We're gonna switch it up a bit o3o" No Japanese honorifics on this fanfiction, simply because I have confused myself like no tomorrow with addressing characters when...Game of Thrones basically took care of it for me. So, if you sought out the honorifics in the past chapters, I do not have time to replace them. I'm basically doing something I hate, but I really don't want to start all over :c Sorry babies.
Dedicated to Miss Mary, who is nothing but sweetness and so, so supportive for me and everyone who she takes time for. Thank you for helping me when I needed it, and sharing the same interests that I do c: This is also dedicated to f-e-r-o-n-i-a, who is my schatzi und liebe; she's so precious and sweet, I just hope she has a beautiful day with hugs and awesomeness *-*
*Content Warning- This chapter has some sexual content and a descriptive scene where there is an execution, so if you are not comfortable with that content please feel free to leave/skip the chapter. I am not responsible for your choice, and hope you can choose what makes you feel most comfortable.
Please feel free to Review, Follow or Favorite. I don't ask for much, but I do hope you have a wonderful day and will enjoy this chapter.
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Light 'em Up
Chapter Six
Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix)- Freestylers {feat. Belle Humble}
Naruto stood beside his grandfather with a straight back, his shoulders squared as he watched Jiraiya scratch his quill pen against the stained paper that was the map of the World. His blue eyes were distracted by careful lines of borders of the five of the Seven Kingdoms on the mainland, the one that everyone knows about and everyone can make a mark on the map of anything that is seen. Over to the right side of the map, however, across the navy-inked sea was the land that Naruto had never heard of in his life...rather, very few people know of it's existence. All that Naruto knew about that giant piece of land across the ocean was that Sasuke was currently living there, and that's where Sakura rules her kingdom, the Haruno.
Naruto knew that the Haruno was the only solid Kingdom, making them part of the Seven Kingdoms. The Hyuuga Kingdom, however, wasn't a kingdom but a nomadic clan that conquer and ravage whatever they want on that side. The Hyuuga do not touch any water that their horses won't drink, seeing it as a bad omen; but after Jiraiya gave his grandson his history lesson, it was discovered that it took Sakura a single day to reach the Sannin Kingdom...when it really took a solid month by ship to make it.
"It is probable that the Haruno Queen used craft to get over here," Jiraiya said suddenly, catching Naruto's attention across the large table, where Hinata was seated in a plushed chair and watching intensly and Kakashi stood like a statue. "Otherwise, I couldn't see how else the damn kid could make it over here in a short time."
Jiraiya dropped his quill looked at Hinata, whose pale eyes widened shyly and and cringed back. "How did you get here, child? With your Queen."
Hinata blinked and thought for a moment before speaking. Her voice was small, and obviously uncomfortable and Naruto was not pleased by that. "H-horseback…"
"I know that, but how?" Jiraiya strained as he rubbed his temple.
Kakashi smiled behind his mask and glanced to Hinata, talking in a guttural voice that shocked both the King and Prince, however Hinata seemed unbothered by it and responded in kind of the language, but her voice was soft and bell-like, making Naruto's heart flutter a little bit. Kakashi nodded and faced Jiraiya in a soldier-stance.
"She explained that she crossed the ocean with Khaleesi's trick, and she doesn't know exactly how Sakura had done it."
"Was it magic?" Naruto perked.
Kakashi shook his head. "Across the ocean, there is a way you can get from one place to the next without an ocean. It is like a Winter's snowstorm, however it is sand. If the higher-ranked person, which would be her Khaleesi, thinks of a place of wish, the storm will take her and her party there."
"What in the bloody hell is that suppose to be, then?" Jiraiya snapped. "If it is not magic, then what is it?"
Hinata crouched away from the King's rising voice, making the old man frown and take a deep breath. He apologized to Hinata, who bowed her head and kept her eyes on her pale hands. "So...assume that the Queen can cross the ocean in a day, rather then a any given day."
"Impossible. The storm with the sand only comes when the moon is not in the sky at night," Kakashi brought in, making Naruto's eyes twinkle in awe.
"You know a lot about Sakura's world, don't you, Kakashi?" he praised, making the masked man blink and tilt his head. When nothing else was said, Jiraiya continued and brought everyone's attention.
"We need to prepare allies for the Uzumaki Kingdom," he said quietly. "The Sarutobi had sent a letter stating that they won't be giving sides in the Game, but they will shelter children and elderly in their borders for protection of both Kingdoms taking part. That will leave us with less and less supporters…"
Naruto looked around the map. "Who else do we have? We have the Nara, but I do not believe we can reach them in time...and then, there are the Inuzuka. Uchiha. "
"Nara!" Hinata suddenly yelped in surprise, catching Naruto's attention and asking her what had gotten her so riled up. She began blabbering in her language, and Kakashi translated carefully: "The Nara Kingdom is in alliance with Khaleesi."
"Fucking hell!" Jiraiya growled.
"However," Kakashi stalled the King politely, "Khaleesi had made a pact with the Nara Kingdom that they won't be on any sides during a war of any kind, and with that the Khaleesi would import goods to the Kingdom with Haruno goods."
"Why would she do that?" Naruto asked, truly curious. He distinctly remembered Sakura explaining that she wouldn't go down without a fight.
Hinata answered that and Kakashi translated. "The Khaleesi's older sister is married to the King's son, so we can assume that the Khaleesi doesn't want family-related members to be involved in wars. I expect that she would take care of battles for them if it was necessary."
Jiraiya suddenly struck an idea and slammed his fist on the table, making the ink pallet fall and bleed all over the map. "Then we overthrow the Nara Kingdom and weaken the child's limits! It seems that family matters to the girl, hm? The Naras' are a mountainous kingdom by the ocean, so we can surround them and cut off their supplies."
"No!" Naruto yelled.
Jiraiya stood and turned to him. "Naruto, you do not know what being in a war is like. I am doing what I think is best for you, so you won't get slaughtered! Do you want to die a worthless death by the hands of a Queen for the Sannin?"
"No, I don't want to die," Naruto said as he squared to his grandfather, "but I refuse to make other people suffer just because Queen Sakura's sister is the Prince's wife! The Kingdom wouldn't expect it and many innocent lives would be lost for that plan!"
"It's war, you dumbass," Jiraiya exclaimed as he yanked on his white hair. "All kinds of people die in war! Innocent, not innocent! Children, old people! Beggars and rich-folks. That's how the war works; many people die, and then the world repopulates to replace them."
"I will be a fighter, not a murderer," Naruto said, his voice serious and strong. He watched as Jiraiya lean back in somewhat shock, as if the worst is happening. Ever since they returned home from the Sannin Kingdom was when Jiraiya brought together all his best battle planners, soldiers and generals to plan works for the Full Moon coming up in a matter of two weeks. Naruto had not really had a chance to say much in these meetings, and whatever plan Jiraiya came up with dealt with something Naruto just couldn't bring to himself to accept, and now he couldn't stay quiet.
"That is not the way I want to play the Game, Grandfather," Naruto said quietly once everyone stood still and waited. Hinata, however, dressed in her salmon-colored dress that held her curves and limbs tenderly and gentle, as instructed by Naruto to her maids; her sleeves were extra baggy and open for her convenience, and she has behaved much better with the staff of the Uzumaki castle. They still do not touch her hair, since they wear it up most of the time, so she still draws attention to those who meet her for the first time. "Hiruzen chose me to play this Game, and I have to live up to the Sannin's wish to fight for the throne… I know this might get me killed, or wounded but I will not ask for your help. I need to be my own man now."
Jiraiya's expression was strained and painful-looking, Hinata could tell easily, and she felt that she could assure the King that it will be okay. But she knew better, and she remained silent while he finally nodded and silently walked out. Standing up quickly, Hinata's mouth opened to try and call him back, simply because she felt that the environment would collapse for Naruto with his grandfather leaving him. Kakashi grasped Hinata's clothed shoulder, making her jump and stare at him with round eyes.
Shaking his head slowly, the masked man gently pushed Hinata back into her chair. "Mi'lord, what would you like to do now?" he asked Naruto, who's back was facing them when he watched his grandfather leave the room.
Running his big hands through his blond hair, Naruto slowly turned and offered a big smile to the general. "I want to plan out journey to meet the Inuzuka Kingdom. I will be sending a letter to them before we leave at Full Moon."
"As you wish," Kakashi said with a dip of his head, leaving the room from the same place Jiraiya had left.
=xxx=
"A-and this…"
"This is my grandfather's father's army. They are on a trail to the mountains with goods for the other Kingdom," Naruto said casually, watching as Hinata's pale eyes scanned the large painting on the wall and hurry on to the next one ahead of them in the abandoned hallway. After spending another half hour in the room where they planned their upcoming expedition to the Inuzuka Kingdom by the next Full Moon, Naruto dismissed everyone and asked Hinata if she wanted to see more of the castle, and she instantly became excited to see more...
She has particularly found a fascination with the Uzumaki paintings.
Seeing her smile a little with the newfound information of the painting of armored men on their brilliant stallions and her shoulders rising in the giggle she's keeping in to see the next one. Which, of course, pointed a pale, delicate finger to and looked at Naruto. He came up carefully beside her and saw her silently asking who the two figures were in beautiful clothes and surrounded by flowers.
"That is my father and mother, Hinata," he said with a grin, pointing to the tall male figure of his father. Naruto's father had a mess of blond hair, just like him, and a very gentle-looking expression on his muscular body. "Minato was my father, and he was a King before he died." Next he pointed to the slim woman with milky skin and bloody-red hair; the violet eyes contrasted with the blue and gold roses in the background and her hair was down; Naruto remembered how his mother always wore her hair down, especially keeping her bangs across her forehead. "And my mother, the Queen."
"Khal and Khaleesi of Uzumaki?" Hinata perked. "Naruto's family?"
Naruto chuckled a little and nodded. "Minato and Kushina Uzumaki were their names."
Hinata blinked and trailed back to the portrait, looking solely on Kushina's oiled print, frowning a little bit and tilting her head. Naruto watched carefully, wondering what she could be thinking about that he didn't notice her suddenly looking at him with a concerned face.
"Will y-you be okay?" she asked with some hesitance. "Of Jir-raiya…"
Naruto's eyes softened as he looked down to his feet, as if an embarrassed child in the middle of the marketplace. "Of course I will be fine, and so will he," he said truthfully. "After my father died, he became very protective of me from when I was very small. I'm sure he doesn't want me to have anything to do with the Game, but I don't want to do his way of getting allies."
"Nara...would he have h-hurt Nara for you?" Hinata said with sadness, her fingers fiddling with each other. "Khaleesi's sister is v-very important to her, and s-she and her husband will not join in violence."
Naruto understood what she was asking, and he really couldn't figure out an answer. While he knew that Jiraiya was being serious of cutting off goods to the Nara Kingdom, he could not believe that after years of seeing hellish worlds and gore some situations that he would be willing to repeat it all over again for the Throne of Sannins. Naruto didn't answer, and he couldn't.
So, instead of lying to her, Naruto looped her arm with his and went back to walking. She didn't question further, and he took it that she understood what he was doing. Hinata smiled up to him and rested her head against his thick arm.
"N-Naruto, where are Inuzuka Kingdom?" she asked with a gentle voice, keeping the serene room at ease. "I never heard of it where I c-came from."
"They live where it snows, and they are represented by canines that they are companions with," Naruto explained softly. He pressed his hot palm against her little knuckles. "I have met them before, the son of the Queen, at least, and he and I became good companions the summer they visited last year. They are...like the Hyuuga, I suppose. They travel in a pack around their Kingdom and defend their village on the inside."
"And we a-are going to m-meet them?"
"If they respond to my letter with good news." Naruto really didn't know what he could do to make allies for himself; despite he knew that Sakura had her Kingdom, as well as her late husband's army or whatever they were called. From the moment he saw the pale-haired soldier switch Hinata for Sasuke weeks back, he could tell that they were hardcore men who would do anything for their Queen, and that brought Naruto to his panic.
Naruto has been sheltered for most of his life. He was tutored very little on many Kingdoms outside of his own, basically knowing his father's friends and past relations of imports from others in the past four-hundred years; he could name by first and last of those who 'owed' Minato their life for whatever reason, whether it was his father rescuing them from an economical issue or even their life - Kushina had been named the Uzumaki's best for healing and caring for those who were poisoned or ill. Both of them worked together to make lives for others to bring peace, really, and it had worked long after their death when Naruto was a child…
And now, with Hiruzen's death bringing the whole known world into a new battle, it seems like Naruto's family's allyship doesn't mean anything to anyone. It would make sense with Jiraiya's devotion to trying to weed out Sakura's relations by any means necessary.
Suddenly being pulled to tilt by his side, soft lips pressed against Naruto's scarred cheekbone and sent his heart to the heavens. Hinata was gentle with her touch, her dainty, little fingers gripped his clothes tightly as her face boiled up to magma when she let go of his skin from her mouth. Suddenly breaking down from her adrenaline rush of confidence, Hinata buried her face into his arm and started crying tearless sobs as she mumbled something in her language. Naruto couldn't figure it out, no matter how many times she had said the word over and over again.
Naruto could feel his own face redden when she finally pulled her head back and stared at him straight in the eye, her physical expression of anger and tears in her eyes, her red cheeks and biting her lip so hard as she hunched up her shoulders tensely.
"N-Naruto will do good in the G-Game, I kn-know!" she nearly shouted in a high-pitched cry. "T-the Game is hard...b-but Naruto will b-be the best as he c-c-can be! I believe in N-Naruto very m-much."
Naruto couldn't help but smile big as he bent his head, touching his forehead with her little one very gently as he continued grinned with all his teeth showing. "Thank you, Hinata."
She never said that she believed in him to win the Game of Sannins, and he knew that she couldn't say it to him with the truth. He knew she wouldn't want to lie because of the rules, and also because she really has no reason to lie to him anyhow. She was in no threat to Naruto, and Naruto planned on bringing her along with wherever they were going for the Game. However, despite being ripped from her own home and Queen, Hinata was still willing to try and support him and in return he would not harm Sakura.
But still, being told that someone has faith in you, you really feel like you can do anything in the world.
"Thank you, Hinata," Naruto said and kissed the top of her head.
Hinata hiccuped cutely and nodded up to him, rubbing her knuckles against her eyes to try and rid her tears; she was forcing a smile, and still crying out her embarrassment when Naruto collected her in his strong arms and held her there in the middle of the hallway where portraits hung on the walls and the sunlight bled through the stain-glass windows in various colors.
For Hinata, opening her pale eyes to look at the many colors of red and greens and such, it reminded her of her brother who had done the same thing when he first became Khal when their father had died suddenly. He was thirteen and she was only ten years of age when he bore the light blue tattoos across his pectorals and biceps, the marks of a Khal, when he sat in their tent and he would stare at their fire with an expressionless face.
'Khal, you do not need to worry about anything,' she had said to him after a long morning after burning their father's body. He didn't look at her, and she willed herself to crawl on her knees, careful with the freshly knitted ink staining his skin, she took his hand. The big hand that slaughtered so many enemies and beasts that threatened their Kingdom that travels, but also the hand that used to press ontop of her head when she cried for whatever reason very gently; that, and how she witnessed their slave, Tenten, get caressed under her chin and cheek by his hands when she served him or whenever she was struck by a horse whip by other men…
'A Khal leads an army to greatness, and with that take courage to know that you are the Khal,' she told him, bringing his hand up with both of her little ones and plopped it upon her head, finally having eye contact. She smiled and she began to childishly sing the song that only Hyuuga children would sing as a game, and that got Neji to smile and nod in understanding.
With Neji, Hinata stood by his side and helped him to greatness as support and giving him hope that he could do it. She was there when Neji went to the Haruno Kingdom and purposed the marriage with Sakura and with that made him grow to a much stronger King of his kingdom.
Hinata closed her eyes and buried her face into Naruto's neck, sobbing again. She felt the same thing she did for Neji, but this was stronger and she knew that. She didn't know what it was, but she had a gut feeling that no matter what was to happen...she would follow Naruto to the ends of the planet for him.
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One leg over the armrest of her rocky throne, Sakura's head bent back as she swung her other leg off the edge, her bare toes brushing the marble floor. Dressed in her thin, black tunic wrap that exposed her abdomen and most of her legs, she waited with closed eyes as Aoda slithered over her shoulder and wrapped her body around the Queen's form, making the pastel-haired woman hum quietly before bringing her head back up. She could easily hear the footsteps of someone entering the throne room that wasn't her handmaidens or Tenten, since most of them were with Yamato getting ready. Tenten's belly has been swelling completely, and she can actually feel the little being inside of her friend kick here and there; some nights Sakura would press her ear to Tenten's naturally tanned skin and speak to the baby, in the Hyuuga language since Tenten wanted the baby to know Hyuuga first before the Common Tongue.
"You have summoned me, Mi'lady," spoke a low but loud voice of Sasuke. Sakura inwardly smiled at how professional he was trying to sound, but she could feel how uncomfortable and angry he was after the teasing she has done to him in the past time.
After the situation in her bath, while he was sore for days afterwards from Yamato's 'lesson' on Sakura, kissing him briefly and giving a message he would have to solve himself before leaving, Sakura has sent nothing but playful smiles and careful eyes watching him everytime he would train with her men. He had begun growing accustomed to removing his shirt and shoes when the sun was blaring and making want to drink water constantly, and sometimes stopping whatever he was doing, even in midspar, to glance up onto the balcony she was standing in and just stare. She'd smile, and he would frown and do this funny expression that reminded Sakura of a child getting mad at another for a toy.
Opening her eyes and turning her head, her cheek resting on Aoda's small head, Sakura looked at the man on his knees and head bowed to the floor and nearly laughed. "Yes," she said with a smile, "I have summoned you personally."
Raising his head, Sasuke slowly stood up when she flipped onto her rear with her skirt flowing to the floor. Aoda raised her head to look at the man as well, who has been watching Sasuke for a while now with great interest. Smiling a bit bigger, Sakura pointed with her decorated wrist to the bottom of the steps of her throne, where a silked wrapped bundle sat and wrapped with a leather strap and Sasuke followed her finger.
"Open it," she ordered casually.
Walking over to the bottom step, Sasuke knelt down and undid the string and unfolded the wrapping with one hand. What was presented was a black leathered vest with braided trimming. Along was a matching black undershirt that was long-sleeved and thin material, as well as a belt with a sword-hoister and small pockets on the left and right.
After a moment of looking at it, Sasuke raised his head and looked at Sakura. "What is this?"
"I had it made by a tailor in the Kingdom. It's a charred leather to give it extra firmness in protection, and it's thick," she explained. "Suigetsu assisted with the sizing, since he knows your body measurements from wrapping your wounds and scratches. The top is made from the same material as our clothing, unlike your cotton clothes, this will help you breathe better and cool down in the weather."
"It's an outfit," Sasuke concluded.
"No," she teased, standing up with Aoda still wrapped around her. She crouched to pick up the vest, holding it up to him and silently telling him to remove his shirt. The thing hasn't been cleaned since he had came here, and it was brown from mud and sand and tattered beyond repair.
He willingly stripped himself of the ratty thing, exposing his toned, muscular muscles and lightly scratched skin as he dropped it down to the floor and took the vest. He slipped it over his head and Sakura welcomed herself to reach for his ribs and tie the straps that held the armor together in place. He didn't say anything, but watched her arms move from one side to his other before she stood back and looked him over carefully.
"It's a uniform," she tilted her head. "For you."
Sasuke blinked and observed it for himself. He really couldn't believe this, although he wasn't angry about it, but rather confused. "Why?"
"Because I wanted to," she shrugged. "And because you used to give me things. In the dreams we've shared."
Sasuke suddenly stiffened, eyes still glued to the vest and his fingers touching his chest when his nails dug into the material and not being affected by it. It really was sturdy.
"You remember those dreams, hm?" Sakura asked quietly, still looking at him with a small smile. She wasn't expecting too much from him, not when-
"The flowers," Sasuke mumbled under his breath. "White flowers, because you always wore that color. Sometimes it was shiny rocks. Once it was the red thread that combined our fingers; I untied it and we tried to braid it, but then it disappeared."
"Well, I wanted to give you something. A uniform that wasn't so dirty and uncomfortable," she responded, allowing Aoda to coil around her arm and fall down and disappear into the cracks of the statue of her father's head. "Think of it as a gift from Khaleesi."
Taking in what she said, Sasuke's eyes widened and his head shot up. "I-!"
"Khaleesi! It is time, please hurry! Before they start the bonfire in the Kingdom!"
Yamato came running in, urgency written in his eyes as Sakura took her attention to her army general. Nodding, Sakura reached behind her and raised a thin layer of her black tunic over her head like a hood and walked past Sasuke, who watched after her with parted lips. She didn't look back as Yamato bowed his head to her as she went on to the courtyard that had both Haruno and Hyuuga soldiers lined up to the sides of the rigid-columns with the population surrounding the property. At the end of the walkway was Suigetsu, a giant sword in one hand and a man in chains in the other.
The man was emaciated, dirty and tattered with blood and scabs all around his body. His hair was torn off with a knife and he had grown a shaggy, uneven beard that was stained with blood and crud of God-knows-what embedded and his eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sunlight and sleep.
Behind her, Sakura could hear Sasuke and Yamato's footsteps as she proceeded to enter the roars of her people shouting and screaming. Her back was straight and her step was seductive and casual; she could feel the afternoon's blazing sun under her feet since it warmed the stones, keeping her eyes ahead of her with Suigetsu announcing her as Khaleesi over the men, women and children yelling with joy.
Coming to the end of the courtyard, where Suigetsu had finally shoved the man to the ledge, his chest hitting it hard as his head hung over to see the many foot drop below him of wood and burning material. The man sobbed and coughed and fell silent instantly when Sakura began talking and raising her right hand for silence of the crowd.
"This man has threatened my Kingdom and the people who live within the walls of the Haruno Kingdom," she spoke loudly, letting her voice echo. "He proposed a marriage to me, and said that if I denied him myself into his hands that he would have his clan of men invade. He said he would let his men kill my soldiers and hardworking husbands, father, brothers and sons! He said he would have his men take the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters as sex slaves, for pleasure and labor! He proclaimed in my castle that he would slaughter me with his own hands and mount my head on a sphere and parade as my people wept and bled on the streets.
"I stand here now, after finding his army and handling them with my own thoroughly, that no beast would step foot into my Kingdom and live!" she shouted, causing an uproar of cheers from the people and continued on with passion. "Here becomes a man who will have his blood spilt on my white balcony! Here becomes this man that will be my Kingdom's slave for labor and pleasure - Let his body burn into the underworld for his threat upon my people!
"I am your Queen, your Khaleesi!" Sakura cried out, sticking her hand out to Suigetsu, who handed her the giant sword that was made of pure gold and jewels on the handle. "I am your protector, and whoever threatens my people: whoever dares to touch my Kingdom to harm and expect to get away with it: whoever thinks that I will let him overpower me because I am a woman will die screaming by my own hands!"
The whole Kingdom cheered as Sakura raised the sword as if she had done it thousands of times, aiming for the man's thick neck and throwing the blade down. A sudden scream left the man before his whole neck was decapitated, blood splattering on the pearl-white marble and upon Sakura's exposed skin and black garment. The dirty head fell over the ledge into the pile of twigs with a cloud of dust, and a common elder of the Haruno screamed and threw a lighted torch into the pile to ignite the fire. It bursted like the sun's solar flares, and Sakura exhaled her breath as she handed the sword back to Suigetsu, who raised it high above him for the Kingdom to cheer and scream of joy and praise as his companions helped throw the rest of the body into the flame.
Around the Kingdom, Sakura knew more and more bonfires were being set aflamed in her Kingdom. This was tradition in her Kingdom, executing a criminal who threatens or performed a crime within her home was a celebration of death, but because of one's death is a celebration for life of others that were saved from the threat…
And Sakura and her people knew it was time to celebrate when the man's blood soaked to her skin.
=xxx=
Sasuke blended into the crowd of his new companions of the Hyuuga men in the middle of the night, the giant fires blowing up into the starry sky and silhouettes of the people against the flames as they danced and ran around with big smile on their faces. He was sitting on a structure of fallen bricks that made convenient seats for the show with Suigetsu, who was drinking heavily on red wine and slurring his nickname in a jolly song with his companions. Sasuke smirked a bit with Suigetsu leaned back to hit a high note and fell onto the ground with his legs in the air, but he was still singing his heart out.
Behind him, on a higher ledge of a seat, Yamato set down a local boy no younger than five to go and join his friends by the fire; where Sakura was dancing with a bunch of children, her hair messy and loose, flying everywhere when she twirled or flung her head back to laugh when a kid pretended with another to dance as partners, and the Queen easily distracted them from fighting by making them raise their hands into the air and jump around with her.
Sasuke had watched her rip her veil out and wipe the blood that splattered onto her exposed skin, yet kept the bloodstained clothes on because everyone was begging for her to join the party. Since that time he saw her put others before her for the second time that day his body lurched. He wanted to stand up to her and carry her away into the confines of her castle, so that she may have a moment to rest her voice, to talk about how she felt when she ended that man's life because he promised nightmares for her people.
"You're tense." Sasuke peeked behind his shoulder to see Yamato looking into his goblet with an amused smile on his face. "This is a celebration, Sasuke, and it would do you good to join in, especially since you have dressed so nicely," he chuckled loudly when Sasuke leaned away from him. "What is on your mind?"
Sasuke didn't answer and went back to watching Sakura, who was now helping an elderly man sit with his family and the children surrounding them as they offered the man flowers to him and his own family. Yamato must have read him, because he moved spots to sit next to him.
"She is used to this, Sasuke."
"Used to what," he spat back with a low growl.
Yamato smiled again and leaned closer so that he could whisper. "Her first execution was when she was only eight. She wasn't old enough to take the throne of the Haruno, but she ordered her grandmother to let her take this execution - a man who would kidnap children from nomadic tribes, pioneers and orphanages to sell into brothels and pimps. She was much smaller when she was eight, but she took it horribly. After she killed him, she cried for hours and kept herself in her room.
"She confessed to me, once, a week afterward she came out of her room, that she didn't understand why men and women would do such horrible things to others who did nothing to provoke them," he went on, watching as Sasuke's black eyes followed Sakura. "Although, she understood that these criminals go on with their lives without punishment, and she didn't see fit to that one bit."
Yamato chugged down the last of his alcohol. "She gives a fair trial though," he gulped and nodded. "She would give the ones she prisons a chance to tell their side of the story, and if it is worthy to be forgiven, she would give him three days worth of food and the clothes on their backs and tells them to leave her Kingdom."
"She's judicial," Sasuke finally responded with a flat tone.
"She is, but she gives them a warning that if she finds them anywhere within her sight she will not hesitate to take off their head. That man executed today came from a slave company, proposing marriage and threatened to murder and sell her people if she said no. She arrested him and gave him another chance to explain himself, and he went on blabbing on how her body is not to be wasted. Khaleesi simply said that nothing she owns is wasted without purpose, and her body already belonged to someone else...and, of course, you can guess how what that led to."
"Who owns her body?" Sasuke asked suddenly after a moment of silence between them. Yamato made a noise of not hearing his question, and Sasuke sat back for once against the rock. "She said that her body belonged to someone else, so who owns it?"
"Dunno, son," Yamato shrugged. "She's an interesting character, from watching her grow up with her siblings and taking control of two Kingdoms. Now, a contestant of the Game of Sannins, there is probably very little I know of her personally now."
The party went on for a few more hours into the night, when elderly were too tired to stand up anymore and children began to pass out from sleep on the laps of their parents or in random places in the Kingdom. Drunk adults laughed and played small games with their spouses or partners before helping others into their residence to sleep off the alcohol, and the soldiers helped carry kids back to their parents and guardians to get them to bed and then go to sleep in the streets or barns, simply because they're used to outdoors and animal presence. Yamato bid Sasuke goodnight before following Suigetsu to help him carry a pair of twins with their father with a broken arm guiding them and then pay with some hot food. Sasuke planned on going for a bath in the castle (he assumed a while ago that he was allowed to in Sakura's bathing room), walking up the courtyard where the soldiers once stood for Sakura to end a man's life. He entered the throneroom, which too was deserted.
Sasuke looked around, hearing soft echoes from one of the back hallways and proceeded to wander a little while longer before he turned in, after inhaling hours of people's energy and craziness during their celebration he couldn't really relax. He followed the voices blindly, since the hallways were so dark in the middle of the night, but he could also hear the soft hisses of the baby snakes that had taken a liking to him.
One crawled over his foot and seemed to guide him through the unknown maze of the bedding quarters, to which Sasuke paid more attention to the snake helping him, looking down and noticing the small scales reflecting of upcoming light before disappearing.
Looking around the corner of what Sasuke understood to be a bedding chamber, staying out of sight when he saw the naked back and pale pink hair of Sakura. Inside, Sakura was sitting on the ledge of a bed, where Tenten was laying down awake with her hands on her belly while Sakura rest her head against it, mumbling something in the Hyuuga language in a sing-song voice.
Sasuke watched carefully and silently as Sakura raised her head and giggled at Tenten who made a snorting noise of a laugh. Sakura said something else, something soft and he heard Tenten make an uh-huh before saying what he thought to be 'Goodnight, Khaleesi'. The light went out and Sasuke met face-to-face with Sakura, when the hallway illuminated rock-like material that glowed dimly in the dark and catching Sasuke's attention right away.
"They're luminescent rocks, Sasuke," she said with a hint of teasing in her voice. Sasuke made a grunting noise with a scowl on his face, and Sakura smiled. "They glow when there is no man-made light invading their space. It is quite convenient and fun."
Sasuke didn't say anything else, but willed himself to follow Sakura when she left his side with a lazily stride in her walk and her hands behind her, fingers knotted. He stayed by her side when her green eyes glanced at his armor.
"Do you like it?" she asked after a while of walking past rooms, some were empty and others had someone sleeping in it already. Soon enough, they were deeper into the castle, where Sakura as Queen lived with spacious floors and less hallways. When Sasuke returned her stare with a raised brow, she smiled. "Your uniform. Yamato took the shirt to your quarters to be hung by your sword."
"Aa, I do," he said quietly. His eyes went half-lidded when he stared at the floor, hearing nothing else but their footsteps and breaths, his chest twisting a little. Before he could stop himself, however, he opened his mouth. "Sakura."
"Mm?" she hummed, stopping in her tracks when Sasuke halted a few steps behind her. She turned around to face him and Sasuke came to a sudden realization at how small she really was and how innocent and vulnerable she looked in the dim light of the rocks and moon outside the giant openings to the outside sky. She tilted her head at him, untying her fingers to have her hands at her sides. "What's wrong?"
"You told me a while ago that, if I wanted something, that I would have to fight for it," he worded carefully, not meeting her eyes.
"Yes, I did," she agreed, tilting her head to the other side. "What of it, Sasuke."
"I don't want to have to fight...but rather, I want to make an offer," Sasuke swallowed after, flexing his fingers into tight fists. "Offer to make with you."
"With me."
"Aa."
Sakura walked up to him, sensing his uncertainties and allowed her fingers to poke his leathered chest, quietly asking him to look at her. He struggled to raise his head, instead pressing his forehead against hers and refusing to look in her eyes. He could feel the warmth from her hands through the thick leather, embedding into his skin like a burn and smell the flower-scent of her skin and hair. It made his body hurt to the point he closed his eyes.
"The past," he started, "when you and I were someplace where reality couldn't touch us made me wish that I could find someone who would look at me and not see me as a bastard. I don't know where I came from, but that is suppose to put my life into a placement… a placement where I don't get what everyone else around me has the chance to.
"I don't want to be a bastard in anything anymore. I want a name that makes me feel human." Sasuke raised both of his shaking hands and carefully held her face, his fingers tangling in her loose hair and letting his nose brush hers. "I don't want to have to wait to close my eyes to feel like I have a reason to be in a place for a purpose. I want to be one thing only, and I have come to light that I won't give up until you tell me to stop."
She didn't hold back when she laced her fingers behind his neck, her chin tilting up to give him attention and meet eyes. "Tell me what you want to be, Sasuke."
Sasuke stared at her while his thumb touched her bottom lip. "I want to be what I was in our dreams. I want to be yours and only yours, as a lover; I want to bring you peace, as you have done for me in my sleep, but I want it in the real world."
"You want to become my other half," Sakura reworded his confused claim and watching him nod, making her smile with what looked to be relief. She knotted his hair and softly pulled, making his hair angle to the right as she went onto her toes and slammed their mouths together.
Sasuke shut his eyes and let himself fall for the kiss, which was longer this time and allowed him to respond just as passionately when one hand slipped from her face and trail down her shoulder to her lower back and pressed her closer. Sakura raised her right leg and wrapped it around his hip, causing something to hit Sasuke in his primal instinct to go forward and collide them to the nearest wall, making Sakura unlatch her lips from his and gasp at the contact before giggling.
"Relax, Sasuke," she whispered over his intense breathing. Her palms pressed against his cheeks, making him exhale and press his mouth to her wrist. He reopened his eyes and gazed at her, making her smile bigger and kiss his forehead, his cheekbone, nose and then lips. When he finally calmed down he buried his face into her shoulder and press his mouth to her soft skin, kissing in apology.
Once she touched the floor, she took both of his hands with hers and guided him over to the entrance of her bedroom. It had three walls present and a large balcony that faced the ocean and night sky. The bright rocks were embedded into the corners and small cracks of the stone walls that leaked water to the small canals that had unlit candles floating ontop. The bed was large and the silk sheets were exactly like water with a lavender tint.
Sasuke didn't have time to properly explore her room when Sakura began untying the leather straps of his armor, instead turning his attention to the detailed collarbone of her skin. His calloused fingers slowly traced her neck and shoulder, his black eyes growing even darker as he noticed goosebumps forming under his touch; bending his head to kiss and begin licking her flesh gently, making her bite back a gasp and tasting the sweetness of her. Sasuke cradled her head with one hand as the other reached back to let his fingertips explore her exposed back, up and down her spine until he reached to the back of her slender neck where the knot of her dress was.
Sakura raised his armor up, and Sasuke stood straight to remove it before kissing her passionately again. His tongue slipping to stroke her lips and appendage and engaging her to tilt her head up so that he could undo the tight knot holding her whole attire in place. She began grinding her hips against him as her nails lightly scratched his newly revealed skin that was decorated with scars and scratches around his back, arm and stomach. Each one on him was touched by Sakura and when they broke away for needed air, she sought out the small scar on the juncture of his jawbone and began sucking on the skin, making him hiss and yank on the last tie of her dress, finally undone.
She pushed him to her bed, making him trip over his gift and become straddled by the Queen. His hands grasped her hips and kept them still when she tried to grind against his now obvious bulge within his trousers to stop the aching pleasure she was purposely doing to him, looking up at her flushed face begging mercy. The silk, black straps of her dress hung loosely on her shoulders, revealing more of her small cleavage.
Slowly, Sasuke reached and pulled the material away to see her breasts against the moonlight. The straps fell and began to loosen itself from the waist and leaving her completely topless for him, his eyes trailing from her eyes to her two round mounds that were just so perfect to him that he wanted to touch them. His hand slipped from down from the curve of her neck and slowly made its way down until he began shaking, his fingers caressing the round flesh until he fully he cupped her breast with one hand.
"Ahn!" Sakura moaned suddenly, making everything in the slightly cool room heat up in a matter of seconds. Her nails dug into his shoulder and she pressed her lower body against him to create friction, but his other hand squeezed her hip, making her whimper as she nuzzled her face against his.
He gave her a drunken smirk and kissed her chin. "Relax," he teased her. Her neck craned for his assault as he nipped her throat and moved down slowly, suckling on her collarbone as the hand on her breast gently fondled her as his lips took in her perked nipple. She cried out softly and rolled her hips with his approval, allowing him to pull her body closer for him for better access to her breast for his mouth. Lightly biting, Sasuke groaned when Sakura pulled the roots of his black hair in a sweet pain shooting down his back.
"S-Sasuke..! Oh!" she panted into his hair, scratching his back and slamming her lower body against his with wanting need. Sasuke began to love the noise she was making, letting go of her breasts all together and pull her head down to kiss her and nibble her lip, her arms wrapping around him as he did the same and crawling backwards, farther into the bed.
Her dress slipped off the rest of her body and off the bed, allowing him to caress and grope parts of her body that either she keeps secret or exposed due to her wardrobe, seducing him constantly when he couldn't bring himself to touch her. She crawled on her knees and accidentally came in contact with his clothed member, suddenly he growled like an animaland buried his face into her chest, gasping for breath as he moved his hand from her thigh and slip between her legs to come into contact with intense heat and wetness.
Brushing his fingers against her hot sex, he shivered when Sakura reacted so erotically, biting her lip hard and arching her back against him. She cried out through her teeth and Sasuke pushed the limits further by taking his middle finger and pushed it into wet, tight constricting muscle of her womanhood; feeling her squeeze his digit as tight as possible made him widen his legs to open hers more from under her, ordering to look his way as he claimed her mouth to help her adjust to the odd feeling. The kiss was slow and sensual then before, his finger moving in and out at an aching pace, making her gasp into the liplock and move her own hips to follow his hand as he slipped another. She used her weight to push against him, trying to create an opening for her to take the chance, her right hand going down his formed abs and finally into his pants that hung too low of his hips by now.
Sasuke pulled back when she blindly tried to get them off of him, her face burying itself into his neck with her hot breath burning his skin. He hooked his thumbs on his waistband and forcibly pushed them off, freeing his hot hard member and new skin to touch hers with a numbing sensation that had Sasuke see stars behind his eyelids when he blinked.
"Sasuke, Sasuke," Sakura gasped in a cracked moan, rubbing herself against him in the most intimate area to create the feeling they both needed that only they can give each other and no one else. "Saaasuke…"
"Sakura, hnn!" he groaned against her skin as he unconsciously raised his own to grind together, sweat forming on his forehead. He really couldn't wait anymore, he needed to-!
Small hands holding his face, Sasuke opened his eyes to see Sakura look down to him with the most beautiful, gentle look that he hasn't seen in reality before and only in his dreams. He exhaled in wonderment to see her red cheeks and kiss-swollen lips as gently strokes his cheeks with her thumbs.
"Sasuke," she whispered, and the whole world around them drowned to nothing. The only thing he would hear, see, touch, smell was all her. "Sasuke, I love you...become mine forever, please."
Trying to catch his breath so he could return the words of endearment when she kissed him as gently as she could with her blood pumping wildly, he returned it and groaned out her name, nearly yelling. "Sakura-! I love you…"
Bringing her head down for another kiss, her gentle grip on his member made him hit his head hard against the rocked wall as she guided him to entrance and dove into the high of making passion with the only one that could give him sanctuary in both while he sleeps and when he is awake.
.
.
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My sweetheart…
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=xxx=
AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE- It was getting really long soooo… c: Yeah. Review and whatnot, my babehz!