. They had to descend a bit further via the elevator since Sasuke and Itachi lived three floors down. Upon reaching their designated fifth floor, the two heard extreme ruckus. It was a non-rhythmic banging followed by some crashing. They both shared a look of concern, though they didn't let it bother them. That was, until the noises began to grow louder as they approached their door. A muffled, yet loud scream tore through the wood of their door after Sasuke reached it, and Sakura immediately recognized it.

"Naruto!" At her alarmed cry, Sasuke hurried in turning the knob and throwing the door open. The furniture of the tiny living room was thrown out of place in an obvious battle of struggle. The only source of light had been burned out, for the tall lamp was knocked over with the bulb smashed to pieces. Small flecks of blood were on both the walls and on the screen of the television, and one particularly large splatter of blood was located on the couch. The latter was turned over on its front, the cushions spread out in various parts of the room. Slash marks of an apparent weapon was also located all over the room. Naruto's screams could still be heard from down the hall.

Sakura was first to make her way down there, having pushed Sasuke out of the way. She ran into his bedroom while he ran into Itachi's. The weasel's room was untouched, though Itachi himself was nowhere to be found. Sasuke felt his heart start to accelerate in its beating, and his throat burned with the harshness of his breathing. He held a hand over his chest when the beating of his heart started to ache from pumping so roughly; such an ache didn't help with his current situation, and he didn't appreciate the sudden worry starting to increase much more than he would have liked. Just then, he heard a loud scream that pushed him over the edge.

Sakura.

"Sakura!" he screamed back as he nearly slid from how fast he turned for the door. He made he way to his own bedroom, cursing when he heard the loud shattering of glass, and practically threw himself into the room. He caught the sight of two intruders dressed in black with ski masks. One of a female physique had an unconscious Naruto in her arms, and she stood on the bed to hop out of broken window above. The second, of a male physique, had seemed to finish off Sakura. She quivered weakly, blood dribbling out of her nose and the corner of her mouth. He didn't understand how fast she was wounded until he noticed the man's quick fighting skills against Itachi. The female returned through the window, and was like a cat in the way she reached over and dragged Sakura out by her hair.

It was then that Sasuke felt himself being thrown forward by an unknown force. He raced towards the woman, reaching for Sakura. He was caught off guard, however, by a foot smashing into his face. He grunted loudly as he flew back farther than his previous spot. His nose was throbbing again, worse than earlier, yet he got back up on his feet and started up again. This time, it was for the masked intruder that had kicked him. Joining him was Itachi, and the two tagged team the intruder with swings of their own legs and arms. He recognized the Taekwondo fighting style, which he countered with his own level of skill. Sasuke was surprised once more by Itachi's strength, and obvious skill in the field of fighting. He momentarily paused in his thinking of trying to outsmart the intruder, for he wondered why Itachi had despised Sasuke's own street fighting. Why would he not appreciate it, if he were so good at it? If he wasn't ill, would he have tagged along? And most importantly, why did he lie when Sasuke asked if he could train him? Why would he leave Suigetsu to—

"Agh!" Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing Itachi's loud cry of pain. He didn't like the sound, and he gasped when he could barely follow the intruder's quick movements. He grabbed Itachi by the throat as if he were some sort of animal, then roughly dragged him up on the bed. Despite his quickness and agility, Sasuke was able to follow the intruder's intentions to drag Itachi out with wherever Sakura and Naruto were taken by his partner. The possibility of being left completely alone mortified Sasuke more than it angered him, although both emotions were enough to kick his feet into a run.

"Nii-san!" The intruder was out of the window by the time Sasuke had climbed on to the bed, and the raven followed suit. The moonlight illuminated the intruder's eyes through the peek-holes of the ski mask. They shone a dark purple, being a familiar shade to Sasuke. He also noticed the slight illumination of an evidently sturdy thread, which seemed to be holding the intruder up in midair. Itachi had wriggled free, and he was beginning to fall downward with Sasuke instead of outward from the building like his captor. The younger of the two's wonderment of them dying together had died immediately after it was born, for Itachi was caught by the ankle from the intruder.

For the shortest moment, perhaps a little over a millisecond, Sasuke and Itachi reached out to each other. Their arms stretched out, one down and the other up, for each other. One couldn't reach the other, but their fingertips brushed against each other. Their deep grey eyes were wide, Itachi's with fear for losing his little brother while Sasuke's with fear of what would happen to his big brother. Regardless of whether or not Sasuke was going to die, he didn't want to be useless against what could be a potential lifetime of torture for Itachi. Though Naruto could be a brat at times, he didn't wish that upon the little tike. And Sakura….

Oh, Sakura..

When their gazes were ripped apart by gravity, the last thing Sasuke saw was Sakura's smile. Not the one he received when she handed him a rather humiliating defeat. No, it was the sweet one that he was faced with in the morning after a passionate night of intimacy. The one that was accompanied by her soft touches, her spine-tingling kisses. The ones that made him feel good even in his worst moments, that walked him through the misery he once figured his life was to be made of. Such misery was dissipated of its existence when she walked further into his life. He actually began to like the apartment when her radiancy filled it. Her body against his perfectly made his nights better, less lonely. Every bit of her lifted him the way he thought he never could be, again.

And he loved her. By God, he loved her so much.

He began to fall harder in this realization, and his eyes blackened around the edges before swallowing his vision in whole.

X

I hoped you all enjoyed this after such a long wait. I'm kind of sad Naruto Shippuden is over, though I'm sure they could've executed the ending much better. However, I refuse to outwardly complain. I thank Kishimoto-sensei for everything his given me for the past 15 years, and I congratulate him for creating such a beautiful story to share with the world. *wipes tears* He owns all of the characters and potential themes. I only own the storyline. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon, for I have a vague outline already planned out for it. Thank you for reading!