Five Sensations For You

Summary: She was his capture, thus making her his to claim. How the relationship between them cultivated over time was unlike any another. "Nothing we use or hear or touch can be expressed in words that equal what we are given by the senses."–Hannah Arendt; Drabbles (SasorixSakura)

5: Music to Their Ears (Hearing)

Text:

"Speech"

Thoughts

Poems/Sonnets:

"Al Aaraaf" by Edgar Allen Poe

Disclaimer: Do pigs fly?

"O! Nothing earthly save the thrill

Of melody in the woodland rill—

Or (music of the passion-hearted)

Joy's voice so peacefully departed

That, like the murmur in the shell,

Its echo dwellth and will dwell—

Oh nothing of the dross of ours—

Yet all the beauty—all the flowers

That list our Love, and deck our bowers—

Adorn yon world afar, afar—

The wandering star."

-Al Aaraaf, Edgar Allen Poe

Smoke clouded her peripheral vision and her lungs burned as she breathed in the scorching, molten air permeating with infernal flames and charred wreckage. After waiting what seemed like centuries, the Akatsuki was finally attacked by outside ninjas. From the pandemonium and hullabaloo Sakura managed to escape the room Sasori stationed her in over the years and furtively went to discover what all the commotion was about and who her potential rescuers were.

The news hit her like a ton of bricks, a crushing wave of reality and astonishment splashing down icily onto her being. They were here, the shinobi from her village.

The Kohona ninja were the aggressors but more crucially, they were here.

Sakura hastily sprinted through the darkened hallways of the Akatsuki, warily inspecting for any secluded traps the Akatsuki might have cached away.

The din of combat attracted her focus and she veered in that direction. Perhaps, just perhaps Naruto was amid the Kohona force, battling ferociously to find her, to save her from the Akatsuki's avid clutches. She could imagine Naruto's bottomless exuberance once he sees her again, his cerulean eyes watering with unshed tears of joy, and his face cracking into a wide, toothy beam. This brought a small smile to Sakura's face and she pressed herself to quicken the pace of her race.

Hold on, Naruto! I'm coming! We'll be back in Kohona once this is all over.

"He's not here, Sakura."

Skidding to a halt, Sakura whirled around to face the speaker cloaked in the shadows, her combative stance already in place. The silhouette of figure chortled darkly at her antics and stepped into the daylight, revealing his identity. Sakura lessened a bit, yet only slightly. After all, he still was the enemy.

"Sasori," said Sakura, "what are you talking about?"

Sasori inched closer to her but only enough not instigate the medic to take a step back and flee. "I'm talking about your loudmouth Naruto. He's not among the Leaf shinobi." Sakura frowned, perturbed.

"Perhaps he's outside the base," she suggested hopefully, her heart still clinging to the fragile, vacillating string of distant hope that was haphazardly waning in her life. To her utter despair, Sasori shook his head slowly, his lips a taut, thin line.

"His chakra signature is not here. And might I add that the Leaf ninjas aren't here for you, Sakura. They're not even aware of your existence amongst the Akatsuki."

"Then why are they here?!" she demanded tersely, fists clenching viciously at her sides.

"They're here to obtain one of Leader's secret scrolls he obtained from Jiraiya long ago. However, they are executing an extremely poor job of the mission. I won't be shocked if they are coerced to retreat, providing if we don't annihilate them first." He stared disapprovingly at her, quiet fury glinting in his garnet eyes. "You were planning on leaving with them, were you, Sakura?"

Sakura bristled, refusing to cower under his glacial scrutiny and flinch from his steely tenor. "Of course, I was! I'm going to have a chance to return home!"

The corners of Sasori's lips quirked upwards briefly prior to sliding back down to his regular placid, taciturn expression. "Do you really want to go home, after all the waiting you've done and for the fact that they didn't even bother to search for you here?"

Taken back, Sakura faltered a bit yet swiftly resumed her fervid proclamation. "Maybe they didn't realize I was here!" Sasori snorted derisively at her feeble excuse for her village's neglect.

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it, Sakura." Within seconds he was upon her, gripping her tenaciously akin to a drowning man clinging strenuously to a rock. Sakura tried to react convulsively to his sudden embrace yet discovered her body wasn't acquiescent with her demands and her feet were squarely rooted to the ground.

"Why would you depart, Sakura?" implored Sasori, brushing a strand of pink hair from her face, his melodious diction sending chills of intense longing down the medic-nin's spine. "Are you running…from me?"

"No," Sakura replied softly, "never you." Perplexed, Sasori arched an elegant eyebrow and probed further.

"Then what are you running from, blossom?"

Sighing, Sakura paused to collect her thoughts. She was an absolute fool, really, to fathom she could actually race away from her heart's desires and not look back without any repentance. She realized if she left with the Kohona shinobi she would detest herself for the rest of her life, no matter how much the denizens of Leaf welcomed her back with open arms. She'll have her former life back but not what she truly yearned for. His cascading, wavy crimson locks, his profound eyes of ruby, his agitating but rather endearing smirk, his deft, experienced touch, his enthralling fragrance, his beckoning, beguiling lips, and his lovely, soothing voice would haunt her, beleaguering her mind, heart, and soul with all the conceptions of what could have been for them. The notion was just so difficult for her to accept, to comprehend the true meaning of her covert desires.

"I was running away from the prospect that…" Sakura stopped momentarily yet Sasori's reassuring, dominating squeeze impelled her to finish. "…that I was falling in love with you, Sasori." Her voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke those words and with immense trepidation, she awaited Sasori's reaction.

A smirk graced his lips and he bend down towards her ear, pressing Sakura up against his body. "Music to my ears, Sakura," he purred and a thrill of delight coursed vehemently through her veins.

"R-really?" she stammered slightly, staring intently into his blood-red orbs. He nodded and the roseate-haired kuniochi buried her face into his cloak, imprinting this contingency eternally in her memory.

"Do you still want to leave?"

A small grin crawled its way across Sakura's sun-kissed features as she once more gazed at Sasori affectionately. "No." she answered contently, shaking her head. Sasori's smirk transformed into a half-smile at her decision.

"Good, because I'm afraid I am falling for you as well."

And that was music to Sakura's ears.

That's a wrap, folks. The SasoSaku 5 senses themes challenge is complete so I hope you all relished in reading my attempt of writing drabbles. A round of applause to all my reviewers: overlordofnobodies, Clairesa-chan, Millenium Ring and Winchester, shatteredpieces78, Nightmare2Day, instance, Cster, and otaku no baka. Another round of applause for those who simply read my story from the nascence to the end. I best be returning to my other stories but you never know, I might come out with some more Sasori/Sakura challenges. I'm in a need of an excellent pairing challenge or two, depending on my mood. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see yah around.

----SpeedDemon315