Chapter Thirty: Comfort
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
Sakura fell hard enough against the ground to split a portion of her scalp. She was wincing but not in physical pain...no, she was grasping her head the way one might if they were trapped in a genjutsu.
Kakashi was beside her in an instant, his book long forgotten and still hanging in the tree.
"What happened?" Naruto asked, kneeling beside her.
"I don't know." The Copy Nin replied as he gave distinct orders for them to back off...her chakra control was too erratic and that posed obvious problems.
"Sakura! Sakura!" He yelled, gently pulling her hands away from her ears.
She fought but in her emotional state she had no control...if she had not even he would have been able to hold her.
But it wasn't working! No matter what he did she couldn't snap out of whatever it was that so held her. And then just as suddenly she was quiet and coherent.
"Wh...what hap...happened?" She asked shakily as she tried to push herself up on her trembling arms.
"You tell us." Sai replied, helping her into a sitting position.
"I'm not sure..." She said, "I just remember the Sharigan..."
"Did Kabuto implement it in your torture?" Kakashi asked.
She nodded, biting her lip in reluctance.
"I see..." The jonin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I think this was just a one time incident seeing as you can look at the sharigan now without slipping into delirium." He said, warning her to be careful, though.
She nodded, agreeing with Naruto's suggestion to get some rest.
It was late when Sakura woke up and decided to go down stairs for a glass of water. As the Hokage's apprentice she lived in a house-sized apartment...but it was a real pain to have to walk all that way for clean water.
Sighing, she retrieved a glass from her cupboard and filled it with lukewarm water, unwilling to wait for it to cool.
And as she turned back she saw Sasuke...standing in her kitchen watching her.
"Sa...Sasuke..." She stammered, dropping her glass.
He ignored it, sweeping her into his arms and off of the dangerously littered tile.
"Sakura can you ever forgive me?" He asked.
"I should be apologizing to you." She whispered back.
He shook his head, "No, Sakura...you tried to save me."
"Sasuke..."
"Sakura...you can feel it, can't you? I know I can."
She nodded...the palpable tension that an impending war always created.
"Sakura...I love you." He said pressing his lips to her's.
She replied with such passion the answer could only have been 'yes'.
Sasuke broke away, carrying her up the stairs and laying her in her bed as he fell across her, their lips meeting once again.
"Sakura...I won't go farther than you want to." He assured her.
"I want to go all the way." She replied.
"I want to go all the way..." She said, wrapping her legs around his waist.
He nodded, knowing she wasn't simply reply with a lustful statement...she meant it.
If only he had known it would hurt her far more later.
TBC
Sorry it was so short. I needed a bridge chapter: Far warning, the next few chapters are going to be dark beyond belief. If you have any suggestions just put them into a review. My PM is freaking out.