Caranril: K it was really weird. I posted chapter 6 practically a week before it actually showed up. Site's having problems, I suppose. Hey but the reviews I got motivated me to sit down and write this chappie. Not a whole lot happens, but a lot changes. Yup yup yup.
Thanks Diagnosisxxfatal (ah no worries. I just get busy and work and sick and then everything falls apart. I hate not finishing things, so no matter how long it takes this story will reach completion) and Meira Evenstar (Yeeeeaaaah. I'm really ambiguous about who Kaori's gonna end up with. Or maybe it's supposed to be that way because she ends up with NO ONE! Or maybe I just haven't decided yet and all things will reveal themselves as my fingers type. Even this chappie was unexpected.)
Legolas: How come I didn't get to do the thank yous?
Caranril: Cause it woulda been awkward to type "we" or "Caranril" instead of "I", ne?
Legolas: You're awkward anyway.
WARNING: kinkiness and such in this one. Yay for the purpose of rating this M!
disCLAIMER: While I do not own Naruto nor any affiliated subjects therein, Kishimoto-sama does and therefore he owns my soul.
Chapter 7: Hate Me
Sakura had actually imagined the town to a be a dirt-poor, lightly-populated slum. The quaint boutiques and classy restaurants surprised her. Some people were even friendly despite the very out-of-place attire they wore. Temujin gave a brief explanation, revealing that the battling sects had come to an agreement, and with that came prosperity. People were no longer scraping by but managed to do the things they wanted, such as cook for others, creating clothing, or provide entertainment. The entire town was covered with a layer of dust from the dry spell. Sakura grimly realized she'd have to wash her feet when she returned to the hotel.
Temujin led them to an establishment that he deemed to be his favourite. It was apparently the place he'd first met Tomi. He invited Sakura, Naruto, and Kankurou out for the dinner. Sasuke made an excuse to stay behind, but Sakura suspected he wanted to watch over the unconscious Kaori, as she had not yet recovered from Kakashi's technique. Shikamaru and Temari took off on their own dinner date, while Kakashi was probably getting drunk and reading his dirty book.
Kankurou eagerly ordered sake while Naruto attacked the menu. Sakura glanced at Temujin apologetically as her stomach complained.
"The cook did a great job on the food, but I'm ready for a good, hot meal," she confessed. "And real sake. Rum doesn't sit well with me."
"Real sake." Kankurou grabbed her cup and poured some from his bottle. He watched with an amused smile as she downed it effectively. Refill. Down another. Refill. "You know, I figured you to be a lightweight."
"What do you expect when I have to work with him all the time?" Sakura grinned, jerking her head at Naruto. "It's the only way I stay sane."
That, of course, started an argument over who was the actual troublemaker. It seemed to be Kankurou and Sakura versus Naruto. Other guests in the restaurant couldn't help but stare; such characters were unheard of here. Temujin was enthralled by the foreigners as well, particularly Sakura. The young woman was beautiful. He hadn't particularly cared when he first met her, but now she had grown, as had he, and he was much more aware of aesthetic pleasures. And Sakura was very aesthetically pleasurable. Even when she scowled at Naruto's wisecracks and her lip twitched in irritation, Temujin felt himself drawn to her. He was aware this was completely unfair to Tomi, but he was mesmerized just the same. Things calmed down once the food came, but Temujin's heartbeat sped up as he watched Sakura eat. He felt incredibly guilty, and the blood flowed to his ears to prove it. His breath caught in his chest as her pink lips closed around the chopsticks. And the look of heaven in her green eyes made him swallow hard.
"Temujin? Are you okay?" Naruto smacked him on the forehead as if to check for a fever.
"Maybe he had too much sake," Kankurou snorted between bites.
"Temujin-san hasn't had any sake," Sakura reported. "I think you're the one who's made him ill, Naruto."
"Sakura-chaaaaan," he whined.
"Ah, I'm okay," Temujin said in embarrassment, swatting Naruto's hand away. "Itadakimasu."
The rest of the meal he kept his eyes fixed on his plate. Should he spot Sakura eating again, the discomfort in his pants was bound to become a real problem.
"It's too bad Sasuke couldn't come," Naruto sighed, leaning back and rubbing his full stomach.
"Not couldn't. More like wouldn't," Sakura commented.
"Yeah I don't know the bastard, but he acts funny," Kankurou added.
"He always acts funny. Thinks he's the king of the world or somethin. Lately all he does is sit around and stare at the sky. Hey, Sakura-chan. Think he's thinking about Itachi?"
Sakura stared at her empty plate. Then she half-smiled and looked at Naruto. "You really don't know, do you?"
"Orochimaru maybe?" The name dripped venomously through Naruto's teeth.
"No. Well, maybe. I guess I'm the only one who gets it."
"Gets what? C'mon, Sakura-chan. Why's Sasuke acting funny?"
"It's Kaori-san."
The three men started in surprise. Kankurou practically choked on his sake. Temujin felt slightly protective, anger bubbling up inside.
"What did he do to her?" Temujin said, gritting his teeth.
"Oh, ah. Plenty, I suppose. Nothing she wouldn't do right back to him." Sakura had to laugh. It was like Sasuke had met his match personality-wise. It was difficult to outwit oneself. "Don't you think Sasuke-kun likes Kaori-san?"
"I thought he hated her," Kankurou muttered.
"Well they are teammates," Naruto nodded.
"No, you idiots. Like. As in like-like?"
Three jaws dropped round the table. And then there were three very different reactions.
Kankurou laughed hysterically.
Naruto's eyes bugged out and he went "ehhhhhhh?"
Temujin sat back and sighed contentedly.
"Must be something only a woman could see," Sakura sighed.
Kankurou dabbed at the tears on his face, careful of the kabuki makeup.
Naruto rubbed his aching eyes and hacked at his raw throat.
Temujin raised his glass and silently toasted to Kaori.
"I always wondered if she'd get over him," Temujin said softly, more to himself than to the Shinobi.
"That man?" Kaori had only vaguely mentioned him to Sakura. She refused to talk about him.
"I'm afraid I don't know his name," Temujin admitted. "But, ah, if Sasuke-san can make her happy..."
"At this point, I'd wonder if Kaori could make him happy," Naruto said seriously, and the table fell into a ponderous silence.
"Hey Temujin-san," Kankurou boldly broke the silence, "any place around we can meet girls?"
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Several huge boulders had been shattered, and others bore strange dents. A cloud of dust and smoke hovered over the area, clouding any passerby's sight. The enormous Chakra spear that was lodged into one particularly stubborn stone dissipated, and Sasuke sank to one knee, exhausted. Taking deep, measured breaths, he felt more satisfied than he had been in months. He wondered why he'd been so stressed, so wound up, so fucking horny: he hadn't had a real battle since he killed Itachi. He'd been having dreams of fucking Tsunade (yack!)...Kaori (the hell?)... Sakura (kami-sama NO!)...Naruto (after this he decided he was either fucking delusional or really needed to release some tension)...thus the wreckage he was currently staring at in satisfaction. Now his dreams wouldn't be so hot, sweaty, wet, passionate-
"Aw fuck!" Sasuke growled and punched the ground, leaving a nice crater. He needed a nice, cold bath. No wait, shower. A nice, cold shower. Then he'd do some Chakra shaping exercises to meditate and refocus his mind. The last thing he needed was a dream of Naruto fucking him. Sasuke stood with a shudder. Ice. Cold. Shower.
He stripped as he walked into his room and straight for the bathroom. Every piece of clothing left a puff of hovering dust above it. He'd tend to that later. The showerhead hummed from disuse as it pushed air bubbles out with the massaging stream. Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the neatly wrapped bar of soap, but that damned dust was everywhere, so just rinsing was not an option. As he lathered up, his mind wandered to Orochimaru. Funny how any thoughts of that fucktard quelled any possible arousal. He squeezed the bar of soap into worthless crumbles. He should have killed the snake when he had the chance at age 15, when Orochimaru tried to take over his body. He'd suppressed Orochimaru and his power, but he should have know the monster would find a way to escape. Of course, if they hadn't encountered that damned telepath, he would still have that horny old man somewhere inside of him. But then he wouldn't have cursed Kaori, and she wouldn't be suffering. When she slept, she often cried out as if someone was torturing her, or sometimes as if she was pitying someone in pain.
He shut the water off, letting the chilling droplets fall from his hair. He should go check on her. Everyone else was out, but he doubted that Kakashi was watching over her. When he carried to the hotel from the ship, he had a strange look in his eye, one Sasuke had never seen. And having worked with Kakashi for years, he thought he'd seen all the expressions that one eye could make.
An off-white hotel robe hung on the door. He tied it on and padded out of the room in slippers, intending only to peek in for a moment to make sure she wasn't dead. None of the other ninja had returned yet. Temari, Sakura, and Kaori all shared the room, but only Kaori's belongings were hanging around. He quietly slid open the door and stepped onto the tatami mats. This hotel's rooms were very traditional, although the kitchenettes and bathrooms were more modern. Sasuke felt an involuntary smile come to his lips; Kaori was strewn across a futon, her blankets on the floor and tangled around her legs. There was a trail of drool from her mouth to the pillow, and she was snoring slightly. He'd give anything for a camera at the moment, possible blackmail material. As slippery as he could, he disengaged the blankets from her legs and spread them on top of her. She smacked her mouth, rubbed her nose, and clung to the blankets.
The cursed seal caught his eye. Having never actually seen his own, curiosity guided his hand to lift the lapel of her tunic. It looked like some pagan tattoo. With the Sharingan, he could see the angry red swirls of Orochimaru's seal within Kakashi's seal. Sasuke jumped as hand clasped his wrist suddenly. His Sharingan met Kaori's startled eyes, and in that mistaken moment they were both accidentely swept away in a doujutsu.
The entire world was black. Sasuke blinked in disorientation. Wasn't it his doujutsu? Why wasn't he controlling it? Moans caught his attention and he whipped around. If his face could have gone any paler, it would have. Two figures, one blond, one raven-haired. The pale flesh pounded into the ass of the tan flesh. Just like his dream, only this time he was an observer of the hot, sweaty sex. He could see his and Naruto's faces. His contorted in sadistic determination, Naruto's eyes squeezed shut and jaw slack, grunting with each thrust. Sasuke felt himself panic. Why the hell was he watching this?
An eery and familiar chuckle resonated through the darkness, and the glowing figures faded and were replaced by another pair. This time him and Sakura. He was reliving his dreams. Those dreams he'd hoped to forget. The chuckle was barely audible above the ecstatic cries Sakura emitted.
"Sasuke-kun, I had no idea you were so kinky," the voice observed. "Your dreams are most interesting. We should visit more often."
"You," Sasuke seethed. That monster in Kaori. This was it's doing. It was then he realized that Kaori was standing nearby, watching placidly as the couple cried out in completion.
"Akumako..." Sasuke knew exactly what was coming next, and he didn't want her to see it...
"Fuck me, Uchiha. Fuck me hard." Dream Kaori bit dream Sasuke on the shoulder to emphasize the last word. Dream Sasuke growled ferociously and threw her away from him. Dream Kaori landed on all fours and crept towards him like an animal, licking her chops. She pounced, knocking Dream Sasuke over and enveloping his cock with her mouth. Sasuke stood in front of Kaori, practically begging her not to watch. Her eyes unfocused, then refocused on him. Then her mouth suddenly stretched ear to ear and her eyes bugled.
"Very kinky, Sasuke-kun."
"Stop this, you filthy monster!" he seethed, grabbing the creature's shoulders and shaking it roughly. He froze as her hand swept forward and grasped his crotch.
"Do you really want me to stop?" it sneered, rubbing a thumb over the lump. Sasuke's words caught in his throat, and all the blood from his brain rushed to that wonderful hand. If he hadn't been so randy lately, he would be able to get out of this situation. But whether it was magnified by the doujutsu or just felt plain fantastic, he couldn't tell. The outrageous mouth grinned even wider, and a long, lizard-like tongue slid from the lips and gently tapped against his face. And then everything stopped. In that tongue, Sasuke saw only images of Orochimaru.
"No!" Sasuke focused his Chakra to a sharp point, slicing through the creature's abuse of his Sharingan.
Sasuke was suddenly back in the room kneeling beside Kaori, only she seemed to be unconscious. His fingers still lightly touched her seal. He snapped his hand back like he'd been burned. Kaori awoke at the sudden movement, only when here eyes opened, they weren't grey. Large and red, they blinked at the ceiling, then shifted to Sasuke. The creepy grin opened and she sat up and climbed onto him. Already in shock from the overridden doujutsu, he fumbled against the persistent woman, whose lizard tongue snaked down the front of his robe. Her hands worked furiously over his shoulders, his chest. He grabbed her wrists and tried to pry her off.
"Stop fighting, Uchiha. You know you want it."
"No. No, stop. Damn it don't make me hurt you." Sasuke's voice almost pleaded. If she was in her own state of mind, he may have very well ravished her then and there, regardless of the consequences. But the spine-tingling voice proved she wasn't in her own state of mind.
"But I want you to hurt me, Uchiha. Uchiha Sssassssuke..." The strange Chakra began bubbling around her, and the roaming hands burned his skin.
Sasuke snapped. "Stop! Kaori!"
She froze and the Chakra receded quickly. When she sat back in shock, her eyes were grey again and her mouth normal-size. She took in the situation, realizing something had been happening out of her control. She felt the heat between their bodies and saw the all-too obvious arousal through his robe. Then she noticed that she was wet.
"Holy...!" She scrambled away and ducked under the blankets. "Oh no no no no no no no noooo!"
"I-i-it's not your fault you didn't mean to do anything," Sasuke said quickly, surreptitiously covering the bulge.
"I could've stopped it when the first...uh, thing showed up," she admitted from beneath the blankets. "But I was so, um, distracted...by you and...erm, Naruto. Yeah. After that I lost all control."
"Do you remember anything else you saw?" Sasuke could see her shake her head beneath the covers.
"The...thing...took over I guess. Why did it take over? Was it because of Naruto?"
No, it was because it wanted me to fuck it like I was fucking Naruto. But he wouldn't really say that. Not when he didn't understand it himself. And when he was trying his hardest to forget that image. And to not think about fucking Kaori like he had Naruto. Kami-sama, what had he gotten into?
"Uchiha? Did we actually do anything?" she asked in a small voice. One eye peeped out. She sighed with relief when he shook his head no.
"I would never do never do anything with that monster." Sasuke spat, disgusted with every moment he'd felt attracted to its touch.
"Me neither. I mean, I don't mean do as in do but as in I wouldn't have anything to do with it if I could." She sat up suddenly. "Hey wait. I didn't started wigging out in pain did I? Does that mean it doesn't work on the monster or that the seal stops all the curse's effects? Maybe it's both!" Kaori thought hard. Then, in a brave decision, or a rather stupid one, she leaned towards Sasuke with a blush.
"Can you help me test it?"
"Uh...what?"
"Test to see if it works!" Kaori blushed furiously. Maybe that was a bad idea. Kakashi would probably help...but her heart skipped several beats at the thought of his hands on her again.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Sasuke smirked, barely hiding the fact that his cock had throbbed at the concept of "testing". The dream returned to him. The dream where she attacked him with her mouth. Pleasured him with her tongue. Bit his neck. With a slight groan, he shoved her down and pressed himself against her body. So soft in all the right places. So warm. So...
"Uhn," a moan escaped his lips as she ground her hips up into his. When had things gotten so out of control? When had he found himself spiraling into those grey pools that gazed up at him in challenge. Trust Kaori took make a competition out of something like this. Neither moved, almost afraid of what may come next.
"Ah, Kaori-san, I heard raised voices. Everything okay?" Kakashi slid open the door. Sasuke and Kaori turned their heads to meet the intruder. The "doom" of his reaction was practically audible. He stepped back and closed the door with a firm snap. Then he walked away. Kaori shut her eyes and Sasuke hung his head. Both felt so shamed and neither could exactly say why. Sasuke sat back and retied his robe. Kaori covered her face with her hands.
"I'm so sorry Uchiha. I don't know why I said that." She was completely mortified. "What's wrong with me?"
Sasuke was silent. He was ashamed of himself too, although it was perfectly logical that a boy of his age would have such physical reactions.
"Hate me."
He looked at her, startled. "What?"
"Please hate me again. That's the only the way I can deal with you. With this thing inside me. I don't know why this happened. Please...hate me!"
If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was crying.
"Even if you do have a...thing inside you. I couldn't hate you again." Sasuke felt odd, saying things that were so mushy. But it seemed to work. She peeped through her hands. She wasn't crying, but she looked tortured. He scooted next to her and lay her head on his shoulder, just as she'd done for him at the hotel in Sunagakure.
"I made a promise to be your friend. If there's one thing I've learned in life besides pure hatred, it's that everyone has their monsters. And true friends don't care. They stick with you even if they see your worst side. Heh, I think we both caught glimpses of our bad sides. Kaori." Her forename sounded weird on his tongue, but he said it anyway. "Kaori, I'm glad you're my friend."
She huffed a small laugh, then slowly drifted into her dreamless sleep, all troubles from before forgotten.
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Outside the door, Kakashi leaned against the frame, shocked by the intensity of his reaction to seeing those two together. His hand slowly reached up and traced the wet trail down his cheek.