Prompt 8- satisfaction
After a few minutes of letting their eyes adjust to the darkness (and for the white lights to stop dancing from behind closed lids thanks to their run–in with the wall) Sasuke and Sakura made their way deeper into the maze, navigating through touch, sound, and whatever little bit of visual they had.
The next sharp right turn Sakura took brought her face to face to a bound and gagged couple playing house.
'More black vinyl! I'm sensing a theme here,' Sakura thought giddily.
And if that weren't enough of a clue, the next corridor brought them to an orgy. Well, at least that's what it looked like to Sakura.
Deciding on a second opinion, Sakura turned to Sasuke in the dark. "Be honest. Does this look like an orgy to you?"
Even though Sakura couldn't tell in the dark, Sasuke's eyebrow shot up. His voice held amusement as he asked, "Didn't get some before coming?"
A faint jab at his side. Sasuke mused she was trying to hit his arm.
"Get your head out of the gutter, Haruno," Sasuke reprimanded, already moving away when one of the women (at least he HOPED it was a she) raised an arm in hopes of snagging the unsuspecting Uchiha. "Help me navigate our way out of this."
"What is it about you and your fantasies of me and sex? You got some sort of S&M fetish or something?" Sakura questioned, now helping find an exit. It was becoming increasingly hot.
A light snort alerted Sakura of Sasuke's presence on the other side of the room. "The only fantasy I have of you is you being tortured." Encouraging moan from orgy peanut gallery. "Painfully. So don't flatter yourself."
"I'll try not to fly off the handle at that," Sakura mumbled under her breath, now more than ever trying desperately to find the damn exit.
Just as she was about to call out to Sasuke jokingly that they may as well 'join in the fun', she yelped. Something had wrapped around her ankle.
"Sakura," Sasuke's voice was suddenly beside her, his tone like nothing she's heard before. A mix of irritation and something else. If she knew him slightly better she would have said worry. "What's wro–" but before Sasuke could get his question out, another yelp could be heard. This one male.
From the dim lighting provided by fake torches on the walls, Sasuke could see Sakura's small figure. Her other foot not caught by the character's grip was sent down, releasing the hold on the girl's ankle. Another shriek.
"No touchy," Sakura reminded. Though her voice was laced with amusement, it was breathy from having the bejuesus just scared out of her.
A pained moan. "I was only trying to point you in the right direction. You've been walking around in circles." Another moan then distinct sounds of sucking. Sasuke hoped it was his thumb he was tending to. "It's behind you."
The girl turned on her heel. It looked like a wall. But as she pushed slightly with her hand, the 'wall' gave in revealing a secret passage.
"Well," Sakura bit her bottom lip. "This is awkward."
"Just get out."
A chorus of 'yeahs' and 'just go' and 'leave' followed quickly.
The teens did not need to be told twice.
Sasuke had taken over as leader, after informing Sakura that they were once again lost-
"You suck at this. Get to the back."
Sakura calmly relinquished her position-
"I did NOT get us lost. There's only one way to go! ARG. Fine. YOU do it."
And only then did they seem to be making some progress.
"Told you, you sucked at this."
"You were saying?" Sakura's innocent (evil) voice chimed the second Sasuke Uchiha was forced to stop. Causing the girl behind him to walk into his backside.
"Dead end," Sasuke stated meekly.
"Ya mean, you got us LOST."
Sasuke frowned, suddenly wishing he could have freakishly glowing red eyes to see all the better in the dark with. "We are not los-"
"Yeah, not anymore. I think I found an opening."
Indeed, the girl found a thin, narrow opening. Nodding, Sasuke pushed Sakura behind him and resumed once more. "Let's go."
The thin and narrow opening was hell to get through. It was so narrow his shoulders touched the walls at his sides. Ever now and then he could feel Sakura trip over her own feet, stumble into him, and cause him to trip as well. It was that narrow.
"How the hell much further? This is sucking some serious balls."
Sasuke could feel Sakura's hot, panting, labored breaths at his back and hoped she wasn't claustrophobic.
Shaking his head, then stopping because she probably couldn't see it anyway, he confirmed, "There's a light up ahead."
A few more minutes of inch walking, and a room opened up to harsh bright lights that flickered at rapid speed, reminding him of those clubs Naruto always dragged him to. After being subjected to mostly dark and shadow, Sasuke and Sakura quickly shielded their eyes. Sasuke used his forearm and hands to keep the lights at bay, while Sakura pressed her entire face up against Sasuke's backside.
Once again in the lead, Sasuke navigated his way through the maze. Every now and then, a character would jump out, startling Sasuke since he was more focused on keeping his eyes away from the harsh lights.
After the third time she felt Sasuke flinch in front of her, Sakura risked a quick peek. He had his hands out in front of him, like a makeshift shield, characters popping out of the walls, making Sasuke stumble slightly.
Suddenly, Sakura couldn't help but smile. He looked ridiculous. She knew she wasn't in much of a position to judge, (her face was plastered almost to his rear end, she hated being short sometimes) but she couldn't help the, "You look like a freakin' vampire right now the way you're using your hands like that. Like you're shielding from the sun or something" comment that slipped past her lips.
Sasuke, still squinting against the light, looked down at the girl who had resumed to cover her face with the back of his shirt. He grunted. "Get snot all over the back of my shirt and I'll leave you behind."
"Do so and I'll bite you."
"Who's into the whole S&M kinky shit now, Elvira?"
Sakura's loud laughter brought a small smile to his face.
They had to have been close to being done, Sakura thought wearily. As much as she loved the thrill of the dark, the suspense, a good fright, and yeah ok, Sasuke making good eye-candy didn't hurt either, she had seen more than enough of a variety of seen-it lived-it gags that Sakura actually considered killing herself FOR REAL halfway thought it. Entryways coated in "webbing" tangled in her long pink locks that she long ago tied up in a ponytail, felt like someone, or SOMETHING, was repeatedly pulling, touching, pressing her hair. "Stupid fake shit," she muttered under her breath, swatting, yet again, the top of her hair for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
She and Sasuke were currently in the Mirror Room, where every now and then, a few characters appeared in the mirrors, being murdered, mutilated, or crying out for their help. Only to reappear behind them in solid form and scream bloody murder, causing the two to send them evil glares.
She may have been partnered with the chauvinistic Sasuke Uchiha but she was far from feeling relieved. There were far more annoyances in the world that far out matched her silent half. Point in case, the character dressed in a white flowing gown, long black wig, and pale features, save for the blood dribbling over her chin, was starting to get on Sakura's nerves.
"Is this suppose to be scary?" Sakura directed her question to no one in particular.
"Haunted House," Sasuke said flatly. "The name says it all. You forget to take your Xanax today? Keep up."
"Rhetorical question, smartass, Argh! I'm gonna kill you, you bitch," Sakura seethed at the female character as she quickly danced away behind a row of black curtains, escaping Sakura's grasp.
"Calm down, Haruno. Are you going to let a dork in a costume get to you that easily?" He crossed his arms over his chest, smirking as he added, "That's MY job."
"Shut up. And stay out of this, you ass," Sakura threatened hotly. "Get in my way and I'll kill you too. Yeah, that's what I'll do. First her, then you, then me. It'll be a double murder/suicide."
"Maybe bringing a psycho like yourself into a S&M dungeon horror house wasn't such a good idea, after all."
"I said shut it," and gain swiped at her hair angrily. Her eyes followed the path as the female character once again reappeared only to slide behind a mirror this time. She could see her reflection in it perfectly. Her cheeks were flushed red, her mouth set in a grim line of irritation, eyes narrowed, crinkling at the ends, and Sasuke from behind her…
"SASUKE, YOU FUCKER!"
…strategically placing bits of web in her hair.
The light at the end of the tunnel, and no, he was not dead (much to Sakura's annoyance.)
"You're such a baby," Sasuke said gently, trying to make conversation with the short girl for the past five minutes since leaving the Mirror Room, and failing with every step. Not that he was sorry pr anything. He rather liked annoying the living shit out of her. It was, dare he say, fun? "It was a joke. Completely harmless."
Silence on her end.
He sighed, raking his hand through his hair. "Look, the exist is just up ahead." He pointed with his free hand to the lightening doorway.
Sakura humhped with a cross of her arms. "My eyesight is perfect, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. But thanks SO much for assuming I hadn't known what a door looked like in all this time."
Finally! Progress. Albeit, she was angry. It was still progress in his book. "So you can talk." Sasuke smirked. "I thought you had lost your ability to do so back there. What with me scaring you and all…"
Sakura stopped walking, causing Sasuke to almost run into her. Spinning around to face him and pulling herself up to her full height, all five feet and four inches of her, she gave him her best venomous glare as she could pull off in a still-dark corridor.
"Excuse me but you did NOT scare me," she said, rather calmly. Total opposite from her eyes. "Not even REMOTELY close."
"Yeah? So then why the silent treatment? Looked you were pretty rattled to me." He leaned in slightly, his warm breath brushing her cheek. "And over fake webbing. Could it be that I have found your weakness?"
"I am not afraid of anything," Sakura said through gritted teeth. She pushed Sasuke back. "The only reason I played this game was because I knew I could beat you, no problem."
"As it is, I think I win this one."
"Like hell! I told you, I wasn't scared!"
"Maybe…maybe not. There's still that incident when that geek had his hand around your ankle and you screamed."
"That…that didn't count! They're not suppose to touch you!"
"Lame excuse."
"You're lame!" Sakura threw back as a lack of a response. "If anyone was afraid it was you. Oh, don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. When we were in the Orgy Room and after that freak touched me, you were…worried about me. That's just as worse than being afraid!"
"You're delusional," he scoffed.
"And you're an idiot for even thinking that I was even the slightest bit afraid."
Sasuke halted in their verbal altercation. Sakura was proud, that was nothing new he hadn't already known when he first met her. To openly admit she had a fear of spiders or of any kind was not going to be easy. He knew this going into this plan. But to actually call him out like that. To take note on his behavior, his action, his response when he thought she was in danger… Sasuke had to hand it to her. She was perceptive. Given that after their incident at the party they never hung out, and she was already attuned to him like she had always been there right alongside him… It made his heart feel funny.
Still, payback was a bitch. And he wasn't a pansy ass priss who would back down just because he had come to like Sakura Haruno in the two hours he had spent with her.
Yes, he admitted it. He was a man, after all. He LIKED her. And not the like as in he liked to see her miserable, or in pain, or in defeat. LIKE: as in "first comes lust, then comes like, then comes love," as his mother once told him about relationships.
He just hoped she was right.
Casually leaning against the tunnels wooden surface, Sasuke decided to end this. "You got something on your shoulder."
Usually, at a moment like this, Sakura wouldn't think twice of telling someone as arrogant and cocky as Sasuke to shove his niceness where the sun don't shine. But she was already feeling rattled. And his change in tone -was that, gentleness?- didn't help her frazzled brain figure him out any faster. All she wanted to do was head outside, go into the woods, and complete her task as planned.
Because she was NOT feeling anything for the Uchiha. She was NOT having inappropriate thoughts about him. She was NOT going to be lulled into a relationship or fall for this false sense of security.
She was NOT going to be made a fool.
'But that's love's calling card, isn't it? People in love do foolish shit?' Ino had once said. 'Only fools fall in love.'
Then by her standards I'm already screwed, Sakura thought dejectedly.
She couldn't hide it, not even from herself any longer. Since she had met the dark-haired boy with the equally dark eyes and expression of stone, she could feel a pulling in his direction. This was not love at first sight, she had told herself all those months back. But what did she know about love? Having a new boy friend (not BOYFRIEND. There was a difference) every month didn't exactly qualify her as an Expert of the Heart. Maybe what she had felt at the party really was the real thing?
Ugh. All this thinking was giving her a headache. What she needed to do was stop thinking and start moving.
So when Sasuke smoothly said, "You got something on your shoulder" as if he was helping her out in some big way (which was just making her even more confused, dammit!) Sakura's instincts kicked in and she reached for her shoulder. Upon feeling nothing, she checked the opposite one.
And screamed.
HOW! HOW HOW HOW HOW HOW!
Sakura's brain tried taking in everything and nothing at once. He breath was all over the place, as was her heart rate. When breathing became harder for her, she sought out more air.
The exit!
It was just up ahead. No sooner than she thought the words, were her legs already moving on their own accord towards freedom.
Fresh air assaulted her lungs in welcomed relief.
It felt like her heart would burst through her chest -what with all the screaming and running she did in a short span of mere minutes.
I would be a great track-and-field/opera singer rockstar, her brain processed in the out-of-body detached way it did when things moved too fast.
"Sakura," called a male's voice from behind her. The only reason she caught her name was because the blood that rushed to her ears was slowly receding, leaving her attuned with actual sounds around her.
The only reason she heard his voice was because SHE WAS WAITING FOR IT.
The panic was instant, he mused one second.
The panic was INTENSE, he worriedly thought the next.
Sasuke expected Sakura to scream, sure. Cry, not so much. Yell at him afterwards, defiantly. But all-out freak?
This was not good.
After she sprinted the last few steps out the tunnel, Sasuke's response was immediate, as if a cord were tied around the both of them and she was simply pulling him along. He had hauled ass out the Haunted House only to find himself outside. The sky was dusted with shining lights. Surrounded by woods, the grounds were littered with a few people retelling their encounters to friends. Some laughing, some embarrassed, but only one was bent over, hands on knees, taking in mouthfuls of air as if she just couldn't get enough of the stuff.
Sasuke walked over to this one.
"Sakura?" he called lightly, hoping that she would catch the slight worry in his tone, the way he didn't actually say her name as a statement but more as a question. She had caught him once at it before, when they were in the dark, surrounded by moans from the Orgy Bunch. How was this any different except for their change in scenery.
"Sakura….I….I'm…."
Words failed him, big surprise. Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. One thing Sasuke was, aside from being a jerk, was being a socially retarded jerk.
BUT HE'S my SOCIALLY RETARDED JERK.
Wait. Did she really just think that?
"Sakura….I don't…."
Oh, right. Time to save him from himself, lest he self-destruct.
Slowly, as if the simple action caused her trouble, Sakura stood from her bent over position. Her hands that had rested on her knees smoothed her pink hair back from her face. In her haste the grip on her hair band had loosened, causing stands to tickle her cheeks. Once she had redone her hair, cast a quick glance at the outskirts of the woods surrounding them (that run had her exactly where she wanted it all to go down) Sakura stopped her fidgeting and turned to Sasuke.
"Sakura…" he said again, probably not finding anything else useful to say, Sakura mused.
She held up her hand to cut him off. "That was…good."
"Good?" Sasuke's eyes widened. He expected yelling from her (see top), not a job well-done for nearly sending her into a stroke. "Are you… okay?"
Her head slanted slightly, mulling it over. "Yes. I'll… I'm fine. It was just the timing, I suppose."
"The timing?"
Pink head nodded. "Yeah. Here I thought we were getting along so well. You hadn't tried anything the entire way and I let my guard down near the end. I didn't expect it! All I could think of was when you could have possibly planted the rubber spider on my shoulder. And then it hit me. When you leaned in that one time to whisper in my ear, before I pushed you back." She shook her head as if in disbelief, hands on her hips as she did so. "Unbelievable."
"Unbelievable?" Sasuke shook his head. He had stop repeating everything she said like some sort of parrot. "I didn't mean-"
"Of course you did. I knew you never liked me after what happened at Nara's party." In a low voice Sakura added, "Even though I don't why. Not like I did anything wrong."
The look the young Uchiha gave the woman in front of him was one of utter shock. "You don't think you did anything WRONG?"
"No."
"You tried to KILL me." Before Sakura could talk about, Sasuke continued with, "You pushed me into the pool and you didn't even try to get me out."
"Why would I have tried to get you out?"
"Maybe because I was DROWNING?" As the argument continued, as did Sakura's complete obliviousness, Sasuke was finding himself less and less guilty over her scare trip.
"How was I suppose to know you didn't know how to swim? I had never met you before up until that day?"
"So you just randomly push guys in other people's pools to find out?" Sasuke hissed.
"No, look. That was..." Sakura stopped herself. Who was HE to make her explain for her actions? Sakura Haruno owed no one an explanation. Especially the guy who almost gave her a heart attack.
Albeit, a FAKE one, but still...
"As a matter of fact," Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. Suddenly feeling one-hundred percent about her upcoming plan. "I even do it in MY own pool, too." Sasuke's warning growl was audible. "And another thing. Who goes to a pool party and doesn't even know how to swim!"
"I didn't WANT to go," Sasuke argued through tight lips. "That blond imbecile dragged me along because he couldn't find a ride."
"That…sounds a lot like Naruto."
At the change in her tone, Sasuke looked up from glaring down at the grass. Then suspiciously squinted his eye. Was she for real? Clueless one minute, temperamental the next, followed by…Sasuke didn't even know anymore. What he did know was how to put a stop to this. Before her emotions gave him whiplash.
"I'm sorry if I scared you," Sasuke mumbled, sinking his hands deeper into the pockets of his Levi's. "It was a joke. I didn't think you'd react THAT badly."
"Yeah, well." Embarrassed shifting of the eyes. "How did you know I…disliked spiders anyway?"
This was were things got tricky. If Sasuke were to say he weaseled the information out of Naruto, he would come off as the bad guy. Again. How to make it look as if NARUTO was the one who let the whole thing slip in the first place whilst making Sasuke look (slightly) better in her eyes?
He didn't have the chance to come up with anything (as if he HAD anything) however before Sakura exclaimed, "The fake webbing! That's it, right? You must have noticed how teed off I was at having that shit in my hair, the connection to my discomfort towards spiders must have been obvious, a blind man would have guessed it! Right?"
Sasuke, for lack of anything better, nodded along to her explanation. "Saw right through you. Like those cheap-ass mirrors."
Sakura sighed, shaking her locks once more. "I shoulda known."
A silence followed, Sasuke shifted on his feet. Did this mean she wasn't mad? Wasn't going to try to get back at him? Would this be the right time in bringing up his liking her? Would she feel the same? Or what if, he thought anxiously, swallowing thickly, his feelings were one-sided?
Nonsense. He was SASUKE FREAKING UCHIHA. Girls had thrown themselves at his feet since he was old enough to walk by them! This pixie was not going to be a challenge. There was no way Sakura Haruno was going to turn him down. He just needed to wear her down. She would eventually bend to his will.
And with that charming pep talk out of the way, Sasuke proceeded to close the distance between them… and then immediately stopped dead in his tracks.
A masked man was making his way towards them. Or more specifically, Sakura.
"Turn around," Sasuke managed to say through lips that felt numb. What was this feeling he was experiencing? Why was he panicking? NO, he was not panicking. He was not scared. So then why did his heart rate accelerate like he'd just come off a rollercoaster?
Green eyes that had been taking in the scenery of the trees surrounding them snapped to onyx ones. Hers seem to say WHAT FOR?
"Just," Sasuke swallowed. His mouth felt dry but he needed the words to come out. "Just do it!" He didn't mean for the words to sound harsh or demanding. Dread was taking form in his words, forcing them out in a commander manor.
For her part, Sakura snorted, rolling her eyes. "What, so you can stick that spider down my back?"
"Do it!"
She studied Sasuke silently. His whole outward appearance had changed in the span of mere seconds. What had had him so spooked?
Finally, she relented. But not before she threatened, "If you so much as get that rubber piece of shit anywhere near me I'll…"
The threat that so naturally fell from her lips dried up the moment her gaze fell on the figure at her back. He was tall, much the same height as Sasuke. His face, or lack thereof, was covered in a white mask, an emotionless expression carved on it. He was wearing a blue jumpsuit.
Oh, and he was holding a huge knife.
For stabbing, Sasuke's overworking brain couldn't help but interject.
There was only one thing Sakura did though.
She laughed.
She laughed so hard tears seemed to be streaming down her cheeks. Opening her eyes into slits she saw Sasuke look at her as if she had grown a second head. This only made her laugh harder.
"Oh yeah, baby! There he is. Common, Sasuke, don't tell me you're scared? It's HALLOWEEN, of course he's here. Every Haunted House has one."
And as if that weren't bad enough, Sasuke thought distressingly, the stupid girl was TAUNTING the man. Hadn't she seen any of the movies? Didn't she know that they all ended in bloodshed?
"Well hello there Mr. Michael Meyers. My name's Sakura Haruno. I'm a HUGE fan." She went in to shake his hand. The tall man reared back suddenly that Sasuke almost had a heart attack on the spot. Sakura pouted. "What? don't shake hands? Well you'd be able to if you dropped that knife. I'll just-"
This time, Michael held up the knife above her head, his arm in an arch as if to strike.
"What are you gonna do? Chop me up into bite-sized pieces?"
"Sakura, step away from him. You shouldn't-"
"I bet that knife's not even real. Here, let me see." But again he pulled away. "Okay, geeze, don't share," Sakura huffed, exasperated, turning back to Sasuke. "Michael doesn't want to share his TOOL with a pretty girl like me. Too bad, I've been told I know how to work one to a-"
Then there was nothing but the sound of metal cutting through skin and cloth. A wet-like sound followed as the knife was pulled back. The movement was repeated two more times as blood erupted from Sakura's now gaping mouth. All the while, never did she scream once.
Placing a shaky hand at her center, Sakura lightly touched the wound. Her fingers came away with gobs of blood. The red contrasted terribly with fingers that looked far too pale.
Shock rooted Sasuke on the spot as if Death's hands held in my place. Maybe they did.
Sakura fell to her knees, her hands bracing her fall. As she tried crawling away from the man at her back, trying desperately to reach Sasuke as fast as possible, she felt (OH GOD NO) hands wrap themselves around her ankles, tugging her back.
This time Sakura couldn't hold back the screams any longer.
Her screams must have been the key to unlock Sasuke from his temporary paralysis. As soon as he had seen the (monster) man pull Sakura into the woods and out of sight, his legs moved on their own accord, racing to her side, her screams directing him in which way to go the further he entered Mother Nature's unfamiliar terrain.
Just as he thought he had a lead, the screams abruptly stopped.
NO. Oh God no she can't be…
Sasuke followed the direction in which he had last heard her.
No. nonononononononono was the only thing running through his head. His adrenalin pumped legs lead him to the center of a clearing.
To the center where her (obviously dead) body lays.
He can do nothing more than collapse at her side
This is all your fault, his thoughts remind him. If you would have just moved, if you would have just faced your fears, none of this would have happened.
"What have I done," he finally admitted to the frigid night air. "Sakura..."
He takes in her form. Multiple stab wounds to the chest and so much blood that her shirt sticks to her skin. Her pink hair lays limp and matted with blood, also sticking to the pale column of her neck and cheeks.
Then there were her eyes. Eyes that are still open, still looking up.
Was she starring at the sky, Sasuke can't help but wonder, as if praying for mercy? For salvation?
FOR ME?
Gently, almost as if afraid to, Sasuke reaches with one hand and shuts her lids.
Green eyes that will be forever lost, Sasuke doesn't think he'll ever find that green on anyone else.
"I'm sorry," he whispers because, what else can he say? "I didn't... Sakura... you..."
He's not ashamed when the first of many tears sting his eyes and fall in small rivlets down his cheeks. "You didn't deserve this! This shouldn't have happened to you. It's my fault. I just hope that...wherever you are, you're in a better place. Please forgive me."
He releases a breath while stroking her (warm) cheek lovingly. "I didn't even have the chance to tell you that I like you. I didn't need this night to tell me that. I guess I've always known, since the day we met. Doesn't matter much now, I suppose," he mutters and looks away.
"See? Now was that really so hard to say?"
God the events from the past ten minutes must have been rough on his psyche because he could have sworn that he heard her say...
"Hey, you jerk, I'm talking to you!"
… and she's moving now. Her eyes -those perfect, clear, brightly glittering eyes- are nothing but shut. They are wide open and looking at him with annoyance.
He can do nothing but stare at her dumbly.
Sakura, still on the ground, surrounded by bugs, she thinks, glares at the man at her side because HE'S SO SLOW.
"Well, aren't you going to help me UP?" she crisply asks, seeing as the Uchiha is having a hard time grasping any clues.
Eventually, though his hands are numb and he feels faint and bewildered and shocked and- he pulls at her until they are both vertical again. It is then, and only then that he blurts, "You're not dead."
"You caught on. Not fast enough," she mumbles, taking out bits of leaves out of her hair. The "blood" was gooey, making all sorts of shit stick everywhere.
Who's bright idea was it to use this much! Oh, right. Mine.
"But I saw…"
"What you saw was a prank. A trick, a scam. A hoax. A joke."
"A joke…" Sasuke repeated robotically, eyeing her as if he still didn't believe she was really alive, in front of him.
Sakura rolled her eyes. It was clear Sasuke's shock had yet to wear off, but she had other pressing matters to attend to before the night was through. "So… You like me, huh?"
It was a full thirty seconds before Sasuke responded by leaning in close, cupping her face in his hands, and hissed, "Yes" before showing her just HOW much he liked her.
When they parted, their breathing was irregular and Sakura smiled.
"Sorry," she said, reaching up with her hand and to Sasuke's cheek. "I got some blood on you."
"Sexiest thing a woman has said to me thus far."
Sakura laughed.
"But seriously. You couldn't have just let that guy stab you once and be done with it?"
Sakura raised a fine pink eyebrow. "Where would the satisfaction in that be?"