I remember quite vividly the first time he touched me. It had been a sheer accident, a mere brushing of shoulders in a cramped, confined space, but it had been enough to send a whirlwind of thoughts racing through my head. After that I found myself purposefully standing closer to the ninja then necessary or leaning forward a bit more than the socially acceptable level just to feel his skin against mine. Perhaps I craved it because it reminded me that this wasn't a dream, that he was very real and right in front of me. The first kiss was another story, and it was no accident. The half scrawled letter in front of me seemed to blur in and out of focus as I recalled the previous nights events.
I hated the way my gut twisted violently at the first sign of a thunder storm, I suppose I looked like a dog with its tail between its legs. It was a childish fear that paralyzed me completely. I laid on the cold, stone floor of the cave curled into myself as the walls around me shook violently from the roar of the thunder. My mother used to tell me not to be afraid, but that was not how real fears worked. You could not tell someone to stop being afraid to the very thing that sat their teeth on edge and caused every hair on the back of their necks to stand on edge. After being killed in battle more times than I could even count I would have assumed that this fear would be long since behind me, but as the storm rage I was still the little girl shaking under the covers. I did not register his presence right away, perhaps he had been standing there for hours I really could not say. His regular absence had taught me not to expect to see him much during the hours that I was awake.
I turned my head up slightly to take in his surprisingly dry form, completely untouched by the rain. I hated letting him see me like this, shaking and weak. The whole scene left a bitter taste in my mouth. For a second I regretted giving him those eyes, then again he seemed to see well enough without them. I dropped his gaze as another clap of thunder roared around us, wishing he would leave me in peace. I was not that lucky. He slowly made his way over to me like a wolf staring at an injured doe. I did not hesitate to reach the hand out before me that he offered. My legs threatened to cave in, but I gritted my teeth and bared through the pain.
"I wonder what frightens you more Sakura, me or the thunder," his sharingan flashed dangerously in the dim moonlight. I could not move beneath his stare, all I could do was bite my tongue in protest. The interaction was gentle at first as he ran a finger down my cheek following the trail my tears were traveling.
"I am not afraid of you," my voice was weak and unconvincing even to my own ears, his musical laughter was a welcome reprieve from the sound of the storm.
"That is your first mistake, my parents weren't afraid at first either. Do not underestimate me," then before I could register what was happening his lips crashed against mine, hard. I had always envisioned my first kiss being with an Uchiha, but he was most definitely not the one I had in mind. I would be lying though if I said the kiss didn't make me feel dizzy straight down to my fingertips.
"Your first," he mumbled against my lips. How could he have known?
Then my memory abruptly ends, I perhaps passed out from a combination of fear and shock. All I do know is that when I woke up this morning I was wrapped in his robe and my lips tasted dimly of blackberries and fire. He had disappeared this morning as usual and I was not going to go out of my way to find him. Our goal was to find Sasuke and save him, so I didn't know how everything was becoming so complicated. I had to face the truth, I wanted that kiss and I wanted more. I just did not know yet what the meant. The pen in my hand snapped, dragging my attention back at the reality ahead of me.
Itachi and I had agreed that in order to keep an eye on Sasuke and prepare ourselves for the future it would be necessary to leave the safety of the leaf village and pursue the younger Uchiha in complete secret. It was easy enough for me to convince Lady Tsunade to allow me to leave the village in search of rare extracts and plants that I had come across in my research in the library. With the war impending there was no telling exactly what we had to be prepared for. To me surprise Naruto was harder to convince, he clung on to my leg like a puppy begging its master to stay, then again maybe it wasn't that surprising. The only thing that silenced his constant begging was my agreement to write to him frequently and keep him in the loop about my activities. I was just thankful that Kakashi did not ask me many questions, but there was a sparkle in his dark eyes that gave me an unnerving feeling that he knew the something more than he let on. The harder I stared at the parchment in front of me the more I found my language changing, in my letters I started sounding more detached, uninterested. A sense of frustration overwhelmed my senses as I bunched up the paper and threw it to the wayside, Naruto was not an idiot he would notice the slightest change in my behavior. I would just tell him that I was busy and could not write to him today.
A twig in the distance snapped, I assumed it was Itachi. I continued walking back the way until a hand suddenly grabbed my waist throwing me back into a hard, muscular form. I balled up my fists ready to fight, until a sword was suddenly placed against my throat, a sword I was all too familiar with this was not good.
Reviews are always appreciate! Sorry I couldn't resist the cliffhanger ;)